1      PREFACE OF SNORRE STURLASON.
    2      In this book I have had old stories written down, as I have heard them
    3      told by intelligent people, concerning chiefs who have have held dominion
    4      in the northern countries, and who spoke the Danish tongue; and also
    5      concerning some of their family branches, according to what has been told
    6      me. Some of this is found in ancient family registers, in which the
    7      pedigrees of kings and other personages of high birth are reckoned up, and
    8      part is written down after old songs and ballads which our forefathers had
    9      for their amusement. Now, although we cannot just say what truth there may
   10      be in these, yet we have the certainty that old and wise men held them to
   11      be true.
   12      Thjodolf of Hvin was the skald of Harald Harfager, and he composed a poem
   13      for King Rognvald the Mountain-high, which is called "Ynglingatal." This
   14      Rognvald was a son of Olaf Geirstadalf, the brother of King Halfdan the
   15      Black. In this poem thirty of his forefathers are reckoned up, and the
   16      death and burial-place of each are given. He begins with Fjolner, a son of
   17      Yngvefrey, whom the Swedes, long after his time, worshipped and sacrificed
   18      to, and from whom the race or family of the Ynglings take their name.
   19      Eyvind Skaldaspiller also reckoned up the ancestors of Earl Hakon the
   20      Great in a poem called "Haleygjatal", composed about Hakon; and therein he
   21      mentions Saeming, a son of Yngvefrey, and he likewise tells of the death
   22      and funeral rites of each. The lives and times of the Yngling race were
   23      written from Thjodolf's relation enlarged afterwards by the accounts of
   24      intelligent people.
   25      As to funeral rites, the earliest age is called the Age of Burning;
   26      because all the dead were consumed by fire, and over their ashes were
   27      raised standing stones. But after Frey was buried under a cairn at Upsala,
   28      many chiefs raised cairns, as commonly as stones, to the memory of their
   29      relatives.
   30      The Age of Cairns began properly in Denmark after Dan Milkillate had
   31      raised for himself a burial cairn, and ordered that he should be buried in
   32      it on his death, with his royal ornaments and armour, his horse and
   33      saddle-furniture, and other valuable goods; and many of his descendants
   34      followed his example. But the burning of the dead continued, long after
   35      that time, to be the custom of the Swedes and Northmen. Iceland was
   36      occupied in the time that Harald Harfager was the King of Norway. There
   37      were skalds in Harald's court whose poems the people know by heart even at
   38      the present day, together with all the songs about the kings who have
   39      ruled in Norway since his time; and we rest the foundations of our story
   40      principally upon the songs which were sung in the presence of the chiefs
   41      themselves or of their sons, and take all to be true that is found in such
   42      poems about their feats and battles: for although it be the fashion with
   43      skalds to praise most those in whose presence they are standing, yet no
   44      one would dare to relete to a chief what he, and all those who heard it,
   45      knew to be a false and imaginary, not a true account of his deeds; because
   46      that would be mockery, not praise.
   47      OF THE PRIEST ARE FRODE
   48      The priest Are Frode (the learned), a son of Thorgils the son of Geller,
   49      was the first man in this country who wrote down in the Norse language
   50      narratives of events both old and new. In the beginning of his book he
   51      wrote principally about the first settlements in Iceland, the laws and
   52      government, and next of the lagmen, and how long each had administered the
   53      law; and he reckoned the years at first, until the time when Christianity
   54      was introduced into Iceland, and afterwards reckoned from that to his own
   55      times. To this he added many other subjects, such as the lives and times
   56      of kings of Norway and Denmark, and also of England; beside accounts of
   57      great events which have taken place in this country itself. His narratives
   58      are considered by many men of knowledge to be the most remarkable of all;
   59      because he was a man of good understanding, and so old that his birth was
   60      as far back as the year after Harald Sigurdson's fall. He wrote, as he
   61      himself says, the lives and times of the kings of Norway from the report
   62      of Od Kolson, a grandson of Hal of Sida. Od again took his information
   63      from Thorgeir Afradskol, who was an intelligent man, and so old that when
   64      Earl Hakon the Great was killed he was dwelling at Nidarnes -the same
   65      place at which King Olaf Trygvason afterwards laid the foundation of the
   66      merchant town of Nidaros (i.e., Throndhjem) which is now there. The priest
   67      Are came, when seven years old, to Haukadal to Hal Thorarinson, and was
   68      there fourteen years. Hal was a man of great knowledge and of excellent
   69      memory; and he could even remember being baptized, when he was three years
   70      old, by the priest Thanghrand, the year before Christianity was
   71      established by law in Iceland. Are was twelve years of age when Bishop
   72      Isleif died, and at his death eighty years had elapsed since the fall of
   73      Olaf Trygvason. Hal died nine years later than Bishop Isleif, and had
   74      attained nearly the age of ninety-four years. Hal had traded between the
   75      two countries, and had enjoyed intercourse with King Olaf the Saint, by
   76      which he had gained greatly in reputation, and he had become well
   77      acquainted with the kingdom of Norway. He had fixed his residence in
   78      Haukadal when he was thirty years of age, and he had dwelt there
   79      sixty-four years, as Are tells us. Teit, a son of Bishop Isleif, was
   80      fostered in the house of Hal at Haukadal, and afterwards dwelt there
   81      himself. He taught Are the priest, and gave him information about many
   82      circumstances which Are afterwards wrote down. Are also got many a piece
   83      of information from Thurid, a daughter of the gode Snorre. She was wise
   84      and intelligent, and remembered her father Snorre, who was nearly
   85      thirty-five years of age when Christianity was introduced into Iceland,
   86      and died a year after King Olaf the Saint's fall. So it is not wonderful
   87      that Are the priest had good information about ancient events both here in
   88      Iceland, and abroad, being a man anxious for information, intelligent and
   89      of excellent memory, and having besides learned much from old intelligent
   90      persons. But the songs seem to me most reliable if they are sung
   91      correctly, and judiciously interpreted.
   92      HALFDAN THE BLACK SAGA.
   93      PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
   94      Of this saga there are other versions found in "Fagrskinna" and in
   95      "Flateyjarbok". The "Flateyjarbok" version is to a great extent a copy of
   96      Snorre. The story about Halfdan's dream is found both in "Fagrskinna" and
   97      in "Flateyjarbok". The probability is that both Snorre and the author of
   98      "Fagrskinna" must have transcribed the same original text. -Ed.
   99      1. HALFDAN FIGHTS WITH GANDALF AND SIGTRYG.
  100      Halfdan was a year old when his father was killed, and his mother Asa set
  101      off immediately with him westwards to Agder, and set herself there in the
  102      kingdom which her father Harald had possessed. Halfdan grew up there, and
  103      soon became stout and strong; and, by reason of his black hair, was called
  104      Halfdan the Black. When he was eighteen years old he took his kingdom in
  105      Agder, and went immediately to Vestfold, where he divided that kingdom, as
  106      before related, with his brother Olaf. The same autumn he went with an
  107      army to Vingulmark against King Gandalf. They had many battles, and
  108      sometimes one, sometimes the other gained the victory; but at last they
  109      agreed that Halfdan should have half of Vingulmark, as his father Gudrod
  110      had had it before. Then King Halfdan proceeded to Raumarike, and subdued
  111      it. King Sigtryg, son of King Eystein, who then had his residence in
  112      Hedemark, and who had subdued Raumarike before, having heard of this, came
  113      out with his army against King Halfdan, and there was great battle, in
  114      which King Halfdan was victorious; and just as King Sigtryg and his troops
  115      were turning about to fly, an arrow struck him under the left arm, and he
  116      fell dead. Halfdan then laid the whole of Raumarike under his power. King
  117      Eystein's second son, King Sigtryg's brother, was also called Eystein, and
  118      was then king in Hedemark. As soon as Halfdan had returned to Vestfold,
  119      King Eystein went out with his army to Raumarike, and laid the whole
  120      country in subjection to him.
  121      2. BATTLE BETWEEN HALFDAN AND EYSTEIN.
  122      When King Halfdan heard of these disturbances in Raumarike, he again
  123      gathered his army together; and went out against King Eystein. A battle
  124      took place between them, and Halfdan gained the victory, and Eystein fled
  125      up to Hedemark, pursued by Halfdan. Another battle took place, in which
  126      Halfdan was again victorious; and Eystein fled northwards, up into the
  127      Dales to the herse Gudbrand. There he was strengthened with new people,
  128      and in winter he went towards Hedemark, and met Halfdan the Black upon a
  129      large island which lies in the Mjosen lake. There a great battle was
  130      fought, and many people on both sides were slain, but Halfdan won the
  131      victory. There fell Guthorm, the son of the herse Gudbrand, who was one of
  132      the finest men in the Uplands. Then Eystein fled north up the valley, and
  133      sent his relation Halvard Skalk to King Halfdan to beg for peace. On
  134      consideration of their relationship, King Halfdan gave King Eystein half
  135      of Hedemark, which he and his relations had held before; but kept to
  136      himself Thoten, and the district called Land. He likewise appropriated to
  137      himself Hadeland, and thus became a mighty king.
  138      3. HALFDAN'S MARRIAGE
  139      Halfdan the Black got a wife called Ragnhild, a daughter of Harald Gulskeg
  140      (Goldbeard), who was a king in Sogn. They had a son, to whom Harald gave
  141      his own name; and the boy was brought up in Sogn, by his mother's father,
  142      King Harald. Now when this Harald had lived out his days nearly, and was
  143      become weak, having no son, he gave his dominions to his daughter's son
  144      Harald, and gave him his title of king; and he died soon after. The same
  145      winter his daughter Ragnhild died; and the following spring the young
  146      Harald fell sick and died at ten years of age. As soon as Halfdan the
  147      Black heard of his son's death, he took the road northwards to Sogn with a
  148      great force, and was well received. He claimed the heritage and dominion
  149      after his son; and no opposition being made, he took the whole kingdom.
  150      Earl Atle Mjove (the Slender), who was a friend of King Halfdan, came to
  151      him from Gaular; and the king set him over the Sogn district, to judge in
  152      the country according to the country's laws, and collect scat upon the
  153      king's account. Thereafter King Halfdan proceeded to his kingdom in the
  154      Uplands.
  155      4. HALFDAN'S STRIFE WITH GANDALF'S SONS.
  156      In autumn, King Halfdan proceeded to Vingulmark. One night when he was
  157      there in guest quarters, it happened that about midnight a man came to him
  158      who had been on the watch on horseback, and told him a war force was come
  159      near to the house. The king instantly got up, ordered his men to arm
  160      themselves, and went out of the house and drew them up in battle order. At
  161      the same moment, Gandalf's sons, Hysing and Helsing, made their appearance
  162      with a large army. There was a great battle; but Halfdan being overpowered
  163      by the numbers of people fled to the forest, leaving many of his men on
  164      this spot. His foster-father, Olver Spake (the Wise), fell here. The
  165      people now came in swarms to King Halfdan, and he advanced to seek
  166      Gandalf's sons. They met at Eid, near Lake Oieren, and fought there.
  167      Hysing and Helsing fell, and their brother Hake saved himself by flight.
  168      King Halfdan then took possession of the whole of Vingulmark, and Hake
  169      fled to Alfheimar.
  170      5. HALFDAN'S MARRIAGE WITH HJORT'S DAUGHTER.
  171      Sigurd Hjort was the name of a king in Ringerike, who was stouter and
  172      stronger than any other man, and his equal could not be seen for a
  173      handsome appearance. His father was Helge Hvasse (the Sharp); and his
  174      mother was Aslaug, a daughter of Sigurd the worm-eyed, who again was a son
  175      of Ragnar Lodbrok. It is told of Sigurd that when he was only twelve years
  176      old he killed in single combat the berserk Hildebrand, and eleven others
  177      of his comrades; and many are the deeds of manhood told of him in a long
  178      saga about his feats. Sigurd had two children, one of whom was a daughter,
  179      called Ragnhild, then twenty years of age, and an excellent brisk girl.
  180      Her brother Guthorm was a youth. It is related in regard to Sigurd's death
  181      that he had a custom of riding out quite alone in the uninhabited forest
  182      to hunt the wild beasts that are hurtful to man, and he was always very
  183      eager at this sport. One day he rode out into the forest as usual, and
  184      when he had ridden a long way he came out at a piece of cleared land near
  185      to Hadeland. There the berserk Hake came against him with thirty men, and
  186      they fought. Sigurd Hjort fell there, after killing twelve of Hake's men;
  187      and Hake himself lost one hand, and had three other wounds. Then Hake and
  188      his men rode to Sigurd's house, where they took his daughter Ragnhild and
  189      her brother Guthorm, and carried them, with much property and valuable
  190      articles, home to Hadeland, where Hake had many great farms. He ordered a
  191      feast to be prepared, intending to hold his wedding with Ragnhild; but the
  192      time passed on account of his wounds, which healed slowly; and the berserk
  193      Hake of Hadeland had to keep his bed, on account of his wounds, all the
  194      autumn and beginning of winter. Now King Halfdan was in Hedemark at the
  195      Yule entertainments when he heard this news; and one morning early, when
  196      the king was dressed, he called to him Harek Gand, and told him to go over
  197      to Hadeland, and bring him Ragnhild, Sigurd Hjort's daughter. Harek got
  198      ready with a hundred men, and made his journey so that they came over the
  199      lake to Hake's house in the grey of the morning, and beset all the doors
  200      and stairs of the places where the house-servants slept. Then they broke
  201      into the sleeping-room where Hake slept, took Ragnhild, with her brother
  202      Guthorm, and all the goods that were there, and set fire to the
  203      house-servants' place, and burnt all the people in it. Then they covered
  204      over a magnificent waggon, placed Ragnhild and Guthorm in it, and drove
  205      down upon the ice. Hake got up and went after them a while; but when he
  206      came to the ice on the lake, he turned his sword-hilt to the ground and
  207      let himself fall upon the point, so that the sword went through him. He
  208      was buried under a mound on the banks of the lake. When King Halfdan, who
  209      was very quick of sight, saw the party returning over the frozen lake, and
  210      with a covered waggon, he knew that their errand was accomplished
  211      according to his desire. Thereupon he ordered the tables to be set out,
  212      and sent people all round in the neighbourhood to invite plenty of guests;
  213      and the same day there was a good feast which was also Halfdan's
  214      marriage-feast with Ragnhild, who became a great queen. Ragnhild's mother
  215      was Thorny, a daughter of Klakharald king in Jutland, and a sister of
  216      Thrye Dannebod who was married to the Danish king, Gorm the Old, who then
  217      ruled over the Danish dominions.
  218      6. OF RAGNHILD'S DREAM.
  219      Ragnhild, who was wise and intelligent, dreamt great dreams. She dreamt,
  220      for one, that she was standing out in her herb-garden, and she took a
  221      thorn out of her shift; but while she was holding the thorn in her hand it
  222      grew so that it became a great tree, one end of which struck itself down
  223      into the earth, and it became firmly rooted; and the other end of the tree
  224      raised itself so high in the air that she could scarcely see over it, and
  225      it became also wonderfully thick. The under part of the tree was red with
  226      blood, but the stem upwards was beautifully green and the branches white
  227      as snow. There were many and great limbs to the tree, some high up, others
  228      low down; and so vast were the tree's branches that they seemed to her to
  229      cover all Norway, and even much more.
  230      7. OF HALFDAN'S DREAM.
  231      King Halfdan never had dreams, which appeared to him an extraordinary
  232      circumstance; and he told it to a man called Thorleif Spake (the Wise),
  233      and asked him what his advice was about it. Thorleif said that what he
  234      himself did, when he wanted to have any revelation by dream, was to take
  235      his sleep in a swine-sty, and then it never failed that he had dreams. The
  236      king did so, and the following dream was revealed to him. He thought he
  237      had the most beautiful hair, which was all in ringlets; some so long as to
  238      fall upon the ground, some reaching to the middle of his legs, some to his
  239      knees, some to his loins or the middle of his sides, some to his neck, and
  240      some were only as knots springing from his head. These ringlets were of
  241      various colours; but one ringlet surpassed all the others in beauty,
  242      lustre, and size. This dream he told to Thorleif, who interpreted it thus: -There
  243      should be a great posterity from him, and his descendants should rule over
  244      countries with great, but not all with equally great, honour; but one of
  245      his race should be more celebrated than all the others. It was the opinion
  246      of people that this ringlet betokened King Olaf the Saint.
  247      King Halfdan was a wise man, a man of truth and uprightness -who made
  248      laws, observed them himself, and obliged others to observe them. And that
  249      violence should not come in place of the laws, he himself fixed the number
  250      of criminal acts in law, and the compensations, mulcts, or penalties, for
  251      each case, according to every one's birth and dignity (1).
  252      Queen Ragnhild gave birth to a son, and water was poured over him, and the
  253      name of Harald given him, and he soon grew stout and remarkably handsome.
  254      As he grew up he became very expert at all feats, and showed also a good
  255      understanding. He was much beloved by his mother, but less so by his
  256      father.
  257   ENDNOTES:
  258(1) The penalty, compensation, or manbod for every injury, due
  259     the party injured, or to his family and next of kin if the
  260     injury was the death or premeditated murder of the party,
  261     appears to have been fixed for every rank and condition,
  262     from the murder of the king down to the maiming or beating a
  263     man's cattle or his slave.  A man for whom no compensation
  264     was due was a dishonored person, or an outlaw.  It appears
  265     to have been optional with the injured party, or his kin if
  266     he had been killed, to take the mulct or compensation, or to
  267     refuse it, and wait for an opportunity of taking vengeance
  268     for the injury on the party who inflicted it, or on his kin.
  269     A part of each mulct or compensation was due to the king;
  270     and, these fines or penalties appear to have constituted a
  271     great proportion of the king's revenues, and to have been
  272     settled in the Things held in every district for
  273     administering the law with the lagman. -L.
  274      8. HALFDAN'S MEAT VANISHES AT A FEAST
  275      King Halfdan was at a Yule-feast in Hadeland, where a wonderful thing
  276      happened one Yule evening. When the great number of guests assembled were
  277      going to sit down to table, all the meat and all the ale disappeared from
  278      the table. The king sat alone very confused in mind; all the others set
  279      off, each to his home, in consternation. That the king might come to some
  280      certainty about what had occasioned this event, he ordered a Fin to be
  281      seized who was particularly knowing, and tried to force him to disclose
  282      the truth; but however much he tortured the man, he got nothing out of
  283      him. The Fin sought help particularly from Harald, the king's son, and
  284      Harald begged for mercy for him, but in vain. Then Harald let him escape
  285      against the king's will, and accompanied the man himself. On their journey
  286      they came to a place where the man's chief had a great feast, and it
  287      appears they were well received there. When they had been there until
  288      spring, the chief said, "Thy father took it much amiss that in winter I
  289      took some provisions from him, -now I will repay it to thee by a
  290      joyful piece of news: thy father is dead; and now thou shalt return home,
  291      and take possession of the whole kingdom which he had, and with it thou
  292      shalt lay the whole kingdom of Norway under thee."
  293      9. HALFDAN S DEATH.
  294      Halfdan the Black was driving from a feast in Hadeland, and it so happened
  295      that his road lay over the lake called Rand. It was in spring, and there
  296      was a great thaw. They drove across the bight called Rykinsvik, where in
  297      winter there had been a pond broken in the ice for cattle to drink at, and
  298      where the dung had fallen upon the ice the thaw had eaten it into holes.
  299      Now as the king drove over it the ice broke, and King Halfdan and many
  300      with him perished. He was then forty years old. He had been one of the
  301      most fortunate kings in respect of good seasons. The people thought so
  302      much of him, that when his death was known and his body was floated to
  303      Ringerike to bury it there, the people of most consequence from Raumarike,
  304      Vestfold, and Hedemark came to meet it. All desired to take the body with
  305      them to bury it in their own district, and they thought that those who got
  306      it would have good crops to expect. At last it was agreed to divide the
  307      body into four parts. The head was laid in a mound at Stein in Ringerike,
  308      and each of the others took his part home and laid it in a mound; and
  309      these have since been called Halfdan's Mounds.
  310      HARALD HARFAGER'S SAGA.
  311      1. HARALD'S STRIFE WITH HAKE AND HIS FATHER GANDALF.
  312      Harald (1) was but ten years old when he succeeded his father (Halfdan the
  313      Black). He became a stout, strong, and comely man, and withal prudent and
  314      manly. His mother's brother, Guthorm, was leader of the hird, at the head
  315      of the government, and commander ('hertogi') of the army. After Halfdan
  316      the Black's death, many chiefs coveted the dominions he had left. Among
  317      these King Gandalf was the first; then Hogne and Frode, sons of Eystein,
  318      king of Hedemark; and also Hogne Karuson came from Ringerike. Hake, the
  319      son of Gandalf, began with an expedition of 300 men against Vestfold,
  320      marched by the main road through some valleys, and expected to come
  321      suddenly upon King Harald; while his father Gandalf sat at home with his
  322      army, and prepared to cross over the fiord into Vestfold. When Duke
  323      Guthorm heard of this he gathered an army, and marched up the country with
  324      King Harald against Hake. They met in a valley, in which they fought a
  325      great battle, and King Harald was victorious; and there fell King Hake and
  326      most of his people. The place has since been called Hakadale. Then King
  327      Harald and Duke Guthorm turned back, but they found King Gandalf had come
  328      to Vestfold. The two armies marched against each other, and met, and had a
  329      great battle; and it ended in King Gandalf flying, after leaving most of
  330      his men dead on the spot, and in that state he came back to his kingdom.
  331      Now when the sons of King Eystein in Hedemark heard the news, they
  332      expected the war would come upon them, and they sent a message to Hogne
  333      Karuson and to Herse Gudbrand, and appointed a meeting with them at
  334      Ringsaker in Hedemark.
  335   ENDNOTES: (1) The first twenty chapters of this saga refer to Harald's
  336     youth and his conquest of Norway.  This portion of the saga
  337     is of great importance to the Icelanders, as the settlement
  338     of their Isle was a result of Harald's wars.  The second
  339     part of the saga (chaps. 21-46) treats of the disputes
  340     between Harald's sons, of the jarls of Orkney, and of the
  341     jarls of More.  With this saga we enter the domain of
  342     history. -Ed.
  343      2. KING HARALD OVERCOMES FIVE KINGS.
  344      After the battle King Harald and Guthorm turned back, and went with all
  345      the men they could gather through the forests towards the Uplands. They
  346      found out where the Upland kings had appointed their meeting-place, and
  347      came there about the time of midnight, without the watchmen observing them
  348      until their army was before the door of the house in which Hogne Karuson
  349      was, as well as that in which Gudbrand slept. They set fire to both
  350      houses; but King Eystein's two sons slipped out with their men, and fought
  351      for a while, until both Hogne and Frode fell. After the fall of these four
  352      chiefs, King Harald, by his relation Guthorm's success and powers, subdued
  353      Hedemark, Ringerike, Gudbrandsdal, Hadeland, Thoten, Raumarike, and the
  354      whole northern part of Vingulmark. King Harald and Guthorm had thereafter
  355      war with King Gandalf, and fought several battles with him; and in the
  356      last of them King Gandalf was slain, and King Harald took the whole of his
  357      kingdom as far south as the river Raum.
  358      3. OF GYDA, DAUGHTER OF EIRIE.
  359      King Harald sent his men to a girl called Gyda, daughter of King Eirik of
  360      Hordaland, who was brought up as foster-child in the house of a great
  361      bonde in Valdres. The king wanted her for his concubine; for she was a
  362      remarkably handsome girl, but of high spirit withal. Now when the
  363      messengers came there, and delivered their errand to the girl, she
  364      answered, that she would not throw herself away even to take a king for
  365      her husband, who had no greater kingdom to rule over than a few districts.
  366      "And methinks," said she, "it is wonderful that no king here in Norway
  367      will make the whole country subject to him, in the same way as Gorm the
  368      Old did in Denmark, or Eirik at Upsala." The messengers thought her answer
  369      was dreadfully haughty, and asked what she thought would come of such an
  370      answer; for Harald was so mighty a man, that his invitation was good
  371      enough for her. But although she had replied to their errand differently
  372      from what they wished, they saw no chance, on this occasion, of taking her
  373      with them against her will; so they prepared to return. When they were
  374      ready, and the people followed them out, Gyda said to the messengers, "Now
  375      tell to King Harald these my words. I will only agree to be his lawful
  376      wife upon the condition that he shall first, for my sake, subject to
  377      himself the whole of Norway, so that he may rule over that kingdom as
  378      freely and fully as King Eirik over the Swedish dominions, or King Gorm
  379      over Denmark; for only then, methinks, can he be called the king of a
  380      people."
  381      4. KING HARALD'S VOW.
  382      Now came the messengers back to King Harald, bringing him the words of the
  383      girl, and saying she was so bold and foolish that she well deserved that
  384      the king should send a greater troop of people for her, and inflict on her
  385      some disgrace. Then answered the king, "This girl has not spoken or done
  386      so much amiss that she should be punished, but rather she should be
  387      thanked for her words. She has reminded me," said he, "of something which
  388      it appears to me wonderful I did not think of before. And now," added he,
  389      "I make the solemn vow, and take God to witness, who made me and rules
  390      over all things, that never shall I clip or comb my hair until I have
  391      subdued the whole of Norway, with scat (1), and duties, and domains; or if
  392      not, have died in the attempt." Guthorm thanked the king warmly for his
  393      vow; adding, that it was royal work to fulfil royal words.
  394   ENDNOTES: (1) Scat was a land-tax, paid to the king in money, malt,
  395     meal, or flesh-meat, from all lands, and was adjudged by the Thing
  396     to each king upon his accession, and being proposed and
  397     accepted as king.
  398      5. THE BATTLE IN ORKADAL.
  399      After this the two relations gather together a great force, and prepare
  400      for an expedition to the Uplands, and northwards up the valley
  401      (Gudbrandsdal), and north over Dovrefjeld; and when the king came down to
  402      the inhabited land he ordered all the men to be killed, and everything
  403      wide around to be delivered to the flames. And when the people came to
  404      know this, they fled every one where he could; some down the country to
  405      Orkadal, some to Gaulardal, some to the forests. But some begged for
  406      peace, and obtained it, on condition of joining the king and becoming his
  407      men. He met no opposition until he came to Orkadal. There a crowd of
  408      people had assembled, and he had his first battle with a king called
  409      Gryting. Harald won the victory, and King Gryting was made prisoner, and
  410      most of his people killed. He took service himself under the king, and
  411      swore fidelity to him. Thereafter all the people in Orkadal district went
  412      under King Harald, and became his men.
  413      6. KING HARALD S LAWS FOR LAND PROPERTY.
  414      King Harald made this law over all the lands he conquered, that all the
  415      udal property should belong to him; and that the bondes, both great and
  416      small, should pay him land dues for their possessions. Over every district
  417      he set an earl to judge according to the law of the land and to justice,
  418      and also to collect the land dues and the fines; and for this each earl
  419      received a third part of the dues, and services, and fines, for the
  420      support of his table and other expenses. Each earl had under him four or
  421      more herses, each of whom had an estate of twenty marks yearly income
  422      bestowed on him and was bound to support twenty men-at-arms, and the earl
  423      sixty men, at their own expenses. The king had increased the land dues and
  424      burdens so much, that each of his earls had greater power and income than
  425      the kings had before; and when that became known at Throndhjem, many great
  426      men joined the king and took his service.
  427      7. BATTLE IN GAULARDAL.
  428      It is told that Earl Hakon Grjotgardson came to King Harald from Yrjar,
  429      and brought a great crowd of men to his service. Then King Harald went
  430      into Gaulardal, and had a great battle, in which he slew two kings, and
  431      conquered their dominions; and these were Gaulardal district and Strind
  432      district. He gave Earl Hakon Strind district to rule over as earl. King
  433      Harald then proceeded to Stjoradal, and had a third battle, in which he
  434      gained the victory, and took that district also. There upon the Throndhjem
  435      people assembled, and four kings met together with their troops. The one
  436      ruled over Veradal, the second over Skaun, third over the Sparbyggja
  437      district, and the fourth over Eyin Idre (Inderoen); and this latter had
  438      also Eyna district. These four kings marched with their men against King
  439      Harald, but he won the battle; and some of these kings fell, and some
  440      fled. In all, King Harald fought at the least eight battles, and slew
  441      eight kings, in the Throndhjem district, and laid the whole of it under
  442      him.
  443      8. HARALD SEIZES NAUMUDAL DISTRICT.
  444      North in Naumudal were two brothers, kings, -Herlaug and Hrollaug;
  445      and they had been for three summers raising a mound or tomb of stone and
  446      lime and of wood. Just as the work was finished, the brothers got the news
  447      that King Harald was coming upon them with his army. Then King Herlaug had
  448      a great quantity of meat and drink brought into the mound, and went into
  449      it himself, with eleven companions, and ordered the mound to be covered
  450      up. King Hrollaug, on the contrary, went upon the summit of the mound, on
  451      which the kings were wont to sit, and made a throne to be erected, upon
  452      which he seated himself. Then he ordered feather-beds to be laid upon the
  453      bench below, on which the earls were wont to be seated, and threw himself
  454      down from his high seat or throne into the earl's seat, giving himself the
  455      title of earl. Now Hrollaug went to meet King Harald, gave up to him his
  456      whole kingdom, offered to enter into his service, and told him his whole
  457      proceeding. Then took King Harald a sword, fastened it to Hrollaug's belt,
  458      bound a shield to his neck, and made him thereupon an earl, and led him to
  459      his earl's seat; and therewith gave him the district Naumudal, and set him
  460      as earl over it ((A.D. 866)). (1)
  461   ENDNOTES: (1) Before writing was in general use, this symbolical way of
  462     performing all important legal acts appears to have entered
  463     into the jurisprudence of all savage nations; and according
  464     to Gibbon, chap. 44, "the jurisprudence of the first Romans
  465     exhibited the scenes of a pantomime; the words were adapted
  466     to the gestures, and the slightest error or neglect in the
  467     forms of proceeding was sufficient to annul the substance of
  468     the fairest claims." -Ed.
  469      9. KING HARALD'S HOME AFFAIRS.
  470      King Harald then returned to Throndhjem, where he dwelt during the winter,
  471      and always afterwards called it his home. He fixed here his head
  472      residence, which is called Lade. This winter he took to wife Asa, a
  473      daughter of Earl Hakon Grjotgardson, who then stood in great favour and
  474      honour with the king. In spring the king fitted out his ships. In winter
  475      he had caused a great frigate (a dragon) to be built, and had it
  476      fitted-out in the most splendid way, and brought his house-troops and his
  477      berserks on board. The forecastle men were picked men, for they had the
  478      king's banner. From the stem to the mid-hold was called rausn, or the
  479      fore-defence; and there were the berserks. Such men only were received
  480      into King Harald's house-troop as were remarkable for strength, courage,
  481      and all kinds of dexterity; and they alone got place in his ship, for he
  482      had a good choice of house-troops from the best men of every district.
  483      King Harald had a great army, many large ships, and many men of might
  484      followed him. Hornklofe, in his poem called "Glymdrapa", tells of this;
  485      and also that King Harald had a battle with the people of Orkadal, at
  486      Opdal forest, before he went upon this expedition.
  487     "O'er the broad heath the bowstrings twang,
  488     While high in air the arrows sang.
  489     The iron shower drives to flight
  490     The foeman from the bloody fight.
  491     The warder of great Odin's shrine,
  492     The fair-haired son of Odin's line,
  493     Raises the voice which gives the cheer,
  494     First in the track of wolf or bear.
  495     His master voice drives them along
  496     To Hel -a destined, trembling throng;
  497     And Nokve's ship, with glancing sides,
  498     Must fly to the wild ocean's tides. -
  499     Must fly before the king who leads
  500     Norse axe-men on their ocean steeds."
  501      10. BATTLE AT SOLSKEL
  502      King Harald moved out with his army from Throndhjem, and went southwards
  503      to More. Hunthiof was the name of the king who ruled over the district of
  504      More. Solve Klofe was the name of his son, and both were great warriors.
  505      King Nokve, who ruled over Raumsdal, was the brother of Solve's mother.
  506      Those chiefs gathered a great force when they heard of King Harald, and
  507      came against him. They met at Solskel, and there was a great battle, which
  508      was gained by King Harald (A.D. 867). Hornklofe tells of this battle: -
  509     "Thus did the hero known to fame,
  510     The leader of the shields, whose name
  511     Strikes every heart with dire dismay,
  512     Launch forth his war-ships to the fray.
  513     Two kings he fought; but little strife
  514     Was needed to cut short their life.
  515     A clang of arms by the sea-shore, -
  516     And the shields' sound was heard no more."
  517      The two kings were slain, but Solve escaped by flight; and King Harald
  518      laid both districts under his power. He stayed here long in summer to
  519      establish law and order for the country people, and set men to rule them,
  520      and keep them faithful to him; and in autumn he prepared to return
  521      northwards to Throndhjem. Ragnvald Earl of More, a son of Eystein Glumra,
  522      had the summer before become one of Harald's men; and the king set him as
  523      chief over these two districts, North More and Raumsdal; strengthened him
  524      both with men of might and bondes, and gave him the help of ships to
  525      defend the coast against enemies. He was called Ragnvald the Mighty, or
  526      the Wise; and people say both names suited him well. King Harald came back
  527      to Throndhjem about winter.
  528      11. FALL OF KINGS ARNVID AND AUDBJORN.
  529      The following spring (A.D. 868) King Harald raised a great force in
  530      Throndhjem, and gave out that he would proceed to South More. Solve Klofe
  531      had passed the winter in his ships of war, plundering in North More, and
  532      had killed many of King Harald's men; pillaging some places, burning
  533      others, and making great ravage; but sometimes he had been, during the
  534      winter, with his friend King Arnvid in South More. Now when he heard that
  535      King Harald was come with ships and a great army, he gathered people, and
  536      was strong in men-at-arms; for many thought they had to take vengeance of
  537      King Harald. Solve Klofe went southwards to Firdafylke (the Fjord
  538      district), which King Audbjorn ruled over, to ask him to help, and join
  539      his force to King Arnvid's and his own. "For," said he, "it is now clear
  540      that we all have but one course to take; and that is to rise, all as one
  541      man, against King Harald, for we have strength enough, and fate must
  542      decide the victory; for as to the other condition of becoming his
  543      servants, that is no condition for us, who are not less noble than Harald.
  544      My father thought it better to fall in battle for his kingdom, than to go
  545      willingly into King Harald's service, or not to abide the chance of
  546      weapons like the Naumudal kings." King Solve's speech was such that King
  547      Audbjorn promised his help, and gathered a great force together and went
  548      with it to King Arnvid, and they had a great army. Now, they got news that
  549      King Harald was come from the north, and they met within Solskel. And it
  550      was the custom to lash the ships together, stem to stem; so it was done
  551      now. King Harald laid his ship against King Arnvid's, and there was the
  552      sharpest fight, and many men fell on both sides. At last King Harald was
  553      raging with anger, and went forward to the fore-deck, and slew so
  554      dreadfully that all the forecastle men of Arnvid's ship were driven aft of
  555      the mast, and some fell. Thereupon Harald boarded the ship, and King
  556      Arnvid's men tried to save themselves by flight, and he himself was slain
  557      in his ship. King Audbjorn also fell; but Solve fled. So says Hornklofe: -
  558     "Against the hero's shield in vain
  559     The arrow-storm fierce pours its rain.
  560     The king stands on the blood-stained deck,
  561     Trampling on many a stout foe's neck;
  562     And high above the dinning stound
  563     Of helm and axe, and ringing sound
  564     Of blade and shield, and raven's cry,
  565     Is heard his shout of 'Victory!'"
  566      Of King Harald's men, fell his earls Asgaut and Asbjorn, together with his
  567      brothers-in-law, Grjotgard and Herlaug, the sons of Earl Hakon of Lade.
  568      Solve became afterwards a great sea-king, and often did great damage in
  569      King Harald's dominions.
  570      12. KING VEMUND BURNT TO DEATH.
  571      After this battle (A.D. 868) King Harald subdued South More; but Vemund,
  572      King Audbjorn's brother, still had Firdafylke. It was now late in harvest,
  573      and King Harald's men gave him the counsel not to proceed south-wards
  574      round Stad. Then King Harald set Earl Ragnvald over South and North More
  575      and also Raumsdal, and he had many people about him. King Harald returned
  576      to Throndhjem. The same winter (A.D. 869) Ragnvald went over Eid, and
  577      southwards to the Fjord district. There he heard news of King Vemund, and
  578      came by night to a place called Naustdal, where King Vemund was living in
  579      guest-quarters. Earl Ragnvald surrounded the house in which they were
  580      quartered, and burnt the king in it, together with ninety men. The came
  581      Berdlukare to Earl Ragnvald with a complete armed long-ship, and they both
  582      returned to More. The earl took all the ships Vemund had, and all the
  583      goods he could get hold of. Berdlukare proceeded north to Throndhjem to
  584      King Harald, and became his man; and dreadful berserk he was.
  585      13. DEATH OF EARLS HAKON, AND ATLE MJOVE.
  586      The following spring (A.D. 869) King Harald went southwards with his fleet
  587      along the coast, and subdued Firdafylke. Then he sailed eastward along the
  588      land until he came to Vik; but he left Earl Hakon Grjotgardson behind, and
  589      set him over the Fjord district. Earl Hakon sent word to Earl Atle Mjove
  590      that he should leave Sogn district, and be earl over Gaular district, as
  591      he had been before, alleging that King Harald had given Sogn district to
  592      him. Earl Atle sent word that he would keep both Sogn district and Gaular
  593      district, until he met King Harald. The two earls quarreled about this so
  594      long, that both gathered troops. They met at Fialar, in Stavanger fiord,
  595      and had a great battle, in which Earl Hakon fell, and Earl Atle got a
  596      mortal wound, and his men carried him to the island of Atley, where he
  597      died. So says Eyvind Skaldaspiller: -
  598     "He who stood a rooted oak,
  599     Unshaken by the swordsman's stroke,
  600     Amidst the whiz of arrows slain,
  601     Has fallen upon Fjalar's plain.
  602     There, by the ocean's rocky shore,
  603     The waves are stained with the red gore
  604     Of stout Earl Hakon Grjotgard's son,
  605     And of brave warriors many a one."
  606      14. HARALD AND THE SWEDISH KING EIRIK.
  607      King Harald came with his fleet eastward to Viken and landed at Tunsberg,
  608      which was then a trading town. He had then been four years in Throndhjem,
  609      and in all that time had not been in Viken. Here he heard the news that
  610      Eirik Eymundson, king of Sweden, had laid under him Vermaland, and was
  611      taking scat or land-tax from all the forest settlers; and also that he
  612      called the whole country north to Svinasund, and west along the sea, West
  613      Gautland; and which altogether he reckoned to his kingdom, and took
  614      land-tax from it. Over this country he had set an earl, by name Hrane
  615      Gauzke, who had the earldom between Svinasund and the Gaut river, and was
  616      a mighty earl. And it was told to King Harald that the Swedish king said
  617      he would not rest until he had as great a kingdom in Viken as Sigurd
  618      Hring, or his son Ragnar Lodbrok, had possessed; and that was Raumarike
  619      and Vestfold, all the way to the isle Grenmar, and also Vingulmark, and
  620      all that lay south of it. In all these districts many chiefs, and many
  621      other people, had given obedience to the Swedish king. King Harald was
  622      very angry at this, and summoned the bondes to a Thing at Fold, where he
  623      laid an accusation against them for treason towards him. Some bondes
  624      defended themselves from the accusation, some paid fines, some were
  625      punished. He went thus through the whole district during the summer, and
  626      in harvest he did the same in Raumarike, and laid the two districts under
  627      his power. Towards winter he heard that Eirik king of Sweden was, with his
  628      court, going about in Vermaland in guest-quarters.
  629      15. HARALD AT A FEAST OF THE PEASANT AKE.
  630      King Harald takes his way across the Eid forest eastward, and comes out in
  631      Vermaland, where he also orders feasts to be prepared for himself. There
  632      was a man by name Ake, who was the greatest of the bondes of Vermaland,
  633      very rich, and at that time very aged. He sent men to King Harald, and
  634      invited him to a feast, and the king promised to come on the day
  635      appointed. Ake invited also King Eirik to a feast, and appointed the same
  636      day. Ake had a great feasting hall, but it was old; and he made a new
  637      hall, not less than the old one, and had it ornamented in the most
  638      splendid way. The new hall he had hung with new hangings, but the old had
  639      only its old ornaments. Now when the kings came to the feast, King Eirik
  640      with his court was taken into the old hall; but Harald with his followers
  641      into the new. The same difference was in all the table furniture, and King
  642      Eirik and his men had the old-fashioned vessels and horns, but all gilded
  643      and splendid; while King Harald and his men had entirely new vessels and
  644      horns adorned with gold, all with carved figures, and shining like glass;
  645      and both companies had the best of liquor. Ake the bonde had formerly been
  646      King Halfdan the Black s man. Now when daylight came, and the feast was
  647      quite ended, and the kings made themselves ready for their journey, and
  648      the horses were saddled, came Ake before King Harald, leading in his hand
  649      his son Ubbe, a boy of twelve years of age, and said, "If the goodwill I
  650      have shown to thee, sire, in my feast, be worth thy friendship, show it
  651      hereafter to my son. I give him to thee now for thy service." The king
  652      thanked him with many agreeable words for his friendly entertainment, and
  653      promised him his full friendship in return. Then Ake brought out great
  654      presents, which he gave to the king, and they gave each other thereafter
  655      the parting kiss. Ake went next to the Swedish king, who was dressed and
  656      ready for the road, but not in the best humour. Ake gave to him also good
  657      and valuable gifts; but the king answered only with few words, and mounted
  658      his horse. Ake followed the king on the road and talked with him. The road
  659      led through a wood which was near to the house; and when Ake came to the
  660      wood, the king said to him, "How was it that thou madest such a difference
  661      between me and King Harald as to give him the best of everything, although
  662      thou knowest thou art my man?" "I think" answered Ake, "that there failed
  663      in it nothing, king, either to you or to your attendants, in friendly
  664      entertainment at this feast. But that all the utensils for your drinking
  665      were old, was because you are now old; but King Harald is in the bloom of
  666      youth, and therefore I gave him the new things. And as to my being thy
  667      man, thou art just as much my man." On this the king out with his sword,
  668      and gave Ake his deathwound. King Harald was ready now also to mount his
  669      horse, and desired that Ake should be called. The people went to seek him;
  670      and some ran up the road that King Eirik had taken, and found Ake there
  671      dead. They came back, and told the news to King Harald, and he bids his
  672      men to be up, and avenge Ake the bonde. And away rode he and his men the
  673      way King Eirik had taken, until they came in sight of each other. Each for
  674      himself rode as hard as he could, until Eirik came into the wood which
  675      divides Gautland and Vermaland. There King Harald wheels about, and
  676      returns to Vermaland, and lays the country under him, and kills King
  677      Eirik's men wheresoever he can find them. In winter King Harald returned
  678      to Raumarike, and dwelt there a while.
  679      16. HARALD'S JOURNEY TO TUNSBERG.
  680      King Harald went out in winter to his ships at Tunsberg, rigged them, and
  681      sailed away eastward over the fiord, and subjected all Vingulmark to his
  682      dominion. All winter he was out with his ships, and marauded in Ranrike;
  683      so says Thorbjorn Hornklofe: -
  684     "The Norseman's king is on the sea,
  685     Tho' bitter wintry cold it be. -
  686     On the wild waves his Yule keeps he.
  687     When our brisk king can get his way,
  688     He'll no more by the fireside stay
  689     Than the young sun; he makes us play
  690     The game of the bright sun-god Frey.
  691     But the soft Swede loves well the fire
  692     The well-stuffed couch, the doway glove,
  693     And from the hearth-seat will not move."
  694      The Gautlanders gathered people together all over the country.
  695      17. THE BATTLE IN GAUTLAND.
  696      In spring, when the ice was breaking up, the Gautlanders drove stakes into
  697      the Gaut river to hinder King Harald with his ships from coming to the
  698      land. But King Harald laid his ships alongside the stakes, and plundered
  699      the country, and burnt all around; so says Horn klofe: -
  700     "The king who finds a dainty feast,
  701     For battle-bird and prowling beast,
  702     Has won in war the southern land
  703     That lies along the ocean's strand.
  704     The leader of the helmets, he
  705     Who leads his ships o'er the dark sea,
  706     Harald, whose high-rigged masts appear
  707     Like antlered fronts of the wild deer,
  708     Has laid his ships close alongside
  709     Of the foe's piles with daring pride."
  710      Afterwards the Gautlanders came down to the strand with a great army, and
  711      gave battle to King Harald, and great was the fall of men. But it was King
  712      Harald who gained the day. Thus says Hornklofe: -
  713     "Whistles the battle-axe in its swing
  714     O'er head the whizzing javelins sing,
  715     Helmet and shield and hauberk ring;
  716     The air-song of the lance is loud,
  717     The arrows pipe in darkening cloud;
  718     Through helm and mail the foemen feel
  719     The blue edge of our king's good steel
  720     Who can withstand our gallant king?
  721     The Gautland men their flight must wing."
  722      18. HRANE GAUZKE'S DEATH.
  723      King Harald went far and wide through Gautland, and many were the battles
  724      he fought there on both sides of the river, and in general he was
  725      victorious. In one of these battles fell Hrane Gauzke; and then the king
  726      took his whole land north of the river and west of the Veneren, and also
  727      Vermaland. And after he turned back there-from, he set Duke Guthorm as
  728      chief to defend the country, and left a great force with him. King Harald
  729      himself went first to the Uplands, where he remained a while, and then
  730      proceeded northwards over the Dovrefjeld to Throndhjem, where he dwelt for
  731      a long time. Harald began to have children. By Asa he had four sons. The
  732      eldest was Guthorm. Halfdan the Black and Halfdan the White were twins.
  733      Sigfrod was the fourth. They were all brought up in Throndhjem with all
  734      honour.
  735      19. BATTLE IN HAFERSFJORD.
  736      News came in from the south land that the people of Hordaland and
  737      Rogaland, Agder and Thelemark, were gathering, and bringing together ships
  738      and weapons, and a great body of men. The leaders of this were Eirik king
  739      of Hordaland; Sulke king of Rogaland, and his brother Earl Sote: Kjotve
  740      the Rich, king of Agder, and his son Thor Haklang; and from Thelemark two
  741      brothers, Hroald Hryg and Had the Hard. Now when Harald got certain news
  742      of this, he assembled his forces, set his ships on the water, made himself
  743      ready with his men, and set out southwards along the coast, gathering many
  744      people from every district. King Eirik heard of this when he same south of
  745      Stad; and having assembled all the men he could expect, he proceeded
  746      southwards to meet the force which he knew was coming to his help from the
  747      east. The whole met together north of Jadar, and went into Hafersfjord,
  748      where King Harald was waiting with his forces. A great battle began, which
  749      was both hard and long; but at last King Harald gained the day. There King
  750      Eirik fell, and King Sulke, with his brother Earl Sote. Thor Haklang, who
  751      was a great berserk, had laid his ship against King Harald's, and there
  752      was above all measure a desperate attack, until Thor Haklang fell, and his
  753      whole ship was cleared of men. Then King Kjotve fled to a little isle
  754      outside, on which there was a good place of strength. Thereafter all his
  755      men fled, some to their ships, some up to the land; and the latter ran
  756      southwards over the country of Jadar. So says Hornklofe, viz.: -
  757     "Has the news reached you? -have you heard
  758     Of the great fight at Hafersfjord,
  759     Between our noble king brave Harald
  760     And King Kjotve rich in gold?
  761     The foeman came from out the East,
  762     Keen for the fray as for a feast.
  763     A gallant sight it was to see
  764     Their fleet sweep o'er the dark-blue sea:
  765     Each war-ship, with its threatening throat
  766     Of dragon fierce or ravenous brute (1)
  767     Grim gaping from the prow; its wales
  768     Glittering with burnished shields, (2) like scales
  769     Its crew of udal men of war,
  770     Whose snow-white targets shone from far
  771     And many a mailed spearman stout
  772     From the West countries round about,
  773     English and Scotch, a foreign host,
  774     And swordamen from the far French coast.
  775     And as the foemen's ships drew near,
  776     The dreadful din you well might hear
  777     Savage berserks roaring mad,
  778     And champions fierce in wolf-skins clad, (3)
  779     Howling like wolves; and clanking jar
  780     Of many a mail-clad man of war.
  781     Thus the foe came; but our brave king
  782     Taught them to fly as fast again.
  783     For when he saw their force come o'er,
  784     He launched his war-ships from the shore.
  785     On the deep sea he launched his fleet
  786     And boldly rowed the foe to meet.
  787     Fierce was the shock, and loud the clang
  788     Of shields, until the fierce Haklang,
  789     The foeman's famous berserk, fell.
  790     Then from our men burst forth the yell
  791     Of victory, and the King of Gold
  792     Could not withstand our Harald bold,
  793     But fled before his flaky locks
  794     For shelter to the island rocks.
  795     All in the bottom of the ships
  796     The wounded lay, in ghastly heaps;
  797     Backs up and faces down they lay
  798     Under the row-seats stowed away;
  799     And many a warrior's shield, I ween
  800     Might on the warrior's back be seen,
  801     To shield him as he fled amain
  802     From the fierce stone-storm's pelting rain.
  803     The mountain-folk, as I've heard say,
  804     Ne'er stopped as they ran from the fray,
  805     Till they had crossed the Jadar sea,
  806     And reached their homes -so keen each soul
  807     To drown his fright in the mead bowl."
  808   ENDNOTES: (1) The war-ships were called dragons, from being decorated
  809     with the head of a dragon, serpent, or other wild animal; and the
  810     word "draco" was adopted in the Latin of the Middle Ages to
  811     denote a ship of war of the larger class.  The snekke was
  812     the cutter or smaller war-ship. -L.
  813(2) The shields were hung over the side-rails of the ships. -L.
  814(3) The wolf-skin pelts were nearly as good as armour against
  815     the sword.
  816      20. HARALD SUPREME SOVEREIGN IN NORWAY.
  817      After this battle King Harald met no opposition in Norway, for all his
  818      opponents and greatest enemies were cut off. But some, and they were a
  819      great multitude, fled out of the country, and thereby great districts were
  820      peopled. Jemtaland and Helsingjaland were peopled then, although some
  821      Norwegians had already set up their habitation there. In the discontent
  822      that King Harald seized on the lands of Norway, the out-countries of
  823      Iceland and the Farey Isles were discovered and peopled. The Northmen had
  824      also a great resort to Hjaltland (Shetland Isles) and many men left
  825      Norway, flying the country on account of King Harald, and went on viking
  826      cruises into the West sea. In winter they were in the Orkney Islands and
  827      Hebrides; but marauded in summer in Norway, and did great damage. Many,
  828      however, were the mighty men who took service under King Harald, and
  829      became his men, and dwelt in the land with him.
  830      21. HARALD'S MARRIAGE AND HIS CHILDREN.
  831      When King Harald had now become sole king over all Norway, he remembered
  832      what that proud girl had said to him; so he sent men to her, and had her
  833      brought to him, and took her to his bed. And these were their children:
  834      Alof -she was the eldest; then was their son Hrorek; then Sigtryg,
  835      Frode, and Thorgils. King Harald had many wives and many children. Among
  836      them he had one wife, who was called Ragnhild the Mighty, a daughter of
  837      King Eirik, from Jutland; and by her he had a son, Eirik Blood-axe. He was
  838      also married to Svanhild, a daughter of Earl Eystein; and their sons were
  839      Olaf Geirstadaalf, Bjorn and Ragnar Rykkil. Lastly, King Harald married
  840      Ashild, a daughter of Hring Dagson, up in Ringerike; and their children
  841      were, Dag, Hring, Gudrod Skiria, and Ingigerd. It is told that King Harald
  842      put away nine wives when he married Ragnhild the Mighty. So says
  843      Hornklofe: -
  844     "Harald, of noblest race the head,
  845     A Danish wife took to his bed;
  846     And out of doors nine wives he thrust, -
  847     The mothers of the princes first.
  848     Who 'mong Holmrygians hold command,
  849     And those who rule in Hordaland.
  850     And then he packed from out the place
  851     The children born of Holge's race."
  852      King Harald's children were all fostered and brought up by their relations
  853      on the mother's side. Guthorm the Duke had poured water over King Harald's
  854      eldest son and had given him his own name. He set the child upon his knee,
  855      and was his foster-father, and took him with himself eastward to Viken,
  856      and there he was brought up in the house of Guthorm. Guthorm ruled the
  857      whole land in Viken and the Uplands, when King Harald was absent.
  858      22. KING HARALD'S VOYAGE TO THE WEST.
  859      King Harald heard that the vikings, who were in the West sea in winter,
  860      plundered far and wide in the middle part of Norway; and therefore every
  861      summer he made an expedition to search the isles and out-skerries (1) on
  862      the coast. Wheresoever the vikings heard of him they all took to flight,
  863      and most of them out into the open ocean. At last the king grew weary of
  864      this work, and therefore one summer he sailed with his fleet right out
  865      into the West sea. First he came to Hjaltland (Shetland), and he slew all
  866      the vikings who could not save themselves by flight. Then King Harald
  867      sailed southwards, to the Orkney Islands, and cleared them all of vikings.
  868      Thereafter he proceeded to the Sudreys (Hebrides), plundered there, and
  869      slew many vikings who formerly had had men-at-arms under them. Many a
  870      battle was fought, and King Harald was always victorious. He then
  871      plundered far and wide in Scotland itself, and had a battle there. When he
  872      was come westward as far as the Isle of Man, the report of his exploits on
  873      the land had gone before him; for all the inhabitants had fled over to
  874      Scotland, and the island was left entirely bare both of people and goods,
  875      so that King Harald and his men made no booty when they landed. So says
  876      Hornklofe: -
  877     "The wise, the noble king, great
  878     Whose hand so freely scatters gold,
  879     Led many a northern shield to war
  880     Against the town upon the shore.
  881     The wolves soon gathered on the sand
  882     Of that sea-shore; for Harald's hand
  883     The Scottish army drove away,
  884     And on the coast left wolves a prey."
  885      In this war fell Ivar, a son of Ragnvald, Earl of More; and King Harald
  886      gave Ragnvald, as a compensation for the loss, the Orkney and Shetland
  887      isles, when he sailed from the West; but Ragnvald immediately gave both
  888      these countries to his brother Sigurd, who remained behind them; and King
  889      Harald, before sailing eastward, gave Sigurd the earldom of them.
  890      Thorstein the Red, a son of Olaf the White and of Aud the Wealthy, entered
  891      into partnership with him; and after plundering in Scotland, they subdued
  892      Caithness and Sutherland, as far as Ekkjalsbakke. Earl Sigurd killed
  893      Melbridge Tooth, a Scotch earl, and hung his head to his stirrup-leather;
  894      but the calf of his leg were scratched by the teeth, which were sticking
  895      out from the head, and the wound caused inflammation in his leg, of which
  896      the earl died, and he was laid in a mound at Ekkjalsbakke. His son Guthorm
  897      ruled over these countries for about a year thereafter, and died without
  898      children. Many vikings, both Danes and Northmen, set themselves down then
  899      in those countries.
  900   ENDNOTES: (1) Skerries are the uninhabited dry or halt-tide rocks of a
  901     coast. -L.
  902      23. HARALD HAS HIS HAIR CLIPPED.
  903      After King Harald had subdued the whole land, he was one day at a feast in
  904      More, given by Earl Ragnvald. Then King Harald went into a bath, and had
  905      his hair dressed. Earl Ragnvald now cut his hair, which had been uncut and
  906      uncombed for ten years; and therefore the king had been called Lufa (i.e.,
  907      with rough matted hair). But then Earl Ragnvald gave him the
  908      distinguishing name -Harald Harfager (i.e., fair hair); and all who
  909      saw him agreed that there was the greatest truth in the surname, for he
  910      had the most beautiful and abundant head of hair.
  911      24. ROLF GANGER DRIVEN INTO BANISHMENT.
  912      Earl Ragnvald was King Harald's dearest friend, and the king had the
  913      greatest regard for him. He was married to Hild, a daughter of Rolf Nefia,
  914      and their sons were Rolf and Thorer. Earl Ragnvald had also three sons by
  915      concubines, -the one called Hallad, the second Einar, the third
  916      Hrollaug; and all three were grown men when their brothers born in
  917      marriage were still children Rolf became a great viking, and was of so
  918      stout a growth that no horse could carry him, and wheresoever he went he
  919      must go on foot; and therefore he was called Rolf Ganger. He plundered
  920      much in the East sea. One summer, as he was coming from the eastward on a
  921      viking's expedition to the coast of Viken, he landed there and made a
  922      cattle foray. As King Harald happened, just at that time, to be in Viken,
  923      he heard of it, and was in a great rage; for he had forbid, by the
  924      greatest punishment, the plundering within the bounds of the country. The
  925      king assembled a Thing, and had Rolf declared an outlaw over all Norway.
  926      When Rolf's mother, Hild heard of it she hastened to the king, and
  927      entreated peace for Rolf; but the king was so enraged that here entreaty
  928      was of no avail. Then Hild spake these lines: -
  929     "Think'st thou, King Harald, in thy anger,
  930     To drive away my brave Rolf Ganger
  931     Like a mad wolf, from out the land?
  932     Why, Harald, raise thy mighty hand?
  933     Why banish Nefia's gallant name-son,
  934     The brother of brave udal-men?
  935     Why is thy cruelty so fell?
  936     Bethink thee, monarch, it is ill
  937     With such a wolf at wolf to play,
  938     Who, driven to the wild woods away
  939     May make the king's best deer his prey."
  940      Rolf Ganger went afterwards over sea to the West to the Hebrides, or
  941      Sudreys; and at last farther west to Valland, where he plundered and
  942      subdued for himself a great earldom, which he peopled with Northmen, from
  943      which that land is called Normandy. Rolf Ganger's son was William, father
  944      to Richard, and grandfather to another Richard, who was the father of
  945      Robert Longspear, and grandfather of William the Bastard, from whom all
  946      the following English kings are descended. From Rolf Ganger also are
  947      descended the earls in Normandy. Queen Ragnhild the Mighty lived three
  948      years after she came to Norway; and, after her death, her son and King
  949      Harald's was taken to the herse Thorer Hroaldson, and Eirik was fostered
  950      by him.
  951      25. OF THE FIN SVASE AND KING HARALD.
  952      King Harald, one winter, went about in guest-quarters in the Uplands, and
  953      had ordered a Christmas feast to be prepared for him at the farm Thoptar.
  954      On Christmas eve came Svase to the door, just as the king went to table,
  955      and sent a message to the king to ask if he would go out with him. The
  956      king was angry at such a message, and the man who had brought it in took
  957      out with him a reply of the king's displeasure. But Svase,
  958      notwithstanding, desired that his message should be delivered a second
  959      time; adding to it, that he was the Fin whose hut the king had promised to
  960      visit, and which stood on the other side of the ridge. Now the king went
  961      out, and promised to go with him, and went over the ridge to his hut,
  962      although some of his men dissuaded him. There stood Snaefrid, the daughter
  963      of Svase, a most beautiful girl; and she filled a cup of mead for the
  964      king. But he took hold both of the cup and of her hand. Immediately it was
  965      as if a hot fire went through his body; and he wanted that very night to
  966      take her to his bed. But Svase said that should not be unless by main
  967      force, if he did not first make her his lawful wife. Now King Harald made
  968      Snaefrid his lawful wife, and loved her so passionately that he forgot his
  969      kingdom, and all that belonged to his high dignity. They had four sons:
  970      the one was Sigurd Hrise; the others Halfdan Haleg, Gudrod Ljome and
  971      Ragnvald Rettilbeine. Thereafter Snaefrid died; but her corpse never
  972      changed, but was as fresh and red as when she lived. The king sat always
  973      beside her, and thought she would come to life again. And so it went on
  974      for three years that he was sorrowing over her death, and the people over
  975      his delusion. At last Thorleif the Wise succeeded, by his prudence, in
  976      curing him of his delusion by accosting him thus: -"It is nowise
  977      wonderful, king, that thou grievest over so beautiful and noble a wife,
  978      and bestowest costly coverlets and beds of down on her corpse, as she
  979      desired; but these honours fall short of what is due, as she still lies in
  980      the same clothes. It would be more suitable to raise her, and change her
  981      dress." As soon as the body was raised in the bed all sorts of corruption
  982      and foul smells came from it, and it was necessary in all haste to gather
  983      a pile of wood and burn it; but before this could be done the body turned
  984      blue, and worms, toads, newts, paddocks, and all sorts of ugly reptiles
  985      came out of it, and it sank into ashes. Now the king came to his
  986      understanding again, threw the madness out of his mind, and after that day
  987      ruled his kingdom as before. He was strengthened and made joyful by his
  988      subjects, and his subjects by him and the country by both.
  989      26. OF THJODOLF OF HVIN, THE SKALD.
  990      After King Harald had experienced the cunning of the Fin woman, he was so
  991      angry that he drove from him the sons he had with her, and would not
  992      suffer them before his eyes. But one of them, Gudrod Ljome, went to his
  993      foster-father Thjodolf of Hvin, and asked him to go to the king, who was
  994      then in the Uplands; for Thjodolf was a great friend of the king. And so
  995      they went, and came to the king's house late in the evening, and sat down
  996      together unnoticed near the door. The king walked up and down the floor
  997      casting his eye along the benches; for he had a feast in the house, and
  998      the mead was just mixed. The king then murmured out these lines: -
  999     "Tell me, ye aged gray-haired heroes,
 1000     Who have come here to seek repose,
 1001     Wherefore must I so many keep
 1002     Of such a set, who, one and all,
 1003     Right dearly love their souls to steep,
 1004     From morn till night, in the mead-bowl?"
 1005      Then Thjodolf replies: -
 1006     "A certain wealthy chief, I think,
 1007     Would gladly have had more to drink
 1008     With him, upon one bloody day,
 1009     When crowns were cracked in our sword-play."
 1010      Thjodolf then took off his hat, and the king recognised him, and gave him
 1011      a friendly reception. Thjodolf then begged the king not to cast off his
 1012      sons; "for they would with great pleasure have taken a better family
 1013      descent upon the mother's side, if the king had given it to them." The
 1014      king assented, and told him to take Gudrod with him as formerly; and he
 1015      sent Halfdan and Sigurd to Ringerike, and Ragnvald to Hadaland, and all
 1016      was done as the king ordered. They grew up to be very clever men, very
 1017      expert in all exercises. In these times King Harald sat in peace in the
 1018      land, and the land enjoyed quietness and good crops.
 1019      27. OF EARL TORFEINAR'S OBTAINING ORKNEY.
 1020      When Earl Ragnvald in More heard of the death of his brother Earl Sigurd,
 1021      and that the vikings were in possession of the country, he sent his son
 1022      Hallad westward, who took the title of earl to begin with, and had many
 1023      men-at-arms with him. When he arrived at the Orkney Islands, he
 1024      established himself in the country; but both in harvest, winter, and
 1025      spring, the vikings cruised about the isles plundering the headlands, and
 1026      committing depredations on the coast. Then Earl Hallad grew tired of the
 1027      business, resigned his earldom, took up again his rights as an allodial
 1028      owner, and afterwards returned eastward into Norway. When Earl Ragnvald
 1029      heard of this he was ill pleased with Hallad, and said his son were very
 1030      unlike their ancestors. Then said Einar, "I have enjoyed but little honour
 1031      among you, and have little affection here to lose: now if you will give me
 1032      force enough, I will go west to the islands, and promise you what at any
 1033      rate will please you -that you shall never see me again." Earl
 1034      Ragnvald replied, that he would be glad if he never came back; "For there
 1035      is little hope," said he, "that thou will ever be an honour to thy
 1036      friends, as all thy kin on thy mother's side are born slaves." Earl
 1037      Ragnvald gave Einar a vessel completely equipped, and he sailed with it
 1038      into the West sea in harvest. When he came to the Orkney Isles, two
 1039      vikings, Thorer Treskeg and Kalf Skurfa, were in his way with two vessels.
 1040      He attacked them instantly, gained the battle, and slew the two vikings.
 1041      Then this was sung: -
 1042     "Then gave he Treskeg to the trolls,
 1043     Torfeinar slew Skurfa."
 1044      He was called Torfeinar, because he cut peat for fuel, there being no
 1045      firewood, as in Orkney there are no woods. He afterwards was earl over the
 1046      islands, and was a mighty man. He was ugly, and blind of an eye, yet very
 1047      sharp-sighted withal.
 1048      28. KING EIRIK EYMUNDSON'S DEATH.
 1049      Duke Guthorm dwelt principally at Tunsberg, and governed the whole of
 1050      Viken when the king was not there. He defended the land, which, at that
 1051      time, was much plundered by the vikings. There were disturbances also up
 1052      in Gautland as long as King Eirik Eymundson lived; but he died when King
 1053      Harald Harfager had been ten years king of all Norway.
 1054      29. GUTHORM'S DEATH IN TUNSBERG.
 1055      After Eirik, his son Bjorn was king of Svithjod for fifty years. He was
 1056      father of Eirik the Victorious, and of Olaf the father of Styrbjorn.
 1057      Guthorm died on a bed of sickness at Tunsberg, and King Harald gave his
 1058      son Guthorm the government of that part of his dominions and made him
 1059      chief of it.
 1060      30. EARL RAGNVALD BURNT IN HIS HOUSE.
 1061      When King Harald was forty years of age many of his sons were well
 1062      advanced, and indeed they all came early to strength and manhood. And now
 1063      they began to take it ill that the king would not give them any part of
 1064      the kingdom, but put earls into every district; for they thought earls
 1065      were of inferior birth to them. Then Halfdan Haleg and Gudrod Ljome set
 1066      off one spring with a great force, and came suddenly upon Earl Ragnvald,
 1067      earl of More, and surrounded the house in which he was, and burnt him and
 1068      sixty men in it. Thereafter Halfdan took three long-ships, and fitted them
 1069      out, and sailed into the West sea; but Gudrod set himself down in the land
 1070      which Ragnvald formerly had. Now when King Harald heard this he set out
 1071      with a great force against Gudrod, who had no other way left but to
 1072      surrender, and he was sent to Agder. King Harald then set Earl Ragnvald's
 1073      son Thorer over More, and gave him his daughter Alof, called Arbot, in
 1074      marriage. Earl Thorer, called the Silent, got the same territory his
 1075      father Earl Ragnvald had possessed.
 1076      31. HALFDAN HALEG'S DEATH.
 1077      Halfdan Haleg came very unexpectedly to Orkney, and Earl Einar immediately
 1078      fled; but came back soon after about harvest time, unnoticed by Halfdan.
 1079      They met and after a short battle Halfdan fled the same night. Einar and
 1080      his men lay all night without tents, and when it was light in the morning
 1081      they searched the whole island and killed every man they could lay hold
 1082      of. Then Einar said "What is that I see upon the isle of Rinansey? Is it a
 1083      man or a bird? Sometimes it raises itself up, and sometimes lies down
 1084      again." They went to it, and found it was Halfdan Haleg, and took him
 1085      prisoner.
 1086      Earl Einar sang the following song the evening before he went into this
 1087      battle: -
 1088     "Where is the spear of Hrollaug?  where
 1089     Is stout Rolf Ganger's bloody spear!
 1090     I see them not; yet never fear,
 1091     For Einar will not vengeance spare
 1092     Against his father's murderers, though
 1093     Hrollaug and Rolf are somewhat slow,
 1094     And silent Thorer sits add dreams
 1095     At home, beside the mead-bowl's streams."
 1096      Thereafter Earl Einar went up to Halfdan, and cut a spread eagle upon his
 1097      back, by striking his sword through his back into his belly, dividing his
 1098      ribs from the backbone down to his loins, and tearing out his lungs; and
 1099      so Halfdan was killed. Einar then sang: -
 1100     "For Ragnvald's death my sword is red:
 1101     Of vengeance it cannot be said
 1102     That Einar's share is left unsped.
 1103     So now, brave boys, let's raise a mound, -
 1104     Heap stones and gravel on the ground
 1105     O'er Halfdan's corpse: this is the way
 1106     We Norsemen our scat duties pay."
 1107      Then Earl Einar took possession of the Orkney Isles as before. Now when
 1108      these tidings came to Norway, Halfdan's brothers took it much to heart,
 1109      and thought that his death demanded vengeance; and many were of the same
 1110      opinion. When Einar heard this, he sang: -
 1111     "Many a stout udal-man, I know,
 1112     Has cause to wish my head laid low;
 1113     And many an angry udal knife
 1114     Would gladly drink of Eina's life.
 1115     But ere they lay Earl Einar low, -
 1116     Ere this stout heart betrays its cause,
 1117     Full many a heart will writhe, we know,
 1118     In the wolf's fangs, or eagle's claws."
 1119      32. HARALD AND EINAR RECONCILED.
 1120      King Harald now ordered a levy, and gathered a great force, with which he
 1121      proceeded westward to Orkney; and when Earl Einar heard that King Harald
 1122      was come, he fled over to Caithness. He made the following verses on this
 1123      occasion: -
 1124     "Many a bearded man must roam,
 1125     An exile from his house and home,
 1126     For cow or horse; but Halfdan's gore
 1127     Is red on Rinansey's wild shore.
 1128     A nobler deed -on Harald's shield
 1129     The arm of one who ne'er will yield
 1130     Has left a scar.  Let peasants dread
 1131     The vengeance of the Norsemen's head:
 1132     I reck not of his wrath, but sing,
 1133     'Do thy worst! -I defy thee, king! -'"
 1134      Men and messages, however, passed between the king and the earl, and at
 1135      last it came to a conference; and when they met the earl submitted the
 1136      case altogether to the king's decision, and the king condemned the earl
 1137      Einar and the Orkney people to pay a fine of sixty marks of gold. As the
 1138      bondes thought this was too heavy for them to pay, the earl offered to pay
 1139      the whole if they would surrender their udal lands to him. This they all
 1140      agreed to do: the poor because they had but little pieces of land; the
 1141      rich because they could redeem their udal rights again when they liked.
 1142      Thus the earl paid the whole fine to the king, who returned in harvest to
 1143      Norway. The earls for a long time afterwards possessed all the udal lands
 1144      in Orkney, until Sigurd son of Hlodver gave back the udal rights.
 1145      33. DEATH OF GUTHORM AND HALFDAN THE WHITE.
 1146      While King Harald's son Guthorm had the defence of Viken, he sailed
 1147      outside of the islands on the coast, and came in by one of the mouths of
 1148      the tributaries of the Gaut river. When he lay there Solve Klofe came upon
 1149      him, and immediately gave him battle, and Guthorm fell. Halfdan the White
 1150      and Halfdan the Black went out on an expedition, and plundered in the East
 1151      sea, and had a battle in Eistland, where Halfdan the White fell.
 1152      34. MARRIAGE OF EIRIK.
 1153      Eirik, Harald's son, was fostered in the house of the herse Thorer, son of
 1154      Hroald, in the Fjord district. He was the most beloved and honoured by
 1155      King Harald of all his sons. When Eirik was twelve years old, King Harald
 1156      gave him five long-ships, with which he went on an expedition, -first
 1157      in the Baltic; then southwards to Denmark, Friesland, and Saxland; on
 1158      which expedition he passed four years. He then sailed out into the West
 1159      sea and plundered in Scotland, Bretland, Ireland, and Valland, and passed
 1160      four years more in this way. Then he sailed north to Finmark, and all the
 1161      way to Bjarmaland, where he had many a battle, and won many a victory.
 1162      When he came back to Finmark, his men found a girl in a Lapland hut, whose
 1163      equal for beauty they never had seen. She said her name was Gunhild, and
 1164      that her father dwelt in Halogaland, and was called Ozur Tote. "I am
 1165      here," she said, "to learn sorcery from two of the most knowing Fins in
 1166      all Finmark, who are now out hunting. They both want me in marriage. They
 1167      are so skilful that they can hunt out traces either upon the frozen or the
 1168      thawed earth, like dogs; and they can run so swiftly on skees that neither
 1169      man nor beast can come near them in speed. They hit whatever they take aim
 1170      at, and thus kill every man who comes near them. When they are angry the
 1171      very earth turns away in terror, and whatever living thing they look upon
 1172      then falls dead. Now ye must not come in their way; but I will hide you
 1173      here in the hut, and ye must try to get them killed." They agreed to it,
 1174      and she hid them, and then took a leather bag, in which they thought there
 1175      were ashes which she took in her hand, and strewed both outside and inside
 1176      of the hut. Shortly after the Fins came home, and asked who had been
 1177      there; and she answered, "Nobody has been here." "That is wonderful," said
 1178      they, "we followed the traces close to the hut, and can find none after
 1179      that." Then they kindled a fire, and made ready their meat, and Gunhild
 1180      prepared her bed. It had so happened that Gunhild had slept the three
 1181      nights before, but the Fins had watched the one upon the other, being
 1182      jealous of each other. "Now," she said to the Fins, "come here, and lie
 1183      down one on each side of me." On which they were very glad to do so. She
 1184      laid an arm round the neck of each and they went to sleep directly. She
 1185      roused them up; but they fell to sleep again instantly, and so soundly the
 1186      she scarcely could waken them. She even raised them up in the bed, and
 1187      still they slept. Thereupon she too two great seal-skin bags, and put
 1188      their heads in them, and tied them fast under their arms; and then she
 1189      gave a wink to the king's men. They run forth with their weapons, kill the
 1190      two Fins, and drag them out of the hut. That same night came such a
 1191      dreadful thunder-storm that the could not stir. Next morning they came to
 1192      the ship, taking Gunhild with them, and presented her to Eirik. Eirik and
 1193      his followers then sailed southwards to Halogaland and he sent word to
 1194      Ozur Tote, the girl's father, to meet him. Eirik said he would take his
 1195      daughter in marriage, to which Ozur Tote consented, and Eirik took Gunhild
 1196      and went southwards with her (A.D. 922).
 1197      35. HARALD DIVIDES HIS KINGDOM.
 1198      When King Harald was fifty years of age many of his sons were grown up,
 1199      and some were dead. Many of them committed acts of great violence in the
 1200      country, and were in discord among themselves. They drove some of the
 1201      king's earls out of their properties, and even killed some of them. Then
 1202      the king called together a numerous Thing in the south part of the
 1203      country, and summoned to it all the people of the Uplands. At this Thing
 1204      he gave to all his sons the title of king, and made a law that his
 1205      descendants in the male line should each succeed to the kingly title and
 1206      dignity; but his descendants by the female side only to that of earl. And
 1207      he divided the country among them thus: -Vingulmark, Raumarike,
 1208      Vestfold and Thelamark, he bestowed on Olaf, Bjorn, Sigtryg, Frode, and
 1209      Thorgils. Hedemark and Gudbrandsdal he gave to Dag, Hring, and Ragnar. To
 1210      Snaefrid's sons he gave Ringerike, Hadeland, Thoten, and the lands thereto
 1211      belonging. His son Guthorm, as before mentioned, he had set over the
 1212      country from Glommen to Svinasund and Ranrike. He had set him to defend
 1213      the country to the East, as before has been written. King Harald himself
 1214      generally dwelt in the middle of the country, and Hrorek and Gudrod were
 1215      generally with his court, and had great estates in Hordaland and in Sogn.
 1216      King Eirik was also with his father King Harald; and the king loved and
 1217      regarded him the most of all his sons, and gave him Halogaland and North
 1218      More, and Raumsdal. North in Throndhjem he gave Halfdan the Black, Halfdan
 1219      the White, and Sigrod land to rule over. In each of these districts he
 1220      gave his sons the one half of his revenues, together with the right to sit
 1221      on a high-seat, -a step higher than earls, but a step lower than his
 1222      own high-seat. His king's seat each of his sons wanted for himself after
 1223      his death, but he himself destined it for Eirik. The Throndhjem people
 1224      wanted Halfdan the Black to succeed to it. The people of Viken, and the
 1225      Uplands, wanted those under whom they lived. And thereupon new quarrels
 1226      arose among the brothers; and because they thought their dominions too
 1227      little, they drove about in piratical expeditions. In this way, as before
 1228      related, Guthorm fell at the mouth of the Gaut river, slain by Solve
 1229      Klofe; upon which Olaf took the kingdom he had possessed. Halfdan the
 1230      White fell in Eistland, Halfdan Haleg in Orkney. King Harald gave ships of
 1231      war to Thorgils and Frode, with which they went westward on a viking
 1232      cruise, and plundered in Scotland, Ireland, and Bretland. They were the
 1233      first of the Northmen who took Dublin. It is said that Frode got poisoned
 1234      drink there; but Thorgils was a long time king over Dublin, until he fell
 1235      into a snare of the Irish, and was killed.
 1236      36. DEATH OF RAGNVALD RETTILBEINE.
 1237      Eirik Blood-axe expected to be head king over all his brothers and King
 1238      Harald intended he should be so; and the father and son lived long
 1239      together. Ragnvald Rettilbeine governed Hadaland, and allowed himself to
 1240      be instructed in the arts of witchcraft, and became an area warlock. Now
 1241      King Harald was a hater of all witchcraft. There was a warlock in
 1242      Hordaland called Vitgeir; and when the king sent a message to him that he
 1243      should give up his art of witchcraft, he replied in this verse: -
 1244     "The danger surely is not great
 1245     From wizards born of mean estate,
 1246     When Harald's son in Hadeland,
 1247     King Ragnvald, to the art lays hand."
 1248      But when King Harald heard this, King Eirik Blood-axe went by his orders
 1249      to the Uplands, and came to Hadeland and burned his brother Ragnvald in a
 1250      house, along with eighty other warlocks; which work was much praised.
 1251      37. DEATH OF GUDROD LJOME.
 1252      Gudrod Ljome was in winter on a friendly visit to his foster-father
 1253      Thjodolf in Hvin, and had a well-manned ship, with which he wanted to go
 1254      north to Rogaland. It was blowing a heavy storm at the time; but Gudrod
 1255      was bent on sailing, and would not consent to wait. Thjodolf sang thus: -
 1256     "Wait, Gudrod, till the storm is past, -
 1257     Loose not thy long-ship while the blast
 1258     Howls over-head so furiously, -
 1259     Trust not thy long-ship to the sea, -
 1260     Loose not thy long-ship from the shore;
 1261     Hark to the ocean's angry roar!
 1262     See how the very stones are tost
 1263     By raging waves high on the coast!
 1264     Stay, Gudrod, till the tempest's o'er -
 1265     Deep runs the sea off the Jadar's shore."
 1266      Gudrod set off in spite of what Thjodolf could say: and when they came off
 1267      the Jadar the vessel sunk with them, and all on board were lost.
 1268      38. KING BJORN KAUPMAN'S DEATH.
 1269      King Harald's son, Bjorn, ruled over Vestfold at that time, and generally
 1270      lived at Tunsberg, and went but little on war expeditions. Tunsberg at
 1271      that time was much frequented by merchant vessels, both from Viken and the
 1272      north country, and also from the south, from Denmark, and Saxland. King
 1273      Bjorn had also merchant ships on voyages to other lands, by which he
 1274      procured for himself costly articles, and such things as he thought
 1275      needful; and therefore his brothers called him Farman (the Seaman), and
 1276      Kaupman (the Chapman). Bjorn was a man of sense and understanding, and
 1277      promised to become a good ruler. He made a good and suitable marriage, and
 1278      had a son by his wife, who was named Gudrod. Eirik Blood-axe came from his
 1279      Baltic cruise with ships of war, and a great force, and required his
 1280      brother Bjorn to deliver to him King Harald's share of the scat and
 1281      incomes of Vestfold. But it had always been the custom before, that Bjorn
 1282      himself either delivered the money into the king's hands, or sent men of
 1283      his own with it; and therefore he would continue with the old custom, and
 1284      would not deliver the money. Eirik again wanted provisions, tents, and
 1285      liquor. The brothers quarrelled about this; but Eirik got nothing and left
 1286      the town. Bjorn went also out of the town towards evening up to Saeheim.
 1287      In the night Eirik came back after Bjorn, and came to Saeheim just as
 1288      Bjorn and his men were seated at table drinking. Eirik surrounded the
 1289      house in which they were; but Bjorn with his men went out and fought.
 1290      Bjorn, and many men with him, fell. Eirik, on the other hand, got a great
 1291      booty, and proceeded northwards. But this work was taken very ill by the
 1292      people of Viken, and Eirik was much disliked for it; and the report went
 1293      that King Olaf would avenge his brother Bjorn, whenever opportunity
 1294      offered. King Bjorn lies in the mound of Farmanshaug at Saeheim.
 1295      39. RECONCILIATION OF THE KINGS.
 1296      King Eirik went in winter northwards to More, and was at a feast in Solve,
 1297      within the point Agdanes; and when Halfdan the Black heard of it he set
 1298      out with his men, and surrounded the house in which they were. Eirik slept
 1299      in a room which stood detached by itself, and he escaped into the forest
 1300      with four others; but Halfdan and his men burnt the main house, with all
 1301      the people who were in it. With this news Eirik came to King Harald, who
 1302      was very wroth at it, and assembled a great force against the Throndhjem
 1303      people. When Halfdan the Black heard this he levied ships and men, so that
 1304      he had a great force, and proceeded with it to Stad, within Thorsbjerg.
 1305      King Harald lay with his men at Reinsletta. Now people went between them,
 1306      and among others a clever man called Guthorm Sindre, who was then in
 1307      Halfdan the Black's army, but had been formerly in the service of King
 1308      Harald, and was a great friend of both. Guthorm was a great skald, and had
 1309      once composed a song both about the father and the son, for which they had
 1310      offered him a reward. But he would take nothing; but only asked that, some
 1311      day or other, they should grant him any request he should make, which they
 1312      promised to do. Now he presented himself to King Harald, brought words of
 1313      peace between them, and made the request to them both that they should be
 1314      reconciled. So highly did the king esteem him, that in consequence of his
 1315      request they were reconciled. Many other able men promoted this business
 1316      as well as he; and it was so settled that Halfdan should retain the whole
 1317      of his kingdom as he had it before, and should let his brother Eirik sit
 1318      in peace. After this event Jorun, the skald-maid, composed some verses in
 1319      "Sendibit" ("The Biting Message"): -
 1320     "I know that Harald Fairhair
 1321     Knew the dark deed of Halfdan.
 1322     To Harald Halfdan seemed
 1323     Angry and cruel."
 1324      40. BIRTH OF HAKON THE GOOD.
 1325      Earl Hakon Grjotgardson of Hlader had the whole rule over Throndhjem when
 1326      King Harald was anywhere away in the country; and Hakon stood higher with
 1327      the king than any in the country of Throndhjem. After Hakon's death his
 1328      son Sigurd succeeded to his power in Throndhjem, and was the earl, and had
 1329      his mansion at Hlader. King Harald's sons, Halfdan the Black and Sigrod,
 1330      who had been before in the house of his father Earl Hakon, continued to be
 1331      brought up in his house. The sons of Harald and Sigurd were about the same
 1332      age. Earl Sigurd was one of the wisest men of his time, and married
 1333      Bergljot, a daughter of Earl Thorer the Silent; and her mother was Alof
 1334      Arbot, a daughter of Harald Harfager. When King Harald began to grow old
 1335      he generally dwelt on some of his great farms in Hordaland; namely,
 1336      Alreksstader or Saeheim, Fitjar, Utstein, or Ogvaldsnes in the island
 1337      Kormt. When Harald was seventy years of age he begat a son with a girl
 1338      called Thora Mosterstang, because her family came from Moster. She was
 1339      descended from good people, being connected with Kare (Aslakson) of
 1340      Hordaland; and was moreover a very stout and remarkably handsome girl. She
 1341      was called the king's servant-girl; for at that time many were subject to
 1342      service to the king who were of good birth, both men and women. Then it
 1343      was the custom, with people of consideration, to choose with great care
 1344      the man who should pour water over their children, and give them a name.
 1345      Now when the time came that Thora, who was then at Moster, expected her
 1346      confinement, she would to King Harald, who was then living at Saeheim; and
 1347      she went northwards in a ship belonging to Earl Sigurd. They lay at night
 1348      close to the land; and there Thora brought forth a child upon the land, up
 1349      among the rocks, close to the ship's gangway, and it was a man child. Earl
 1350      Sigurd poured water over him, and called him Hakon, after his own father,
 1351      Hakon earl of Hlader. The boy soon grew handsome, large in size, and very
 1352      like his father King Harald. King Harald let him follow his mother, and
 1353      they were both in the king's house as long as he was an infant.
 1354      41. KING ATHELSTAN'S MESSAGE
 1355      At this time a king called Aethelstan had taken the Kingdom of England. He
 1356      was called victorious and faithful. He sent men to Norway to King Harald,
 1357      with the errand that the messengers should present him with a sword, with
 1358      the hilt and handle gilt, and also the whole sheath adorned with gold and
 1359      silver, and set with precious jewels. The ambassador presented the
 1360      sword-hilt to the king, saying, "Here is a sword which King Athelstan
 1361      sends thee, with the request that thou wilt accept it." The king took the
 1362      sword by the handle; whereupon the ambassador said, "Now thou hast taken
 1363      the sword according to our king's desire, and therefore art thou his
 1364      subject as thou hast taken his sword." King Harald saw now that this was
 1365      an insult, for he would be subject to no man. But he remembered it was his
 1366      rule, whenever anything raised his anger, to collect himself, and let his
 1367      passion run off, and then take the matter into consideration coolly. Now
 1368      he did so, and consulted his friends, who all gave him the advice to let
 1369      the ambassadors, in the first place, go home in safety.
 1370      42. HAUK'S JOURNEY TO ENGLAND.
 1371      The following summer King Harald sent a ship westward to England, and gave
 1372      the command of it to Hauk Habrok. He was a great warrior, and very dear to
 1373      the king. Into his hands he gave his son Hakon. Hank proceeded westward in
 1374      England, and found King Athelstan in London, where there was just at the
 1375      time a great feast and entertainment. When they came to the hall, Hauk
 1376      told his men how they should conduct themselves; namely, that he who went
 1377      first in should go last out, and all should stand in a row at the table,
 1378      at equal distance from each other; and each should have his sword at his
 1379      left side, but should fasten his cloak so that his sword should not be
 1380      seen. Then they went into the hall, thirty in number. Hauk went up to the
 1381      king and saluted him, and the king bade him welcome. Then Hauk took the
 1382      child Hakon, and set it on the king's knee. The king looks at the boy, and
 1383      asks Hauk what the meaning of this is. Hauk replies, "Herald the king bids
 1384      thee foster his servant-girl's child." The king was in great anger, and
 1385      seized a sword which lay beside him, and drew it, as if he was going to
 1386      kill the child. Hauk says, "Thou hast borne him on thy knee, and thou
 1387      canst murder him if thou wilt; but thou wilt not make an end of all King
 1388      Harald's sons by so doing." On that Hauk went out with all his men, and
 1389      took the way direct to his ship, and put to sea, -for they were
 1390      ready, -and came back to King Harald. The king was highly pleased
 1391      with this; for it is the common observation of all people, that the man
 1392      who fosters another's children is of less consideration than the other.
 1393      From these transactions between the two kings, it appears that each wanted
 1394      to be held greater than the other; but in truth there was no injury, to
 1395      the dignity of either, for each was the upper king in his own kingdom till
 1396      his dying day.
 1397      43. HAKON, THE FOSTER-SON OF ATHELSTAN, IS BAPTIZED.
 1398      King Athelstan had Hakon baptized, and brought up in the right faith, and
 1399      in good habits, and all sorts of good manners, and he loved Hakon above
 1400      all his relations; and Hakon was beloved by all men. He was henceforth
 1401      called Athelstan's foster-son. He was an accomplished skald, and he was
 1402      larger, stronger and more beautiful than other men; he was a man of
 1403      understanding and eloquence, and also a good Christian. King Athelstan
 1404      gave Hakon a sword, of which the hilt and handle were gold, and the blade
 1405      still better; for with it Hakon cut down a mill-stone to the centre eye,
 1406      and the sword thereafter was called the Quernbite (1). Better sword never
 1407      came into Norway, and Hakon carried it to his dying day.
 1408   ENDNOTES:
 1409     (1) Quern is the name of the small hand mill-stones still
 1410     found.
 1411     in use among the cottars in Orkney, Shetland, and the
 1412     Hebrides.  This sword is mentioned in the Younger Edda.
 1413     There were many excellent swords in the olden time, and many
 1414     of them had proper names.
 1415      44. EIRIK BROUGHT TO THE SOVEREIGNTY.
 1416      When King Harald was eighty years of age (A.D. 930) he became very heavy,
 1417      and unable to travel through the country, or do the business of a king.
 1418      Then he brought his son Eirik to his high-seat, and gave him the power and
 1419      command over the whole land. Now when King Harald's other sons heard this,
 1420      King Halfdan the Black also took a king's high-seat, and took all
 1421      Throndhjem land, with the consent of all the people, under his rule as
 1422      upper king. After the death of Bjorn the Chapman, his brother Olaf took
 1423      the command over Vestfold, and took Bjorn's son, Gudrod, as his
 1424      foster-child. Olaf's son was called Trygve; and the two foster-brothers
 1425      were about the same age, and were hopeful and clever. Trygve, especially,
 1426      was remarkable as a stout and strong man. Now when the people of Viken
 1427      heard that those of Hordaland had taken Eirik as upper king, they did the
 1428      same, and made Olaf the upper king in Viken, which kingdom he retained.
 1429      Eirik did not like this at all. Two years after this, Halfdan the Black
 1430      died suddenly at a feast in Throndhjem and the general report was that
 1431      Gunhild had bribed a witch to give him a death-drink. Thereafter the
 1432      Throndhjem people took Sigrod to be their king.
 1433      45. KING HARALD'S DEATH.
 1434      King Harald lived three years after he gave Eirik the supreme authority
 1435      over his kingdom, and lived mostly on his great farms which he possessed,
 1436      some in Rogaland, and some in Hordaland. Eirik and Gunhild had a son on
 1437      whom King Harald poured water, and gave him his own name, and the promise
 1438      that he should be king after his father Eirik. King Harald married most of
 1439      his daughters within the country to his earls, and from them many great
 1440      families are descended. Harald died on a bed of sickness in Hogaland (A.D.
 1441      933), and was buried under a mound at Haugar in Karmtsund. In Haugesund is
 1442      a church, now standing; and not far from the churchyard, at the north-west
 1443      side, is King Harald Harfager's mound; but his grave-stone stands west of
 1444      the church, and is thirteen feet and a half high, and two ells broad. One
 1445      stone was set at head and one at the feet; on the top lay the slab, and
 1446      below on both sides were laid small stones. The grave, mound, and stone,
 1447      are there to the present day. Harald Harfager was, according to the report
 1448      of men of knowledge, or remarkably handsome appearance, great and strong,
 1449      and very generous and affable to his men. He was a great warrior in his
 1450      youth; and people think that this was foretold by his mother's dream
 1451      before his birth, as the lowest part of the tree she dreamt of was red as
 1452      blood. The stem again was green and beautiful, which betokened his
 1453      flourishing kingdom; and that the tree was white at the top showed that he
 1454      should reach a grey-haired old age. The branches and twigs showed forth
 1455      his posterity, spread over the whole land; for of his race, ever since.
 1456      Norway has always had kings.
 1457      46. THE DEATH OF OLAF AND OF SIGROD.
 1458      King Eirik took all the revenues (A.D. 934), which the king had in the
 1459      middle of the country, the next winter after King Harald's decease. But
 1460      Olaf took all the revenues eastward in Viken, and their brother Sigrod all
 1461      that of the Throndhjem country. Eirik was very ill pleased with this; and
 1462      the report went that he would attempt with force to get the sole
 1463      sovereignty over the country, in the same way as his father had given it
 1464      to him. Now when Olaf and Sigrod heard this, messengers passed between
 1465      them; and after appointing a meeting place, Sigrod went eastward in spring
 1466      to Viken, and he and his brother Olaf met at Tunsberg, and remained there
 1467      a while. The same spring (A.D. 934), King Eirik levied a great force, and
 1468      ships and steered towards Viken. He got such a strong steady gale that he
 1469      sailed night and day, and came faster than the news of him. When he came
 1470      to Tunsberg, Olaf and Sigrod, with their forces, went out of the town a
 1471      little eastward to a ridge, where they drew up their men in battle order;
 1472      but as Eirik had many more men he won the battle. Both brothers, Olaf and
 1473      Sigrod, fell there; and both their grave-mounds are upon the ridge where
 1474      they fell. Then King Eirik went through Viken, and subdued it, and
 1475      remained far into summer. Gudrod and Trygve fled to the Uplands. Eirik was
 1476      a stout handsome man, strong, and very manly, -a great and fortunate
 1477      man of war; but bad-minded, gruff, unfriendly, and silent. Gunhild, his
 1478      wife, was the most beautiful of women, -clever, with much knowledge,
 1479      and lively; but a very false person, and very cruel in disposition. The
 1480      children of King Eirik and Gunhild were, Gamle, the oldest; then Guthorm,
 1481      Harald, Ragnfrod, Ragnhild, Erling, Gudrod, and Sigurd Sleva. All were
 1482      handsome, and of manly appearance (1).
 1483   ENDNOTES: (1) Of Eirik, his wife, and children, see the following sagas.
 1484      HAKON THE GOOD'S SAGA.
 1485      PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
 1486      Of Eirik Blood-axe's five years' reign Snorre has no separate saga. He
 1487      appears not to have been beloved by the people and his queen Gunhild seems
 1488      to have had a bad influence on him.
 1489      Other accounts of Hakon may be found in "Fagrskinna" (chaps. 25-34),
 1490      "Agrip", "Historia", "Norvegiae", and in "Thjodrek" (chap. 4).
 1491      The reader is also referred to "Saxo", "Egla", "Laxdaela", "Kormaks Saga",
 1492      "Gisle Surssons Saga", "Halfred's Saga", "Floamanna Saga", "Viga Glum's
 1493      Saga", and to "Landnamabok".
 1494      Skald mentioned in this Saga are: -Glum Geirason, Thord Sjarekson,
 1495      Guthorm Sindre, Kormak Ogmundson, and Eyvind Skaldaspiller. In the "Egla"
 1496      are found many poems belonging to this epoch by Egil Skallagrimson.
 1497      In "Fagrskinna" is found a poem (not given by Snorre) which Gunhild (his
 1498      wife) had made on King Eirik after his death, telling how Odin welcomed
 1499      him to Valhal. The author or skald who composed it is not known, but it is
 1500      considered to be one of the gems of old Norse poetry, and we here quote it
 1501      in Vigfusson's translation in his "Corpus Poeticum", vol. i. pp. 260, 261.
 1502      Gudbrand Vigfusson has filled up a few gaps from "Hakonarmat", the poem at
 1503      the end of this Saga. We have changed Vigfusson's orthography of names,
 1504      and brought them into harmony with the spelling used in this work: -Ed.
 1505      "Odin wakes in the morning and cries, as he opens his eyes, with his dream
 1506      still fresh in his mind: -'What dreams are these? I thought I arose
 1507      before daybreak to make Valhal ready for a host of slain. I woke up the
 1508      host of the chosen. I bade them ride up to strew the benches, and to till
 1509      up the beer-vats, and I bade valkyries to bear the wine, as if a king were
 1510      coming. I look for the coming of some noble chiefs from the earth,
 1511      wherefore my heart is glad.'
 1512      "Brage, Odin's counsellor, now wakes, as a great din is heard without, and
 1513      calls out: -'What is that thundering? as if a thousand men or some
 1514      great host were tramping on -the walls and the benches are creaking
 1515      withal -as if Balder was coming back to the ball of Odin?'
 1516      "Odin answers: -'Surely thou speakest foolishly, good Brage, although
 1517      thou art very wise. It thunders for Eirik the king, that is coming to the
 1518      hall of Odin.'
 1519      "Then turning to his heroes, he cries: -'Sigmund and Sinfjotle, rise
 1520      in haste and go forth to meet the prince! Bid him in if it be Eirik, for
 1521      it is he whom I look for.'
 1522      "Sigmund answers: -'Why lookest thou more for Eirik, the king, to
 1523      Odin's hall, than for other kings?'
 1524      "Odin answers: -'Because he has reddened his brand, and borne his
 1525      bloody sword in many a land.'
 1526      "Quoth Sigmund: -'Why didst thou rob him, the chosen king of victory
 1527      then, seeing thou thoughtest him so brave?'
 1528      "Odin answered: -'Because it is not surely to be known, when the grey
 1529      wolf shall come upon the seat of the god.'
 1530      SECOND SCENE. -Without Valhal. Sigmund and Sinfjotle go outside the
 1531      hall and meet Eirik.
 1532      "Quoth Sigmund: -'Hail to thee, Eirik, be welcome here, and come into
 1533      the hall, thou gallant king! Now I will ask thee, what kings are these
 1534      that follow thee from the clash of the sword edges?'
 1535      "Eirik answers: -'They are five kings; I will tell thee all their
 1536      names; I myself am the sixth (the names followed in the song, whereof the
 1537      rest is lost.)
 1538      "Fagrskinna" says "Hakonarmal" was the model of this poem.
 1539      1. HAKON CHOSEN KING.
 1540      Hakon, Athelstan's foster-son, was in England at the time (A.D. 934) he
 1541      heard of his father King Harald's death, and he immediately made himself
 1542      ready to depart. King Athelstan gave him men, and a choice of good ships,
 1543      and fitted him out for his journey most excellently. In harvest time he
 1544      came to Norway, where he heard of the death of his brothers, and that King
 1545      Eirik was then in Viken. Then Hakon sailed northwards to Throndhjem, where
 1546      he went to Sigurd earl of Hlader who was the ablest man in Norway. He gave
 1547      Hakon a good reception; and they made a league with each other, by which
 1548      Hakon promised great power to Sigurd if he was made king. They assembled
 1549      then a numerous Thing, and Sigurd the earl recommended Hakon's cause to
 1550      the Thing, and proposed him to the bondes as king. Then Hakon himself
 1551      stood up and spoke; and the people said to each other, two and two, as
 1552      they heard him, "Herald Harfager is come again, grown and young." The
 1553      beginning of Hakon's speech was, that he offered himself to the bondes as
 1554      king, and desired from them the title of king, and aid and forces to
 1555      defend the kingdom. He promised, on the other hand, to make all the bondes
 1556      udal-holders, and give every man udal rights to the land he lived on. This
 1557      speech met such joyful applause, that the whole public cried and shouted
 1558      that they would take him to be king. And so it was that the Throndhjem
 1559      people took Hakon, who was then fifteen years old, for king; and he took a
 1560      court or bodyguard, and servants, and proceeded through the country. The
 1561      news reached the Uplands that the people in Throndhjem had taken to
 1562      themselves a king, who in every respect was like King Harald Harfager, -with
 1563      the difference, that Harald had made all the people of the land vassals,
 1564      and unfree; but this Hakon wished well to every man, and offered the
 1565      bondes to give them their udal rights again, which Harald had taken from
 1566      them. All were rejoiced at this news, and it passed from mouth to mouth, -it
 1567      flew, like fire in dry grass, through the whole land, and eastward to the
 1568      land's end. Many bondes came from the Uplands to meet King Hakon. Some
 1569      sent messengers, some tokens; and all to the same effect -that his
 1570      men they would be: and the king received all thankfully.
 1571      2. KING HAKON'S PROGRESS THROUGH THE COUNTRY.
 1572      Early in winter (935), the king went to the Uplands, and summoned the
 1573      people to a Thing; and there streamed all to him who could come. He was
 1574      proclaimed king at every Thing; and then he proceeded eastward to Viken,
 1575      where his brother's sons, Trygve and Gudrod, and many others, came unto
 1576      him, and complained of the sorrow and evil his brother Eirik had wrought.
 1577      The hatred to King Eirik grew more and more, the more liking all men took
 1578      to King Hakon; and they got more boldness to say what they thought. King
 1579      Hakon gave Trygve and Gudrod the title of kings, and the dominions which
 1580      King Harald had bestowed on their fathers. Trygve got Ranrike and
 1581      Vingulmark, and Gudrod, Vestfold; but as they were young, and in the years
 1582      of childhood, he appointed able men to rule the land for them. He gave
 1583      them the country on the same conditions as it had been given before, -that
 1584      they should have half of the scat and revenues with him. Towards spring
 1585      King Hakon returned north, over the Uplands, to Throndhjem.
 1586      3. EIRIK'S DEPARTURE FROM THE COUNTRY.
 1587      King Hakon, early in spring, collected a great army at Throndhjem, and
 1588      fitted out ships. The people of Viken also had a great force on foot, and
 1589      intended to join Hakon. King Eirik also levied people in the middle of the
 1590      country; but it went badly with him to gather people, for the leading men
 1591      left him, and went over to Hakon. As he saw himself not nearly strong
 1592      enough to oppose Hakon, he sailed (A.D. 935) out to the West sea with such
 1593      men as would follow him. He first sailed to Orkney, and took many people
 1594      with him from that country; and then went south towards England,
 1595      plundering in Scotland, and in the north parts of England, wherever he
 1596      could land. Athelstan, the king of England, sent a message to Eirik,
 1597      offering him dominions under him in England; saying that King Harald his
 1598      father was a good friend of King Athelstan, and therefore he would do
 1599      kindly towards his sons. Messengers passed between the two kings; and it
 1600      came to an agreement that King Eirik should take Northumberland as a fief
 1601      from King Athelstan, and which land he should defend against the Danes or
 1602      other vikings. Eirik should let himself be baptized, together with his
 1603      wife and children, and all the people who had followed him. Eirik accepted
 1604      this offer, and was baptized, and adopted the right faith. Northumberland
 1605      is called a fifth part of England. Eirik had his residence at York, where
 1606      Lodbrok's sons, it was said, had formerly been, and Northumberland was
 1607      principally inhabited by Northmen. Since Lodbrok's sons had taken the
 1608      country, Danes and Northmen often plundered there, when the power of the
 1609      land was out of their hands. Many names of places in the country are
 1610      Norwegian; as Grimsby, Haukfliot, and many others.
 1611      4. EIRIK'S DEATH.
 1612      King Eirik had many people about him, for he kept many Northmen who had
 1613      come with him from the East; and also many of his friends had joined him
 1614      from Norway. But as he had little land, he went on a cruise every summer,
 1615      and plundered in Scotland, the Hebrides, Ireland, and Bretland, by which
 1616      he gathered property. King Athelstan died on a sick bed, after a reign of
 1617      fourteen years, eight weeds, and three days. After him his brother Jatmund
 1618      was king of England, and he was no friend to the Northmen. King Eirik,
 1619      also, was in no great favour with him; and the word went about that King
 1620      Jatmund would set another chief over Northumberland. Now when King Eirik
 1621      heard this, he set off on a viking cruise to the westward; and from the
 1622      Orkneys took with him the Earls Arnkel and Erlend, the sons of Earl
 1623      Torfeinar. Then he sailed to the Hebrides, where there were many vikings
 1624      and troop-kings, who joined their men to his. With all this force he
 1625      steered to Ireland first, where he took with him all the men he could, and
 1626      then to Bretland, and plundered; and sailed thereafter south to England,
 1627      and marauded there as elsewhere. The people fled before him wherever he
 1628      appeared. As King Eirik was a bold warrior, and had a great force, he
 1629      trusted so much to his people that he penetrated far inland in the
 1630      country, following and plundering the fugitives. King Jatmund had set a
 1631      king, who was called Olaf, to defend the land; and he gathered an
 1632      innumerable mass of people, with whom he marched against King Eirik. A
 1633      dreadful battle ensued, in which many Englishmen fell; but for one who
 1634      fell came three in his place out of the country behind, and when evening
 1635      came on the loss of men turned on the side of the Northmen, and many
 1636      people fell. Towards the end of the day, King Eirik and five kings with
 1637      him fell. Three of them were Guthorm and his two sons, Ivar and Harek:
 1638      there fell, also, Sigurd and Ragnvald; and with them Torfeinar's two sons,
 1639      Arnkel and Erlend. Besides these, there was a great slaughter of Northmen;
 1640      and those who escaped went to Northumberland, and brought the news to
 1641      Gunhild and her sons (A.D. 941).
 1642      5. GUNHILD AND HER SONS.
 1643      When Gunhild and her sons knew for certain that King Eirik had fallen,
 1644      after having plundered the land of the King of England, they thought there
 1645      was no peace to be expected for them; and they made themselves ready to
 1646      depart from Northumberland, with all the ships King Eirik had left, and
 1647      all the men who would go with them. They took also all the loose property,
 1648      and goods which they had gathered partly as taxes in England, partly as
 1649      booty on their expeditions. With their army they first steered northward
 1650      to Orkney, where Thorfin Hausakljufer was earl, a son of Torfeinar, and
 1651      took up their station there for a time. Eirik's sons subdued these islands
 1652      and Hjaltland, took scat for themselves, and staid there all the winter;
 1653      but went on viking cruises in summer to the West, and plundered in
 1654      Scotland and Ireland. About this Glum Geirason sings: -
 1655     "The hero who knows well to ride
 1656     The sea-horse o'er the foamingtide, -
 1657     He who in boyhood wild rode o'er
 1658     The seaman's horse to Skanea's shore.
 1659     And showed the Danes his galley's bow,
 1660     Right nobly scours the ocean now.
 1661     On Scotland's coast he lights the brand
 1662     Of flaming war; with conquering hand
 1663     Drives many a Scottish warrior tall
 1664     To the bright seats in Odin's hall.
 1665     The fire-spark, by the fiend of war
 1666     Fanned to a flame, soon spreads afar.
 1667     Crowds trembling fly, -the southern foes
 1668     Fall thick beneath the hero's blows:
 1669     The hero's blade drips red with gore,
 1670     Staining the green sward on the shore."
 1671      6. BATTLE IN JUTLAND.
 1672      When King Eirik had left the country, King Hakon, Athelstan's foster-son,
 1673      subdued the whole of Norway. The first winter (A.D. 936) he visited the
 1674      western parts, and then went north, and settled in Throndhjem. But as no
 1675      peace could be reasonably looked for so long as King Eirik with his forces
 1676      could come to Norway from the West sea, he set himself with his
 1677      men-at-arms in the middle of the country, -in the Fjord district, or
 1678      in Sogn, or Hordaland, or Rogaland. Hakon placed Sigurd earl of Hlader
 1679      over the whole Throradhjem district, as he and his father had before had
 1680      it under Harald Harfager. When King Hakon heard of his brother Eirik's
 1681      death, and also that his sons had no footing in England, he thought there
 1682      was not much to fear from them, and he went with his troops one summer
 1683      eastward to Viken. At that time the Danes plundered often in Viken, and
 1684      wrought much evil there; but when they heard that King Hakon was come with
 1685      a great army, they got out of the way, to Halland; and those who were
 1686      nearest to King Hakon went out to sea, and over to Jotland (Jutland). When
 1687      the king heard of this, he sailed after them with all his army. On
 1688      arriving in Jutland he plundered all round; and when the country people
 1689      heard of it, they assembled in a great body, and determined to defend
 1690      their land, and fight. There was a great battle; and King Hakon fought so
 1691      boldly, that he went forward before his banner without helmet or coat of
 1692      mail. King Hakon won the victory, and drove the fugitives far up the
 1693      country. So says Guthorm Sindre, in his song of Hakon: -
 1694     "Furrowing the deep-blue sea with oars,
 1695     The king pursues to Jutland's shores.
 1696     They met; and in the battle storm
 1697     Of clashing shields, full many a form
 1698     Of goodly warrior on the plain,
 1699     Full many a corpse by Hakon slain,
 1700     Glutted the ravens, who from far,
 1701     Scenting the banquet-feast of war,
 1702     Came in black flocks to Jutland's plains
 1703     To drink the blood-wine from the veins."
 1704      7. BATTLE IN EYRARSUND (THE SOUND).
 1705      Then Hakon steered southwards with his fleet to seek the vikings, and so
 1706      on to Sealand. He rowed with two cutters into the Eyrarsund, where he
 1707      found eleven viking ships, and instantly attacked them. It ended in his
 1708      gaining the victory, and clearing the viking ships of all their men. So
 1709      says Guthorm Sindre: -
 1710     "Hakon the Brave, whose skill all know
 1711     To bend in battle storm the bow,
 1712     Rushed o'er the waves to Sealand's tongue,
 1713     His two war-ships with gilt shields hung,
 1714     And cleared the decks with his blue sword
 1715     That rules the fate of war, on board
 1716     Eleven ships of the Vindland men. -
 1717     Famous is Hakon's name since then."
 1718      8. KING HAKON'S EXPEDITION TO DENMARK.
 1719      Thereafter King Hakon carried war far and wide in Sealand; plundering
 1720      some, slaying others, taking some prisoners of war, taking ransom from
 1721      others, and all without opposition. Then Hakon proceeded along the coast
 1722      of Skane, pillaging everywhere, levying taxes and ransome from the
 1723      country, and killing all vikings, both Danish and Vindish. He then went
 1724      eastwards to the district of Gautland, marauded there, and took great
 1725      ransom from the country. So says Guthorm Sindre: -
 1726     "Hakon, who midst the battle shock
 1727     Stands like a firmly-rooted oak,
 1728     Subdued all Sealand with the sword:
 1729     From Vindland vikings the sea-bord
 1730     Of Scania swept; and, with the shield
 1731     Of Odin clad, made Gautland yield
 1732     A ransom of the ruddy gold,
 1733     Which Hakon to his war-men bold
 1734     Gave with free hand, who in his feud
 1735     Against the arrow-storm had stood."
 1736      King Hakon returned back in autumn with his army and an immense booty; and
 1737      remained all the winter (A.D. 946) in Viken to defend it against the Danes
 1738      and Gautlanders, if they should attack it.
 1739      9. OF KING TRYGVE.
 1740      In the same winter King Trygve Olafson returned from a viking cruise in
 1741      the West sea, having before ravaged in Ireland and Scotland. In spring
 1742      (A.D. 946) King Hakon went north, and set his brother's son, King Trygve,
 1743      over Viken to defend that country against enemies. He gave him also in
 1744      property all that he could reconquer of the country in Denmark, which the
 1745      summer before King Hakon had subjected to payment of scat to him. So says
 1746      Guthorm: -
 1747     "King Hakon, whose sharp sword dyes red
 1748     The bright steel cap on many a head,
 1749     Has set a warrior brave and stout
 1750     The foreign foeman to keep out, -
 1751     To keep that green land safe from war
 1752     Which black Night bore to dwarf Annar (1).
 1753     For many a carle whose trade's to wield
 1754     The battle-axe, and swing the shield,
 1755     On the swan's ocean-skates has come,
 1756     In white-winged ships, across the foam, -
 1757     Across the sea, from far Ireland,
 1758     To war against the Norseman's land."
 1759   ENDNOTES: (1) The dwarf Annar was the husband of Night, and Earth was
 1760     their daughter. -L.
 1761      10. OF GUNHILD S SONS.
 1762      King Harald Gormson ruled over Denmark at that time. He took it much amiss
 1763      that King Hakon had made war in his dominions, and the report went that he
 1764      would take revenge; but this did not take place so soon. When Gunhild and
 1765      her sons heard there was enmity between Denmark and Norway, they began to
 1766      turn their course from the West. They married King Eirik's daughter,
 1767      Ragnhild, to Arnfin, a son of Thorfin Hausakljufer; and as soon as Eirik's
 1768      sons went away, Thorfin took the earldom again over the Orkney Islands.
 1769      Gamle Eirikson was somewhat older than the other brothers, but still he
 1770      was not a grown man. When Gunhild and her sons came from the westward to
 1771      Denmark, they were well received by King Harald. He gave them great fiefs
 1772      in his kingdom, so that they could maintain themselves and their men very
 1773      well. He also took Harald Eirikson to be his foster-son, set him on his
 1774      knee, and thereafter he was brought up at the Danish king's court. Some of
 1775      Eirik's sons went out on viking expeditions as soon as they were old
 1776      enough, and gathered property, ravaging all around in the East sea. They
 1777      grew up quickly to be handsome men, and far beyond their years in strength
 1778      and perfection. Glum Geirason tells of one of them in the Grafeld song: -
 1779     "I've heard that, on the Eastland coast,
 1780     Great victories were won and lost.
 1781     The king, whose hand is ever graced
 1782     With gift to skald, his banner placed
 1783     On, and still on; while, midst the play
 1784     Of swords, sung sharp his good sword's sway
 1785     As strong in arm as free of gold,
 1786     He thinn'd the ranks of warriors bold."
 1787      Then Eirik's sons turned northwards with their troops to Viken and
 1788      marauded there; but King Trygve kept troops on foot with which he met
 1789      them, and they had many a battle, in which the victory was sometimes on
 1790      one side, and sometimes on the other. Sometimes Eirik's sons plundered in
 1791      Viken, and sometimes Trygve in Sealand and Halland.
 1792      11. KING HAKON AS A LAW-GIVER.
 1793      As long as Hakon was king in Norway, there was good peace between the
 1794      bondes and merchants; so that none did harm either to the life or goods of
 1795      the other. Good seasons also there were, both by sea and land. King Hakon
 1796      was of a remarkably cheerful disposition, clever in words, and very
 1797      condescending. He was a man of great understanding also, and bestowed
 1798      attention on law-giving. He gave out the Gula-thing's laws on the advice
 1799      of Thorleif Spake (the Wise); also the Frosta-thing's laws on the advice
 1800      of Earl Sigurd, and of other Throndhjem men of wisdom. Eidsiva-thing laws
 1801      were first established in the country by Halfdan the Black, as has before
 1802      been written.
 1803      12. THE BIRTH OF EARL HAKON THE GREAT.
 1804      King Hakon kept Yule at Throndhjem, and Earl Sigurd had made a feast for
 1805      him at Hlader. The night of the first day of Yule the earl's wife,
 1806      Bergljot, was brought to bed of a boy-child, which afterwards King Hakon
 1807      poured water over, and gave him his own name. The boy grew up, and became
 1808      in his day a mighty and able man, and was earl after his father, who was
 1809      King Hakon's dearest friend.
 1810      13. OF EYSTEIN THE BAD.
 1811      Eystein, a king of the Uplands, whom some called the Great, and some the
 1812      Bad, once on a time made war in Throndhjem, and subdued Eyna district and
 1813      Sparbyggia district, and set his own son Onund over them; but the
 1814      Throndhjem people killed him. Then King Eystein made another inroad into
 1815      Throndhjem, and ravaged the land far and wide, and subdued it. He then
 1816      offered the people either his slave, who was called Thorer Faxe, or his
 1817      dog, whose name was Saur, to be their king. They preferred the dog, as
 1818      they thought they would sooner get rid of him. Now the dog was, by
 1819      witchcraft, gifted with three men's wisdom; and when he barked, he spoke
 1820      one word and barked two. A collar and chain of gold and silver were made
 1821      for him, and his courtiers carried him on their shoulders when the weather
 1822      or ways were foul. A throne was erected for him, and he sat upon a high
 1823      place, as kings are used to sit. He dwelt on Eyin Idre (Idre Isle), and
 1824      had his mansion in a place now called Saurshaug. It is told that the
 1825      occasion of his death was that the wolves one day broke into his fold, and
 1826      his courtiers stirred him up to defend his cattle; but when he ran down
 1827      from his mound, and attacked the wolves, they tore him into pieces. Many
 1828      other extraordinary things were done by this King Eystein against the
 1829      Throndhjem people, and in consequence of this persecution and trouble,
 1830      many chiefs and people fled and left their udal properties.
 1831      14. JAMTALAND AND HELSINGJALAND.
 1832      Ketil Jamte, a son of Earl Onund of Sparabu, went eastward across the
 1833      mountain ridge, and with him a great multitude, who took all their
 1834      farm-stock and goods with them. They cleared the woods, and established
 1835      large farms, and settled the country afterwards called Jamtaland. Thorer
 1836      Helsing, Ketil's grandson, on account of a murder, ran away from Jamtaland
 1837      and fled eastward through the forest, and settled there. Many people
 1838      followed, and that country, which extends eastward down to the seacoast,
 1839      was called Helsingjaland; and its eastern parts are inhabited by Swedes.
 1840      Now when Harald Harfager took possession of the whole country many people
 1841      fled before him, both people of Throndhjem and of Naumudal districts; and
 1842      thus new settlers came to Jamtaland, and some all the way to
 1843      Helsingjaland. The Helsingjaland people travelled into Svithiod for their
 1844      merchandise, and thus became altogether subjects of that country. The
 1845      Jamtaland people, again, were in a manner between the two countries; and
 1846      nobody cared about them, until Hakon entered into friendly intercourse
 1847      with Jamtaland, and made friends of the more powerful people. Then they
 1848      resorted to him, and promised him obedience and payment of taxes, and
 1849      became his subjects; for they saw nothing but what was good in him, and
 1850      being of Norwegian race they would rather stand under his royal authority
 1851      than under the king of Sweden: and he gave them laws, and rights to their
 1852      land. All the people of Helsingjaland did the same, -that is, all who
 1853      were of Norwegian race, from the other side of the great mountain ridge.
 1854      15. HAKON SPREADS CHRISTIANITY.
 1855      King Hakon was a good Christian when he came to Norway; but as the whole
 1856      country was heathen, with much heathenish sacrifice, and as many great
 1857      people, as well as the favour of the common people, were to be
 1858      conciliated, he resolved to practice his Christianity in private. But he
 1859      kept Sundays, and the Friday fasts, and some token of the greatest
 1860      holy-days. He made a law that the festival of Yule should begin at the
 1861      same time as Christian people held it, and that every man, under penalty,
 1862      should brew a meal of malt into ale, and therewith keep the Yule holy as
 1863      long as it lasted. Before him, the beginning of Yule, or the slaughter
 1864      night, was the night of mid-winter (Dec. 14), and Yule was kept for three
 1865      days thereafter. It was his intent, as soon as he had set himself fast in
 1866      the land, and had subjected the whole to his power, to introduce
 1867      Christianity. He went to work first by enticing to Christianity the men
 1868      who were dearest to him; and many, out of friendship to him, allowed
 1869      themselves to be baptized, and some laid aside sacrifices. He dwelt long
 1870      in the Throndhjem district, for the strength of the country lay there; and
 1871      when he thought that, by the support of some powerful people there, he
 1872      could set up Christianity he sent a message to England for a bishop and
 1873      other teachers; and when they arrived in Norway, Hakon made it known that
 1874      he would proclaim Christianity over all the land. The people of More and
 1875      Raumsdal referred the matter to the people of Throndhjem. King Hakon then
 1876      had several churches consecrated, and put priests into them; and when he
 1877      came to Throndhjem he summoned the bondes to a Thing, and invited them to
 1878      accept Christianity. They gave an answer to the effect that they would
 1879      defer the matter until the Frosta-thing, at which there would be men from
 1880      every district of the Throndhjem country, and then they would give their
 1881      determination upon this difficult matter.
 1882      16. ABOUT SACRIFICES.
 1883      Sigurd, earl of Hlader, was one of the greatest men for sacrifices, and so
 1884      had Hakon his father been; and Sigurd always presided on account of the
 1885      king at all the festivals of sacrifice in the Throndhjem country. It was
 1886      an old custom, that when there was to be sacrifice all the bondes should
 1887      come to the spot where the temple stood and bring with them all that they
 1888      required while the festival of the sacrifice lasted. To this festival all
 1889      the men brought ale with them; and all kinds of cattle, as well as horses,
 1890      were slaughtered, and all the blood that came from them was called
 1891      "hlaut", and the vessels in which it was collected were called
 1892      hlaut-vessels. Hlaut-staves were made, like sprinkling brushes, with which
 1893      the whole of the altars and the temple walls, both outside and inside,
 1894      were sprinkled over, and also the people were sprinkled with the blood;
 1895      but the flesh was boiled into savoury meat for those present. The fire was
 1896      in the middle of the floor of the temple, and over it hung the kettles,
 1897      and the full goblets were handed across the fire; and he who made the
 1898      feast, and was a chief, blessed the full goblets, and all the meat of the
 1899      sacrifice. And first Odin's goblet was emptied for victory and power to
 1900      his king; thereafter, Niord's and Freyja's goblets for peace and a good
 1901      season. Then it was the custom of many to empty the brage-goblet (1); and
 1902      then the guests emptied a goblet to the memory of departed friends, called
 1903      the remembrance goblet. Sigurd the earl was an open-handed man, who did
 1904      what was very much celebrated; namely, he made a great sacrifice festival
 1905      at Hlader of which he paid all the expenses. Kormak Ogmundson sings of it
 1906      in his ballad of Sigurd: -
 1907     "Of cup or platter need has none
 1908     The guest who seeks the generous one, -
 1909     Sigurd the Generous, who can trace
 1910     His lineage from the giant race;
 1911     For Sigurd's hand is bounteous, free, -
 1912     The guardian of the temples he.
 1913     He loves the gods, his liberal hand
 1914     Scatters his sword's gains o'er the land -"
 1915   ENDNOTES: (1) The brage-goblet, over which vows were made. -L.
 1916      17. THE FROSTA-THING.
 1917      King Hakon came to the Frosta-thing, at which a vast multitude of people
 1918      were assembled. And when the Thing was seated, the king spoke to the
 1919      people, and began his speech with saying, -it was his message and
 1920      entreaty to the bondes and householding men, both great and small, and to
 1921      the whole public in general, young and old, rich and poor, women as well
 1922      as men, that they should all allow themselves to be baptized, and should
 1923      believe in one God, and in Christ the son of Mary and refrain from all
 1924      sacrifices and heathen gods; and should keep holy the seventh day, and
 1925      abstain from all work on it, and keep a fast on the seventh day. As soon
 1926      as the king had proposed this to the bondes, great was the murmur and
 1927      noise among the crowd. They complained that the king wanted to take their
 1928      labour and their old faith from them, and the land could not be cultivated
 1929      in that way. The labouring men and slaves thought that they could not work
 1930      if they did not get meat; and they said it was the character of King
 1931      Hakon, and his father, and all the family, to be generous enough with
 1932      their money, but sparing with their diet. Asbjorn of Medalhus in the
 1933      Gaulardal stood up, and answered thus to the king's proposal: -
 1934      "We bondes, King Hakon, when we elected thee to be our king, and got back
 1935      our udal rights at the Thing held in Throndhjem, thought we had got into
 1936      heaven; but now we don't know whether we have really got back our freedom,
 1937      or whether thou wishest to make vassals of us again by this extraordinary
 1938      proposal that we should abandon the ancient faith which our fathers and
 1939      forefathers have held from the oldest times, in the times when the dead
 1940      were burnt, as well as since that they are laid under mounds, and which,
 1941      although they were braver than the people of our days, has served us as a
 1942      faith to the present time. We have also held thee so dear, that we have
 1943      allowed thee to rule and give law and right to all the country. And even
 1944      now we bondes will unanimously hold by the law which thou givest us here
 1945      in the Frosta-thing, and to which we have also given our assent; and we
 1946      will follow thee, and have thee for our king, as long as there is a living
 1947      man among us bondes here in this Thing assembled. But thou, king, must use
 1948      some moderation towards us, and only require from us such things as we can
 1949      obey thee in, and are not impossible for us. If, however, thou wilt take
 1950      up this matter with a high hand, and wilt try thy power and strength
 1951      against us, we bondes have resolved among ourselves to part with thee, and
 1952      to take to ourselves some other chief, who will so conduct himself towards
 1953      us that we can freely and safely enjoy that faith that suits our own
 1954      inclinations. Now, king, thou must choose one or other of these conditions
 1955      before the Thing is ended."
 1956      The bondes gave loud applause to this speech, and said it expressed their
 1957      will, and they would stand or fall by what had been spoken. When silence
 1958      was again restored, Earl Sigurd said, "It is King Hakon's will to give way
 1959      to you, the bondes, and never to separate himself from your friendship."
 1960      The bondes replied, that it was their desire that the king should offer a
 1961      sacrifice for peace and a good year, as his father was want to do; and
 1962      thereupon the noise and tumult ceased, and the Thing was concluded. Earl
 1963      Sigurd spoke to the king afterwards, and advised him not to refuse
 1964      altogether to do as the people desired, saying there was nothing else for
 1965      it but to give way to the will of the bondes; "for it is, as thou hast
 1966      heard thyself, the will and earnest desire of the head-people, as well as
 1967      of the multitude. Hereafter we may find a good way to manage it." And in
 1968      this resolution the king and earl agreed (A.D. 950).
 1969      18. KING HAKON OFFERS SACRIFICES.
 1970      The harvest thereafter, towards the winter season, there was a festival of
 1971      sacrifice at Hlader, and the king came to it. It had always been his
 1972      custom before, when he was present at a place where there was sacrifice,
 1973      to take his meals in a little house by himself, or with some few of his
 1974      men; but the bondes grumbled that he did not seat himself in his high-seat
 1975      at these the most joyous of the meetings of the people. The earl said that
 1976      the king should do so this time. The king accordingly sat upon his
 1977      high-seat. Now when the first full goblet was filled, Earl Sigurd spoke
 1978      some words over it, blessed it in Odin's name, and drank to the king out
 1979      of the horn; and the king then took it, and made the sign of the cross
 1980      over it. Then said Kar of Gryting, "What does the king mean by doing so?
 1981      Will he not sacrifice?" Earl Sigurd replies, "The king is doing what all
 1982      of you do, who trust to your power and strength. He is blessing the full
 1983      goblet in the name of Thor, by making the sign of his hammer over it
 1984      before he drinks it." On this there was quietness for the evening. The
 1985      next day, when the people sat down to table, the bondes pressed the king
 1986      strongly to eat of horse-flesh (1); and as he would on no account do so,
 1987      they wanted him to drink of the soup; and as he would not do this, they
 1988      insisted he should at least taste the gravy; and on his refusal they were
 1989      going to lay hands on him. Earl Sigurd came and made peace among them, by
 1990      asking the king to hold his mouth over the handle of the kettle, upon
 1991      which the fat smoke of the boiled horse-flesh had settled itself; and the
 1992      king first laid a linen cloth over the handle, and then gaped over it, and
 1993      returned to the high-seat; but neither party was satisfied with this.
 1994   ENDNOTES: (1) This eating of horse-flesh at these religious festivals
 1995     was considered the most direct proof of paganism in the
 1996     following times, and was punished by death or mutilation by
 1997     Saint Olaf.  It was a ceremony apparently commemorative of
 1998     their Asiatic origin and ancestors.
 1999      19. FEAST OF THE SACRIFICE AT MORE.
 2000      The winter thereafter the king prepared a Yule feast in More, and eight
 2001      chiefs resolved with each other to meet at it. Four of them were from
 2002      without the Throndhjem district -namely, Kar of Gryting, Asbjorn of
 2003      Medalhus, Thorberg of Varnes, and Orm from Ljoxa; and from the Throndhjem
 2004      district, Botolf of Olvishaug, Narfe of Staf in Veradal, Thrand Hak from
 2005      Egg, and Thorer Skeg from Husaby in Eyin Idre. These eight men bound
 2006      themselves, the four first to root out Christianity in Norway, and the
 2007      four others to oblige the king to offer sacrifice to the gods. The four
 2008      first went in four ships southwards to More, and killed three priests, and
 2009      burnt three churches, and then they returned. Now, when King Hakon and
 2010      Earl Sigurd came to More with their court, the bondes assembled in great
 2011      numbers; and immediately, on the first day of the feast, the bondes
 2012      insisted hard with the king that he should offer sacrifice, and threatened
 2013      him with violence if he refused. Earl Sigurd tried to make peace between
 2014      them, and brought it so far that the king took some bits of horse-liver,
 2015      and emptied all the goblets the bondes filled for him without the sign of
 2016      the cross; but as soon as the feast was over, the king and the earl
 2017      returned to Hlader. The king was very ill pleased, and made himself ready
 2018      to leave Throndhjem forthwith with all his people; saying that the next
 2019      time he came to Throndhjem, he would come with such strength of
 2020      men-at-arms that he would repay the bondes for their enmity towards him.
 2021      Earl Sigurd entreated the king not to take it amiss of the bondes; adding,
 2022      that it was not wise to threaten them, or to make war upon the people
 2023      within the country, and especially in the Throndhjem district, where the
 2024      strength of the land lay; but the king was so enraged that he would not
 2025      listen to a word from anybody. He went out from Throndhjem, and proceeded
 2026      south to More, where he remained the rest of the winter, and on to the
 2027      spring season (A.D. 950); and when summer came he assembled men, and the
 2028      report was that he intended with this army to attack the Throndhjem
 2029      people.
 2030      20. BATTLE AT OGVALDSNES.
 2031      But just as the king had embarked with a great force of troops, the news
 2032      was brought him from the south of the country, that King Eirik's sons had
 2033      come from Denmark to Viken and had driven King Trygve Olafson from his
 2034      ships at Sotanes, and then had plundered far and wide around in Viken, and
 2035      that many had submitted to them. Now when King Hakon heard this news, he
 2036      thought that help was needed; and he sent word to Earl Sigurd, and to the
 2037      other chiefs from whom he could expect help, to hasten to his assistance.
 2038      Sigurd the earl came accordingly with a great body of men, among whom were
 2039      all the Throndhjem people who had set upon him the hardest to offer
 2040      sacrifice; and all made their peace with the king, by the earl's
 2041      persuasion. Now King Hakon sailed south along the coast; and when he came
 2042      south as far as Stad, he heard that Eirik's sons were come to North Agder.
 2043      Then they advanced against each other, and met at Kormt. Both parties left
 2044      their ships there, and gave battle at Ogvaldsnes. Both parties had a great
 2045      force, and it was a great battle. King Hakon went forward bravely, and
 2046      King Guthorm Eirikson met him with his troop, and they exchanged blows
 2047      with each other. Guthorm fell, and his standard was cut down. Many people
 2048      fell around him. The army of Eirik's sons then took flight to their ships
 2049      and rowed away with the loss of many a man. So says Guthorm Sindre: -
 2050     "The king's voice waked the silent host
 2051     Who slept beside the wild sea-coast,
 2052     And bade the song of spear and sword
 2053     Over the battle plain be heard.
 2054     Where heroes' shields the loudest rang,
 2055     Where loudest was the sword-blade's clang,
 2056     By the sea-shore at Kormt Sound,
 2057     Hakon felled Guthorm to the ground."
 2058      Now King Hakon returned to his ships, and pursued Gunhild's sons. And both
 2059      parties sailed all they could sail, until they came to East Adger, from
 2060      whence Eirik's sons set out to sea, and southwards for Jutland (A.D. 950).
 2061      Guthorm Sindre speaks of it in his song: -
 2062     "And Guthorm's brothers too, who know
 2063     So skilfully to bend the bow,
 2064     The conquering hand must also feel
 2065     Of Hakon, god of the bright steel, -
 2066     The sun-god, whose bright rays, that dart
 2067     Flame-like, are swords that pierce the heart.
 2068     Well I remember how the King
 2069     Hakon, the battle's life and spring,
 2070     O'er the wide ocean cleared away
 2071     Eirik's brave sons.  They durst not stay,
 2072     But round their ships' sides hung their shields
 2073     And fled across the blue sea-fields."
 2074      King Hakon returned then northwards to Norway, but Eirik's sons remained a
 2075      long time in Denmark.
 2076      21. KING HAKON'S LAWS.
 2077      King Hakon after this battle made a law, that all inhabited land over the
 2078      whole country along the sea-coast, and as far back from it as the salmon
 2079      swims up in the rivers, should be divided into ship-raths according to the
 2080      districts; and it was fixed by law how many ships there should be from
 2081      each district, and how great each should be, when the whole people were
 2082      called out on service. For this outfit the whole inhabitants should be
 2083      bound whenever a foreign army came to the country. With this came also the
 2084      order that beacons should be erected upon the hills, so that every man
 2085      could see from the one to the other; and it is told that a war-signal
 2086      could thus be given in seven days, from the most southerly beacon to the
 2087      most northerly Thing-seat in Halogaland
 2088      22. CONCERNING EIRIK'S SONS.
 2089      Eirik's sons plundered much on the Baltic coasts and sometimes, as before
 2090      related, in Norway; but so long as Hakon ruled over Norway there was in
 2091      general good peace, and good seasons, and he was the most beloved of
 2092      kings. When Hakon had reigned about twenty years in Norway (A.D. 954),
 2093      Eirik's sons came from Denmark with a powerful army, of which a great part
 2094      consisted of the people who had followed them on their expeditions; but a
 2095      still greater army of Danes had been placed at their disposal by King
 2096      Harald Gormson. They sailed with a fair wind from Vendil, and came to
 2097      Agder; and then sailed northwards, night and day, along the coast. But the
 2098      beacons were not fired, because it had been usual to look for them lighted
 2099      from the east onwards, and nobody had observed them from the east coast;
 2100      and besides King Hakon had set heavy penalties for giving false alarm, by
 2101      lighting the beacons without occasion. The reason of this was, that ships
 2102      of war and vikings cruised about and plundered among the outlying islands,
 2103      and the country people took them for Eirik's sons, and lighted the
 2104      beacons, and set the whole country in trouble and dread of war. Sometimes,
 2105      no doubt, the sons of Eirik were there; but having only their own troops,
 2106      and no Danish army with them, they returned to Denmark; and sometimes
 2107      these were other vikings. King Hakon was very angry at this, because it
 2108      cost both trouble and money to no purpose. The bondes also suffered by
 2109      these false alarms when they were given uselessly; and thus it happened
 2110      that no news of this expedition of Eirik's sons circulated through the
 2111      land until they had come as far north as Ulfasund, where they lay for
 2112      seven days. Then spies set off across Eid and northwards to More. King
 2113      Hakon was at that time in the island Frede, in North More, at a place
 2114      called Birkistrand, where he had a dwelling-house, and had no troops with
 2115      him, only his bodyguard or court, and the neighbouring bondes he had
 2116      invited to his house.
 2117      23. OF EGIL ULSERK.
 2118      The spies came to King Hakon, and told him that Eirik's sons, with a great
 2119      army, lay just to the south of Stad. Then he called together the most
 2120      understanding of the men about him, and asked their opinion, whether he
 2121      should fight with Eirik's sons, although they had such a great multitude
 2122      with them, or should set off northwards to gather together more men. Now
 2123      there was a bonde there, by name Egil Ulserk, who was a very old man, but
 2124      in former days had been strong and stout beyond most men, and a hardy
 2125      man-at-arms withal, having long carried King Harald Harfager's banner.
 2126      Egil answered thus to the king's speech, -"I was in several battles
 2127      with thy father Harald the king, and he gave battle sometimes with many,
 2128      sometimes with few people; but he always came off with victory. Never did
 2129      I hear him ask counsel of his friends whether he should fly -and
 2130      neither shalt thou get any such counsel from us, king; but as we know we
 2131      have a brave leader, thou shalt get a trusty following from us." Many
 2132      others agreed with this speech, and the king himself declared he was most
 2133      inclined to fight with such strength as they could gather. It was so
 2134      determined. The king split up a war-arrow, which he sent off in all
 2135      directions, and by that token a number of men was collected in all haste.
 2136      Then said Egil Ulserk, -"At one time the peace had lasted so long I
 2137      was afraid I might come to die the death of old age (1), within doors upon
 2138      a bed of straw, although I would rather fall in battle following my chief.
 2139      And now it may so turn out in the end as I wished it to be."
 2140   ENDNOTES: (1) In all the sagas of this pagan time, the dying on a bed of
 2141     sickness is mentioned as a kind of derogatory end of a man
 2142     of any celebrity. -L.
 2143      24. BATTLE AT FREDARBERG.
 2144      Eirik's sons sailed northwards around Stad; as soon as the wind suited;
 2145      and when they had passed it, and heard where King Hakon was, they sailed
 2146      to meet him. King Hakon had nine ships, with which he lay under Fredarberg
 2147      in Feeysund; and Eirik's sons had twenty ships, with which they brought up
 2148      on the south side of the same cape, in Feeysund. King Hakon sent them a
 2149      message, asking them to go upon the land; and telling them that he had
 2150      hedged in with hazel boughs a place of combat at Rastarkalf, where there
 2151      is a flat large field, at the foot of a long and rather low ridge. Then
 2152      Eirik's sons left their ships, and went northwards over the neck of land
 2153      within Fredarberg, and onward to Rastarkalf. Then Egil asked King Hakon to
 2154      give him ten men with ten banners, and the king did so. Then Egil went
 2155      with his men under the ridge; but King Hakon went out upon the open field
 2156      with his army, and set up his banner, and drew up his army, saying, "Let
 2157      us draw up in a long line, that they may not surround us, as they have the
 2158      most men." And so it was done; and there was a severe battle, and a very
 2159      sharp attack. Then Egil Ulserk set up the ten banners he had with him, and
 2160      placed the men who carried them so that they should go as near the summit
 2161      of the ridge as possible, and leaving a space between each of them. They
 2162      went so near the summit that the banners could be seen over it, and moved
 2163      on as if they were coming behind the army of Eirik's sons. Now when the
 2164      men who stood uppermost in the line of the troops of Eirik's sons saw so
 2165      many flying banners advancing high over the edge of the ridge, they
 2166      supposed a great force must be following, who would come behind their
 2167      army, and between them and their ships. They made each other acquainted
 2168      with what was going on in a loud shout, and the whole took to flight; and
 2169      when the king saw it, they fled with the rest. King Hakon now pushes on
 2170      briskly with his people, pursuing the flying, and killing many.
 2171      25. OF KING GAMLE.
 2172      When Gamle Eirikson came up the ridge of the hill he turned round, and he
 2173      observed that not more people were following than his men had been engaged
 2174      with already, and he saw it was but a stratagem of war; so he ordered the
 2175      war-horns to be blown, his banner to be set up, and he put his men in
 2176      battle order. On this, all his Northmen stood, and turned with him, but
 2177      the Danes fled to the ships; and when King Hakon and his men came thither,
 2178      there was again sharp conflict; but now Hakon had most people. At last the
 2179      Eirik's sons' force fled, and took the road south about the hill; but a
 2180      part of their army retreated upon the hill southwards, followed by King
 2181      Hakon. There is a flat field east of the ridge which runs westward along
 2182      the range of hills, and is bounded on its west side by a steep ridge.
 2183      Gamle's men retreated towards this ground; but Hakon followed so closely
 2184      that he killed some, and others ran west over the ridge, and were killed
 2185      on that side of it. King Hakon did not part with them till the last man of
 2186      them was killed.
 2187      26. KING GAMLE AND ULSERK FALL.
 2188      Gamle Eirikson fled from the ridge down upon the plain to the south of the
 2189      hill. There he turned himself again, and waited until more people gathered
 2190      to him. All his brothers, and many troops of their men, assembled there.
 2191      Egil Ulserk was in front, and in advance of Hakon's men, and made a stout
 2192      attack. He and King Gamle exchanged blows with each other, and King Gamle
 2193      got a grievous wound; but Egil fell, and many people with him. Then came
 2194      Hakon the king with the troops which had followed him, and a new battle
 2195      began. King Hakon pushed on, cutting down men on both sides of him, and
 2196      killing the one upon the top of the other. So sings Guthorm Sindre: -
 2197     "Scared by the sharp sword's singing sound,
 2198     Brandished in air, the foe gave ground.
 2199     The boldest warrior cannot stand
 2200     Before King Hakon's conquering hand;
 2201     And the king's banner ever dies
 2202     Where the spear-forests thickest rise.
 2203     Altho' the king had gained of old
 2204     Enough of Freyja's tears of gold (1),
 2205     He spared himself no more than tho'
 2206     He'd had no well-filled purse to show."
 2207      When Eirik's sons saw their men falling all round, they turned and fled to
 2208      their ships; but those who had sought the ships before had pushed off some
 2209      of them from the land, while some of them were still hauled up and on the
 2210      strand. Now the sons of Eirik and their men plunged into the sea, and
 2211      betook themselves to swimming. Gamle Eirikson was drowned; but the other
 2212      sons of Eirik reached their ships, and set sail with what men remained.
 2213      They steered southwards to Denmark, where they stopped a while, very ill
 2214      satisfied with their expedition.
 2215   ENDNOTES: (1) Freyja's husband was Od; and her tears, when she wept at
 2216     the long absence of her husband, were tears of gold.  Od's
 2217     wife's tears is the skald's expression here for gold -
 2218     understood, no doubt, as readily as any allusion to Plutus
 2219     would convey the equivalent meaning in modern poetry. -L.
 2220      27. EGIL ULSERK'S BURIAL-GROUND.
 2221      King Hakon took all the ships of the sons of Eirik that had been left upon
 2222      the strand, and had them drawn quite up, and brought on the land. Then he
 2223      ordered that Egil Ulserk, and all the men of his army who had fallen,
 2224      should be laid in the ships, and covered entirely over with earth and
 2225      stones. King Hakon made many of the ships to be drawn up to the field of
 2226      battle, and the hillocks over them are to be seen to the present day a
 2227      little to the south of Fredarberg. At the time when King Hakon was killed,
 2228      when Glum Geirason, in his song, boasted of King Hakon's fall, Eyvind
 2229      Skaldaspiller composed these verses on this battle: -
 2230     "Our dauntless king with Gamle's gore
 2231     Sprinkled his bright sword o'er and o'er:
 2232     Sprinkled the gag that holds the mouth
 2233     Of the fell demon Fenriswolf (1).
 2234     Proud swelled our warriors' hearts when he
 2235     Drove Eirik's sons out to the sea,
 2236     With all their Guatland host: but now
 2237     Our warriors weep -Hakon lies low!"
 2238      High standing stones mark Egil Uslerk s grave.
 2239   ENDNOTES: (1) The Fenriswolf, one of the children of Loke, begotten with
 2240     a giantess, was chained to a rock, and gagged by a sword
 2241     placed in his mouth, to prevent him devouring mankind.
 2242     Fenriswolf's gag is a skaldic expression for a sword. -L.
 2243      28. NEWS OF WAR COMES TO KING HAKON.
 2244      When King Hakon, Athelstan's foster-son, had been king for twenty-six
 2245      years after his brother Eirik had left the country, it happened (A.D. 960)
 2246      that he was at a feast in Hordaland in the house at Fitjar on the island
 2247      Stord, and he had with him at the feast his court and many of the
 2248      peasants. And just as the king was seated at the supper-table, his
 2249      watchmen who were outside observed many ships coming sailing along from
 2250      the south, and not very far from the island. Now, said the one to the
 2251      other, they should inform the king that they thought an armed force was
 2252      coming against them; but none thought it advisable to be the bearer of an
 2253      alarm of war to the king, as he had set heavy penalties on those who
 2254      raised such alarms falsely, yet they thought it unsuitable that the king
 2255      should remain in ignorance of what they saw. Then one of them went into
 2256      the room and asked Eyvind Finson to come out as fast as possible, for it
 2257      was very needful. Eyvind immediately came out and went to where he could
 2258      see the ships, and saw directly that a great army was on the way; and he
 2259      returned in all haste into the room, and, placing himself before the kind,
 2260      said, "Short is the hour for acting, and long the hour for feasting." The
 2261      king cast his eyes upon him, and said, "What now is in the way?" Eyvind
 2262      said -
 2263     "Up king!  the avengers are at hand!
 2264     Eirik's bold sons approach the land!
 2265     The Judgment of the sword they crave
 2266     Against their foe.  Thy wrath I brave;
 2267     Tho' well I know 'tis no light thing
 2268     To bring war-tidings to the king
 2269     And tell him 'tis no time to rest.
 2270     Up!  gird your armour to your breast:
 2271     Thy honour's dearer than my life;
 2272     Therefore I say, up to the strife!"
 2273      Then said the king, "Thou art too brave a fellow, Eyvind, to bring us any
 2274      false alarm of war." The others all said it was a true report. The king
 2275      ordered the tables to be removed, and then he went out to look at the
 2276      ships; and when it could be clearly seen that these were ships of war, the
 2277      king asked his men what resolution they should take -whether to give
 2278      battle with the men they had, or go on board ship and sail away northwards
 2279      along the land. "For it is easy to see," said he, "that we must now fight
 2280      against a much greater force than we ever had against us before; although
 2281      we thought just the same the last time we fought against Gunhild's sons."
 2282      No one was in a hurry to give an answer to the king; but at last Eyvind
 2283      replied to the king's speech: -
 2284     "Thou who in the battle-plain
 2285     Hast often poured the sharp spear-rain!
 2286     Ill it beseems our warriors brave
 2287     To fly upon the ocean wave:
 2288     To fly upon the blue wave north,
 2289     When Harald from the south comes forth,
 2290     With many a ship riding in pride
 2291     Upon the foaming ocean-tide;
 2292     With many a ship and southern viking, -
 2293     Let us take shield in hand, brave king!"
 2294      The king replied, "Thy counsel, Eyvind, is manly, and after my own heart;
 2295      but I will hear the opinion of others upon this matter." Now as the king's
 2296      men thought they discerned what way the king was inclined to take, they
 2297      answered that they would rather fall bravely and like men, than fly before
 2298      the Danes; adding, that they had often gained the victory against greater
 2299      odds of numbers. The king thanked them for their resolution, and bade them
 2300      arm themselves; and all the men did so. The king put on his armour, and
 2301      girded on his sword Kvernbit, and put a gilt helmet upon his head, and
 2302      took a spear (Kesja) in his hand, and a shield by his side. He then drew
 2303      up his courtmen and the bondes in one body, and set up his banner.
 2304      29. THE ARMAMENT OF EIRIK'S SONS.
 2305      After Gamle's death King Harald, Eirik's son, was the chief of the
 2306      brothers, and he had a great army with him from Denmark. In their army
 2307      were also their mother's brothers, -Eyvind Skreyja, and Alf Askman,
 2308      both strong and able men, and great man slayers. The sons of Eirik brought
 2309      up with their ships off the island, and it is said that their force was
 2310      not less than six to one, -so much stronger in men were Eirik's sons.
 2311      30. KING HAKON'S BATTLE ARRAY.
 2312      When King Hakon had drawn up his men, it is told of him that he threw off
 2313      his armour before the battle began. So sings Eyvind Skaldaspiller, in
 2314      Hakmarmal: -
 2315     "They found Blorn's brother bold
 2316     Under his banner as of old,
 2317     Ready for battle.  Foes advance, -
 2318     The front rank raise the shining lance:
 2319     And now begins the bloody fray!
 2320     Now!  now begins Hild's wild play!
 2321     Our noble king, whose name strikes fear
 2322     Into each Danish heart, -whose spear
 2323     Has single-handed spilt the blood
 2324     Of many a Danish noble, -stood
 2325     Beneath his helmet's eagle wing
 2326     Amidst his guards; but the brave king
 2327     Scorned to wear armour, while his men
 2328     Bared naked breasts against the rain
 2329     Of spear and arrow, his breast-plate rung
 2330     Against the stones; and, blithe and gay,
 2331     He rushed into the thickest fray.
 2332     With golden helm, and naked breast,
 2333     Brave Hakon played at slaughter's feast."
 2334      King Hakon selected willingly such men for his guard or court-men as were
 2335      distinguished for their strength and bravery, as his father King Harald
 2336      also used to do; and among these was Thoralf Skolmson the Strong, who went
 2337      on one side of the king. He had helmet and shield, spear and sword; and
 2338      his sword was called by the name of Footbreadth. It was said that Thoralf
 2339      and King Hakon were equal in strength. Thord Sjarekson speaks of it in the
 2340      poem he composed concerning Thoralf: -
 2341     "The king's men went with merry words
 2342     To the sharp clash of shields and flame swords,
 2343     When these wild rovers of the sea
 2344     At Fitlar fought.  Stout Thoralf he
 2345     Next to the Northmen's hero came,
 2346     Scattering wide round the battle flame
 2347     For in the storm of shields not one
 2348     Ventured like him with brave Hakon."
 2349      When both lines met there was a hard combat, and much bloodshed. The
 2350      combatants threw their spears and then drew their swords. Then King Hakon,
 2351      and Thoralf with him, went in advance of the banner, cutting down on both
 2352      sides of them. So says Eyvind Skaldaspiller: -
 2353     "The body-coats of naked steel,
 2354     The woven iron coats of mail,
 2355     Like water fly before the swing
 2356     Of Hakon's sword -the champion-king.
 2357     About each Gotland war-man's head
 2358     Helm splits, like ice beneath the tread,
 2359     Cloven by the axe or sharp swordblade,
 2360     The brave king, foremost in the fight,
 2361     Dyes crimson-red the spotless white
 2362     Of his bright shield with foemen's gore. -
 2363     Amidst the battle's wild uproar,
 2364     Wild pealing round from shore to shore."
 2365      31. FALL OF SKREYJA AND ASKMAN.
 2366      King Hakon was very conspicuous among other men, and also when the sun
 2367      shone his helmet glanced, and thereby many weapons were directed at him.
 2368      Then Eyvind Finson took a hat and put it over the king's helmet. Now
 2369      Eyvind Skreyja called out, "Does the king of the Norsemen hide himself, or
 2370      has he fled? Where is now the golden helmet?" Then Eyvind, and his brother
 2371      Alf with him, pushed on like fools or madmen. King Hakon shouted to
 2372      Eyvind, "Come on as thou art coming, and thou shalt find the king of the
 2373      Norsemen." So says Eyvind Skaldaspiller: -
 2374     "The raiser of the storm of shields,
 2375     The conqueror in battle fields, -
 2376     Hakon the brave, the warrior's friend,
 2377     Who scatters gold with liberal hand,
 2378     Heard Skreyja's taunt, and saw him rush,
 2379     Amidst the sharp spears' thickest push,
 2380     And loudly shouted in reply -
 2381     'If thou wilt for the victory try,
 2382     The Norseman's king thou soon shall find!
 2383     Hold onwards, friend!  Hast thou a mind!"
 2384      It was also but a short space of time before Eyvind did come up swinging
 2385      his sword, and made a cut at the king; but Thoralf thrust his shield so
 2386      hard against Eyvind that he tottered with the shock. Now the king takes
 2387      his sword Kvernbit with both hands, and hewed Eyvind through helm and
 2388      head, and clove him down to the shoulders. Thoralf also slew Alf Askman.
 2389      So says Eyvind Skaldaspiller: -
 2390     "With both his hands the gallant king
 2391     Swung round his sword, and to the chin
 2392     Clove Eyvind down: his faithless mail
 2393     Against it could no more avail,
 2394     Than the thin plank against the shock
 2395     When the ship's side beats on the rock.
 2396     By his bright sword with golden haft
 2397     Thro' helm, and head, and hair, was cleft
 2398     The Danish champion; and amain,
 2399     With terror smitten, fled his men."
 2400      After this fall of the two brothers, King Hakon pressed on so hard that
 2401      all men gave way before his assault. Now fear came over the army of
 2402      Eirik's sons, and the men began to fly; and King Hakon, who was at the
 2403      head of his men, pressed on the flying, and hewed down oft and hard. Then
 2404      flew an arrow, one of the kind called "flein", into Hakon's arm, into the
 2405      muscles below the shoulder; and it is said by many people that Gunhild's
 2406      shoe-boy, whose name was Kisping, ran out and forwards amidst the
 2407      confusion of arms, called out "Make room for the king-killer," and shot
 2408      King Hakon with the flein. Others again say that nobody could tell who
 2409      shot the king, which is indeed the most likely; for spears, arrows, and
 2410      all kinds of missiles flew as thick as a snow-drift. Many of the people of
 2411      Eirik's sons were killed, both on the field of battle and on the way to
 2412      the ships, and also on the strand, and many threw themselves into the
 2413      water. Many also, among whom were Eirik's sons, got on board their ships,
 2414      and rowed away as fast as they could, and Hakon's men after them. So says
 2415      Thord Sjarekson: -
 2416     "The wolf, the murderer, and the thief,
 2417     Fled from before the people's chief:
 2418     Few breakers of the peace grew old
 2419     Under the Northmen's king so bold.
 2420     When gallant Hakon lost his life
 2421     Black was the day, and dire the strife.
 2422     It was bad work for Gunhild's sons,
 2423     Leading their pack of Hungry Danes
 2424     From out the south, to have to fly,
 2425     And many a bonde leave to die,
 2426     Leaning his heavy wounded head
 2427     On the oar-bench for feather-bed.
 2428     Thoralf was nearest to the side
 2429     Of gallant Hakon in the tide
 2430     Of battle; his the sword that best
 2431     Carved out the raven's bloody feast:
 2432     Amidst the heaps of foemen slain
 2433     He was named bravest on the plain."
 2434      32. HAKON'S DEATH.
 2435      When King Hakon came out to his ship he had his wound bound up; but the
 2436      blood ran from it so much and so constantly, that it could not be stopped;
 2437      and when the day was drawing to an end his strength began to leave him.
 2438      Then he told his men that he wanted to go northwards to his house at
 2439      Alreksstader; but when he came north, as far as Hakonarhella Hill, they
 2440      put in towards the land, for by this time the king was almost lifeless.
 2441      Then he called his friends around him, and told them what he wished to be
 2442      done with regard to his kingdom. He had only one child, a daughter, called
 2443      Thora, and had no son. Now he told them to send a message to Eirik's sons,
 2444      that they should be kings over the country; but asked them to hold his
 2445      friends in respect and honour. "And if fate," added he, "should prolong my
 2446      life, I will, at any rate, leave the country, and go to a Christian land,
 2447      and do penance for what I have done against God; but should I die in
 2448      heathen land, give me any burial you think fit." Shortly afterwards Hakon
 2449      expired, at the little hill on the shore-side at which he was born. So
 2450      great was the sorrow over Hakon's death, that he was lamented both by
 2451      friends and enemies; and they said that never again would Norway see such
 2452      a king. His friends removed his body to Saeheim, in North Hordaland, and
 2453      made a great mound, in which they laid the king in full armour and in his
 2454      best clothes, but with no other goods. They spoke over his grave, as
 2455      heathen people are used to do, and wished him in Valhal. Eyvind
 2456      Skaldaspiller composed a poem on the death of King Hakon, and on how well
 2457      he was received in Valhal. The poem is called "Hakonarmal": -
 2458     "In Odin's hall an empty place
 2459     Stands for a king of Yngve's race;
 2460     'Go, my valkyries,' Odin said,
 2461     'Go forth, my angels of the dead,
 2462     Gondul and Skogul, to the plain
 2463     Drenched with the battle's bloody rain,
 2464     And to the dying Hakon tell,
 2465     Here in Valhal shall he dwell.'
 2466
 2467     "At Stord, so late a lonely shore,
 2468     Was heard the battle's wild uproar;
 2469     The lightning of the flashing sword
 2470     Burned fiercely at the shore of Stord.
 2471     From levelled halberd and spearhead
 2472     Life-blood was dropping fast and red;
 2473     And the keen arrows' biting sleet
 2474     Upon the shore at Stord fast beat.
 2475
 2476     "Upon the thundering cloud of shield
 2477     Flashed bright the sword-storm o'er the field;
 2478     And on the plate-mail rattled loud
 2479     The arrow-shower's rushing cloud,
 2480     In Odin's tempest-weather, there
 2481     Swift whistling through the angry air;
 2482     And the spear-torrents swept away
 2483     Ranks of brave men from light of day.
 2484
 2485     "With batter'd shield, and blood-smear'd sword
 2486     Slits one beside the shore of Stord,
 2487     With armour crushed and gashed sits he,
 2488     A grim and ghastly sight to see;
 2489     And round about in sorrow stand
 2490     The warriors of his gallant band:
 2491     Because the king of Dags' old race
 2492     In Odin's hall must fill a place.
 2493
 2494     "Then up spake Gondul, standing near
 2495     Resting upon her long ash spear, -
 2496     'Hakon!  the gods' cause prospers well,
 2497     And thou in Odin's halls shalt dwell!'
 2498     The king beside the shore of Stord
 2499     The speech of the valkyrie heard,
 2500     Who sat there on his coal-black steed,
 2501     With shield on arm and helm on head.
 2502
 2503     "Thoughtful, said Hakon, 'Tell me why
 2504     Ruler of battles, victory
 2505     Is so dealt out on Stord's red plain?
 2506     Have we not well deserved to gain?'
 2507     'And is it not as well dealt out?'
 2508     Said Gondul. 'Hearest thou not the shout?
 2509     The field is cleared -the foemen run -
 2510     The day is ours -the battle won!'
 2511
 2512     "Then Skogul said, 'My coal-black steed,
 2513     Home to the gods I now must speed,
 2514     To their green home, to tell the tiding
 2515     That Hakon's self is thither riding.'
 2516     To Hermod and to Brage then
 2517     Said Odin, 'Here, the first of men,
 2518     Brave Hakon comes, the Norsemen's king, -
 2519     Go forth, my welcome to him bring.'
 2520
 2521     "Fresh from the battle-field came in,
 2522     Dripping with blood, the Norsemen'a king.
 2523     'Methinks,' said he, great Odin's will
 2524     Is harsh, and bodes me further ill;
 2525     Thy son from off the field to-day
 2526     From victory to snatch away!'
 2527     But Odin said, 'Be thine the joy
 2528     Valhal gives, my own brave boy!'
 2529
 2530     "And Brage said, 'Eight brothers here
 2531     Welcome thee to Valhal's cheer,
 2532     To drain the cup, or fights repeat
 2533     Where Hakon Eirik's earls beat.'
 2534     Quoth the stout king, 'And shall my gear,
 2535     Helm, sword, and mail-coat, axe and spear,
 2536     Be still at hand!  'Tis good to hold
 2537     Fast by our trusty friends of old.'
 2538
 2539     "Well was it seen that Hakon still
 2540     Had saved the temples from all ill (1);
 2541     For the whole council of the gods
 2542     Welcomed the king to their abodes.
 2543     Happy the day when men are born
 2544     Like Hakon, who all base things scorn. -
 2545     Win from the brave and honoured name,
 2546     And die amidst an endless fame.
 2547
 2548     "Sooner shall Fenriswolf devour
 2549     The race of man from shore to shore,
 2550     Than such a grace to kingly crown
 2551     As gallant Hakon want renown.
 2552     Life, land, friends, riches, all will fly,
 2553     And we in slavery shall sigh.
 2554     But Hakon in the blessed abodes
 2555     For ever lives with the bright gods."
 2556   ENDNOTES: (1) Hakon, although a Christian, appears to have favoured the
 2557     old religion, and spared the temples of Odin, and therefore
 2558     a place in Valhal is assigned him. -L.
 2559      SAGA OF KING HARALD GRAFELD AND OF EARL HAKON SON OF SIGURD.
 2560      PRELIMINARY REMARKS
 2561      This saga might be called Gunhild's Saga, as she is the chief person in
 2562      it. The reign of King Harald and Earl Hakon is more fully described in the
 2563      next saga, that is, Olaf Trygvason's. Other literature on this epoch:
 2564      "Agrip" (chap. 8), "Historia Norvegia", (p. 12), "Thjodrek" (chap. 5),
 2565      "Saxo" (pp. 479-482), "Egla" (chaps. 81, 82), "Floamanna" (chap. 12),
 2566      "Fareyinga" (chaps. 2, 4, 10), "Halfred's Saga" (chap. 2), "Hord
 2567      Grimkelsons Saga" (chaps. 13, 18), "Kormak" (chaps. 19-27), "Laxdaela"
 2568      (chaps. 19-21), "Njala" (chaps, 3-6).
 2569      The skalds of this saga are: -Glum Geirason, Kormak Agmundson, Eyvind
 2570      Skaldaspiller, and Einar Helgason Skalaglam.
 2571      1. GOVERNMENT OF THE SONS OF EIRIK.
 2572      When King Hakon was killed, the sons of Eirik took the sovereignty of
 2573      Norway. Harald, who was the oldest of the living brothers, was over them
 2574      in dignity. Their mother Gunhild, who was called the King-mother, mixed
 2575      herself much in the affairs of the country. There were many chiefs in the
 2576      land at that time. There was Trygve Olafson in the Eastland, Gudrod
 2577      Bjornson in Vestfold, Sigurd earl of Hlader in the Throndhjem land; but
 2578      Gunhild's sons held the middle of the country the first winter. There went
 2579      messages and ambassadors between Gunhild's sons and Trygve and Gudrod, and
 2580      all was settled upon the footing that they should hold from Gunhild's sons
 2581      the same part of the country which they formerly had held under King
 2582      Hakon. A man called Glum Geirason, who was King Harald's skald, and was a
 2583      very brave man, made this song upon King Hakon's death: -
 2584     "Gamle is avenged by Harald!
 2585     Great is thy deed, thou champion bold!
 2586     The rumour of it came to me
 2587     In distant lands beyond the sea,
 2588     How Harald gave King Hakon's blood
 2589     To Odin's ravens for their food."
 2590      This song was much favoured. When Eyvind Finson heard of it he composed
 2591      the song which was given before, viz.: -
 2592     "Our dauntless king with Gamle's gore
 2593     Sprinkled his bright sword o'er and o'er," &c.
 2594      This song also was much favoured, and was spread widely abroad; and when
 2595      King Harald came to hear of it, he laid a charge against Evyind affecting
 2596      his life; but friends made up the quarrel, on the condition that Eyvind
 2597      should in future be Harald's skald, as he had formerly been King Hakon's.
 2598      There was also some relationship between them, as Gunhild, Eyvind's
 2599      mother, was a daughter of Earl Halfdan, and her mother was Ingibjorg, a
 2600      daughter of Harald Harfager. Thereafter Eyvind made a song about King
 2601      Harald: -
 2602     "Guardian of Norway, well we know
 2603     Thy heart failed not when from the bow
 2604     The piercing arrow-hail sharp rang
 2605     On shield and breast-plate, and the clang
 2606     Of sword resounded in the press
 2607     Of battle, like the splitting ice;
 2608     For Harald, wild wolf of the wood,
 2609     Must drink his fill of foeman's blood."
 2610      Gunhild's sons resided mostly in the middle of the country, for they did
 2611      not think it safe for them to dwell among the people of Throndhjem or of
 2612      Viken, where King Hakon's best friends lived; and also in both places
 2613      there were many powerful men. Proposals of agreement then passed between
 2614      Gunhild's sons and Earl Sigurd, .or they got no scat from the Throndhjem
 2615      country; and at last an agreement was concluded between the kings and the
 2616      earl, and confirmed by oath. Earl Sigurd was to get the same power in the
 2617      Throndhjem land which he had possessed under King Hakon, and on that they
 2618      considered themselves at peace. All Gunhild's sons had the character of
 2619      being penurious; and it was said they hid their money in the ground.
 2620      Eyvind Skaldaspiller made a song about this: -
 2621     "Main-mast of battle!  Harald bold!
 2622     In Hakon's days the skald wore gold
 2623     Upon his falcon's seat; he wore
 2624     Rolf Krake's seed, the yellow ore
 2625     Sown by him as he fled away,
 2626     The avenger Adils' speed to stay.
 2627     The gold crop grows upon the plain;
 2628     But Frode's girls so gay (1) in vain
 2629     Grind out the golden meal, while those
 2630     Who rule o'er Norway's realm like foes,
 2631     In mother earth's old bosom hide
 2632     The wealth which Hakon far and wide
 2633     Scattered with generous hand: the sun
 2634     Shone in the days of that great one,
 2635     On the gold band of Fulla's brow,(2)
 2636     On gold-ringed hands that bend the bow,
 2637     On the skald's hand; but of the ray
 2638     Of bright gold, glancing like the spray
 2639     Of sun-lit waves, no skald now sings -
 2640     Buried are golden chains and rings."
 2641      Now when King Harald heard this song, he sent a message to Eyvind to come
 2642      to him, and when Eyvind came made a charge against him of being
 2643      unfaithful. "And it ill becomes thee," said the king, "to be my enemy, as
 2644      thou hast entered into my service." Eyvind then made these verses: -
 2645     "One lord I had before thee, Harald!
 2646     One dear-loved lord!  Now am I old,
 2647     And do not wish to change again, -
 2648     To that loved lord, through strife and pain,
 2649     Faithful I stood; still true to Hakon, -
 2650     To my good king, and him alone.
 2651     But now I'm old and useless grown,
 2652     My hands are empty, wealth is flown;
 2653     I am but fir for a short space
 2654     In thy court-hall to fill a place."
 2655      But King Harald forced Eyvind to submit himself to his clemency. Eyvind
 2656      had a great gold ring, which was called Molde, that had been dug up out of
 2657      the earth long since. This ring the King said he must have as the mulet
 2658      for the offence; and there was no help for it. Then Eyvind sang: -
 2659     "I go across the ocean-foam,
 2660     Swift skating to my Iceland home
 2661     Upon the ocean-skates, fast driven
 2662     By gales by Thurse's witch fire given.
 2663     For from the falcon-bearing hand
 2664     Harald has plucked the gold snake band
 2665     My father wore -by lawless might
 2666     Has taken what is mine by right."
 2667      Eyvind went home; but it is not told that he ever came near the king
 2668      again.
 2669   ENDNOTES: (1) Menja and Fenja were strong girls of the giant race, whom
 2670     Frode bought in Sweden to grind gold and good luck to him;
 2671     and their meal means gold. -L.
 2672(2) Fulla was one of Frig's attendants, who wore a gold band on
 2673     the forehead, and the figure means gold, -that the sun
 2674     shone on gold rings on the hands of the skalds in Hakon's
 2675     days. -L.
 2676      2. CHRISTIANITY OF GUNHILD'S SONS.
 2677      Gunhild's sons embraced Christianity in England, as told before; but when
 2678      they came to rule over Norway they made no progress in spreading
 2679      Christianity -only they pulled down the temples of the idols, and
 2680      cast away the sacrifices where they had it in their power, and raised
 2681      great animosity by doing so. The good crops of the country were soon
 2682      wasted in their days, because there were many kings, and each had his
 2683      court about him. They had therefore great expenses, and were very greedy.
 2684      Besides, they only observed those laws of King Hakon which suited
 2685      themselves. They were, however, all of them remarkably handsome men -stout,
 2686      strong, and expert in all exercises. So says Glum Geirason, in the verses
 2687      he composed about Harald, Gunhild's son: -
 2688     "The foeman's terror, Harald bold,
 2689     Had gained enough of yellow gold;
 2690     Had Heimdal's teeth (1) enough in store,
 2691     And understood twelve arts or more."
 2692      The brothers sometimes went out on expeditions together, and sometimes
 2693      each on his own account. They were fierce, but brave and active; and great
 2694      warriors, and very successful.
 2695   ENDNOTES: (1) Heimdal was one of the gods, whose horse was called
 2696       Gold-top; and the horse's teeth were of gold.
 2697      3. COUNCILS BY GUNHILD AND HER SONS.
 2698      Gunhild the King-mother, and her sons, often met, and talked together upon
 2699      the government of the country. Once Gunhild asked her sons what they
 2700      intended to do with their kingdom of Throndhjem. "Ye have the title of
 2701      king, as your forefathers had before you; but ye have little land or
 2702      people, and there are many to divide with. In the East, at Viken, there
 2703      are Trygve and Gudrod; and they have some right, from relationship, to
 2704      their governments. There is besides Earl Sigurd ruling over the whole
 2705      Throndhjem country; and no reason can I see why ye let so large a kingdom
 2706      be ruled by an earl, and not by yourselves. It appears wonderful to me
 2707      that ye go every summer upon viking cruises against other lands, and allow
 2708      an earl within the country to take your father's heritage from you. Your
 2709      grandfather, whose name you bear, King Harald, thought it but a small
 2710      matter to take an earl's life and land when he subdued all Norway, and
 2711      held it under him to old age."
 2712      Harald replied, "It is not so easy, mother, to cut off Earl Sigurd as to
 2713      slay a kid or a calf. Earl Sigurd is of high birth, powerful in relations,
 2714      popular, and prudent; and I think if the Throndhjem people knew for
 2715      certain there was enmity between us, they would all take his side, and we
 2716      could expect only evil from them. I don't think it would be safe for any
 2717      of us brothers to fall into the hands of the Throndhjem people."
 2718      Then said Gunhild, "We shall go to work another way, and not put ourselves
 2719      forward. Harald and Erling shall come in harvest to North More, and there
 2720      I shall meet you, and we shall consult together what is to be done." This
 2721      was done.
 2722      4. GUNHILD'S SONS AND GRJOTGARD.
 2723      Earl Sigurd had a brother called Grjotgard, who was much younger, and much
 2724      less respected; in fact, was held in no title of honour. He had many
 2725      people, however, about him, and in summer went on viking cruises, and
 2726      gathered to himself property. Now King Harald sent messengers to
 2727      Throndhjem with offers of friendship, and with presents. The messengers
 2728      declared that King Harald was willing to be on the same friendly terms
 2729      with the earl that King Hakon had been; adding, that they wished the earl
 2730      to come to King Harald, that their friendship might be put on a firm
 2731      footing. The Earl Sigurd received well the king's messengers and friendly
 2732      message, but said that on account of his many affairs he could not come to
 2733      the king. He sent many friendly gifts, and many glad and grateful words to
 2734      the king, in return for his friendship. With this reply the messengers set
 2735      off, and went to Grjotgard, for whom they had the same message, and
 2736      brought him good presents, and offered him King Harald's friendship, and
 2737      invited him to visit the king. Grjotgard promised to come and at the
 2738      appointed time he paid a visit to King Harald and Gunhild, and was
 2739      received in the most friendly manner. They treated him on the most
 2740      intimate footing, so that Grjotgard had access to their private
 2741      consultations and secret councils. At last the conversation, by an
 2742      understanding between the king and queen, was turned upon Earl Sigurd; and
 2743      they spoke to Grjotgard about the earl having kept him so long in
 2744      obscurity, and asked him if he would not join the king's brothers in an
 2745      attack on the earl. If he would join with them, the king promised
 2746      Grjotgard that he should be his earl, and have the same government that
 2747      Sigurd had. It came so far that a secret agreement was made between them,
 2748      that Grjotgard should spy out the most favourable opportunity of attacking
 2749      by surprise Earl Sigurd, and should give King Harald notice of it. After
 2750      this agreement Grjotgard returned home with many good presents from the
 2751      king.
 2752      5. SIGURD BURNT IN A HOUSE IN STJORADAL
 2753      Earl Sigurd went in harvest into Stjoradal to guest-quarters, and from
 2754      thence went to Oglo to a feast. The earl usually had many people about
 2755      him, for he did not trust the king; but now, after friendly messages had
 2756      passed between the king and him, he had no great following of people with
 2757      him. Then Grjotgard sent word to the king that he could never expect a
 2758      better opportunity to fall upon Earl Sigurd; and immediately, that very
 2759      evening, Harald and Erling sailed into Throndhjem fjord with several ships
 2760      and many people. They sailed all night by starlight, and Grjotgard came
 2761      out to meet them. Late in the night they came to Oglo, where Earl Sigurd
 2762      was at the feast, and set fire to the house; and burnt the house, the
 2763      earl, and all his men. As soon as it was daylight, they set out through
 2764      the fjord, and south to More, where they remained a long time.
 2765      6. HISTORY OF HAKON, SIGURD'S SON.
 2766      Hakon, the son of Earl Sigurd, was up in the interior of the Throndhjem
 2767      country when he heard this news. Great was the tumult through all the
 2768      Throndhjem land, and every vessel that could swim was put into the water;
 2769      and as soon as the people were gathered together they took Earl Sigurd's
 2770      son Hakon to be their earl and the leader of the troops, and the whole
 2771      body steered out of Throndhjem fjord. When Gunhild's sons heard of this,
 2772      they set off southwards to Raumsdal and South More; and both parties kept
 2773      eye on each other by their spies. Earl Sigurd was killed two years after
 2774      the fall of King Hakon (A.D. 962). So says Eyvind Skaldaspiller in the
 2775      "Haleygjatal": -
 2776     "At Oglo, as I've heard, Earl Sigurd
 2777     Was burnt to death by Norway's lord, -
 2778     Sigurd, who once on Hadding's grave
 2779     A feast to Odin's ravens gave.
 2780     In Oglo's hall, amidst the feast,
 2781     When bowls went round and ale flowed fast,
 2782     He perished: Harald lit the fire
 2783     Which burnt to death the son of Tyr."
 2784      Earl Hakan, with the help of his friends, maintained himself in the
 2785      Throndhjem country for three years; and during that time (A.D. 963-965)
 2786      Gunhild's sons got no revenues from it. Hakon had many a battle with
 2787      Gunhild's sons, and many a man lost his life on both sides. Of this Einar
 2788      Skalaglam speaks in his lay, called "Vellekla," which he composed about
 2789      Earl Hakon: -
 2790     "The sharp bow-shooter on the sea
 2791     Spread wide his fleet, for well loved he
 2792     The battle storm: well loved the earl
 2793     His battle-banner to unfurl,
 2794     O'er the well-trampled battle-field
 2795     He raised the red-moon of his shield;
 2796     And often dared King Eirik's son
 2797     To try the fray with the Earl Hakon."
 2798      And he also says: -
 2799     "Who is the man who'll dare to say
 2800     That Sigurd's son avoids the fray?
 2801     He gluts the raven -he ne'er fears
 2802     The arrow's song or flight of spears,
 2803     With thundering sword he storms in war,
 2804     As Odin dreadful; or from far
 2805     He makes the arrow-shower fly
 2806     To swell the sail of victory.
 2807     The victory was dearly bought,
 2808     And many a viking-fight was fought
 2809     Before the swinger of the sword
 2810     Was of the eastern country lord."
 2811      And Einar tells also how Earl Hakon avenged his father's murderer: -
 2812     "I praise the man, my hero he,
 2813     Who in his good ship roves the sea,
 2814     Like bird of prey, intent to win
 2815     Red vengeance for his slaughtered kin.
 2816     From his blue sword the iron rain
 2817     That freezes life poured down amain
 2818     On him who took his father's life,
 2819     On him and his men in the strife.
 2820     To Odin many a soul was driven, -
 2821     To Odin many a rich gift given.
 2822     Loud raged the storm on battle-field -
 2823     Axe rang on helm, and sword on shield."
 2824      The friends on both sides at last laid themselves between, and brought
 2825      proposals of peace; for the bondes suffered by this strife and war in the
 2826      land. At last it was brought to this, by the advice of prudent men, that
 2827      Earl Hakon should have the same power in the Throndhjem land which his
 2828      father Earl Sigurd had enjoyed; and the kings, on the other hand, should
 2829      have the same dominion as King Hakon had: and this agreement was settled
 2830      with the fullest promises of fidelity to it. Afterwards a great friendship
 2831      arose between Earl Hakon and Gunhild, although they sometimes attempted to
 2832      deceive each other. And thus matters stood for three years longer (A.D.
 2833      966-968), in which time Earl Hakon sat quietly in his dominions.
 2834      7. OF HARALD GRAFELD.
 2835      King Hakon had generally his seat in Hordaland and Rogaland, and also his
 2836      brothers; but very often, also, they went to Hardanger. One summer it
 2837      happened that a vessel came from Iceland belonging to Icelanders, and
 2838      loaded with skins and peltry. They sailed to Hardanger, where they heard
 2839      the greatest number of people assembled; but when the folks came to deal
 2840      with them, nobody would buy their skins. Then the steersman went to King
 2841      Harald, whom he had been acquainted with before, and complained of his ill
 2842      luck. The king promised to visit him, and did so. King Harald was very
 2843      condescending, and full of fun. He came with a fully manned boat, looked
 2844      at the skins, and then said to the steersman, "Wilt thou give me a present
 2845      of one of these gray-skins?" "Willingly," said the steersman, "if it were
 2846      ever so many." On this the king wrapped himself up in a gray-skin, and
 2847      went back to his boat; but before they rowed away from the ship, every man
 2848      in his suite bought such another skin as the king wore for himself. In a
 2849      few days so many people came to buy skins, that not half of them could be
 2850      served with what they wanted; and thereafter the king was called Harald
 2851      Grafeld (Grayskin).
 2852      8. EARL EIRIK'S BIRTH.
 2853      Earl Hakon came one winter to the Uplands to a feast, and it so happened
 2854      that he had intercourse with a girl of mean birth. Some time after the
 2855      girl had to prepare for her confinement, and she bore a child, a boy, who
 2856      had water poured on him, and was named Eirik. The mother carried the boy
 2857      to Earl Hakon, and said that he was the father. The earl placed him to be
 2858      brought up with a man called Thorleif the Wise, who dwelt in Medaldal, and
 2859      was a rich and powerful man, and a great friend of the earl. Eirik gave
 2860      hopes very early that he would become an able man, was handsome in
 2861      countenance, and stout and strong for a child; but the earl did not pay
 2862      much attention to him. The earl himself was one of the handsomest men in
 2863      countenance, -not tall, but very strong, and well practised in all
 2864      kinds of exercises; and withal prudent, of good understanding, and a
 2865      deadly man at arms.
 2866      9. KING TRYGVE OLAFSON'S MURDER.
 2867      It happened one harvest (A.D. 962) that Earl Hakon, on a journey in the
 2868      Uplands, came to Hedemark; and King Trygve Olafson and King Gudrod
 2869      Bjornson met him there, and Dale-Gudbrand also came to the meeting. They
 2870      had agreed to meet, and they talked together long by themselves; but so
 2871      much only was known of their business, that they were to be friends of
 2872      each other. They parted, and each went home to his own kingdom. Gunhild
 2873      and her sons came to hear of this meeting, and they suspected it must have
 2874      been to lay a treasonable plot against the kings; and they often talked of
 2875      this among themselves. When spring (A.D. 963) began to set in, King Harald
 2876      and his brother King Gudrod proclaimed that they were to make a viking
 2877      cruise, as usual, either in the West sea, or the Baltic. The people
 2878      accordingly assembled, launched the ships into the sea, and made
 2879      themselves ready to sail. When they were drinking the farewell ale, -and
 2880      they drank bravely, -much and many things were talked over at the
 2881      drink-table, and, among other things, were comparisons between different
 2882      men, and at last between the kings themselves. One said that King Harald
 2883      excelled his brothers by far, and in every way. On this King Gudrod was
 2884      very angry, and said that he was in no respect behind Harald, and was
 2885      ready to prove it. Instantly both parties were so inflamed that they
 2886      challenged each other to battle, and ran to their arms. But some of the
 2887      guests who were less drunk, and had more understanding, came between them,
 2888      and quieted them; and each went to his ship, but nobody expected that they
 2889      would all sail together. Gudrod sailed east ward along the land, and
 2890      Harald went out to sea, saying he would go to the westward; but when he
 2891      came outside of the islands he steered east along the coast, outside of
 2892      the rocks and isles. Gudrod, again, sailed inside, through the usual
 2893      channel, to Viken, and eastwards to Folden. He then sent a message to King
 2894      Trygve to meet him, that they might make a cruise together in summer in
 2895      the Baltic to plunder. Trygve accepted willingly, and as a friend, the
 2896      invitation; and as heard King Gudrod had but few people with him, he came
 2897      to meet him with a single boat. They met at Veggen, to the east of
 2898      Sotanes; but just as they were come to the meeting place, Gudrod's men ran
 2899      up and killed King Trygve and twelve men. He lies buried at a place called
 2900      Trygve's Cairn (A.D. 963).
 2901      10. KING GUDROD'S FALL.
 2902      King Harald sailed far outside of the rocks and isles; but set his course
 2903      to Viken, and came in the night-time to Tunsberg, and heard that Gudrod
 2904      Bjornson was at a feast a little way up the country. Then King Harald set
 2905      out immediately with his followers, came in the night, and surrounded the
 2906      house. King Gudrod Bjornson went out with his people; but after a short
 2907      resistance he fell, and many men with him. Then King Harald joined his
 2908      brother King Gudrod, and they subdued all Viken.
 2909      11. OF HARALD GRENSKE.
 2910      King Gudrod Bjornson had made a good and suitable marriage, and had by his
 2911      wife a son called Harald, who had been sent to be fostered to Grenland to
 2912      a lenderman called Hroe the White. Hroe's son, called Hrane Vidforle (the
 2913      Far-travelled), was Harald's foster-brother, and about the same age. After
 2914      his father Gudrod's fall, Harald, who was called Grenske, fled to the
 2915      Uplands, and with him his foster-brother Hrane, and a few people. Harald
 2916      staid a while there among his relations; but as Eirik's sons sought after
 2917      every man who interfered with them, and especially those who might oppose
 2918      them, Harald Grenske's friends and relations advised him to leave the
 2919      country. Harald therefore went eastward into Svithjod, and sought
 2920      shipmates, that he might enter into company with those who went out a
 2921      cruising to gather property. Harald became in this way a remarkably able
 2922      man. There was a man in Svithjod at that time called Toste, one of the
 2923      most powerful and clever in the land among those who had no high name or
 2924      dignity; and he was a great warrior, who had been often in battle, and was
 2925      therefore called Skoglar-Toste. Harald Grenske came into his company, and
 2926      cruised with Toste in summer; and wherever Harald came he was well thought
 2927      of by every one. In the winter Harald, after passing two years in the
 2928      Uplands, took up his abode with Toste, and lived five years with him.
 2929      Toste had a daughter, who was both young and handsome, but she was proud
 2930      and high-minded. She was called Sigrid, and was afterwards married to the
 2931      Swedish king, Eirik the Victorious, and had a son by him, called Olaf the
 2932      Swede, who was afterwards king of Svithjod. King Eirik died in a sick-bed
 2933      at Upsala ten years after the death of Styrbjorn.
 2934      12. EARL HAKON'S FEUDS.
 2935      Gunhild's sons levied a great army in Viken (A.D. 963), and sailed along
 2936      the land northwards, collecting people and ships on the way out of every
 2937      district. They then made known their intent, to proceed northwards with
 2938      their army against Earl Hakon in Throndhjem. When Earl Hakon heard this
 2939      news, he also collected men, and fitted out ships; and when he heard what
 2940      an overwhelming force Gunhild's sons had with them, he steered south with
 2941      his fleet to More, pillaging wherever he came, and killing many people. He
 2942      then sent the whole of the bonde army back to Throndhjem; but he himself,
 2943      with his men-at-arms, proceeded by both the districts of More and
 2944      Raumsdal, and had his spies out to the south of Stad to spy the army of
 2945      Gunhild's sons; and when he heard they were come into the Fjords, and were
 2946      waiting for a fair wind to sail northwards round Stad, Earl Hakon set out
 2947      to sea from the north side of Stad, so far that his sails could not be
 2948      seen from the land, and then sailed eastward on a line with the coast, and
 2949      came to Denmark, from whence he sailed into the Baltic, and pillaged there
 2950      during the summer. Gunhild's sons conducted their army north to
 2951      Throndhjem, and remained there the whole summer collecting the scat and
 2952      duties. But when summer was advanced they left Sigurd Slefa and Gudron
 2953      behind; and the other brothers returned eastward with the levied army they
 2954      had taken up in summer.
 2955      13. OF EARL HAKON AND GUNHILD'S SONS.
 2956      Earl Hakon, towards harvest (A.D. 963), sailed into the Bothnian Gulf to
 2957      Helsingjaland, drew his ships up there on the beach, and took the
 2958      land-ways through Helsingjaland and Jamtaland, and so eastwards round the
 2959      dividing ridge (the Kjol, or keel of the country), and down into the
 2960      Throndhjem district. Many people streamed towards him, and he fitted out
 2961      ships. When the sons of Gunhild heard of this they got on board their
 2962      ships, and sailed out of the Fjord; and Earl Hakon came to his seat at
 2963      Hlader, and remained there all winter. The sons of Gunhild, on the other
 2964      hand, occupied More; and they and the earl attacked each other in turns,
 2965      killing each other's people. Earl Hakon kept his dominions of Throndhjem,
 2966      and was there generally in the winter; but in summer he sometimes went to
 2967      Helsingjaland, where he went on board of his ships and sailed with them
 2968      down into the Baltic, and plundered there; and sometimes he remained in
 2969      Throndhjem, and kept an army on foot, so that Gunhild's sons could get no
 2970      hold northwards of Stad.
 2971      14. SIGURD SLEFA'S MURDER.
 2972      One summer Harald Grayskin with his troops went north to Bjarmaland, where
 2973      be forayed, and fought a great battle with the inhabitants on the banks of
 2974      the Vina (Dwina). King Harald gained the victory, killed many people,
 2975      plundered and wasted and burned far and wide in the land, and made
 2976      enormous booty. Glum Geirason tells of it thus: -
 2977     "I saw the hero Harald chase
 2978     With bloody sword Bjarme's race:
 2979     They fly before him through the night,
 2980     All by their burning city's light.
 2981     On Dwina's bank, at Harald's word,
 2982     Arose the storm of spear and sword.
 2983     In such a wild war-cruise as this,
 2984     Great would he be who could bring peace."
 2985      King Sigurd Slefa came to the Herse Klyp's house. Klyp was a son of Thord,
 2986      and a grandson of Hordakare, and was a man of power and great family. He
 2987      was not at home; but his wife Alof give a good reception to the king, and
 2988      made a great feast at which there was much drinking. Alof was a daughter
 2989      of Asbjorn, and sister to Jarnskegge, north in Yrjar. Asbjorn's brother
 2990      was called Hreidar, who was father to Styrkar, whose son was Eindride,
 2991      father of Einar Tambaskielfer. In the night the king went to bed to Alof
 2992      against her will, and then set out on his journey. The harvest thereafter,
 2993      King Harald and his brother King Sigurd Slefa went to Vors, and summoned
 2994      the bondes to a Thing. There the bondes fell on them, and would have
 2995      killed them, but they escaped and took different roads. King Harald went
 2996      to Hardanger, but King Sigurd to Alrekstader. Now when the Herse Klyp
 2997      heard of this, he and his relations assembled to attack the king; and
 2998      Vemund Volubrjot (1) was chief of their troop. Now when they came to the
 2999      house they attacked the king, and Herse Klyp, it is said, ran him through
 3000      with his sword and killed him; but instantly Klyp was killed on the spot
 3001      by Erling Gamle (A.D. 965).
 3002   ENDNOTES: (1) Volubrjotr. -Literally "the one who breaks the vala", that
 3003     is, breaks the skulls of witches.
 3004      15. GRJOTGARD'S FALL.
 3005      King Harald Grafeld and his brother King Gudrod gathered together a great
 3006      army in the east country, with which they set out northwards to Throndhjem
 3007      (A.D. 968). When Earl Hakon heard of it he collected men, and set out to
 3008      More, where he plundered. There his father's brother, Grjotgard, had the
 3009      command and defence of the country on account of Gunhild's sons, and he
 3010      assembled an army by order of the kings. Earl Hakon advanced to meet him,
 3011      and gave him battle; and there fell Grjotgard and two other earls, and
 3012      many a man besides. So says Einar Skalaglam: -
 3013     "The helm-crown'd Hakon, brave as stout,
 3014     Again has put his foes to rout.
 3015     The bowl runs o'er with Odin's mead, (1)
 3016     That fires the skald when mighty deed
 3017     Has to be sung.  Earl Hakon's sword,
 3018     In single combat, as I've heard,
 3019     Three sons of earls from this one fray
 3020     To dwell with Odin drove away." (2)
 3021      Thereafter Earl Hakon went out to sea, and sailed outside the coast, and
 3022      came to Denmark. He went to the Danish King, Harald Gormson, and was well
 3023      received by him, and staid with him all winter (A.D. 969). At that time
 3024      there was also with the Danish king a man called Harald, a son of Knut
 3025      Gormson, and a brother's son of King Harald. He was lately come home from
 3026      a long viking cruise, on which he had gathered great riches, and therefore
 3027      he was called Gold Harald. He thought he had a good chance of coming to
 3028      the Danish kingdom.
 3029   ENDNOTES: (1) Odin's mead, called Bodn, was the blood or mead the sons
 3030of     Brage, the god of poets, drank to inspire them. -L.
 3031(2) To dwell with Odin, -viz. slew them. -L.
 3032      16. KING ERLING'S FALL.
 3033      King Harald Grafeld and his brothers proceeded northwards to Throndhjem,
 3034      where they met no opposition. They levied the scat-duties, and all other
 3035      revenues, and laid heavy penalties upon the bondes; for the kings had for
 3036      a long time received but little income from Throndhjem, because Earl Hakon
 3037      was there with many troops, and was at variance with these kings. In
 3038      autumn (A.D. 968) King Harald went south with the greater part of the
 3039      men-at-arms, but King Erlin remained behind with his men. He raised great
 3040      contributions from the bondes, and pressed severely on them; at which the
 3041      bondes murmured greatly, and submitted to their losses with impatience. In
 3042      winter they gathered together in a great force to go against King Erling,
 3043      just as he was at a feast; and they gave battle to him, and he with the
 3044      most of his men fell (A.D. 969).
 3045      17. THE SEASONS IN NORWAY AT THIS TIME.
 3046      While Gunhild's sons reigned in Norway the seasons were always bad, and
 3047      the longer they reigned the worse were the crops; and the bondes laid the
 3048      blame on them. They were very greedy, and used the bondes harshly. It came
 3049      at length to be so bad that fish, as well as corn, were wanting. In
 3050      Halogaland there was the greatest famine and distress; for scarcely any
 3051      corn grew, and even snow was lying, and the cattle were bound in the byres
 3052      (1) all over the country until midsummer. Eyvind Skaldaspiller describes
 3053      it in his poem, as he came outside of his house and found a thick
 3054      snowdrift at that season: -
 3055     "Tis midsummer, yet deep snows rest
 3056     On Odin's mother's frozen breast:
 3057     Like Laplanders, our cattle-kind
 3058     In stall or stable we must bind."
 3059   ENDNOTES: (1) Byres = gards or farms.
 3060      18. THE ICELANDERS AND EYVIND THE SKALD.
 3061      Eyvind composed a poem about the people of Iceland, for which they
 3062      rewarded him by each bonde giving him three silver pennies, of full weight
 3063      and white in the fracture. And when the silver was brought together at the
 3064      Althing, the people resolved to have it purified, and made into a row of
 3065      clasps; and after the workmanship of the silver was paid, the row of
 3066      clasps was valued at fifty marks. This they sent to Eyvind; but Eyvind was
 3067      obliged to separate the clasps from each other, and sell them to buy food
 3068      for his household. But the same spring a shoal of herrings set in upon the
 3069      fishing ground beyond the coast-side, and Eyvind manned a ship's boat with
 3070      his house servants and cottars, and rowed to where the herrings were come,
 3071      and sang: -
 3072     "Now let the steed of ocean bound
 3073     O'er the North Sea with dashing sound:
 3074     Let nimble tern and screaming gull
 3075     Fly round and round -our net is full.
 3076     Fain would I know if Fortune sends
 3077     A like provision to my friends.
 3078     Welcome provision 'tis, I wot,
 3079     That the whale drives to our cook's pot."
 3080      So entirely were his movable goods exhausted, that he was obliged to sell
 3081      his arrows to buy herrings, or other meat for his table: -
 3082     "Our arms and ornaments of gold
 3083     To buy us food we gladly sold:
 3084     The arrows of the bow gave we
 3085     For the bright arrows of the sea." (1)
 3086   ENDNOTES: (1) Herrings, from their swift darting along, are called the
 3087     arrows of the sea.
 3088      KING OLAF TRYGVASON'S SAGA.
 3089      PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
 3090      Hitherto the narrative has been more or less fragmentary. With Olaf
 3091      Trygvason's Saga reliable history begins, and the narration is full and
 3092      connected. The story of Hakon the earl is incorporated in this saga.
 3093      Accounts of Olaf Trygvason may be found in Od the Monk's legendary saga,
 3094      in parts of "Agrip", "Historia Norvegiae", and in Thjodrek. Icelandic
 3095      works on this epoch are:
 3096      "Egla", "Eyrbyggja", "Finboga", "Floamanna", "Faereyinga", "Hallfredar
 3097      Saga", "Havardar Saga", "Are's Islendinga-bok", "Kristni Saga",
 3098      "Laxdaela", "Ljosvetninga", "Njala", "Orkneyinga", "Viga Glums Saga", and
 3099      "Viga Styrs Saga".
 3100      The skalds quoted are: Glum Geirason, Eyvind Finson, Skaldaspiller, Einar
 3101      Skalaglam, Tind Halkelson, Eyjolf Dadaskald, Hallarstein, Halfred
 3102      Vandraedaskald, Haldor Ukristne, Skule Thorsteinson, and Thord Kolbeinson.
 3103      1. OLAF TRYGVASON'S BIRTH.
 3104      King Trygve Olafson had married a wife who was called Astrid. She was a
 3105      daughter of Eirik Bjodaskalle, a great man, who dwelt at Oprustader. But
 3106      after Trygve's death (A.D. 963) Astrid fled, and privately took with her
 3107      all the loose property she could. Her foster-father, Thorolf Lusarskeg,
 3108      followed her, and never left her; and others of her faithful followers
 3109      spied about to discover her enemies, and where they were. Astrid was
 3110      pregnant with a child of King Trygve, and she went to a lake, and
 3111      concealed herself in a holm or small island in it with a few men. Here her
 3112      child was born, and it was a boy; and water was poured over it, and it was
 3113      called Olaf after the grandfather. Astrid remained all summer here in
 3114      concealment; but when the nights became dark, and the day began to shorten
 3115      and the weather to be cold, she was obliged to take to the land, along
 3116      with Thorolf and a few other men. They did not seek for houses unless in
 3117      the night-time, when they came to them secretly; and they spoke to nobody.
 3118      One evening, towards dark, they came to Oprustader, where Astrid's father
 3119      Eirik dwelt, and privately sent a man to Eirik to tell him; and Eirik took
 3120      them to an out-house, and spread a table for them with the best of food.
 3121      When Astrid had been here a short time her travelling attendants left her,
 3122      and none remained, behind with her but two servant girls, her child Olaf,
 3123      Thorolf Lusarskeg, and his son Thorgils, who was six years old; and they
 3124      remained all winter (A.D. 964).
 3125      2. OF GUNHILD S SONS.
 3126      After Trygve Olafson's murder, Harald Grafeld and his brother Gudrod went
 3127      to the farm which he owned; but Astrid was gone, and they could learn no
 3128      tidings of her. A loose report came to their ears that she was pregnant to
 3129      King Trygve; but they soon went away northwards, as before related. As
 3130      soon as they met their mother Gunhild they told her all that had taken
 3131      place. She inquired particularly about Astrid, and they told her the
 3132      report they had heard; but as Gunhild's sons the same harvest and winter
 3133      after had bickerings with Earl Hakon, as before related, they did not seek
 3134      after Astrid and her son that winter.
 3135      3. ASTRID'S JOURNEY.
 3136      The spring after (A.D. 964) Gunhild sent spies to the Uplands, and all the
 3137      way down to Viken, to spy what they could about Astrid; and her men came
 3138      back, and could only tell her that Astrid must be with her father Eirik,
 3139      and it was probable was bringing up her infant, the son of Trygve. Then
 3140      Gunhild, without delay, sent off men well furnished with arms and horses,
 3141      and in all a troop of thirty; and as their leader she sent a particular
 3142      friend of her own, a powerful man called Hakon. Her orders were to go to
 3143      Oprustader, to Eirik, and take King Trygve's son from thence, and bring
 3144      the child to her; and with these orders the men went out. Now when they
 3145      were come to the neighbourhood of Oprustader, some of Eirik's friends
 3146      observed the troop of travellers, and about the close of the day brought
 3147      him word of their approach. Eirik immediately, in the night, made
 3148      preparation for Astrid's flight, gave her good guides, and send her away
 3149      eastward to Svithjod, to his good friend Hakon Gamle, who was a powerful
 3150      man there. Long before day they departed, and towards evening they reached
 3151      a domain called Skaun. Here they saw a large mansion, towards which they
 3152      went, and begged a night's lodging. For the sake of concealment they were
 3153      clad in mean clothing. There dwelt here a bonde called Bjorn Eiterkveisa,
 3154      who was very rich, but very inhospitable. He drove them away; and
 3155      therefore, towards dark, they went to another domain close by that was
 3156      called Vidar. Thorstein was the name of the bonde; and he gave them
 3157      lodging, and took good care of them, so that they slept well, and were
 3158      well entertained. Early that morning Gunhild's men had come to Oprustader,
 3159      and inquired for Astrid and her son. As Eirik told them she was not there,
 3160      they searched the whole house, and remained till late in the day before
 3161      they got any news of Astrid. Then they rode after her the way she had
 3162      taken, and late at night they came to Bjorn Eiterkveisa in Skaun, and took
 3163      up their quarters there. Hakon asked Bjorn if he knew anything about
 3164      Astrid, and he said some people had been there in the evening wanting
 3165      lodgings; "but I drove them away, and I suppose they have gone to some of
 3166      the neighbouring houses." Thorstein's labourer was coming from the forest,
 3167      having left his work at nightfall, and called in at Bjorn's house because
 3168      it was in his way; and finding there were guests come to the house, and
 3169      learning their business, he comes to Thorstein and tells him of it. As
 3170      about a third part of the night was still remaining, Thorstein wakens his
 3171      guests and orders them in an angry voice to go about their business; but
 3172      as soon as they were out of the house upon the road, Thorstein tells them
 3173      that Gunhild's messengers were at Bjorn's house, and are upon the trace of
 3174      them. They entreat of him to help them, and he gave them a guide and some
 3175      provisions. He conducted them through a forest to a lake, in which there
 3176      was an islet overgrown with reeds. They waded out to the islet, and hid
 3177      themselves among the reeds. Early in the morning Hakon rode away from
 3178      Bjorn's into the township, and wherever he came he asked after Astrid; and
 3179      when he came to Thorstein's he asked if she had been there. He said that
 3180      some people had been there; but as soon as it was daylight they had set
 3181      off again, eastwards, to the forest. Hakon made Thorstein go along with
 3182      them, as he knew all the roads and hiding-places. Thorstein went with
 3183      them; but when they were come into the woods, he led them right across the
 3184      way Astrid had taken. They went about and about the whole day to no
 3185      purpose, as they could find no trace of her, so they turned back to tell
 3186      Gunhild the end of their travel. Astrid and her friends proceeded on their
 3187      journey, and came to Svithjod, to Hakon Gamle (the Old), where she and her
 3188      son remained a long time, and had friendly welcome.
 3189      4. HAKON'S EMBASSY TO SWEDEN.
 3190      When Gunhild, the mother of the kings, heard that Astrid and her son Olaf
 3191      were in the kingdom of Svithjod, she again sent Hakon, with a good
 3192      attendance, eastward, to Eirik king of Sweden, with presents and messages
 3193      of friendship. The ambassadors were well received and well treated. Hakon,
 3194      after a time, disclosed his errand to the king, saying that Gunhild had
 3195      sent him with the request that the king would assist him in getting hold
 3196      of Olaf Trygvason, to conduct him to Norway, where Gunhild would bring him
 3197      up. The king gave Hakon people with him, and he rode with them to Hakon
 3198      the Old, where Hakon desired, with many friendly expressions, that Olaf
 3199      should go with him. Hakon the Old returned a friendly answer, saying that
 3200      it depended entirely upon Olaf's mother. But Astrid would on no account
 3201      listen to the proposal; and the messengers had to return as they came, and
 3202      to tell King Eirik how the matter stood. The ambassadors then prepared to
 3203      return home, and asked the king for some assistance to take the boy,
 3204      whether Hakon the Old would or not. The king gave them again some
 3205      attendants; and when they came to Hakon the Old, they again asked for the
 3206      boy, and on his refusal to deliver him they used high words and threatened
 3207      violence. But one of the slaves, Buste by name, attacked Hakon, and was
 3208      going to kill him; and they barely escaped from the thralls without a
 3209      cudgelling, and proceeded home to Norway to tell Gunhild their ill
 3210      success, and that they had only seen Olaf.
 3211      5. OF SIGURD EIRIKSON.
 3212      Astrid had a brother called Sigurd, a son of Eirik Bjodaskalle, who had
 3213      long been abroad in Gardarike (Russia) with King Valdemar, and was there
 3214      in great consideration. Astrid had now a great inclination to travel to
 3215      her brother there. Hakon the Old gave her good attendants, and what was
 3216      needful for the journey, and she set out with some merchants. She had then
 3217      been two years (A.D. 965-966) with Hakon the Old, and Olaf was three years
 3218      of age. As they sailed out into the Baltic, they were captured by vikings
 3219      of Eistland, who made booty both of the people and goods, killing some,
 3220      and dividing others as slaves. Olaf was separated from his mother, and an
 3221      Eistland man called Klerkon got him as his share along with Thorolf and
 3222      Thorgils. Klerkon thought that Thorolf was too old for a slave, and that
 3223      there was not much work to be got out of him, so he killed him; but took
 3224      the boys with him, and sold them to a man called Klerk for a stout and
 3225      good ram. A third man, called Reas, bought Olaf for a good cloak. Reas had
 3226      a wife called Rekon, and a son by her whose name was Rekone. Olaf was long
 3227      with them, was treated well, and was much beloved by the people. Olaf was
 3228      six years in Eistland in this banishment (A.D. 987-972).
 3229      6. OLAF IS SET FREE IN EISTLAND.
 3230      Sigurd, the son of Eirik (Astrid's brother), came into Eistland from
 3231      Novgorod, on King Valdemar's business to collect the king's taxes and
 3232      rents. Sigurd came as a man of consequence, with many followers and great
 3233      magnificence. In the market-place he happened to observe a remarkably
 3234      handsome boy; and as he could distinguish that he was a foreigner, he
 3235      asked him his name and family. He answered him, that his name was Olaf;
 3236      that he was a son of Trygve Olafson; and Astrid, a daughter of Eirik
 3237      Bjodaskalle, was his mother. Then Sigurd knew that the boy was his
 3238      sister's son, and asked him how he came there. Olaf told him minutely all
 3239      his adventures, and Sigurd told him to follow him to the peasant Reas.
 3240      When he came there he bought both the boys, Olaf and Thorgils, and took
 3241      them with him to Holmgard. But, for the first, he made nothing known of
 3242      Olaf's relationship to him, but treated him well.
 3243      7. KLERKON KILLED BY OLAF.
 3244      Olaf Trygvason was one day in the market-place, where there was a great
 3245      number of people. He recognized Klerkon again, who had killed his
 3246      foster-father Thorolf Lusarskeg. Olaf had a little axe in his hand, and
 3247      with it he clove Klerkon's skull down to the brain, and ran home to his
 3248      lodging, and told his friend Sigurd what he had done. Sigurd immediately
 3249      took Olaf to Queen Allogia's house, told her what had happened, and begged
 3250      her to protect the boy. She replied, that the boy appeared far too comely
 3251      to allow him to be slain; and she ordered her people to be drawn out fully
 3252      armed. In Holmgard the sacredness of peace is so respected, that it is law
 3253      there to slay whoever puts a man to death except by judgment of law; and,
 3254      according to this law and usage, the whole people stormed and sought after
 3255      the boy. It was reported that he was in the Queen's house, and that there
 3256      was a number of armed men there. When this was told to the king, he went
 3257      there with his people, but would allow no bloodshed. It was settled at
 3258      last in peace, that the king should name the fine for the murder; and the
 3259      queen paid it. Olaf remained afterwards with the queen, and was much
 3260      beloved. It is a law at Holmgard, that no man of royal descent shall stay
 3261      there without the king's permission. Sigurd therefore told the queen of
 3262      what family Olaf was, and for what reason he had come to Russia; namely,
 3263      that he could not remain with safety in his own country: and begged her to
 3264      speak to the king about it. She did so, and begged the king to help a
 3265      king's son whose fate had been so hard; and in consequence of her entreaty
 3266      the king promised to assist him, and accordingly he received Olaf into his
 3267      court, and treated him nobly, and as a king's son. Olaf was nine years old
 3268      when he came to Russia, and he remained nine years more (A.D. 978-981)
 3269      with King Valdemar. Olaf was the handsomest of men, very stout and strong,
 3270      and in all bodily exercises he excelled every Northman that ever was heard
 3271      of.
 3272      8. OF HAKON EARL OF HLADER.
 3273      Earl Hakon, Sigurd's son, was with the Danish king, Harald Gormson, the
 3274      winter after he had fled from Norway before Gunhild's sons. During the
 3275      winter (A.D. 969) the earl had so much care and sorrow that he took to
 3276      bed, and passed many sleepless nights, and ate and drank no more than was
 3277      needful to support his strength. Then he sent a private message to his
 3278      friends north in Throndhjem, and proposed to them that they should kill
 3279      King Erling, if they had an opportunity; adding, that he would come to
 3280      them in summer. The same winter the Throndhjem people accordingly, as
 3281      before related, killed King Erling. There was great friendship between
 3282      Earl Hakon and Gold Harald, and Harald told Hakon all his intentions. He
 3283      told him that he was tired of a ship-life, and wanted to settle on the
 3284      land; and asked Hakon if he thought his brother King Harald would agree to
 3285      divide the kingdom with him if he asked it. "I think," replied Hakon,
 3286      "that the Danish king would not deny thy right; but the best way to know
 3287      is to speak to the king himself. I know for certain so much, that you will
 3288      not get a kingdom if you don't ask for it." Soon after this conversation
 3289      Gold Harald spoke to the king about the matter, in the presence of many
 3290      great men who were friends to both; and Gold Harald asked King Harald to
 3291      divide the kingdom with him in two equal parts, to which his royal birth
 3292      and the custom of the Danish monarchy gave him right. The king was highly
 3293      incensed at this demand, and said that no man had asked his father Gorm to
 3294      be king over half of Denmark, nor yet his grandfather King Hordaknut, or
 3295      Sigurd Orm, or Ragnar Lodbrok; and he was so exasperated and angry, that
 3296      nobody ventured to speak of it to him.
 3297      9. OF GOLD HARALD.
 3298      Gold Harald was now worse off than before; for he had got no kingdom, and
 3299      had got the king's anger by proposing it. He went as usual to his friend
 3300      Hakon, and complained to him of his fate, and asked for good advice, and
 3301      if he could help him to get his share of the kingdom; saying that he would
 3302      rather try force, and the chance of war, than give it up.
 3303      Hakon advised him not to speak to any man so that this should be known;
 3304      "for," said he, "it concerns thy life: and rather consider with thyself
 3305      what thou art man enough to undertake; for to accomplish such a purpose
 3306      requires a bold and firm man, who will neither stick at good nor evil to
 3307      do that which is intended; for to take up great resolutions, and then to
 3308      lay them aside, would only end in dishonour."
 3309      Gold Harald replies -"I will so carry on what I begin, that I will
 3310      not hesitate to kill Harald with my own hands, if I can come thereby to
 3311      the kingdom he denies me, and which is mine by right." And so they
 3312      separated.
 3313      Now King Harald comes also to Earl Hakon, and tells him the demand on his
 3314      kingdom which Gold Harald had made, and also his answer, and that he would
 3315      upon no account consent to diminish his kingdom. "And if Gold Harald
 3316      persists in his demand, I will have no hesitation in having him killed;
 3317      for I will not trust him if he does not renounce it."
 3318      The earl answered, -"My thoughts are, that Harald has carried his
 3319      demand so far that he cannot now let it drop, and I expect nothing but war
 3320      in the land; and that he will be able to gather a great force, because his
 3321      father was so beloved. And then it would be a great enormity if you were
 3322      to kill your relation; for, as things now stand, all men would say that he
 3323      was innocent. But I am far from saying, or advising, that you should make
 3324      yourself a smaller king than your father Gorm was, who in many ways
 3325      enlarged, but never diminished his kingdom."
 3326      The king replies, -"What then is your advice, -if I am neither
 3327      to divide my kingdom, nor to get rid of my fright and danger?"
 3328      "Let us meet again in a few days," said Earl Hakon, "and I will then have
 3329      considered the matter well, and will give you my advice upon it."
 3330      The king then went away with his people.
 3331      10. COUNCILS HELD BY HAKON AND HARALD.
 3332      Earl Hakon had now great reflection, and many opinions to weigh, and he
 3333      let only very few be in the house with him. In a few days King Harald came
 3334      again to the earl to speak with him, and ask if he had yet considered
 3335      fully the matter they had been talking of.
 3336      "I have," said the earl, "considered it night and day ever since, and find
 3337      it most advisable that you retain and rule over the whole of your kingdom
 3338      just as your father left it; but that you obtain for your relation Harald
 3339      another kingdom, that he also may enjoy honour and dignity."
 3340      "What kind of kingdom is that," said the king, "which I can give to
 3341      Harald, that I may possess Denmark entire?"
 3342      "It is Norway," said the earl. "The kings who are there are oppressive to
 3343      the people of the country, so that every man is against them who has tax
 3344      or service to pay."
 3345      The king replies, -"Norway is a large country, and the people fierce,
 3346      and not good to attack with a foreign army. We found that sufficiently
 3347      when Hakon defended that country; for we lost many people, and gained no
 3348      victory. Besides, Harald the son of Eirik is my foster-son, and has sat on
 3349      my knee."
 3350      The earl answers, "I have long known that you have helped Gunhild's sons
 3351      with your force, and a bad return you have got for it; but we shall get at
 3352      Norway much more easily than by fighting for it with all the Danish force.
 3353      Send a message to your foster-son Harald, Eirik's son, and offer him the
 3354      lands and fiefs which Gunhild's sons held before in Denmark. Appoint him a
 3355      meeting, and Gold Harald will soon conquer for himself a kingdom in Norway
 3356      from Harald Grafeld."
 3357      The king replies, that it would be called a bad business to deceive his
 3358      own foster-son.
 3359      "The Danes," answered the earl, "will rather say that it was better to
 3360      kill a Norwegian viking than a Danish, and your own brother's son."
 3361      They spoke so long over the matter, that they agreed on it.
 3362      11. HARALD GORMSON'S MESSAGE TO NORWAY.
 3363      Thereafter Gold Harald had a conference with Earl Hakon; and the earl told
 3364      him he had now advanced his business so far, that there was hope a kingdom
 3365      might stand open for him in Norway. "We can then continue," said he, "our
 3366      ancient friendship, and I can be of the greatest use to you in Norway.
 3367      Take first that kingdom. King Harald is now very old, and has but one son,
 3368      and cares but little about him, as he is but the son of a concubine."
 3369      The Earl talked so long to Gold Harald that the project pleased him well;
 3370      and the king, the earl, and Gold Harald often talked over the business
 3371      together. The Danish king then sent messengers north to Norway to Harald
 3372      Grafeld, and fitted them out magnificently for their journey. They were
 3373      well received by Harald. The messengers told him that Earl Hakon was in
 3374      Denmark, but was lying dangerously sick, and almost out of his senses.
 3375      They then delivered from Harald, the Danish king, the invitation to Harald
 3376      Grafeld, his foster-son, to come to him and receive investiture of the
 3377      fiefs he and his brothers before him had formerly held in Denmark; and
 3378      appointing a meeting in Jutland. Harald Grafeld laid the matter before his
 3379      mother and other friends. Their opinions were divided. Some thought that
 3380      the expedition was not without its danger, on account of the men with whom
 3381      they had to deal; but the most were in haste to begin the journey, for at
 3382      that time there was such a famine in Norway that the kings could scarcely
 3383      feed their men-at-arms; and on this account the Fjord, on which the kings
 3384      resided, usually got the name of Hardanger (Hardacre). In Denmark, on the
 3385      other hand, there had been tolerably good crops; so that people thought
 3386      that if King Harald got fiefs, and something to rule over there they would
 3387      get some assistance. It was therefore concluded, before the messengers
 3388      returned, that Harald should travel to Denmark to the Danish king in
 3389      summer, and accept the conditions King Harald offered.
 3390      12. TREACHERY OF HARALD AND HAKON.
 3391      Harald Grafeld went to Denmark in the summer (A.D. 969) with three
 3392      long-ships; and Herse Arinbjorn, from the Fjord district, commanded one of
 3393      them. King Harald sailed from Viken over to Limfjord in Jutland, and
 3394      landed at the narrow neck of land where the Danish king was expected. Now
 3395      when Gold Harald heard of this, he sailed there with nine ships which he
 3396      had fitted out before for a viking cruise. Earl Hakon had also his war
 3397      force on foot; namely, twelve large ships, all ready, with which he
 3398      proposed to make an expedition. When Gold Harald had departed Earl Hakon
 3399      says to the king, "Now I don't know if we are not sailing on an
 3400      expedition, and yet are to pay the penalty of not having joined it. Gold
 3401      Harald may kill Harald Grafeld, and get the kingdom of Norway; but you
 3402      must not think he will be true to you, although you do help him to so much
 3403      power, for he told me in winter that he would take your life if he could
 3404      find opportunity to do so. Now I will win Norway for you, and kill Gold
 3405      Harald, if you will promise me a good condition under you. I will be your
 3406      earl; swear an oath of fidelity to you, and, with your help, conquer all
 3407      Norway for you; hold the country under your rule; pay you the scat and
 3408      taxes; and you will be a greater king than your father, as you will have
 3409      two kingdoms under you." The king and the earl agreed upon this, and Hakon
 3410      set off to seek Gold Harald.
 3411      13. DEATH OF HARALD GRAFELD.
 3412      Gold Harald came to the neck of land at Limfjord, and immediately
 3413      challenged Harald Grafeld to battle; and although Harald had fewer men, he
 3414      went immediately on the land, prepared for battle, and drew up his troops.
 3415      Before the lines came together Harald Grafeld urged on his men, and told
 3416      them to draw their swords. He himself advanced the foremost of the troop,
 3417      hewing down on each side. So says Glum Geirason, in Grafeld's lay: -
 3418     "Brave were thy words in battlefield,
 3419     Thou stainer of the snow-white shield! -
 3420     Thou gallant war-god!  With thy voice
 3421     Thou couldst the dying man rejoice:
 3422     The cheer of Harald could impart
 3423     Courage and life to every heart.
 3424     While swinging high the blood-smeared sword,
 3425     By arm and voice we knew our lord."
 3426      There fell Harald Grafeld. So says Glum Geirason: -
 3427     "On Limfjord's strand, by the tide's flow,
 3428     Stern Fate has laid King Harald low;
 3429     The gallant viking-cruiser -he
 3430     Who loved the isle-encircling sea.
 3431     The generous ruler of the land
 3432     Fell at the narrow Limfjord strand.
 3433     Enticed by Hakon's cunning speech
 3434     To his death-bed on Limfjord's beach."
 3435      The most of King Harald's men fell with him. There also fell Herse
 3436      Arinbjorn.
 3437      This happened fifteen years after the death of Hakon, Athelstan's
 3438      foster-son, and thirteen years after that of Sigurd earl of Hlader. The
 3439      priest Are Frode says that Earl Hakon was thirteen years earl over his
 3440      father's dominions in Throndhjem district before the fall of Harald
 3441      Grafeld; but, for the last six years of Harald Grafeld's life, Are Frode
 3442      says the Earl Hakon and Gunhild's sons fought against each other, and
 3443      drove each other out of the land by turns.
 3444      14. GOLD HARALD'S DEATH.
 3445      Soon after Harald Grafeld's fall, Earl Hakon came up to Gold Harald, and
 3446      the earl immediately gave battle to Harald. Hakon gained the victory, and
 3447      Harald was made prisoner; but Hakon had him immediately hanged on a
 3448      gallows. Hakon then went to the Danish king, and no doubt easily settled
 3449      with him for the killing his relative Gold Harald.
 3450      15. DIVISION OF THE COUNTRY.
 3451      Soon after King Harald Gormson ordered a levy of men over all his kingdom,
 3452      and sailed with 600 ships (1). There were with him Earl Hakon, Harald
 3453      Grenske, a son of King Gudrod, and many other great men who had fled from
 3454      their udal estates in Norway on account of Gunhild's sons. The Danish king
 3455      sailed with his fleet from the south to Viken, where all the people of the
 3456      country surrendered to him. When he came to Tunsberg swarms of people
 3457      joined him; and King Harald gave to Earl Hakon the command of all the men
 3458      who came to him in Norway, and gave him the government over Rogaland,
 3459      Hordaland, Sogn, Fjord-district, South More, Raumsdal, and North More.
 3460      These seven districts gave King Harald to Earl Hakon to rule over, with
 3461      the same rights as Harald Harfager gave with them to his sons; only with
 3462      the difference, that Hakon should there, as well as in Throndhjem, have
 3463      the king's land-estates and land-tax, and use the king's money and goods
 3464      according to his necessities whenever there was war in the country. King
 3465      Harald also gave Harald Grenske Vingulmark, Vestfold, and Agder all the
 3466      way to Lidandisnes (the Naze), together with the title of king; and let
 3467      him have these dominions with the same rights as his family in former
 3468      times had held them, and as Harald Harfager had given with them to his
 3469      sons. Harald Grenske was then eighteen years old, and he became afterwards
 3470      a celebrated man. Harald king of Denmark returned home thereafter with all
 3471      his army.
 3472   ENDNOTES:
 3473     (1) i.e., 720 ships, as they were counted by long hundreds,
 3474     100=120.
 3475      16. GUNHILD'S SONS LEAVE THE COUNTRY.
 3476      Earl Hakon proceeded northwards along the coast with his force; and when
 3477      Gunhild and her sons got the tidings they proceeded to gather troops, but
 3478      were ill off for men. Then they took the same resolution as before, to
 3479      sail out to sea with such men as would follow them away to the westward
 3480      (A.D. 969). They came first to the Orkney Islands, and remained there a
 3481      while. There were in Orkney then the Earls Hlodver. Arnfid, Ljot, and
 3482      Skule, the sons of Thorfin Hausakljufer.
 3483      Earl Hakon now brought all the country under him, and remained all winter
 3484      (A.D. 970) in Throndhjem. Einar Skalaglam speaks of his conquests in
 3485      "Vellekla": -
 3486     "Norway's great watchman, Harald, now
 3487     May bind the silk snood on his brow -
 3488     Seven provinces he seized.  The realm
 3489     Prospers with Hakon at the helm."
 3490      As Hakon the earl proceeded this summer along the coast subjecting all the
 3491      people to him, he ordered that over all his dominions the temples and
 3492      sacrifices should be restored, and continued as of old. So it is said in
 3493      the "Vellekla": -
 3494     "Hakon the earl, so good and wise,
 3495     Let all the ancient temples rise; -
 3496     Thor's temples raised with fostering hand
 3497     That had been ruined through the land.
 3498     His valiant champions, who were slain
 3499     On battle-fields across the main,
 3500     To Thor, the thunder-god, may tell
 3501     How for the gods all turns out well.
 3502     The hardy warrior now once more
 3503     Offers the sacrifice of gore;
 3504     The shield-bearer in Loke's game
 3505     Invokes once more great Odin's name.
 3506     The green earth gladly yields her store,
 3507     As she was wont in days of yore,
 3508     Since the brave breaker of the spears
 3509     The holy shrines again uprears.
 3510     The earl has conquered with strong hand
 3511     All that lies north of Viken land:
 3512     In battle storm, and iron rain
 3513     Hakon spreads wide his sword's domain."
 3514      The first winter that Hakon ruled over Norway the herrings set in
 3515      everywhere through the fjords to the land, and the seasons ripened to a
 3516      good crop all that had been sown. The people, therefore, laid in seed for
 3517      the next year, and got their lands sowed, and had hope of good times.
 3518      17. HAKON'S BATTLE WITH RAGNFRED.
 3519      King Ragnfred and King Gudrod, both sons of Gunhild and Eirik, were now
 3520      the only sons of Gunhild remaining in life. So says Glum Geirason in
 3521      Grafeld's lay: -
 3522     "When in the battle's bloody strife
 3523     The sword took noble Harald's life,
 3524     Half of my fortunes with him fell:
 3525     But his two brothers, I know well,
 3526     My loss would soon repair, should they
 3527     Again in Norway bear the sway,
 3528     And to their promises should stand,
 3529     If they return to rule the land."
 3530      Ragnfred began his course in the spring after he had been a year in the
 3531      Orkney Islands. He sailed from thence to Norway, and had with him fine
 3532      troops, and large ships. When he came to Norway he learnt that Earl Hakon
 3533      was in Throndhjem; therefore he steered northwards around Stad, and
 3534      plundered in South More. Some people submitted to him; for it often
 3535      happens, when parties of armed men scour over a country, that those who
 3536      are nearest the danger seek help where they think it may be expected. As
 3537      soon as Earl Hakon heard the news of disturbance in More, he fitted out
 3538      ships, sent the war-token through the land, made ready in all haste, and
 3539      proceeded out of the fjord. He had no difficulty in assembling men.
 3540      Ragnfred and Earl Hakon met at the north corner of More; and Hakon, who
 3541      had most men, but fewer ships, began the battle. The combat was severe,
 3542      but heaviest on Hakon's side; and as the custom then was, they fought bow
 3543      to bow, and there was a current in the sound which drove all the ships in
 3544      upon the land. The earl ordered to row with the oars to the land where
 3545      landing seemed easiest. When the ships were all grounded, the earl with
 3546      all his men left them, and drew them up so far that the enemy might not
 3547      launch them down again, and then drew up his men on a grass-field, and
 3548      challenged Ragnfred to land. Ragnfred and his men laid their vessels in
 3549      along the land, and they shot at each other a long time; but upon the land
 3550      Ragnfred would not venture: and so they separated. Ragnfred sailed with
 3551      his fleet southwards around Stad; for he was much afraid the whole forces
 3552      of the country would swarm around Hakon. Hakon, on his part, was not
 3553      inclined to try again a battle, for he thought the difference between
 3554      their ships in size was too great; so in harvest he went north to
 3555      Throndhjem, and staid there all winter (A.D. 971). King Ragnfred
 3556      consequently had all the country south of Stad at his mercy; namely, Fjord
 3557      district, Hordaland, Sogn, Rogaland; and he had many people about him all
 3558      winter. When spring approached he ordered out the people and collected a
 3559      large force. By going about the districts he got many men, ships, and
 3560      warlike stores sent as he required.
 3561      18. BATTLE BETWEEN HAKON AND RAGNFRED.
 3562      Towards spring Earl Hakon ordered out all the men north in the country;
 3563      and got many people from Halogaland and Naumudal; so that from Bryda to
 3564      Stad he had men from all the sea-coast. People flocked to him from all the
 3565      Throndhjem district and from Raumsdal. It was said for certain that he had
 3566      men from four great districts, and that seven earls followed him, and a
 3567      matchless number of men. So it is said in the "Vellekla": -
 3568     "Hakon, defender of the land,
 3569     Armed in the North his warrior-band
 3570     To Sogn's old shore his force he led,
 3571     And from all quarters thither sped
 3572     War-ships and men; and haste was made
 3573     By the young god of the sword-blade,
 3574     The hero-viking of the wave,
 3575     His wide domain from foes to save.
 3576     With shining keels seven kings sailed on
 3577     To meet this raven-feeding one.
 3578     When the clash came, the stunning sound
 3579     Was heard in Norway's farthest bound;
 3580     And sea-borne corpses, floating far,
 3581     Brought round the Naze news from the war."
 3582      Earl Hakon sailed then with his fleet southwards around Stad; and when he
 3583      heard that King Ragnfred with his army had gone towards Sogn, he turned
 3584      there also with his men to meet him: and there Ragnfred and Hakon met.
 3585      Hakon came to the land with his ships, marked out a battle-field with
 3586      hazel branches for King Ragnfred, and took ground for his own men in it.
 3587      So it is told in the "Vellekla": -
 3588     "In the fierce battle Ragnfred then
 3589     Met the grim foe of Vindland men;
 3590     And many a hero of great name
 3591     Fell in the sharp sword's bloody game.
 3592     The wielder of fell Narve's weapon,
 3593     The conquering hero, valiant Hakon
 3594     Had laid his war-ships on the strand,
 3595     And ranged his warriors on the land."
 3596      There was a great battle; but Earl Hakon, having by far the most people,
 3597      gained the victory. It took place on the Thinganes, where Sogn and
 3598      Hordaland meet.
 3599      King Rangfred fled to his ships, after 300 of his men had fallen. So it is
 3600      said in the "Vellekla": -
 3601     "Sharp was the battle-strife, I ween, -
 3602     Deadly and close it must have been,
 3603     Before, upon the bloody plain,
 3604     Three hundred corpses of the slain
 3605     Were stretched for the black raven's prey;
 3606     And when the conquerors took their way
 3607     To the sea-shore, they had to tread
 3608     O'er piled-up heaps of foemen dead."
 3609      After this battle King Ragnfred fled from Norway; but Earl Hakon restored
 3610      peace to the country, and allowed the great army which had followed him in
 3611      summer to return home to the north country, and he himself remained in the
 3612      south that harvest and winter (A.D. 972).
 3613      19. EARL HAKON'S MARRIAGE.
 3614      Earl Hakon married a girl called Thora, a daughter of the powerful Skage
 3615      Skoptason, and very beautiful she was. They had two sons, Svein and
 3616      Heming, and a daughter called Bergljot who was afterwards married to Einar
 3617      Tambaskielfer. Earl Hakon was much addicted to women, and had many
 3618      children; among others a daughter Ragnhild, whom he married to Skopte
 3619      Skagason, a brother of Thora. The Earl loved Thora so much that he held
 3620      Thora's family in higher respect than any other people, and Skopte his
 3621      brother-in-law in particular; and he gave him many great fiefs in More.
 3622      Whenever they were on a cruise together, Skopte must lay his ship nearest
 3623      to the earl's, and no other ship was allowed to come in between.
 3624      20. DEATH OF SKOPTE.
 3625      One summer that Earl Hakon was on a cruise, there was a ship with him of
 3626      which Thorleif Spake (the Wise) was steersman. In it was also Eirik, Earl
 3627      Hakon's son, then about ten or eleven years old. Now in the evenings, as
 3628      they came into harbour, Eirik would not allow any ship but his to lie
 3629      nearest to the earl's. But when they came to the south, to More, they met
 3630      Skopte the earl's brother-in-law, with a well-manned ship; and as they
 3631      rowed towards the fleet, Skopte called out that Thorleif should move out
 3632      of the harbour to make room for him, and should go to the roadstead. Eirik
 3633      in haste took up the matter, and ordered Skopte to go himself to the
 3634      roadstead. When Earl Hakon heard that his son thought himself too great to
 3635      give place to Skopte, he called to them immediately that they should haul
 3636      out from their berth, threatening them with chastisement if they did not.
 3637      When Thorleif heard this, he ordered his men to slip their land-cable, and
 3638      they did so; and Skopte laid his vessel next to the earl's as he used to
 3639      do. When they came together, Skopte brought the earl all the news he had
 3640      gathered, and the earl communicated to Skopte all the news he had heard;
 3641      and Skopte was therefore called Tidindaskopte (the Newsman Skopte). The
 3642      winter after (A.D. 973) Eirik was with his foster-father Thorleif, and
 3643      early in spring he gathered a crew of followers, and Thorleif gave him a
 3644      boat of fifteen benches of rowers, with ship furniture, tents, and ship
 3645      provisions; and Eirik set out from the fjord, and southwards to More.
 3646      Tidindaskopte happened also to be going with a fully manned boat of
 3647      fifteen rowers' benches from one of his farms to another, and Eirik went
 3648      against him to have a battle. Skopte was slain, but Eirik granted life to
 3649      those of his men who were still on their legs. So says Eyjolf Dadaskald in
 3650      the "Banda Lay": -
 3651     "At eve the youth went out
 3652     To meet the warrior stout -
 3653     To meet stout Skopte -he
 3654     Whose war-ship roves the sea
 3655     Like force was on each side,
 3656     But in the whirling tide
 3657     The young wolf Eirik slew
 3658     Skopte, and all his crew
 3659     And he was a gallant one,
 3660     Dear to the Earl Hakon.
 3661     Up, youth of steel-hard breast -
 3662     No time hast thou to rest!
 3663     Thy ocean wings spread wide -
 3664     Speed o'er the foaming tide!
 3665     Speed on -speed on thy way!
 3666     For here thou canst not stay."
 3667      Eirik sailed along the land and came to Denmark, and went to King Harald
 3668      Gormson, and staid with him all winter (A.D. 974). In spring the Danish
 3669      king sent him north to Norway, and gave him an earldom, and the government
 3670      of Vingulmark and Raumarike, on the same terms as the small scat-paying
 3671      kings had formerly held these domains. So says Eyjolf Dadaskald: -
 3672     "South through ocean's spray
 3673     His dragon flew away
 3674     To Gormson's hall renowned.
 3675     Where the bowl goes bravely round.
 3676     And the Danish king did place
 3677     This youth of noble race
 3678     Where, shield and sword in hand,
 3679     He would aye defend his land."
 3680      Eirik became afterwards a great chief.
 3681      21. OLAF TRYGVASON'S JOURNEY FROM RUSSIA.
 3682      All this time Olaf Trygvason was in Gardarike (Russia), and highly
 3683      esteemed by King Valdemar, and beloved by the queen. King Valdemar made
 3684      him chief over the men-at-arms whom he sent out to defend the land. So
 3685      says Hallarsteid: -
 3686     "The hater of the niggard band,
 3687     The chief who loves the Northman's land,
 3688     Was only twelve years old when he
 3689     His Russian war-ships put to sea.
 3690     The wain that ploughs the sea was then
 3691     Loaded with war-gear by his men -
 3692     With swords, and spears, and helms: and deep
 3693     Out to the sea his good ships sweep."
 3694      Olaf had several battles, and was lucky as a leader of troops. He himself
 3695      kept a great many men-at-arms at his own expense out of the pay the king
 3696      gave him. Olaf was very generous to his men, and therefore very popular.
 3697      But then it came to pass, what so often happens when a foreigner is raised
 3698      to higher power and dignity than men of the country, that many envied him
 3699      because he was so favoured by the king, and also not less so by the queen.
 3700      They hinted to the king that he should take care not to make Olaf too
 3701      powerful, -"for such a man may be dangerous to you, if he were to
 3702      allow himself to be used for the purpose of doing you or your kingdom
 3703      harm; for he is extremely expert in all exercises and feats, and very
 3704      popular. We do not, indeed, know what it is he can have to talk of so
 3705      often with the queen." It was then the custom among great monarchs that
 3706      the queen should have half of the court attendants, and she supported them
 3707      at her own expense out of the scat and revenue provided for her for that
 3708      purpose. It was so also at the court of King Valdemar that the queen had
 3709      an attendance as large as the king, and they vied with each other about
 3710      the finest men, each wanting to have such in their own service. It so fell
 3711      out that the king listened to such speeches, and became somewhat silent
 3712      and blunt towards Olaf. When Olaf observed this, he told it to the queen;
 3713      and also that he had a great desire to travel to the Northern land, where
 3714      his family formerly had power and kingdoms, and where it was most likely
 3715      he would advance himself. The queen wished him a prosperous journey, and
 3716      said he would be found a brave man wherever he might be. Olaf then made
 3717      ready, went on board, and set out to sea in the Baltic.
 3718      As he was coming from the east he made the island of Borgundarholm
 3719      (Bornholm), where he landed and plundered. The country people hastened
 3720      down to the strand, and gave him battle; but Olaf gained the victory, and
 3721      a large booty.
 3722      22. OLAF TRYGVASON'S MARRIAGE.
 3723      While Olaf lay at Borgundarholm there came on bad weather, storm, and a
 3724      heavy sea, so that his ships could not lie there; and he sailed southwards
 3725      under Vindland, where they found a good harbour. They conducted themselves
 3726      very peacefully, and remained some time. In Vindland there was then a king
 3727      called Burizleif, who had three daughters, -Geira, Gunhild, and
 3728      Astrid. The king's daughter Geira had the power and government in that
 3729      part where Olaf and his people landed, and Dixen was the name of the man
 3730      who most usually advised Queen Geira. Now when they heard that unknown
 3731      people were came to the country, who were of distinguished appearance, and
 3732      conducted themselves peaceably, Dixen repaired to them with a message from
 3733      Queen Geira, inviting the strangers to take up their winter abode with
 3734      her; for the summer was almost spent, and the weather was severe and
 3735      stormy. Now when Dixen came to the place he soon saw that the leader was a
 3736      distinguished man, both from family and personal appearance, and he told
 3737      Olaf the queen's invitation with the most kindly message. Olaf willingly
 3738      accepted the invitation, and went in harvest (A.D. 982) to Queen Geira.
 3739      They liked each other exceedingly, and Olaf courted Queen Geira; and it
 3740      was so settled that Olaf married her the same winter, and was ruler, along
 3741      with Queen Geira, over her dominions. Halfred Vandredaskald tells of these
 3742      matters in the lay he composed about King Olaf: -
 3743     "Why should the deeds the hero did
 3744     In Bornholm and the East he hid?
 3745     His deadly weapon Olaf bold
 3746     Dyed red: why should not this be told?"
 3747      23. EARL HAKON PAYS NO SCAT.
 3748      Earl Hakon ruled over Norway, and paid no scat; because the Danish king
 3749      gave him all the scat revenue that belonged to the king in Norway, for the
 3750      expense and trouble he had in defending the country against Gunhild's
 3751      sons.
 3752      24. HARALD OPPOSES CHRISTIANITY.
 3753      The Emperor Otta (Otto) was at that time in the Saxon country, and sent a
 3754      message to King Harald, the Danish king, that he must take on the true
 3755      faith and be baptized, he and all his people whom he ruled; "otherwise,"
 3756      says the emperor, "we will march against him with an army." The Danish
 3757      king ordered the land defence to be fitted out, Danavirke (1) (the Danish
 3758      wall) to be well fortified, and his ships of war rigged out. He sent a
 3759      message also to Earl Hakon in Norway to come to him early in spring, and
 3760      with as many men as he could possibly raise. In spring (A.D. 975) Earl
 3761      Hakon levied an army over the whole country which was very numerous, and
 3762      with it he sailed to meet the Danish king. The king received him in the
 3763      most honourable manner. Many other chiefs also joined the Danish king with
 3764      their men, so that he had gathered a very large army.
 3765   ENDNOTES: (1) Danavirke. The Danish work was a wall of earth, stones,
 3766     and wood, with a deep ditch in front, and a castle at every
 3767     hundred fathoms, between the rivers Eider and Slien,
 3768     constructed by Harald Blatand (Bluetooth) to oppose the
 3769     progress of Charlemagne.  Some traces of it still exist.
 3770      -L.
 3771      25. OLAF TRYGVASON'S WAR EXPEDITION.
 3772      Olaf Trygvason had been all winter (A.D. 980) in Vindland, as before
 3773      related, and went the same winter to the baronies in Vindland which had
 3774      formerly been under Queen Geira, but had withdrawn themselves from
 3775      obedience and payment of taxes. There Olaf made war, killed many people,
 3776      burnt out others, took much property, and laid all of them under
 3777      subjection to him, and then went back to his castle. Early in spring Olaf
 3778      rigged out his ships and set off to sea. He sailed to Skane and made a
 3779      landing. The people of the country assembled, and gave him battle; but
 3780      King Olaf conquered, and made a great booty. He then sailed eastward to
 3781      the island of Gotland, where he captured a merchant vessel belonging to
 3782      the people of Jamtaland. They made a brave defence; but the end of it was
 3783      that Olaf cleared the deck, killed many of the men, and took all the
 3784      goods. He had a third battle in Gotland, in which he also gained the
 3785      victory, and made a great booty. So says Halfred Vandredaskald: -
 3786     "The king, so fierce in battle-fray,
 3787     First made the Vindland men give way:
 3788     The Gotlanders must tremble next;
 3789     And Scania's shores are sorely vexed
 3790     By the sharp pelting arrow shower
 3791     The hero and his warriors pour;
 3792     And then the Jamtaland men must fly,
 3793     Scared by his well-known battle-cry."
 3794      26. OTTA AND HAKON IN BATTLE.
 3795      The Emperor Otta assembled a great army from Saxland, Frakland, Frisland,
 3796      and Vindland. King Burizleif followed him with a large army, and in it was
 3797      his son-in-law, Olaf Trygvason. The emperor had a great body of horsemen,
 3798      and still greater of foot people, and a great army from Holstein. Harald,
 3799      the Danish king, sent Earl Hakon with the army of Northmen that followed
 3800      him southwards to Danavirke, to defend his kingdom on that side. So it is
 3801      told in the "Vellekla": -
 3802     "Over the foaming salt sea spray
 3803     The Norse sea-horses took their way,
 3804     Racing across the ocean-plain
 3805     Southwards to Denmark's green domain.
 3806     The gallant chief of Hordaland
 3807     Sat at the helm with steady hand,
 3808     In casque and shield, his men to bring
 3809     From Dovre to his friend the king.
 3810     He steered his war-ships o'er the wave
 3811     To help the Danish king to save
 3812     Mordalf, who, with a gallant band
 3813     Was hastening from the Jutes' wild land,
 3814     Across the forest frontier rude,
 3815     With toil and pain through the thick wood.
 3816     Glad was the Danish king, I trow,
 3817     When he saw Hakon's galley's prow.
 3818     The monarch straightway gave command
 3819     To Hakon, with a steel-clad band,
 3820     To man the Dane-work's rampart stout,
 3821     And keep the foreign foemen out."
 3822      The Emperor Otta came with his army from the south to Danavirke, but Earl
 3823      Hakon defended the rampart with his men. The Dane-work (Danavirke) was
 3824      constructed in this way: -Two fjords run into the land, one on each
 3825      side; and in the farthest bight of these fjords the Danes had made a great
 3826      wall of stone, turf, and timber, and dug a deep and broad ditch in front
 3827      of it, and had also built a castle over each gate of it. There was a hard
 3828      battle there, of which the "Vellekla" speaks: -
 3829     "Thick the storm of arrows flew,
 3830     Loud was the din, black was the view
 3831     Of close array of shield and spear
 3832     Of Vind, and Frank, and Saxon there.
 3833     But little recked our gallant men;
 3834     And loud the cry might be heard then
 3835     Of Norway's brave sea-roving son -
 3836     'On 'gainst the foe!  On!  Lead us on!"
 3837      Earl Hakon drew up his people in ranks upon all the gate-towers of the
 3838      wall, but the greater part of them he kept marching along the wall to make
 3839      a defence wheresoever an attack was threatened. Many of the emperor's
 3840      people fell without making any impression on the fortification, so the
 3841      emperor turned back without farther attempt at an assault on it. So it is
 3842      said in the "Vellekla": -
 3843     "They who the eagle's feast provide
 3844     In ranked line fought side by side,
 3845     'Gainst lines of war-men under shields\
 3846     Close packed together on the fields,
 3847     Earl Hakon drive by daring deeds
 3848     The Saxons to their ocean-steeds;
 3849     And the young hero saves from fall
 3850     The Danavirke -the people's wall."
 3851      After this battle Earl Hakon went back to his ships, and intended to sail
 3852      home to Norway; but he did not get a favourable wind, and lay for some
 3853      time outside at Limafjord.
 3854      27. HARALD AND HAKON ARE BAPTIZED.
 3855      The Emperor Otta turned back with his troops to Slesvik, collected his
 3856      ships of war, and crossed the fjord of Sle into Jutland. As soon as the
 3857      Danish king heard of this he marched his army against him, and there was a
 3858      battle, in which the emperor at last got the victory. The Danish king fled
 3859      to Limafjord and took refuge in the island Marsey. By the help of
 3860      mediators who went between the king and the emperor, a truce and a meeting
 3861      between them were agreed on. The Emperor Otta and the Danish king met upon
 3862      Marsey. There Bishop Poppo instructed King Harald in the holy faith; he
 3863      bore red hot irons in his hands, and exhibited his unscorched hands to the
 3864      king. Thereafter King Harald allowed himself to be baptized, and also the
 3865      whole Danish army. King Harald, while he was in Marsey, had sent a message
 3866      to Hakon that he should come to his succour; and the earl had just reached
 3867      the island when the king had received baptism. The king sends word to the
 3868      earl to come to him, and when they met the king forced the earl to allow
 3869      himself also to be baptized. So Earl Hakon and all the men who were with
 3870      him were baptized; and the king gave them priests and other learned men
 3871      with them, and ordered that the earl should make all the people in Norway
 3872      be baptized. On that they separated; and the earl went out to sea, there
 3873      to wait for a wind.
 3874      28. HAKON RENOUNCES CHRISTIANITY.
 3875      When a wind came with which he thought he could get clear out to sea, he
 3876      put all the learned men on shore again, and set off to the ocean; but as
 3877      the wind came round to the south-west, and at last to west, he sailed
 3878      eastward, out through Eyrarsund, ravaging the land on both sides. He then
 3879      sailed eastward along Skane, plundering the country wherever he came. When
 3880      he got east to the skerries of East Gautland, he ran in and landed, and
 3881      made a great blood-sacrifice. There came two ravens flying which croaked
 3882      loudly; and now, thought the earl, the blood-offering has been accepted by
 3883      Odin, and he thought good luck would be with him any day he liked to go to
 3884      battle. Then he set fire to his ships, landed his men, and went over all
 3885      the country with armed hand. Earl Ottar, who ruled over Gautland, came
 3886      against him, and they held a great battle with each other; but Earl Hakon
 3887      gained the day, and Earl Ottar and a great part of his men were killed.
 3888      Earl Hakon now drove with fire and sword over both the Gautlands, until he
 3889      came into Norway; and then he proceeded by land all the way north to
 3890      Throndhjem. The "Vellekla" tells about this: -
 3891     "On the silent battle-field,
 3892     In viking garb, with axe and shield,
 3893     The warrior, striding o'er the slain,
 3894     Asks of the gods 'What days will gain?'
 3895     Two ravens, flying from the east,
 3896     Come croaking to the bloody feast:
 3897     The warrior knows what they foreshow -
 3898     The days when Gautland blood will flow.
 3899     A viking-feast Earl Hakon kept,
 3900     The land with viking fury swept,
 3901     Harrying the land far from the shore
 3902     Where foray ne'er was known before.
 3903     Leaving the barren cold coast side,
 3904     He raged through Gautland far and wide, -
 3905     Led many a gold-decked viking shield
 3906     O'er many a peaceful inland field.
 3907     Bodies on bodies Odin found
 3908     Heaped high upon each battle ground:
 3909     The moor, as if by witchcraft's power,
 3910     Grows green, enriched by bloody shower.
 3911     No wonder that the gods delight
 3912     To give such luck in every fight
 3913     To Hakon's men -for he restores
 3914     Their temples on our Norway shores."
 3915      29. THE EMPEROR OTTA RETURNS HOME.
 3916      The Emperor Otta went back to his kingdom in the Saxon land, and parted in
 3917      friendship with the Danish king. It is said that the Emperor Otta stood
 3918      godfather to Svein, King Harald's son, and gave him his name; so that he
 3919      was baptized Otta Svein. King Harald held fast by his Christianity to his
 3920      dying day.
 3921      King Burizleif went to Vindland, and his son-in-law King Olaf went with
 3922      him. This battle is related also by Halfred Vandredaskald in his song on
 3923      Olaf: -
 3924     "He who through the foaming surges
 3925     His white-winged ocean-coursers urges,
 3926     Hewed from the Danes, in armour dressed,
 3927     The iron bark off mail-clad breast."
 3928      30. OLAF'S JOURNEY FROM VINDLAND.
 3929      Olaf Trygvason was three years in Vindland (A.D. 982-984) when Geira his
 3930      queen fell sick, and she died of her illness. Olaf felt his loss so great
 3931      that he had no pleasure in Vindland after it. He provided himself,
 3932      therefore, with warships, and went out again a plundering, and plundered
 3933      first in Frisland, next in Saxland, and then all the way to Flaemingjaland
 3934      (Flanders). So says Halfred Vandredaskald: -
 3935     "Olaf's broad axe of shining steel
 3936     For the shy wolf left many a meal.
 3937     The ill-shaped Saxon corpses lay
 3938     Heaped up, the witch-wife's horses' (1) prey.
 3939     She rides by night: at pools of blood.
 3940     Where Frisland men in daylight stood,
 3941     Her horses slake their thirst, and fly
 3942     On to the field where Flemings lie.
 3943     The raven-friend in Odin's dress -
 3944     Olaf, who foes can well repress,
 3945     Left Flemish flesh for many a meal
 3946     With his broad axe of shining steel."
 3947   ENDNOTES: (1) Ravens were the witches' horses. -L.
 3948      31. KING OLAF'S FORAYS.
 3949      Thereafter Olaf Trygvason sailed to England, and ravaged wide around in
 3950      the land. He sailed all the way north to Northumberland, where he
 3951      plundered; and thence to Scotland, where he marauded far and wide. Then he
 3952      went to the Hebrides, where he fought some battles; and then southwards to
 3953      Man, where he also fought. He ravaged far around in Ireland, and thence
 3954      steered to Bretland, which he laid waste with fire and sword, and all the
 3955      district called Cumberland. He sailed westward from thence to Valland, and
 3956      marauded there. When he left the west, intending to sail to England, he
 3957      came to the islands called the Scilly Isles, lying westward from England
 3958      in the ocean. Thus tells Halfred Vandraskald of these events: -
 3959     The brave young king, who ne'er retreats,
 3960     The Englishman in England beats.
 3961     Death through Northumberland is spread
 3962     From battleaxe and broad spearhead.
 3963     Through Scotland with his spears he rides;
 3964     To Man his glancing ships he guides:
 3965     Feeding the wolves where'er he came,
 3966     The young king drove a bloody game.
 3967     The gallant bowmen in the isles
 3968     Slew foemen, who lay heaped in piles.
 3969     The Irish fled at Olaf's name -
 3970     Fled from a young king seeking fame.
 3971     In Bretland, and in Cumberland,
 3972     People against him could not stand:
 3973     Thick on the fields their corpses lay,
 3974     To ravens and howling wolves a prey."
 3975      Olaf Trygvason had been four years on this cruise (A.D. 985-988), from the
 3976      time he left Vindland till he came to the Scilly Islands.
 3977      32. KING OLAF IS BAPTIZED.
 3978      While Olaf Trygvason lay in the Scilly Isles he heard of a seer, or
 3979      fortune-teller, on the islands, who could tell beforehand things not yet
 3980      done, and what he foretold many believed was really fulfilled. Olaf became
 3981      curious to try this man's gift of prophecy. He therefore sent one of his
 3982      men, who was the handsomest and strongest, clothed him magnificently, and
 3983      bade him say he was the king; for Olaf was known in all countries as
 3984      handsomer, stronger, and braver than all others, although, after he had
 3985      left Russia, he retained no more of his name than that he was called Ole,
 3986      and was Russian. Now when the messenger came to the fortune-teller, and
 3987      gave himself out for the king, he got the answer, "Thou art not the king,
 3988      but I advise thee to be faithful to thy king." And more he would not say
 3989      to that man. The man returned, and told Olaf, and his desire to meet the
 3990      fortune-teller was increased; and now he had no doubt of his being really
 3991      a fortune-teller. Olaf repaired himself to him, and, entering into
 3992      conversation, asked him if he could foresee how it would go with him with
 3993      regard to his kingdom, or of any other fortune he was to have. The hermit
 3994      replies in a holy spirit of prophecy, "Thou wilt become a renowned king,
 3995      and do celebrated deeds. Many men wilt thou bring to faith and baptism,
 3996      and both to thy own and others' good; and that thou mayst have no doubt of
 3997      the truth of this answer, listen to these tokens: When thou comest to thy
 3998      ships many of thy people will conspire against thee, and then a battle
 3999      will follow in which many of thy men will fall, and thou wilt be wounded
 4000      almost to death, and carried upon a shield to thy ship; yet after seven
 4001      days thou shalt be well of thy wounds, and immediately thou shalt let
 4002      thyself be baptized." Soon after Olaf went down to his ships, where he met
 4003      some mutineers and people who would destroy him and his men. A fight took
 4004      place, and the result was what the hermit had predicted, that Olaf was
 4005      wounded, and carried upon a shield to his ship, and that his wound was
 4006      healed in seven days. Then Olaf perceived that the man had spoken truth,
 4007      that he was a true fortune-teller, and had the gift of prophecy. Olaf went
 4008      once more to the hermit, and asked particularly how he came to have such
 4009      wisdom in foreseeing things to be. The hermit replied, that the Christian
 4010      God himself let him know all that he desired; and he brought before Olaf
 4011      many great proofs of the power of the Almighty. In consequence of this
 4012      encouragement Olaf agreed to let himself be baptized, and he and all his
 4013      followers were baptized forthwith. He remained here a long time, took the
 4014      true faith, and got with him priests and other learned men.
 4015      33. OLAF MARRIES GYDA.
 4016      In autumn (A.D. 988) Olaf sailed from Scilly to England, where he put into
 4017      a harbour, but proceeded in a friendly way; for England was Christian, and
 4018      he himself had become Christian. At this time a summons to a Thing went
 4019      through the country, that all men should come to hold a Thing. Now when
 4020      the Thing was assembled a queen called Gyda came to it, a sister of Olaf
 4021      Kvaran, who was king of Dublin in Ireland. She had been married to a great
 4022      earl in England, and after his death she was at the head of his dominions.
 4023      In her territory there was a man called Alfvine, who was a great champion
 4024      and single-combat man. He had paid his addresses to her; but she gave for
 4025      answer, that she herself would choose whom of the men in her dominions she
 4026      would take in marriage; and on that account the Thing was assembled, that
 4027      she might choose a husband. Alfvine came there dressed out in his best
 4028      clothes, and there were many well-dressed men at the meeting. Olaf had
 4029      come there also; but had on his bad-weather clothes, and a coarse
 4030      over-garment, and stood with his people apart from the rest of the crowd.
 4031      Gyda went round and looked at each, to see if any appeared to her a
 4032      suitable man. Now when she came to where Olaf stood she looked at him
 4033      straight in the face, and asked "what sort of man he was?"
 4034      He said, "I am called Ole; and I am a stranger here."
 4035      Gyda replies, "Wilt thou have me if I choose thee?"
 4036      "I will not say no to that," answered he; and he asked what her name was,
 4037      and her family, and descent.
 4038      "I am called Gyda," said she; "and am daughter of the king of Ireland, and
 4039      was married in this country to an earl who ruled over this territory.
 4040      Since his death I have ruled over it, and many have courted me, but none
 4041      to whom I would choose to be married."
 4042      She was a young and handsome woman. They afterwards talked over the matter
 4043      together, and agreed, and Olaf and Gyda were betrothed.
 4044      34. KING OLAF AND ALFVINE'S DUEL.
 4045      Alfvine was very ill pleased with this. It was the custom then in England,
 4046      if two strove for anything, to settle the matter by single combat (1); and
 4047      now Alfvine challenges Olaf Trygvason to fight about this business. The
 4048      time and place for the combat were settled, and that each should have
 4049      twelve men with him. When they met, Olaf told his men to do exactly as
 4050      they saw him do. He had a large axe; and when Alfvine was going to cut at
 4051      him with his sword he hewed away the sword out of his hand, and with the
 4052      next blow struck down Alfvine himself. He then bound him fast. It went in
 4053      the same way with all Alfvine's men. They were beaten down, bound, and
 4054      carried to Olaf's lodging. Thereupon he ordered Alfvine to quit the
 4055      country, and never appear in it again; and Olaf took all his property.
 4056      Olaf in this way got Gyda in marriage, and lived sometimes in England, and
 4057      sometimes in Ireland.
 4058   ENDNOTES: (1) Holm-gang: so called because the combatants went to a holm
 4059     or uninhabited isle to fight in Norway. -L.
 4060      35. KING OLAF GETS HIS DOG VIGE.
 4061      While Olaf was in Ireland he was once on an expedition which went by sea.
 4062      As they required to make a foray for provisions on the coast, some of his
 4063      men landed, and drove down a large herd of cattle to the strand. Now a
 4064      peasant came up, and entreated Olaf to give him back the cows that
 4065      belonged to him. Olaf told him to take his cows, if he could distinguish
 4066      them; "but don't delay our march." The peasant had with him a large
 4067      house-dog, which he put in among the herd of cattle, in which many hundred
 4068      head of beasts were driven together. The dog ran into the herd, and drove
 4069      out exactly the number which the peasant had said he wanted; and all were
 4070      marked with the same mark, which showed that the dog knew the right
 4071      beasts, and was very sagacious. Olaf then asked the peasant if he would
 4072      sell him the dog. "I would rather give him to you," said the peasant. Olaf
 4073      immediately presented him with a gold ring in return, and promised him his
 4074      friendship in future. This dog was called Vige, and was the very best of
 4075      dogs, and Olaf owned him long afterwards.
 4076      36. HARALD GORMSON SAILS AGAINST ICELAND.
 4077      The Danish king, Harald Gormson, heard that Earl Hakon had thrown off
 4078      Christianity, and had plundered far and wide in the Danish land. The
 4079      Danish king levied an army, with which he went to Norway; and when he came
 4080      to the country which Earl Hakon had to rule over he laid waste the whole
 4081      land, and came with his fleet to some islands called Solunder. Only five
 4082      houses were left standing in Laeradal; but all the people fled up to the
 4083      mountains, and into the forest, taking with them all the moveable goods
 4084      they could carry with them. Then the Danish king proposed to sail with his
 4085      fleet to Iceland, to avenge the mockery and scorn all the Icelanders had
 4086      shown towards him; for they had made a law in Iceland, that they should
 4087      make as many lampoons against the Danish king as there were headlands in
 4088      his country; and the reason was, because a vessel which belonged to
 4089      certain Icelanders was stranded in Denmark, and the Danes took all the
 4090      property, and called it wreck. One of the king's bailiffs called Birger
 4091      was to blame for this; but the lampoons were made against both. In the
 4092      lampoons were the following lines: -
 4093     "The gallant Harald in the field
 4094     Between his legs lets drop his shield;
 4095     Into a pony he was changed.
 4096     And kicked his shield, and safely ranged.
 4097     And Birger, he who dwells in halls
 4098     For safety built with four stone walls,
 4099     That these might be a worthy pair,
 4100     Was changed into a pony mare."
 4101      37. HARALD SENDS A WARLOCK TO ICELAND.
 4102      King Harald told a warlock to hie to Iceland in some altered shape, and to
 4103      try what he could learn there to tell him: and he set out in the shape of
 4104      a whale. And when he came near to the land he went to the west side of
 4105      Iceland, north around the land, where he saw all the mountains and hills
 4106      full of guardian-spirits, some great, some small. When he came to
 4107      Vapnafjord he went in towards the land, intending to go on shore; but a
 4108      huge dragon rushed down the dale against him with a train of serpents,
 4109      paddocks, and toads, that blew poison towards him. Then he turned to go
 4110      westward around the land as far as Eyjafjord, and he went into the fjord.
 4111      Then a bird flew against him, which was so great that its wings stretched
 4112      over the mountains on either side of the fjord, and many birds, great and
 4113      small, with it. Then he swam farther west, and then south into
 4114      Breidafjord. When he came into the fjord a large grey bull ran against
 4115      him, wading into the sea, and bellowing fearfully, and he was followed by
 4116      a crowd of land-spirits. From thence he went round by Reykjanes, and
 4117      wanted to land at Vikarsskeid, but there came down a hill-giant against
 4118      him with an iron staff in his hands. He was a head higher than the
 4119      mountains, and many other giants followed him. He then swam eastward along
 4120      the land, and there was nothing to see, he said, but sand and vast
 4121      deserts, and, without the skerries, high-breaking surf; and the ocean
 4122      between the countries was so wide that a long-ship could not cross it. At
 4123      that time Brodhelge dwelt in Vapnafjord, Eyjolf Valgerdson in Eyjafjord,
 4124      Thord Geller in Breidafjord, and Thorod Gode in Olfus. Then the Danish
 4125      king turned about with his fleet, and sailed back to Denmark.
 4126      Hakon the earl settled habitations again in the country that had been laid
 4127      waste, and paid no scat as long as he lived to Denmark.
 4128      38. HARALD GORMSON'S DEATH.
 4129      Svein, King Harald's son, who afterwards was called Tjuguskeg (forked
 4130      beard), asked his father King Harald for a part of his kingdom; but now,
 4131      as before, Harald would not listen to dividing the Danish dominions, and
 4132      giving him a kingdom. Svein collected ships of war, and gave out that he
 4133      was going on a viking cruise; but when all his men were assembled, and the
 4134      Jomsborg viking Palnatoke had come to his assistance he ran into Sealand
 4135      to Isafjord, where his father had been for some time with his ships ready
 4136      to proceed on an expedition. Svein instantly gave battle, and the combat
 4137      was severe. So many people flew to assist King Harald, that Svein was
 4138      overpowered by numbers, and fled. But King Harald received a wound which
 4139      ended in his death: and Svein was chosen King of Denmark. At this time
 4140      Sigvalde was earl over Jomsborg in Vindland. He was a son of King
 4141      Strutharald, who had ruled over Skane. Heming, and Thorkel the Tall, were
 4142      Sigvalde's brothers. Bue the Thick from Bornholm, and Sigurd his brother,
 4143      were also chiefs among the Jomsborg vikings: and also Vagn, a son of Ake
 4144      and Thorgunna, and a sister's son of Bue and Sigurd. Earl Sigvalde had
 4145      taken King Svein prisoner, and carried him to Vindland, to Jomsborg, where
 4146      he had forced him to make peace with Burizleif, the king of the Vinds, and
 4147      to take him as the peace-maker between them. Earl Sigvalde was married to
 4148      Astrid, a daughter of King Burizleif; and told King Svein that if he did
 4149      not accept of his terms, he would deliver him into the hands of the Vinds.
 4150      The king knew that they would torture him to death, and therefore agreed
 4151      to accept the earl's mediation. The earl delivered this judgment between
 4152      them -that King Svein should marry Gunhild, King Burizleif's
 4153      daughter; and King Burizleif again Thyre, a daughter of Harald, and King
 4154      Svein's sister; but that each party should retain their own dominions, and
 4155      there should be peace between the countries. Then King Svein returned home
 4156      to Denmark with his wife Gunhild. Their sons were Harald and Knut (Canute)
 4157      the Great. At that time the Danes threatened much to bring an army into
 4158      Norway against Earl Hakon.
 4159      39. VOW OF THE JOMSBORG VIKINGS.
 4160      King Svein made a magnificent feast, to which he invited all the chiefs in
 4161      his dominions; for he would give the succession-feast, or the
 4162      heirship-ale, after his father Harald. A short time before, Strutharald in
 4163      Skane, and Vesete in Bornholm, father to Bue the Thick and to Sigurd, had
 4164      died; and King Svein sent word to the Jomsborg vikings that Earl Sigvalde
 4165      and Bue, and their brothers, should come to him, and drink the funeral-ale
 4166      for their fathers in the same feast the king was giving. The Jomsborg
 4167      vikings came to the festival with their bravest men, forty ships of them
 4168      from Vindland, and twenty ships from Skane. Great was the multitude of
 4169      people assembled. The first day of the feast, before King Svein went up
 4170      into his father's high-seat, he drank the bowl to his father's memory, and
 4171      made the solemn vow, that before three winters were past he would go over
 4172      with his army to England, and either kill King Adalrad (Ethelred), or
 4173      chase him out of the country. This heirship bowl all who were at the feast
 4174      drank. Thereafter for the chiefs of the Jomsborg vikings was filled and
 4175      drunk the largest horn to be found, and of the strongest drink. When that
 4176      bowl was emptied, all men drank Christ's health; and again the fullest
 4177      measure and the strongest drink were handed to the Jomsborg vikings. The
 4178      third bowl was to the memory of Saint Michael, which was drunk by all.
 4179      Thereafter Earl Sigvalde emptied a remembrance bowl to his father's
 4180      honour, and made the solemn vow, that before three winters came to an end
 4181      he would go to Norway, and either kill Earl Hakon, or chase him out of the
 4182      country. Thereupon Thorkel the Tall, his brother, made a solemn vow to
 4183      follow his brother Sigvalde to Norway, and not flinch from the battle so
 4184      long as Sigvalde would fight there. Then Bue the Thick vowed to follow
 4185      them to Norway, and not flinch so long as the other Jomsborg vikings
 4186      fought. At last Vagn Akason vowed that he would go with them to Norway,
 4187      and not return until he had slain Thorkel Leira, and gone to bed to his
 4188      daughter Ingebjorg without her friends' consent. Many other chiefs made
 4189      solemn vows about different things. Thus was the heirship-ale drunk that
 4190      day, but the next morning, when the Jomsborg vikings had slept off their
 4191      drink, they thought they had spoken more than enough. They held a meeting
 4192      to consult how they should proceed with their undertaking, and they
 4193      determined to fit out as speedily as possible for the expedition; and
 4194      without delay ships and men-at-arms were prepared, and the news spread
 4195      quickly.
 4196      40. EIRIK AND HAKON MAKE A WAR LEVY.
 4197      When Earl Eirik, the son of Hakon, who at that time was in Raumarike,
 4198      heard the tidings, he immediately gathered troops, and went to the
 4199      Uplands, and thence over the mountains to Throndhjem, and joined his
 4200      father Earl Hakon. Thord Kolbeinson speaks of this in the lay of Eirik: -
 4201     "News from the south are flying round;
 4202     The bonde comes with look profound,
 4203     Bad news of bloody battles bringing,
 4204     Of steel-clad men, of weapons ringing.
 4205     I hear that in the Danish land
 4206     Long-sided ships slide down the strand,
 4207     And, floating with the rising tide,
 4208     The ocean-coursers soon will ride."
 4209      The earls Hakon and Eirik had war-arrows split up and sent round the
 4210      Throndhjem country; and despatched messages to both the Mores, North More
 4211      and South More, and to Raumsdal, and also north to Naumudal and
 4212      Halogaland. They summoned all the country to provide both men and ships.
 4213      So it is said in Eirik's lay:
 4214     "The skald must now a war-song raise,
 4215     The gallant active youth must praise,
 4216     Who o'er the ocean's field spreads forth
 4217     Ships, cutters, boats, from the far north.
 4218     His mighty fleet comes sailing by, -
 4219     The people run to see them glide,
 4220     Mast after mast, by the coast-side."
 4221      Earl Hakon set out immediately to the south, to More, to reconnoitre and
 4222      gather people; and Earl Eirik gathered an army from the north to follow.
 4223      41. EXPEDITION OF THE JOMSBORG VIKINGS.
 4224      The Jomsborg vikings assembled their fleet in Limafjord, from whence they
 4225      went to sea with sixty sail of vessels. When they came under the coast of
 4226      Agder, they steered northwards to Rogaland with their fleet, and began to
 4227      plunder when they came into the earl's territory; and so they sailed north
 4228      along the coast, plundering and burning. A man, by name Geirmund, sailed
 4229      in a light boat with a few men northwards to More, and there he fell in
 4230      with Earl Hakon, stood before his dinner table, and told the earl the
 4231      tidings of an army from Denmark having come to the south end of the land.
 4232      The earl asked if he had any certainty of it. Then Geirmund stretched
 4233      forth one arm, from which the hand was cut off, and said, "Here is the
 4234      token that the enemy is in the land." Then the earl questioned him
 4235      particularly about this army. Geirmund says it consists of Jomsborg
 4236      vikings, who have killed many people, and plundered all around. "And
 4237      hastily and hotly they pushed on," says he "and I expect it will not be
 4238      long before they are upon you." On this the earl rode into every fjord,
 4239      going in along the one side of the land and out at the other, collecting
 4240      men; and thus he drove along night and day. He sent spies out upon the
 4241      upper ridges, and also southwards into the Fjords; and he proceeded north
 4242      to meet Eirik with his men. This appears from Eirik's lay: -
 4243     "The earl, well skilled in war to speed
 4244     O'er the wild wave the viking-steed,
 4245     Now launched the high stems from the shore,
 4246     Which death to Sigvalde's vikings bore.
 4247     Rollers beneath the ships' keels crash,
 4248     Oar-blades loud in the grey sea splash,
 4249     And they who give the ravens food
 4250     Row fearless through the curling flood."
 4251      Eirik hastened southwards with his forces the shortest way he could.
 4252      42. OF THE JOMSBORG VIKINGS.
 4253      Earl Sigvalde steered with his fleet northwards around Stad, and came to
 4254      the land at the Herey Isles. Although the vikings fell in with the country
 4255      people, the people never told the truth about what the earl was doing; and
 4256      the vikings went on pillaging and laying waste. They laid to their vessels
 4257      at the outer end of Hod Island, landed, plundered, and drove both men and
 4258      cattle down to the ships, killing all the men able to bear arms.
 4259      As they were going back to their ships, came a bonde, walking near to
 4260      Bue's troop, who said to them, "Ye are not doing like true warriors, to be
 4261      driving cows and calves down to the strand, while ye should be giving
 4262      chase to the bear, since ye are coming near to the bear's den."
 4263      "What says the old man?" asked some. "Can he tell us anything about Earl
 4264      Hakon?"
 4265      The peasant replies, "The earl went yesterday into the Hjorundarfjord with
 4266      one or two ships, certainly not more than three, and then he had no news
 4267      about you."
 4268      Bue ran now with his people in all haste down to the ships, leaving all
 4269      the booty behind. Bue said, "Let us avail ourselves now of this news we
 4270      have got of the earl, and be the first to the victory." When they came to
 4271      their ships they rode off from the land. Earl Sigvalde called to them, and
 4272      asked what they were about. They replied, "The earl is in the fjord;" on
 4273      which Earl Sigvalde with the whole fleet set off, and rowed north about
 4274      the island Hod.
 4275      43. BATTLE WITH THE JOMSBORG VIKINGS.
 4276      The earls Hakon and Eirik lay in Halkelsvik, where all their forces were
 4277      assembled. They had 150 ships, and they had heard that the Jomsborg
 4278      vikings had come in from sea, and lay at the island Hod; and they, in
 4279      consequence, rowed out to seek them. When they reached a place called
 4280      Hjorungavag they met each other, and both sides drew up their ships in
 4281      line for an attack. Earl Sigvalde's banner was displayed in the midst of
 4282      his army, and right against it Earl Hakon arranged his force for attack.
 4283      Earl Sigvalde himself had 20 ships, but Earl Hakon had 60. In Earl's army
 4284      were these chiefs, -Thorer Hjort from Halogaland, and Styrkar from
 4285      Gimsar. In the wing of the opposite array of the Jomsborg vikings was Bue
 4286      the Thick, and his brother Sigurd, with 20 ships. Against him Earl Eirik
 4287      laid himself with 60 ships; and with him were these chiefs, -Gudbrand
 4288      Hvite from the Uplands, and Thorkel Leira from Viken. In the other wing of
 4289      the Jomsborg vikings' array was Vagn Akason with 20 ships; and against him
 4290      stood Svein the son of Hakon, in whose division was Skegge of Yrjar at
 4291      Uphaug, and Rognvald of Aervik at Stad, with 60 ships. It is told in the
 4292      Eirik's lay thus: -
 4293     "The bonde's ships along the coast
 4294     Sailed on to meet the foemen's host;
 4295     The stout earl's ships, with eagle flight,
 4296     Rushed on the Danes in bloody fight.
 4297     The Danish ships, of court-men full,
 4298     Were cleared of men, -and many a hull
 4299     Was driving empty on the main,
 4300     With the warm corpses of the slain."
 4301      Eyvind Skaldaspiller says also in the "Haleygja-tal": -
 4302     "Twas at the peep of day, -
 4303     Our brave earl led the way;
 4304     His ocean horses bounding -
 4305     His war-horns loudly sounding!
 4306     No joyful morn arose
 4307     For Yngve Frey's base foes
 4308     These Christian island-men
 4309     Wished themselves home again."
 4310      Then the fleets came together, and one of the sharpest of conflicts began.
 4311      Many fell on both sides, but the most by far on Hakon's side; for the
 4312      Jomsborg vikings fought desperately, sharply, and murderously, and shot
 4313      right through the shields. So many spears were thrown against Earl Hakon
 4314      that his armour was altogether split asunder, and he threw it off. So says
 4315      Tind Halkelson: -
 4316     "The ring-linked coat of strongest mail
 4317     Could not withstand the iron hail,
 4318     Though sewed with care and elbow bent,
 4319     By Norn (1), on its strength intent.
 4320     The fire of battle raged around, -
 4321     Odin's steel shirt flew all unbound!
 4322     The earl his ring-mail from him flung,
 4323     Its steel rings on the wet deck rung;
 4324     Part of it fell into the sea, -
 4325     A part was kept, a proof to be
 4326     How sharp and thick the arrow-flight
 4327     Among the sea-steeds in this fight."
 4328   ENDNOTES: (1) Norn, one of the Fates, stands here for women, whose
 4329     business it was to sew the rings of iron upon the cloth
 4330     which made these ring-mail coats or shirts.  The needles,
 4331     although some of them were of gold, appear to have been
 4332     without eyes, and used like shoemaker's awls. -L.
 4333      44. EARL SIGVALDE'S FLIGHT.
 4334      The Jomsborg vikings had larger and higher-sided ships; and both parties
 4335      fought desperately. Vagn Akason laid his ship on board of Svein Earl
 4336      Hakon's son's ship, and Svein allowed his ship to give way, and was on the
 4337      point of flying. Then Earl Eirik came up, and laid his ship alongside of
 4338      Vagn, and then Vagn gave way, and the ships came to lie in the same
 4339      position as before. Thereupon Eirik goes to the other wing, which had gone
 4340      back a little, and Bue had cut the ropes, intending to pursue them. Then
 4341      Eirik laid himself, board to board, alongside of Bue's ship, and there was
 4342      a severe combat hand to hand. Two or three of Eirik's ships then laid
 4343      themselves upon Bue's single vessel. A thunder-storm came on at this
 4344      moment, and such a heavy hail-storm that every hailstone weighed a
 4345      pennyweight. The Earl Sigvalde cut his cable, turned his ship round, and
 4346      took flight. Vagn Akason called to him not to fly; but as Earl Sigvalde
 4347      paid no attention to what he said, Vagn threw his spear at him, and hit
 4348      the man at the helm. Earl Sigvalde rowed away with 35 ships, leaving 25 of
 4349      his fleet behind.
 4350      45. BUE THROWS HIMSELF OVERBOARD.
 4351      Then Earl Hakon laid his ship on the other side of Bue's ship, and now
 4352      came heavy blows on Bue's men. Vigfus, a son of Vigaglum, took up an anvil
 4353      with a sharp end, which lay upon the deck, and on which a man had welded
 4354      the hilt to his sword just before, and being a very strong man cast the
 4355      anvil with both hands at the head of Aslak Holmskalle, and the end of it
 4356      went into his brains. Before this no weapon could wound this Aslak, who
 4357      was Bue's foster-brother, and forecastle commander, although he could
 4358      wound right and left. Another man among the strongest and bravest was
 4359      Havard Hoggande. In this attack Eirik's men boarded Bue's ship, and went
 4360      aft to the quarter-deck where Bue stood. There Thorstein Midlang cut at
 4361      Bue across his nose, so that the nosepiece of his helmet was cut in two,
 4362      and he got a great wound; but Bue, in turn, cut at Thorstein's side, so
 4363      that the sword cut the man through. Then Bue lifted up two chests full of
 4364      gold, and called aloud, "Overboard all Bue s men," and threw himself
 4365      overboard with his two chests. Many of his people sprang overboard with
 4366      him. Some fell in the ship, for it was of no use to call for quarter.
 4367      Bue's ship was cleared of people from stem to stern, and afterwards all
 4368      the others, the one after the other.
 4369      46. VIKINGS BOUND TOGETHER IN ONE CHAIN.
 4370      Earl Eirik then laid himself alongside of Vagn's ship, and there was a
 4371      brave defence; but at last this ship too was cleared, and Vagn and thirty
 4372      men were taken prisoners, and bound, and brought to land. Then came up
 4373      Thorkel Leira, and said, "Thou madest a solemn vow, Vagn, to kill me, but
 4374      now it seems more likely that I will kill thee." Vagn and his men sat all
 4375      upon a log of wood together. Thorkel had an axe in his hands, with which
 4376      he cut at him who sat outmost on the log. Vagn and the other prisoners
 4377      were bound so that a rope was fastened on their feet, but they had their
 4378      hands free. One of them said, "I will stick this cloak-pin that I have in
 4379      my hand into the earth, if it be so that I know anything, after my head is
 4380      cut off." His head was cut off, but the cloak-pin fell from his hand.
 4381      There sat also a very handsome man with long hair, who twisted his hair
 4382      over his head, put out his neck, and said, "Don't make my hair bloody." A
 4383      man took the hair in his hands and held it fast. Thorkel hewed with his
 4384      axe; but the viking twitched his head so strongly that he who was holding
 4385      his hair fell forwards, and the axe cut off both his hands, and stuck fast
 4386      in the earth. Then Earl Eirik came up, and asked, "Who is that handsome
 4387      man?"
 4388      He replies, "I am called Sigurd, and am Bue's son. But are all the
 4389      Jomsborg vikings dead?"
 4390      Eirik says, "Thou art certainly Boe's son. Wilt thou now take life and
 4391      peace?"
 4392      "That depends," says he, "upon who it is that offers it."
 4393      "He offers who has the power to do it -Earl Eirik."
 4394      "That will I," says he, "from his hands." And now the rope was loosened
 4395      from him.
 4396      Then said Thorkel Leira, "Although thou should give all these men life and
 4397      peace, earl, Vagn Akason shall never come from this with life." And he ran
 4398      at him with uplifted axe; but the viking Skarde swung himself in the rope,
 4399      and let himself fall just before Thorkel's feet, so that Thorkel .ell over
 4400      him, and Vagn caught the axe and gave Thorkel a death-wound. Then said the
 4401      earl, "Vagn, wilt thou accept life?"
 4402      "That I will," says he, "if you give it to all of us."
 4403      "Loose them from the rope," said the earl, and it was done. Eighteen were
 4404      killed, and twelve got their lives.
 4405      47. DEATH OF GISSUR OF VALDERS.
 4406      Earl Hakon, and many with him, were sitting upon a piece of wood, and a
 4407      bow-string twanged from Bue's ship, and the arrow struck Gissur from
 4408      Valders, who was sitting next the earl, and was clothed splendidly.
 4409      Thereupon the people went on board, and found Havard Hoggande standing on
 4410      his knees at the ship's railing, for his feet had been cut off (1), and he
 4411      had a bow in his hand. When they came on board the ship Havard asked, "Who
 4412      fell by that shaft?"
 4413      They answered, "A man called Gissur."
 4414      "Then my luck was less than I thought," said he.
 4415      "Great enough was the misfortune," replied they; "but thou shalt not make
 4416      it greater." And they killed him on the spot.
 4417      The dead were then ransacked, and the booty brought all together to be
 4418      divided; and there were twenty-five ships of the Jomsborg vikings in the
 4419      booty. So says Tind:
 4420     "Many a viking's body lay
 4421     Dead on the deck this bloody day,
 4422     Before they cut their sun-dried ropes,
 4423     And in quick flight put all their hopes.
 4424     He whom the ravens know afar
 4425     Cleared five-and-twenty ships of war:
 4426     A proof that in the furious fight
 4427     None can withstand the Norsemen's might."
 4428      Then the army dispersed. Earl Hakon went to Throndhjem, and was much
 4429      displeased that Earl Eirik had given quarter to Vagn Akason. It was said
 4430      that at this battle Earl Hakon had sacrificed for victory his son, young
 4431      Erling, to the gods; and instantly came the hailstorm, and the defeat and
 4432      slaughter of the Jomsborg vikings.
 4433      Earl Eirik went to the Uplands, and eastward by that route to his own
 4434      kingdom, taking Vagn Akason with him. Earl Eirik married Vagn to
 4435      Ingebjorg, a daughter of Thorkel Leira, and gave him a good ship of war
 4436      and all belonging to it, and a crew; and they parted the best of friends.
 4437      Then Vagn went home south to Denmark, and became afterwards a man of great
 4438      consideration, and many great people are descended from him.
 4439   ENDNOTES: (1) This traditionary tale of a warrior fighting on his knees
 4440     after his legs were cut off, appears to have been a popular
 4441     idea among the Northmen, and is related by their descendants
 4442     in the ballad o. Chevy Chase. -L.
 4443      48. KING HARALD GRENSKE'S DEATH.
 4444      Harald Grenske, as before related, was king in Vestfold, and was married
 4445      to Asta, a daughter of Gudbrand Kula. One summer (A.D. 994) Harald Grenske
 4446      made an expedition to the Baltic to gather property, and he came to
 4447      Svithjod. Olaf the Swede was king there, a son of Eirik the Victorious,
 4448      and Sigrid, a daughter of Skoglartoste. Sigrid was then a widow, and had
 4449      many and great estates in Svithjod. When she heard that her foster-brother
 4450      was come to the country a short distance from her, she sent men to him to
 4451      invite him to a feast. He did not neglect the invitation, but came to her
 4452      with a great attendance of his followers, and was received in the most
 4453      friendly way. He and the queen sat in the high-seat, and drank together
 4454      towards the evening, and all his men were entertained in the most
 4455      hospitable manner. At night, when the king went to rest, a bed was put up
 4456      for him with a hanging of fine linen around it, and with costly
 4457      bedclothes; but in the lodging-house there were few men. When the king was
 4458      undressed, and had gone to bed, the queen came to him, filled a bowl
 4459      herself for him to drink, and was very gay, and pressed to drink. The king
 4460      was drunk above measure, and, indeed, so were they both. Then he slept,
 4461      and the queen went away, and laid herself down also. Sigrid was a woman of
 4462      the greatest understanding, and clever in many things. In the morning
 4463      there was also the most excellent entertainment; but then it went on as
 4464      usual when people have drunk too much, that next day they take care not to
 4465      exceed. The queen was very gay, and she and the king talked of many things
 4466      with each other; among other things she valued her property, and the
 4467      dominions she had in Svithjod, as nothing less than his property in
 4468      Norway. With that observation the king was nowise pleased, and he found no
 4469      pleasure in anything after that, but made himself ready for his journey in
 4470      an ill humor. On the other hand, the queen was remarkably gay, and made
 4471      him many presents, and followed him out to the road. Now Harald returned
 4472      about harvest to Norway, and was at home all winter; but was very silent
 4473      and cast down. In summer he went once more to the Baltic with his ships,
 4474      and steered to Svithjod. He sent a message to Queen Sigrid that he wished
 4475      to have a meeting with her and she rode down to meet him. They talked
 4476      together and he soon brought out the proposal that she should marry him.
 4477      She replied, that this was foolish talk for him, who was so well married
 4478      already that he might think himself well off. Harald says, "Asta is a good
 4479      and clever woman; but she is not so well born as I am." Sigrid replies,
 4480      "It may be that thou art of higher birth, but I think she is now pregnant
 4481      with both your fortunes." They exchanged but few words more before the
 4482      queen rode away. King Harald was now depressed in mind, and prepared
 4483      himself again to ride up the country to meet Queen Sigrid. Many of his
 4484      people dissuaded him; but nevertheless he set off with a great attendance,
 4485      and came to the house in which the queen dwelt. The same evening came
 4486      another king, called Vissavald, from Gardarike (Russia), likewise to pay
 4487      his addresses to Queen Sigrid. Lodging was given to both the kings, and to
 4488      all their people, in a great old room of an out-building, and all the
 4489      furniture was of the same character; but there was no want of drink in the
 4490      evening, and that so strong that all were drunk, and the watch, both
 4491      inside and outside, fell fast asleep. Then Queen Sigrid ordered an attack
 4492      on them in the night, both with fire and sword. The house was burnt, with
 4493      all who were in it and those who slipped out were put to the sword. Sigrid
 4494      said that she would make these small kings tired of coming to court her.
 4495      She was afterwards called Sigrid the Haughty (Storrada).
 4496      49. BIRTH OF OLAF, SON OF HARALD GRENSKE.
 4497      This happened the winter after the battle of the Jomsborg vikings at
 4498      Hjorungavag. When Harald went up the country after Sigrid, he left Hrane
 4499      behind with the ships to look after the men. Now when Hrane heard that
 4500      Harald was cut off, he returned to Norway the shortest way he could, and
 4501      told the news. He repaired first to Asta, and related to her all that had
 4502      happened on the journey, and also on what errand Harald had visited Queen
 4503      Sigrid. When Asta got these tidings she set off directly to her father in
 4504      the Uplands, who received her well; but both were enraged at the design
 4505      which had been laid in Svithjod, and that King Harald had intended to set
 4506      her in a single condition. In summer (A.D. 995) Asta, Gudbrand's daughter,
 4507      was confined, and had a boy child, who had water poured over him, and was
 4508      called Olaf. Hrane himself poured water over him, and the child was
 4509      brought up at first in the house of Gudbrand and his mother Asta.
 4510      50. ABOUT EARL HAKON.
 4511      Earl Hakon ruled over the whole outer part of Norway that lies on the sea,
 4512      and had thus sixteen districts under his sway. The arrangement introduced
 4513      by Harald Harfager, that there should be an earl in each district, was
 4514      afterward continued for a long time; and thus Earl Hakon had sixteen earls
 4515      under him. So says the "Vellekla": -
 4516     "Who before has ever known
 4517     Sixteen earls subdued by one?
 4518     Who has seen all Norway's land
 4519     Conquered by one brave hero's hand?
 4520     It will be long in memory held,
 4521     How Hakon ruled by sword and shield.
 4522     When tales at the viking's mast go round,
 4523     His praise will every mouth resound."
 4524      While Earl Hakon ruled over Norway there were good crops in the land, and
 4525      peace was well preserved in the country among the bondes. The Earl, for
 4526      the greater part of his lifetime, was therefore much beloved by the
 4527      bondes; but it happened, in the longer course of time, that the earl
 4528      became very intemperate in his intercourse with women, and even carried it
 4529      so far that he made the daughters of people of consideration be carried
 4530      away and brought home to him; and after keeping them a week or two as
 4531      concubines, he sent them home. He drew upon himself the indignation of me
 4532      relations of these girls; and the bondes began to murmur loudly, as the
 4533      Throndhjem people have the custom of doing when anything goes against
 4534      their judgment.
 4535      51. THORER KLAKKA'S JOURNEY.
 4536      Earl Hakon, in the mean time, hears some whisper that to the westward,
 4537      over the Nor.h sea, was a man called Ole, who was looked upon as a king.
 4538      From the conversation of some people, he fell upon the suspicion that he
 4539      must be of the royal race of Norway. It was, indeed, said that this Ole
 4540      was from Russia; but the earl had heard that Trygve Olafson had had a son
 4541      called Olaf, who in his infancy had gone east to Gardarike, and had been
 4542      brought up by King Valdemar. The earl had carefully inquired about this
 4543      man, and had his suspicion that he must be the same person who had now
 4544      come to these western countries. The earl had a very good friend called
 4545      Thorer Klakka, who had been long upon viking expeditions, sometimes also
 4546      upon merchant voyages; so that he was well acquainted all around. This
 4547      Thorer Earl Hakon sends over the North sea, and told him to make a
 4548      merchant voyage to Dublin, many were in the habit of doing, and carefully
 4549      to discover who this Ole was. Provided he got any certainty that he was
 4550      Olaf Trygvason, or any other of the Norwegian royal race, then Thorer
 4551      should endeavor to ensnare him by some deceit, and bring him into the
 4552      earl's power.
 4553      52. OLAF TRYGVASON COMES TO NORWAY.
 4554      On this Thorer sails westward to Ireland, and hears that Ole is in Dublin
 4555      with his wife's father King Olaf Kvaran. Thorer, who was a plausible man,
 4556      immediately got acquainted with Ole; and as they often met, and had long
 4557      conversations together, Ole began to inquire about news from Norway, and
 4558      above all of the Upland kings and great people, -which of them were
 4559      in life, and what dominations they now had. He asked also about Earl
 4560      Hakon, and if he was much liked in the country. Thorer replies, that the
 4561      earl is such a powerful man that no one dares to speak otherwise than he
 4562      would like; but that comes from there being nobody else in the country to
 4563      look to. "Yet, to say the truth, I know it to be the mind of many brave
 4564      men, and of whole communities, that they would much rather see a king of
 4565      Harald Harfager's race come to the kingdom. But we know of no one suited
 4566      for this, especially now that it is proved how vain every attack on Earl
 4567      Hakon must be." As they often talked together in the same strain, Olaf
 4568      disclosed to Thorer his name and family, and asked him his opinion, and
 4569      whether he thought the bondes would take him for their king if he were to
 4570      appear in Norway. Thorer encouraged him very eagerly to the enterprise,
 4571      and praised him and his talents highly. Then Olaf's inclination to go to
 4572      the heritage of his ancestors became strong. Olaf sailed accordingly,
 4573      accompanied by Thorer, with five ships; first to the Hebrides, and from
 4574      thence to the Orkneys. At that time Earl Sigurd, Hlodver's son, lay in
 4575      Osmundswall, in the island South Ronaldsa, with a ship of war, on his way
 4576      to Caithness. Just at the same time Olaf was sailing with his fleet from
 4577      the westward to the islands, and ran into the same harbour, because
 4578      Pentland Firth was not to be passed at that tide. When the king was
 4579      informed that the earl was there, he made him be called; and when the earl
 4580      came on board to speak with the king, after a few words only had passed
 4581      between them, the king says the earl must allow himself to be baptized,
 4582      and all the people of the country also, or he should be put to death
 4583      directly; and he assured the earl he would lay waste the islands with fire
 4584      and sword, if the people did not adopt Christianity. In the position the
 4585      earl found himself, he preferred becoming Christian, and he and all who
 4586      were with him were baptized. Afterwards the earl took an oath to the king,
 4587      went into his service, and gave him his son, whose name was Hvelp (Whelp),
 4588      or Hunde (Dog), as an hostage; and the king took Hvelp to Norway with him.
 4589      Thereafter Olaf went out to sea to the eastward, and made the land at
 4590      Morster Island, where he first touched the ground of Norway. He had high
 4591      mass sung in a tent, and afterwards on the spot a church was built. Thorer
 4592      Klakka said now to the king, that the best plan for him would be not to
 4593      make it known who he was, or to let any report about him get abroad; but
 4594      to seek out Earl Hakon as fast as possible and fall upon him by surprise.
 4595      King Olaf did so, sailing northward day and night, when wind permitted,
 4596      and did not let the people of the country know who it was that was sailing
 4597      in such haste. When he came north to Agdanes, he heard that the earl was
 4598      in the fjord, and was in discord with the bondes. On hearing this, Thorer
 4599      saw that things were going in a very different way from what he expected;
 4600      for after the battle with the Jomsborg vikings all men in Norway were the
 4601      most sincere friends of the earl on account of the victory he had gained,
 4602      and of the peace and security he had given to the country; and now it
 4603      unfortunately turns out that a great chief has come to the country at a
 4604      time when the bondes are in arms against the earl.
 4605      53. EARL HAKON'S FLIGHT.
 4606      Earl Hakon was at a feast in Medalhus in Gaulardal and his ships lay out
 4607      by Viggja. There was a powerful bonde, by name Orm Lyrgja, who dwelt in
 4608      Bunes, who had a wife called Gudrun, a daughter of Bergthor of Lundar. She
 4609      was called the Lundasol; for she was the most-beautiful of women. The earl
 4610      sent his slaves to Orm, with the errand that they should bring Orm's wife,
 4611      Gudrun, to the earl. The thralls tell their errand, and Orm bids them
 4612      first seat themselves to supper; but before they had done eating, many
 4613      people from the neighbourhood, to whom Orm had sent notice, had gathered
 4614      together: and now Orm declared he would not send Gudrun with the
 4615      messengers. Gudrun told the thralls to tell the earl that she would not
 4616      come to him, unless he sent Thora of Rimul after her. Thora was a woman of
 4617      great influence, and one of the earl's best beloved. The thralls say that
 4618      they will come another time, and both the bonde and his wife would be made
 4619      to repent of it; and they departed with many threats. Orm, on the other
 4620      hand, sent out a message-token to all the neighbouring country, and with
 4621      it the message to attack Earl Hakon with weapons and kill him. He sent
 4622      also a message to Haldor in Skerdingsstedja, who also sent out his
 4623      message-token. A short time before, the earl had taken away the wife of a
 4624      man called Brynjolf, and there had very nearly been an insurrection about
 4625      that business. Having now again got this message-token, the people made a
 4626      general revolt, and set out all to Medalhus. When the earl heard of this,
 4627      he left the house with his followers, and concealed himself in a deep
 4628      glen, now called Jarlsdal (Earl's Dale). Later in the day, the earl got
 4629      news of the bondes' army. They had beset all the roads; but believed the
 4630      earl had escaped to his ships, which his son Erlend, a remarkably handsome
 4631      and hopeful young man, had the command of. When night came the earl
 4632      dispersed his people, and ordered them to go through the forest roads into
 4633      Orkadal; "for nobody will molest you," said he, "when I am not with you.
 4634      Send a message to Erlend to sail out of the fjord, and meet me in More. In
 4635      the mean time I will conceal myself from the bondes." Then the earl went
 4636      his way with one thrall or slave, called Kark, attending him. There was
 4637      ice upon the Gaul (the river of Gaulardal), and the earl drove his horse
 4638      upon it, and left his coat lying upon the ice. They then went to a hole,
 4639      since called Jarlshella (the Earl's Hole), where they slept. When Kark
 4640      awoke he told his dream, -that a black threatening mad had come into
 4641      the hole, and was angry that people should have entered it; and that the
 4642      man had said, "Ulle is dead." The earl said that his son Erlend must be
 4643      killed. Kark slept again and was again disturbed in his sleep; and when he
 4644      awoke he told his dream, -that the same man had again appeared to
 4645      him, and bade him tell the earl that all the sounds were closed. From this
 4646      dream the earl began to suspect that it betokened a short life to him.
 4647      They stood up, and went to the house of Rimul. The earl now sends Kark to
 4648      Thora, and begs of her to come secretly to him. She did so and received
 4649      the earl kindly and he begged her to conceal him for a few nights until
 4650      the army of the bondes had dispersed. "Here about my house," said she,
 4651      "you will be hunted after, both inside and outside; for many know that I
 4652      would willingly help you if I can. There is but one place about the house
 4653      where they could never expect to find such a man as you, and that is the
 4654      swine-stye." When they came there the earl said, "Well, let it be made
 4655      ready for us; as to save our life is the first and foremost concern." The
 4656      slave dug a great hole in it, bore away the earth that he dug out, and
 4657      laid wood over it. Thora brought the tidings to the earl that Olaf
 4658      Trygvason had come from sea into the fjord, and had killed his son Erlend.
 4659      Then the earl and Kark both went into the hole. Thora covered it with
 4660      wood, and threw earth and dung over it, and drove the swine upon the top
 4661      of it. The swine-style was under a great stone.
 4662      54. ERLEND'S DEATH.
 4663      Olaf Trygvason came from sea into the fjord with five long-ships, and
 4664      Erlend, Hakon's son, rowed towards him with three ships. When the vessels
 4665      came near to each other, Erlend suspected they might be enemies, and
 4666      turned towards the land. When Olaf and his followers saw long-ships coming
 4667      in haste out of the fjord, and rowing towards them, they thought Earl
 4668      Hakon must be here; and they put out all oars to follow them. As soon as
 4669      Erlend and his ships got near the land they rowed aground instantly,
 4670      jumped overboard, and took to the land; but at the same instant Olaf's
 4671      ship came up with them. Olaf saw a remarkably handsome man swimming in the
 4672      water, and laid hold of a tiller and threw it at him. The tiller struck
 4673      Erlend, the son of Hakon the earl, on the head, and clove it to the brain;
 4674      and there left Erlend his life. Olaf and his people killed many; but some
 4675      escaped, and some were made prisoners, and got life and freedom that they
 4676      might go and tell what had happened. They learned then that the bondes had
 4677      driven away Earl Hakon, and that he had fled, and his troops were all
 4678      dispersed.
 4679      55. EARL HAKON'S DEATH.
 4680      The bondes then met Olaf, to the joy of both, and they made an agreement
 4681      together. The bondes took Olaf to be their king, and resolved, one and
 4682      all, to seek out Earl Hakon. They went up Gaulardal; for it seemed to them
 4683      likely that if the earl was concealed in any house it must be at Rimul,
 4684      for Thora was his dearest friend in that valley. They come up, therefore,
 4685      and search everywhere, outside and inside the house, but could not find
 4686      him. Then Olaf held a House Thing (trusting), or council out in the yard,
 4687      and stood upon a great stone which lay beside the swine-stye, and made a
 4688      speech to the people, in which he promised to enrich the man with rewards
 4689      and honours who should kill the earl. This speech was heard by the earl
 4690      and the thrall Kark. They had a light in their room.
 4691      "Why art thou so pale," says the earl, "and now again black as earth? Thou
 4692      hast not the intention to betray me?"
 4693      "By no means," replies Kark.
 4694      "We were born on the same night," says the earl, "and the time will be
 4695      short between our deaths."
 4696      King Olaf went away in the evening. When night came the earl kept himself
 4697      awake but Kark slept, and was disturbed in his sleep. The earl woke him,
 4698      and asked him "what he was dreaming of?"
 4699      He answered, "I was at Hlader and Olaf Trygvason was laying a gold ring
 4700      about my neck."
 4701      The earl says, "It will be a red ring Olaf will lay about thy neck if he
 4702      catches thee. Take care of that! From me thou shalt enjoy all that is
 4703      good, therefore betray me not."
 4704      They then kept themselves awake both; the one, as it were, watching upon
 4705      the other. But towards day the earl suddenly dropped asleep; but his sleep
 4706      was so unquiet that he drew his heels under him, and raised his neck, as
 4707      if going to rise, and screamed dreadfully high. On this Kark, dreadfully
 4708      alarmed, drew a large knife out of his belt, stuck it in the earl's
 4709      throat, and cut it across, and killed Earl Hakon. Then Kark cut off the
 4710      earl's head, and ran away. Late in the day he came to Hlader, where he
 4711      delivered the earl's head to King Olaf, and told all these circumstances
 4712      of his own and Earl Hakon's doings. Olaf had him taken out and beheaded.
 4713      56. EARL HAKON'S HEAD.
 4714      King Olaf, and a vast number of bondes with him, then went out to
 4715      Nidarholm, and had with him the heads of Earl Hakon and Kark. This holm
 4716      was used then for a place of execution of thieves and ill-doers, and there
 4717      stood a gallows on it. He had the heads of the earl and of Kark hung upon
 4718      it, and the whole army of the bondes cast stones at them, screaming and
 4719      shouting that the one worthless fellow had followed the other. They then
 4720      sent up to Gaulardal for the earl's dead body. So great was the enmity of
 4721      the Throndhjem people against Earl Hakon, that no man could venture to
 4722      call him by any other name than Hakon the Bad; and he was so called long
 4723      after those days. Yet, sooth to say of Earl Hakon, he was in many respects
 4724      fitted to be a chief: first, because he was descended from a high race;
 4725      then because he had understanding and knowledge to direct a government;
 4726      also manly courage in battle to gain victories, and good luck in killing
 4727      his enemies. So says Thorleif Raudfeldson: -
 4728     "In Norway's land was never known
 4729     A braver earl than the brave Hakon.
 4730     At sea, beneath the clear moon's light,
 4731     No braver man e'er sought to fight.
 4732     Nine kings to Odin's wide domain
 4733     Were sent, by Hakon's right hand slain!
 4734     So well the raven-flocks were fed -
 4735     So well the wolves were filled with dead!"
 4736      Earl Hakon was very generous; but the greatest misfortunes attended even
 4737      such a chief at the end of his days: and the great cause of this was that
 4738      the time was come when heathen sacrifices and idolatrous worship were
 4739      doomed to fall, and the holy faith and good customs to come in their
 4740      place.
 4741      57. OLAF TRYGVASON ELECTED KING.
 4742      Olaf Trvgvason was chosen at Throndhjem by the General Thing to be the
 4743      king over the whole country, as Harald Harfager had been. The whole public
 4744      and the people throughout all the land would listen to nothing else than
 4745      that Olaf Trygvason should be king. Then Olaf went round the whole
 4746      country, and brought it under his rule, and all the people of Norway gave
 4747      in their submission; and also the chiefs in the Uplands and in Viken, who
 4748      before had held their lands as fiefs from the Danish king, now became King
 4749      Olaf's men, and held their hands from him. He went thus through the whole
 4750      country during the first winter (A.D. 996) and the following summer. Earl
 4751      Eirik, the son of Earl Hakon, his brother Svein, and their friends and
 4752      relations, fled out of the country, and went east to Sweden to King Olaf
 4753      the Swede, who gave them a good reception. So says Thord Kolbeinson: -
 4754     "O thou whom bad men drove away,
 4755     After the bondes by foul play,
 4756     Took Hakon's life!  Fate will pursue
 4757     These bloody wolves, and make them rue.
 4758     When the host came from out the West,
 4759     Like some tall stately war-ship's mast,
 4760     I saw the son of Trygve stand,
 4761     Surveying proud his native land."
 4762      And again, -
 4763     "Eirik has more upon his mind,
 4764     Against the new Norse king designed,
 4765     Than by his words he seems to show -
 4766     And truly it may well be so.
 4767     Stubborn and stiff are Throndhjem men,
 4768     But Throndhjem's earl may come again;
 4769     In Swedish land he knows no rest -
 4770     Fierce wrath is gathering in his breast."
 4771      58. LODIN'S MARRIAGE
 4772      Lodin was the name of a man from Viken who was rich and of good family. He
 4773      went often on merchant voyages, and sometimes on viking cruises. It
 4774      happened one summer that he went on a merchant voyage with much
 4775      merchandise in a ship of his own. He directed his course first to
 4776      Eistland, and was there at a market in summer. To the place at which the
 4777      market was held many merchant goods were brought, and also many thralls or
 4778      slaves for sale. There Lodin saw a woman who was to be sold as a slave:
 4779      and on looking at her he knew her to be Astrid Eirik's daughter, who had
 4780      been married to King Trygve. But now she was altogether unlike what she
 4781      had been when he last saw her; for now she was pale, meagre in
 4782      countenance, and ill clad. He went up to her, and asked her how matters
 4783      stood with her. She replied, "It is heavy to be told; for I have been sold
 4784      as a slave, and now again I am brought here for sale." After speaking
 4785      together a little Astrid knew him, and begged him to buy her; and bring
 4786      her home to her friends. "On this condition," said he, "I will bring thee
 4787      home tn Norway, that thou wilt marry me." Now as Astrid stood in great
 4788      need, and moreover knew that Lodin was a man of high birth, rich, and
 4789      brave, she promised to do so for her ransom. Lodin accordingly bought
 4790      Astrid, took her home to Norway with him, and married her with her
 4791      friends' consent. Their children were Thorkel Nefia, Ingerid, and
 4792      Ingegerd. Ingebjorg and Astrid were daughters of Astrid by King Trygve.
 4793      Eirik Bjodaskalle's sons were Sigird, Karlshofud, Jostein, and Thorkel
 4794      Dydril, who were all rich and brave people who had estates east in the
 4795      country. In Viken in the east dwelt two brothers, rich and of good
 4796      descent; one called Thorgeir, and the other Hyrning; and they married
 4797      Lodin and Astrid's daughters, Ingerid and Ingegerd.
 4798      59. OLAF BAPTIZES THE COUNTRY OF VIKEN.
 4799      When Harald Gormson, king of Denmark, had adopted Christianity, he sent a
 4800      message over all his kingdom that all people should be baptized, and
 4801      converted to the true faith. He himself followed his message, and used
 4802      power and violence where nothing else would do. He sent two earls,
 4803      Urguthrjot and Brimilskjar, with many people to Norway, to proclaim
 4804      Christianity there. In Viken, which stood directly under the king's power,
 4805      this succeeded, and many were baptized of the country folk. But when Svein
 4806      Forked-beard, immediately after his father King Harald's death, went out
 4807      on war expeditions in Saxland, Frisland, and at last in England, the
 4808      Northmen who had taken up Christianity returned back to heathen
 4809      sacrifices, just as before; and the people in the north of the country did
 4810      the same. But now that Olaf Trygvason was king of Norway, he remained long
 4811      during the summer (A.D. 996) in Viken, where many of his relatives and
 4812      some of his brothers-in-law were settled, and also many who had been great
 4813      friends of his father; so that he was received with the greatest
 4814      affection. Olaf called together his mother's brothers, his stepfather
 4815      Lodin, and his brothers-in-law Thorgeir and Hyrning, to speak with them,
 4816      and to disclose with the greatest care the business which he desired they
 4817      themselves should approve of, and support with all their power; namely,
 4818      the proclaiming Christianity over all his kingdom. He would, he declared,
 4819      either bring it to this, that all Norway should be Christian, or die. "I
 4820      shall make you all," said he, "great and mighty men in promoting this
 4821      work; for I trust to you most, as blood relations or brothers-in-law." All
 4822      agreed to do what he asked, and to follow him in what he desired. King
 4823      Olaf immediately made it known to the public that he recommended
 4824      Christianity to all the people in his kingdom, which message was well
 4825      received and approved of by those who had before given him their promise;
 4826      and these being the most powerful among the people assembled, the others
 4827      followed their example, and all the inhabitants of the east part of Viken
 4828      allowed themselves to be baptized. The king then went to the north part of
 4829      Viken and invited every man to accept Christianity; and those who opposed
 4830      him he punished severely, killing some, mutilating others, and driving
 4831      some into banishment. At length he brought it so far, that all the kingdom
 4832      which his father King Trvgve had ruled over, and also that of his relation
 4833      Harald Grenske, accepted of Christianity; and during that summer (A.D.
 4834      996) and the following winter (A.D. 997) all Viken was made Christian.
 4835      60. OF THE HORDALAND PEOPLE.
 4836      Early in spring (A.D. 997) King Olaf set out from Viken with a great force
 4837      northwards to Agder, and proclaimed that every man should be baptized. And
 4838      thus the people received Christianity, for nobody dared oppose the king's
 4839      will, wheresoever he came. In Hordaland, however, were many bold and great
 4840      men of Hordakare's race. He, namely, had left four sons, -the first
 4841      Thorleif Spake; the second, Ogmund, father of Thorolf Skialg, who was
 4842      father of Erling of Sole; the third was Thord father of the Herse Klyp who
 4843      killed King Sigurd Slefa, Gunhild's son; and lastly, Olmod, father of
 4844      Askel, whose son was Aslak Fitjaskalle; and that family branch was the
 4845      greatest and most considered in Hordaland. Now when this family heard the
 4846      bad tidings, that the king was coming along the country from the eastward
 4847      with a great force, and was breaking the ancient law of the people, and
 4848      imposing punishment and hard conditions on all who opposed him, the
 4849      relatives appointed a meeting to take counsel with each other, for they
 4850      knew the king would come down upon them at once: and they all resolved to
 4851      appear in force at the Gula-Thing, there to hold a conference with King
 4852      Olaf Trygvason.
 4853      61. ROGALAND BAPTIZED.
 4854      When King Olaf came to Rogaland, he immediately summoned the people to a
 4855      Thing; and when the bondes received the message-token for a Thing, they
 4856      assembled in great numbers well armed. After they had come together, they
 4857      resolved to choose three men, the best speakers of the whole, who should
 4858      answer King Olaf, and argue with the king; and especially should decline
 4859      to accept of anything against the old law, even if the king should require
 4860      it of them. Now when the bondes came to the Thing, and the Thing was
 4861      formed, King Olaf arose, and at first spoke good-humoredly to the people;
 4862      but they observed he wanted them to accept Christianity, with all his fine
 4863      words: and in the conclusion he let them know that those who should speak
 4864      against him, and not submit to his proposal, must expect his displeasure
 4865      and punishment, and all the ill that it was in his power to inflict. When
 4866      he had ended his speech, one of the bondes stood up, who was considered
 4867      the most eloquent, and who had been chosen as the first who should reply
 4868      to King Olaf. But when he would begin to speak such a cough seized him,
 4869      and such a difficulty of breathing, that he could not bring out a word,
 4870      and had to sit down again. Then another bonde stood up, resolved not to
 4871      let an answer be wanting, although it had gone so ill with the former: but
 4872      he stammered so that he could not get a word uttered, and all present set
 4873      up a laughter, amid which the bonde sat down again. And now the third
 4874      stood up to make a speech against King Olaf's; but when he began he became
 4875      so hoarse and husky in his throat, that nobody could hear a word he said,
 4876      and he also had to sit down. There was none of the bondes now to speak
 4877      against the king, and as nobody answered him there was no opposition; and
 4878      it came to this, that all agreed to what the king had proposed. All the
 4879      people of the Thing accordingly were baptized before the Thing was
 4880      dissolved.
 4881      62. ERLING SKJALGSON'S WOOING.
 4882      King Olaf went with his men-at-arms to the Gula-Thing; for the bondes had
 4883      sent him word that they would reply there to his speech. When both parties
 4884      had come to the Thing, the king desired first to have a conference with
 4885      the chief people of the country; and when the meeting was numerous the
 4886      king set forth his errand, -that he desired them, according to his
 4887      proposal, to allow themselves to be baptized. Then said Olmod the Old, "We
 4888      relations have considered together this matter, and have come to one
 4889      resolution. If thou thinkest, king, to force us who are related together
 4890      to such things as to break our old law, or to bring us under thyself by
 4891      any sort of violence, then will we stand against thee with all our might:
 4892      and be the victory to him to whom fate ordains it. But if thou, king, wilt
 4893      advance our relations' fortunes, then thou shalt have leave to do as thou
 4894      desirest, and we will all serve thee with zeal in thy purpose."
 4895      The king replies, "What do you propose for obtaining this agreement?"
 4896      Then answers Olmod, "The first is, that thou wilt give thy sister Astrid
 4897      in marriage to Erling Skjalgson, our relation, whom we look upon as the
 4898      most hopeful young man in all Norway."
 4899      King Olaf replied, that this marriage appeared to him also very suitable;
 4900      "as Erling is a man of good birth, and a good-looking man in appearance:
 4901      but Astrid herself must answer to this proposal."
 4902      Thereupon the king spoke to his sister. She said, "It is but of little use
 4903      that I am a king's sister, and a king's daughter, if I must marry a man
 4904      who has no high dignity or office. I will rather wait a few years for a
 4905      better match." Thus ended this conference.
 4906      63. HORDALAND BAPTIZED.
 4907      King Olaf took a falcon that belonged to Astrid, plucked off all its
 4908      feathers, and then sent it to her. Then said Astrid, "Angry is my
 4909      brother." And she stood up, and went to the king, who received her kindly,
 4910      and she said that she left it to the king to determine her marriage. "I
 4911      think," said the king, "that I must have power enough in this land to
 4912      raise any man I please to high dignity." Then the king ordered Olmod and
 4913      Erling to be called to a conference, and all their relations; and the
 4914      marriage was determined upon, and Astrid betrothed to Erling. Thereafter
 4915      the king held the Thing, and recommended Christianity to the bondes; and
 4916      as Olmod, and Erling, and all their relations, took upon themselves the
 4917      most active part in forwarding the king's desire, nobody dared to speak
 4918      against it; and all the people were baptized, and adopted Christianity.
 4919      64. ERLING SKJALGSON'S WEDDING.
 4920      Erling Skjalgson had his wedding in summer, and a great many people were
 4921      assembled at it. King Olaf was also there, and offered Erling an earldom.
 4922      Erling replied thus: "All my relations have been herses only, and I will
 4923      take no higher title than they have; but this I will accept from thee,
 4924      king, that thou makest me the greatest of that title in the country." The
 4925      king consented; and at his departure the king invested his brother-in law
 4926      Erling with all the land north of the Sognefjord, and east to the
 4927      Lidandisnes, on the same terms as Harald Harfager had given land to his
 4928      sons, as before related.
 4929      65. RAUMSDAL AND FJORD-DISTRICTS BAPTIZED.
 4930      The same harvest King Olaf summoned the bondes to a Thing of the four
 4931      districts at Dragseid, in Stad: and there the people from Sogn, the
 4932      Fjord-districts, South More, and Raumsdal, were summoned to meet. King
 4933      Olaf came there with a great many people who had followed him from the
 4934      eastward, and also with those who had joined him from Rogaland and
 4935      Hordaland. When the king came to the Thing, he proposed to them there, as
 4936      elsewhere, Christianity; and as the king had such a powerful host with
 4937      him, they were frightened. The king offered them two conditions, -either
 4938      to accept Christianity, or to fight. But the bondes saw they were in no
 4939      condition to fight the king, and resolved, therefore, that all the people
 4940      should agree to be baptized. The king proceeded afterwards to North More,
 4941      and baptized all that district. He then sailed to Hlader, in Throndhjem;
 4942      had the temple there razed to the ground; took all the ornaments and all
 4943      property out of the temple, and from the gods in it; and among other
 4944      things the great gold ring which Earl Hakon had ordered to be made, and
 4945      which hung in the door of the temple; and then had the temple burnt. But
 4946      when the bondes heard of this, they sent out a war-arrow as a token
 4947      through the whole district, ordering out a warlike force, and intended to
 4948      meet the king with it. In the meantime King Olaf sailed with a war force
 4949      out of the fjord along the coast northward, intending to proceed to
 4950      Halogaland, and baptize there. When he came north to Bjarnaurar, he heard
 4951      from Halogaland that a force was assembled there to defend the country
 4952      against the king. The chiefs of this force were Harek of Thjotta, Thorer
 4953      Hjort from Vagar, and Eyvind Kinrifa. Now when King Olaf heard this, he
 4954      turned about and sailed southwards along the land; and when he got south
 4955      of Stad proceeded at his leisure, and came early in winter (A.D. 998) all
 4956      the way east to Viken.
 4957      66. OLAF PROPOSES MARRIAGE TO QUEEN SIGRID.
 4958      Queen Sigrid in Svithjod, who had for surname the Haughty, sat in her
 4959      mansion, and during the same winter messengers went between King Olaf and
 4960      Sigrid to propose his courtship to her, and she had no objection; and the
 4961      matter was fully and fast resolved upon. Thereupon King Olaf sent to Queen
 4962      Sigrid the great gold ring he had taken from the temple door of Hlader,
 4963      which was considered a distinguished ornament. The meeting for concluding
 4964      the business was appointed to be in spring on the frontier, at the Gaut
 4965      river. Now the ring which King Olaf had sent Queen Sigrid was highly
 4966      prized by all men; yet the queen's gold-smiths, two brothers, who took the
 4967      ring in their hands, and weighed it, spoke quietly to each other about it,
 4968      and in a manner that made the queen call them to her, and ask "what they
 4969      smiled at?" But they would not say a word, and she commanded them to say
 4970      what it was they had discovered. Then they said the ring is false. Upon
 4971      this she ordered the ring to be broken into pieces, and it was found to be
 4972      copper inside. Then the queen was enraged, and said that Olaf would
 4973      deceive her in more ways than this one. In the same year (A.D. 998) King
 4974      Olaf went into Ringenke, and there the people also were baptized.
 4975      67. OLAF HARALDSON BAPTIZED.
 4976      Asta, the daughter of Gudbrand, soon after the fall of Harald Grenske
 4977      married again a man who was called Sigurd Syr, who was a king in
 4978      Ringerike. Sigurd was a son of Halfdan, and grandson of Sigurd Hrise, who
 4979      was a son of Harald Harfager. Olaf, the son of Asta and Harald Grenske,
 4980      lived with Asta, and was brought up from childhood in the house of his
 4981      stepfather, Sigurd Syr. Now when King Olaf Trygvason came to Ringerike to
 4982      spread Christianity, Sigurd Syr and his wife allowed themselves to be
 4983      baptized, along with Olaf her son; and Olaf Trygvason was godfather to
 4984      Olaf, the stepson of Harald Grenske. Olaf was then three years old. Olaf
 4985      returned from thence to Viken, where he remained all winter. He had now
 4986      been three years king in Norway (A.D. 998).
 4987      68. MEETING OF OLAF AND SIGRID.
 4988      Early in spring (A.D. 998) King Olaf went eastwards to Konungahella to the
 4989      meeting with Queen Sigrid; and when they met the business was considered
 4990      about which the winter before they had held communication, namely, their
 4991      marriage; and the business seemed likely to be concluded. But when Olaf
 4992      insisted that Sigrid should let herself be baptized, she answered thus: -"I
 4993      must not part from the faith which I have held, and my forefathers before
 4994      me; and, on the other hand, I shall make no objection to your believing in
 4995      the god that pleases you best." Then King Olaf was enraged, and answered
 4996      in a passion, "Why should I care to have thee, an old faded woman, and a
 4997      heathen jade?" and therewith struck her in the face with his glove which
 4998      he held in his hands, rose up, and they parted. Sigrid said, "This may
 4999      some day be thy death." The king set off to Viken, the queen to Svithjod.
 5000      69. THE BURNING OF WARLOCKS.
 5001      Then the king proceeded to Tunsberg, and held a Thing, at which he
 5002      declared in a speech that all the men of whom it should be known to a
 5003      certainty that they dealt with evil spirits, or in witchcraft, or were
 5004      sorcerers, should be banished forth of the land. Thereafter the king had
 5005      all the neighborhood ransacked after such people, and called them all
 5006      before him; and when they were brought to the Thing there was a man among
 5007      them called Eyvind Kelda, a grandson of Ragnvald Rettilbeine, Harald
 5008      Harfager's son. Eyvind was a sorcerer, and particularly knowing in
 5009      witchcraft. The king let all these men be seated in one room, which was
 5010      well adorned, and made a great feast for them, and gave them strong drink
 5011      in plenty. Now when they were all very drunk, he ordered the house be set
 5012      on fire, and it and all the people within it were consumed, all but Eyvind
 5013      Kelda, who contrived to escape by the smoke-hole in the roof. And when he
 5014      had got a long way off, he met some people on the road going to the king,
 5015      and he told them to tell the king that Eyvind Kelda had slipped away from
 5016      the fire, and would never come again in King Olaf's power, but would carry
 5017      on his arts of witchcraft as much as ever. When the people came to the
 5018      king with such a message from Eyvind, the king was ill pleased that Eyvind
 5019      had escaped death.
 5020      70. EYVIND KELDA'S DEATH.
 5021      When spring (A.D. 998) came King Olaf went out to Viken, and was on visits
 5022      to his great farms. He sent notice over all Viken that he would call out
 5023      an army in summer, and proceed to the north parts of the country. Then he
 5024      went north to Agder; and when Easter was approaching he took the road to
 5025      Rogaland with 300 (=360) men, and came on Easter evening north to
 5026      Ogvaldsnes, in Kormt Island, where an Easter feast was prepared for him.
 5027      That same night came Eyvind Kelda to the island with a well-manned
 5028      long-ship, of which the whole crew consisted of sorcerers and other
 5029      dealers with evil spirits. Eyvind went from his ship to the land with his
 5030      followers, and there they played many of their pranks of witchcraft.
 5031      Eyvind clothed them with caps of darkness, and so thick a mist that the
 5032      king and his men could see nothing of them; but when they came near to the
 5033      house at Ogvaldsnes, it became clear day. Then it went differently from
 5034      what Eyvind had intended: for now there came just such a darkness over him
 5035      and his comrades in witchcraft as they had made before, so that they could
 5036      see no more from their eyes than from the back of their heads but went
 5037      round and round in a circle upon the island. When the king's watchman saw
 5038      them going about, without knowing what people these were, they told the
 5039      king. Thereupon he rose up with his people, put on his clothes, and when
 5040      he saw Eyvind with his men wandering about he ordered his men to arm, and
 5041      examine what folk these were. The king's men discovered it was Eyvind,
 5042      took him and all his company prisoners, and brought them to the king.
 5043      Eyvind now told all he had done on his journey. Then the king ordered
 5044      these all to be taken out to a skerry which was under water in flood tide,
 5045      and there to be left bound. Eyvind and all with him left their lives on
 5046      this rock, and the skerry is still called Skrattasker.
 5047      71. OLAF AND ODIN'S APPARITION.
 5048      It is related that once on a time King Olaf was at a feast at this
 5049      Ogvaldsnes, and one eventide there came to him an old man very gifted in
 5050      words, and with a broad-brimmed hat upon his head. He was one-eyed, and
 5051      had something to tell of every land. He entered into conversation with the
 5052      king; and as the king found much pleasure in the guest's speech, he asked
 5053      him concerning many things, to which the guest gave good answers: and the
 5054      king sat up late in the evening. Among other things, the king asked him if
 5055      he knew who the Ogvald had been who had given his name both to the ness
 5056      and to the house. The guest replied, that this Ogvald was a king, and a
 5057      very valiant man, and that he made great sacrifices to a cow which he had
 5058      with him wherever he went, and considered it good for his health to drink
 5059      her milk. This same King Ogvald had a battle with a king called Varin, in
 5060      which battle Ogvald fell. He was buried under a mound close to the house;
 5061      "and there stands his stone over him, and close to it his cow also is
 5062      laid." Such and many other things, and ancient events, the king inquired
 5063      after. Now, when the king had sat late into the night, the bishop reminded
 5064      him that it was time to go to bed, and the king did so. But after the king
 5065      was undressed, and had laid himself in bed, the guest sat upon the
 5066      foot-stool before the bed, and still spoke long with the king; for after
 5067      one tale was ended, he still wanted a new one. Then the bishop observed to
 5068      the king, it was time to go to sleep, and the king did so; and the guest
 5069      went out. Soon after the king awoke, asked for the guest, and ordered him
 5070      to be called, but the guest was not to be found. The morning after, the
 5071      king ordered his cook and cellar-master to be called, and asked if any
 5072      strange person had been with them. They said, that as they were making
 5073      ready the meat a man came to them, and observed that they were cooking
 5074      very poor meat for the king's table; whereupon he gave them two thick and
 5075      fat pieces of beef, which they boiled with the rest of the meat. Then the
 5076      king ordered that all the meat should be thrown away, and said this man
 5077      can be no other than the Odin whom the heathens have so long worshipped;
 5078      and added, "but Odin shall not deceive us."
 5079      72. THE THING IN THRONDHJEM.
 5080      King Olaf collected a great army in the east of the country towards
 5081      summer, and sailed with it north to Nidaros in the Throndhjem country.
 5082      From thence he sent a message-token over all the fjord, calling the people
 5083      of eight different districts to a Thing; but the bondes changed the
 5084      Thing-token into a war-token; and called together all men, free and
 5085      unfree, in all the Throndhjem land. Now when the king met the Thing, the
 5086      whole people came fully armed. After the Thing was seated, the king spoke,
 5087      and invited them to adopt Christianity; but he had only spoken a short
 5088      time when the bondes called out to him to be silent, or they would attack
 5089      him and drive him away. "We did so," said they, "with Hakon foster-son of
 5090      Athelstan, when he brought us the same message, and we held him in quite
 5091      as much respect as we hold thee." When King Olaf saw how incensed the
 5092      bondes were, and that they had such a war force that he could make no
 5093      resistance, he turned his speech as if he would give way to the bondes,
 5094      and said, "I wish only to be in a good understanding with you as of old;
 5095      and I will come to where ye hold your greatest sacrifice-festival, and see
 5096      your customs, and thereafter we shall consider which to hold by." And in
 5097      this all agreed; and as the king spoke mildly and friendly with the
 5098      bondes, their answer was appeased, and their conference with the king went
 5099      off peacefully. At the close of it a midsummer sacrifice was fixed to take
 5100      place in Maeren, and all chiefs and great bondes to attend it as usual.
 5101      The king was to be at it.
 5102      73. JARNSKEGGE OR IRON BEARD.
 5103      There was a great bonde called Skegge, and sometimes Jarnskegge, or Iron
 5104      Beard, who dwelt in Uphaug in Yrjar. He spoke first at the Thing to Olaf;
 5105      and was the foremost man of the bondes in speaking against Christianity.
 5106      The Thing was concluded in this way for that time, -the bondes
 5107      returned home, and the king went to Hlader.
 5108      74. THE FEAST AT HLADER.
 5109      King Olaf lay with his ships in the river Nid, and had thirty vessels,
 5110      which were manned with many brave people; but the king himself was often
 5111      at Hlader, with his court attendants. As the time now was approaching at
 5112      which the sacrifices should be made at Maeren, the king prepared a great
 5113      feast at Hlader, and sent a message to the districts of Strind, Gaulardal,
 5114      and out to Orkadal, to invite the chiefs and other great bondes. When the
 5115      feast was ready, and the chiefs assembled, there was a handsome
 5116      entertainment the first evening, at which plenty of liquor went round, and
 5117      the guests were made very drunk. The night after they all slept in peace.
 5118      The following morning, when the king was dressed, he had the early mass
 5119      sung before him; and when the mass was over, ordered to sound the trumpets
 5120      for a House Thing: upon which all his men left the ships to come up to the
 5121      Thing. When the Thing was seated, the king stood up, and spoke thus: "We
 5122      held a Thing at Frosta, and there I invited the bondes to allow themselves
 5123      to be baptized; but they, on the other hand, invited me to offer sacrifice
 5124      to their gods, as King Hakon, Athelstan's foster-son, had done; and
 5125      thereafter it was agreed upon between us that we should meet at Maerin,
 5126      and there make a great sacrifice. Now if I, along with you, shall turn
 5127      again to making sacrifice, then will I make the greatest of sacrifices
 5128      that are in use; and I will sacrifice men. But I will not select slaves or
 5129      malefactors for this, but will take the greatest men only to be offered to
 5130      the gods; and for this I select Orm Lygra of Medalhus, Styrkar of Gimsar,
 5131      Kar of Gryting, Asbjorn Thorbergson of Varnes, Orm of Lyxa, Haldor of
 5132      Skerdingsstedja;" and besides these he named five others of the principal
 5133      men. All these, he said, he would offer in sacrifice to the gods for peace
 5134      and a fruitful season; and ordered them to be laid hold of immediately.
 5135      Now when the bondes saw that they were not strong enough to make head
 5136      against the king, they asked for peace, and submitted wholly to the king's
 5137      pleasure. So it was settled that all the bondes who had come there should
 5138      be baptized, and should take an oath to the king to hold by the right
 5139      faith, and to renounce sacrifice to the gods. The king then kept all these
 5140      men as hostages who came to his feast, until they sent him their sons,
 5141      brothers, or other near relations.
 5142      75. OF THE THING IN THRONDHJEM.
 5143      King Olaf went in with all his forces into the Throndhjem country; and
 5144      when he came to Maeren all among the chiefs of the Throndhjem people who
 5145      were most opposed to Christianity were assembled, and had with them all
 5146      the great bondes who had before made sacrifice at that place. There was
 5147      thus a greater multitude of bondes than there had been at the
 5148      Frosta-Thing. Now the king let the people be summoned to the Thing, where
 5149      both parties met armed; and when the Thing was seated the king made a
 5150      speech, in which he told the people to go over to Christianity. Jarnskegge
 5151      replies on the part of the bondes, and says that the will of the bondes is
 5152      now, as formerly, that the king should not break their laws. "We want,
 5153      king," said he, "that thou shouldst offer sacrifice, as other kings before
 5154      thee have done." All the bondes applauded his speech with a loud shout,
 5155      and said they would have all things according to what Skegge said. Then
 5156      the king said he would go into the temple of their gods with them, and see
 5157      what the practices were when they sacrificed. The bondes thought well of
 5158      this proceeding, and both parties went to the temple.
 5159      76. THE THRONDHJEM PEOPLE BAPTIZED.
 5160      Now King Olaf entered into the temple with some few of his men and a few
 5161      bondes; and when the king came to where their gods were, Thor, as the most
 5162      considered among their gods, sat there adorned with gold and silver. The
 5163      king lifted up his gold-inlaid axe which he carried in his hands, and
 5164      struck Thor so that the image rolled down from its seat. Then the king's
 5165      men turned to and threw down all the gods from their seats; and while the
 5166      king was in the temple, Jarnskegge was killed outside of the temple doors,
 5167      and the king's men did it. When the king came forth out of the temple he
 5168      offered the bondes two conditions, -that all should accept of
 5169      Christianity forthwith, or that they should fight with him. But as Skegge
 5170      was killed, there was no leader in the bondes' army to raise the banner
 5171      against King Olaf; so they took the other condition, to surrender to the
 5172      king's will and obey his order. Then King Olaf had all the people present
 5173      baptized, and took hostages from them for their remaining true to
 5174      Christianity; and he sent his men round to every district, and no man in
 5175      the Throndhjem country opposed Christianity, but all people took baptism.
 5176      77. A TOWN IN THE THRONDHJEM COUNTRY.
 5177      King Olaf with his people went out to Nidaros, and made houses on the flat
 5178      side of the river Nid, which he raised to be a merchant town, and gave
 5179      people ground to build houses upon. The king's house he had built just
 5180      opposite Skipakrok; and he transported thither, in harvest, all that was
 5181      necessary for his winter residence, and had many people about him there.
 5182      78. KING OLAF'S MARRIAGE.
 5183      King Olaf appointed a meeting with the relations of Jarnskegge, and
 5184      offered them the compensation or penalty for his bloodshed; for there were
 5185      many bold men who had an interest in that business. Jarnskegge had a
 5186      daughter called Gudrun; and at last it was agreed upon between the parties
 5187      that the king should take her in marriage. When the wedding day came King
 5188      Olaf and Gudrun went to bed together. As soon as Gudrun, the first night
 5189      they lay together, thought the king was asleep, she drew a knife, with
 5190      which she intended to run him through; but the king saw it, took the knife
 5191      from her, got out of bed, and went to his men, and told them what had
 5192      happened. Gudrun also took her clothes, and went away along with all her
 5193      men who had followed her thither. Gudrun never came into the king's bed
 5194      again.
 5195      79. BUILDING OF THE SHIP CRANE.
 5196      The same autumn (A.D. 998) King Olaf laid the keel of a great long-ship
 5197      out on the strand at the river Nid. It was a snekkja; and he employed many
 5198      carpenters upon her, so that early in winter the vessel was ready. It had
 5199      thirty benches for rowers, was high in stem and stern, but was not broad.
 5200      The king called this ship Tranen (the Crane). After Jarnskegge's death his
 5201      body was carried to Yrjar, and lies there in the Skegge mound on Austrat.
 5202      80. THANGBRAND THE PRIEST GOES TO ICELAND.
 5203      When King Olaf Trygvason had been two years king of Norway (A.D. 997),
 5204      there was a Saxon priest in his house who was called Thangbrand, a
 5205      passionate, ungovernable man, and a great man-slayer; but he was a good
 5206      scholar, and a clever man. The king would not have him in his house upon
 5207      account of his misdeeds; but gave him the errand to go to Iceland, and
 5208      bring that land to the Christian faith. The king gave him a merchant
 5209      vessel: and, as far as we know of this voyage of his, he landed first in
 5210      Iceland at Austfjord in the southern Alptfjord, and passed the winter in
 5211      the house of Hal of Sida. Thangbrand proclaimed Christianity in Iceland,
 5212      and on his persuasion Hal and all his house people, and many other chiefs,
 5213      allowed themselves to be baptized; but there were many more who spoke
 5214      against it. Thorvald Veile and Veterlide the skald composed a satire about
 5215      Thangbrand; but he killed them both outright. Thangbrand was two years in
 5216      Iceland, and was the death of three men before he left it.
 5217      81. OF SIGURD AND HAUK.
 5218      There was a man called Sigurd, and another called Hauk, both of
 5219      Halogaland, who often made merchant voyages. One summer (A.D. 998) they
 5220      had made a voyage westward to England; and when they came back to Norway
 5221      they sailed northwards along the coast, and at North More they met King
 5222      Olaf's people. When it was told the king that some Halogaland people were
 5223      come who were heathen, he ordered the steersmen to be brought to him, and
 5224      he asked them if they would consent to be baptized; to which they replied,
 5225      no. The king spoke with them in many ways, but to no purpose. He then
 5226      threatened them with death and torture: but they would not allow
 5227      themselves to be moved. He then had them laid in irons, and kept them in
 5228      chains in his house for some time, and often conversed with them, but in
 5229      vain. At last one night they disappeared, without any man being able to
 5230      conjecture how they got away. But about harvest they came north to Harek
 5231      of Thjotta, who received them kindly, and with whom they stopped all
 5232      winter (A.D. 999), and were hospitably entertained.
 5233      82. OF HAREK OF THJOTTA.
 5234      It happened one good-weather day in spring (A.D. 999) that Harek was at
 5235      home in his house with only few people, and time hung heavy on his hands.
 5236      Sigurd asked him if he would row a little for amusement. Harek was
 5237      willing; and they went to the shore, and drew down a six-oared skiff; and
 5238      Sigurd took the mast and rigging belonging to the boat out of the
 5239      boat-house, for they often used to sail when they went for amusement on
 5240      the water. Harek went out into the boat to hang the rudder. The brothers
 5241      Sigurd and Hauk, who were very strong men, were fully armed, as they were
 5242      used to go about at home among the peasants. Before they went out to the
 5243      boat they threw into her some butter-kits and a bread-chest, and carried
 5244      between them a great keg of ale. When they had rowed a short way from the
 5245      island the brothers hoisted the sail, while Harek was seated at the helm;
 5246      and they sailed away from the island. Then the two brothers went aft to
 5247      where Harek the bonde was sitting; and Sigurd says to him, "Now thou must
 5248      choose one of these conditions, -first, that we brothers direct this
 5249      voyage; or, if not, that we bind thee fast and take the command; or,
 5250      third, that we kill thee." Harek saw how matters stood with him. As a
 5251      single man, he was not better than one of those brothers, even if he had
 5252      been as well armed; so it appeared to him wisest to let them determine the
 5253      course to steer, and bound himself by oath to abide by this condition. On
 5254      this Sigurd took the helm, and steered south along the land, the brothers
 5255      taking particular care that they did not encounter people. The wind was
 5256      very favourable; and they held on sailing along until they came south to
 5257      Throndhjem and to Nidaros, where they found the king. Then the king called
 5258      Harek to him, and in a conference desired him to be baptized. Harek made
 5259      objections; and although the king and Harek talked over it many times,
 5260      sometimes in the presence of other people, and sometimes alone, they could
 5261      not agree upon it. At last the king says to Harek, "Now thou mayst return
 5262      home, and I will do thee no injury; partly because we are related
 5263      together, and partly that thou mayst not have it to say that I caught thee
 5264      by a trick: but know for certain that I intend to come north next summer
 5265      to visit you Halogalanders, and ye shall then see if I am not able to
 5266      punish those who reject Christianity." Harek was well pleased to get away
 5267      as fast as he could. King Olaf gave Harek a good boat of ten or twelve
 5268      pair of oars, and let it be fitted out with the best of everything
 5269      needful; and besides he gave Harek thirty men, all lads of mettle, and
 5270      well appointed.
 5271      83. EYVIND KINRIFA'S DEATH.
 5272      Harek of Thjotta went away from the town as fast as he could; but Hauk and
 5273      Sigurd remained in the king's house, and both took baptism. Harek pursued
 5274      his voyage until he came to Thjotta. He sent immediately a message to his
 5275      friend Eyvind Kinrifa, with the word that he had been with King Olaf; but
 5276      would not let himself be cowed down to accept Christianity. The message at
 5277      the same time informed him that King Olaf intended coming to the north in
 5278      summer against them, and they must be at their posts to defend themselves;
 5279      it also begged Eyvind to come and visit him, the sooner the better. When
 5280      this message was delivered to Eyvind, he saw how very necessary it was to
 5281      devise some counsel to avoid falling into the king's hands. He set out,
 5282      therefore, in a light vessel with a few hands as fast as he could. When he
 5283      came to Thjotta he was received by Harek in the most friendly way, and
 5284      they immediately entered into conversation with each other behind the
 5285      house. When they had spoken together but a short time, King Olaf's men,
 5286      who had secretly followed Harek to the north, came up, and took Eyvind
 5287      prisoner, and carried him away to their ship. They did not halt on their
 5288      voyage until they came to Throndhjem, and presented themselves to King
 5289      Olaf at Nidaros. Then Eyvind was brought up to a conference with the king,
 5290      who asked him to allow himself to be baptized, like other people; but
 5291      Eyvind decidedly answered he would not. The king still, with persuasive
 5292      words, urged him to accept Christianity, and both he and the bishop used
 5293      many suitable arguments; but Eyvind would not allow himself to be moved.
 5294      The king offered him gifts and great fiefs, but Eyvind refused all. Then
 5295      the king threatened him with tortures and death, but Eyvind was steadfast.
 5296      Then the king ordered a pan of glowing coals to be placed upon Eyvind's
 5297      belly, which burst asunder. Eyvind cried, "Take away the pan, and I will
 5298      say something before I die," which also was done. The king said, "Wilt
 5299      thou now, Eyvind, believe in Christ?" "No," said Eyvind, "I can take no
 5300      baptism; for I am an evil spirit put into a man's body by the sorcery of
 5301      Fins because in no other way could my father and mother have a child."
 5302      With that died Eyvind, who had been one of the greatest sorcerers.
 5303      84. HALOGALAND MADE CHRISTIAN.
 5304      The spring after (A.D. 999) King Olaf fitted out and manned his ships, and
 5305      commanded himself his ship the Crane. He had many and smart people with
 5306      him; and when he was ready, he sailed northwards with his fleet past
 5307      Bryda, and to Halogaland. Wheresoever he came to the land, or to the
 5308      islands, he held a Thing, and told the people to accept the right faith,
 5309      and to be baptized. No man dared to say anything against it, and the whole
 5310      country he passed through was made Christian. King Olaf was a guest in the
 5311      house of Harek of Thjotta, who was baptized with all his people. At
 5312      parting the king gave Harek good presents; and he entered into the king's
 5313      service, and got fiefs, and the privileges of lendsman from the king.
 5314      85. THORER HJORT'S DEATH.
 5315      There was a bonde, by name Raud the Strong, who dwelt in Godey in Salten
 5316      fjord. Raud was a very rich man, who had many house servants; and likewise
 5317      was a powerful man, who had many Fins in his service when he wanted them.
 5318      Raud was a great idolater, and very skillful in witchcraft, and was a
 5319      great friend of Thorer Hjort, before spoken of. Both were great chiefs.
 5320      Now when they heard that King Olaf was coming with a great force from the
 5321      south to Halogaland, they gathered together an army, ordered out ships,
 5322      and they too had a great force on foot. Raud had a large ship with a
 5323      gilded head formed like a dragon, which ship had thirty rowing benches,
 5324      and even for that kind of ship was very large. Thorer Hjort had also a
 5325      large ship. These men sailed southwards with their ships against King
 5326      Olaf, and as soon as they met gave battle. A great battle there was, and a
 5327      great fall of men; but principally on the side of the Halogalanders, whose
 5328      ships were cleared of men, so that a great terror came upon them. Raud
 5329      rode with his dragon out to sea, and set sail. Raud had always a fair wind
 5330      wheresoever he wished to sail, which came from his arts of witchcraft;
 5331      and, to make a short story, he came home to Godey. Thorer Hjort fled from
 5332      the ships up to the land: but King Olaf landed people, followed those who
 5333      fled, and killed them. Usually the king was the foremost in such
 5334      skirmishes, and was so now. When the king saw where Thorer Hjort, who was
 5335      quicker on foot than any man, was running to, he ran after him with his
 5336      dog Vige. The king said, "Vige! Vige! Catch the deer." Vige ran straight
 5337      in upon him; on which Thorer halted, and the king threw a spear at him.
 5338      Thorer struck with his sword at the dog, and gave him a great wound; but
 5339      at the same moment the king's spear flew under Thorer's arm, and went
 5340      through and through him, and came out at his other-side. There Thorer left
 5341      his life; but Vige was carried to the ships.
 5342      86. KING OLAF'S VOYAGE TO GODEY.
 5343      King Olaf gave life and freedom to all the men who asked it and agreed to
 5344      become Christian. King Olaf sailed with his fleet northwards along the
 5345      coast, and baptized all the people among whom he came; and when he came
 5346      north to Salten fjord, he intended to sail into it to look for Raud, but a
 5347      dreadful tempest and storm was raging in the fjord. They lay there a whole
 5348      week, in which the same weather was raging within the fjord, while without
 5349      there was a fine brisk wind only, fair for proceeding north along the
 5350      land. Then the king continued his voyage north to Omd, where all the
 5351      people submitted to Christianity. Then the king turned about and sailed to
 5352      the south again; but when he came to the north side of Salten fjord, the
 5353      same tempest was blowing, and the sea ran high out from the fjord, and the
 5354      same kind of storm prevailed for several days while the king was lying
 5355      there. Then the king applied to Bishop Sigurd, and asked him if he knew
 5356      any counsel about it; and the bishop said he would try if God would give
 5357      him power to conquer these arts of the Devil.
 5358      87. OF RAUD'S BEING TORTURED.
 5359      Bishop Sigurd took all his mass robes and went forward to the bow of the
 5360      king's ship; ordered tapers to be lighted, and incense to be brought out.
 5361      Then he set the crucifix upon the stem of the vessel, read the Evangelist
 5362      and many prayers, besprinkled the whole ship with holy water, and then
 5363      ordered the ship-tent to be stowed away, and to row into the fjord. The
 5364      king ordered all the other ships to follow him. Now when all was ready on
 5365      board the Crane to row, she went into the fjord without the rowers finding
 5366      any wind; and the sea was curled about their keel track like as in a calm,
 5367      so quiet and still was the water; yet on each side of them the waves were
 5368      lashing up so high that they hid the sight of the mountains. And so the
 5369      one ship followed the other in the smooth sea track; and they proceeded
 5370      this way the whole day and night, until they reached Godey. Now when they
 5371      came to Raud's house his great ship, the dragon, was afloat close to the
 5372      land. King Olaf went up to the house immediately with his people; made an
 5373      attack on the loft in which Raud was sleeping, and broke it open. The men
 5374      rushed in: Raud was taken and bound, and of the people with him some were
 5375      killed and some made prisoners. Then the king's men went to a lodging in
 5376      which Raud's house servants slept, and killed some, bound others, and beat
 5377      others. Then the king ordered Raud to be brought before him, and offered
 5378      him baptism. "And," says the king, "I will not take thy property from
 5379      thee, but rather be thy friend, if thou wilt make thyself worthy to be
 5380      so." Raud exclaimed with all his might against the proposal, saying he
 5381      would never believe in Christ, and making his scoff of God. Then the king
 5382      was wroth, and said Raud should die the worst of deaths. And the king
 5383      ordered him to be bound to a beam of wood, with his face uppermost, and a
 5384      round pin of wood set between his teeth to force his mouth open. Then the
 5385      king ordered an adder to be stuck into the mouth of him; but the serpent
 5386      would not go into his mouth, but shrunk back when Raud breathed against
 5387      it. Now the king ordered a hollow branch of an angelica root to be stuck
 5388      into Raud's mouth; others say the king put his horn into his mouth, and
 5389      forced the serpent to go in by holding a red-hot iron before the opening.
 5390      So the serpent crept into the mouth of Raud and down his throat, and
 5391      gnawed its way out of his side; and thus Raud perished. King Olaf took
 5392      here much gold and silver, and other property of weapons, and many sorts
 5393      of precious effects; and all the men who were with Raud he either had
 5394      baptized, or if they refused had them killed or tortured. Then the king
 5395      took the dragonship which Raud had owned, and steered it himself; for it
 5396      was a much larger and handsomer vessel than the Crane. In front it had a
 5397      dragon's head, and aft a crook, which turned up, and ended with the figure
 5398      of the dragon's tail. The carved work on each side of the stem and stern
 5399      was gilded. This ship the king called the Serpent. When the sails were
 5400      hoisted they represented, as it were, the dragon's wings; and the ship was
 5401      the handsomest in all Norway. The islands on which Raud dwelt were called
 5402      Gylling and Haering; but the whole islands together were called Godey
 5403      Isles, and the current between the isles and the mainland the Godey
 5404      Stream. King Olaf baptized the whole people of the fjord, and then sailed
 5405      southwards along the land; and on this voyage happened much and various
 5406      things, which are set down in tales and sagas, -namely, how witches
 5407      and evil spirits tormented his men, and sometimes himself; but we will
 5408      rather write about what occurred when King Olaf made Norway Christian, or
 5409      in the other countries in which he advanced Christianity. The same autumn
 5410      Olaf with his fleet returned to Throndhjem, and landed at Nidaros, where
 5411      he took up his winter abode. What I am now going to write about concerns
 5412      the Icelanders.
 5413      88. OF THE ICELANDERS.
 5414      Kjartan Olafson, a son's son of Hoskuld, and a daughter's son of Egil
 5415      Skallagrimson, came the same autumn (A.D. 999) from Iceland to Nidaros,
 5416      and he was considered to be the most agreeable and hopeful man of any born
 5417      in Iceland. There was also Haldor, a son of Gudmund of Modruveller; and
 5418      Kolbein, a son of Thord, Frey's gode, and a brother's son of Brennuflose;
 5419      together with Sverting, a son of the gode Runolf. All these were heathens;
 5420      and besides them there were many more, -some men of power, others
 5421      common men of no property. There came also from Iceland considerable
 5422      people, who, by Thangbrand's help, had been made Christians; namely,
 5423      Gissur the white, a son of Teit Ketilbjornson; and his mother was Alof,
 5424      daughter of herse Bodvar, who was the son of Vikingakare. Bodvar's brother
 5425      was Sigurd, father of Eirik Bjodaskalle, whose daughter Astrid was King
 5426      Olaf's mother. Hjalte Skeggjason was the name of another Iceland man, who
 5427      was married to Vilborg, Gissur the White's daughter. Hjalte was also a
 5428      Christian; and King Olaf was very friendly to his relations Gissur and
 5429      Hjalte, who live with him. But the Iceland men who directed the ships, and
 5430      were heathens, tried to sail away as soon as the king came to the town of
 5431      Nidaros, for they were told the king forced all men to become Christians;
 5432      but the wind came stiff against them, and drove them back to Nidarholm.
 5433      They who directed the ships were Thorarin Nefjulson, the skald Halfred
 5434      Ottarson, Brand the Generous, and Thorleik, Brand's son. It was told the
 5435      king that there were Icelanders with ships there, and all were heathen,
 5436      and wanted to fly from a meeting with the king. Then the king sent them a
 5437      message forbidding them to sail, and ordering them to bring their ships up
 5438      to the town, which they did, but without discharging the cargoes.
 5439      (They carried on their dealings and held a market at the king's pier. In
 5440      spring they tried three times to slip away, but never succeeded; so they
 5441      continued lying at the king's pier. It happened one fine day that many set
 5442      out to swim for amusement, and among them was a man who distinguished
 5443      himself above the others in all bodily exercises. Kjartan challenged
 5444      Halfred Vandredaskald to try himself in swimming against this man, but he
 5445      declined it. "Then will I make a trial," said Kjartan, casting off his
 5446      clothes, and springing into the water. Then he set after the man, seizes
 5447      hold of his foot, and dives with him under water. They come up again, and
 5448      without speaking a word dive again, and are much longer under water than
 5449      the first time. They come up again, and without saying a word dive a third
 5450      time, until Kjartan thought it was time to come up again, which, however,
 5451      he could in no way accomplish, which showed sufficiently the difference in
 5452      their strength. They were under water so long that Kjartan was almost
 5453      drowned. They then came up, and swam to land. This Northman asked what the
 5454      Icelander's name was. Kjartan tells his name.
 5455      He says, "Thou art a good swimmer; but art thou expert also in other
 5456      exercises?"
 5457      Kjartan replied, that such expertness was of no great value.
 5458      The Northman asks, "Why dost thou not inquire of me such things as I have
 5459      asked thee about?"
 5460      Kjartan replies, "It is all one to me who thou art, or what thy name is."
 5461      "Then will I," says he, "tell thee: I am Olaf Trygvason."
 5462      He asked Kjartan much about Iceland, which he answered generally, and
 5463      wanted to withdraw as hastily as he could; but the king said, "Here is a
 5464      cloak which I will give thee, Kjartan." And Kjartan took the cloak with
 5465      many thanks.) (1)
 5466   ENDNOTES: (1) The part included in parenthesis is not found in the
 5467     original text of "Heimskringla", but taken from "Codex
 5468     Frisianus".
 5469      89. BAPTISM OF THE ICELANDERS.
 5470      When Michaelmas came, the king had high mass sung with great splendour.
 5471      The Icelanders went there, listening to the fine singing and the sound of
 5472      the bells; and when they came back to their ships every man told his
 5473      opinion of the Christian man's worship. Kjartan expressed his pleasure at
 5474      it, but most of the others scoffed at it; and it went according to the
 5475      proverb, "the king had many ears," for this was told to the king. He sent
 5476      immediately that very day a message to Kjartan to come to him. Kjartan
 5477      went with some men, and the king received him kindly. Kjartan was a very
 5478      stout and handsome man, and of ready and agreeable speech. After the king
 5479      and Kjartan had conversed a little, the king asked him to adopt
 5480      Christianity. Kjartan replies, that he would not say no to that, if he
 5481      thereby obtained the king's friendship; and as the king promised him the
 5482      fullest friendship, they were soon agreed. The next day Kjartan was
 5483      baptized, together with his relation Bolle Thorlakson, and all their
 5484      fellow-travelers. Kjartan and Bolle were the king's guests as long as they
 5485      were in their white baptismal clothes, and the king had much kindness for
 5486      them. Wherever they came they were looked upon as people of distinction.
 5487      90. HALFRED VANDREDASKALD BAPTIZED.
 5488      As King Olaf one day was walking in the street some men met him, and he
 5489      who went the foremost saluted the king. The king asked the man his name,
 5490      and he called himself Halfred.
 5491      "Art thou the skald?" said the king.
 5492      "I can compose poetry," replied he.
 5493      "Wilt thou then adopt Christianity, and come into my service?" asked the
 5494      king.
 5495      "If I am baptized," replies he, "it must be on one condition, -that
 5496      thou thyself art my godfather; for no other will I have."
 5497      The king replies, "That I will do." And Halfred was baptized, the king
 5498      holding him during the baptism.
 5499      Afterwards the king said, "Wilt thou enter into my service?"
 5500      Halfred replied, "I was formerly in Earl Hakon's court; but now I will
 5501      neither enter into thine nor into any other service, unless thou promise
 5502      me it shall never be my lot to be driven away from thee."
 5503      "It has been reported to me," said the king, "that thou are neither so
 5504      prudent nor so obedient as to fulfil my commands."
 5505      "In that case," replied Halfred, "put me to death."
 5506      "Thou art a skald who composes difficulties," says the king; "but into my
 5507      service, Halfred, thou shalt be received."
 5508      Halfred says, "if I am to be named the composer of difficulties, what cost
 5509      thou give me, king, on my name-day?"
 5510      The king gave him a sword without a scabbard, and said, "Now compose me a
 5511      song upon this sword, and let the word sword be in every line of the
 5512      strophe." Halfred sang thus:
 5513     "This sword of swords is my reward.
 5514     For him who knows to wield a sword,
 5515     And with his sword to serve his lord,
 5516     Yet wants a sword, his lot is hard.
 5517     I would I had my good lord's leave
 5518     For this good sword a sheath to choose:
 5519     I'm worth three swords when men use,
 5520     But for the sword-sheath now I grieve."
 5521      Then the king gave him the scabbard, observing that the word sword was
 5522      wanting in one line of his strophe. "But there instead are three swords in
 5523      one of the lines," says Halfred. "That is true," replies the king. -Out
 5524      of Halfred's lays we have taken the most of the true and faithful accounts
 5525      that are here related about Olaf Trygvason.
 5526      91. THANGBRAND RETURNS FROM ICELAND.
 5527      The same harvest (A.D. 999) Thangbrand the priest came back from Iceland
 5528      to King Olaf, and told the ill success of his journey; namely, that the
 5529      Icelanders had made lampoons about him; and that some even sought to kill
 5530      him, and there was little hope of that country ever being made Christian.
 5531      King Olaf was so enraged at this, that he ordered all the Icelanders to be
 5532      assembled by sound of horn, and was going to kill all who were in the
 5533      town, but Kjartan, Gissur, and Hjalte, with the other Icelanders who had
 5534      become Christians, went to him, and said, "King, thou must not fail from
 5535      thy word -that however much any man may irritate thee, thou wilt
 5536      forgive him if he turn from heathenism and become Christian. All the
 5537      Icelanders here are willing to be baptized; and through them we may find
 5538      means to bring Christianity into Iceland: for there are many amongst them,
 5539      sons of considerable people in Iceland, whose friends can advance the
 5540      cause; but the priest Thangbrand proceeded there as he did here in the
 5541      court, with violence and manslaughter, and such conduct the people there
 5542      would not submit to." The king harkened to those remonstrances; and all
 5543      the Iceland men who were there were baptized.
 5544      92. OF KING OLAF'S FEATS.
 5545      King Olaf was more expert in all exercises than any man in Norway whose
 5546      memory is preserved to us in sagas; and he was stronger and more agile
 5547      than most men, and many stories are written down about it. One is that he
 5548      ascended the Smalsarhorn, and fixed his shield upon the very peak. Another
 5549      is, that one of his followers had climbed up the peak after him, until he
 5550      came to where he could neither get up nor down; but the king came to his
 5551      help, climbed up to him, took him under his arm, and bore him to the flat
 5552      ground. King Olaf could run across the oars outside of the vessel while
 5553      his men were rowing the Serpent. He could play with three daggers, so that
 5554      one was always in the air, and he took the one falling by the handle. He
 5555      could walk all round upon the ship's rails, could strike and cut equally
 5556      well with both hands, and could cast two spears at once. King Olaf was a
 5557      very merry frolicsome man; gay and social; was very violent in all
 5558      respects; was very generous; was very finical in his dress, but in battle
 5559      he exceeded all in bravery. He was distinguished for cruelty when he was
 5560      enraged, and tortured many of his enemies. Some he burnt in fire; some he
 5561      had torn in pieces by mad dogs; some he had mutilated, or cast down from
 5562      high precipices. On this account his friends were attached to him warmly,
 5563      and his enemies feared him greatly; and thus he made such a fortunate
 5564      advance in his undertakings, for some obeyed his will out of the
 5565      friendliest zeal, and others out of dread.
 5566      93. BAPTISM OF LEIF EIRIKSON.
 5567      Leif, a son of Eirik the Red, who first settled in Greenland, came this
 5568      summer (A.D. 999) from Greenland to Norway; and as he met King Olaf he
 5569      adopted Christianity, and passed the winter (A.D. 1000) with the king.
 5570      94. FALL OF KING GUDROD.
 5571      Gudrod, a son of Eirik Bloodaxe and Gunhild, had been ravaging in the west
 5572      countries ever since he fled from Norway before the Earl Hakon. But the
 5573      summer before mentioned (A.D. 999), where King Olaf Trygvason had ruled
 5574      four years over Norway, Gudrod came to the country, and had many ships of
 5575      war with him. He had sailed from England; and when he thought himself near
 5576      to the Norway coast, he steered south along the land, to the quarter where
 5577      it was least likely King Olaf would be. Gudrod sailed in this way south to
 5578      Viken; and as soon as he came to the land he began to plunder, to subject
 5579      the people to him, and to demand that they should accept of him as king.
 5580      Now as the country people saw that a great army was come upon them, they
 5581      desired peace and terms. They offered King Gudrod to send a Thing-message
 5582      over all the country, and to accept of him at the Thing as king, rather
 5583      than suffer from his army; but they desired delay until a fixed day, while
 5584      the token of the Thing's assembling was going round through the land. The
 5585      king demanded maintenance during the time this delay lasted. The bondes
 5586      preferred entertaining the king as a guest, by turns, as long as he
 5587      required it; and the king accepted of the proposal to go about with some
 5588      of his men as a guest from place to place in the land, while others of his
 5589      men remained to guard the ships. When King Olaf's relations, Hyrning and
 5590      Thorgeir, heard of this, they gathered men, fitted out ships, and went
 5591      northwards to Viken. They came in the night with their men to a place at
 5592      which King Gudrod was living as a guest, and attacked him with fire and
 5593      weapons; and there King Gudrod fell, and most of his followers. Of those
 5594      who were with his ships some were killed, some slipped away and fled to
 5595      great distances; and now were all the sons of Eirik and Gunhild dead.
 5596      95. BUILDING OF THE SHIP LONG SERPENT.
 5597      The winter after, King Olaf came from Halogaland (A.D. 1000), he had a
 5598      great vessel built at Hladhamrar, which was larger than any ship in the
 5599      country, and of which the beam-knees are still to be seen. The length of
 5600      keel that rested upon the grass was seventy-four ells. Thorberg Skafhog
 5601      was the man's name who was the master-builder of the ship; but there were
 5602      many others besides, -some to fell wood, some to shape it, some to
 5603      make nails, some to carry timber; and all that was used was of the best.
 5604      The ship was both long and broad and high-sided, and strongly timbered.
 5605      While they were planking the ship, it happened that Thorberg had to go
 5606      home to his farm upon some urgent business; and as he remained there a
 5607      long time, the ship was planked up on both sides when he came back. In the
 5608      evening the king went out, and Thorberg with him, to see how the vessel
 5609      looked, and everybody said that never was seen so large and so beautiful a
 5610      ship of war. Then the king returned to the town. Early next morning the
 5611      king returns again to the ship, and Thorberg with him. The carpenters were
 5612      there before them, but all were standing idle with their arms across. The
 5613      king asked, "what was the matter?" They said the ship was destroyed; for
 5614      somebody had gone from, stem to stern, and cut one deep notch after the
 5615      other down the one side of the planking. When the king came nearer he saw
 5616      it was so, and said, with an oath, "The man shall die who has thus
 5617      destroyed the vessel out of envy, if he can be discovered, and I shall
 5618      bestow a great reward on whoever finds him out."
 5619      "I can tell you, king," said Thorberg, "who has done this piece of work." -
 5620      "I don't think," replies the king, "that any one is so likely to find it
 5621      out as thou art."
 5622      Thorberg says, "I will tell you, king, who did it. I did it myself."
 5623      The king says, "Thou must restore it all to the same condition as before,
 5624      or thy life shall pay for it."
 5625      Then Thorberg went and chipped the planks until the deep notches were all
 5626      smoothed and made even with the rest; and the king and all present
 5627      declared that the ship was much handsomer on the side of the hull which
 5628      Thorberg, had chipped, and bade him shape the other side in the same way;
 5629      and gave him great thanks for the improvement. Afterwards Thorberg was the
 5630      master builder of the ship until she was entirely finished. The ship was a
 5631      dragon, built after the one the king had captured in Halogaland; but this
 5632      ship was far larger, and more carefully put together in all her parts. The
 5633      king called this ship Serpent the Long, and the other Serpent the Short.
 5634      The long Serpent had thirty-four benches for rowers. The head and the
 5635      arched tail were both gilt, and the bulwarks were as high as in sea-going
 5636      ships. This ship was the best and most costly ship ever made in Norway.
 5637      96. EARL EIRIK, THE SON OF HAKON.
 5638      Earl Eirik, the son of Earl Hakon, and his brothers, with many other
 5639      valiant men their relations, had left the country after Earl Hakon's fall.
 5640      Earl Eirik went eastwards to Svithjod, to Olaf, the Swedish king, and he
 5641      and his people were well received. King Olaf gave the earl peace and
 5642      freedom in the land, and great fiefs; so that he could support himself and
 5643      his men well. Thord Kolbeinson speaks of this in the verses before given.
 5644      Many people who fled from the country on account of King Olaf Trygvason
 5645      came out of Norway to Earl Eirik; and the earl resolved to fit out ships
 5646      and go a-cruising, in order to get property for himself and his people.
 5647      First he steered to Gotland, and lay there long in summer watching for
 5648      merchant vessels sailing towards the land, or for vikings. Sometimes he
 5649      landed and ravaged all round upon the sea-coasts. So it is told in the
 5650      "Banda-drapa": -
 5651     "Eirik, as we have lately heard,
 5652     Has waked the song of shield and sword -
 5653     Has waked the slumbering storm of shields
 5654     Upon the vikings' water-fields:
 5655     From Gotland's lonely shore has gone
 5656     Far up the land, and battles won:
 5657     And o'er the sea his name is spread,
 5658     To friends a shield, to foes a dread."
 5659      Afterwards Earl Eirik sailed south to Vindland, and at Stauren found some
 5660      viking ships, and gave them battle. Eirik gained the victory, and slew the
 5661      vikings. So it is told in the "Banda-drapa": -
 5662     "Earl Eirik, he who stoutly wields
 5663     The battle-axe in storm of shields,
 5664     With his long ships surprised the foe
 5665     At Stauren, and their strength laid low
 5666     Many a corpse floats round the shore;
 5667     The strand with dead is studded o'er:
 5668     The raven tears their sea-bleached skins -
 5669     The land thrives well when Eirik wins."
 5670      97. EIRIK'S FORAY ON THE BALTIC COASTS.
 5671      Earl Eirik sailed back to Sweden in autumn, and staid there all winter
 5672      (A.D. 997); but in the spring fitted out his war force again, and sailed
 5673      up the Baltic. When he came to Valdemar's dominions he began to plunder
 5674      and kill the inhabitants, and burn the dwellings everywhere as he came
 5675      along, and to lay waste the country. He came to Aldeigiuburg, and besieged
 5676      it until he took the castle; and he killed many people, broke down and
 5677      burned the castle, and then carried destruction all around far and wide in
 5678      Gardarike. So it is told in the "Banda-drapa": -
 5679     "The generous earl, brave and bold,
 5680     Who scatters his bright shining gold,
 5681     Eirik with fire-scattering hand,
 5682     Wasted the Russian monarch's land, -
 5683     With arrow-shower, and storm of war,
 5684     Wasted the land of Valdemar.
 5685     Aldeiga burns, and Eirik's might
 5686     Scours through all Russia by its light."
 5687      Earl Eirik was five years in all on this foray; and when he returned from
 5688      Gardarike he ravaged all Adalsysla and Eysysla, and took there four viking
 5689      ships from the Danes and killed every man on board. So it is told in the
 5690      "Banda-drapa": -
 5691     "Among the isles flies round the word,
 5692     That Eirik's blood-devouring sword
 5693     Has flashed like fire in the sound,
 5694     And wasted all the land around.
 5695     And Eirik too, the bold in fight,
 5696     Has broken down the robber-might
 5697     Of four great vikings, and has slain
 5698     All of the crew -nor spared one Dane.
 5699     In Gautland he has seized the town,
 5700     In Syssels harried up and down;
 5701     And all the people in dismay
 5702     Fled to the forests far away.
 5703     By land or sea, in field or wave,
 5704     What can withstand this earl brave?
 5705     All fly before his fiery hand -
 5706     God save the earl, and keep the land."
 5707      When Eirik had been a year in Sweden he went over to Denmark (A.D. 996) to
 5708      King Svein Tjuguskeg, the Danish king, and courted his daughter Gyda. The
 5709      proposal was accepted, and Earl Eirik married Gyda; and a year after (A.D.
 5710      997) they had a son, who was called Hakon. Earl Eirik was in the winter in
 5711      Denmark, or sometimes in Sweden; but in summer he went a-cruising.
 5712      98. KING SVEIN'S MARRIAGE.
 5713      The Danish king, Svein Tjuguskeg, was married to Gunhild, a daughter of
 5714      Burizleif, king of the Vinds. But in the times we have just been speaking
 5715      of it happened that Queen Gunhild fell sick and died. Soon after King
 5716      Svein married Sigrid the Haughty, a daughter of Skoglartoste, and mother
 5717      of the Swedish king Olaf; and by means of this relationship there was
 5718      great friendship between the kings and Earl Eirik, Hakon's son.
 5719      99. KING BURIZLEIF'S MARRIAGE.
 5720      Burizleif, the king of the Vinds, complained to his relation Earl
 5721      Sigvalde, that the agreement was broken which Sigvalde had made between
 5722      King Svein and King Burizleif, by which Burizleif was to get in marriage
 5723      Thyre, Harald's daughter, a sister of King Svein: but that marriage had
 5724      not proceeded, for Thyre had given positive no to the proposal to marry
 5725      her to an old and heathen king. "Now," said King Burizleif to Earl
 5726      Sigvalde, "I must have the promise fulfilled." And he told Earl Sigvalde
 5727      to go to Denmark, and bring him Thyre as his queen. Earl Sigvalde loses no
 5728      time, but goes to King Svein of Denmark, explains to him the case; and
 5729      brings it so far by his persuasion, that the king delivered his sister
 5730      Thyre into his hands. With her went some female attendants, and her
 5731      foster-father, by name Ozur Agason, a man of great power, and some other
 5732      people. In the agreement between the king and the earl, it was settled
 5733      that Thyre should have in property the possessions which Queen Gunhild had
 5734      enjoyed in Vindland, besides other great properties as bride-gifts. Thyre
 5735      wept sorely, and went very unwillingly. When the earl came to Vindland,
 5736      Burizleif held his wedding with Queen Thyre, and received her in marriage;
 5737      bus as long as she was among heathens she would neither eat nor drink with
 5738      them, and this lasted for seven days.
 5739      100. OLAF GETS THYRE IN MARRIAGE.
 5740      It happened one night that Queen Thyre and Ozur ran away in the dark, and
 5741      into the woods, and, to be short in our story, came at last to Denmark.
 5742      But here Thyre did not dare to remain, knowing that if her brother King
 5743      Svein heard of her, he would send her back directly to Vindland. She went
 5744      on, therefore, secretly to Norway, and never stayed her journey until she
 5745      fell in with King Olaf, by whom she was kindly received. Thyre related to
 5746      the king her sorrows, and entreated his advice in her need, and protection
 5747      in his kingdom. Thyre was a well-spoken woman, and the king had pleasure
 5748      in her conversation. He saw she was a handsome woman, and it came into his
 5749      mind that she would be a good match; so he turns the conversation that
 5750      way, and asks if she will marry him. Now, as she saw that her situation
 5751      was such that she could not help herself, and considered what a luck it
 5752      was for her to marry so celebrated a man, she bade him to dispose himself
 5753      of her hand and fate; and, after nearer conversation, King Olaf took Thyre
 5754      in marriage. This wedding was held in harvest after the king returned from
 5755      Halogaland (A.D. 999), and King Olaf and Queen Thyre remained all winter
 5756      (A.D. 1000) at Nidaros.
 5757      The following spring Queen Thyre complained often to King Olaf, and wept
 5758      bitterly over it, that she who had so great property in Vindland had no
 5759      goods or possessions here in the country that were suitable for a queen;
 5760      and sometimes she would entreat the king with fine words to get her
 5761      property restored to her, and saying that King Burizleif was so great a
 5762      friend of King Olaf that he would not deny King Olaf anything if they were
 5763      to meet. But when King Olaf's friends heard of such speeches, they
 5764      dissuaded him from any such expedition. It is related at the king one day
 5765      early in spring was walking in the street, and met a man in the market
 5766      with many, and, for that early season, remarkably large angelica roots.
 5767      The king took a great stalk of the angelica in his hand, and went home to
 5768      Queen Thyre's lodging. Thyre sat in her room weeping as the king came in.
 5769      The king said, "Set here, queen, is a great angelica stalk, which I give
 5770      thee." She threw it away, and said, "A greater present Harald Gormson gave
 5771      to my mother; and he was not afraid to go out of the land and take his
 5772      own. That was shown when he came here to Norway, and laid waste the
 5773      greater part of the land, and seized on all the scat and revenues; and
 5774      thou darest not go across the Danish dominions for this brother of mine,
 5775      King Svein." As she spoke thus, King Olaf sprang up, and answered with
 5776      loud oath, "Never did I fear thy brother King Svein; and if we meet he
 5777      shall give way before me!"
 5778      101. OLAF'S LEVY FOR WAR.
 5779      Soon after the king convoked a Thing in the town, and proclaimed to all
 5780      the public, that in summer would go abroad upon an expedition out of the
 5781      country, and would raise both ships and men from every district; and at
 5782      the same time fixed how many ships would have from the whole Throndhjem
 5783      fjord. Then he sent his message-token south and north, both along the
 5784      sea-coast and up in the interior of the country, to let an army be
 5785      gathered. The king ordered the Long Serpent to be put into the water,
 5786      along with all his other ships both small and great. He himself steered
 5787      the Long Serpent. When the crews were taken out for the ships, they were
 5788      so carefully selected that no man on board the Long Serpent was older than
 5789      sixty or younger than twenty years, and all were men distinguished for
 5790      strength and courage. Those who were Olaf's bodyguard were in particular
 5791      chosen men, both of the natives and of foreigners, and the boldest and
 5792      strongest.
 5793      102. CREW ON BOARD OF THE LONG SERPENT.
 5794      Ulf the Red was the name of the man who bore King Olaf's banner, and was
 5795      in the forecastle of the Long Serpent; and with him was Kolbjorn the
 5796      marshal, Thorstein Uxafot, and Vikar of Tiundaland, a brother of Arnliot
 5797      Gelline. By the bulkhead next the forecastle were Vak Raumason from Gaut
 5798      River, Berse the Strong, An Skyte from Jamtaland, Thrand the Strong from
 5799      Thelamork, and his brother Uthyrmer. Besides these were, of Halogaland
 5800      men, Thrand Skjalge and Ogmund Sande, Hlodver Lange from Saltvik, and
 5801      Harek Hvasse; together with these Throndhjem men -Ketil the High,
 5802      Thorfin Eisle, Havard and his brothers from Orkadal. The following were in
 5803      the fore-hold: Bjorn from Studla, Bork from the fjords. Thorgrim
 5804      Thjodolfson from Hvin, Asbjorn and Orm, Thord from Njardarlog, Thorstein
 5805      the White from Oprustadar, Arnor from More, Halstein and Hauk from the
 5806      Fjord district, Eyvind Snak, Bergthor Bestil, Halkel from Fialer, Olaf
 5807      Dreng, Arnfin from Sogn, Sigurd Bild, Einar from Hordaland, and Fin, and
 5808      Ketil from Rogaland and Grjotgard the Brisk. The following were in the
 5809      hold next the mast: Einar Tambaskelfer, who was not reckoned as fully
 5810      experienced, being only eighteen years old; Thorstein Hlifarson, Thorolf,
 5811      Ivar Smetta, and Orm Skogarnef. Many other valiant men were in the
 5812      Serpent, although we cannot tell all their names. In every half division
 5813      of the hold were eight men, and each and all chosen men; and in the
 5814      fore-hold were thirty men. It was a common saying among people, that the
 5815      Long Serpent's crew was as distinguished for bravery, strength, and
 5816      daring, among other men, as the Long Serpent was distinguished among other
 5817      ships. Thorkel Nefja, the king's brother, commanded the Short Serpent; and
 5818      Thorkel Dydril and Jostein, the king's mother's brothers, had the Crane;
 5819      and both these ships were well manned. King Olaf had eleven large ships
 5820      from Throndhjem, besides vessels with twenty rowers' benches, smaller
 5821      vessels, and provision-vessels.
 5822      103. ICELAND BAPTIZED.
 5823      When King Olaf had nearly rigged out his fleet in Nidaros, he appointed
 5824      men over the Throndhjem country in all districts and communities. He also
 5825      sent to Iceland Gissur the White and Hjalte Skeggjason, to proclaim
 5826      Christianity there; and sent with them a priest called Thormod, along with
 5827      several men in holy orders. But he retained with him, as hostages, four
 5828      Icelanders whom he thought the most important; namely, Kjartan Olafson,
 5829      Haldor Gudmundson, Kolbein Thordson, and Sverting Runolfson. Of Gissur and
 5830      Hjalte's progress, it is related that they came to Iceland before the
 5831      Althing, and went to the Thing; and in that Thing Christianity was
 5832      introduced by law into Iceland, and in the course of the summer all the
 5833      people were baptized (A.D. 1000).
 5834      104. GREENLAND BAPTIZED
 5835      The same spring King Olaf also sent Leif Eirikson (A.D. 1000) to Greenland
 5836      to proclaim Christianity there, and Leif went there that summer. In the
 5837      ocean he took up the crew of a ship which had been lost, and who were
 5838      clinging to the wreck. He also found Vinland the Good; arrived about
 5839      harvest in Greenland; and had with him for it a priest and other teachers,
 5840      with whom he went to Brattahild to lodge with his father Eirik. People
 5841      called him afterwards Leif the Lucky: but his father Eirik said that his
 5842      luck and ill luck balanced each other; for if Leif had saved a wreck in
 5843      the ocean, he had brought a hurtful person with him to Greenland, and that
 5844      was the priest.
 5845      105. RAGNVALD SENDS MESSENGERS TO OLAF.
 5846      The winter after King Olaf had baptized Halogaland, he and Queen Thyre
 5847      were in Nidaros; and the summer before Queen Thyre had brought King Olaf a
 5848      boy child, which was both stout and promising, and was called Harald,
 5849      after its mother's father. The king and queen loved the infant
 5850      exceedingly, and rejoiced in the hope that it would grow up and inherit
 5851      after its father; but it lived barely a year after its birth, which both
 5852      took much to heart. In that winter were many Icelanders and other clever
 5853      men in King Olaf's house, as before related. His sister Ingebjorg,
 5854      Trygve's daughter, King Olaf's sister, was also at the court at that time.
 5855      She was beautiful in appearance, modest and frank with the people, had a
 5856      steady manly judgment, and was beloved of all. She was very fond of the
 5857      Icelanders who were there, but most of Kjartan Olafson, for he had been
 5858      longer than the others in the king's house; and he found it always amusing
 5859      to converse with her, for she had both understanding and cleverness in
 5860      talk. The king was always gay and full of mirth in his intercourse with
 5861      people; and often asked about the manners of the great men and chiefs in
 5862      the neighbouring countries, when strangers from Denmark or Sweden came to
 5863      see him. The summer before Halfred Vandredaskald had come from Gautland,
 5864      where he had been with Earl Ragnvald, Ulf's son, who had lately come to
 5865      the government of West Gautland. Ulf, Ragnvald's father, was a brother of
 5866      Sigurd the Haughty; so that King Olaf the Swede and Earl Ragnvald were
 5867      brother's and sister's children. Halfred told Olaf many things about the
 5868      earl: he said he was an able chief, excellently fitted for governing,
 5869      generous with money, brave and steady in friendship. Halfred said also the
 5870      earl desired much the friendship of King Olaf, and had spoken of making
 5871      court Ingebjorg, Trygve's daughter. The same winter came ambassadors from
 5872      Gautland, and fell in with King Olaf in the north, in Nidaros, and brought
 5873      the message which Halfred had spoken of, -that the earl desired to be
 5874      King Olaf's entire friend, and wished to become his brother-in-law by
 5875      obtaining his sister Ingebjorg in marriage. Therewith the ambassadors laid
 5876      before the king sufficient tokens in proof that in reality they came from
 5877      the earl on this errand. The king listened with approbation to their
 5878      speech; but said that Ingebjorg must determine on his assent to the
 5879      marriage. The king then talked to his sister about the matter, and asked
 5880      her opinion about it. She answered to this effect, -"I have been with
 5881      you for some time, and you have shown brotherly care and tender respect
 5882      for me ever since you came to the country. I will agree therefore to your
 5883      proposal about my marriage, provided that you do not marry me to a heathen
 5884      man." The king said it should be as she wished. The king then spoke to the
 5885      ambassadors; and it was settled before they departed that in summer Earl
 5886      Ragnvald should meet the king in the east parts of the country, to enter
 5887      into the fullest friendship with each other, and when they met they would
 5888      settle about the marriage. With this reply the earl's messengers went
 5889      westward, and King Olaf remained all winter in Nidaros in great splendour,
 5890      and with many people about him.
 5891      106. OLAF SENDS EXPEDITION TO VINDLAND.
 5892      King Olaf proceeded in summer with his ships and men southwards along the
 5893      land (and past Stad. With him were Queen Thyre and Ingebjorg, Trygveis
 5894      daughter, the king's sister). Many of his friends also joined him, and
 5895      other persons of consequence who had prepared themselves to travel with
 5896      the king. The first man among these was his brother-in-law, Erling
 5897      Skjalgson, who had with him a large ship of thirty benches of rowers, and
 5898      which was in every respect well equipt. His brothers-in-law Hyrning and
 5899      Thorgeir also joined him, each of whom for himself steered a large vessel;
 5900      and many other powerful men besides followed him. (With all this war-force
 5901      he sailed southwards along the land; but when he came south as far as
 5902      Rogaland he stopped there, for Erling Skjalgson had prepared for him a
 5903      splendid feast at Sole. There Earl Ragnvald, Ulf's son, from Gautland,
 5904      came to meet the king, and to settle the business which had been proposed
 5905      in winter in the messages between them, namely, the marriage with
 5906      Ingebjorg the king's sister. Olaf received him kindly; and when the matter
 5907      came to be spoken of, the king said he would keep his word, and marry his
 5908      sister Ingebjorg to him, provided he would accept the true faith, and make
 5909      all his subjects he ruled over in his land be baptized; The earl agreed to
 5910      this, and he and all his followers were baptized. Now was the feast
 5911      enlarged that Erling had prepared, for the earl held his wedding there
 5912      with Ingebjorg the king's sister. King Olaf had now married off all his
 5913      sisters. The earl, with Ingebjorg, set out on his way home; and the king
 5914      sent learned men with him to baptize the people in Gautland, and to teach
 5915      them the right faith and morals. The king and the earl parted in the
 5916      greatest friendship.)
 5917      107. OLAF'S EXPEDITION VINDLAND.
 5918      (After his sister Ingebjorg's wedding, the king made ready in all haste to
 5919      leave the country with his army, which was both great and made up of fine
 5920      men.) When he left the land and sailed southwards he had sixty ships of
 5921      war, with which he sailed past Denmark, and in through the Sound, and on
 5922      to Vindland. He appointed a meeting with King Burizleif; and when the
 5923      kings met, they spoke about the property which King Olaf demanded, and the
 5924      conference went off peaceably, as a good account was given of the
 5925      properties which King Olaf thought himself entitled to there. He passed
 5926      here much of the summer, and found many of his old friends.
 5927      108. CONSPIRACY AGAINST KING OLAF.
 5928      The Danish king, Svein Tjuguskeg, was married, as before related, to
 5929      Sigrid the Haughty. Sigrid was King Olaf Trygvason's greatest enemy; the
 5930      cause of which, as before said, was that King Olaf had broken off with
 5931      her, and had struck her in the face. She urged King Svein much to give
 5932      battle to King Olaf Trygvason; saying that he had reason enough, as Olaf
 5933      had married his sister Thyre without his leave, "and that your
 5934      predecessors would not have submitted to." Such persuasions Sigrid had
 5935      often in her mouth; and at last she brought it so far that Svein resolved
 5936      firmly on doing so. Early in spring King Svein sent messengers eastward
 5937      into Svithjod, to his son-in-law Olaf, the Swedish king, and to Earl
 5938      Eirik; and informed them that King Olaf of Norway was levying men for an
 5939      expedition, and intended in summer to go to Vindland. To this news the
 5940      Danish king added an invitation to the Swedish king and Earl Eirik to meet
 5941      King Svein with an army, so that all together they might make an attack;
 5942      on King Olaf Trygvason. The Swedish king and Earl Eirik were ready enough
 5943      for this, and immediately assembled a great fleet and an army through all
 5944      Svithjod, with which they sailed southwards to Denmark, and arrived there
 5945      after King Olaf Trygvason had sailed to the eastward. Haldor the
 5946      Unchristian tells of this in his lay on Earl Eirik: -
 5947     "The king-subduer raised a host
 5948     Of warriors on the Swedish coast.
 5949     The brave went southwards to the fight,
 5950     Who love the sword-storm's gleaming light;
 5951     The brave, who fill the wild wolf's mouth,
 5952     Followed bold Eirik to the south;
 5953     The brave, who sport in blood -each one
 5954     With the bold earl to sea is gone."
 5955      The Swedish king and Earl Eirik sailed to meet the Danish king, and they
 5956      had all, when together, an immense force.
 5957      109. EARL SIGVALDE'S TREACHEROUS PLANS.
 5958      At the same time that king Svein sent a message to Svithjod for an army,
 5959      he sent Earl Sigvalde to Vindland to spy out King Olaf Trygvason's
 5960      proceedings, and to bring it about by cunning devices that King Svein and
 5961      King Olaf should fall in with each other. So Sigvalde sets out to go to
 5962      Vindland. First, he came to Jomsborg, and then he sought out King Olaf
 5963      Trygvason. There was much friendship in their conversation, and the earl
 5964      got himself into great favour with the king. Astrid, the Earl's wife, King
 5965      Burizleif's daughter, was a great friend of King Olaf Trygvason,
 5966      particularly on account of the connection which had been between them when
 5967      Olaf was married to her sister Geira. Earl Sigvalde was a prudent,
 5968      ready-minded man; and as he had got a voice in King Olaf's council, he put
 5969      him off much from sailing homewards, finding various reasons for delay.
 5970      Olaf's people were in the highest degree dissatisfied with this; for the
 5971      men were anxious to get home, and they lay ready to sail, waiting only for
 5972      a wind. At last Earl Sigvalde got a secret message from Denmark that the
 5973      Swedish king's army was arrived from the east, and that Earl Eirik's also
 5974      was ready; and that all these chiefs had resolved to sail eastwards to
 5975      Vindland, and wait for King Olaf at an island which is called Svold. They
 5976      also desired the earl to contrive matters so that they should meet King
 5977      Olaf there.
 5978      110. KING OLAF'S VOYAGE FROM VINDLAND.
 5979      There came first a flying report to Vindland that the Danish king, Svein,
 5980      had fitted out an army; and it was soon whispered that he intended to
 5981      attack King Olaf. But Earl Sigvalde says to King Olaf, "It never can be
 5982      King Svein's intention to venture with the Danish force alone, to give
 5983      battle to thee with such a powerful army; but if thou hast any suspicion
 5984      that evil is on foot, I will follow thee with my force (at that time it
 5985      was considered a great matter to have Jomsborg vikings with an army), and
 5986      I will give thee eleven well-manned ships." The king accepted this offer;
 5987      and as the light breeze of wind that came was favourable, he ordered the
 5988      ships to get under weigh, and the war-horns to sound the departure. The
 5989      sails were hoisted and all the small vessels, sailing fastest, got out to
 5990      sea before the others. The earl, who sailed nearest to the king's ship,
 5991      called to those on board to tell the king to sail in his keel-track: "For
 5992      I know where the water is deepest between the islands and in the sounds,
 5993      and these large ships require the deepest." Then the earl sailed first
 5994      with his eleven ships, and the king followed with his large ships, also
 5995      eleven in number; but the whole of the rest of the fleet sailed out to
 5996      sea. Now when Earl Sigvalde came sailing close under the island Svold, a
 5997      skiff rowed out to inform the earl that the Danish king's army was lying
 5998      in the harbour before them. Then the earl ordered the sails of his vessels
 5999      to be struck, and they rowed in under the island. Haldor the Unchristian
 6000      says: -
 6001     "From out the south bold Trygve's son
 6002     With one-and-seventy ships came on,
 6003     To dye his sword in bloody fight,
 6004     Against the Danish foeman's might.
 6005     But the false earl the king betrayed;
 6006     And treacherous Sigvalde, it is said,
 6007     Deserted from King Olaf's fleet,
 6008     And basely fled, the Danes to meet."
 6009      It is said here that King Olaf and Earl Sigvalde had seventy sail of
 6010      vessels: and one more, when they sailed from the south.
 6011      111. CONSULTATION OF THE KINGS.
 6012      The Danish King Svein, the Swedish King Olaf, and Earl Eirik, were there
 6013      with all their forces (1000). The weather being fine and clear sunshine,
 6014      all these chiefs, with a great suite, went out on the isle to see the
 6015      vessels sailing out at sea, and many of them crowded together; and they
 6016      saw among them one large and glancing ship. The two kings said, "That is a
 6017      large and very beautiful vessel: that will be the Long Serpent."
 6018      Earl Eirik replied, "That is not the Long Serpent." And he was right; for
 6019      it was the ship belonging to Eindride of Gimsar.
 6020      Soon after they saw another vessel coming sailing along much larger than
 6021      the first; then says King Svein, "Olaf Trygvason must be afraid, for he
 6022      does not venture to sail with the figure-head of the dragon upon his
 6023      ship."
 6024      Says Earl Eirik, "That is not the king's ship yet; for I know that ship by
 6025      the coloured stripes of cloth in her sail. That is Erling Skialgson's. Let
 6026      him sail; for it is the better for us that the ship is away from Olaf's
 6027      fleet, so well equipt as she is."
 6028      Soon after they saw and knew Earl Sigvalde's ships, which turned in and
 6029      laid themselves under the island. Then they saw three ships coming along
 6030      under sail, and one of them very large. King Svein ordered his men to go
 6031      to their ships, "for there comes the Long Serpent."
 6032      Earl Eirik says, "Many other great and stately vessels have they besides
 6033      the Long Serpent. Let us wait a little."
 6034      Then said many, "Earl Eirik will not fight and avenge his father; and it
 6035      is a great shame that it should be told that we lay here with so great a
 6036      force, and allowed King Olaf to sail out to sea before our eyes."
 6037      But when they had spoken thus for a short time, they saw four ships coming
 6038      sailing along, of which one had a large dragon-head richly gilt. Then King
 6039      Svein stood up and said, "That dragon shall carry me this evening high,
 6040      for I shall steer it."
 6041      Then said many, "The Long Serpent is indeed a wonderfully large and
 6042      beautiful vessel, and it shows a great mind to have built such a ship."
 6043      Earl Eirik said so loud that several persons heard him, "If King Olaf had
 6044      no ether vessels but only that one, King Svein would never take it from
 6045      him with the Danish force alone."
 6046      Thereafter all the people rushed on board their ships, took down the
 6047      tents, and in all haste made ready for battle.
 6048      While the chiefs were speaking among themselves as above related, they saw
 6049      three very large ships coming sailing along, and at last after them a
 6050      fourth, and that was the Long Serpent. Of the large ships which had gone
 6051      before, and which they had taken for the Long Serpent, the first was the
 6052      Crane; the one after that was the Short Serpent; and when they really, saw
 6053      the Long Serpent, all knew, and nobody had a word to say against it, that
 6054      it must be Olaf Trygvason who was sailing in such a vessel; and they went
 6055      to their ships to arm for the fight.
 6056      An agreement had been concluded among the chiefs, King Svein, King Olaf
 6057      the Swede, and Earl Eirik, that they should divide Norway among them in
 6058      three parts, in case they succeeded against Olaf Trygvason; but that he of
 6059      the chiefs who should first board the Serpent should have her, and all the
 6060      booty found in her, and each should have the ships he cleared for himself.
 6061      Earl Eirik had a large ship of war which he used upon his viking
 6062      expeditions; and there was an iron beard or comb above on both sides of
 6063      the stem, and below it a thick iron plate as broad as the combs, which
 6064      went down quite to the gunnel.
 6065      112. OF KING OLAF'S PEOPLE.
 6066      When Earl Sigvalde with his vessels rowed in under the island, Thorkel
 6067      Dydril of the Crane, and the other ship commanders who sailed with him,
 6068      saw that he turned his ships towards the isle, and thereupon let fall the
 6069      sails, and rowed after him, calling out, and asking why he sailed that
 6070      way. The Earl answered, that he was waiting for king Olaf, as he feared
 6071      there were enemies in the water. They lay upon their oars until Thorkel
 6072      Nefia came up with the Short Serpent and the three ships which followed
 6073      him. When they told them the same they too struck sail, and let the ships
 6074      drive, waiting for king Olaf. But when the king sailed in towards the
 6075      isle, the whole enemies' fleet came rowing within them out to the Sound.
 6076      When they saw this they begged the king to hold on his way, and not risk
 6077      battle with so great a force. The king replied, high on the quarter-deck
 6078      where he stood, "Strike the sails; never shall men of mine think of
 6079      flight. I never fled from battle. Let God dispose of my life, but flight I
 6080      shall never take." It was done as the king commanded. Halfred tells of it
 6081      thus: -
 6082     "And far and wide the saying bold
 6083     Of the brave warrior shall be told.
 6084     The king, in many a fray well tried,
 6085     To his brave champions round him cried,
 6086     'My men shall never learn from me
 6087     From the dark weapon-cloud to flee.'
 6088     Nor were the brave words spoken then
 6089     Forgotten by his faithful men."
 6090      113. OLAF'S SHIPS PREPARED FOR BATTLE.
 6091      King Olaf ordered the war-horns to sound for all his ships to close up to
 6092      each other. The king's ship lay in the middle of the line, and on one side
 6093      lay the Little Serpent, and on the other the Crane; and as they made fast
 6094      the stems together (1), the Long Serpent's stem and the short Serpent's
 6095      were made fast together; but when the king saw it he called out to his
 6096      men, and ordered them to lay the larger ship more in advance, so that its
 6097      stern should not lie so far behind in the fleet.
 6098      Then says Ulf the Red, "If the Long Serpent is to lie as much more ahead
 6099      of the other ships as she is longer than them, we shall have hard work of
 6100      it here on the forecastle."
 6101      The king replies, "I did not think I had a forecastle man afraid as well
 6102      as red."
 6103      Says Ulf, "Defend thou the quarterdeck as I shall the forecastle."
 6104      The king had a bow in his hands, and laid an arrow on the string, and
 6105      aimed at Ulf.
 6106      Ulf said, "Shoot another way, king, where it is more needful: my work is
 6107      thy gain."
 6108   ENDNOTES: (1) The mode of fighting in sea battles appears, from this and
 6109     many other descriptions, to have been for each party to bind
 6110     together the stems and sterns of their own ships, forming
 6111     them thus into a compact body as soon as the fleets came
 6112     within fighting distance, or within spears' throw.  They
 6113     appear to have fought principally from the forecastles; and
 6114     to have used grappling irons for dragging a vessel out of
 6115     the line, or within boarding distance. -L.
 6116      114. OF KING OLAF.
 6117      King Olaf stood on the Serpent's quarterdeck, high over the others. He had
 6118      a gilt shield, and a helmet inlaid with gold; over his armour he had a
 6119      short red coat, and was easy to be distinguished from other men. When King
 6120      Olaf saw that the scattered forces of the enemy gathered themselves
 6121      together under the banners of their ships, he asked, "Who is the chief of
 6122      the force right opposite to us?"
 6123      He was answered, that it was King Svein with the Danish army.
 6124      The king replies, "We are not afraid of these soft Danes, for there is no
 6125      bravery in them; but who are the troops on the right of the Danes?"
 6126      He was answered, that it was King Olaf with the Swedish forces.
 6127      "Better it were," says King Olaf, "for these Swedes to be sitting at home
 6128      killing their sacrifices, than to be venturing under our weapons from the
 6129      Long Serpent. But who owns the large ships on the larboard side of the
 6130      Danes?"
 6131      "That is Earl Eirik Hakonson," say they.
 6132      The king replies, "He, methinks, has good reason for meeting us; and we
 6133      may expect the sharpest conflict with these men, for they are Norsemen
 6134      like ourselves."
 6135      115. THE BATTLE BEGINS.
 6136      The kings now laid out their oars, and prepared to attack (A.D. 1000).
 6137      King Svein laid his ship against the Long Serpent. Outside of him Olaf the
 6138      Swede laid himself, and set his ship's stern against the outermost ship of
 6139      King Olaf's line; and on the other side lay Earl Eirik. Then a hard combat
 6140      began. Earl Sigvalde held back with the oars on his ships, and did not
 6141      join the fray. So says Skule Thorsteinson, who at that time was with Earl
 6142      Eirik: -
 6143     "I followed Sigvalde in my youth,
 6144     And gallant Eirik, and in truth
 6145     The' now I am grown stiff and old,
 6146     In the spear-song I once was bold.
 6147     Where arrows whistled on the shore
 6148     Of Svold fjord my shield I bore,
 6149     And stood amidst the loudest clash
 6150     When swords on shields made fearful crash."
 6151      And Halfred also sings thus: -
 6152     "In truth I think the gallant king,
 6153     Midst such a foemen's gathering,
 6154     Would be the better of some score
 6155     Of his tight Throndhjem lads, or more;
 6156     For many a chief has run away,
 6157     And left our brave king in the fray,
 6158     Two great kings' power to withstand,
 6159     And one great earl's, with his small band,
 6160     The king who dares such mighty deed
 6161     A hero for his skald would need."
 6162      116. FLIGHT OF SVEIN AND OLAF THE SWEDE.
 6163      This battle was one of the severest told of, and many were the people
 6164      slain. The forecastle men of the Long Serpent, the Little Serpent, and the
 6165      Crane, threw grapplings and stem chains into King Svein's ship, and used
 6166      their weapons well against the people standing below them, for they
 6167      cleared the decks of all the ships they could lay fast hold of; and King
 6168      Svein, and all the men who escaped, fled to other vessels, and laid
 6169      themselves out of bow-shot. It went with this force just as King Olaf
 6170      Trygvason had foreseen. Then King Olaf the Swede laid himself in their
 6171      place; but when he came near the great ships it went with him as with
 6172      them, for he lost many men and some ships, and was obliged to get away.
 6173      But Earl Eirik laid his ship side by side with the outermost of King
 6174      Olaf's ships, thinned it of men, cut the cables, and let it drive. Then he
 6175      laid alongside of the next, and fought until he had cleared it of men
 6176      also. Now all the people who were in the smaller ships began to run into
 6177      the larger, and the earl cut them loose as fast as he cleared them of men.
 6178      The Danes and Swedes laid themselves now out of shooting distance all
 6179      around Olaf's ship; but Earl Eirik lay always close alongside of the
 6180      ships, and used hid swords and battle-axes, and as fast as people fell in
 6181      his vessel others, Danes and Swedes, came in their place. So says Haldor,
 6182      the Unchristian: -
 6183     "Sharp was the clang of shield and sword,
 6184     And shrill the song of spears on board,
 6185     And whistling arrows thickly flew
 6186     Against the Serpent's gallant crew.
 6187     And still fresh foemen, it is said,
 6188     Earl Eirik to her long side led;
 6189     Whole armies of his Danes and Swedes,
 6190     Wielding on high their blue sword-blades."
 6191      Then the fight became most severe, and many people fell. But at last it
 6192      came to this, that all King Olaf Trygvason's ships were cleared of men
 6193      except the Long Serpent, on board of which all who could still carry their
 6194      arms were gathered. Then Earl Eirik lay with his ship by the side of the
 6195      Serpent, and the fight went on with battle-axe and sword. So says Haldor: -
 6196     "Hard pressed on every side by foes,
 6197     The Serpent reels beneath the blows;
 6198     Crash go the shields around the bow!
 6199     Breast-plates and breasts pierced thro' and thro!
 6200     In the sword-storm the Holm beside,
 6201     The earl's ship lay alongside
 6202     The king's Long Serpent of the sea -
 6203     Fate gave the earl the victory."
 6204      117. OF EARL EIRIK.
 6205      Earl Eirik was in the forehold of his ship, where a cover of shields (1)
 6206      had been set up. In the fight, both hewing weapons, sword, and axe, and
 6207      the thrust of spears had been used; and all that could be used as weapon
 6208      for casting was cast. Some used bows, some threw spears with the hand. So
 6209      many weapons were cast into the Serpent, and so thick flew spears and
 6210      arrows, that the shields could scarcely receive them, for on all sides the
 6211      Serpent was surrounded by war-ships. Then King Olaf's men became so mad
 6212      with rage, that they ran on board of the enemies ships, to get at the
 6213      people with stroke of sword and kill them; but many did not lay themselves
 6214      so near the Serpent, in order to escape the close encounter with
 6215      battle-axe or sword; and thus the most of Olaf's men went overboard and
 6216      sank under their weapons, thinking they were fighting on plain ground. So
 6217      says Halfred: -
 6218     "The daring lads shrink not from death; -
 6219     O'erboard they leap, and sink beneath
 6220     The Serpent's keel: all armed they leap,
 6221     And down they sink five fathoms deep.
 6222     The foe was daunted at the cheers;
 6223     The king, who still the Serpent steers,
 6224     In such a strait -beset with foes -
 6225     Wanted but some more lads like those."
 6226   ENDNOTES: (1) Both in land and sea fights the commanders appear to have
 6227     been protected from missile weapons, -stones, arrows,
 6228     spears, -by a shieldburg: that is, by a party of men
 6229     bearing shields surrounding them in such a way that the
 6230     shields were a parapet, covering those within the circle.
 6231     The Romans had a similar military arrangement of shields in
 6232     sieges -the testudo. -L.
 6233      118. OF EINAR TAMBARSKELVER.
 6234      Einar Tambarskelver, one of the sharpest of bowshooters, stood by the
 6235      mast, and shot with his bow. Einar shot an arrow at Earl Eirik, which hit
 6236      the tiller end just above the earl's head so hard that it entered the wood
 6237      up to the arrow-shaft. The earl looked that way, and asked if they knew
 6238      who had shot; and at the same moment another arrow flew between his hand
 6239      and his side, and into the stuffing of the chief's stool, so that the barb
 6240      stood far out on the other side. Then said the earl to a man called Fin, -but
 6241      some say he was of Fin (Laplander) race, and was a superior archer, -"Shoot
 6242      that tall man by the mast." Fin shot; and the arrow hit the middle of
 6243      Einar's bow just at the moment that Einar was drawing it, and the bow was
 6244      split in two parts.
 6245      "What is that," cried King Olaf, "that broke with such a noise?"
 6246      "Norway, king, from thy hands," cried Einar.
 6247      "No! not quite so much as that," says the king; "take my bow, and shoot,"
 6248      flinging the bow to him.
 6249      Einar took the bow, and drew it over the head of the arrow. "Too weak, too
 6250      weak," said he, "for the bow of a mighty king!" and, throwing the bow
 6251      aside, he took sword and shield, and fought Valiantly.
 6252      119. OLAF GIVES HIS MEN SHARP SWORDS.
 6253      The king stood on the gangways of the Long Serpent, and shot the greater
 6254      part of the day; sometimes with the bow, sometimes with the spear, and
 6255      always throwing two spears at once. He looked down over the ship's sides,
 6256      and saw that his men struck briskly with their swords, and yet wounded but
 6257      seldom. Then he called aloud, "Why do ye strike so gently that ye seldom
 6258      cut?" One among the people answered, "The swords are blunt and full of
 6259      notches." Then the king went down into the forehold, opened the chest
 6260      under the throne, and took out many sharp swords, which he handed to his
 6261      men; but as he stretched down his right hand with them, some observed that
 6262      blood was running down under his steel glove, but no one knew where he was
 6263      wounded.
 6264      120. THE SERPENT BOARDED.
 6265      Desperate was the defence in the Serpent, and there was the heaviest
 6266      destruction of men done by the forecastle crew, and those of the forehold,
 6267      for in both places the men were chosen men, and the ship was highest, but
 6268      in the middle of the ship the people were thinned. Now when Earl Eirik saw
 6269      there were but few people remaining beside the ship's mast, he determined
 6270      to board; and he entered the Serpent with four others. Then came Hyrning,
 6271      the king's brother-in-law, and some others against him, and there was the
 6272      most severe combat; and at last the earl was forced to leap back on board
 6273      his own ship again, and some who had accompanied him were killed, and
 6274      others wounded. Thord Kolbeinson alludes to this: -
 6275     "On Odin's deck, all wet with blood,
 6276     The helm-adorned hero stood;
 6277     And gallant Hyrning honour gained,
 6278     Clearing all round with sword deep stained.
 6279     The high mountain peaks shall fall,
 6280     Ere men forget this to recall."
 6281      Now the fight became hot indeed, and many men fell on board the Serpent;
 6282      and the men on board of her began to be thinned off, and the defence to be
 6283      weaker. The earl resolved to board the Serpent again, and again he met
 6284      with a warm reception. When the forecastle men of the Serpent saw what he
 6285      was doing, they went aft and made a desperate fight; but so many men of
 6286      the Serpent had fallen, that the ship's sides were in many places quite
 6287      bare of defenders; and the earl's men poured in all around into the
 6288      vessel, and all the men who were still able to defend the ship crowded aft
 6289      to the king, and arrayed themselves for his defence. So says Haldor the
 6290      Unchristian: -
 6291     "Eirik cheers on his men, -
 6292     'On to the charge again!'
 6293     The gallant few
 6294     Of Olaf's crew
 6295     Must refuge take
 6296     On the quarter-deck.
 6297     Around the king
 6298     They stand in ring;
 6299     Their shields enclose
 6300     The king from foes,
 6301     And the few who still remain
 6302     Fight madly, but in vain.
 6303     Eirik cheers on his men -
 6304     'On to the charge again!'"
 6305      121. THE SERPENT'S DECKS CLEARED.
 6306      Kolbjorn the marshal, who had on clothes and arms like the kings, and was
 6307      a remarkably stout and handsome man, went up to king on the quarter-deck.
 6308      The battle was still going on fiercely even in the forehold (1). But as
 6309      many of the earl's men had now got into the Serpent as could find room,
 6310      and his ships lay all round her, and few were the people left in the
 6311      Serpent for defence against so great a force; and in a short time most of
 6312      the Serpent's men fell, brave and stout though they were. King Olaf and
 6313      Kolbjorn the marshal both sprang overboard, each on his own side of the
 6314      ship; but the earl's men had laid out boats around the Serpent, and killed
 6315      those who leaped overboard. Now when the king had sprung overboard, they
 6316      tried to seize him with their hands, and bring him to Earl Eirik; but King
 6317      Olaf threw his shield over his head, and sank beneath the waters. Kolbjorn
 6318      held his shield behind him to protect himself from the spears cast at him
 6319      from the ships which lay round the Serpent, and he fell so upon his shield
 6320      that it came under him, so that he could not sink so quickly. He was thus
 6321      taken and brought into a boat, and they supposed he was the king. He was
 6322      brought before the earl; and when the earl saw it was Kolbjorn, and not
 6323      the king, he gave him his life. At the same moment all of King Olaf's men
 6324      who were in life sprang overboard from the Serpent; and Thorkel Nefia, the
 6325      king's brother, was the last of all the men who sprang overboard. It is
 6326      thus told concerning the king by Halfred: -
 6327     "The Serpent and the Crane
 6328     Lay wrecks upon the main.
 6329     On his sword he cast a glance, -
 6330     With it he saw no chance.
 6331     To his marshal, who of yore
 6332     Many a war-chance had come o'er,
 6333     He spoke a word -then drew in breath,
 6334     And sprang to his deep-sea death."
 6335   ENDNOTES: (1) From the occasional descriptions of vessels in this and
 6336     other battles, it may be inferred that even the Long
 6337     Serpent, described in the 95th chapter as of 150 feet of
 6338     keel was only docked fore and aft; the thirty-four benches
 6339     for rowers occupying the open area in the middle, and
 6340     probably gangways running along the side for communicating
 6341     from the quarter-deck to the forcastle. -L.
 6342      122. REPORT AMONG THE PEOPLE.
 6343      Earl Sigvalde, as before related, came from Vindland, in company with King
 6344      Olaf, with ten ships; but the eleventh ship was manned with the men of
 6345      Astrid, the king's daughter, the wife of Earl Sigvalde. Now when King Olaf
 6346      sprang overboard, the whole army raised a shout of victory; and then Earl
 6347      Sigvalde and his men put their oars in the water and rowed towards the
 6348      battle. Haldor the Unchristian tells of it thus: -
 6349     "Then first the Vindland vessels came
 6350     Into the fight with little fame;
 6351     The fight still lingered on the wave,
 6352     Tho' hope was gone with Olaf brave.
 6353     War, like a full-fed ravenous beast,
 6354     Still oped her grim jaws for the feast.
 6355     The few who stood now quickly fled,
 6356     When the shout told -'Olaf is dead!'"
 6357      But the Vindland cutter, in which Astrid's men were, rowed back to
 6358      Vindland; and the report went immediately abroad and was told by many,
 6359      that King Olaf had cast off his coat-of-mail under water, and had swum,
 6360      diving under the longships, until he came to the Vindland cutter, and that
 6361      Astrid's men had conveyed him to Vindland: and many tales have been made
 6362      since about the adventures of Olaf the king. Halfred speaks thus about it: -
 6363     "Does Olaf live? or is he dead?
 6364     Has he the hungry ravens fed?
 6365     I scarcely know what I should say,
 6366     For many tell the tale each way.
 6367     This I can say, nor fear to lie,
 6368     That he was wounded grievously -
 6369     So wounded in this bloody strife,
 6370     He scarce could come away with life."
 6371      But however this may have been, King Olaf Trygvason never came back again
 6372      to his kingdom of Norway. Halfred Vandredaskald speaks also thus about it:
 6373     "The witness who reports this thing
 6374     Of Trygvason, our gallant king,
 6375     Once served the king, and truth should tell,
 6376     For Olaf hated lies like hell.
 6377     If Olaf 'scaped from this sword-thing,
 6378     Worse fate, I fear, befel our king
 6379     Than people guess, or e'er can know,
 6380     For he was hemm'd in by the foe.
 6381     From the far east some news is rife
 6382     Of king sore wounded saving life;
 6383     His death, too sure, leaves me no care
 6384     For cobweb rumours in the air.
 6385     It never was the will of fate
 6386     That Olaf from such perilous strait
 6387     Should 'scape with life!  this truth may grieve -
 6388     'What people wish they soon believe.'"
 6389      123. OF EARL EIRIK, THE SON OF HAKON.
 6390      By this victory Earl Eirik Hakonson became owner of the Long Serpent, and
 6391      made a great booty besides; and he steered the Serpent from the battle. So
 6392      says Haldor: -
 6393     "Olaf, with glittering helmet crowned,
 6394     Had steered the Serpent through the Sound;
 6395     And people dressed their boats, and cheered
 6396     As Olaf's fleet in splendour steered.
 6397     But the descendent of great Heming,
 6398     Whose race tells many a gallant sea-king,
 6399     His blue sword in red life-blood stained,
 6400     And bravely Olaf's long ship gained."
 6401      Svein, a son of Earl Hakon, and Earl Eirik's brother, was engaged at this
 6402      time to marry Holmfrid, a daughter of King Olaf the Swedish king. Now when
 6403      Svein the Danish king, Olaf the Swedish king, and Earl Eirik divided the
 6404      kingdom of Norway between them, King Olaf got four districts in the
 6405      Throndhjem country, and also the districts of More and Raumsdal; and in
 6406      the east part of the land he got Ranrike, from the Gaut river to
 6407      Svinasund. Olaf gave these dominions into Earl Svein's hands, on the same
 6408      conditions as the sub kings or earls had held them formerly from the
 6409      upper-king of the country. Earl Eirik got four districts in the Throndhjem
 6410      country, and Halogaland, Naumudal, the Fjord districts, Sogn, Hordaland,
 6411      Rogaland, and North Agder, all the way to the Naze. So says Thord
 6412      Kolbeinson: -
 6413     "All chiefs within our land
 6414     On Eirik's side now stand:
 6415     Erling alone, I know
 6416     Remains Earl Eirik's foe.
 6417     All praise our generous earl, -
 6418     He gives, and is no churl:
 6419     All men are well content
 6420     Fate such a chief has sent.
 6421     From Veiga to Agder they,
 6422     Well pleased, the earl obey;
 6423     And all will by him stand,
 6424     To guard the Norsemen's land.
 6425     And now the news is spread
 6426     That mighty Svein is dead,
 6427     And luck is gone from those
 6428     Who were the Norsemen's foes."
 6429      The Danish king Svein retained Viken as he had held it before, but he gave
 6430      Raumarike and Hedemark to Earl Eirik. Svein Hakonson got the title of earl
 6431      from Olaf the Swedish king. Svein was one of the handsomest men ever seen.
 6432      The earls Eirik and Svein both allowed themselves to be baptized, and took
 6433      up the true faith; but as long as they ruled in Norway they allowed every
 6434      one to do as he pleased in holding by his Christianity. But, on the other
 6435      hand, they held fast by the old laws, and all the old rights and customs
 6436      of the land, and were excellent men and good rulers. Earl Eirik had most
 6437      to say of the two brothers in all matters of government.
 6438      SAGA OF OLAF HARALDSON. (1)
 6439      PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
 6440      Olaf Haraldson the Saint's Saga is the longest, the most important, and
 6441      the most finished of all the sagas in "Heimskringla". The life of Olaf
 6442      will be found treated more or less freely in "Agrip", in "Historia
 6443      Norvegiae", in "Thjodrek the Monk", in the legendary saga, and in
 6444      "Fagrskinna". Other old Norse literature relating to this epoch:
 6445      Are's "Islendingabok", "Landnama", "Kristni Saga", "Biskupa-sogur",
 6446      "Njala", "Gunlaugs Saga", "Ormstungu", "Bjarnar Saga Hitdaelakappa",
 6447      "Hallfredar Thattr Vandraedaskalde", "Eyrbyggia", "Viga Styrs Saga",
 6448      "Laxdaela", "Fostbraedra", "Gretla", "Liosvetninga", "Faereyinga",
 6449      "Orkneyinga".
 6450      Olaf Haraldson was born 995, went as a viking at the age of twelve, 1007;
 6451      visited England, one summer and three winters, 1009-1012; in France two
 6452      summers and one winter, 1012-1013; spent the winter in Normandy, 1014;
 6453      returned to Norway and was recognized as King, April 3, 1015; fled from
 6454      Norway the winter of 1028-1029; fell at Stiklestad, July 29 (or August
 6455      31), 1030.
 6456      Skalds quoted in this saga are: -Ottar Svarte, Sigvat Skald, Thord
 6457      Kolbeinson, Berse Torfason, Brynjolf, Arnor Jarlaskald, Thord Siarekson,
 6458      Harek, Thorarin Loftunga, Halvard Hareksblese, Bjarne Gulbraskald, Jokul
 6459      Bardson, Thormod Kolbrunarskald, Gissur, Thorfin Mun, Hofgardaref.
 6460   ENDNOTES: (1) King Olaf the Saint reigned from about the year 1015 to
 6461     1030.  The death of King Olaf Trygvason was in the year
 6462     1000: and Earl Eirik held the government for the Danish and
 6463     Swedish kings about fifteen years. -L.
 6464      1. OF SAINT OLAF'S BRINGING UP.
 6465      Olaf, Harald Grenske's son, was brought up by his stepfather Sigurd Syr
 6466      and his mother Asta. Hrane the Far-travelled lived in the house of Asta,
 6467      and fostered this Olaf Haraldson. Olaf came early to manhood, was handsome
 6468      in countenance, middle-sized in growth, and was even when very young of
 6469      good understanding and ready speech. Sigurd his stepfather was a careful
 6470      householder, who kept his people closely to their work, and often went
 6471      about himself to inspect his corn-rigs and meadowland, the cattle, and
 6472      also the smith-work, or whatsoever his people had on hand to do.
 6473      2. OF OLAF AND KING SIGURD SYR.
 6474      It happened one day that King Sigurd wanted to ride from home, but there
 6475      was nobody about the house; so he told his stepson Olaf to saddle his
 6476      horse. Olaf went to the goats' pen, took out the he-goat that was the
 6477      largest, led him forth, and put the king's saddle on him, and then went in
 6478      and told King Sigurd he had saddled his riding horse. Now when King Sigurd
 6479      came out and saw what Olaf had done, he said "It is easy to see that thou
 6480      wilt little regard my orders; and thy mother will think it right that I
 6481      order thee to do nothing that is against thy own inclination. I see well
 6482      enough that we are of different dispositions, and that thou art far more
 6483      proud than I am." Olaf answered little, but went his way laughing.
 6484      3. OF RING OLAF'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
 6485      When Olaf Haraldson grew up he was not tall, but middle-sized in height,
 6486      although very thick, and of good strength. He had light brown hair, and a
 6487      broad face, which was white and red. He had particularly fine eyes, which
 6488      were beautiful and piercing, so that one was afraid to look him in the
 6489      face when he was angry. Olaf was very expert in all bodily exercises,
 6490      understood well to handle his bow, and was distinguished particularly in
 6491      throwing his spear by hand: he was a great swimmer, and very handy, and
 6492      very exact and knowing in all kinds of smithwork, whether he himself or
 6493      others made the thing. He was distinct and acute in conversation, and was
 6494      soon perfect in understanding and strength. He was beloved by his friends
 6495      and acquaintances, eager in his amusements, and one who always liked to be
 6496      the first, as it was suitable he should be from his birth and dignity. He
 6497      was called Olaf the Great.
 6498      4. KING OLAF'S WAR EXPEDITION.
 6499      Olaf Haraldson was twelve years old when he, for the first time, went on
 6500      board a ship of war (A.D. 1007). His mother Asta got Hrane, who was called
 6501      the foster-father of kings, to command a ship of war and take Olaf under
 6502      his charge; for Hrane had often been on war expeditions. When Olaf in this
 6503      way got a ship and men, the crew gave him the title of king; for it was
 6504      the custom that those commanders of troops who were of kingly descent, on
 6505      going out upon a viking cruise, received the title of king immediately
 6506      although they had no land or kingdom. Hrane sat at the helm; and some say
 6507      that Olaf himself was but a common rower, although he was king of the
 6508      men-at-arms. They steered east along the land, and came first to Denmark.
 6509      So says Ottar Svarte, in his lay which he made about King Olaf: -
 6510     "Young was the king when from his home
 6511     He first began in ships to roam,
 6512     His ocean-steed to ride
 6513     To Denmark o'er the tide.
 6514     Well exercised art thou in truth -
 6515     In manhood's earnest work, brave youth!
 6516     Out from the distant north
 6517     Mighty hast thou come forth."
 6518      Towards autumn he sailed eastward to the Swedish dominions, and there
 6519      harried and burnt all the country round; for he thought he had good cause
 6520      of hostility against the Swedes, as they killed his father Harald. Ottar
 6521      Svarte says distinctly that he came from the east, out by way of Denmark: -
 6522     "Thy ship from shore to shore,
 6523     With many a well-plied car,
 6524     Across the Baltic foam is dancing. -
 6525     Shields, and spears, and helms glancing!
 6526     Hoist high the swelling sail
 6527     To catch the freshening gale!
 6528     There's food for the raven-flight
 6529     Where thy sail-winged ship shall light;
 6530          Thy landing-tread
 6531          The people dread;
 6532     And the wolf howls for a feast
 6533     On the shore-side in the east."
 6534      5. OLAF'S FIRST BATTLE.
 6535      The same autumn Olaf had his first battle at Sotasker, which lies in the
 6536      Swedish skerry circle. He fought there with some vikings, whose leader was
 6537      Sote. Olaf had much fewer men, but his ships were larger, and he had his
 6538      ships between some blind rocks, which made it difficult for the vikings to
 6539      get alongside; and Olaf's men threw grappling irons into the ships which
 6540      came nearest, drew them up to their own vessels, and cleared them of men.
 6541      The vikings took to flight after losing many men. Sigvat the skald tells
 6542      of this fight in the lay in which he reckons up King Olaf's battles: -
 6543     "They launch his ship where waves are foaming -
 6544          To the sea shore
 6545          Both mast and oar,
 6546     And sent his o'er the seas a-roaming.
 6547     Where did the sea-king first draw blood?
 6548          In the battle shock
 6549          At Sote's rock;
 6550     The wolves howl over their fresh food."
 6551      6. FORAY IN SVITHJOD.
 6552      King Olaf steered thereafter eastwards to Svithjod, and into the Lag (the
 6553      Maelar lake), and ravaged the land on both sides. He sailed all the way up
 6554      to Sigtuna, and laid his ships close to the old Sigtuna. The Swedes say
 6555      the stone-heaps are still to be seen which Olaf had laid under the ends of
 6556      the gangways from the shore to the ships. When autumn was advanced, Olaf
 6557      Haraldson heard that Olaf the Swedish king was assembling an army, and
 6558      also that he had laid iron chains across Stoksund (the channel between the
 6559      Maelar lake and the sea), and had laid troops there; for the Swedish king
 6560      thought that Olaf Haraldson would be kept in there till frost came, and he
 6561      thought little of Olaf's force knowing he had but few people. Now when
 6562      King Olaf Haraldson came to Stoksund he could not get through, as there
 6563      was a castle west of the sound, and men-at-arms lay on the south; and he
 6564      heard that the Swedish king was come there with a great army and many
 6565      ships. He therefore dug a canal across the flat land Agnafit out to the
 6566      sea. Over all Svithjod all the running waters fall into the Maelar lake;
 6567      but the only outlet of it to the sea is so small that many rivers are
 6568      wider, and when much rain or snow falls the water rushes in a great
 6569      cataract out by Stoksund, and the lake rises high and floods the land. It
 6570      fell heavy rain just at this time; and as the canal was dug out to the
 6571      sea, the water and stream rushed into it. Then Olaf had all the rudders
 6572      unshipped and hoisted all sail aloft. It was blowing a strong breeze
 6573      astern, and they steered with their oars, and the ships came in a rush
 6574      over all the shallows, and got into the sea without any damage. Now went
 6575      the Swedes to their king, Olaf, and told him that Olaf the Great had
 6576      slipped out to sea; on which the king was enraged against those who should
 6577      have watched that Olaf did not get away. This passage has since been
 6578      called King's Sound; but large vessels cannot pass through it, unless the
 6579      waters are very high. Some relate that the Swedes were aware that Olaf had
 6580      cut across the tongue of land, and that the water was falling out that
 6581      way; and they flocked to it with the intention to hinder Olaf from getting
 6582      away, but the water undermined the banks on each side so that they fell in
 6583      with the people, and many were drowned: but the Swedes contradict this as
 6584      a false report, and deny the loss of people. The king sailed to Gotland in
 6585      harvest, and prepared to plunder; but the Gotlanders assembled, and sent
 6586      men to the king, offering him a scat. The king found this would suit him,
 6587      and he received the scat, and remained there all winter. So says Ottar
 6588      Svarte: -
 6589     "Thou seaman-prince! thy men are paid:
 6590     The scat on Gotlanders is laid;
 6591          Young man or old
 6592          To our seamen bold
 6593          Must pay, to save his head:
 6594          The Yngling princes fled,
 6595          Eysvssel people bled;
 6596     Who can't defend the wealth they have
 6597     Must die, or share with the rover brave."
 6598      7. THE SECOND BATTLE.
 6599      It is related here that King Olaf, when spring set in, sailed east to
 6600      Eysyssel, and landed and plundered; the Eysyssel men came down to the
 6601      strand and grave him battle. King Olaf gained the victory, pursued those
 6602      who fled, and laid waste the land with fire and sword. It is told that
 6603      when King Olaf first came to Eysvssel they offered him scat, and when the
 6604      scat was to be brought down to the strand the king came to meet it with an
 6605      armed force, and that was not what the bondes there expected; for they had
 6606      brought no scat, but only their weapons with which they fought against the
 6607      king, as before related. So says Sigvat the skald: -
 6608     "With much deceit and bustle
 6609     To the heath of Eysyssel
 6610     The bondes brought the king,
 6611     To get scat at their weapon-thing.
 6612     But Olaf was too wise
 6613     To be taken by surprise;
 6614     Their legs scarce bore them off
 6615     O'er the common test enough."
 6616      8. THE THIRD BATTLE.
 6617      After this they sailed to Finland and plundered there, and went up the
 6618      country. All the people fled to the forest, and they had emptied their
 6619      houses of all household goods. The king went far up the country, and
 6620      through some woods, and came to some dwellings in a valley called
 6621      Herdaler, -where, however, they made but small booty, and saw no
 6622      people; and as it was getting late in the day, the king turned back to his
 6623      ships. Now when they came into the woods again people rushed upon them
 6624      from all quarters, and made a severe attack. The king told his men to
 6625      cover themselves with their shields, but before they got out of the woods
 6626      he lost many people, and many were wounded; but at last, late in the
 6627      evening, he got to the ships. The Finlanders conjured up in the night, by
 6628      their witchcraft, a dreadful storm and bad weather on the sea; but the
 6629      king ordered the anchors to be weighed and sail hoisted, and beat off all
 6630      night to the outside of the land. The king's luck prevailed more than the
 6631      Finlanders' witchcraft; for he had the luck to beat round the Balagard's
 6632      side in the night, and so got out to sea. But the Finnish army proceeded
 6633      on land, making the same progress as the king made with his ships. So says
 6634      Sigvat: -
 6635     "The third fight was at Herdaler, where
 6636     The men of Finland met in war
 6637     The hero of the royal race,
 6638     With ringing sword-blades face to face.
 6639     Off Balagard's shore the waves
 6640     Ran hollow; but the sea-king saves
 6641     His hard-pressed ship, and gains the lee
 6642     Of the east coast through the wild sea."
 6643      9. THE FOURTH BATTLE IN SUDERVIK.
 6644      King Olaf sailed from thence to Denmark, where he met Thorkel the Tall,
 6645      brother of Earl Sigvalde, and went into partnership with him; for he was
 6646      just ready to set out on a cruise. They sailed southwards to the Jutland
 6647      coast, to a place called Sudervik, where they overcame many viking ships.
 6648      The vikings, who usually have many people to command, give themselves the
 6649      title of kings, although they have no lands to rule over. King Olaf went
 6650      into battle with them, and it was severe; but King Olaf gained the
 6651      victory, and a great booty. So says Sigvat: -
 6652     "Hark!  hark!  The war-shout
 6653          Through Sudervik rings,
 6654     And the vikings bring out
 6655          To fight the two kings.
 6656     Great honour, I'm told,
 6657     Won these vikings so bold:
 6658     But their bold fight was vain,
 6659     For the two brave kings gain."
 6660      10. THE FIFTH BATTLE IN FRIESLAND.
 6661      King Olaf sailed from thence south to Friesland, and lay under the strand
 6662      of Kinlima in dreadful weather. The king landed with his men; but the
 6663      people of the country rode down to the strand against them, and he fought
 6664      them. So says Sigvat: -
 6665     "Under Kinlima's cliff,
 6666     This battle is the fifth.
 6667     The brave sea-rovers stand
 6668     All on the glittering sand;
 6669     And down the horsemen ride
 6670     To the edge of the rippling tide:
 6671     But Olaf taught the peasant band
 6672     To know the weight of a viking's hand."
 6673      11. DEATH OF KING SVEIN FORKED BEARD.
 6674      The king sailed from thence westward to England. It was then the case that
 6675      the Danish king, Svein Forked Beard, was at that time in England with a
 6676      Danish army, and had been fixed there for some time, and had seized upon
 6677      King Ethelred's kingdom. The Danes had spread themselves so widely over
 6678      England, that it was come so far that King Ethelred had departed from the
 6679      country, and had gone south to Valland. The same autumn that King Olaf
 6680      came to England, it happened that King Svein died suddenly in the night in
 6681      his bed; and it is said by Englishmen that Edmund the Saint killed him, in
 6682      the same way that the holy Mercurius had killed the apostate Julian. When
 6683      Ethelred, the king of the English, heard this in Flanders, he returned
 6684      directly to England; and no sooner was he come back, than he sent an
 6685      invitation to all the men who would enter into his pay, to join him in
 6686      recovering the country. Then many people flocked to him; and among others,
 6687      came King Olaf with a great troop of Northmen to his aid. They steered
 6688      first to London, and sailed into the Thames with their fleet; but the
 6689      Danes had a castle within. On the other side of the river is a great
 6690      trading place, which is called Sudvirke. There the Danes had raised a
 6691      great work, dug large ditches, and within had built a bulwark of stone,
 6692      timber, and turf, where they had stationed a strong army. King Ethelred
 6693      ordered a great assault; but the Danes defended themselves bravely, and
 6694      King Ethelred could make nothing of it. Between the castle and Southwark
 6695      (Sudvirke) there was a bridge, so broad that two wagons could pass each
 6696      other upon it. On the bridge were raised barricades, both towers and
 6697      wooden parapets, in the direction of the river, which were nearly breast
 6698      high; and under the bridge were piles driven into the bottom of the river.
 6699      Now when the attack was made the troops stood on the bridge everywhere,
 6700      and defended themselves. King Ethelred was very anxious to get possession
 6701      of the bridge, and he called together all the chiefs to consult how they
 6702      should get the bridge broken down. Then said King Olaf he would attempt to
 6703      lay his fleet alongside of it, if the other ships would do the same. It
 6704      was then determined in this council that they should lay their war forces
 6705      under the bridge; and each made himself ready with ships and men.
 6706      12. THE SIXTH BATTLE.
 6707      King Olaf ordered great platforms of floating wood to be tied together
 6708      with hazel bands, and for this he took down old houses; and with these, as
 6709      a roof, he covered over his ships so widely, that it reached over the
 6710      ships' sides. Under this screen he set pillars so high and stout, that
 6711      there both was room for swinging their swords, and the roofs were strong
 6712      enough to withstand the stones cast down upon them. Now when the fleet and
 6713      men were ready, they rode up along the river; but when they came near the
 6714      bridge, there were cast down upon them so many stones and missile weapons,
 6715      such as arrows and spears, that neither helmet nor shield could hold out
 6716      against it; and the ships themselves were so greatly damaged, that many
 6717      retreated out of it. But King Olaf, and the Northmen's fleet with him,
 6718      rowed quite up under the bridge, laid their cables around the piles which
 6719      supported it, and then rowed off with all the ships as hard as they could
 6720      down the stream. The piles were thus shaken in the bottom, and were
 6721      loosened under the bridge. Now as the armed troops stood thick of men upon
 6722      the bridge, and there were likewise many heaps of stones and other weapons
 6723      upon it, and the piles under it being loosened and broken, the bridge gave
 6724      way; and a great part of the men upon it fell into the river, and all the
 6725      ethers fled, some into the castle, some into Southwark. Thereafter
 6726      Southwark was stormed and taken. Now when the people in the castle saw
 6727      that the river Thames was mastered, and that they could not hinder the
 6728      passage of ships up into the country, they became afraid, surrendered the
 6729      tower, and took Ethelred to be their king. So says Ottar Svarte: -
 6730     "London Bridge is broken down. -
 6731     Gold is won, and bright renown.
 6732          Shields resounding,
 6733          War-horns sounding,
 6734     Hild is shouting in the din!
 6735          Arrows singing,
 6736          Mail-coats ringing -
 6737     Odin makes our Olaf win!"
 6738      And he also composed these: -
 6739     "King Ethelred has found a friend:
 6740     Brave Olaf will his throne defend -
 6741          In bloody fight
 6742          Maintain his right,
 6743          Win back his land
 6744          With blood-red hand,
 6745     And Edmund's son upon his throne replace -
 6746     Edmund, the star of every royal race!"
 6747      Sigvat also relates as follows: -
 6748     "At London Bridge stout Olaf gave
 6749     Odin's law to his war-men brave -
 6750          'To win or die!'
 6751          And their foemen fly.
 6752     Some by the dyke-side refuge gain -
 6753     Some in their tents on Southwark plain!
 6754          The sixth attack
 6755          Brought victory back."
 6756      13. THE SEVENTH BATTLE.
 6757      King Olaf passed all the winter with King Ethelred, and had a great battle
 6758      at Hringmara Heath in Ulfkel's land, the domain which Ulfkel Snilling at
 6759      that time held; and here again the king was victorious. So says Sigvat the
 6760      skald: -
 6761     "To Ulfkel's land came Olaf bold,
 6762     A seventh sword-thing he would hold.
 6763     The race of Ella filled the plain -
 6764     Few of them slept at home again!
 6765     Hringmara heath
 6766     Was a bed of death:
 6767     Harfager's heir
 6768     Dealt slaughter there."
 6769      And Ottar sings of this battle thus: -
 6770     "From Hringmara field
 6771          The chime of war,
 6772     Sword striking shield,
 6773          Rings from afar.
 6774     The living fly;
 6775     The dead piled high
 6776     The moor enrich;
 6777     Red runs the ditch."
 6778      The country far around was then brought in subjection to King Ethelred:
 6779      but the Thingmen (1) and the Danes held many castles, besides a great part
 6780      of the country.
 6781   ENDNOTES: (1) Thing-men were hired men-at-arms; called Thing-men
 6782     probably from being men above the class of thralls or unfree men,
 6783     and entitled to appear at Things, as being udal-born to land at
 6784     home.
 6785      14. EIGHTH AND NINTH BATTLES OF OLAF.
 6786      King Olaf was commander of all the forces when they went against
 6787      Canterbury; and they fought there until they took the town, killing many
 6788      people and burning the castle. So says Ottar Svarte: -
 6789     "All in the grey of morn
 6790          Broad Canterbury's forced.
 6791     Black smoke from house-roofs borne
 6792          Hides fire that does its worst;
 6793     And many a man laid low
 6794     By the battle-axe's blow,
 6795     Waked by the Norsemen's cries,
 6796     Scarce had time to rub his eyes."
 6797      Sigvat reckons this King Olaf's eighth battle: -
 6798     "Of this eighth battle I can tell
 6799     How it was fought, and what befell,
 6800          The castle tower
 6801          With all his power
 6802          He could not take,
 6803          Nor would forsake.
 6804          The Perthmen fought,
 6805          Nor quarter sought;
 6806          By death or flight
 6807          They left the fight.
 6808     Olaf could not this earl stout
 6809     From Canterbury quite drive out."
 6810      At this time King Olaf was entrusted with the whole land defence of
 6811      England, and he sailed round the land with his ships of War. He laid his
 6812      ships at land at Nyjamoda, where the troops of the Thingmen were, and gave
 6813      them battle and gained the victory. So says Sigvat the skald: -
 6814     "The youthful king stained red the hair
 6815     Of Angeln men, and dyed his spear
 6816     At Newport in their hearts' dark blood:
 6817     And where the Danes the thickest stood -
 6818     Where the shrill storm round Olaf's head
 6819     Of spear and arrow thickest fled.
 6820     There thickest lay the Thingmen dead!
 6821     Nine battles now of Olaf bold,
 6822     Battle by battle, I have told."
 6823      King Olaf then scoured all over the country, taking scat of the people and
 6824      plundering where it was refused. So says Ottar: -
 6825     "The English race could not resist thee,
 6826     With money thou madest them assist thee;
 6827     Unsparingly thou madest them pay
 6828     A scat to thee in every way;
 6829     Money, if money could be got -
 6830     Goods, cattle, household gear, if not.
 6831     Thy gathered spoil, borne to the strand,
 6832     Was the best wealth of English land."
 6833      Olaf remained here for three years (A.D. 1010-1012).
 6834      15. THE TENTH BATTLE.
 6835      The third year King Ethelred died, and his sons Edmund and Edward took the
 6836      government (A.D. 1012). Then Olaf sailed southwards out to sea, and had a
 6837      battle at Hringsfjord, and took a castle situated at Holar, where vikings
 6838      resorted, and burnt the castle. So says Sigvat the skald: -
 6839     "Of the tenth battle now I tell,
 6840     Where it was fought, and what befell.
 6841     Up on the hill in Hringsfjord fair
 6842     A robber nest hung in the air:
 6843     The people followed our brave chief,
 6844     And razed the tower of the viking thief.
 6845     Such rock and tower, such roosting-place,
 6846     Was ne'er since held by the roving race."
 6847      16. ELEVENTH, TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH BATTLES.
 6848      Then King Olaf proceeded westwards to Grislupollar, and fought there with
 6849      vikings at Williamsby; and there also King Olaf gained the victory. So
 6850      says Sigvat: -
 6851     "The eleventh battle now I tell,
 6852     Where it was fought, and what befell.
 6853     At Grislupol our young fir's name
 6854     O'ertopped the forest trees in fame:
 6855     Brave Olaf's name -nought else was heard
 6856     But Olaf's name, and arm, and sword.
 6857     Of three great earls, I have heard say,
 6858     His sword crushed helm and head that day."
 6859      Next he fought westward on Fetlafjord, as Sigvat tells: -
 6860     "The twelfth fight was at Fetlafjord,
 6861     Where Olaf's honour-seeking sword
 6862     Gave the wild wolf's devouring teeth
 6863     A feast of warriors doomed to death."
 6864      From thence King Olaf sailed southwards to Seljupollar, where he had a
 6865      battle. He took there a castle called Gunvaldsborg, which was very large
 6866      and old. He also made prisoner the earl who ruled over the castle and who
 6867      was called Geirfin. After a conference with the men of the castle, he laid
 6868      a scat upon the town and earl, as ransom, of twelve thousand gold
 6869      shillings: which was also paid by those on whom it was imposed. So says
 6870      Sigvat: -
 6871     "The thirteenth battle now I tell,
 6872     Where it was fought, and what befell.
 6873     In Seljupol was fought the fray,
 6874     And many did not survive the day.
 6875     The king went early to the shore,
 6876     To Gunvaldsborg's old castle-tower;
 6877     And a rich earl was taken there,
 6878     Whose name was Geridin, I am sure."
 6879      17. FOURTEENTH BATTLE AND OLAF'S DREAM.
 6880      Thereafter King Olaf steered with his fleet westward to Karlsar, and
 6881      tarried there and had a fight. And while King Olaf was lying in Karlsa
 6882      river waiting a wind, and intending to sail up to Norvasund, and then on
 6883      to the land of Jerusalem, he dreamt a remarkable dream -that there
 6884      came to him a great and important man, but of a terrible appearance
 6885      withal, who spoke to him, and told him to give up his purpose of
 6886      proceeding to that land. "Return back to thy udal, for thou shalt be king
 6887      over Norway for ever." He interpreted this dream to mean that he should be
 6888      king over the country, and his posterity after him for a long time.
 6889      18. FIFTEENTH BATTLE.
 6890      After this appearance to him he turned about, and came to Poitou, where he
 6891      plundered and burnt a merchant town called Varrande. Of this Ottar speaks: -
 6892     "Our young king, blythe and gay,
 6893     Is foremost in the fray:
 6894     Poitou he plunders, Tuskland burns, -
 6895     He fights and wins where'er he turns."
 6896      And also Sigvat says: -
 6897     "The Norsemen's king is on his cruise,
 6898          His blue steel staining,
 6899          Rich booty gaining,
 6900     And all men trembling at the news.
 6901     The Norsemen's kings up on the Loire:
 6902          Rich Partheney
 6903          In ashes lay;
 6904     Far inland reached the Norsemen's spear."
 6905      19. OF THE EARLS OF ROUEN.
 6906      King Olaf had been two summers and one winter in the west in Valland on
 6907      this cruise; and thirteen years had now passed since the fall of King Olaf
 6908      Trygvason. During this time earls had ruled over Norway; first Hakon's
 6909      sons Eirik and Svein, and afterwards Eirik's sons Hakon and Svein. Hakon
 6910      was a sister's son of King Canute, the son of Svein. During this time
 6911      there were two earls in Valland, William and Robert; their father was
 6912      Richard earl of Rouen. They ruled over Normandy. Their sister was Queen
 6913      Emma, whom the English king Ethelred had married; and their sons were
 6914      Edmund, Edward the Good, Edwy, and Edgar. Richard the earl of Rouen was a
 6915      son of Richard the son of William Long Spear, who was the son of Rolf
 6916      Ganger, the earl who first conquered Normandy; and he again was a son of
 6917      Ragnvald the Mighty, earl of More, as before related. From Rolf Ganger are
 6918      descended the earls of Rouen, who have long reckoned themselves of kin to
 6919      the chiefs in Norway, and hold them in such respect that they always were
 6920      the greatest friends of the Northmen; and every Northman found a friendly
 6921      country in Normandy, if he required it. To Normandy King Olaf came in
 6922      autumn (A.D. 1013), and remained all winter (A.D. 1014) in the river Seine
 6923      in good peace and quiet.
 6924      20. OF EINAR TAMBASKELFER.
 6925      After Olaf Trygvason's fall, Earl Eirik gave peace to Einar Tambaskelfer,
 6926      the son of Eindride Styrkarson; and Einar went north with the earl to
 6927      Norway. It is said that Einar was the strongest man and the best archer
 6928      that ever was in Norway. His shooting was sharp beyond all others; for
 6929      with a blunt arrow he shot through a raw, soft ox-hide, hanging over a
 6930      beam. He was better than any man at running on snow-shoes, was a great man
 6931      at all exercises, was of high family, and rich. The earls Eirik and Svein
 6932      married their sister Bergliot to Einar. Their son was named Eindride. The
 6933      earls gave Einar great fiefs in Orkadal, so that he was one of the most
 6934      powerful and able men in the Throndhjem country, and was also a great
 6935      friend of the earls, and a great support and aid to them.
 6936      21. OF ERLING SKIALGSON.
 6937      When Olaf Trygvason ruled over Norway, he gave his brother-in-law Erling
 6938      half of the land scat, and royal revenues between the Naze and Sogn. His
 6939      other sister he married to the Earl Ragnvald Ulfson, who long ruled over
 6940      West Gautland. Ragnvald's father, Ulf, was a brother of Sigrid the
 6941      Haughty, the mother of Olaf the Swedish king. Earl Eirik was ill pleased
 6942      that Erling Skialgson had so large a dominion, and he took to himself all
 6943      the king's estates, which King Olaf had given to Erling. But Erling
 6944      levied, as before, all the land scat in Rogaland; and thus the inhabitants
 6945      had often to pay him the land scat, otherwise he laid waste their land.
 6946      The earl made little of the business, for no bailiff of his could live
 6947      there, and the earl could only come there in guest-quarters, when he had a
 6948      great many people with him. So says Sigvat: -
 6949     "Olaf the king
 6950     Thought the bonde Erling
 6951     A man who would grace
 6952     His own royal race.
 6953     One sister the king
 6954     Gave the bonde Erling;
 6955     And one to an earl,
 6956     And she saved him in peril."
 6957      Earl Eirik did not venture to fight with Erling, because he had very
 6958      powerful and very many friends, and was himself rich and popular, and kept
 6959      always as many retainers about him as if he held a king's court. Erling
 6960      was often out in summer on plundering expeditions, and procured for
 6961      himself means of living; for he continued his usual way of high and
 6962      splendid living, although now he had fewer and less convenient fiefs than
 6963      in the time of his brother-in-law King Olaf Trygvason. Erling was one of
 6964      the handsomest, largest, and strongest men; a better warrior than any
 6965      other; and in all exercises he was like King Olaf himself. He was,
 6966      besides, a man of understanding, jealous in everything he undertook, and a
 6967      deadly man at arms. Sigvat talks thus of him: -
 6968     "No earl or baron, young or old,
 6969     Match with this bonde brave can hold.
 6970     Mild was brave Erling, all men say,
 6971     When not engaged in bloody fray:
 6972     His courage he kept hid until
 6973     The fight began, then foremost still
 6974     Erling was seen in war's wild game,
 6975     And famous still is Erling's name."
 6976      It was a common saying among the people, that Erling had been the most
 6977      valiant who ever held lands under a king in Norway. Erlings and Astrid s
 6978      children were these -Aslak, Skialg, Sigurd, Lodin, Thorer, and
 6979      Ragnhild, who was married to Thorberg Arnason. Erling had always with him
 6980      ninety free-born men or more, and both winter and summer it was the custom
 6981      in his house to drink at the mid-day meal according to a measure (1), but
 6982      at the night meal there was no measure in drinking. When the earl was in
 6983      the neighbourhood he had 200 (2) men or more. He never went to sea with
 6984      less than a fully-manned ship of twenty benches of rowers. Erling had also
 6985      a ship of thirty-two benches of rowers, which was besides, very large for
 6986      that size, and which he used in viking cruises, or on an expedition; and
 6987      in it there were 200 men at the very least.
 6988   ENDNOTES: (1) There were silver-studs in a row from the rim to the
 6989     bottom of the drinking born or cup; and as it went round each drank
 6990     till the stud appeared above the liquor.  This was drinking
 6991     by measure. -L.
 6992(2) I.e., 240.
 6993      22. OF THE HERSE ERLING SKIALGSON.
 6994      Erling had always at home on his farm thirty slaves, besides other
 6995      serving-people. He gave his slaves a certain day's work; but after it he
 6996      gave them leisure, and leave that each should work in the twilight and at
 6997      night for himself, and as he pleased. He gave them arable land to sow corn
 6998      in, and let them apply their crops to their own use. He laid upon each a
 6999      certain quantity of labour to work themselves free by doing it; and there
 7000      were many who bought their freedom in this way in one year, or in the
 7001      second year, and all who had any luck could make themselves free within
 7002      three years. With this money he bought other slaves: and to some of his
 7003      freed people he showed how to work in the herring-fishery, to others he
 7004      showed some useful handicraft; and some cleared his outfields and set up
 7005      houses. He helped all to prosperity.
 7006      23. OF EARL EIRIK.
 7007      When Earl Eirik had ruled over Norway for twelve years, there came a
 7008      message to him from his brother-in-law King Canute, the Danish king, that
 7009      he should go with him on an expedition westward to England; for Eirik was
 7010      very celebrated for his campaigns, as he had gained the victory in the two
 7011      hardest engagements which had ever been fought in the north countries. The
 7012      one was that in which the Earls Hakon and Eirik fought with the Jomsborg
 7013      vikings; the other that in which Earl Eirik fought with King Olaf
 7014      Trygvason. Thord Kolbeinson speaks of this: -
 7015     "A song of praise
 7016     Again I raise.
 7017     To the earl bold
 7018     The word is told,
 7019     That Knut the Brave
 7020     His aid would crave;
 7021     The earl, I knew,
 7022     To friend stands true."
 7023      The earl would not sleep upon the message of the king, but sailed
 7024      immediately out of the country, leaving behind his son Earl Hakon to take
 7025      care of Norway; and, as he was but seventeen years of age, Einar
 7026      Tambaskelfer was to be at his hand to rule the country for him.
 7027      Eirik met King Canute in England, and was with him when he took the castle
 7028      of London. Earl Eirik had a battle also to the westward of the castle of
 7029      London, and killed Ulfkel Snilling. So says Thord Kolbeinson: -
 7030     "West of London town we passed,
 7031     And our ocean-steeds made fast,
 7032     And a bloody fight begin,
 7033     England's lands to lose or win.
 7034     Blue sword and shining spear
 7035     Laid Ulfkel's dead corpse there,
 7036     Our Thingmen hear the war-shower sounding
 7037     Our grey arrows from their shields rebounding."
 7038      Earl Eirik was a winter in England, and had many battles there. The
 7039      following autumn he intended to make a pilgrimage to Rome, but he died in
 7040      England of a bloody flux.
 7041      24. THE MURDER OF EDMUND.
 7042      King Canute came to England the summer that King Ethelred died, and had
 7043      many battles with Ethelred's sons, in which the victory was sometimes on
 7044      one side, sometimes on the other. Then King Canute took Queen Emma in
 7045      marriage; and their children were Harald, Hardacanute, and Gunhild. King
 7046      Canute then made an agreement with King Edmund, that each of them should
 7047      have a half of England. In the same month Henry Strion murdered King
 7048      Edmund. King Canute then drove all Ethelred's sons out of England. So says
 7049      Sigvat: -
 7050     "Now all the sons of Ethelred
 7051     Were either fallen, or had fled:
 7052     Some slain by Canute, -some they say,
 7053     To save their lives had run away."
 7054      25. OLAF AND ETHELRED'S SONS.
 7055      King Ethelred's sons came to Rouen in Valland from England, to their
 7056      mother's brother, the same summer that King Olaf Haraldson came from the
 7057      west from his viking cruise, and they were all during the winter in
 7058      Normandy together. They made an agreement with each other that King Olaf
 7059      should have Northumberland, if they could succeed in taking England from
 7060      the Danes. Therefore about harvest, Olaf sent his foster-father Hrane to
 7061      England to collect men-at-arms; and Ethelred's sons sent tokens to their
 7062      friends and relations with him. King Olaf, besides, gave him much money
 7063      with him to attract people to them. Hrane was all winter in England, and
 7064      got promises from many powerful men of fidelity, as the people of the
 7065      country would rather have native kings over them; but the Danish power had
 7066      become so great in England, that all the people were brought under their
 7067      dominion.
 7068      26. BATTLE OF KING OLAF.
 7069      In spring (A.D. 1014) King Olaf and King Ethelred's sons set out together
 7070      to the west, and came to a place in England called Jungufurda, where they
 7071      landed with their army and moved forward against the castle. Many men were
 7072      there who had promised them their aid. They took the castle; and killed
 7073      many people. Now when King Canute's men heard of this they assembled an
 7074      army, and were soon in such force that Ethelred's sons could not stand
 7075      against it; and they saw no other way left but to return to Rouen. Then
 7076      King Olaf separated from them, and would not go back to Valland, but
 7077      sailed northwards along England, all the way to Northumberland, where he
 7078      put into a haven at a place called Valde; and in a battle there with the
 7079      townspeople and merchants he gained the victory, and a great booty.
 7080      27. OLAF'S EXPEDITION TO NORWAY.
 7081      King Olaf left his long-ships there behind, but made ready two ships of
 7082      burden; and had with him 220 men in them, well-armed, and chosen people.
 7083      He sailed out to sea northwards in harvest, but encountered a tremendous
 7084      storm and they were in danger of being lost; but as they had a chosen
 7085      crew, and the king s luck with them, all went on well. So says Ottar: -
 7086     "Olaf, great stem of kings, is brave -
 7087     Bold in the fight, bold on the wave.
 7088          No thought of fear
 7089          Thy heart comes near.
 7090     Undaunted, 'midst the roaring flood,
 7091     Firm at his post each shipman stood;
 7092          And thy two ships stout
 7093          The gale stood out."
 7094      And further he says: -
 7095     "Thou able chief!  with thy fearless crew
 7096     Thou meetest, with skill and courage true,
 7097          The wild sea's wrath
 7098          On thy ocean path.
 7099     Though waves mast-high were breaking round.
 7100     Thou findest the middle of Norway's ground,
 7101          With helm in hand
 7102          On Saela's strand."
 7103      It is related here that King Olaf came from the sea to the very middle of
 7104      Norway; and the isle is called Saela where they landed, and is outside of
 7105      Stad. King Olaf said he thought it must be a lucky day for them, since
 7106      they had landed at Saela in Norway; and observed it was a good omen that
 7107      it so happened. As they were going up in the isle, the king slipped with
 7108      one foot in a place where there was clay, but supported himself with the
 7109      other foot. Then said he "The king falls." "Nay," replies Hrane, "thou
 7110      didst not fall, king, but set fast foot in the soil." The king laughed
 7111      thereat, and said, "It may be so if God will." They went down again
 7112      thereafter to their ships, and sailed to Ulfasund, where they heard that
 7113      Earl Hakon was south in Sogn, and was expected north as soon as wind
 7114      allowed with a single ship.
 7115      28. HAKON TAKEN PRISONER BY OLAF.
 7116      King Olaf steered his ships within the ordinary ships' course when he came
 7117      abreast of Fjaler district, and ran into Saudungssund. There he laid his
 7118      two vessels one on each side of the sound with a thick cable between them.
 7119      At the same moment Hakon, Earl Eirik's son, came rowing into the sound
 7120      with a manned ship; and as they thought these were but two
 7121      merchant-vessels that were lying in the sound, they rowed between them.
 7122      Then Olaf and his men draw the cable up right under Hakon's ship's keel
 7123      and wind it up with the capstan. As soon as the vessel's course was
 7124      stopped her stern was lifted up, and her bow plunged down; so that the
 7125      water came in at her fore-end and over both sides, and she upset. King
 7126      Olaf's people took Earl Hakon and all his men whom they could get hold of
 7127      out of the water, and made them prisoners; but some they killed with
 7128      stones and other weapons, and some were drowned. So says Ottar: -
 7129     "The black ravens wade
 7130     In the blood from thy blade.
 7131     Young Hakon so gay,
 7132     With his ship, is thy prey:
 7133     His ship, with its gear,
 7134     Thou hast ta'en; and art here,
 7135     Thy forefather's land
 7136     From the earl to demand."
 7137      Earl Hakon was led up to the king's ship. He was the handsomest man that
 7138      could be seen. He had long hair, as fine as silk, bound about his bead
 7139      with a gold ornament.
 7140      When he sat down in the fore-hold, the king said to him, "It is not false
 7141      what is said of your family, that ye are handsome people to look at; but
 7142      now your luck has deserted you."
 7143      Hakon the earl replied, "It has always been the case that success is
 7144      changeable; and there is no luck in the matter. It has gone with your
 7145      family as with mine, to have by turns the better lot. I am little beyond
 7146      childhood in years; and at any rate we could not have defended ourselves,
 7147      as we did not expect any attack on the way. It may turn out better with us
 7148      another time."
 7149      Then said King Olaf, "Dost thou not apprehend that thou art in that
 7150      condition that, hereafter, there can be neither victory nor defeat for
 7151      thee?"
 7152      The earl replies, "That is what thou only canst determine, king, according
 7153      to thy pleasure."
 7154      Olaf says, "What wilt thou give me, earl, if for this time I let thee go,
 7155      whole and unhurt?"
 7156      The earl asks what he would take.
 7157      "Nothing," says the king, "except that thou shalt leave the country, give
 7158      up thy kingdom, and take an oath that thou shalt never go into battle
 7159      against me."
 7160      The earl answered, that he would do so. And now Earl Hakon took the oath
 7161      that he would never fight against Olaf, or seek to defend Norway against
 7162      him, or attack him; and King Olaf thereupon gave him and all his men life
 7163      and peace. The earl got back the ship which had brought him there, and he
 7164      and his men rowed their way. Thus says Sigvat of him: -
 7165     "In old Saudungs sound
 7166     The king Earl Hakon found,
 7167     Who little thought that there
 7168     A foeman was so near.
 7169     The best and fairest youth
 7170     Earl Hakon was in truth,
 7171     That speaks the Danish tongue,
 7172     And of the race of great Hakon."
 7173      29. HAKON'S DEPARTURE FROM NORWAY.
 7174      After this (A.D. 1014) the earl made ready as fast as possible to leave
 7175      the country and sail over to England. He met King Canute, his mother's
 7176      brother, there, and told him all that had taken place between him and King
 7177      Olaf. King Canute received him remarkably well, placed him in his court in
 7178      his own house, and gave him great power in his kingdom. Earl Hakon dwelt a
 7179      long time with King Canute. During the time Svein and Hakon ruled over
 7180      Norway, a reconciliation with Erling Skialgson was effected, and secured
 7181      by Aslak, Erling's son, marrying Gunhild, Earl Svein's daughter; and the
 7182      father and son, Erling and Aslak, retained all the fiefs which King Olaf
 7183      Trygvason had given to Erling. Thus Erling became a firm friend of the
 7184      earl's, and their mutual friendship was confirmed by oath.
 7185      30. ASTA RECEIVES HER SON OLAF.
 7186      King Olaf went now eastward along the land, holding Things with the bondes
 7187      all over the country. Many went willingly with him; but some, who were
 7188      Earl Svein's friends or relations, spoke against him. Therefore King Olaf
 7189      sailed in all haste eastward to Viken; went in there with his ships; set
 7190      them on the land; and proceeded up the country, in order to meet his
 7191      stepfather, Sigurd Syr. When he came to Vestfold he was received in a
 7192      friendly way by many who had been his father's friends or acquaintances;
 7193      and also there and in Folden were many of his family. In autumn (A.D.
 7194      1014) he proceeded up the country to his stepfather King Sigurd's, and
 7195      came there one day very early. As Olaf was coming near to the house, some
 7196      of the servants ran beforehand to the house, and into the room. Olaf's
 7197      mother, Asta, was sitting in the room, and around her some of her girls.
 7198      When the servants told her of King Olaf's approach, and that he might soon
 7199      be expected, Asta stood up directly, and ordered the men and girls to put
 7200      everything in the best order. She ordered four girls to bring out all that
 7201      belonged to the decoration of the room and put it in order with hangings
 7202      and benches. Two fellows brought straw for the floor, two brought forward
 7203      four-cornered tables and the drinking-jugs, two bore out victuals and
 7204      placed the meat on the table, two she sent away from the house to procure
 7205      in the greatest haste all that was needed, and two carried in the ale; and
 7206      all the other serving men and girls went outside of the house. Messengers
 7207      went to seek King Sigurd wherever he might be, and brought to him his
 7208      dress-clothes, and his horse with gilt saddle, and his bridle, which was
 7209      gilt and set with precious stones. Four men she sent off to the four
 7210      quarters of the country to invite all the great people to a feast, which
 7211      she prepared as a rejoicing for her son's return. All who were before in
 7212      the house she made to dress themselves with the best they had, and lent
 7213      clothes to those who had none suitable.
 7214      31. KING SIGURD'S DRESS.
 7215      King Sigurd Syr was standing in his corn-field when the messengers came to
 7216      him and brought him the news, and also told him all that Asta was doing at
 7217      home in the house. He had many people on his farm. Some were then shearing
 7218      corn, some bound it together, some drove it to the building, some unloaded
 7219      it and put it in stack or barn; but the king, and two men with him, went
 7220      sometimes into the field, sometimes to the place where the corn was put
 7221      into the barn. His dress, it is told, was this: -he had a blue kirtle
 7222      and blue breeches; shoes which were laced about the legs; a grey cloak,
 7223      and a grey wide-brimmed hat; a veil before his face; a staff in his hand
 7224      with a gilt-silver head on it and a silver ring around it. Of Sigurd's
 7225      living and disposition it is related that he was a very gain-making man
 7226      who attended carefully to his cattle and husbandry, and managed his
 7227      housekeeping himself. He was nowise given to pomp, and was rather
 7228      taciturn. But he was a man of the best understanding in Norway, and also
 7229      excessively wealthy in movable property. Peaceful he was, and nowise
 7230      haughty. His wife Asta was generous and high-minded. Their children were,
 7231      Guthorm, the eldest; then Gunhild; the next Halfdan, Ingerid, and Harald.
 7232      The messengers said to Sigurd, "Asta told us to bring thee word how much
 7233      it lay at her heart that thou shouldst on this occasion comport thyself in
 7234      the fashion of great men, and show a disposition more akin to Harald
 7235      Harfager's race than to thy mother's father's, Hrane Thin-nose, or Earl
 7236      Nereid the Old, although they too were very wise men." The king replies,
 7237      "The news ye bring me is weighty, and ye bring it forward in great heat.
 7238      Already before now Asta has been taken up much with people who were not so
 7239      near to her; and I see she is still of the same disposition. She takes
 7240      this up with great warmth; but can she lead her son out of the business
 7241      with the same splendour she is leading him into it? If it is to proceed so
 7242      methinks they who mix themselves up in it regard little property or life.
 7243      For this man, King Olaf, goes against a great superiority of power; and
 7244      the wrath of the Danish and Swedish kings lies at the foot of his
 7245      determination, if he ventures to go against them."
 7246      32. OF THE FEAST.
 7247      When the king had said this he sat down, and made them take off his shoes,
 7248      and put corduvan boots on, to which he bound his gold spurs. Then he put
 7249      off his cloak and coat, and dressed himself in his finest clothes, with a
 7250      scarlet cloak over all; girded on his sword, set a gilded helmet upon his
 7251      head, and mounted his horse. He sent his labouring people out to the
 7252      neighbourhood, and gathered to him thirty well-clothed men, and rode home
 7253      with them. As they rode up to the house, and were near the room, they saw
 7254      on the other side of the house the banners of Olaf coming waving; and
 7255      there was he himself, with about 100 men all well equipped. People were
 7256      gathered over all upon the house-tops. King Sigurd immediately saluted his
 7257      stepson from horseback in a friendly way, and invited him and his men to
 7258      come in and drink a cup with him. Asta, on the contrary, went up and
 7259      kissed her son, and invited him to stay with her; and land, and people,
 7260      and all the good she could do for him stood at his service. King Olaf
 7261      thanked her kindly for her invitation. Then she took him by the hand, and
 7262      led him into the room to the high-seat. King Sigurd got men to take charge
 7263      of their clothes, and give their horses corn; and then he himself went to
 7264      his high-seat, and the feast was made with the greatest splendour.
 7265      33. CONVERSATION OF OLAF AND SIGURD.
 7266      King Olaf had not been long here before he one day called his stepfather
 7267      King Sigurd, his mother Asta, and his foster-father Hrane to a conference
 7268      and consultation. Olaf began thus: "It has so happened," said he, "as is
 7269      well known to you, that I have returned to this country after a very long
 7270      sojourn in foreign parts, during all which time I and my men have had
 7271      nothing for our support but what we captured in war, for which we have
 7272      often hazarded both life and soul: for many an innocent man have we
 7273      deprived of his property, and some of their lives; and foreigners are now
 7274      sitting in the possessions which my father, his father, and their
 7275      forefathers for a long series of generations owned, and to which I have
 7276      udal right. They have not been content with this, but have taken to
 7277      themselves also the properties of all our relations who are descended from
 7278      Harald Harfager. To some they have left little, to others nothing at all.
 7279      Now I will disclose to you what I have long concealed in my own mind, that
 7280      I intend to take the heritage of my forefathers; but I will not wait upon
 7281      the Danish or Swedish king to supplicate the least thing from them,
 7282      although they for the time call that their property which was Harald
 7283      Harfager's heritage. To say the truth, I intend rather to seek my
 7284      patrimony with battle-axe and sword, and that with the help of all my
 7285      friends and relations, and of those who in this business will take my
 7286      side. And in this matter I will so lay hand to the work that one of two
 7287      things shall happen, -either I shall lay all this kingdom under my
 7288      rule which they got into their hands by the slaughter of my kinsman Olaf
 7289      Trygvason, or I shall fall here upon my inheritance in the land of my
 7290      fathers. Now I expect of thee, Sigurd, my stepfather, as well as other men
 7291      here in the country who have udal right of succession to the kingdom,
 7292      according to the law made by King Harald Harfager, that nothing shall be
 7293      of such importance to you as to prevent you from throwing off the disgrace
 7294      from our family of being slow at supporting the man who comes forward to
 7295      raise up again our race. But whether ye show any manhood in this affair or
 7296      not, I know the inclination of the people well, -that all want to be
 7297      free from the slavery of foreign masters, and will give aid and strength
 7298      to the attempt. I have not proposed this matter to any before thee,
 7299      because I know thou art a man of understanding, and can best judge how
 7300      this my purpose shall be brought forward in the beginning, and whether we
 7301      shall, in all quietness, talk about it to a few persons, or instantly
 7302      declare it to the people at large. I have already shown my teeth by taking
 7303      prisoner the Earl Hakon, who has now left the country, and given me, under
 7304      oath, the part of the kingdom which he had before; and I think it will be
 7305      easier to have Earl Svein alone to deal with, than if both were defending
 7306      the country against us."
 7307      King Sigurd answers, "It is no small affair, King Olaf, thou hast in thy
 7308      mind; and thy purpose comes more, methinks, from hasty pride than from
 7309      prudence. But it may be there is a wide difference between my humble ways
 7310      and the high thoughts thou hast; for whilst yet in thy childhood thou wast
 7311      full always of ambition and desire of command, and now thou art
 7312      experienced in battles, and hast formed thyself upon the manner of foreign
 7313      chiefs. I know therefore well, that as thou hast taken this into thy head,
 7314      it is useless to dissuade thee from it; and also it is not to be denied
 7315      that it goes to the heart of all who have courage in them, that the whole
 7316      Harfager race and kingdom should go to the ground. But I will not bind
 7317      myself by any promise, before I know the views and intentions of other
 7318      Upland kings; but thou hast done well in letting me know thy purpose,
 7319      before declaring it publicly to the people. I will promise thee, however,
 7320      my interest with the kings, and other chiefs, and country people; and
 7321      also, King Olaf, all my property stands to thy aid, and to strengthen
 7322      thee. But we will only produce the matter to the community so soon as we
 7323      see some progress, and expect some strength to this undertaking; for thou
 7324      canst easily perceive that it is a daring measure to enter into strife
 7325      with Olaf the Swedish king, and Canute, who is king both of Denmark and
 7326      England; and thou requirest great support under thee, if it is to succeed.
 7327      It is not unlikely, in my opinion, that thou wilt get good support from
 7328      the people, as the commonalty always loves what is new; and it went so
 7329      before, when Olaf Trygvason came here to the country, that all rejoiced at
 7330      it, although he did not long enjoy the kingdom."
 7331      When the consultation had proceeded so far, Asta took up the word. "For my
 7332      part, my son, I am rejoiced at thy arrival, but much more at thy advancing
 7333      thy honour. I will spare nothing for that purpose that stands in my power,
 7334      although it be but little help that can be expected from me. But if a
 7335      choice could be made, I would rather that thou shouldst be the supreme
 7336      king of Norway, even if thou shouldst not sit longer in thy kingdom than
 7337      Olaf Trygvason did, than that thou shouldst not be a greater king than
 7338      Sigurd Syr is, and die the death of old age." With this the conference
 7339      closed. King Olaf remained here a while with all his men. King Sigurd
 7340      entertained them, day about, the one day with fish and milk, the other day
 7341      with flesh-meat and ale.
 7342      34. KINGS IN THE UPLAND DISTRICTS.
 7343      At that time there were many kings in the Uplands who had districts to
 7344      rule over, and the most of them were descended from Harald Harfager. In
 7345      Hedemark two brothers ruled -Hrorek and Ring; in Gudbrandsdal,
 7346      Gudrod; and there was also a king in Raumarike; and one had Hadaland and
 7347      Thoten; and in Valders also there was a king. With these district-kings
 7348      Sigurd had a meeting up in Hadaland, and Olaf Haraldson also met with
 7349      them. To these district-kings whom Sigurd had assembled he set forth his
 7350      stepson Olaf's purpose, and asked their aid, both of men and in counsel
 7351      and consent; and represented to them how necessary it was to cast off the
 7352      yoke which the Danes and Swedes had laid upon them. He said that there was
 7353      now a man before them who could head such an enterprise; and he recounted
 7354      the many brave actions which Olaf had achieved upon his war-expeditions.
 7355      Then King Hrorek says, "True it is that Harald Harfager's kingdom has gone
 7356      to decay, none of his race being supreme king over Norway. But the people
 7357      here in the country have experienced many things. When King Hakon,
 7358      Athelstan's foster-son, was king, all were content; but when Gunhild's
 7359      sons ruled over the country, all were so weary of their tyranny and
 7360      injustice that they would rather have foreign men as kings, and be
 7361      themselves more their own rulers; for the foreign kings were usually
 7362      abroad and cared little about the customs of the people if the scat they
 7363      laid on the country was paid. When enmity arose between the Danish king
 7364      Harald and Earl Hakon, the Jomsborg vikings made an expedition against
 7365      Norway; then the whole people arose, and threw the hostilities from
 7366      themselves; and thereafter the people encouraged Earl Hakon to keep the
 7367      country, and defend it with sword and spear against the Danish king. But
 7368      when he had set himself fast in the kingdom with the help of the people,
 7369      he became so hard and overbearing towards the country-folks, that they
 7370      would no longer suffer him. The Throndhjem people killed him, and raised
 7371      to the kingly power Olaf Trygvason, who was of the udal succession to the
 7372      kingdom, and in all respects well fitted to be a chief. The whole
 7373      country's desire was to make him supreme king, and raise again the kingdom
 7374      which Harald Harfager had made for himself. But when King Olaf thought
 7375      himself quite firmly seated in his kingdom, no man could rule his own
 7376      concerns for him. With us small kings he was so unreasonable, as to take
 7377      to himself not only all the scat and duties which Harald Harfager had
 7378      levied from us, but a great deal more. The people at last had so little
 7379      freedom under him, that it was not allowed to every man to believe in what
 7380      god he pleased. Now since he has been taken away we have kept friendly
 7381      with the Danish king; have received great help from him when we have had
 7382      any occasion for it; and have been allowed to rule ourselves, and live in
 7383      peace and quiet in the inland country, and without any overburden. I am
 7384      therefore content that things be as they are, for I do not see what better
 7385      rights I am to enjoy by one of my relations ruling over the country; and
 7386      if I am to be no better off, I will take no part in the affair."
 7387      Then said King Ring, his brother, "I will also declare my opinion that it
 7388      is better for me, if I hold the same power and property as now, that my
 7389      relative is king over Norway, rather than a foreign chief, so that our
 7390      family may again raise its head in the land. It is, besides, my opinion
 7391      about this man Olaf, that his fate and luck must determine whether he is
 7392      to obtain the kingdom or not; and if he succeed in making himself supreme
 7393      king, then he will be the best off who has best deserved his friendship.
 7394      At present he has in no respect greater power than any of us; nay, indeed,
 7395      he has less; as we have lands and kingdoms to rule over, and he has
 7396      nothing, and we are equally entitled by the udal right to the kingdom as
 7397      he is himself. Now, if we will be his men, give him our aid, allow him to
 7398      take the highest dignity in the country, and stand by him with our
 7399      strength, how should he not reward us well, and hold it in remembrance to
 7400      our great advantage, if he be the honourable man I believe him to be, and
 7401      all say he is? Therefore let us join the adventure, say I, and bind
 7402      ourselves in friendship with him."
 7403      Then the others, one after the other, stood up and spoke; and the
 7404      conclusion was, that the most of them determined to enter into a league
 7405      with King Olaf. He promised them his perfect friendship, and that he would
 7406      hold by and improve the country's laws and rights, if he became supreme
 7407      king of Norway. This league was confirmed by oath.
 7408      35. OLAF GETS THE TITLE OF KING FROM THE THING.
 7409      Thereafter the kings summoned a Thing, and there King Olaf set forth this
 7410      determination to all the people, and his demand on the kingly power. He
 7411      desires that the bondes should receive him as king; and promises, on the
 7412      other hand, to allow them to retain their ancient laws, and to defend the
 7413      land from foreign masters and chiefs. On this point he spoke well, and
 7414      long; and he got great praise for his speech. Then the kings rose and
 7415      spoke, the one after the other, and supported his cause, and this message
 7416      to the people. At last it came to this, that King Olaf was proclaimed king
 7417      over the whole country, and the kingdom adjudged to him according to law
 7418      in the Uplands (A.D. 1014).
 7419      36. KING OLAF TRAVELS IN THE UPLANDS.
 7420      King Olaf began immediately his progress through the country, appointing
 7421      feasts before him wherever there were royal farms. First he travelled
 7422      round in Hadaland, and then he proceeded north to Gudbrandsdal. And now it
 7423      went as King Sigurd Syr had foretold, that people streamed to him from all
 7424      quarters; and he did not appear to have need for half of them, for he had
 7425      nearly 300 men. But the entertainments bespoken did not half serve; for it
 7426      had been the custom that kings went about in guest-quarters in the Uplands
 7427      with 60 or 70 men only, and never with more than 100 men. The king
 7428      therefore hastened over the country, only stopping one night at the same
 7429      place. When he came north to Dovrefield, he arranged his journey so that
 7430      he came over the mountain and down upon the north side of it, and then
 7431      came to Opdal, where he remained all night. Afterwards he proceeded
 7432      through Opdal forest, and came out at Medaldal, where he proclaimed a
 7433      Thing, and summoned the bondes to meet him at it. The king made a speech
 7434      to the Thing, and asked the bondes to accept him as king; and promised, on
 7435      his part, the laws and rights which King Olaf Trygvason had offered them.
 7436      The bondes had no strength to make opposition to the king; so the result
 7437      was that they received him as king, and confirmed it by oath: but they
 7438      sent word to Orkadal and Skaun of all that they knew concerning Olaf's
 7439      proceedings.
 7440      37. LEVY AGAINST OLAF IN THRONDHJEM.
 7441      Einar Tambaskelfer had a farm and house at Husaby in Skaun; and now when
 7442      he got news of Olaf's proceedings, he immediately split up a war-arrow,
 7443      and sent it out as a token to the four quarters -north, south, east,
 7444      west, -to call together all free and unfree men in full equipment of
 7445      war: therewith the message, that they were to defend the land against King
 7446      Olaf. The message-stick went to Orkadal, and thence to Gaulardal, where
 7447      the whole war-force was to assemble.
 7448      38. OLAF'S PROGRESS IN THRONDHJEM.
 7449      King Olaf proceeded with his men down into Orkadal, and advanced in peace
 7450      and with all gentleness; but when he came to Griotar he met the assembled
 7451      bondes, amounting to more than 700 men. Then the king arrayed his army,
 7452      for he thought the bondes were to give battle. When the bondes saw this,
 7453      they also began to put their men in order; but it went on very slowly, for
 7454      they had not agreed beforehand who among them should be commander. Now
 7455      when King Olaf saw there was confusion among the bondes, he sent to them
 7456      Thorer Gudbrandson; and when he came he told them King Olaf did not want
 7457      to fight them, but named twelve of the ablest men in their flock of
 7458      people, who were desired to come to King Olaf. The bondes agreed to this;
 7459      and the twelve men went over a rising ground which is there, and came to
 7460      the place where the king's army stood in array. The king said to them, "Ye
 7461      bondes have done well to give me an opportunity to speak with you, for now
 7462      I will explain to you my errand here to the Throndhjem country. First I
 7463      must tell you, what ye already must have heard, that Earl Hakon and I met
 7464      in summer; and the issue of our meeting was, that he gave me the whole
 7465      kingdom he possessed in the Throndhjem country, which, as ye know,
 7466      consists of Orkadal, Gaulardal, Strind, and Eyna district. As a proof of
 7467      this, I have here with me the very men who were present, and saw the
 7468      earl's and my own hands given upon it, and heard the word and oath, and
 7469      witnessed the agreement the earl made with me. Now I offer you peace and
 7470      law, the same as King Olaf Trygvason offered before me."
 7471      The king spoke well, and long; and ended by proposing to the bondes two
 7472      conditions -either to go into his service and be subject to him, or
 7473      to fight him. Thereupon the twelve bondes went back to their people, and
 7474      told the issue of their errand, and considered with the people what they
 7475      should resolve upon. Although they discussed the matter backwards and
 7476      forwards for a while, they preferred at last to submit to the king; and it
 7477      was confirmed by the oath of the bondes. The king now proceeded on his
 7478      journey, and the bondes made feasts for him. The king then proceeded to
 7479      the sea-coast, and got ships; and among others he got a long-ship of
 7480      twenty benches of rowers from Gunnar of Gelmin; another ship of twenty
 7481      benches he got from Loden of Viggia; and three ships of twenty benches
 7482      from the farm of Angrar on the ness which farm Earl Hakon had possessed,
 7483      but a steward managed it for him, by name Bard White. The king had,
 7484      besides, four or five boats; and with these vessels he went in all haste
 7485      into the fjord of Throndhjem.
 7486      39. OF EARL SVEIN'S PROCEEDINGS.
 7487      Earl Svein was at that time far up in the Throndhjem fjord at Steinker,
 7488      which at that time was a merchant town, and was there preparing for the
 7489      yule festival (A.D. 1015). When Einar Tambaskelfer heard that the Orkadal
 7490      people had submitted to King Olaf, he sent men to Earl Svein to bring him
 7491      the tidings. They went first to Nidaros, and took a rowing-boat which
 7492      belonged to Einar, with which they went out into the fjord, and came one
 7493      day late in the evening to Steinker, where they brought to the earl the
 7494      news about all King Olaf's proceedings. The earl owned a long-ship, which
 7495      was lying afloat and rigged just outside the town: and immediately, in the
 7496      evening, he ordered all his movable goods, his people's clothes, and also
 7497      meat and drink, as much as the vessel could carry, to be put on board,
 7498      rowed immediately out in the night-time, and came with daybreak to
 7499      Skarnsund. There he saw King Olaf rowing in with his fleet into the fjord.
 7500      The earl turned towards the land within Masarvik, where there was a thick
 7501      wood, and lay so near the rocks that the leaves and branches hung over the
 7502      vessel. They cut down some large trees, which they laid over the quarter
 7503      on the sea-side, so that the ship could not be seen for leaves, especially
 7504      as it was scarcely clear daylight when the king came rowing past them. The
 7505      weather was calm, and the king rowed in among the islands; and when the
 7506      king's fleet was out of sight the earl rowed out of the fjord, and on to
 7507      Frosta, where his kingdom lay, and there he landed.
 7508      40. EARL SVEIN'S AND EINAR'S CONSULTATIONS.
 7509      Earl Svein sent men out to Gaulardal to his brother-in-law, Einar
 7510      Tambaskelfer; and when Einar came the earl told him how it had been with
 7511      him and King Olaf, and that now he would assemble men to go out against
 7512      King Olaf, and fight him.
 7513      Einar answers, "We should go to work cautiously, and find out what King
 7514      Olaf intends doing; and not let him hear anything concerning us but that
 7515      we are quiet. It may happen that if he hears nothing about our assembling
 7516      people, he may sit quietly where he is in Steinker all the Yule; for there
 7517      is plenty prepared for him for the Yule feast: but if he hears we are
 7518      assembling men, he will set right out of the fjord with his vessels, and
 7519      we shall not get hold of him." Einar's advice was taken; and the earl went
 7520      to Stjoradal, into guest-quarters among the bondes.
 7521      When King Olaf came to Steinker he collected all the meat prepared for the
 7522      Yule feast, and made it be put on board, procured some transport vessels,
 7523      took meat and drink with him, and got ready to sail as fast as possible,
 7524      and went out all the way to Nidaros. Here King Olaf Trygvason had laid the
 7525      foundation of a merchant town, and had built a king's house: but before
 7526      that Nidaros was only a single house, as before related. When Earl Eirik
 7527      came to the country, he applied all his attention to his house of Lade,
 7528      where his father had had his main residence, and he neglected the houses
 7529      which Olaf had erected at the Nid; so that some were fallen down, and
 7530      those which stood were scarcely habitable. King Olaf went now with his
 7531      ships up the Nid, made all the houses to be put in order directly that
 7532      were still standing, and built anew those that had fallen down, and
 7533      employed in this work a great many people. Then he had all the meat and
 7534      drink brought on shore to the houses, and prepared to hold Yule there; so
 7535      Earl Svein and Einar had to fall upon some other plan.
 7536      41. OF SIGVAT THE SKALD.
 7537      There was an Iceland man called Thord Sigvaldaskald, who had been long
 7538      with Earl Sigvalde, and afterwards with the earl's brother, Thorkel the
 7539      Tall; but after the earl's death Thord had become a merchant. He met King
 7540      Olaf on his viking cruise in the west, and entered into his service, and
 7541      followed him afterwards. He was with the king when the incidents above
 7542      related took place. Thord had a son called Sigvat fostered in the house of
 7543      Thorkel at Apavatn, in Iceland. When he was nearly a grown man he went out
 7544      of the country with some merchants; and the ship came in autumn to the
 7545      Throndhjem country, and the crew lodged in the hered (district). The same
 7546      winter King Olaf came to Throndhjem, as just now related by us. Now when
 7547      Sigvat heard that his father Thord was with the king, he went to him, and
 7548      stayed a while with him. Sigvat was a good skald at an early age. He made
 7549      a lay in honour of King Olaf, and asked the king to listen to it. The king
 7550      said he did not want poems composed about him, and said he did not
 7551      understand the skald's craft. Then Sigvat sang: -
 7552     "Rider of dark-blue ocean's steeds!
 7553     Allow one skald to sing thy deeds;
 7554     And listen to the song of one
 7555     Who can sing well, if any can.
 7556     For should the king despise all others,
 7557     And show no favour to my brothers,
 7558     Yet I may all men's favour claim,
 7559     Who sing, still of our great king's fame."
 7560      King Olaf gave Sigvat as a reward for his verse a gold ring that weighed
 7561      half a mark, and Sigvat was made one of King Olaf's court-men. Then Sigvat
 7562      sang: -
 7563     "I willingly receive this sword -
 7564     By land or sea, on shore, on board,
 7565     I trust that I shall ever be
 7566     Worthy the sword received from thee.
 7567     A faithful follower thou hast bound -
 7568     A generous master I have found;
 7569     Master and servant both have made
 7570     Just what best suits them by this trade."
 7571      Earl Svein had, according to custom, taken one half of the harbour-dues
 7572      from the Iceland ship-traders about autumn (A.D. 1014); for the Earls
 7573      Eirik and Hakon had always taken one half of these and all other revenues
 7574      in the Throndhjem country. Now when King Olaf came there, he sent his men
 7575      to demand that half of the tax from the Iceland traders; and they went up
 7576      to the king's house and asked Sigvat to help them. He went to the king,
 7577      and sang: -
 7578     "My prayer, I trust, will not be vain -
 7579     No gold by it have I to gain:
 7580     All that the king himself here wins
 7581     Is not red gold, but a few skins.
 7582     it is not right that these poor men
 7583     Their harbour-dues should pay again.
 7584     That they paid once I know is true;
 7585     Remit, great king, what scarce is due."
 7586      42. OF EARL SVEIN.
 7587      Earl Svein and Einar Tambaskelfer gathered a large armed force, with which
 7588      they came by the upper road into Gaulardal, and so down to Nidaros, with
 7589      nearly 2000 men. King Olaf's men were out upon the Gaular ridge, and had a
 7590      guard on horseback. They became aware that a force was coming down the
 7591      Gaulardal, and they brought word of it to the king about midnight. The
 7592      king got up immediately, ordered the people to be wakened, and they went
 7593      on board of the ships, bearing all their clothes and arms on board, and
 7594      all that they could take with them, and then rowed out of the river. Then
 7595      came the earl's men to the town at the same moment, took all the Christmas
 7596      provision, and set fire to the houses. King Olaf went out of the fjord
 7597      down to Orkadal, and there landed the men from their ships. From Orkadal
 7598      they went up to the mountains, and over the mountains eastwards into
 7599      Gudbrandsdal. In the lines composed about Kleng Brusason, it is said that
 7600      Earl Eirik burned the town of Nidaros: -
 7601     "The king's half-finished hall,
 7602     Rafters, root, and all,
 7603     Is burned down by the river's side;
 7604     The flame spreads o'er the city wide."
 7605      43. OF KING OLAF.
 7606      King Olaf went southwards through Gudbrandsdal, and thence out to
 7607      Hedemark. In the depth of winter (A.D. 1015) he went about in
 7608      guest-quarters; but when spring returned he collected men, and went to
 7609      Viken. He had with him many people from Hedemark, whom the kings had given
 7610      him; and also many powerful people from among the bondes joined him, among
 7611      whom Ketil Kalf from Ringanes. He had also people from Raumarike. His
 7612      stepfather, Sigurd Syr, gave him the help also of a great body of men.
 7613      They went down from thence to the coast, and made ready to put to sea from
 7614      Viken. The fleet, which was manned with many fine fellows, went out then
 7615      to Tunsberg.
 7616      44. OF EARL SVEIN'S FORCES.
 7617      After Yule (A.D. 1015) Earl Svein gathers all the men of the Throndhjem
 7618      country, proclaims a levy for an expedition, and fits out ships. At that
 7619      time there were in the Throndhjem country a great number of lendermen; and
 7620      many of them were so powerful and well-born, that they descended from
 7621      earls, or even from the royal race, which in a short course of generations
 7622      reckoned to Harald Harfager, and they were also very rich. These lendermen
 7623      were of great help to the kings or earls who ruled the land; for it was as
 7624      if the lenderman had the bonde-people of each district in his power. Earl
 7625      Svein being a good friend of the lendermen, it was easy for him to collect
 7626      people. His brother-in-law, Einar Tambaskelfer, was on his side, and with
 7627      him many other lendermen; and among them many, both lendermen and bondes,
 7628      who the winter before had taken the oath of fidelity to King Olaf. When
 7629      they were ready for sea they went directly out of the fjord, steering
 7630      south along the land, and drawing men from every district. When they came
 7631      farther south, abreast of Rogaland, Erling Skialgson came to meet them,
 7632      with many people and many lendermen with him. Now they steered eastward
 7633      with their whole fleet to Viken, and Earl Svein ran in there towards the
 7634      end of Easter. The earl steered his fleet to Grenmar, and ran into Nesjar
 7635      (A.D. 1015).
 7636      45. KING OLAF S FORCES.
 7637      King Olaf steered his fleet out from Viken, until the two fleets were not
 7638      far from each other, and they got news of each other the Saturday before
 7639      Palm Sunday. King Olaf himself had a ship called the Carl's Head, on the
 7640      bow of which a king's head was carved out, and he himself had carved it.
 7641      This head was used long after in Norway on ships which kings steered
 7642      themselves.
 7643      46. KING OLAF'S SPEECH.
 7644      As soon as day dawned on Sunday morning, King Olaf got up, put on his
 7645      clothes, went to the land, and ordered to sound the signal for the whole
 7646      army to come on shore. Then he made a speech to the troops, and told the
 7647      whole assembly that he had heard there was but a short distance between
 7648      them and Earl Svein. "Now," said he, "we shall make ready; for it can be
 7649      but a short time until we meet. Let the people arm, and every man be at
 7650      the post that has been appointed him, so that all may be ready when I
 7651      order the signal to sound for casting off from the land. Then let us row
 7652      off at once; and so that none go on before the rest of the ships, and none
 7653      lag behind when I row out of the harbour: for we cannot tell if we shall
 7654      find the earl where he was lying, or if he has come out to meet us. When
 7655      we do meet, and the battle begins, let people be alert to bring all our
 7656      ships in close order, and ready to bind them together. Let us spare
 7657      ourselves in the beginning, and take care of our weapons, that we do not
 7658      cast them into the sea, or shoot them away in the air to no purpose. But
 7659      when the fight becomes hot and the ships are bound together, then let each
 7660      man show what is in him of manly spirit."
 7661      47. OF THE BATTLE AT NESJAR.
 7662      King Olaf had in his ship 100 men armed in coats of ring-mail, and in
 7663      foreign helmets. The most of his men had white shields, on which the holy
 7664      cross was gilt; but some had painted it in blue or red. He had also had
 7665      the cross painted in front on all the helmets, in a pale colour. He had a
 7666      white banner on which was a serpent figured. He ordered a mass to be read
 7667      before him, went on board ship, and ordered his people to refresh
 7668      themselves with meat and drink. He then ordered the war-horns to sound to
 7669      battle, to leave the harbour, and row off to seek the earl. Now when they
 7670      came to the harbour where the earl had lain, the earl's men were armed,
 7671      and beginning to row out of the harbour; but when they saw the king's
 7672      fleet coming they began to bind the ships together, to set up their
 7673      banners, and to make ready for the fight. When King Olaf saw this he
 7674      hastened the rowing, laid his ship alongside the earl's, and the battle
 7675      began. So says Sigvat the skald: -
 7676     "Boldly the king did then pursue
 7677     Earl Svein, nor let him out of view.
 7678     The blood ran down the reindeer's flank
 7679     Of each sea-king -his vessel's plank.
 7680     Nor did the earl's stout warriors spare
 7681     In battle-brunt the sword and spear.
 7682     Earl Svein his ships of war pushed on,
 7683     And lashed their stout stems one to one."
 7684      It is said that King Olaf brought his ships into battle while Svein was
 7685      still lying in the harbour. Sigvat the skald was himself in the fight; and
 7686      in summer, just after the battle, he composed a lay, which is called the
 7687      "Nesjar Song", in which he tells particularly the circumstances: -
 7688     "In the fierce fight 'tis known how near
 7689     The scorner of the ice-cold spear
 7690     Laid the Charles' head the earl on board,
 7691     All eastward of the Agder fjord."
 7692      Then was the conflict exceedingly sharp, and it was long before it could
 7693      be seen how it was to go in the end. Many fell on both sides, and many
 7694      were the wounded. So says Sigvat: -
 7695     "No urging did the earl require,
 7696     Midst spear and sword -the battle's fire;
 7697     No urging did the brave king need
 7698     The ravens in this shield-storm to feed.
 7699     Of limb-lopping enough was there,
 7700     And ghastly wounds of sword and spear.
 7701     Never, I think, was rougher play
 7702     Than both the armies had that day."
 7703      The earl had most men, but the king had a chosen crew in his ship, who had
 7704      followed him in all his wars; and, besides, they were so excellently
 7705      equipped, as before related, that each man had a coat of ring-mail, so
 7706      that he could not be wounded. So says Sigvat: -
 7707     "Our lads, broad-shouldered, tall, and hale,
 7708     Drew on their cold shirts of ring-mail.
 7709     Soon sword on sword was shrilly ringing,
 7710     And in the air the spears were singing.
 7711     Under our helms we hid our hair,
 7712     For thick flew arrows through the air.
 7713     Right glad was I our gallant crew,
 7714     Steel-clad from head to foot, to view."
 7715      48. EARL SVEIN'S FLIGHT.
 7716      When the men began to fall on board the earl's ships, and many appeared
 7717      wounded, so that the sides of the vessels were but thinly beset with men,
 7718      the crew of King Olaf prepared to board. Their banner was brought up to
 7719      the ship that was nearest the earl's, and the king himself followed the
 7720      banner. So says Sigvat: -
 7721     "'On with the king!' his banners waving:
 7722     'On with the king!' the spears he's braving!
 7723     'On, steel-clad men! and storm the deck,
 7724     Slippery with blood and strewed with wreck.
 7725     A different work ye have to share,
 7726     His banner in war-storm to bear,
 7727     From your fair girl's, who round the hall
 7728     Brings the full mead-bowl to us all.'"
 7729      Now was the severest fighting. Many of Svein's men fell, and some sprang
 7730      overboard. So says Sigvat: -
 7731     "Into the ship our brave lads spring, -
 7732     On shield and helm their red blades ring;
 7733     The air resounds with stroke on stroke, -
 7734     The shields are cleft, the helms are broke.
 7735     The wounded bonde o'er the side
 7736     Falls shrieking in the blood-stained tide -
 7737     The deck is cleared with wild uproar -
 7738     The dead crew float about the shore."
 7739      And also these lines: -
 7740     "The shields we brought from home were white,
 7741     Now they are red-stained in the fight:
 7742     This work was fit for those who wore
 7743     Ringed coats-of-mail their breasts before.
 7744     Where for the foe blunted the best sword
 7745     I saw our young king climb on board.
 7746     He stormed the first; we followed him -
 7747     The war-birds now in blood may swim."
 7748      Now defeat began to come down upon the earl's men. The king's men pressed
 7749      upon the earl's ship and entered it; but when the earl saw how it was
 7750      going, he called out to his forecastle-men to cut the cables and cast the
 7751      ship loose, which they did. Then the king's men threw grapplings over the
 7752      timber heads of the ship, and so held her fast to their own; but the earl
 7753      ordered the timber heads to be cut away, which was done. So says Sigvat: -
 7754     "The earl, his noble ship to save,
 7755     To cut the posts loud order gave.
 7756     The ship escaped: our greedy eyes
 7757     Had looked on her as a clear prize.
 7758     The earl escaped; but ere he fled
 7759     We feasted Odin's fowls with dead: -
 7760     With many a goodly corpse that floated
 7761     Round our ship's stern his birds were bloated."
 7762      Einar Tambaskelfer had laid his ship right alongside the earl's. They
 7763      threw an anchor over the bows of the earl's ship, and thus towed her away,
 7764      and they slipped out of the fjord together. Thereafter the whole of the
 7765      earl's fleet took to flight, and rowed out of the fjord. The skald Berse
 7766      Torfason was on the forecastle of the earl's ship; and as it was gliding
 7767      past the king's fleet, King Olaf called out to him -for he knew
 7768      Berse, who was distinguished as a remarkably handsome man, always well
 7769      equipped in clothes and arms -"Farewell, Berse!" He replied,
 7770      "Farewell, king!" So says Berse himself, in a poem he composed when he
 7771      fell into King Olaf's power, and was laid in prison and in fetters on
 7772      board a ship: -
 7773     "Olaf the Brave
 7774     A 'farewell' gave,
 7775     (No time was there to parley long,)
 7776     To me who knows the art of song.
 7777          The skald was fain
 7778          'Farewell' again
 7779     In the same terms back to send -
 7780     The rule in arms to foe or friend.
 7781          Earl Svein's distress
 7782          I well can guess,
 7783     When flight he was compelled to take:
 7784     His fortunes I will ne'er forsake,
 7785          Though I lie here
 7786     In chains a year,
 7787     In thy great vessel all forlorn,
 7788     To crouch to thee I still will scorn:
 7789          I still will say,
 7790          No milder sway
 7791     Than from thy foe this land e'er knew:
 7792     To him, my early friend, I'm true."
 7793      49. EARL SVEIN LEAVES THE COUNTRY.
 7794      Now some of the earl's men fled up the country, some surrendered at
 7795      discretion; but Svein and his followers rowed out of the fjord, and the
 7796      chiefs laid their vessels together to talk with each other, for the earl
 7797      wanted counsel from his lendermen. Erling Skialgson advised that they
 7798      should sail north, collect people, and fight King Olaf again; but as they
 7799      had lost many people, the most were of opinion that the earl should leave
 7800      the country, and repair to his brother-in-law the Swedish King, and
 7801      strengthen himself there with men. Einar Tambaskelfer approved also of
 7802      that advice, as they had no power to hold battle against Olaf. So they
 7803      discharged their fleet. The earl sailed across Folden, and with him Einar
 7804      Tambaskelfer. Erling Skialgson again, and likewise many other lendermen
 7805      who would not abandon their udal possessions, went north to their homes;
 7806      and Erling had many people that summer about him.
 7807      50. OLAF'S AND SIGURD'S CONSULTATION.
 7808      When King Olaf and his men saw that the earl had gathered his ships
 7809      together, Sigurd Syr was in haste for pursuing the earl, and letting steel
 7810      decide their cause. But King Olaf replies, that he would first see what
 7811      the earl intended doing -whether he would keep his force together or
 7812      discharge his fleet. Sigurd Syr said, "It is for thee, king, to command;
 7813      but," he adds, "I fear, from thy disposition and wilfulness, that thou
 7814      wilt some day be betrayed by trusting to those great people, for they are
 7815      accustomed of old to bid defiance to their sovereigns." There was no
 7816      attack made, for it was soon seen that the earl's fleet was dispersing.
 7817      Then King Olaf ransacked the slain, and remained there some days to divide
 7818      the booty. At that time Sigvat made these verses: -
 7819     "The tale I tell is true
 7820     To their homes returned but few
 7821     Of Svein's men who came to meet
 7822     King Olaf's gallant fleet.
 7823     From the North these warmen came
 7824     To try the bloody game, -
 7825     On the waves their corpses borne
 7826     Show the game that Sunday morn.
 7827     The Throndhjem girls so fair
 7828     Their jeers, I think, will spare,
 7829     For the king's force was but small
 7830     That emptied Throndhjem's hall.
 7831     But if they will have their jeer,
 7832     They may ask their sweethearts dear,
 7833     Why they have returned shorn
 7834     Who went to shear that Sunday morn."
 7835      And also these: -
 7836     "Now will the king's power rise,
 7837     For the Upland men still prize
 7838     The king who o'er the sea
 7839     Steers to bloody victory.
 7840     Earl Svein!  thou now wilt know
 7841     That our lads can make blood flow -
 7842     That the Hedemarkers hale
 7843     Can do more than tap good ale."
 7844      King Olaf gave his stepfather King Sigurd Syr, and the other chiefs who
 7845      had assisted him, handsome presents at parting. He gave Ketil of Ringanes
 7846      a yacht of fifteen benches of rowers, which Ketil brought up the Raum
 7847      river and into the Mjosen lake.
 7848      51. OF KING OLAF.
 7849      King Olaf sent spies out to trace the earl's doings (A.D. 1015); and when
 7850      he found that the earl had left the country he sailed out west, and to
 7851      Viken, where many people came to him. At the Thing there he was taken as
 7852      king, and so he proceeded all the way to the Naze; and when he heard that
 7853      Erling Skialgson had gathered a large force, he did not tarry in North
 7854      Agder, but sailed with a steady fair wind to the Throndhjem country; for
 7855      there it appeared to him was the greatest strength of the land, if he
 7856      could subdue it for himself while the earl was abroad. When Olaf came to
 7857      Throndhjem there was no opposition, and he was elected there to be king.
 7858      In harvest (A.D. 1015) he took his seat in the town of Nidaros, and
 7859      collected the needful winter provision (A.D. 1016). He built a king's
 7860      house, and raised Clement's church on the spot on which it now stands. He
 7861      parcelled out building ground, which he gave to bondes, merchants, or
 7862      others who he thought would build. There he sat down with many men-at-arms
 7863      around him; for he put no great confidence in the Throndhjem people, if
 7864      the earl should return to the country. The people of the interior of the
 7865      Throndhjem country showed this clearly, for he got no land-scat from them.
 7866      52. PLAN OF SVEIN AND THE SWEDISH KING.
 7867      Earl Svein went first to Svithjod to his brother-in-law Olaf the Swedish
 7868      king, told him all that had happened between him and Olaf the Thick, and
 7869      asked his advice about what he should now undertake. The king said that
 7870      the earl should stay with him if he liked, and get such a portion of his
 7871      kingdom to rule over as should seem to him sufficient; "or otherwise,"
 7872      says he, "I will give thee help of forces to conquer the country again
 7873      from Olaf." The earl chose the latter; for all those among his men who had
 7874      great possessions in Norway, which was the case with many who were with
 7875      him, were anxious to get back; and in the council they held about this, it
 7876      was resolved that in winter they should take the land-way over
 7877      Helsingjaland and Jamtaland, and so down into the Throndhjem land; for the
 7878      earl reckoned most upon the faithful help and strength of the Throndhjem
 7879      people of the interior as soon as he should appear there. In the meantime,
 7880      however, it was determined to take a cruise in summer in the Baltic to
 7881      gather property.
 7882      53. EARL SVEIN'S DEATH.
 7883      Earl Svein went eastward with his forces to Russia, and passed the summer
 7884      (A.D. 1015) in marauding there; but on the approach of autumn returned
 7885      with his ships to Svithjod. There he fell into a sickness, which proved
 7886      fatal. After the earl's death some of the people who had followed him
 7887      remained in Svithjod; others went to Helsingjaland, thence to Jamtaland,
 7888      and so from the east over the dividing ridge of the country to the
 7889      Throndhjem district, where they told all that had happened upon their
 7890      journey: and thus the truth of Earl Svein's death was known (A.D. 1016).
 7891      54. OF THE THRONDHJEM PEOPLE.
 7892      Einar Tambaskelfer, and the people who had followed him went in winter to
 7893      the Swedish king, and were received in a friendly manner. There were also
 7894      among them many who had followed the earl. The Swedish king took it much
 7895      amiss that Olaf the Thick had set himself down in his scat-lands, and
 7896      driven the earl out of them, and therefore he threatened the king with his
 7897      heaviest vengeance when opportunity offered. He said that Olaf ought not
 7898      to have had the presumption to take the dominions which the earl had held
 7899      of him; and all the Swedish king's men agreed with him. But the Throndhjem
 7900      people, when they heard for certain that the earl was dead. and could not
 7901      be expected back to Norway, turned all to obedience to King Olaf. Many
 7902      came from the interior of the Throndhjem country, and became King Olaf's
 7903      men; others sent word and tokens that they would service him. Then, in
 7904      autumn, he went into the interior of Throndhjem, and held Things with the
 7905      bondes, and was received as king in each district. He returned to Nidaros,
 7906      and brought there all the king's scat and revenue, and had his winter-seat
 7907      provided there (A.D. 1016).
 7908      55. OF KING OLAF'S HOUSEHOLD.
 7909      King Olaf built a king's house in Nidaros, and in it was a large room for
 7910      his court, with doors at both ends. The king's high-seat was in the middle
 7911      of the room; and within sat his court-bishop, Grimkel, and next him his
 7912      other priests; without them sat his counsellors; and in the other
 7913      high-seat opposite to the king sat his marshal, Bjorn, and next to him his
 7914      pursuivants. When people of importance came to him, they also had a seat
 7915      of honour. The ale was drunk by the fire-light. He divided the service
 7916      among his men after the fashion of other kings. He had in his house sixty
 7917      court-men and thirty pursuivants; and to them he gave pay and certain
 7918      regulations. He had also thirty house-servants to do the needful work
 7919      about the house, and procure what was required. He had, besides, many
 7920      slaves. At the house were many outbuildings, in which the court-men slept.
 7921      There was also a large room, in which the king held his court-meetings.
 7922      56. OF KING OLAF'S HABITS.
 7923      It was King Olaf's custom to rise betimes in the morning, put on his
 7924      clothes, wash his hands, and then go to the church and hear the matins and
 7925      morning mass. Thereafter he went to the Thing-meeting, to bring people to
 7926      agreement with each other, or to talk of one or the other matter that
 7927      appeared to him necessary. He invited to him great and small who were
 7928      known to be men of understanding. He often made them recite to him the
 7929      laws which Hakon Athelstan's foster-son had made for Throndhjem; and after
 7930      considering them with those men of understanding, he ordered laws adding
 7931      to or taking from those established before. But Christian privileges he
 7932      settled according to the advice of Bishop Grimbel and other learned
 7933      priests; and bent his whole mind to uprooting heathenism, and old customs
 7934      which he thought contrary to Christianity. And he succeeded so far that
 7935      the bondes accepted of the laws which the king proposed. So says Sigvat: -
 7936     "The king, who at the helm guides
 7937     His warlike ship through clashing tides,
 7938     Now gives one law for all the land -
 7939     A heavenly law, which long will stand."
 7940      King Olaf was a good and very gentle man, of little speech, and
 7941      open-handed although greedy of money. Sigvat the skald, as before related,
 7942      was in King Olaf's house, and several Iceland men. The king asked
 7943      particularly how Christianity was observed in Iceland, and it appeared to
 7944      him to be very far from where it ought to be; for, as to observing
 7945      Christian practices, it was told the king that it was permitted there to
 7946      eat horse-flesh, to expose infants as heathens do, besides many other
 7947      things contrary to Christianity. They also told the king about many
 7948      principal men who were then in Iceland. Skapte Thorodson was then the
 7949      lagman of the country. He inquired also of those who were best acquainted
 7950      with it about the state of people in other distant countries; and his
 7951      inquiries turned principally on how Christianity was observed in the
 7952      Orkney, Shetland, and Farey Islands: and, as far as he could learn, it was
 7953      far from being as he could have wished. Such conversation was usually
 7954      carried on by him; or else he spoke about the laws and rights of the
 7955      country.
 7956      57. KING OLAF'S MESSENGERS.
 7957      The same winter (A.D. 1016) came messengers from the Swedish king, Olaf
 7958      the Swede, out of Svithjod: and their leaders were two brothers, Thorgaut
 7959      Skarde and Asgaut the bailiff; and they, had twenty-four men with them,
 7960      when they came from the eastward, over the ridge of the country down into
 7961      Veradal, they summoned a Thing of the bondes, talked to them, and demanded
 7962      of them scat and duties upon account of the king of Sweden. But the
 7963      bondes, after consulting with each other, determined only to pay the scat
 7964      which the Swedish king required in so far as King Olaf required none upon
 7965      his account, but refused to pay scat to both. The messengers proceeded
 7966      farther down the valley; but received at every Thing they held the same
 7967      answer, and no money. They went forward to Skaun, held a Thing there, and
 7968      demanded scat; but it went there as before. Then they came to Stjoradal,
 7969      and summoned a Thing, but the bondes would not come to it. Now the
 7970      messengers saw that their business was a failure; and Thorgaut proposed
 7971      that they should turn about, and go eastward again. "I do not think," says
 7972      Asgaut, "that we have performed the king's errand unless we go to King
 7973      Olaf the Thick, since the bondes refer the matter to him." He was their
 7974      commander; so they proceeded to the town (Nidaros), and took lodging
 7975      there. The day after they presented themselves to the king, just as he was
 7976      seated at table, saluted him, and said they came with a message of the
 7977      Swedish king. The king told them to come to him next day. Next day the
 7978      king, having heard mass, went to his Thing-house, ordered the messengers
 7979      of the Swedish king to be called, and told them to produce their message.
 7980      Then Thorgaut spoke, and told first what his errand was, and next how the
 7981      Throndhjem people of the interior had replied to it; and asked the king's
 7982      decision on the business, that they might know what result their errand
 7983      there was to have. The king answers, "While the earls ruled over the
 7984      country, it was not to be wondered at if the country people thought
 7985      themselves bound to obey them, as they were at least of the royal race of
 7986      the kingdom. But it would have been more just if those earls had given
 7987      assistance and service to the kings who had a right to the country, rather
 7988      than to foreign kings, or to stir up opposition to their lawful kings,
 7989      depriving them of their land and kingdom. With regard to Olaf the Swede,
 7990      who calls himself entitled to the kingdom of Norway, I, who in fact am so
 7991      entitled, can see no ground for his claim; but well remember the skaith
 7992      and damage we have suffered from him and his relations."
 7993      Then says Asgaut. "It is not wonderful that thou art called Olaf the
 7994      Thick, seeing thou answerest so haughtily to such a prince's message, and
 7995      canst not see clearly how heavy the king's wrath will be for thee to
 7996      support, as many have experienced who had greater strength than thou
 7997      appearest to have. But if thou wishest to keep hold of thy kingdom, it
 7998      will be best for thee to come to the king, and be his man; and we shall
 7999      beg him to give thee this kingdom in fief under him."
 8000      The king replies with all gentleness, "I will give thee an advice, Asgaut,
 8001      in return. Go back to the east again to thy king, and tell him that early
 8002      in spring I will make myself ready, and will proceed eastward to the
 8003      ancient frontier that divided formerly the kingdom of the kings of Norway
 8004      from Sweden. There he may come if he likes, that we may conclude a peace
 8005      with each other; and each of us will retain the kingdom to which he is
 8006      born."
 8007      Now the messengers turned back to their lodging, and prepared for their
 8008      departure, and the king went to table. The messengers came back soon after
 8009      to the king's house; but the doorkeepers saw it, and reported it to the
 8010      king, who told them not to let the messengers in. "I will not speak with
 8011      them," said he. Then the messengers went off, and Thorgaut said he would
 8012      now return home with his men; but Asgaut insisted still that he would go
 8013      forward with the king's errand: so they separated. Thorgaut proceeded
 8014      accordingly through Strind; but Asgaut went into Gaulardal and Orkadal,
 8015      and intended proceeding southwards to More, to deliver his king's message.
 8016      When King Olaf came to the knowledge of this he sent out his pursuivants
 8017      after them, who found them at the ness in Stein, bound their hands behind
 8018      their backs, and led them down to the point called Gaularas, where they
 8019      raised a gallows, and hanged them so that they could be seen by those who
 8020      travelled the usual sea-way out of the fjord. Thorgaut heard this news
 8021      before he had travelled far on his way home through the Throndhjem
 8022      country; and he hastened on his journey until he came to the Swedish king,
 8023      and told him how it had gone with them. The king was highly enraged when
 8024      he heard the account of it; and he had no lack of high words.
 8025      58. OLAF AND ERLING RECONCILED.
 8026      The spring thereafter (A.D. 1016) King Olaf Haraldson calls out an army
 8027      from the Throndhjem land, and makes ready to proceed eastward. Some of the
 8028      Iceland traders were then ready to sail from Norway. With them King Olaf
 8029      sent word and token to Hjalte Skeggjason, and summoned him to come to him,
 8030      and at the same time sent a verbal message to Skapte the lagman, and other
 8031      men who principally took part in the lawgiving of Iceland, to take out of
 8032      the law whatever appeared contrary to Christianity. He sent, besides, a
 8033      message of friendship to the people in general. The king then proceeded
 8034      southwards himself along the coast, stopping at every district, and
 8035      holding Things with the bondes; and in each Thing he ordered the Christian
 8036      law to be read, together with the message of salvation thereunto
 8037      belonging, and with which many ill customs and much heathenism were swept
 8038      away at once among the common people: for the earls had kept well the old
 8039      laws and rights of the country; but with respect to keeping Christianity,
 8040      they had allowed every man to do as he liked. It was thus come so far that
 8041      the people were baptized in the most places on the sea-coast, but the most
 8042      of them were ignorant of Christian law. In the upper ends of the valleys,
 8043      and in the habitations among the mountains, the greater part of the people
 8044      were heathen; for when the common man is left to himself, the faith he has
 8045      been taught in his childhood is that which has the strongest hold over his
 8046      inclination. But the king threatened the most violent proceedings against
 8047      great or small, who, after the king's message, would not adopt
 8048      Christianity. In the meantime Olaf was proclaimed king in every Law Thing
 8049      in the country, and no man spoke against him. While he lay in Karmtsund
 8050      messengers went between him and Erling Skjalgson, who endeavoured to make
 8051      peace between them; and the meeting was appointed in Whitings Isle. When
 8052      they met they spoke with each other about agreement together; but Erling
 8053      found something else than he expected in the conversation: for when he
 8054      insisted on having all the fiefs which Olaf Trygvason, and afterwards the
 8055      Earls Svein and Hakon, had given him, and on that condition would be his
 8056      man and dutiful friend, the king answered, "It appears to me, Erling, that
 8057      it would be no bad bargain for thee to get as great fiefs from me for thy
 8058      aid and friendship as thou hadst from Earl Eirik, a man who had done thee
 8059      the greatest injury by the bloodshed of thy men; but even if I let thee
 8060      remain the greatest lenderman in Norway, I will bestow my fiefs according
 8061      to my own will, and not act as if ye lendermen had udal right to my
 8062      ancestor's heritage, and I was obliged to buy your services with manifold
 8063      rewards." Erling had no disposition to sue for even the smallest thing;
 8064      and he saw that the king was not easily dealt with. He saw also that he
 8065      had only two conditions before him: the one was to make no agreement with
 8066      the king, and stand by the consequences; the other to leave it entirely to
 8067      the king's pleasure. Although it was much against his inclination, he
 8068      chose the latter, and merely said to the king, "The service will be the
 8069      most useful to thee which I give with a free will." And thus their
 8070      conference ended. Erling's relations and friends came to him afterwards,
 8071      and advised him to give way, and proceed with more prudence and less
 8072      pride. "Thou wilt still," they said, "be the most important and most
 8073      respected lenderman in Norway, both on account of thy own and thy
 8074      relations' abilities and great wealth." Erling found that this was prudent
 8075      advice, and that they who gave it did so with a good intention, and he
 8076      followed it accordingly. Erling went into the king's service on such
 8077      conditions as the king himself should determine and please. Thereafter
 8078      they separated in some shape reconciled, and Olaf went his way eastward
 8079      along the coast (A.D. 1016).
 8080      59. EILIF OF GAUTLAND'S MURDER.
 8081      As soon as it was reported that Olaf had come to Viken, the Danes who had
 8082      offices under the Danish king set off for Denmark, without waiting for
 8083      King Olaf. But King Olaf sailed in along Viken, holding Things with the
 8084      bondes. All the people of the country submitted to him, and thereafter he
 8085      took all the king's taxes, and remained the summer (A.D. 1016) in Viken.
 8086      He then sailed east from Tunsberg across the fjord, and all the way east
 8087      to Svinasund. There the Swedish king's dominions begin, and he had set
 8088      officers over this country; namely, Eilif Gautske over the north part, and
 8089      Hroe Skialge over the east part, all the way to the Gaut river. Hroe had
 8090      family friends on both sides of the river, and also great farms on Hising
 8091      Island, and was besides a mighty and very rich man. Eilif was also of
 8092      great family, and very wealthy. Now when King Olaf came to Ranrike he
 8093      summoned the people to a Thing, and all who dwelt on the sea-coast or in
 8094      the out-islands came to him. Now when the Thing was seated the king's
 8095      marshal, Bjorn, held a speech to them, in which he told the bondes to
 8096      receive Olaf as their king, in the same way as had been done in all other
 8097      parts of Norway. Then stood up a bold bonde by name Brynjolf Ulfalde, and
 8098      said, "We bondes know where the division-boundaries between the Norway and
 8099      Danish and Swedish kings' lands have stood by rights in old times; namely,
 8100      that the Gaut river divided their lands between the Vener lake and the
 8101      sea; but towards the north the forests until Eid forest, and from thence
 8102      the ridge of the country all north to Finmark. We know, also, that by
 8103      turns they have made inroads upon each other's territories, and that the
 8104      Swedes have long had power all the way to Svinasund. But, sooth to say, I
 8105      know that it is the inclination of many rather to serve the king of
 8106      Norway, but they dare not; for the Swedish king's dominions surround us,
 8107      both eastward, southwards, and also up the country; and besides, it may be
 8108      expected that the king of Norway must soon go to the north, where the
 8109      strength of his kingdom lies, and then we have no power to withstand the
 8110      Gautlanders. Now it is for the king to give us good counsel, for we have
 8111      great desire to be his men." After the Thing, in the evening, Brynjolf was
 8112      in the king's tent, and the day after likewise, and they had much private
 8113      conversation together. Then the king proceeded eastwards along Viken. Now
 8114      when Eilif heard of his arrival, he sent out spies to discover what he was
 8115      about; but he himself, with thirty men, kept himself high up in the
 8116      habitations among the hills, where he had gathered together bondes. Many
 8117      of the bondes came to King Olaf, but some sent friendly messages to him.
 8118      People went between King Olaf and Eilif, and they entreated each
 8119      separately to hold a Thing-meeting between themselves, and make peace in
 8120      one way or another. They told Eilif that they might expect violent
 8121      treatment from King Olaf if they opposed his orders; but promised Eilif he
 8122      should not want men. It was determined that they should come down from the
 8123      high country, and hold a thing with the bondes and the king. King Olaf
 8124      thereupon sent the chief of his pursuivants, Thorer Lange, with six men,
 8125      to Brynjolf. They were equipped with their coats-of-mail under their
 8126      cloaks, and their hats over their helmets. The following day the bondes
 8127      came in crowds down with Eilif; and in his suite was Brynjolf, and with
 8128      him Thorer. The king laid his ships close to a rocky knoll that stuck out
 8129      into the sea, and upon it the king went with his people, and sat down.
 8130      Below was a flat field, on which the bondes' force was; but Eilif's men
 8131      were drawn up, forming a shield-fence before him. Bjorn the marshal spoke
 8132      long and cleverly upon the king's account, and when he sat down Eilif
 8133      arose to speak; but at the same moment Thorer Lange rose, drew his sword,
 8134      and struck Eilif on the neck, so that his head flew off. Then the whole
 8135      bonde-force started up; but the Gautland men set off in full flight and
 8136      Thorer with his people killed several of them. Now when the crowd was
 8137      settled again, and the noise over the king stood up, and told the bondes
 8138      to seat themselves. They did so, and then much was spoken. The end of it
 8139      was that they submitted to the king, and promised fidelity to him; and he,
 8140      on the other hand, promised not to desert them, but to remain at hand
 8141      until the discord between him and the Swedish Olaf was settled in one way
 8142      or other. King Olaf then brought the whole northern district under his
 8143      power, and went in summer eastward as far as the Gaut river, and got all
 8144      the king's scat among the islands. But when summer (A.D. 1016) was drawing
 8145      towards an end he returned north to Viken, and sailed up the Raum river to
 8146      a waterfall called Sarp. On the north side of the fall, a point of land
 8147      juts out into the river. There the king ordered a rampart to be built
 8148      right across the ness, of stone, turf, and wood, and a ditch to be dug in
 8149      front of it; so that it was a large earthen fort or burgh, which he made a
 8150      merchant town of. He had a king's house put up, and ordered the building
 8151      of Mary church. He also laid out plans for other houses, and got people to
 8152      build on them. In harvest (A.D. 1016) he let everything be gathered there
 8153      that was useful for his winter residence (A.D. 1017), and sat there with a
 8154      great many people, and the rest he quartered in the neighbouring
 8155      districts. The king prohibited all exports from Viken to Gautland of
 8156      herrings and salt, which the Gautland people could ill do without. This
 8157      year the king held a great Yule feast, to which he invited many great
 8158      bondes.
 8159      60. THE HISTORY OF EYVIND URARHORN.
 8160      There was a man called Eyvind Urarhorn, who was a great man, of high
 8161      birth, who had his descent from the East Agder country. Every summer he
 8162      went out on a viking cruise, sometimes to the West sea, sometimes to the
 8163      Baltic, sometimes south to Flanders, and had a well-armed cutter (snekkia)
 8164      of twenty benches of rowers. He had been also at Nesjar, and given his aid
 8165      to the king; and when they separated the king promised him his favour, and
 8166      Eyvind, again, promised to come to the king's aid whenever he was
 8167      required. This winter (A.D. 1017) Eyvind was at the Yule feast of the
 8168      king, and received goodly gifts from him. Brynjolf Ulfalde was also with
 8169      the king, and he received a Yule present from the king of a gold-mounted
 8170      sword, and also a farm called Vettaland, which is a very large head-farm
 8171      of the district. Brynjolf composed a song about these gifts, of which the
 8172      refrain was -
 8173     "The song-famed hero to my hand
 8174     Gave a good sword, and Vettaland."
 8175      The king afterwards gave him the title of Lenderman, and Brynjolf was ever
 8176      after the king's greatest friend.
 8177      61. THRAND WHITE'S MURDER.
 8178      This winter (A.D. 1017) Thrand White from Throndhjem went east to
 8179      Jamtaland, to take up scat upon account of King Olaf. But when he had
 8180      collected the scat he was surprised by men of the Swedish king, who killed
 8181      him and his men, twelve in all, and brought the scat to the Swedish king.
 8182      King Olaf was very ill-pleased when he heard this news.
 8183      62. CHRISTIANITY PROCLAIMED IN VIKEN.
 8184      King Olaf made Christian law to be proclaimed in Viken, in the same way as
 8185      in the North country. It succeeded well, because the people of Viken were
 8186      better acquainted with the Christian customs than the people in the north;
 8187      for, both winter and summer, there were many merchants in Viken, both
 8188      Danish and Saxon. The people of Viken, also, had much trading intercourse
 8189      with England, and Saxony, and Flanders, and Denmark; and some had been on
 8190      viking expeditions, and had had their winter abode in Christian lands.
 8191      63. HROE'S FALL.
 8192      About spring-time (A.D. 1017) King Olaf sent a message that Eyvind
 8193      Urarhorn should come to him; and they spake together in private for a long
 8194      time. Thereafter Eyvind made himself ready for a viking cruise. He sailed
 8195      south towards Viken, and brought up at the Eikreys Isles without Hising
 8196      Isle. There he heard that Hroe Skialge had gone northwards towards Ordost,
 8197      and had there made a levy of men and goods on account of the Swedish king,
 8198      and was expected from the north. Eyvind rowed in by Haugasund, and Hroe
 8199      came rowing from the north, and they met in the sound and fought. Hroe
 8200      fell there, with nearly thirty men; and Eyvind took all the goods Hroe had
 8201      with him. Eyvind then proceeded to the Baltic, and was all summer on a
 8202      viking cruise.
 8203      64. FALL OF GUDLEIK AND THORGAUT.
 8204      There was a man called Gudleik Gerske, who came originally from Agder. He
 8205      was a great merchant, who went far and wide by sea, was very rich, and
 8206      drove a trade with various countries. He often went east to Gardarike
 8207      (Russia), and therefore was called Gudleik Gerske (the Russian). This
 8208      spring (A.D. 1017) Gudleik fitted out his ship, and intended to go east in
 8209      summer to Russia. King Olaf sent a message to him that he wanted to speak
 8210      to him; and when Gudleik came to the king he told him he would go in
 8211      partnership with him, and told him to purchase some costly articles which
 8212      were difficult to be had in this country. Gudleik said that it should be
 8213      according to the king's desire. The king ordered as much money to be
 8214      delivered to Gudleik as he thought sufficient, and then Gudleik set out
 8215      for the Baltic. They lay in a sound in Gotland; and there it happened, as
 8216      it often does, that people cannot keep their own secrets, and the people
 8217      of the country came to know that in this ship was Olaf the Thick's
 8218      partner. Gudleik went in summer eastwards to Novgorod, where he bought
 8219      fine and costly clothes, which he intended for the king as a state dress;
 8220      and also precious furs, and remarkably splendid table utensils. In autumn
 8221      (A.D. 1017), as Gudleik was returning from the east, he met a contrary
 8222      wind, and lay for a long time at the island Eyland. There came Thorgaut
 8223      Skarde, who in autumn had heard of Gudleik's course, in a long-ship
 8224      against him, and gave him battle. They fought long, and Gudleik and his
 8225      people defended themselves for a long time; but the numbers against them
 8226      were great, and Gudleik and many of his ship's crew fell, and a great many
 8227      of them were wounded. Thorgaut took all their goods, and King Olaf's, and
 8228      he and his comrades divided the booty among them equally; but he said the
 8229      Swedish king ought to have the precious articles of King Olaf, as these,
 8230      he said, should be considered as part of the scat due to him from Norway.
 8231      Thereafter Thorgaut proceeded east to Svithjod. These tidings were soon
 8232      known; and as Eyvind Urarhorn came soon after to Eyland, he heard the
 8233      news, and sailed east after Thorgaut and his troop, and overtook them
 8234      among the Swedish isles on the coast, and gave battle. There Thorgaut and
 8235      the most of his men were killed, and the rest sprang overboard. Eyvind
 8236      took all the goods and all the costly articles of King Olaf which they had
 8237      captured from Gudleik, and went with these back to Norway in autumn, and
 8238      delivered to King Olaf his precious wares. The king thanked him in the
 8239      most friendly way for his proceeding, and promised him anew his favour and
 8240      friendship. At this time Olaf had been three years king over Norway (A.D.
 8241      1015-1017).
 8242      65. MEETING OF OLAF AND RAGNVALD.
 8243      The same summer (A.D. 1017) King Olaf ordered a levy, and went out
 8244      eastwards to the Gaut river, where he lay a great part of the summer.
 8245      Messages were passing between King Olaf, Earl Ragnvald, and the earl's
 8246      wife, Ingebjorg, the daughter of Trygve. She was very zealous about giving
 8247      King Olaf of Norway every kind of help, and made it a matter of her
 8248      deepest interest. For this there were two causes. She had a great
 8249      friendship for King Olaf; and also she could never forget that the Swedish
 8250      king had been one at the death of her brother, Olaf Trygvason; and also
 8251      that he, on that account only, had any presence to rule over Norway. The
 8252      earl, by her persuasion, turned much towards friendship with King Olaf;
 8253      and it proceeded so far that the earl and the king appointed a meeting,
 8254      and met at the Gaut river. They talked together of many things, but
 8255      especially of the Norwegian and Swedish kings' relations with each other;
 8256      both agreeing, as was the truth also, that it was the greatest loss, both
 8257      to the people of Viken and of Gautland, that there was no peace for trade
 8258      between the two countries; and at last both agreed upon a peace, and
 8259      still-stand of arms between them until next summer; and they parted with
 8260      mutual gifts and friendly speeches.
 8261      66. KING OLAF THE SWEDE.
 8262      The king thereupon returned north to Viken, and had all the royal revenues
 8263      up to the Gaut river; and all the people of the country there had
 8264      submitted to him. King Olaf the Swede had so great a hatred of Olaf
 8265      Haraldson, that no man dared to call him by his right name in the king's
 8266      hearing. They called him the thick man; and never named him without some
 8267      hard by-name.
 8268      67. ACCOUNT OF THEIR RECONCILIATION.
 8269      The bondes in Viken spoke with each other about there being nothing for it
 8270      but that the kings should make peace and a league with each other, and
 8271      insisted upon it that they were badly used by the kings going to war; but
 8272      nobody was so bold as to bring these murmurs before the king. At last they
 8273      begged Bjorn the marshal to bring this matter before the king, and entreat
 8274      him to send messengers to the Swedish king to offer peace on his side.
 8275      Bjorn was disinclined to do this, and put it off from himself with
 8276      excuses; but on the entreaties of many of his friends, he promised at last
 8277      to speak of it to the king; but declared, at the same time, that he knew
 8278      it would be taken very ill by the king to propose that he should give way
 8279      in anything to the Swedish king. The same summer (A.D. 1017) Hjalte
 8280      Skeggjason came over to Norway from Iceland, according to the message sent
 8281      him by King Olaf, and went directly to the king. He was well received by
 8282      the king, who told him to lodge in his house, and gave him a seat beside
 8283      Bjorn the marshal, and Hjalte became his comrade at table. There was
 8284      good-fellowship immediately between them.
 8285      Once, when King Olaf had assembled the people and bondes to consult upon
 8286      the good of the country, Bjorn the marshal said, "What think you, king, of
 8287      the strife that is between the Swedish king and you? Many people have
 8288      fallen on both sides, without its being at all more determined than before
 8289      what each of you shall have of the kingdom. You have now been sitting in
 8290      Viken one winter and two summers, and the whole country to the north is
 8291      lying behind your back unseen; and the men who have property or udal
 8292      rights in the north are weary of sitting here. Now it is the wish of the
 8293      lendermen, of your other people, and of the bondes that this should come
 8294      to an end. There is now a truce, agreement, and peace with the earl, and
 8295      the West Gautland people who are nearest to us; and it appears to the
 8296      people it would be best that you sent messengers to the Swedish king to
 8297      offer a reconciliation on your side; and, without doubt, many who are
 8298      about the Swedish king will support the proposal, for it is a common gain
 8299      for those who dwell in both countries, both here and there." This speech
 8300      of Bjorn's received great applause.
 8301      Then the king said, "It is fair, Bjorn, that the advice thou hast given
 8302      should be carried out by thyself. Thou shalt undertake this embassy
 8303      thyself, and enjoy the good of it, if thou hast advised well; and if it
 8304      involve any man in danger, thou hast involved thyself in it. Moreover, it
 8305      belongs to thy office to declare to the multitude what I wish to have
 8306      told." Then the king stood up, went to the church, and had high mass sung
 8307      before him; and thereafter went to table.
 8308      The following day Hjalte said to Bjorn, "Why art thou so melancholy, man?
 8309      Art thou sick, or art thou angry at any one?" Bjorn tells Hjalte his
 8310      conversation with the king, and says it is a very dangerous errand.
 8311      Hjalte says, "It is their lot who follow kings that they enjoy high
 8312      honours, and are more respected than other men, but stand often in danger
 8313      of their lives: and they must understand how to bear both parts of their
 8314      lot. The king's luck is great; and much honour will be gained by this
 8315      business, if it succeed."
 8316      Bjorn answered, "Since thou makest so light of this business in thy
 8317      speech, wilt thou go with me? The king has promised that I shall have
 8318      companions with me on the journey."
 8319      "Certainly," says Hjalte; "I will follow thee, if thou wilt: for never
 8320      again shall I fall in with such a comrade if we part."
 8321      68. JOURNEY OF BJORN THE MARSHAL.
 8322      A few days afterwards, when the king was at a Thing-meeting, Bjorn came
 8323      with eleven others. He says to the king that they were now ready to
 8324      proceed on their mission, and that their horses stood saddled at the door.
 8325      "And now," says he, "I would know with what errand I am to go, or what
 8326      orders thou givest us."
 8327      The king replies, "Ye shall carry these my words to the Swedish king -that
 8328      I will establish peace between our countries up to the frontier which Olaf
 8329      Trygvason had before me; and each shall bind himself faithfully not to
 8330      trespass over it. But with regard to the loss of people, no man must
 8331      mention it if peace there is to be; for the Swedish king cannot with money
 8332      pay for the men the Swedes have deprived us of." Thereupon the king rose,
 8333      and went out with Bjorn and his followers; and he took a gold-mounted
 8334      sword and a gold ring, and said, in handing over the sword to Bjorn, "This
 8335      I give thee: it was given to me in summer by Earl Ragnvald. To him ye
 8336      shall go; and bring him word from me to advance your errand with his
 8337      counsel and strength. This thy errand I will think well fulfilled if thou
 8338      hearest the Swedish king's own words, be they yea or nay: and this gold
 8339      ring thou shalt give Earl Ragnvald. These are tokens (1) he must know
 8340      well."
 8341      Hjalte went up to the king, saluted him, and said, "We need much, king,
 8342      that thy luck attend us;" and wished that they might meet again in good
 8343      health.
 8344      The king asked where Hjalte was going.
 8345      "With Bjorn," said he.
 8346      The king said, "It will assist much to the good success of the journey
 8347      that thou goest too, for thy good fortune has often been proved; and be
 8348      assured that I shall wish that all my luck, if that be of any weight, may
 8349      attend thee and thy company."
 8350      Bjorn and his followers rode their way, and came to Earl Ragnvald's court,
 8351      where they were well received. Bjorn was a celebrated and generally known
 8352      man, -known by sight and speech to all who had ever seen King Olaf;
 8353      for at every Thing, Bjorn stood up and told the king's message. Ingebjorg,
 8354      the earl's wife, went up to Hjalte and looked at him. She recognized him,
 8355      for she was living with her brother Olaf Trygvason when Hjalte was there:
 8356      and she knew how to reckon up the relationship between King Olaf and
 8357      Vilborg, the wife of Hjalte; for Eirik Bjodaskalle father of Astrid, King
 8358      Olaf Trygvason's mother, and Bodvar father of Olaf, mother of Gissur White
 8359      the father of Vilborg, were brother's sons of the lenderman Vikingakare of
 8360      Vors.
 8361      They enjoyed here good entertainment. One day Bjorn entered into
 8362      conversation with the earl and Ingebjorg, in which he set forth his
 8363      errand, and produced to the earl his tokens.
 8364      The earl replies, "What hast thou done, Bjorn, that the king wishes thy
 8365      death? For, so far from thy errand having any success, I do not think a
 8366      man can be found who could speak these words to the Swedish king without
 8367      incurring wrath and punishment. King Olaf, king of Sweden, is too proud
 8368      for any man to speak to him on anything he is angry at."
 8369      Then Bjorn says, "Nothing has happened to me that King Olaf is offended
 8370      at; but many of his disposition act both for themselves and others, in a
 8371      way that only men who are daring can succeed in. But as yet all his plans
 8372      have had good success, and I think this will turn out well too; so I
 8373      assure you, earl, that I will actually travel to the Swedish king, and not
 8374      turn back before I have brought to his ears every word that King Olaf told
 8375      me to say to him, unless death prevent me, or that I am in bonds, and
 8376      cannot perform my errand; and this I must do, whether you give any aid or
 8377      no aid to me in fulfilling the king's wishes."
 8378      Then said IngebJorg, "I will soon declare my opinion. I think, earl, thou
 8379      must turn all thy attention to supporting King Olaf the king of Norway's
 8380      desire that this message be laid before the Swedish king, in whatever way
 8381      he may answer it. Although the Swedish king's anger should be incurred,
 8382      and our power and property be at stake, yet will I rather run the risk,
 8383      than that it should be said the message of King Olaf was neglected from
 8384      fear of the Swedish king. Thou hast that birth, strength of relations, and
 8385      other means, that here in the Swedish land it is free to thee to tell thy
 8386      mind, if it be right and worthy of being heard, whether it be listened to
 8387      by few or many, great or little people, or by the king himself."
 8388      The earl replies, "It is known to every one how thou urgest me: it may be,
 8389      according to thy counsel, that I should promise the king's men to follow
 8390      them, so that they may get their errand laid before the Swedish king,
 8391      whether he take it ill or take it well. But I will have my own counsel
 8392      followed, and will not run hastily into Bjorn's or any other man's
 8393      measures, in such a highly important matter. It is my will that ye all
 8394      remain here with me, so long as I think it necessary for the purpose of
 8395      rightly forwarding this mission." Now as the earl had thus given them to
 8396      understand that he would support them in the business, Bjorn thanked him
 8397      most kindly, and with the assurance that his advice should rule them
 8398      altogether. Thereafter Bjorn and his fellow-travellers remained very long
 8399      in the earl's house.
 8400   ENDNOTES: (1) Before writing was a common accomplishment in courts, the
 8401     only way of accrediting a special messenger between kings
 8402     and great men was by giving the messenger a token; that is.
 8403     some article well known by the person receiving the message
 8404     to be the property of and valued by the person sending it.
 8405      69. CONVERSATION OF BJORN AND INGEBJORG.
 8406      Ingebjorg was particularly kind to them; and Bjorn often spoke with her
 8407      about the matter, and was ill at ease that their journey was so long
 8408      delayed. Hjalte and the others often spoke together also about the matter;
 8409      and Hjalte said; "I will go to the king if ye like; for I am not a man of
 8410      Norway, and the Swedes can have nothing to say to me. I have heard that
 8411      there are Iceland men in the king's house who are my acquaintances, and
 8412      are well treated; namely, the skalds Gissur Black and Ottar Black. From
 8413      them I shall get out what I can about the Swedish king; and if the
 8414      business will really be so difficult as it now appears, or if there be any
 8415      other way of promoting it, I can easily devise some errand that may appear
 8416      suitable for me."
 8417      This counsel appeared to Bjorn and Ingebjorg to be the wisest, and they
 8418      resolved upon it among themselves. Ingebjorg put Hjalte in a position to
 8419      travel; gave him two Gautland men with him, and ordered them to follow
 8420      him, and assist him with their service, and also to go wherever he might
 8421      have occasion to send them. Besides, Ingebjorg gave him twenty marks of
 8422      weighed silver money for travelling expenses, and sent word and token by
 8423      him to the Swedish king Olaf's daughter, Ingegerd, that she should give
 8424      all her assistance to Hjalte's business, whenever he should find himself
 8425      under the necessity of craving her help. Hjalte set off as soon as he was
 8426      ready. When he came to King Olaf he soon found the skalds Gissur and
 8427      Ottar, and they were very glad at his coming. Without delay they went to
 8428      the king, and told him that a man was come who was their countryman, and
 8429      one of the most considerable in their native land, and requested the king
 8430      to receive him well. The king told them to take Hjalte and his
 8431      fellow-travellers into their company and quarters. Now when Hjalte had
 8432      resided there a short time, and got acquainted with people, he was much
 8433      respected by everybody. The skalds were often in the king's house, for
 8434      they were well-spoken men; and often in the daytime they sat in front of
 8435      the king's high-seat, and Hjalte, to whom they paid the highest respect in
 8436      all things, by their side. He became thus known to the king, who willingly
 8437      entered into conversation with him, and heard from him news about Iceland.
 8438      70. OF SIGVAT THE SKALD.
 8439      It happened that before Bjorn set out from home he asked Sigvat the skald,
 8440      who at that time was with King Olaf, to accompany him on his journey. It
 8441      was a journey for which people had no great inclination. There was,
 8442      however, great friendship between Bjorn and Sigvat. Then Sigvat sang: -
 8443     "With the king's marshals all have I,
 8444          In days gone by,
 8445          Lived joyously, -
 8446     With all who on the king attend,
 8447     And knee before him humbly bend,
 8448     Bjorn, thou oft hast ta'en my part -
 8449          Pleaded with art,
 8450          And touched the heart.
 8451     Bjorn!  brave stainer of the sword,
 8452     Thou art my friend -I trust thy word."
 8453      While they were riding up to Gautland, Sigvat made these verses: -
 8454     "Down the Fjord sweep wind and rain,
 8455     Our stout ship's sails and tackle strain;
 8456          Wet to the skin.
 8457          We're sound within,
 8458     And gaily o'er the waves are dancing,
 8459     Our sea-steed o'er the waves high prancing!
 8460          Through Lister sea
 8461          Flying all free;
 8462     Off from the wind with swelling sail,
 8463     We merrily scud before the gale,
 8464          And reach the sound
 8465          Where we were bound.
 8466     And now our ship, so gay and grand,
 8467     Glides past the green and lovely land,
 8468          And at the isle
 8469          Moors for a while.
 8470     Our horse-hoofs now leave hasty print;
 8471     We ride -of ease there's scanty stint -
 8472          In heat and haste
 8473          O'er Gautland's waste:
 8474     Though in a hurry to be married,
 8475     The king can't say that we have tarried."
 8476      One evening late they were riding through Gautland, and Sigvat made these
 8477      verses: -
 8478     "The weary horse will at nightfall
 8479     Gallop right well to reach his stall;
 8480     When night meets day, with hasty hoof
 8481     He plies the road to reach a roof.
 8482     Far from the Danes, we now may ride
 8483     Safely by stream or mountain-side;
 8484     But, in this twilight, in some ditch
 8485     The horse and rider both may pitch."
 8486      They rode through the merchant town of Skara, and down the street to the
 8487      earl's house. He sang: -
 8488     "The shy sweet girls, from window high
 8489     In wonder peep at the sparks that fly
 8490     From our horses heels, as down the street
 8491     Of the earl's town we ride so fleet.
 8492     Spur on! -that every pretty lass
 8493     May hear our horse-hoofs as we pass
 8494     Clatter upon the stones so hard,
 8495     And echo round the paved court-yard."
 8496      71. HJALTE SKEGGJASON WHILE HE WAS IN SVITHIOD.
 8497      One day Hjalte, and the skalds with him, went before the king, and he
 8498      began thus: -"It has so happened, king, as is known to you, that I
 8499      have come here after a long and difficult journey; but when I had once
 8500      crossed the ocean and heard of your greatness, it appeared to me unwise to
 8501      go back without having seen you in your splendour and glory. Now it is a
 8502      law between Iceland and Norway, that Iceland men pay landing due when they
 8503      come into Norway, but while I was coming across the sea I took myself all
 8504      the landing dues from my ship's people; but knowing that thou have the
 8505      greatest right to all the power in Norway, I hastened hither to deliver to
 8506      you the landing dues." With this he showed the silver to the king, and
 8507      laid ten marks of silver in Gissur Black's lap.
 8508      The king replies, "Few have brought us any such dues from Norway for some
 8509      time; and now, Hjalte, I will return you my warmest thanks for having
 8510      given yourself so much trouble to bring us the landing dues, rather than
 8511      pay them to our enemies. But I will that thou shouldst take this money
 8512      from me as a gift, and with it my friendship."
 8513      Hjalte thanked the king with many words, and from that day set himself in
 8514      great favour with the king, and often spoke with him; for the king
 8515      thought, what was true, that he was a man of much understanding and
 8516      eloquence. Now Hjalte told Gissur and Ottar that he was sent with tokens
 8517      to the king's daughter Ingegerd, to obtain her protection and friendship;
 8518      and he begged of them to procure him some opportunity to speak with her.
 8519      They answered, that this was an easy thing to do; and went one day to her
 8520      house, where she sat at the drinking table with many men. She received the
 8521      skalds in a friendly manner, for they were known to her. Hjalte brought
 8522      her a salutation from the earl's wife, Ingebjorg; and said she had sent
 8523      him here to obtain friendly help and succour from her, and in proof
 8524      whereof produced his tokens. The king's daughter received him also kindly,
 8525      and said he should be welcome to her friendship. They sat there till late
 8526      in the day drinking. The king's daughter made Hjalte tell her much news,
 8527      and invited him to come often and converse with her. He did so: came there
 8528      often, and spoke with the king's daughter; and at last entrusted her with
 8529      the purpose of Bjorn's and his comrade's journey, and asked her how she
 8530      thought the Swedish king would receive the proposal that there should be a
 8531      reconciliation between the kings. The king's daughter replied, that, in
 8532      her opinion, it would be a useless attempt to propose to the king any
 8533      reconciliation with Olaf the Thick; for the king was so enraged against
 8534      him, that he would not suffer his name to be mentioned before him. It
 8535      happened one day that Hjalte was sitting with the king and talking to him,
 8536      and the king was very merry and drunk. Then Hjalte said, "Manifold
 8537      splendour and grandeur have I seen here; and I have now witnessed with my
 8538      eyes what I have often heard of, that no monarch in the north is so
 8539      magnificent: but it is very vexatious that we who come so far to visit it
 8540      have a road so long and troublesome, both on account of the great ocean,
 8541      but more especially because it is not safe to travel through Norway for
 8542      those who are coming here in a friendly disposition. But why is there no
 8543      one to bring proposals for a peace between you and King Olaf the Thick? I
 8544      heard much in Norway, and in west Gautland, of the general desire that
 8545      this peace should have taken place; and it has been told me for truth, as
 8546      the Norway king's words, that he earnestly desires to be reconciled to
 8547      you; and the reason I know is, that he feels how much less his power is
 8548      than yours. It is even said that he intends to pay his court to your
 8549      daughter Ingegerd; and that would lead to a useful peace, for I have heard
 8550      from people of credit that he is a remarkably distinguished man."
 8551      The king answers. "Thou must not speak thus, Hjalte; but for this time I
 8552      will not take it amiss of thee, as thou dost not know what people have to
 8553      avoid here. That fat fellow shall not be called king in my court, and
 8554      there is by no means the stuff in him that people talk of: and thou must
 8555      see thyself that such a connection is not suitable; for I am the tenth
 8556      king in Upsala who, relation after relation, has been sole monarch over
 8557      the Swedish, and many other great lands, and all have been the superior
 8558      kings over other kings in the northern countries. But Norway is little
 8559      inhabited, and the inhabitants are scattered. There have only been small
 8560      kings there; and although Harald Harfager was the greatest king in that
 8561      country, and strove against the small kings, and subdued them, yet he knew
 8562      so well his position that he did not covet the Swedish dominions, and
 8563      therefore the Swedish kings let him sit in peace, especially as there was
 8564      relationship between them. Thereafter, while Hakon Athelstan's foster-son
 8565      was in Norway he sat in peace, until he began to maraud in Gautland and
 8566      Denmark; on which a war-force came upon him, and took from him both life
 8567      and land. Gunhild's sons also were cut off when they became disobedient to
 8568      the Danish kings; and Harald Gormson joined Norway to his own dominions,
 8569      and made it subject to scat to him. And we reckon Harald Gormson to be of
 8570      less power and consideration than the Upsala kings, for our relation
 8571      Styrbjorn subdued him, and Harald became his man; and yet Eirik the
 8572      Victorious, my father, rose over Styrbjorn's head when it came to a trial
 8573      between them. When Olaf Trygvason came to Norway and proclaimed himself
 8574      king, we would not permit it, but we went with King Svein, and cut him
 8575      off; and thus we have appropriated Norway, as thou hast not heard, and
 8576      with no less right than if I had gained it in battle, and by conquering
 8577      the kings who ruled it before. Now thou canst well suppose, as a man of
 8578      sense, that I will not let slip the kingdom of Norway for this thick
 8579      fellow. It is wonderful he does not remember how narrowly he made his
 8580      escape, when we had penned him in in the Malar lake. Although he slipped
 8581      away with life from thence, he ought, methinks, to have something else in
 8582      his mind than to hold out against us Swedes. Now, Hjalte, thou must never
 8583      again open thy mouth in my presence on such a subject."
 8584      Hjalte saw sufficiently that there was no hope of the king's listening to
 8585      any proposal of a peace, and desisted from speaking of it, and turned the
 8586      conversation to something else. When Hjalte, afterwards, came into
 8587      discourse with the king's daughter Ingegerd, he tells her his conversation
 8588      with the king. She told him she expected such an answer from the king.
 8589      Hjalte begged of her to say a good word to the king about the matter, but
 8590      she thought the king would listen as little to what she said: "But speak
 8591      about it I will, if thou requirest it." Hjalte assured her he would be
 8592      thankful for the attempt. One day the king's daughter Ingegerd had a
 8593      conversation with her father Olaf; and as she found her father was in a
 8594      particularly good humour, she said, "What is now thy intention with regard
 8595      to the strife with Olaf the Thick? There are many who complain about it,
 8596      having lost their property by it; others have lost their relations by the
 8597      Northmen, and all their peace and quiet; so that none of your men see any
 8598      harm that can be done to Norway. It would be a bad counsel if thou sought
 8599      the dominion over Norway; for it is a poor country, difficult to come at,
 8600      and the people dangerous: for the men there will rather have any other for
 8601      their king than thee. If I might advise, thou wouldst let go all thoughts
 8602      about Norway, and not desire Olaf's heritage; and rather turn thyself to
 8603      the kingdoms in the East country, which thy forefathers the former Swedish
 8604      kings had, and which our relation Styrbjorn lately subdued, and let the
 8605      thick Olaf possess the heritage of his forefathers and make peace with
 8606      him."
 8607      The king replies in a rage, "It is thy counsel, Ingegerd, that I should
 8608      let slip the kingdom of Norway, and give thee in marriage to this thick
 8609      Olaf." -"No," says he, "something else shall first take place. Rather
 8610      than that, I shall, at the Upsala Thing in winter, issue a proclamation to
 8611      all Swedes, that the whole people shall assemble for an expedition, and go
 8612      to their ships before the ice is off the waters; and I will proceed to
 8613      Norway, and lay waste the land with fire and sword, and burn everything,
 8614      to punish them for their want of fidelity."
 8615      The king was so mad with rage that nobody ventured to say a word, and she
 8616      went away. Hjalte, who was watching for her, immediately went to her and
 8617      asked how her errand to the king had turned out. She answered, it turned
 8618      out as she had expected; that none could venture to put in a word with the
 8619      king; but, on the contrary, he had used threats; and she begged Hjalte
 8620      never to speak of the matter again before the king. As Hjalte and Ingegerd
 8621      spoke together often, Olaf the Thick was often the subject, and he told
 8622      her about him and his manners; and Hjalte praised the king of Norway what
 8623      he could, but said no more than was the truth, and she could well perceive
 8624      it. Once, in a conversation, Hjalte said to her, "May I be permitted,
 8625      daughter of the king, to tell thee what lies in my mind?"
 8626      "Speak freely," says she; "but so that I alone can hear it."
 8627      "Then," said Hjalte, "what would be thy answer, if the Norway king Olaf
 8628      sent messengers to thee with the errand to propose marriage to thee?"
 8629      She blushed, and answered slowly but gently, "I have not made up my mind
 8630      to answer to that; but if Olaf be in all respects so perfect as thou
 8631      tellest me, I could wish for no other husband; unless, indeed, thou hast
 8632      gilded him over with thy praise more than sufficiently."
 8633      Hjalte replied, that he had in no respect spoken better of the king than
 8634      was true. They often spoke together on the same subject. Ingegerd begged
 8635      Hjalte to be cautious not to mention it to any other person, for the king
 8636      would be enraged against him if it came to his knowledge. Hjalte only
 8637      spoke of it to the skalds Gissur and Ottar, who thought it was the most
 8638      happy plan, if it could but be carried into effect. Ottar, who was a man
 8639      of great power of conversation, and much beloved in the court, soon
 8640      brought up the subject before the king's daughter, and recounted to her,
 8641      as Hjalte had done, all King Olaf's excellent qualities. Often spoke
 8642      Hjalte and the others about him; and now that Hjalte knew the result of
 8643      his mission, he sent those Gautland men away who had accompanied him, and
 8644      let them return to the earl with letters (1) which the king's daughter
 8645      Ingegerd sent to the earl and Ingebjorg. Hjalte also let them give a hint
 8646      to the earl about the conversation he had had with Ingegerd, and her
 8647      answer thereto: and the messengers came with it to the earl a little
 8648      before Yule.
 8649   ENDNOTES: (1) This seems the first notice we have in the sagas of
 8650     written letters being sent instead of tokens and verbal messages.
 8651      -L.
 8652      72. OLAF'S JOURNEY TO THE UPLANDS.
 8653      When King Olaf had despatched Bjorn and his followers to Gautland, he sent
 8654      other people also to the Uplands, with the errand that they should have
 8655      guest-quarters prepared for him, as he intended that winter (A.D. 1018) to
 8656      live as guest in the Uplands; for it had been the custom of former kings
 8657      to make a progress in guest-quarters every third year in the Uplands. In
 8658      autumn he began his progress from Sarpsborg, and went first to Vingulmark.
 8659      He ordered his progress so that he came first to lodge in the
 8660      neighbourhood of the forest habitations, and summoned to him all the men
 8661      of the habitations who dwelt at the greatest distance from the
 8662      head-habitations of the district; and he inquired particularly how it
 8663      stood with their Christianity, and, where improvement was needful, he
 8664      taught them the right customs. If any there were who would not renounce
 8665      heathen ways, he took the matter so zealously that he drove some out of
 8666      the country, mutilated others of hands or feet, or stung their eyes out;
 8667      hung up some, cut down some with the sword; but let none go unpunished who
 8668      would not serve God. He went thus through the whole district, sparing
 8669      neither great nor small. He gave them teachers, and placed these as
 8670      thickly in the country as he saw needful. In this manner he went about in
 8671      that district, and had 300 deadly men-at-arms with him; and then proceeded
 8672      to Raumarike. He soon perceived that Christianity was thriving less the
 8673      farther he proceeded into the interior of the country. He went forward
 8674      everywhere in the same way, converting all the people to the right faith,
 8675      and severely punishing all who would not listen to his word.
 8676      73. TREACHERY OF THE UPLAND KINGS.
 8677      Now when the king who at that time ruled in Raumarike heard of this, he
 8678      thought it was a very bad affair; for every day came men to him, both
 8679      great and small, who told him what was doing. Therefore this king resolved
 8680      to go up to Hedemark, and consult King Hrorek, who was the most eminent
 8681      for understanding of the kings who at that time were in the country. Now
 8682      when these kings spoke with each other, they agreed to send a message to
 8683      Gudrod, the valley-king north in the Gudbrandsdal, and likewise to the
 8684      king who was in Hadaland, and bid them to come to Hedemark, to meet Hrorek
 8685      and the other kings there. They did not spare their travelling; for five
 8686      kings met in Hedemark, at a place called Ringsaker. Ring, King Hrorek's
 8687      brother, was the fifth of these kings. The kings had first a private
 8688      conference together, in which he who came from Raumarike first took up the
 8689      word, and told of King Olaf's proceedings, and of the disturbance he was
 8690      causing both by killing and mutilating people. Some he drove out of the
 8691      country, some he deprived of their offices or property if they spoke
 8692      anything against him; and, besides, he was travelling over the country
 8693      with a great army, not with the number of people fixed by law for a royal
 8694      progress in guest-quarters. He added, that he had fled hither upon account
 8695      of this disturbance, and many powerful people with him had fled from their
 8696      udal properties in Raumarike. "But although as yet the evil is nearest to
 8697      us, it will be but a short time before ye will also be exposed to it;
 8698      therefore it is best that we all consider together what resolution we
 8699      shall take." When he had ended his speech, Hrorek was desired to speak;
 8700      and he said, "Now is the day come that I foretold when we had had our
 8701      meeting at Hadaland, and ye were all so eager to raise Olaf over our
 8702      heads; namely, that as soon as he was the supreme master of the country we
 8703      would find it hard to hold him by the horns. We have but two things now to
 8704      do: the one is, to go all of us to him, and let him do with us as he
 8705      likes, which I think is the best thing we can do; or the other is, to rise
 8706      against him before he has gone farther through the country. Although he
 8707      has 300 or 400 men, that is not too great a force for us to meet, if we
 8708      are only all in movement together: but, in general, there is less success
 8709      and advantage to be gained when several of equal strength are joined
 8710      together, than when one alone stands at the head of his own force;
 8711      therefore it is my advice, that we do not venture to try our luck against
 8712      Olaf Haraldson."
 8713      Thereafter each of the kings spoke according to his own mind some
 8714      dissuading from going out against King Olaf, others urging it; and no
 8715      determination was come to, as each had his own reasons to produce.
 8716      Then Gudrod, the valley-king, took up the word, and spoke: -"It
 8717      appears wonderful to me, that ye make such a long roundabout in coming to
 8718      a resolution; and probably ye are frightened for him. We are here five
 8719      kings, and none of less high birth than Olaf. We gave him the strength to
 8720      fight with Earl Svein, and with our forces he has brought the country
 8721      under his power. But if he grudges each of us the little kingdom he had
 8722      before, and threatens us with tortures, or gives us ill words, then, say I
 8723      for myself, that I will withdraw myself from the king's slavery; and I do
 8724      not call him a man among you who is afraid to cut him off, if he come into
 8725      your hands here up in Hedemark. And this I can tell you, that we shall
 8726      never bear our heads in safety while Olaf is in life." After this
 8727      encouragement they all agreed to his determination.
 8728      Then said Hrorek, "With regard to this determination, it appears to me
 8729      necessary to make our agreement so strong that no one shall fail in his
 8730      promise to the other. Therefore, if ye determine upon attacking Olaf at a
 8731      fixed time, when he comes here to Hedemark, I will not trust much to you
 8732      if some are north in the valleys, others up in Hedemark; but if our
 8733      resolution is to come to anything, we must remain here assembled together
 8734      day and night."
 8735      This the kings agreed to, and kept themselves there all assembled,
 8736      ordering a feast to be provided for them at Ringsaker, and drank there a
 8737      cup to success; sending out spies to Raumarike, and when one set came in
 8738      sending out others, so that day and night they had intelligence of Olaf's
 8739      proceedings, and of the numbers of his men. King Olaf went about in
 8740      Raumarike in guest-quarters, and altogether in the way before related; but
 8741      as the provision of the guest-quarter was not always sufficient, upon
 8742      account of his numerous followers, he laid it upon the bondes to give
 8743      additional contributions wherever he found it necessary to stay. In some
 8744      places he stayed longer, in others, shorter than was fixed; and his
 8745      journey down to the lake Miosen was shorter than had been fixed on. The
 8746      kings, after taking their resolution, sent out message-tokens, and
 8747      summoned all the lendermen and powerful bondes from all the districts
 8748      thereabout; and when they had assembled the kings had a private meeting
 8749      with them, and made their determination known, setting a day for gathering
 8750      together and carrying it into effect; and it was settled among them that
 8751      each of the kings should have 300 (1) men. Then they sent away the
 8752      lendermen to gather the people, and meet all at the appointed place. The
 8753      most approved of the measure; but it happened here, as it usually does,
 8754      that every one has some friend even among his enemies.
 8755   ENDNOTES: (1) I.e., 360.
 8756      74. MUTILATING OF THE UPLAND KINGS.
 8757      Ketil of Ringanes was at this meeting. Now when he came home in the
 8758      evening he took his supper, put on his clothes, and went down with his
 8759      house-servants to the lake; took a light vessel which he had, the same
 8760      that King Olaf had made him a present of, and launched it on the water.
 8761      They found in the boat-house everything ready to their hands; betook
 8762      themselves to their oars, and rowed out into the lake. Ketil had forty
 8763      well-armed men with him, and came early in the morning to the end of the
 8764      lake. He set off immediately with twenty men, leaving the other twenty to
 8765      look after the ship. King Olaf was at that time at Eid, in the upper end
 8766      of Raumarike. Thither Ketil arrived just as the king was coming from
 8767      matins. The king received Ketil kindly. He said he must speak with the
 8768      king in all haste; and they had a private conference together. There Ketil
 8769      tells the king the resolution which the kings had taken, and their
 8770      agreement, which he had come to the certain knowledge of. When the king
 8771      learnt this he called his people together, and sent some out to collect
 8772      riding-horses in the country; others he sent down to the lake to take all
 8773      the rowing-vessels they could lay hold of, and keep them for his use.
 8774      Thereafter he went to the church, had mass sung before him, and then sat
 8775      down to table. After his meal he got ready, and hastened down to the lake,
 8776      where the vessels were coming to meet him. He himself went on board the
 8777      light vessel, and as many men with him as it could stow, and all the rest
 8778      of his followers took such boats as they could get hold of; and when it
 8779      was getting late in the evening they set out from the land, in still and
 8780      calm weather. He rowed up the water with 400 men, and came with them to
 8781      Ringsaker before day dawned; and the watchmen were not aware of the army
 8782      before they were come into the very court. Ketil knew well in what houses
 8783      the kings slept, and the king had all these houses surrounded and guarded,
 8784      so that nobody could get out; and so they stood till daylight. The kings
 8785      had not people enough to make resistance, but were all taken prisoners,
 8786      and led before the king. Hrorek was an able but obstinate man, whose
 8787      fidelity the king could not trust to if he made peace with him; therefore
 8788      he ordered both his eyes to be punched out, and took him in that condition
 8789      about with him. He ordered Gudrod's tongue to be cut out; but Ring and two
 8790      others he banished from Norway, under oath never to return. Of the
 8791      lendermen and bondes who had actually taken part in the traitorous design,
 8792      some he drove out of the country, some he mutilated, and with others he
 8793      made peace. Ottar Black tells of this: -
 8794     "The giver of rings of gold,
 8795     The army leader bold,
 8796          In vengeance springs
 8797          On the Hedemark kings.
 8798     Olaf the bold and great,
 8799     Repays their foul deceit -
 8800          In full repays
 8801          Their treacherous ways.
 8802     He drives with steel-clad hand
 8803     The small kings from the land, -
 8804          Greater by far
 8805          In deed of war.
 8806     The king who dwelt most north
 8807     Tongueless must wander forth:
 8808          All fly away
 8809          In great dismay.
 8810     King Olaf now rules o'er
 8811     What five kings ruled before.
 8812          To Eid's old bound
 8813          Extends his ground.
 8814     No kings in days of yore
 8815     E'er won so much before:
 8816          That this is so
 8817          All Norsemen know."
 8818      King Olaf took possession of the land these five kings had possessed, and
 8819      took hostages from the lendermen and bondes in it. He took money instead
 8820      of guest-quarters from the country north of the valley district, and from
 8821      Hedemark; and then returned to Raumarike, and so west to Hadaland. This
 8822      winter (A.D. 1018) his stepfather Sigurd Syr died; and King Olaf went to
 8823      Ringerike, where his mother Asta made a great feast for him. Olaf alone
 8824      bore the title of king now in Norway.
 8825      75. KING OLAF'S HALF-BROTHERS.
 8826      It is told that when King Olaf was on his visit to his mother Asta, she
 8827      brought out her children, and showed them to him. The king took his
 8828      brother Guthorm on the one knee, and his brother Halfdan on the other. The
 8829      king looked at Guthorm, made a wry face, and pretended to be angry at
 8830      them: at which the boys were afraid. Then Asta brought her youngest son,
 8831      called Harald, who was three years old, to him. The king made a wry face
 8832      at him also; but he looked the king in the face without regarding it. The
 8833      king took the boy by the hair, and plucked it; but the boy seized the
 8834      king's whiskers, and gave them a tug. "Then," said the king, "thou wilt be
 8835      revengeful, my friend, some day." The following day the king was walking
 8836      with his mother about the farm, and they came to a playground, where
 8837      Asta's sons, Guthorm and Halfdan, were amusing themselves. They were
 8838      building great houses and barns in their play, and were supposing them
 8839      full of cattle and sheep; and close beside them, in a clay pool, Harald
 8840      was busy with chips of wood, sailing them, in his sport along the edge.
 8841      The king asked him what these were; and he answered, these were his ships
 8842      of war. The king laughed, and said, "The time may come, friend, when thou
 8843      wilt command ships."
 8844      Then the king called to him Halfdan and Guthorm; and first he asked
 8845      Guthorm, "What wouldst thou like best to have?"
 8846      "Corn land," replied he.
 8847      "And how great wouldst thou like thy corn land to be?"
 8848      "I would have the whole ness that goes out into the lake sown with corn
 8849      every summer." On that ness there are ten farms.
 8850      The king replies, "There would be a great deal of corn there." And,
 8851      turning to Halfdan, he asked, "And what wouldst thou like best to have?"
 8852      "Cows," he replied.
 8853      "How many wouldst thou like to have?"
 8854      "When they went to the lake to be watered I would have so many, that they
 8855      stood as tight round the lake as they could stand."
 8856      "That would be a great housekeeping," said the king; "and therein ye take
 8857      after your father."
 8858      Then the king says to Harald, "And what wouldst thou like best to have?"
 8859      "House-servants."
 8860      "And how many wouldst thou have?"
 8861      "Oh! so many I would like to have as would eat up my brother Halfdan's
 8862      cows at a single meal."
 8863      The king laughed, and said to Asta, "Here, mother, thou art bringing up a
 8864      king." And more is not related of them on this occasion.
 8865      76. THE DIVISION OF THE COUNTRY.
 8866      In Svithjod it was the old custom, as long as heathenism prevailed, that
 8867      the chief sacrifice took place in Goe month at Upsala. Then sacrifice was
 8868      offered for peace, and victory to the king; and thither came people from
 8869      all parts of Svithjod. All the Things of the Swedes, also, were held
 8870      there, and markets, and meetings for buying, which continued for a week:
 8871      and after Christianity was introduced into Svithjod, the Things and fairs
 8872      were held there as before. After Christianity had taken root in Svithjod,
 8873      and the kings would no longer dwell in Upsala, the market-time was moved
 8874      to Candlemas, and it has since continued so, and it lasts only three days.
 8875      There is then the Swedish Thing also, and people from all quarters come
 8876      there. Svithjod is divided into many parts. One part is West Gautland,
 8877      Vermaland, and the Marks, with what belongs to them; and this part of the
 8878      kingdom is so large, that the bishop who is set over it has 1100 churches
 8879      under him. The other part is East Gautland, where there is also a bishop's
 8880      seat, to which the islands of Gotland and Eyland belong; and forming all
 8881      together a still greater bishopric. In Svithjod itself there is a part of
 8882      the country called Sudermanland, where there is also a bishopric. Then
 8883      comes Westmanland, or Fiathrundaland, which is also a bishopric. The third
 8884      portion of Svithjod proper is called Tiundaland; the fourth Attandaland;
 8885      the fifth Sialand, and what belongs to it lies eastward along the coast.
 8886      Tiundaland is the best and most inhabited part of Svithjod, under which
 8887      the other kingdoms stand. There Upsala is situated, the seat of the king
 8888      and archbishop; and from it Upsala-audr, or the domain of the Swedish
 8889      kings, takes its name. Each of these divisions of the country has its
 8890      Lag-thing, and its own laws in many parts. Over each is a lagman, who
 8891      rules principally in affairs of the bondes: for that becomes law which he,
 8892      by his speech, determines them to make law: and if king, earl, or bishop
 8893      goes through the country, and holds a Thing with the bondes, the lagmen
 8894      reply on account of the bondes, and they all follow their lagmen; so that
 8895      even the most powerful men scarcely dare to come to their Al-thing without
 8896      regarding the bondes' and lagmen's law. And in all matters in which the
 8897      laws differ from each other, Upsala-law is the directing law; and the
 8898      other lagmen are under the lagman who dwells in Tiundaland.
 8899      77. OF THE LAGMAN THORGNY.
 8900      In Tiundaland there was a lagman who was called Thorgny, whose father was
 8901      called Thorgny Thorgnyson. His forefathers had for a long course of years,
 8902      and during many kings' times, been lagmen of Tiundaland. At this time
 8903      Thorgny was old, and had a great court about him. He was considered one of
 8904      the wisest men in Sweden, and was Earl Ragnvald's relation and
 8905      foster-father.
 8906      78. MEETING OF RAGNVALD AND INGEGERD.
 8907      Now we must go back in our story to the time when the men whom the king's
 8908      daughter Ingegerd and Hjalte had sent from the east came to Earl Ragnvald.
 8909      They relate their errand to the earl and his wife Ingebjorg, and tell how
 8910      the king's daughter had oft spoken to the Swedish king about a peace
 8911      between him and King Olaf the Thick, and that she was a great friend of
 8912      King Olaf; but that the Swedish king flew into a passion every time she
 8913      named Olaf, so that she had no hopes of any peace. The Earl told Bjorn the
 8914      news he had received from the east; but Bjorn gave the same reply, that he
 8915      would not turn back until he had met the Swedish king, and said the earl
 8916      had promised to go with him. Now the winter was passing fast, and
 8917      immediately after Yule the earl made himself ready to travel with sixty
 8918      men, among whom where the marshal Bjorn and his companions. The earl
 8919      proceeded eastward all the way to Svithjod; but when he came a little way
 8920      into the country he sent his men before him to Upsala with a message to
 8921      Ingegerd the king's daughter to come out to meet him at Ullaraker, where
 8922      she had a large farm. When the king's daughter got the earl's message she
 8923      made herself ready immediately to travel with a large attendance, and
 8924      Hjalte accompanied her. But before he took his departure he went to King
 8925      Olaf, and said, "Continue always to be the most fortunate of monarchs!
 8926      Such splendour as I have seen about thee I have in truth never witnessed
 8927      elsewhere, and wheresoever I come it shall not be concealed. Now, king,
 8928      may I entreat thy favour and friendship in time to come?"
 8929      The king replies, "Why art thou in so great a haste, and where art thou
 8930      going?"
 8931      Hjalte replies, "I am to ride out to Ullaraker with Ingegerd thy
 8932      daughter."
 8933      The king says, "Farewell, then: a man thou art of understanding and
 8934      politeness, and well suited to live with people of rank."
 8935      Thereupon Hjalte withdrew.
 8936      The king's daughter Ingegerd rode to her farm in Ullaraker, and ordered a
 8937      great feast to be prepared for the earl. When the earl arrived he was
 8938      welcomed with gladness, and he remained there several days. The earl and
 8939      the king's daughter talked much, and of many things, but most about the
 8940      Swedish and Norwegian kings; and she told the earl that in her opinion
 8941      there was no hope of peace between them.
 8942      Then said the earl, "How wouldst thou like it, my cousin, if Olaf king of
 8943      Norway were to pay his addresses to thee? It appears to us that it would
 8944      contribute most towards a settled peace if there was relationship
 8945      established between the kings; but I would not support such a matter if it
 8946      were against thy inclination."
 8947      She replies, "My father disposes of my hand; but among all my other
 8948      relations thou art he whose advice I would rather follow in weighty
 8949      affairs. Dost thou think it would be advisable?" The earl recommended it
 8950      to her strongly, and reckoned up many excellent achievements of King
 8951      Olaf's. He told her, in particular, about what had lately been done; that
 8952      King Olaf in an hours time one morning had taken five kings prisoners,
 8953      deprived them all of their governments, and laid their kingdoms and
 8954      properties under his own power. Much they talked about the business, and
 8955      in all their conversations they perfectly agreed with each other. When the
 8956      earl was ready he took leave, and proceeded on his way, taking Hjalte with
 8957      him.
 8958      79. RAGNVALD AND THORGNY.
 8959      Earl Ragnvald came towards evening one day to the house of Lagman Thorgny.
 8960      It was a great and stately mansion, and many people stood outside, who
 8961      received the earl kindly, and took care of the horses and baggage. The
 8962      earl went into the room, where there was a number of people. In the
 8963      high-seat sat an old man; and never had Bjorn or his companions seen a man
 8964      so stout. His beard was so long that it lay upon his knee, and was spread
 8965      over his whole breast; and the man, moreover, was handsome and stately in
 8966      appearance. The earl went forward and saluted him. Thorgny received him
 8967      joyfully and kindly, and bade him go to the seat he was accustomed to
 8968      take. The earl seated himself on the other side, opposite Thorgny. They
 8969      remained there some days before the earl disclosed his errand, and then he
 8970      asked Thorgny to go with him into the conversing room. Bjorn and his
 8971      followers went there with the earl. Then the earl began, and told how Olaf
 8972      king of Norway had sent these men hither to conclude a peaceful agreement.
 8973      He showed at great length what injury it was of to the West Gautland
 8974      people, that there was hostility between their country and Norway. He
 8975      further related that Olaf the king of Norway had sent ambassadors, who
 8976      were here present, and to whom he had promised he would attend them to the
 8977      Swedish king; but he added, "The Swedish king takes the matter so
 8978      grievously, that he has uttered menaces against those who entertain it.
 8979      Now so it is, my foster-father, that I do not trust to myself in this
 8980      matter; but am come on a visit to thee to get good counsel and help from
 8981      thee in the matter."
 8982      Now when the earl had done speaking Thorgny sat silent for a while, and
 8983      then took up the word. "Ye have curious dispositions who are so ambitious
 8984      of honour and renown, and yet have no prudence or counsel in you when you
 8985      get into any mischief. Why did you not consider, before you gave your
 8986      promise to this adventure, that you had no power to stand against King
 8987      Olaf? In my opinion it is not a less honourable condition to be in the
 8988      number of bondes and have one's words free, and be able to say what one
 8989      will, even if the king be present. But I must go to the Upsala Thing, and
 8990      give thee such help that without fear thou canst speak before the king
 8991      what thou findest good."
 8992      The earl thanked him for the promise, remained with Thorgny, and rode with
 8993      him to the Upsala Thing. There was a great assemblage of people at the
 8994      Thing, and King Olaf was there with his court.
 8995      80. OF THE UPSALA THING.
 8996      The first day the Thing sat, King Olaf was seated on a stool, and his
 8997      court stood in a circle around him. Right opposite to him sat Earl
 8998      Ragnvald and Thorgny in the Thing upon one stool, and before them the
 8999      earl's court and Thorgny's house-people. Behind their stool stood the
 9000      bonde community, all in a circle around them. Some stood upon hillocks and
 9001      heights, in order to hear the better. Now when the king's messages, which
 9002      are usually handled in the Things, were produced and settled, the marshal
 9003      Bjorn rose beside the earl's stool, and said aloud, "King Olaf sends me
 9004      here with the message that he will offer to the Swedish king peace, and
 9005      the frontiers that in old times were fixed between Norway and Svithjod."
 9006      He spoke so loud that the Swedish king could distinctly hear him; but at
 9007      first, when he heard King Olaf's name spoken, he thought the speaker had
 9008      some message or business of his own to execute; but when he heard of
 9009      peace, and the frontiers between Norway and Svithjod, he saw from what
 9010      root it came, and sprang up, and called out that the man should be silent,
 9011      for that such speeches were useless. Thereupon Bjorn sat down; and when
 9012      the noise had ceased Earl Ragnvald stood up and made a speech.
 9013      He spoke of Olaf the Thick's message, and proposal of peace to Olaf the
 9014      Swedish king; and that all the West Gautland people sent their entreaty to
 9015      Olaf that he would make peace with the king of Norway. He recounted all
 9016      the evils the West Gautlanders were suffering under; that they must go
 9017      without all the things from Norway which were necessary in their
 9018      households; and, on the other hand, were exposed to attack and hostility
 9019      whenever the king of Norway gathered an army and made an inroad on them.
 9020      The earl added, that Olaf the Norway king had sent men hither with the
 9021      intent to obtain Ingegerd the king's daughter in marriage.
 9022      When the earl had done speaking Olaf the Swedish king stood up and
 9023      replied, and was altogether against listening to any proposals of peace,
 9024      and made many and heavy reproaches against the earl for his impudence in
 9025      entering into a peaceful truce with the thick fellow, and making up a
 9026      peaceful friendship with him, and which in truth he considered treason
 9027      against himself. He added, that it would be well deserved if Earl Ragnvald
 9028      were driven out of the kingdom. The earl had, in his opinion, the
 9029      influence of his wife Ingebjorg to thank for what might happen; and it was
 9030      the most imprudent fancy he could have fallen upon to take up with such a
 9031      wife. The king spoke long and bitterly, turning his speech always against
 9032      Olaf the Thick. When he sat down not a sound was to be heard at first.
 9033      81. THORGNY'S SPEECH.
 9034      Then Thorgny stood up; and when he arose all the bondes stood up who had
 9035      before been sitting, and rushed together from all parts to listen to what
 9036      Lagman Thorgny would say. At first there was a great din of people and
 9037      weapons; but when the noise was settled into silent listening, Thorguy
 9038      made his speech. "The disposition of Swedish kings is different now from
 9039      what it has been formerly. My grandfather Thorgny could well remember the
 9040      Upsala king Eirik Eymundson, and used to say of him that when he was in
 9041      his best years he went out every summer on expeditions to different
 9042      countries, and conquered for himself Finland, Kirjalaland, Courland,
 9043      Esthonia, and the eastern countries all around; and at the present day the
 9044      earth-bulwarks, ramparts, and other great works which he made are to be
 9045      seen. And, more over, he was not so proud that he would not listen to
 9046      people who had anything to say to him. My father, again, was a long time
 9047      with King Bjorn, and was well acquainted with his ways and manners. In
 9048      Bjorn's lifetime his kingdom stood in great power, and no kind of want was
 9049      felt, and he was gay and sociable with his friends. I also remember King
 9050      Eirik the Victorious, and was with him on many a war-expedition. He
 9051      enlarged the Swedish dominion, and defended it manfully; and it was also
 9052      easy and agreeable to communicate our opinions to him. But the king we
 9053      have now got allows no man to presume to talk with him, unless it be what
 9054      he desires to hear. On this alone he applies all his power, while he
 9055      allows his scat-lands in other countries to go from him through laziness
 9056      and weakness. He wants to have the Norway kingdom laid under him, which no
 9057      Swedish king before him ever desired, and therewith brings war and
 9058      distress on many a man. Now it is our will, we bondes, that thou King Olaf
 9059      make peace with the Norway king, Olaf the Thick, and marry thy daughter
 9060      Ingegerd to him. Wilt thou, however, reconquer the kingdoms in the east
 9061      countries which thy relations and forefathers had there, we will all for
 9062      that purpose follow thee to the war. But if thou wilt not do as we desire,
 9063      we will now attack thee, and put thee to death; for we will no longer
 9064      suffer law and peace to be disturbed. So our forefathers went to work when
 9065      they drowned five kings in a morass at the Mula-thing, and they were
 9066      filled with the same insupportable pride thou hast shown towards us. Now
 9067      tell us, in all haste, what resolution thou wilt take." Then the whole
 9068      public approved, with clash of arms and shouts, the lagman's speech.
 9069      The king stands up and says he will let things go according to the desire
 9070      of the bondes. "All Swedish kings," he said, "have done so, and have
 9071      allowed the bondes to rule in all according to their will." The murmur
 9072      among the bondes then came to an end, and the chiefs, the king, the earl,
 9073      and Thorgny talked together, and concluded a truce and reconciliation, on
 9074      the part of the Swedish king, according to the terms which the king of
 9075      Norway had proposed by his ambassadors; and it was resolved at the Thing
 9076      that Ingegerd, the king's daughter, should be married to Olaf Haraldson.
 9077      The king left it to the earl to make the contract feast, and gave him full
 9078      powers to conclude this marriage affair; and after this was settled at the
 9079      Thing, they separated. When the earl returned homewards, he and the king's
 9080      daughter Ingegerd had a meeting, at which they talked between themselves
 9081      over this matter. She sent Olaf a long cloak of fine linen richly
 9082      embroidered with gold, and with silk points. The earl returned to
 9083      Gautland, and Bjorn with him; and after staying with him a short time,
 9084      Bjorn and his company returned to Norway. When he came to King Olaf he
 9085      told him the result of his errand, and the king returned him many thanks
 9086      for his conduct, and said Bjorn had had great success in bringing his
 9087      errand to so favourabie a conclusion against such animosity.
 9088      82. OF KING HROREK'S TREACHERY.
 9089      On the approach of spring (A.D. 1018) King Olaf went down to the coast,
 9090      had his ships rigged out, summoned troops to him, and proceeded in spring
 9091      out from Viken to the Naze, and so north to Hordaland. He then sent
 9092      messages to all the lendermen, selected the most considerable men in each
 9093      district, and made the most splendid preparations to meet his bride. The
 9094      wedding-feast was to be in autumn, at the Gaut river, on the frontiers of
 9095      the two countries. King Olaf had with him the blind king Hrorek. When his
 9096      wound was healed, the king gave him two men to serve him, let him sit in
 9097      the high-seat by his side, and kept him in meat and clothes in no respect
 9098      Norse than he had kept himself before. Hrorek was taciturn, and answered
 9099      short and cross when any one spoke to him. It was his custom to make his
 9100      footboy, when he went out in the daytime, lead him away from people, and
 9101      then to beat the lad until he ran away. He would then complain to King
 9102      Olaf that the lad would not serve him. The king changed his servants, but
 9103      it was as before; no servant would hold it out with King Hrorek. Then the
 9104      king appointed a man called Svein to wait upon and serve King Hrorek. He
 9105      was Hrorek's relation, and had formerly been in his service. Hrorek
 9106      continued with his habits of moroseness, and of solitary walks; but when
 9107      he and Svein were alone together, he was merry and talkative. He used to
 9108      bring up many things which had happened in former days when he was king.
 9109      He alluded, too, to the man who had, in his former days, torn him from his
 9110      kingdom and happiness, and made him live on alms. "It is hardest of all,"
 9111      says he, "that thou and my other relations, who ought to be men of
 9112      bravery, are so degenerated that thou wilt not avenge the shame and
 9113      disgrace brought upon our race." Such discourse he often brought out.
 9114      Svein said, they had too great a power to deal with, while they themselves
 9115      had but little means. Hrorek said, "Why should we live longer as mutilated
 9116      men with disgrace? I, a blind man, may conquer them as well as they
 9117      conquered me when I was asleep. Come then, let us kill this thick Olaf. He
 9118      is not afraid for himself at present. I will lay the plan, and would not
 9119      spare my hands if I could use them, but that I cannot by reason of my
 9120      blindness; therefore thou must use the weapons against him, and as soon as
 9121      Olaf is killed I can see well enough that his power must come into the
 9122      hands of his enemies, and it may well be that I shall be king, and thou
 9123      shalt be my earl." So much persuasion he used that Svein at last agreed to
 9124      join in the deed. The plan was so laid that when the king was ready to go
 9125      to vespers, Svein stood on the threshold with a drawn dagger under his
 9126      cloak. Now when the king came out of the room, it so happened that he
 9127      walked quicker than Svein expected; and when he looked the king in the
 9128      face he grew pale, and then white as a corpse, and his hand sank down. The
 9129      king observed his terror and said, "What is this, Svein? Wilt thou betray
 9130      me?" Svein threw down his cloak and dagger, and fell at the king's feet,
 9131      saying, "All is in Gods hands and thine, king!" The king ordered his men
 9132      to seize Svein, and he was put in irons. The king ordered Hrorek's seat to
 9133      be moved to another bench. He gave Svein his life, and he left the
 9134      country. The king appointed a different lodging for Hrorek to sleep in
 9135      from that in which he slept himself, and in which many of his court-people
 9136      slept. He set two of his court-men, who had been long with him, and whose
 9137      fidelity he had proof of, to attend Hrorek day and night; but it is not
 9138      said whether they were people of high birth or not. King Hrorek's mood was
 9139      very different at different times. Sometimes he would sit silent for days
 9140      together, so that no man could get a word out of him; and sometimes he was
 9141      so merry and gay, that people found a joke in every word he said.
 9142      Sometimes his words were very bitter. He was sometimes in a mood that he
 9143      would drink them all under the benches, and made all his neighbours drunk;
 9144      but in general he drank but little. King Olaf gave him plenty of
 9145      pocket-money. When he went to his lodgings he would often, before going to
 9146      bed, have some stoups of mead brought in, which he gave to all the men in
 9147      the house to drink, so that he was much liked.
 9148      83. OF LITTLE FIN.
 9149      There was a man from the Uplands called Fin the Little, and some said of
 9150      him that he was of Finnish (1) race. He was a remarkable little man, but
 9151      so swift of foot that no horse could overtake him. He was a particularly
 9152      well-excercised runner with snow-shoes, and shooter with the bow. He had
 9153      long been in the service of King Hrorek, and often employed in errands of
 9154      trust. He knew the roads in all the Upland hills, and was well known to
 9155      all the great people. Now when King Hrorek was set under guards on the
 9156      journey Fin would often slip in among the men of the guard, and followed,
 9157      in general, with the lads and serving-men; but as often as he could he
 9158      waited upon Hrorek, and entered into conversation with him. The king,
 9159      however, only spoke a word or two with him at a time, to prevent
 9160      suspicion. In spring, when they came a little way beyond Viken, Fin
 9161      disappeared from the army for some days, but came back, and stayed with
 9162      them a while. This happened often, without anyone observing it
 9163      particularly; for there were many such hangers-on with the army.
 9164   ENDNOTES: (1) The Laplanders are called Fins In Norway and Sweden. -L.
 9165      84. MURDER OF OLAF'S COURT-MEN.
 9166      King Olaf came to Tunsberg before Easter (A.D. 1018), and remained there
 9167      late in spring. Many merchant vessels came to the town, both from
 9168      Saxon-land and Denmark, and from Viken, and from the north parts of the
 9169      country. There was a great assemblage of people; and as the times were
 9170      good, there was many a drinking meeting. It happened one evening that King
 9171      Hrorek came rather late to his lodging; and as he had drunk a great deal,
 9172      he was remarkably merry. Little Fin came to him with a stoup of mead with
 9173      herbs in it, and very strong. The king made every one in the house drunk,
 9174      until they fell asleep each in his berth. Fin had gone away, and a light
 9175      was burning in the lodging. Hrorek waked the men who usually followed him,
 9176      and told them he wanted to go out into the yard. They had a lantern with
 9177      them, for outside it was pitch dark. Out in the yard there was a large
 9178      privy standing upon pillars, and a stair to go up to it. While Hrorek and
 9179      his guards were in the yard they heard a man say, "Cut down that devil;"
 9180      and presently a crash, as if somebody fell. Hrorek said, "These fellows
 9181      must be dead drunk to be fighting with each other so: run and separate
 9182      them." They rushed out; but when they came out upon the steps both of them
 9183      were killed: the man who went out the last was the first killed. There
 9184      were twelve of Hrorek's men there, and among them Sigurd Hit, who had been
 9185      his banner-man, and also little Fin. They drew the dead bodies up between
 9186      the houses, took the king with them, ran out to a boat they had in
 9187      readiness, and rowed away. Sigvat the skald slept in King Olaf's lodgings.
 9188      He got up in the night, and his footboy with him, and went to the privy.
 9189      But as they were returning, on going down the stairs Sigvat's foot
 9190      slipped, and he fell on his knee; and when he put out his hands he felt
 9191      the stairs wet. "I think," said he, laughing, "the king must have given
 9192      many of us tottering legs tonight." When they came into the house in which
 9193      light was burning the footboy said, "Have you hurt yourself that you are
 9194      all over so bloody?" He replied, "I am not wounded, but something must
 9195      have happened here." Thereupon he wakened Thord Folason, who was
 9196      standard-bearer, and his bedfellow. They went out with a light, and soon
 9197      found the blood. They traced it, and found the corpses, and knew them.
 9198      They saw also a great stump of a tree in which clearly a gash had been
 9199      cut, which, as was afterwards known, had been done as a stratagem to
 9200      entice those out who had been killed. Sigvat and Thord spoke together and
 9201      agreed it was highly necessary to let the king know of this without delay.
 9202      They immediately sent a lad to the lodging where Hrorek had been. All the
 9203      men in it were asleep; but the king was gone. He wakened the men who were
 9204      in the house, and told them what had happened. The men arose, and ran out
 9205      to the yard where the bodies were; but, however needful it appeared to be
 9206      that the king should know it, nobody dared to waken him.
 9207      Then said Sigvat to Thord, "What wilt thou rather do, comrade, waken the
 9208      king, or tell him the tidings?"
 9209      Thord replies, "I do not dare to waken him, and I would rather tell him
 9210      the news."
 9211      Then said Sigvat, "There is minch of the night still to pass, and before
 9212      morning Hrorek may get himself concealed in such a way that it may be
 9213      difficult to find him; but as yet he cannot be very far off, for the
 9214      bodies are still warm. We must never let the disgrace rest upon us of
 9215      concealing this treason from the king. Go thou, up to the lodging, and
 9216      wait for me there."
 9217      Sigvat then went to the church, and told the bell-ringer to toll for the
 9218      souls of the king's court-men, naming the men who were killed.
 9219      The-bell-ringer did as he was told. The king awoke at the ringing, sat up
 9220      in his bed, and asked if it was already the hours of matins.
 9221      Thord replies, "It is worse than that, for there has occurred a very
 9222      important affair. Hrorek is fled, and two of the court-men are killed."
 9223      The king asked how this had taken place, and Thord told him all he knew.
 9224      The king got up immediately, ordered to sound the call for a meeting of
 9225      the court, and when the people were assembled he named men to go out to
 9226      every quarter from the town, by sea and land, to search for Hrorek. Thorer
 9227      Lange took a boat, and set off with thirty men; and when day dawned they
 9228      saw two small boats before them in the channel, and when they saw each
 9229      other both parties rowed as hard as they could. King Hrorek was there with
 9230      thirty men. When they came quite close to each other Hrorek and his men
 9231      turned towards the land, and all sprang on shore except the king, who sat
 9232      on the aft seat. He bade them farewell, and wished they might meet each
 9233      other again in better luck. At the same moment Thorer with his company
 9234      rowed to the land. Fin the Little shot off an arrow, which hit Thorer in
 9235      the middle of the body, and was his death; and Sigurd Hit, with his men,
 9236      ran up into the forest. Thorer's men took his body, and transported it,
 9237      together with Hrorek, to Tunsberg. King Olaf undertook himself thereafter
 9238      to look after King Hrorek, made him be carefully guarded, and took good
 9239      care of his treason, for which reason he had a watch over him night and
 9240      day. King Hrorek thereafter was very gay, and nobody could observe but
 9241      that he was in every way well satisfied.
 9242      85. OF HROREK'S ASSAULT.
 9243      It happened on Ascension-day that King Olaf went to high mass, and the
 9244      bishop went in procession around the church, and conducted the king; and
 9245      when they came back to the church the bishop led the king to his seat on
 9246      the north side of the choir. There Hrorek sat next to the king, and
 9247      concealed his countenance in his upper cloak. When Olaf had seated himself
 9248      Hrorek laid his hand on the king's shoulder, and felt it.
 9249      "Thou hast fine clothes on, cousin, today," said he.
 9250      King Olaf replies, "It is a festival today, in remembrance that Jesus
 9251      Christ ascended to heaven from earth."
 9252      King Hrorek says, "I understand nothing about it so as to hold in my mind
 9253      what ye tell me about Christ. Much of what ye tell me appears to me
 9254      incredible, although many wonderful things may have come to pass in old
 9255      times."
 9256      When the mass was finished Olaf stood up, held his hands up over his head,
 9257      and bowed down before the altar, so that his cloak hung down behind his
 9258      shoulders. Then King Hrorek started up hastily and sharply, and struck at
 9259      the king with a long knife of the kind called ryting; but the blow was
 9260      received in the upper cloak at the shoulder, because the king was bending
 9261      himself forwards. The clothes were much cut, but the king was not wounded.
 9262      When the king perceived the attack he sprang upon the floor; and Hrorek
 9263      struck at him again with the knife, but did not reach him, and said, "Art
 9264      thou flying, Olaf, from me, a blind men?" The king ordered his men to
 9265      seize him and lead him out of the church, which was done. After this
 9266      attempt many hastened to King Olaf, and advised that King Hrorek should be
 9267      killed. "It is," said they, "tempting your luck in the highest degree,
 9268      king, to keep him with you, and protect him, whatever mischief he may
 9269      undertake; for night and day he thinks upon taking your life. And if you
 9270      send him away, we know no one who can watch him so that he will not in all
 9271      probability escape; and if once he gets loose he will assemble a great
 9272      multitude, and do much evil."
 9273      The king replies, "You say truly that many a one has suffered death for
 9274      less offence than Hrorek's; but willingly I would not darken the victory I
 9275      gained over the Upland kings, when in one morning hour I took five kings
 9276      prisoners, and got all their kingdoms: but yet, as they were my relations,
 9277      I should not be their murderer but upon need. As yet I can scarcely see
 9278      whether Hrorek puts me in the necessity of killing him or not."
 9279      It was to feel if King Olaf had armour on or not that Hrorek had laid his
 9280      hand on the king's shoulder.
 9281      86. KING HROREK'S JOURNEY TO ICELAND.
 9282      There was an Iceland man, by name Thorarin Nefiulfson, who had his
 9283      relations in the north of the country. He was not of high birth, but
 9284      particularly prudent, eloquent, and agreeable in conversation with people
 9285      of distinction. He was also a far-travelled man, who had been long in
 9286      foreign parts. Thorarin was a remarkably ugly man, principally because he
 9287      had very ungainly limbs. He had great ugly hands, and his feet were still
 9288      uglier. Thorarin was in Tunsberg when this event happened which has just
 9289      been related, and he was known to King Olaf by their having had
 9290      conversations together. Thorarin was just then done with rigging out a
 9291      merchant vessel which he owned, and with which he intended to go to
 9292      Iceland in summer. King Olaf had Thorarin with him as a guest for some
 9293      days, and conversed much with him; and Thorarin even slept in the king's
 9294      lodgings. One morning early the king awoke while the others were still
 9295      sleeping. The sun had newly risen in the sky, and there was much light
 9296      within. The king saw that Thorarin had stretched out one of his feet from
 9297      under the bed-clothes, and he looked at the foot a while. In the meantime
 9298      the others in the lodging awoke; and the king said to Thorarin, "I have
 9299      been awake for a while, and have seen a sight which was worth seeing; and
 9300      that is a man's foot so ugly that I do not think an uglier can be found in
 9301      this merchant town." Thereupon he told the others to look at it, and see
 9302      if it was not so; and all agreed with the king. When Thorarin observed
 9303      what they were talking about, he said, "There are few things for which you
 9304      cannot find a match, and that may be the case here."
 9305      The king says, "I would rather say that such another ugly foot cannot be
 9306      found in the town, and I would lay any wager upon it."
 9307      Then said Thorarin, "I am willing to bet that I shall find an uglier foot
 9308      still in the town."
 9309      The king -"Then he who wins shall have the right to get any demand
 9310      from the other he chooses to make."
 9311      "Be it so," said Thorarin. Thereupon he stretches out his other foot from
 9312      under the bed-clothes, and it was in no way handsomer than the other, and
 9313      moreover, wanted the little toe. "There," said Thorarin, "see now, king,
 9314      my other foot, which is so much uglier; and, besides, has no little toe.
 9315      Now I have won."
 9316      The king replies, "That other foot was so much uglier than this one by
 9317      having five ugly toes upon it, and this has only four; and now I have won
 9318      the choice of asking something from thee."
 9319      "The sovereign's decision must be right," says Thorarin; "but what does
 9320      the king require of me?"
 9321      "To take Hrorek," said the king, "to Greenland, and deliver him to Leif
 9322      Eirikson."
 9323      Thorarin replies, "I have never been in Greenland."
 9324      The king -"Thou, who art a far-travelled man, wilt now have an
 9325      opportunity of seeing Greenland, if thou hast never been there before."
 9326      At first Thorarin did not say much about it; but as the king insisted on
 9327      his wish he did not entirely decline, but said, "I will let you hear,
 9328      king, what my desire would have been had I gained the wager. It would have
 9329      been to be received into your body of court-men; and if you will grant me
 9330      that, I will be the more zealous now in fulfilling your pleasure." The
 9331      king gave his consent, and Thorarin was made one of the court-men. Then
 9332      Thorarin rigged out his vessel, and when he was ready he took on board
 9333      King Hrorek. When Thorarin took leave of King Olaf, he said, "Should it
 9334      now turn out, king, as is not improbable, and often happens, that we
 9335      cannot effect the voyage to Greenland, but must run for Iceland or other
 9336      countries, how shall I get rid of this king in a way that will be
 9337      satisfactory to you?"
 9338      The king -"If thou comest to Iceland, deliver him into the hands of
 9339      Gudmund Eyolfson, or of Skapte, the lagman, or of some other chief who
 9340      will receive my tokens and message of friendship. But if thou comest to
 9341      other countries nearer to this, do so with him that thou canst know with
 9342      certainty that King Hrorek never again shall appear in Norway; but do so
 9343      only when thou seest no other way of doing whatsoever."
 9344      When Thorarin was ready for sea, and got a wind, he sailed outside of all
 9345      the rocks and islands, and when he was to the north of the Naze set right
 9346      out into the ocean. He did not immediately get a good wind, but he avoided
 9347      coming near the land. He sailed until he made land which he knew, in the
 9348      south part of Iceland, and sailed west around the land out into the
 9349      Greenland ocean.
 9350      There he encountered heavy storms, and drove long about upon the ocean;
 9351      but when summer was coming to an end he landed again in Iceland in
 9352      Breidafjord. Thorgils Arason (1) was the first man of any consequence who
 9353      came to him. Thorarin brings him the king's salutation, message, and
 9354      tokens, with which was the desire about King Hrorek's reception. Thorgils
 9355      received these in a friendly way, and invited King Hrorek to his house,
 9356      where he stayed all winter. But he did not like being there, and begged
 9357      that Thorgils would let him go to Gudmund; saying he had heard some time
 9358      or other that there in Gudmund's house, was the most sumptuous way of
 9359      living in Iceland, and that it was intended he should be in Gudmund's
 9360      hands. Thorgils let him have his desire, and conducted him with some men
 9361      to Gudmund at Modruveller. Gudmund received Hrorek kindly on account of
 9362      the king's message, and he stayed there the next winter. He did not like
 9363      being there either; and then Gudmund gave him a habitation upon a small
 9364      farm called Kalfskin, where there were but few neighbours. There Hrorek
 9365      passed the third winter, and said that since he had laid down his kingdom
 9366      he thought himself most comfortably situated here; for here he was most
 9367      respected by all. The summer after Hrorek fell sick, and died; and it is
 9368      said he is the only king whose bones rest in Iceland. Thorarin Nefiulfson
 9369      was afterwards for a long time upon voyages; but sometimes he was with
 9370      King Olaf.
 9371   ENDNOTES: (1) Thorgils was the son of Are Marson, who visited America
 9372     (Vindland).  Thorgils, who was still alive in the year 1024,
 9373     was noted for his kindness toward all persecuted persons.
 9374      87. BATTLE IN ULFREKS-FJORD.
 9375      The summer that Thorarin went with Hrorek to Iceland, Hjalte Skeggjason
 9376      went also to Iceland, and King Olaf gave him many friendly gifts with him
 9377      when they parted. The same summer Eyvind Urarhorn went on an expedition to
 9378      the west sea, and came in autumn to Ireland, to the Irish king Konofogor
 9379      (1). In autumn Einar earl of Orkney and this Irish king met in
 9380      Ulfreks-fjord, and there was a great battle, in which Konofogor gained the
 9381      victory, having many more people. The earl fled with a single ship and
 9382      came back about autumn to Orkney, after losing most of his men and all the
 9383      booty they had made. The earl was much displeased with his expedition, and
 9384      threw the blame upon the Northmen, who had been in the battle on the side
 9385      of the Irish king, for making him lose the victory.
 9386   ENDNOTES: (1) Konofogor's Irish name was Connor.
 9387      88. OLAF PREPARES FOR HIS BRIDAL JOURNEY.
 9388      Now we begin again our story where we let it slip -at King Olaf's
 9389      travelling to his bridal, to receive his betrothed Ingegerd the king's
 9390      daughter. The king had a great body of men with him, and so chosen a body
 9391      that all the great people he could lay hold of followed him; and every man
 9392      of consequence had a chosen band of men with him distinguished by birth or
 9393      other qualifications. The whole were well appointed, and equipped in
 9394      ships, weapons, and clothes. They steered the fleet eastwards to
 9395      Konungahella; but when they arrived there they heard nothing of the
 9396      Swedish king and none of his men had come there. King Olaf remained a long
 9397      time in summer (A.D. 1018) at Konungahella, and endeavored carefully to
 9398      make out what people said of the Swedish king's movements, or what were
 9399      his designs; but no person could tell him anything for certain about it.
 9400      Then he sent men up to Gautland to Earl Ragnvald, to ask him if he knew
 9401      how it came to pass that the Swedish king did not come to the meeting
 9402      agreed on. The earl replies, that he did not know. "But as soon," said he,
 9403      "as I hear, I shall send some of my men to King Olaf, to let him know if
 9404      there be any other cause for the delay than the multitude of affairs; as
 9405      it often happens that the Swedish king's movements are delayed by this
 9406      more than he could have expected."
 9407      89. OF THE SWEDISH KING'S CHILDREN.
 9408      This Swedish king, Olaf Eirikson, had first a concubine who was called
 9409      Edla, a daughter of an earl of Vindland, who had been captured in war, and
 9410      therefore was called the king's slave-girl. Their children were Emund,
 9411      Astrid, Holmfrid.... They had, besides, a son, who was born the day before
 9412      St. Jacob's-day. When the boy was to be christened the bishop called him
 9413      Jacob, which the Swedes did not like, as there never had been a Swedish
 9414      king called Jacob. All King Olaf's children were handsome in appearance,
 9415      and clever from childhood. The queen was proud, and did not behave well
 9416      towards her step-children; therefore the king sent his son Emund to
 9417      Vindland, to be fostered by his mother's relations, where he for a long
 9418      time neglected his Christianity. The king's daughter, Astrid, was brought
 9419      up in West Gautland, in the house of a worthy man called Egil. She was a
 9420      very lovely girl: her words came well into her conversation; she was
 9421      merry, but modest, and very generous. When she was grown up she was often
 9422      in her father's house, and every man thought well of her. King Olaf was
 9423      haughty and harsh in his speech. He took very ill the uproar and clamour
 9424      the country people had raised against him at the Upsala Thing, as they had
 9425      threatened him with violence, for which he laid the chief blame on Earl
 9426      Ragnvald. He made no preparation for the bridal, according to the
 9427      agreement to marry his daughter Ingegerd to Olaf the king of Norway, and
 9428      to meet him on the borders for that purpose. As the summer advanced many
 9429      of his men were anxious to know what the kings intentions were; whether to
 9430      keep to the agreement with King Olaf, or break his word, and with it the
 9431      peace of the country. But no one was so bold as to ask the king, although
 9432      they complained of it to Ingegerd, and besought her to find out what the
 9433      king intended. She replied "I have no inclination to speak to the king
 9434      again about the matters between him and King Olaf; for he answered me ill
 9435      enough once before when I brought forward Olaf's name." In the meantime
 9436      Ingegerd, the king's daughter, took it to heart, became melancholy and
 9437      sorrowful and yet very curious to know what the king intended. She had
 9438      much suspicion that he would not keep his word and promise to King Olaf;
 9439      for he appeared quite enraged whenever Olaf the Thick's name was in any
 9440      way mentioned.
 9441      90. OF THE SWEDISH KING OLAF'S HUNTING.
 9442      One morning early the king rode out with his dogs and falcons, and his men
 9443      around him. When they let slip the falcons the king's falcon killed two
 9444      black-cocks in one flight, and three in another. The dogs ran and brought
 9445      the birds when they had fallen to the ground. The king ran after them,
 9446      took the game from them himself, was delighted with his sport, and said,
 9447      "It will be long before the most of you have such success." They agreed in
 9448      this; adding, that in their opinion no king had such luck in hunting as he
 9449      had. Then the king rode home with his followers in high spirits. Ingegerd,
 9450      the king's daughter, was just going out of her lodging when the king came
 9451      riding into the yard, and she turned round and saluted him. He saluted her
 9452      in return, laughing; produced the birds, and told her the success of his
 9453      chase.
 9454      "Dost thou know of any king," said he, "who made so great a capture in so
 9455      short a time?"
 9456      "It is indeed," replied she, "a good morning's hunting, to have got five
 9457      black-cocks; but it was a still better when, in one morning, the king of
 9458      Norway, Olaf, took five kings, and subdued all their kingdoms."
 9459      When the king heard this he sprang from his horse, turned to Ingegerd, and
 9460      said, "Thou shalt know, Ingegerd, that however great thy love may be for
 9461      this man, thou shalt never get him, nor he get thee. I will marry thee to
 9462      some chief with whom I can be in friendship; but never can I be a friend
 9463      of the man who has robbed me of my kingdom, and done me great mischief by
 9464      marauding and killing through the land." With that their conversation
 9465      broke off, and each went away.
 9466      91. OLAF THE NORWAY KING'S COUNSELS.
 9467      Ingegerd, the king's daughter, had now full certainty of King Olaf's
 9468      intention, and immediately sent men to West Gautland to Earl Ragnvald, and
 9469      let him know how it stood with the Swedish king, and that the agreement
 9470      made with the king of Norway was broken; and advising the earl and people
 9471      of West Gautland to be upon their guard, as no peace from the people of
 9472      Norway was to be expected. When the earl got this news he sent a message
 9473      through all his kingdom, and told the people to be cautious, and prepared
 9474      in case of war or pillage from the side of Norway. He also sent men to
 9475      King Olaf the Thick, and let him know the message he had received, and
 9476      likewise that he wished for himself to hold peace and friendship with King
 9477      Olaf; and therefore he begged him not to pillage in his kingdom. When this
 9478      message came to King Olaf it made him both angry and sorry; and for some
 9479      days nobody got a word from him. He then held a House-Thing with his men,
 9480      and in it Bjorn arose, and first took the word. He began his speech by
 9481      telling that he had proceeded eastward last winter to establish a peace,
 9482      and he told how kindly Earl Ragnvald had received him; and, on the other
 9483      hand, how crossly and heavily the Swedish king had accepted the proposal.
 9484      "And the agreement," said he, "which was made, was made more by means of
 9485      the strength of the people, the power of Thorgny, and the aid of the earl,
 9486      than by the king's good-will. Now, on these grounds, we know for certain
 9487      that it is the king who has caused the breach of the agreement; therefore
 9488      we ought by no means to make the earl suffer, for it is proved that he is
 9489      King Olaf's firm friend." The king wished now to hear from the chiefs and
 9490      other leaders of troops what course he should adopt. "Whether shall we go
 9491      against Gautland, and maraud there with such men as we have got; or is
 9492      there any other course that appears to you more advisable?" He spoke both
 9493      long and well.
 9494      Thereafter many powerful men spoke, and all were at last agreed in
 9495      dissuading from hostilities. They argued thus: -"Although we are a
 9496      numerous body of men who are assembled here, yet they are all only people
 9497      of weight and power; but, for a war expedition, young men who are in quest
 9498      of property and consideration are more suitable. It is also the custom of
 9499      people of weight and power, when they go into battle or strife, to have
 9500      many people with them whom they can send out before them for their
 9501      defence; for the men do not fight worse who have little property, but even
 9502      better than those who are brought up in the midst of wealth." After these
 9503      considerations the king resolved to dismiss this army from any expedition,
 9504      and to give every man leave to return home; but proclaimed, at the same
 9505      time, that next summer the people over the whole country would be called
 9506      out in a general levy, to march immediately against the Swedish king, and
 9507      punish him for his want of faith. All thought well of this plan. Then the
 9508      king returned northwards to Viken, and took his abode at Sarpsborg in
 9509      autumn, and ordered all things necessary for winter provision to be
 9510      collected there; and he remained there all winter (A.D. 1019) with a great
 9511      retinue.
 9512      92. SIGVAT THE SKALD'S JOURNEY EASTWARDS.
 9513      People talked variously about Earl Ragnvald; some said he was King Olaf's
 9514      sincere friend; others did not think this likely, and thought it stood in
 9515      his power to warn the Swedish king to keep his word, and the agreement
 9516      concluded on between him and King Olaf. Sigvat the poet often expressed
 9517      himself in conversation as Earl Ragnvald's great friend, and often spoke
 9518      of him to King Olaf; and he offered to the king to travel to Earl
 9519      Ragnvald's and spy after the Swedish kings doings, and to attempt, if
 9520      possible, to get the settlement of the agreement. The king thought well of
 9521      this plan; for he oft, and with pleasure, spoke to his confidential
 9522      friends about Ingegerd, the king's daughter. Early in winter (A.D. 1019)
 9523      Sigvat the skald, with two companions, left Sarpsborg, and proceeded
 9524      eastwards over the moors to Gautland. Before Sigvat and King Olaf parted
 9525      he composed these verses: -
 9526     "Sit happy in thy hall, O king!
 9527     Till I come back, and good news bring:
 9528     The skald will bid thee now farewell,
 9529     Till he brings news well worth to tell.
 9530     He wishes to the helmed hero
 9531     Health, and long life, and a tull flow
 9532     Of honour, riches, and success -
 9533     And, parting, ends his song with this.
 9534     The farewell word is spoken now __
 9535     The word that to the heart lies nearest;
 9536     And yet, O king!  before I go,
 9537     One word on what I hold the dearest,
 9538     I fain would say, "O!  may God save
 9539     To thee the bravest of the brave,
 9540     The land, which is thy right by birth!"
 9541     This is my dearest with on earth."
 9542      Then they proceeded eastwards towards Eid, and had difficulty in crossing
 9543      the river in a little cobble; but they escaped, though with danger: and
 9544      Sigvat sang: -
 9545     "On shore the crazy boat I drew,
 9546     Wet to the skin, and frightened too;
 9547     For truly there was danger then;
 9548     The mocking hill elves laughed again.
 9549     To see us in this cobble sailing,
 9550     And all our sea-skill unavailing.
 9551     But better did it end, you see,
 9552     Than any of us could foresee."
 9553      Then they went through the Eid forest, and Sigvat sang: -
 9554     "A hundred miles through Eid's old wood,
 9555     And devil an alehouse, bad or good, -
 9556     A hundred miles, and tree and sky
 9557     Were all that met the weary eye.
 9558     With many a grumble, many a groan.
 9559     A hundred miles we trudged right on;
 9560     And every king's man of us bore
 9561     On each foot-sole a bleeding sore."
 9562      They came then through Gautland, and in the evening reached a farm-house
 9563      called Hof. The door was bolted so that they could not come in; and the
 9564      servants told them it was a fast-day, and they could not get admittance.
 9565      Sigvat sang: -
 9566     "Now up to Hof in haste I hie,
 9567     And round the house and yard I pry.
 9568     Doors are fast locked -but yet within,
 9569     Methinks, I hear some stir and din.
 9570     I peep, with nose close to the ground.
 9571     Below the door, but small cheer found.
 9572     My trouble with few words was paid -
 9573     "'Tis holy time,' the house-folkd said.
 9574     Heathens!  to shove me thus away!
 9575     I' the foul fiend's claws may you all lay."
 9576      Then they came to another farm, where the good-wife was standing at the
 9577      door, and told them not to come in, for they were busy with a sacrifice to
 9578      the elves. Sigvat sang of it thus: -
 9579     "'My poor lad, enter not, I pray!'
 9580     Thus to me did the old wife say;
 9581     'For all of us are heathens here,
 9582     And I for Odin's wrath do fear.'
 9583     The ugly witch drove me away,
 9584     Like scared wolf sneaking from his prey.
 9585     When she told me that there within
 9586     Was sacrifice to foul Odin."
 9587      Another evening, they came to three bondes, all of them of the name of
 9588      Olver, who drove them away. Sigvat sang: -
 9589     "Three of one name,
 9590     To their great shame,
 9591     The traveller late
 9592     Drove from their gate!
 9593     Travellers may come
 9594     From our viking-home,
 9595     Unbidden guests
 9596     At these Olvers' feasts."
 9597      They went on farther that evening, and came to a fourth bonde, who was
 9598      considered the most hospitable man in the country; but he drove them away
 9599      also. Then Sigvat sang: -
 9600     "Then on I went to seek night's rest
 9601     From one who was said to be the best,
 9602     The kindest host in the land around,
 9603     And there I hoped to have quarters found.
 9604     But, faith,'twas little use to try;
 9605     For not so much as raise an eye
 9606     Would this huge wielder of the spade:
 9607     If he's the hest, it must be said
 9608     Bad is the best, and the skald's praise
 9609     Cannot be given to churls like these.
 9610     I almost wished that Asta's son
 9611     In the Eid forest had been one
 9612     When we, his men, were even put
 9613     Lodging to crave in a heathen's hut.
 9614     I knew not where the earl to find;
 9615     Four times driven off by men unkind,
 9616     I wandered now the whole night o'er,
 9617     Driven like a dog from door to door."
 9618      Now when they came to Earl Ragnvald's the earl said they must have had a
 9619      severe journey. Then Sigvat sang: -
 9620     "The message-bearers of the king
 9621     From Norway came his words to bring;
 9622     And truly for their master they
 9623     Hard work have done before to-day.
 9624     We did not loiter on the road,
 9625     But on we pushed for thy abode:
 9626     Thy folk, in sooth, were not so kind
 9627     That we cared much to lag hehind.
 9628     But Eid to rest safe we found,
 9629     From robbers free to the eastern bound:
 9630     This praise to thee, great earl, is due -
 9631     The skald says only what is true."
 9632      Earl Ragnvald gave Sigvat a gold arm-ring, and a woman said "he had not
 9633      made the journey with his black eyes for nothing." Sigvat sang: -
 9634     "My coal-black eyes
 9635     Dost thou despise?
 9636     They have lighted me
 9637     Across the sea
 9638     To gain this golden prize:
 9639     They have lighted me,
 9640     Thy eyes to see,
 9641     O'er Iceland's main,
 9642     O'er hill and plain:
 9643     Where Nanna's lad would fear to be
 9644     They have lighted me."
 9645      Sigvat was long entertained kindly and well in the house of Earl Ragnvald.
 9646      The earl heard by letters, sent by Ingegerd the king's daughter, that
 9647      ambassadors from King Jarisleif were come from Russia to King Olaf of
 9648      Svithjod to ask his daughter Ingegerd in marriage, and that King Olaf had
 9649      given them hopes that he would agree to it. About the same time King
 9650      Olaf's daughter Astrid came to Earl Ragnvald's court, and a great feast
 9651      was made for her. Sigvat soon became acquainted by conversation with the
 9652      king's daughter, and she knew him by name and family, for Ottar the skald,
 9653      Sigvat's sister's son, had long intimate acquaintance with King Olaf, the
 9654      Swedish king. Among other things talked of, Earl Ragnvald asked Sigvat if
 9655      the king of Norway would not marry the king's daughter Astrid. "If he
 9656      would do that," said he, "I think we need not ask the Swedish king for his
 9657      consent." Astrid, the kings daughter, said exactly the same. Soon after
 9658      Sigvat returns home, and comes to King Olaf at Sarpsborg a little before
 9659      Yule.
 9660      When Sigvat came home to King Olaf he went into the hall, and, looking
 9661      around on the walls, he sang: -
 9662     "When our men their arms are taking
 9663     The raven's wings with greed are shaking;
 9664     When they come back to drink in hall
 9665     Brave spoil they bring to deck the wall -
 9666     Shield, helms, and panzers (1), all in row,
 9667     Stripped in the field from lifeless fow.
 9668     In truth no royal nail comes near
 9669     Thy splendid hall in precious gear."
 9670      Afterwards Sigvat told of his journey, and sang these verses: -
 9671     "The king's court-guards desire to hear
 9672     About our journey and our cheer,
 9673     Our ships in autumn reach the sound,
 9674     But long the way to Swedish ground.
 9675     With joyless weather, wind and raind,
 9676     And pinching cold, and feet in pain -
 9677     With sleep, fatigue, and want oppressed,
 9678     No songs had we -we scarce had rest."
 9679      And when he came into conversation with the king he sang: -
 9680     "When first I met the earl I told
 9681     How our king loved a friend so bold;
 9682     How in his heart he loved a man
 9683     With hand to do, and head to plan.
 9684     Thou generous king!  with zeal and care
 9685     I sought to advance thy great affair;
 9686     For messengers from Russian land
 9687     Had come to ask Ingegerd's hand.
 9688     The earl, thy friend, bids thee, who art
 9689     So mild and generous of heart,
 9690     His servants all who here may come
 9691     To cherish in thy royal home;
 9692     And thine who may come to the east
 9693     In Ragnvald's hall shall find a feast -
 9694     In Ragnvald's house shall find a home -
 9695     At Ragnvald's court be still welcome.
 9696     When first I came the people's mind
 9697     Incensed by Eirik's son I find;
 9698     And he refused the wish to meet,
 9699     Alleging treachery and deceit.
 9700     But I explained how it was here,
 9701     For earl and king, advantage clear
 9702     With thee to hold the strictest peace,
 9703     And make all force and foray cease.
 9704     The earl is wise, and understands
 9705     The need of peace for both the lands;
 9706     And he entreats thee not to break
 9707     The present peace for vengeance's sake!"
 9708      He immediately tells King Olaf the news he had heard; and at first the
 9709      king was much cast down when he heard of King Jarisleif's suit, and he
 9710      said he expected nothing but evil from King Olaf; but wished he might be
 9711      able to return it in such a way as Olaf should remember. A while
 9712      afterwards the king asks Sigvat about various news from Gautland. Sigvat
 9713      spoke a great deal about Astrid, the kings daughter; how beautiful she
 9714      was, how agreeable in her conversation; and that all declared she was in
 9715      no respect behind her sister Ingegerd. The king listened with pleasure to
 9716      this. Then Sigvat told him the conversation he and Astrid had had between
 9717      themselves, and the king was delighted at the idea. "The Swedish king,"
 9718      said he, "will scarcely think that I will dare to marry a daughter of his
 9719      without his consent." But this speech of his was not known generally. King
 9720      Olaf and Sigvat the skald often spoke about it. The king inquired
 9721      particularly of Sigvat what he knew about Earl Ragnvald, and "if he be
 9722      truly our friend," said the king. Sigvat said that the earl was King
 9723      Olaf's best friend, and sang these verses: -
 9724     "The mighty Olaf should not cease
 9725     With him to hold good terms and peace;
 9726     For this good earl unwearied shows
 9727     He is thy friend where all are foes.
 9728     Of all who dwell by the East Sea
 9729     So friendly no man is as he:
 9730     At all their Things he takes thy part,
 9731     And is thy firm friend, hand and heart."
 9732   ENDNOTES: (1) The Pantzer -a complete suit of plate-armour.
 9733      93. RAGNVALD AND ASTRA'S JOURNEY.
 9734      After Yule (A.D. 1019), Thord Skotakol, a sister's son of Sigvat, attended
 9735      by one of Sigvat's footboys, who had been with Sigvat the autumn before in
 9736      Gautland, went quite secretly from the court, and proceeded to Gautland.
 9737      When they came to Earl Ragnvald's court, they produced the tokens which
 9738      Olaf himself had sent to the earl, that he might place confidence in
 9739      Thord. Without delay the earl made himself ready for a journey, as did
 9740      Astrid, the king's daughter; and the earl took with him 120 men, who were
 9741      chosen both from among his courtmen and the sons of great bondes, and who
 9742      were carefully equipped in all things, clothes, weapons, and horses. Then
 9743      they rode northwards to Sarpsborg, and came there at Candlemas.
 9744      94. OF KING OLAF'S MARRIAGE.
 9745      King Olaf had put all things in order in the best style. There were all
 9746      sorts of liquors of the best that could be got, and all other preparations
 9747      of the same quality. Many people of consequence were summoned in from
 9748      their residences. When the earl arrived with his retinue the king received
 9749      him particularly well; and the earl was shown to a large, good, and
 9750      remarkably well-furnished house for his lodging; and serving-men and
 9751      others were appointed to wait on him; and nothing was wanting, in any
 9752      respect, that could grace a feast. Now when the entertainment had lasted
 9753      some days, the king, the earl, and Astrid had a conference together; and
 9754      the result of it was, that Earl Ragnvald contracted Astrid, daughter of
 9755      the Swedish king Olaf, to Olaf king of Norway, with the same dowry which
 9756      had before been settled that her sister Ingegerd should have from home.
 9757      King Olaf, on his part, should give Astrid the same bride-gift that had
 9758      been intended for her sister Ingegerd. Thereupon an eke was made to the
 9759      feast, and King Olaf and Queen Astrid's wedding was drunk in great
 9760      festivity. Earl Ragnvald then returned to Gautland, and the king gave the
 9761      earl many great and good gifts at parting; and they parted the dearest of
 9762      friends, which they continued to be while they lived.
 9763      95. THE AGREEMENT BROKEN BY OLAF.
 9764      The spring (A.D. 1019) thereafter came ambassadors from King Jarisleif in
 9765      Novgorod to Svithjod, to treat more particularly about the promise given
 9766      by King Olaf the preceding summer to marry his daughter Ingegerd to King
 9767      Jarisleif. King Olaf tallied about the business with Ingegerd, and told
 9768      her it was his pleasure that she should marry King Jarisleif. She replied.
 9769      "If I marry King Jarisleif, I must have as my bride-gift the town and
 9770      earldom of Ladoga." The Russian ambassadors agreed to this, on the part of
 9771      their sovereign. Then said Ingegerd, "If I go east to Russia, I must
 9772      choose the man in Svithjod whom I think most suitable to accompany me; and
 9773      I must stipulate that he shall not have any less title, or in any respect
 9774      less dignity, privilege, and consideration there, than he has, here." This
 9775      the king and the ambassadors agreed to, and gave their hands upon it in
 9776      confirmation of the condition.
 9777      "And who," asked the king, "is the man thou wilt take with thee as thy
 9778      attendant?"
 9779      "That man," she replied, "is my relation Earl Ragnvald."
 9780      The king replies, "I have resolved to reward Earl Ragnvald in a different
 9781      manner for his treason against his master in going to Norway with my
 9782      daughter, and giving her as a concubine to that fellow, who he knew was my
 9783      greatest enemy. I shall hang him up this summer."
 9784      Then Ingegerd begged her father to be true to the promise he had made her,
 9785      and had confirmed by giving his hand upon it. By her entreaties it was at
 9786      last agreed that the king should promise to let Earl Ragnvald go in peace
 9787      from Svithjod, but that he should never again appear in the king's
 9788      presence, or come back to Svithjod while Olaf reigned. Ingegerd then sent
 9789      messengers to the earl to bring him these tidings, and to appoint a place
 9790      of meeting. The earl immediately prepared for his journey; rode up to East
 9791      Gautland; procured there a vessel, and, with his retinue, joined Ingegerd,
 9792      and they proceeded together eastward to Russia. There Ingegerd was married
 9793      to King Jarisleif; and their children were Valdemar, Vissivald, and Holte
 9794      the Bold. Queen Ingegerd gave Earl Ragnvald the town of Ladoga, and
 9795      earldom belonging to it. Earl Ragnvald was there a long time, and was a
 9796      celebrated man. His sons and Ingebjorg's were Earl Ulf and Earl Eilif.
 9797      96. HISTORY OF THE LAGMAN EMUND.
 9798      There was a man called Emund of Skara, who was lagman of west Gautland,
 9799      and was a man of great understanding and eloquence, and of high birth,
 9800      great connection, and very wealthy; but was considered deceitful, and not
 9801      to be trusted. He was the most powerful man in West Gautland after the
 9802      earl was gone. The same spring (A.D. 1019) that Earl Ragnvald left
 9803      Gautland the Gautland people held a Thing among themselves, and often
 9804      expressed their anxiety to each other about what the Swedish king might
 9805      do. They heard he was incensed because they had rather held in friendship
 9806      with the king of Norway than striven against him; and he was also enraged
 9807      against those who had attended his daughter Astrid to Norway. Some
 9808      proposed to seek help and support from the king of Norway, and to offer
 9809      him their services; others dissuaded from this measure, as West Gautland
 9810      had no strength to oppose to the Swedes. "And the king of Norway," said
 9811      they, "is far from us, the chief strength of his country very distant; and
 9812      therefore let us first send men to the Swedish king to attempt to come to
 9813      some reconciliation with him. If that fail, we can still turn to the king
 9814      of Norway." Then the bondes asked Emund to undertake this mission, to
 9815      which he agreed; and he proceeded with thirty men to East Gautland, where
 9816      there were many of his relations and friends, who received him hospitably.
 9817      He conversed there with the most prudent men about this difficult
 9818      business; and they were all unanimous on one point, -that the king's
 9819      treatment of them was against law and reason. From thence Emund went into
 9820      Svithjod, and conversed with many men of consequence, who all expressed
 9821      themselves in the same way. Emund continued his journey thus, until one
 9822      day, towards evening, he arrived at Upsala, where he and his retinue took
 9823      a good lodging, and stayed there all night. The next day Emund waited upon
 9824      the king, who was just then sitting in the Thing surrounded by many
 9825      people. Emund went before him, bent his knee, and saluted him. The king
 9826      looked at him, saluted him, and asked him what news he brought.
 9827      Emund replies, "There is little news among us Gautlanders; but it appears
 9828      to us a piece of remarkable news that the proud, stupid Atte, in
 9829      Vermaland, whom we look upon as a great sportsman, went up to the forest
 9830      in winter with his snow-shoes and his bow. After he had got as many furs
 9831      in the mountains as filled his hand-sledge so full that he could scarcely
 9832      drag it, he returned home from the woods. But on the way he saw a squirrel
 9833      in the trees, and shot at it, but did not hit; at which he was so angry,
 9834      that he left the sledge to run after the squirrel: but still the squirrel
 9835      sprang where the wood was thickest, sometimes among the roots of the
 9836      trees, sometimes in the branches, sometimes among the arms that stretch
 9837      from tree to tree. When Atte shot at it the arrows flew too high or too
 9838      low, and the squirrel never jumped so that Atte could get a fair aim at
 9839      him. He was so eager upon this chase that he ran the whole day after the
 9840      squirrel, and yet could not get hold of it. It was now getting dark; so he
 9841      threw himself down upon the snow, as he was wont, and lay there all night
 9842      in a heavy snow-storm. Next day Atte got up to look after his sledge, but
 9843      never did he find it again; and so he returned home. And this is the only
 9844      news, king, I have to tell."
 9845      The king says, "This is news of but little importance, if it be all thou
 9846      hast to tell."
 9847      Ernund replies, "Lately something happened which may well be called news.
 9848      Gaute Tofason went with five warships out of the Gaut river, and when he
 9849      was lying at the Eikrey Isles there came five large Danish merchant-ships
 9850      there. Gaute and his men immediately took four of the great vessels, and
 9851      made a great booty without the loss of a man: but the fifth vessel slipped
 9852      out to sea, and sailed away. Gaute gave chase with one ship, and at first
 9853      came nearer to them; but as the wind increased, the Danes got away. Then
 9854      Gaute wanted to turn back; but a storm came on so that he lost his ship at
 9855      Hlesey, with all the goods, and the greater part of his crew. In the
 9856      meantime his people were waiting for him at the Eikrey Isles: but the
 9857      Danes came over in fifteen merchant-ships, killed them all, and took all
 9858      the booty they had made. So but little luck had they with their greed of
 9859      plunder."
 9860      The king replied. "That is great news, and worth being told; but what now
 9861      is thy errand here?"
 9862      Emund replies, "I travel, sire, to obtain your judgment in a difficult
 9863      case, in which our law and the Upsala law do not agree."
 9864      The king asks, "What is thy appeal case?"
 9865      Emund replies, "There were two noble-born men of equal birth, but unequal
 9866      in property and disposition. They quarrelled about some land, and did each
 9867      other much damage; but most was done to him who was the more powerful of
 9868      the two. This quarrel, however, was settled, and judged of at a General
 9869      Thing; and the judgment was, that the most powerful should pay a
 9870      compensation. But at the first payment, instead of paying a goose, he paid
 9871      a gosling; for an old swine he paid a sucking pig; and for a mark of
 9872      stamped gold only a half-mark, and for the other half-mark nothing but
 9873      clay and dirt; and, moreover, threatened, in the most violent way, the
 9874      people whom he forced to receive such goods in payment. Now, sire, what is
 9875      your judgment?"
 9876      The king replies, "He shall pay the full equivalent whom the judgment
 9877      ordered to do so, and that faithfully; and further, threefold to his king:
 9878      and if payment be not made within a year and a day, he shall be cut off
 9879      from all his property, his goods confiscated, and half go the king's
 9880      house, and half to the other party."
 9881      Emund took witnesses to this judgment among the most considerable of the
 9882      men who were present, according to the laws which were held in the Upsala
 9883      Thing. He then saluted the king, and went his way; and other men brought
 9884      their cases before the king, and he sat late in the day upon the cases of
 9885      the people. Now when the king came to table, he asked where Lagman Emund
 9886      was. It was answered, he was home at his lodgings. "Then," said the king,
 9887      "go after him, and tell him to be my guest to-day." Thereafter the dishes
 9888      were borne in; then came the musicians with harps, fiddles, and musical
 9889      instruments; and lastly, the cup-bearers. The king was particularly merry,
 9890      and had many great people at table with him, so that he thought little of
 9891      Emund. The king drank the whole day, and slept all the night after; but in
 9892      the morning the king awoke, and recollected what Emund had said the day
 9893      before: and when he had put on his clothes, he let his wise men be
 9894      summoned to him; for he had always twelve of the wisest men who sat in
 9895      judgment with him, and treated the more difficult cases; and that was no
 9896      easy business, for the king was ill-pleased if the judgment was not
 9897      according to justice, and yet it was of no use to contradict him. In this
 9898      meeting the king ordered Lagman Emund to be called before them. The
 9899      messenger returned, and said, "Sire, Lagman Emund rode away yesterday as
 9900      soon as he had dined." "Then," said the king, "tell me, ye good chiefs,
 9901      what may have been the meaning of that law-case which Emund laid before us
 9902      yesterday?"
 9903      They replied, "You must have considered it yourself, if you think there
 9904      was any other meaning under it than what he said."
 9905      The king replied, "By the two noble-born men whom he spoke of, who were at
 9906      variance, and of whom one was more powerful than the other, and who did
 9907      each other damage, he must have meant us and Olaf the Thick."
 9908      They answered, "It is, sire, as you say."
 9909      The king -"Our case was judged at the Upsala Thing. But what was his
 9910      meaning when he said that bad payment was made; namely, a gosling for a
 9911      goose, a pig for a swine, and clay and dirt for half of the money instead
 9912      of gold?"
 9913      Arnvid the Blind replied, "Sire, red gold and clay are things very unlike;
 9914      but the difference is still greater between king and slave. You promised
 9915      Olaf the Thick your daughter Ingegerd, who, in all branches of her
 9916      descent, is born of kings, and of the Upland Swedish race of kings, which
 9917      is the most noble in the North; for it is traced up to the gods
 9918      themselves. But now Olaf has got Astrid; and although she is a king's
 9919      child, her mother was but a slave-woman, and, besides, of Vindish race.
 9920      Great difference, indeed, must there be between these kings, when the one
 9921      takes thankfully such a match; and now it is evident, as might be
 9922      expected, that no Northman is to be placed by the side of the Upsala
 9923      kings. Let us all give thanks that it has so turned out; for the gods have
 9924      long protected their descendants, although many now neglect this faith."
 9925      There were three brothers: -Arnvid the Blind, who had a great
 9926      understanding, but was so weak-sighted that he was scarcely fit for war;
 9927      the second was Thorvid the Stammerer, who could not utter two words
 9928      together at one time, but was remarkably bold and courageous; the third
 9929      was Freyvid the Deaf, who was hard of hearing. All these brothers were
 9930      rich and powerful men, of noble birth, great wisdom, and all very dear to
 9931      the king.
 9932      Then said King Olaf, "What means that which Emund said about Atte the
 9933      Dull?"
 9934      None made any reply, but the one looked at the other.
 9935      "Speak freely," said the king.
 9936      Then said Thorvid the Stammerer, "Atte -quarrel -some -greedy -jealous -deceitful -dull."
 9937      Then said the king, "To whom are these words of reproach and mockery
 9938      applied?"
 9939      Freyvid the Deaf replied, "We will speak more clearly if we have your
 9940      permission."
 9941      The king -"Speak freely, Freyvid, what you will."
 9942      Freyvid took up the word, and spoke. "My brother Thorvid, who is
 9943      considered to be the wisest of us brothers, holds the words 'quarrelsome,
 9944      greedy, jealous, dull,' to be one and the same thing; for it applies to
 9945      him who is weary of peace, longs for small things without attaining them,
 9946      while he lets great and useful things pass away as they came. I am deaf;
 9947      yet so loud have many spoken out, that I can perceive that all men, both
 9948      great and small, take it ill that you have not kept your promise to the
 9949      king of Norway; and, worse than that, that you broke the decision of the
 9950      community as it was delivered at Upsala Thing. You need not fear either
 9951      the king of Norway, or the king of Denmark, or any other, so long as the
 9952      Swedish army will follow you; but if the people of the country unanimously
 9953      turn against you, we, your friends, see no counsel that can be of
 9954      advantage to you."
 9955      The king asks, "Who is the chief who dares to betray the country and me?"
 9956      Freyvid replies, "All Swedes desire to have the ancient laws, and their
 9957      full rights. Look but here, sire, how many chiefs are sitting in council
 9958      with you. I think, in truth, we are but six whom you call your
 9959      councillors: all the others, so far as I know, have ridden forth through
 9960      the districts to hold Things with the people; and we will not conceal it
 9961      from you, that the message-token has gone forth to assemble a
 9962      Retribution-thing (1). All of us brothers have been invited to take part
 9963      in the decisions of this council, but none of us will bear the name of
 9964      traitor to the sovereign; for that our father never was."
 9965      Then the king said, "What council shall we take in this dangerous affair
 9966      that is in our hands? Good chiefs give me council, that I may keep my
 9967      kingdom, and the heritage of my forefathers; for I cannot enter into
 9968      strife against the whole Swedish force."
 9969      Arnvid the Blind replies, "Sire, it is my advice that you ride down to
 9970      Aros with such men as will follow you; take your ship there and go out
 9971      into the Maeler lake; summon all people to meet you; proceed no longer
 9972      with haughtiness, but promise every man the law and rights of old
 9973      established in the country; keep back in this way the message-token, for
 9974      it cannot as yet, in so short a time have travelled far through the land.
 9975      Send, then those of your men in whom you have the most confidence to those
 9976      who have this business on hand, and try if this uproar can be appeased."
 9977      The king says that he will adopt this advice. "I will," says he, "that ye
 9978      brothers undertake this business; for I trust to you the most among my
 9979      men."
 9980      Thorvid the Stammerer said, "I remain behind. Let Jacob, your son, go with
 9981      them, for that is necessary."
 9982      Then said Freyvid, "Let us do as Thorvid says: he will not leave you, and
 9983      I and Arnvid must travel."
 9984      This counsel was followed. Olaf went to his ships, and set out into the
 9985      Maelar lake, and many people came to him. The brothers Arnvid and Freyvid
 9986      rode out to Ullaraker, and had with them the king's son Jacob; but they
 9987      kept it a secret that he was there. The brothers observed that there was a
 9988      great concourse and war-gathering, for the bondes held the Thing night and
 9989      day. When Arnvid and Freyvid met their relations and friends, they said
 9990      they would join with the people; and many agreed to leave the management
 9991      of the business in the hands of the brothers. But all, as one man,
 9992      declared they would no longer have King Olaf over them, and no longer
 9993      suffer his unlawful proceedings, and over-weening pride which would not
 9994      listen to any man's remonstrances, even when the great chiefs spoke the
 9995      truth to him. When Freyvid observed the heat of the people, he saw in what
 9996      a bad situation the king's cause was. He summoned the chiefs of the land
 9997      to a meeting with him and addressed them thus: -"It appears to me,
 9998      that if we are to depose Olaf Eirikson from his kingdom, we Swedes of the
 9999      Uplands should be the leading men in it: for so it has always been, that
10000      the counsel which the Upland chiefs have resolved among themselves has
10001      always been followed by the men of the rest of the country. Our
10002      forefathers did not need to take advice from the West Gautlanders about
10003      the government of the Swedes. Now we will not be so degenerate as to need
10004      Emund to give us counsel; but let us, friends and relations, unite
10005      ourselves for the purpose of coming to a determination." All agreed to
10006      this, and thought it was well said. Thereafter the people joined this
10007      union which the Upland chiefs made among themselves, and Freyvid and
10008      Arnvid were chiefs of the whole assemblage. When Emund heard this he
10009      suspected how the matter would end, and went to both the brothers to have
10010      a conversation with them. Then Freyvid asked Emund, "Who, in your opinion,
10011      should we take for king, in case Olaf Eirikson's days are at an end?"
10012      Emund -"He whom we think best suited to it, whether he be of the race
10013      of chiefs or not."
10014      Freyvid answers, "We Uplanders will not, in our time, have the kingdom go
10015      out of the old race of our ancestors, which has given us kings for a long
10016      course of generations, so long as we have so good a choice as now. King
10017      Olaf has two sons, one of whom we will choose for king, although there is
10018      a great difference between them. The one is noble-born, and of Swedish
10019      race on both sides; the other is a slave-woman's son, and of Vindish race
10020      on the mother's side."
10021      This decision was received with loud applause, and all would have Jacob
10022      for king.
10023      Then said Emund. "Ye Upland Swedes have the power this time to determinate
10024      the matter; but I will tell you what will happen: -some of those who
10025      now will listen to nothing but that the kingdom remain in the old race
10026      will live to see the day when they will wish the kingdom in another race,
10027      as being of more advantage."
10028      Thereupon the brothers Freyvid and Arnvid led the king's son Jacob into
10029      the Thing, and saluted him with the title of king; and the Swedes gave him
10030      the name of Onund, which he afterwards retained as long as he lived. He
10031      was then ten or twelve years old. Thereafter King Onund took a court, and
10032      chose chiefs to be around him; and they had as many attendants in their
10033      suite as were thought necessary, so that he gave the whole assemblage of
10034      bondes leave to return home. After that ambassadors went between the two
10035      kings; and at last they had a meeting, and came to an agreement. Olaf was
10036      to remain king over the country as long as he lived; but should hold peace
10037      and be reconciled with King Olaf of Norway, and also with all who had
10038      taken part in this business. Onund should also be king, and have a part of
10039      the land, such as the father and son should agree upon; but should be
10040      bound to support the bondes in case King Olaf did anything which the
10041      bondes would not suffer.
10042   ENDNOTES: (1) Refsithing -a Thing for punishment by penalty or death for
10043     crimes and misdemeanours. -L.
10044      97. MEETING OF RECONCILIATION BETWEEN THE KINGS, AND THEIR GAME AT DICE.
10045      Thereafter ambassadors were sent to Norway to King Olaf, with the errand
10046      that he should come with his retinue to a meeting at Konungahella with the
10047      Swedish kings, and that the Swedish kings would there confirm their
10048      reconciliation. When King Olaf heard this message, he was willing, now as
10049      formerly, to enter into the agreement, and proceeded to the appointed
10050      place. There the Swedish kings also came; and the relations, when they
10051      met, bound themselves mutually to peace and agreement. Olaf the Swedish
10052      king was then remarkably mild in manner, and agreeable to talk with.
10053      Thorstein Frode relates of this meeting, that there was an inhabited
10054      district in Hising which had sometimes belonged to Norway, and sometimes
10055      to Gautland. The kings came to the agreement between themselves that they
10056      would cast lots by the dice to determine who should have this property,
10057      and that he who threw the highest should have the district. The Swedish
10058      king threw two sixes, and said King Olaf need scarcely throw. He replied,
10059      while shaking the dice in his hand, "Although there be two sixes on the
10060      dice, it would be easy, sire, for God Almighty to let them turn up in my
10061      favour." Then he threw, and had sixes also. Now the Swedish king threw
10062      again, and had again two sixes. Olaf king of Norway then threw, and had
10063      six upon one dice, and the other split in two, so as to make seven eyes in
10064      all upon it; and the district was adjudged to the king of Norway. We have
10065      heard nothing else of any interest that took place at this meeting; and
10066      the kings separated the dearest of friends with each other.
10067      98. OF OLAF OF NORWAY, AFTER THE MEETING.
10068      After the events now related Olaf returned with his people to Viken. He
10069      went first to Tunsberg, and remained there a short time, and then
10070      proceeded to the north of the country. In harvest-time he sailed north to
10071      Throndhjem, and had winter provision laid in there, and remained there all
10072      winter (A.D. 1090). Olaf Haraldson was now sole and supreme king of
10073      Norway, and the whole of that sovereignty, as Harald Harfager had
10074      possessed it, and had the advantage over that monarch of being the only
10075      king in the land. By a peaceful agreement he had also recovered that part
10076      of the country which Olaf the Swedish king had before occupied; and that
10077      part of the country which the Danish king had got he retook by force, and
10078      ruled over it as elsewhere in the country. The Danish king Canute ruled at
10079      that time both over Denmark and England; but he himself was in England for
10080      the most part, and set chiefs over the country in Denmark, without at that
10081      time making any claim upon Norway.
10082      99. HISTORY OF THE EARLS OF ORKNEY.
10083      It is related that in the days of Harald Harfager, the king of Norway, the
10084      islands of Orkney, which before had been only a resort for vikings, were
10085      settled. The first earl in the Orkney Islands was called Sigurd, who was a
10086      son of Eystein Giumra, and brother of Ragnvald earl of More. After Sigurd
10087      his son Guthorm was earl for one year. After him Torf-Einar, a son of
10088      Ragnvald, took the earldom, and was long earl, and was a man of great
10089      power. Halfdan Haleg, a son of Harald Harfager, assaulted Torf-Einar, and
10090      drove him from the Orkney Islands; but Einar came back and killed Halfdan
10091      in the island Ronaldsha. Thereafter King Harald came with an army to the
10092      Orkney Islands. Einar fled to Scotland, and King Harald made the people of
10093      the Orkney Islands give up their udal properties, and hold them under oath
10094      from him. Thereafter the king and earl were reconciled, so that the earl
10095      became the king's man, and took the country as a fief from him; but that
10096      it should pay no scat or feu-duty, as it was at that time much plundered
10097      by vikings. The earl paid the king sixty marks of gold; and then King
10098      Harald went to plunder in Scotland, as related in the "Glym Drapa". After
10099      Torf-Einar, his sons Arnkel, Erlend, and Thorfin Hausakljufer (1) ruled
10100      over these lands. In their days came Eirik Blood-axe from Norway, and
10101      subdued these earls. Arnkel and Erlend fell in a war expedition; but
10102      Thorfin ruled the country long, and became an old man. His sons were
10103      Arnfin, Havard, Hlodver, Liot, and Skule. Their mother was Grelad, a
10104      daughter of Earl Dungad of Caithness. Her mother was Groa, a daughter of
10105      Thorstein Raud. In the latter days of Earl Thorfin came Eirik Blood-axe's
10106      sons, who had fled from Earl Hakon out of Norway, and committed great
10107      excesses in Orkney. Earl Thorfin died on a bed of sickness, and his sons
10108      after him ruled over the country, and there are many stories concerning
10109      them. Hlodver lived the longest of them, and ruled alone over this
10110      country. His son was Sigurd the Thick, who took the earldom after him, and
10111      became a powerful man and a great warrior. In his days came Olaf Trygvason
10112      from his viking expedition in the western ocean, with his troops, landed
10113      in Orkney and took Earl Sigurd prisoner in South Ronaldsha, where he lay
10114      with one ship. King Olaf allowed the earl to ransom his life by letting
10115      himself be baptized, adopting the true faith, becoming his man, and
10116      introducing Christianity into all the Orkney Islands. As a hostage, King
10117      Olaf took his son, who was called Hunde or Whelp. Then Olaf went to
10118      Norway, and became king; and Hunde was several years with King Olaf in
10119      Norway, and died there. After his death Earl Sigurd showed no obedience or
10120      fealty to King Olaf. He married a daughter of the Scottish king Malcolm,
10121      and their son was called Thorfin. Earl Sigurd had, besides, older sons;
10122      namely, Sumarlide, Bruse, and Einar Rangmund. Four or five years after
10123      Olaf Tryrgvason's fall Earl Sigurd went to Ireland, leaving his eldest
10124      sons to rule the country, and sending Thorfin to his mother's father, the
10125      Scottish king. On this expedition Earl Sigurd fell in Brian's battle (l).
10126      When the news was received in Orkney, the brothers Sumarlide, Bruse, and
10127      Einar were chosen earls, and the country was divided into three parts
10128      among them. Thorfin Sigurdson was five years old when Earl Sigurd fell.
10129      When the Scottish king heard of the earl's death he gave his relation
10130      Thorfin Caithness and Sutherland, with the title of earl, and appointed
10131      good men to rule the land for him. Earl Thorfin was ripe in all ways as
10132      soon as he was grown up: he was stout and strong, but ugly; and as soon as
10133      he was a grown man it was easy to see that he was a severe and cruel but a
10134      very clever man. So says Arnor, the earls' skald: -
10135     "Under the rim of heaven no other,
10136     So young in years as Einar's brother,
10137     In battle had a braver hand,
10138     Or stouter, to defend the land."
10139   ENDNOTES: (1) Hausakljufer -the splitter of skulls. -L.
10140    (2) Brian's battle is supposed to have taken place on the 23rd
10141     April 1014, at Clontart, near Dublin; and is known in Irish
10142     history as the battle of Clontarf, and was one of the
10143     bloodiest of the age.  It was fought between a viking called
10144     Sigtryg and Brian king of Munster, who gained the victory,
10145     but lost his life. -L.
10146      100. OF THE EARLS EINAR AND BRUSE.
10147      The brothers Einar and Bruse were very unlike in disposition. Bruse was a
10148      soft-minded, peaceable man, -sociable, eloquent, and of good
10149      understanding. Einar was obstinate, taciturn, and dull; but ambitious,
10150      greedy of money, and withal a great warrior. Sumarlide, the eldest of the
10151      brothers, was in disposition like Bruse, and lived not long, but died in
10152      his bed. After his death Thorfin claimed his share of the Orkney Islands.
10153      Einar replied, that Thorfin had the dominions which their father Sigurd
10154      had possessed, namely, Caithness and Sutherland, which he insisted were
10155      much larger than a third part of Orkney; therefore he would not consent to
10156      Thorfin's having any share. Bruse, on the other hand, was willing, he
10157      said, to divide with him. "I do not-desire," he said, "more than the third
10158      part of the land, and which of right belongs to me." Then Einar took
10159      possession of two parts of the country, by which he became a powerful man,
10160      surrounded by many followers. He was often in summer out on marauding
10161      expeditions, and called out great numbers of the people to join him; but
10162      it went always unpleasantly with the division of the booty made on his
10163      viking cruises. Then the bondes grew weary of all these burdens; but Earl
10164      Einar held fast by them with severity, calling in all services laid upon
10165      the people, and allowing no opposition from any man; for he was
10166      excessively proud and overbearing. And now there came dearth and scarcity
10167      in his lands, in consequence of the services and money outlay exacted from
10168      the bondes; while in the part of the country belonging to Bruse there were
10169      peace and plenty, and therefore he was the best beloved by the bondes.
10170      101. OF THORKEL AMUNDASON.
10171      There was a rich and powerful man who was called Amunde, who dwelt in
10172      Hrossey at Sandvik, in Hlaupandanes. His son, called Thorkel, was one of
10173      the ablest men in the islands. Amunde was a man of the best understanding,
10174      and most respected in Orkney. One spring Earl Einar proclaimed a levy for
10175      an expedition, as usual. The bondes murmured greatly against it, and
10176      applied to Amunde with the entreaty that he would intercede with the earl
10177      for them. He replied, that the earl was not a man who would listen to
10178      other people, and insisted that it was of no use to make any entreaty to
10179      the earl about it. "As things now stand, there is a good understanding
10180      between me and the earl; but, in my opinion, there would be much danger of
10181      our quarrelling, on account of our different dispositions and views on
10182      both sides; therefore I will have nothing to do with it." They then
10183      applied to Thorkel, who was also very loath to interfere, but promised at
10184      last to do so, in consequence of the great entreaty of the people. Amunde
10185      thought he had given his promise too hastily. Now when the earl held a
10186      Thing, Thorkel spoke on account of the people, and entreated the earl to
10187      spare the people from such heavy burdens, recounting their necessitous
10188      condition. The earl replies favourably, saying that he would take
10189      Thorkel's advice. "I had intended to go out from the country with six
10190      ships, but now I will only take three with me; but thou must not come
10191      again, Thorkel, with any such request." The bondes thanked Thorkel for his
10192      assistance, and the earl set out on a viking cruise, and came back in
10193      autumn. The spring after, the earl made the same levy as usual, and held a
10194      Thing with the bondes. Then Thorkel again made a speech, in which he
10195      entreated the earl to spare the people. The earl now was angry, and said
10196      the lot of the bondes should be made worse in consequence of his
10197      intercession; and worked himself up into such a rage, that he vowed they
10198      should not both come next spring to the Thing in a whole skin. Then the
10199      Thing was closed. When Amunde heard what the earl and Thorkel had said at
10200      the Thing, he told Thorkel to leave the country, and he went over to
10201      Caithness to Earl Thorfin. Thorkel was afterwards a long time there, and
10202      brought up the earl in his youth, and was on that account called Thorkel
10203      the Fosterer; and he became a very celebrated man.
10204      102. THE AGREEMENT OF THE EARLS.
10205      There were many powerful men who fled from their udal properties in Orkney
10206      on account of Earl Einar's violence, and the most fled over to Caithness
10207      to Earl Thorfin: but some fled from the Orkney Islands to Norway, and some
10208      to other countries. When Earl Thorfin was grown up he sent a message to
10209      his brother Einar, and demanded the part of the dominion which he thought
10210      belonged to him in Orkney; namely, a third of the islands. Einar was
10211      nowise inclined to diminish his possessions. When Thorfin found this he
10212      collected a warforce in Caithness, and proceeded to the islands. As soon
10213      as Earl Einar heard of this he collected people, and resolved to defend
10214      his country. Earl Bruse also collected men, and went out to meet them, and
10215      bring about some agreement between them. An agreement was at last
10216      concluded, that Thorfin should have a third part of the islands, as of
10217      right belonging to him, but that Bruse and Einar should lay their two
10218      parts together, and Einar alone should rule over them; but if the one died
10219      before the other, the longest liver should inherit the whole. This
10220      agreement seemed reasonable, as Bruse had a son called Ragnvald, but Einar
10221      had no son. Earl Thorfin set men to rule over his land in Orkney, but he
10222      himself was generally in Caithness. Earl Einar was generally on viking
10223      expeditions to Ireland, Scotland, and Bretland.
10224      103. EYVIND URARHORN'S MURDER.
10225      One summer (A.D. 1018) that Earl Einar marauded in Ireland, he fought in
10226      Ulfreks-fjord with the Irish king Konofogor, as has been related before,
10227      and suffered there a great defeat. The summer after this (A.D. 1019)
10228      Eyvind Urarhorn was coming from the west from Ireland, intending to go to
10229      Norway; but the weather was boisterous, and the current against him, so he
10230      ran into Osmundwall, and lay there wind-bound for some time. When Earl
10231      Einar heard of this, he hastened thither with many people, took Eyvind
10232      prisoner, and ordered him to be put to death, but spared the lives of most
10233      of his people. In autumn they proceeded to Norway to King Olaf, and told
10234      him Eyvind was killed. The king said little about it, but one could see
10235      that he considered it a great and vexatious loss; for he did not usually
10236      say much if anything turned out contrary to his wishes. Earl Thorfin sent
10237      Thorkel Fosterer to the islands to gather in his scat. Now, as Einar gave
10238      Thorkel the greatest blame for the dispute in which Thorfin had made claim
10239      to the islands, Thorkel came suddenly back to Caithness from Orkney, and
10240      told Earl Thorfin that he had learnt that Earl Einar would have murdered
10241      him if his friends and relations had not given him notice to escape.
10242      "Now," says he, "it is come so far between the earl and me, that either
10243      some thing decisive between us must take place if we meet, or I must
10244      remove to such a distance that his power will not reach me." The earl
10245      encouraged Thorkel much to go east to Norway to King Olaf. "Thou wilt be
10246      highly respected," says he, "wherever thou comest among honourable men;
10247      and I know so well thy disposition and the earl's, that it will not be
10248      long before ye come to extremities." Thereupon Thorkel made himself ready,
10249      and proceeded in autumn to Norway, and then to King Olaf, with whom he
10250      stayed the whole winter (A.D. 1020), and was in high favour. The king
10251      often entered into conversation with him, and he thought, what was true,
10252      that Thorkel was a high-minded man, of good understanding. In his
10253      conversations with Thorkel, the king found a great difference in his
10254      description of the two earls; for Thorkel was a great friend of Earl
10255      Thorfin, but had much to say against Einar. Early in spring (A.D. 1020)
10256      the king sent a ship west over the sea to Earl Thorfin, with the
10257      invitation to come east and visit him in Norway. The earl did not decline
10258      the invitation, for it was accompanied by assurances of friendship.
10259      104. EARL EINAR'S MURDER.
10260      Earl Thorfin went east to Norway, and came to King Olaf, from whom he
10261      received a kind reception, and stayed till late in the summer. When he was
10262      preparing to return westwards again, King Olaf made him a present of a
10263      large and fully-rigged long-ship. Thorkel the Fosterer joined company with
10264      the earl, who gave him the ship which he brought with him from the west.
10265      The king and the earl took leave of each other tenderly. In autumn Earl
10266      Thorfin came to Orkney, and when Earl Einar heard of it he went on board
10267      his ships with a numerous band of men. Earl Bruse came up to his two
10268      brothers, and endeavoured to mediate between them, and a peace was
10269      concluded and confirmed by oath. Thorkel Fosterer was to be in peace and
10270      friendship with Earl Einar; and it was agreed that each of them should
10271      give a feast to the other, and that the earl should first be Thorkel's
10272      guest at Sandwick. When the earl came to the feast he was entertained in
10273      the best manner; but the earl was not cheerful. There was a great room, in
10274      which there were doors at each end. The day the earl should depart Thorkel
10275      was to accompany him to the other feast; and Thorkel sent men before, who
10276      should examine the road they had to travel that day. The spies came back,
10277      and said to Thorkel they had discovered three ambushes. "And we think,"
10278      said they, "there is deceit on foot." When Thorkel heard this he
10279      lengthened out his preparations for the journey, and gathered people about
10280      him. The earl told him to get ready, as it was time to be on horseback.
10281      Thorkel answered, that he had many things to put in order first, and went
10282      out and in frequently. There was a fire upon the floor. At last he went in
10283      at one door, followed by an Iceland man from Eastfjord, called Halvard,
10284      who locked the door after him. Thorkel went in between the fire and the
10285      place where the earl was sitting. The earl asked, "Art thou ready at last,
10286      Thorkel?"
10287      Thorkel answers, "Now I am ready;" and struck the earl upon the head so
10288      that he fell upon the floor.
10289      Then said the Icelander, "I never saw people so foolish as not to drag the
10290      earl out of the fire;" and took a stick, which he set under the earl's
10291      neck, and put him upright on the bench. Thorkel and his two comrades then
10292      went in all haste out of the other door opposite to that by which they
10293      went in, and Thorkel's men were standing without fully armed. The earl's
10294      men now went in, and took hold of the earl. He was already dead, so nobody
10295      thought of avenging him: and also the whole was done so quickly; for
10296      nobody expected such a deed from Thorkel, and all supposed that there
10297      really was, as before related, a friendship fixed between the earl and
10298      Thorkel. The most who were within were unarmed, and they were partly
10299      Thorkel's good friends; and to this may be added, that fate had decreed a
10300      longer life to Thorkel. When Thorkel came out he had not fewer men with
10301      him than the earl's troop. Thorkel went to his ship, and the earl's men
10302      went their way. The same day Thorkel sailed out eastwards into the sea.
10303      This happened after winter; but he came safely to Norway, went as fast as
10304      he could to Olaf, and was well received by him. The king expressed his
10305      satisfaction at this deed, and Thorkel was with him all winter (A.D.
10306      1091).
10307      105. AGREEMENT BETWEEN KING OLAF AND EARL BRUSE.
10308      After Earl Einar's fall Bruse took the part of the country which he had
10309      possessed; for it was known to many men on what conditions Einar and Bruse
10310      had entered into a partnership. Although Thorfin thought it would be more
10311      just that each of them had half of the islands, Bruse retained the
10312      two-thirds of the country that winter (A.D. 1021). In spring, however,
10313      Thorfin produced his claim, and demanded the half of the country; but
10314      Bruse would not consent. They held Things and meetings about the business;
10315      and although their friends endeavoured to settle it, Thorfin would not be
10316      content with less than the half of the islands, and insisted that Bruse,
10317      with his disposition, would have enough even with a third part. Bruse
10318      replies, "When I took my heritage after my father I was well satisfied
10319      with a third part of the country, and there was nobody to dispute it with
10320      me; and now I have succeeded to another third in heritage after my
10321      brother, according to a lawful agreement between us; and although I am not
10322      powerful enough to maintain a feud against thee, my brother, I will seek
10323      some other way, rather than willingly renounce my property." With this
10324      their meeting ended. But Bruse saw that he had no strength to contend
10325      against Thorfin, because Thorfin had both a greater dominion and also
10326      could have aid from his mother's brother, the Scottish king. He resolved,
10327      therefore, to go out of the country; and he went eastward to King Olaf,
10328      and had with him his son Ragnvald, then ten years old. When the earl came
10329      to the king he was well received. The earl now declared his errand, and
10330      told the king the circumstances of the whole dispute between him and his
10331      brother, and asked help to defend his kingdom of Orkney; promising, in
10332      return, the fullest friendship towards King Olaf. In his answer, the king
10333      began with showing how Harald Harfager had appropriated to himself all
10334      udal rights in Orkney, and that the earls, since that time, have
10335      constantly held the country as a fief, not as their udal property. "As a
10336      sufficient proof of which," said he, "when Eirik Blood-axe and his sons
10337      were in Orkney the earls were subject to them; and also when my relation
10338      Olaf Trygvason came there thy father, Earl Sigurd, became his man. Now I
10339      have taken heritage after King Olaf, and I will give thee the condition to
10340      become my man and then I will give thee the islands as a fief; and we
10341      shall try if I cannot give thee aid that will be more to the purpose than
10342      Thorfin can get from the Scottish king. If thou wilt not accept of these
10343      terms, then will I win back my udal property there in the West, as our
10344      forefathers and relations of old possessed it."
10345      The earl carefully considered this speech, laid it before his friends, and
10346      demanded their advice if he should agree to it, and enter into such terms
10347      with King Olaf and become his vassal. "But I do not see what my lot will
10348      be at my departure if I say no; for the king has clearly enough declared
10349      his claim upon Orkney; and from his great power, and our being in his
10350      hands, it is easy for him to make our destiny what he pleases."
10351      Although the earl saw that there was much to be considered for and against
10352      it he chose the condition to deliver himself and his dominion into the
10353      king's power. Thereupon the king took the earl's power, and the government
10354      over all the earl's lands, and the earl became his vassal under oath of
10355      fealty.
10356      106. THE EARL'S AGREEMENT TO THE KING'S TERMS.
10357      Thorfin the earl heard that his brother Bruse had gone east to King Olaf
10358      to seek support from him; but as Thorfin had been on a visit to King Olaf
10359      before, and had concluded a friendship with him, he thought his case would
10360      stand well with the king, and that many would support it; but he believed
10361      that many more would do so if he went there himself. Earl Thorfin
10362      resolved, therefore, to go east himself without delay; and he thought
10363      there would be so little difference between the time of his arrival and
10364      Bruse's, that Bruse's errand could not be accomplished before he came to
10365      King Olaf. But it went otherwise than Earl Thorfin had expected; for when
10366      he came to the king the agreement between the king and Bruse was already
10367      concluded and settled, and Earl Thorfin did not know a word about Bruse's
10368      having surrendered his udal domains until he came to King Olaf. As soon as
10369      Earl Thorfin and King Olaf met, the king made the same demand upon the
10370      kingdom of Orkney that he had done to Earl Bruse, and required that
10371      Thorfin should voluntarily deliver over to the king that part of the
10372      country which he had possessed hitherto. The earl answered in a friendly
10373      and respectful way, that the king's friendship lay near to his heart: "And
10374      if you think, sire, that my help against other chiefs can be of use, you
10375      have already every claim to it; but I cannot be your vessel for service,
10376      as I am an earl of the Scottish king, and owe fealty to him."
10377      As the king found that the earl, by his answer, declined fulfilling the
10378      demand he had made, he said, "Earl, if thou wilt not become my vassal,
10379      there is another condition; namely, that I will place over the Orkney
10380      Islands the man I please, and require thy oath that thou wilt make no
10381      claim upon these lands, but allow whoever I place over them to sit in
10382      peace. If thou wilt not accept of either of these conditions, he who is to
10383      rule over these lands may expect hostility from thee, and thou must not
10384      think it strange if like meet like in this business."
10385      The earl begged of the king some time to consider the matter. The king did
10386      so, and gave the earl time to take the counsel of his friends on the
10387      choosing one or other of these conditions. Then the earl requested a delay
10388      until next summer, that he might go over the sea to the west, for his
10389      proper counsellors were all at home, and he himself was but a child in
10390      respect of age; but the king required that he should now make his election
10391      of one or other of the conditions. Thorkel Fosterer was then with the
10392      king, and he privately sent a person to Earl Thorfin, and told him,
10393      whatever his intentions might be, not to think of leaving Olaf without
10394      being reconciled with him, as he stood entirely in Olaf's power. From such
10395      hints the earl saw there was no other way than to let the king have his
10396      own will. It was no doubt a hard condition to have no hope of ever
10397      regaining his paternal heritage, and moreover to bind himself by oath to
10398      allow those to enjoy in peace his domain who had no hereditary right to
10399      it; but seeing it was uncertain how he could get away, he resolved to
10400      submit to the king and become his vassal, as Bruse had done. The king
10401      observed that Thorfin was more high-minded, and less disposed to suffer
10402      subjection than Bruse, and therefore he trusted less to Thorfin than to
10403      Bruse; and he considered also that Thorfin would trust to the aid of the
10404      Scottish king, if he broke the agreement. The king also had discernment
10405      enough to perceive that Bruse, although slow to enter into an agreement,
10406      would promise nothing but what he intended to keep; but as to Thorfin when
10407      he had once made up his mind he went readily into every proposal and made
10408      no attempt to obtain any alteration of the king's first conditions:
10409      therefore the king had his suspicions that the earl would infringe the
10410      agreement.
10411      107. EARL THORFIN'S DEPARTURE, AND RECONCILIATION WITH THORKEL.
10412      When the king had carefully considered the whole matter by himself, he
10413      ordered the signal to sound for a General Thing, to which he called in the
10414      earls. Then said the king, "I will now make known to the public our
10415      agreement with the Orkney earls. They have now acknowledged my right of
10416      property to Orkney and Shetland, and have both become my vassals, all
10417      which they have confirmed by oath; and now I will invest them with these
10418      lands as a fief: namely, Bruse with one third part and Thorfin with one
10419      third, as they formerly enjoyed them; but the other third which Einar
10420      Rangmund had, I adjudge as fallen to my domain, because he killed Eyvind
10421      Urarhorn, my court-man, partner, and dear friend; and that part of the
10422      land I will manage as I think proper. I have also my earls, to tell you it
10423      is my pleasure that ye enter into an agreement with Thorkel Amundason for
10424      the murder of your brother Einar, for I will take that business, if ye
10425      agree thereto, within my own jurisdiction." The earls agreed to this, as
10426      to everything else that the king proposed. Thorkel came forward, and
10427      surrendered to the king's judgment of the case, and the Thing concluded.
10428      King Olaf awarded as great a penalty for Earl Einar's murder as for three
10429      lendermen; but as Einar himself was the cause of the act, one third of the
10430      mulct fell to the ground. Thereafter Earl Thorfin asked the king's leave
10431      to depart, and as soon as he obtained it made ready for sea with all
10432      speed. It happened one day, when all was ready for the voyage, the earl
10433      sat in his ship drinking; and Thorkel Amundason came unexpectedly to him,
10434      laid his head upon the earl's knee, and bade him do with him what he
10435      pleased. The earl asked why he did so. "We are, you know, reconciled men,
10436      according to the king's decision; so stand up, Thorkel."
10437      Thorkel replied, "The agreement which the king made as between me and
10438      Bruse stands good; but what regards the agreement with thee thou alone
10439      must determine. Although the king made conditions for my property and safe
10440      residence in Orkney, yet I know so well thy disposition that there is no
10441      going to the islands for me, unless I go there in peace with thee, Earl
10442      Thorfin; and therefore I am willing to promise never to return to Orkney,
10443      whatever the king may desire."
10444      The earl remained silent; and first, after a long pause, he said, "If thou
10445      wilt rather, Thorkel, that I shall judge between us than trust to the
10446      king's judgment, then let the beginning of our reconciliation be, that you
10447      go with me to the Orkney Islands, live with me, and never leave me but
10448      with my will, and be bound to defend my land, and execute all that I want
10449      done, as long as we both are in life."
10450      Thorkel replies, "This shall be entirely at thy pleasure, earl, as well as
10451      everything else in my power." Then Thorkel went on, and solemnly ratified
10452      this agreement. The earl said he would talk afterwards about the mulct of
10453      money, but took Thorkel's oath upon the conditions. Thorkel immediately
10454      made ready to accompany the earl on his voyage. The earl set off as soon
10455      as all was ready, and never again were King Olaf and Thorfin together.
10456      108. EARL BRUSE'S DEPARTURE.
10457      Earl Bruse remained behind, and took his time to get ready. Before his
10458      departure the king sent for him, and said, "It appears to me, earl, that
10459      in thee I have a man on the west side of the sea on whose fidelity I can
10460      depend; therefore I intend to give thee the two parts of the country which
10461      thou formerly hadst to rule over; for I will not that thou shouldst be a
10462      less powerful man after entering into my service than before: but I will
10463      secure thy fidelity by keeping thy son Ragnvald with me. I see well enough
10464      that with two parts of the country and my help, thou wilt be able to
10465      defend what is thy own against thy brother Thorfin." Bruse was thankful
10466      for getting two thirds instead of one third of the country, and soon after
10467      he set out, and came about autumn to Orkney; but Ragnvald, Bruse's son,
10468      remained behind in the East with King Olaf. Ragnvald was one of the
10469      handsomest men that could be seen, -his hair long, and yellow as
10470      silk; and he soon grew up, stout and tall, and he was a very able and
10471      superb man, both of great understanding and polite manners. He was long
10472      with King Olaf. Otter Svarte speaks of these affairs in the poem he
10473      composed about King Olaf: -
10474     "From Shetland, far off in the cold North Sea,
10475     Come chiefs who desire to be subject to thee:
10476     No king so well known for his will, and his might,
10477     To defend his own people from scaith or unright.
10478     These isles of the West midst the ocean's wild roar,
10479     Scarcely heard the voice of their sovereign before;
10480     Our bravest of sovereigns before could scarce bring
10481     These islesmen so proud to acknowledge their king."
10482      109. OF THE EARLS THORFIN AND BRUSE.
10483      The brothers Thorfin and Bruse came west to Orkney; and Bruse took the two
10484      parts of the country under his rule, and Thorfin the third part. Thorfin
10485      was usually in Caithness and elsewhere in Scotland; but placed men of his
10486      own over the islands. It was left to Bruse alone to defend the islands,
10487      which at that time were severely scourged by vikings; for the Northmen and
10488      Danes went much on viking cruises in the west sea, and frequently touched
10489      at Orkney on the way to or from the west, and plundered, and took
10490      provisions and cattle from the coast. Bruse often complained of his
10491      brother Thorfin, that he made no equipment of war for the defence of
10492      Orkney and Shetland, yet levied his share of the scat and duties. Then
10493      Thorfin offered to him to exchange, and that Bruse should have one third
10494      and Thorfin two thirds of the land, but should undertake the defence of
10495      the land, for the whole. Although this exchange did not take place
10496      immediately, it is related in the saga of the earls that it was agreed
10497      upon at last; and that Thorfin had two parts and Bruse only one, when
10498      Canute the Great subdued Norway and King Olaf fled the country. Earl
10499      Thorfin Sigurdson has been the ablest earl of these islands, and has had
10500      the greatest dominion of all the Orkney earls; for he had under him
10501      Orkney, Shetland, and the Hebudes, besides very great possessions in
10502      Scotland and Ireland. Arnor, the earls' skald, tells of his possessions: -
10503     "From Thurso-skerry to Dublin,
10504     All people hold with good Thorfin -
10505     All people love his sway,
10506     And the generous chief obey."
10507      Thorfin was a very great warrior. He came to the earldom at five years of
10508      age, ruled more than sixty years, and died in his bed about the last days
10509      of Harald Sigurdson. But Bruse died in the days of Canute the Great, a
10510      short time after the fall of Saint Olaf.
10511      110. OF HAREK OF THJOTTA.
10512      Having now gone through this second story, we shall return to that which
10513      we left, -at King Olaf Haraldson having concluded peace with King
10514      Olaf the Swedish king, and having the same summer gone north to Throndhjem
10515      (1019). He had then been king in Norway five years (A.D. 1015-1019). In
10516      harvest time he prepared to take his winter residence at Nidaros, and he
10517      remained all winter there (A.D. 1020). Thorkel the Fosterer, Amunde's son,
10518      as before related, was all that winter with him. King Olaf inquired very
10519      carefully how it stood with Christianity throughout the land, and learnt
10520      that it was not observed at all to the north of Halogaland, and was far
10521      from being observed as it should be in Naumudal, and the interior of
10522      Throndhjem. There was a man by name Harek, a son of Eyvind Skaldaspiller,
10523      who dwelt in an island called Thjotta in Halogaland. Eyvind had not been a
10524      rich man, but was of high family and high mind. In Thjotta, at first,
10525      there dwelt many small bondes; but Harek began with buying a farm not very
10526      large and lived on it, and in a few years he had got all the bondes that
10527      were there before out of the way; so that he had the whole island, and
10528      built a large head-mansion. He soon became very rich; for he was a very
10529      prudent man, and very successful. He had long been greatly respected by
10530      the chiefs; and being related to the kings of Norway, had been raised by
10531      them to high dignities. Harek's father's mother Gunhild was a daughter of
10532      Earl Halfdan, and Ingebjorg, Harald Harfager's daughter. At the time the
10533      circumstance happened which we are going to relate he was somewhat
10534      advanced in years. Harek was the most respected man in Halogaland, and for
10535      a long time had the Lapland trade, and did the king's business in Lapland;
10536      sometimes alone, sometimes with others joined to him. He had not himself
10537      been to wait on King Olaf, but messages had passed between them, and all
10538      was on the most friendly footing. This winter (A.D. 1020) that Olaf was in
10539      Nidaros, messengers passed between the king and Harek of Thjotta. Then the
10540      king made it known that he intended going north to Halogaland, and as far
10541      north as the land's end; but the people of Halogaland expected no good
10542      from this expedition.
10543      111. OF THE PEOPLE OF HALOGALAND.
10544      Olaf rigged out five ships in spring (A.D. 1020), and had with him about
10545      300 men. When he was ready for sea he set northwards along the land; and
10546      when he came to Naumudal district he summoned the bondes to a Thing, and
10547      at every Thing was accepted as king. He also made the laws to be read
10548      there as elsewhere, by which the people are commanded to observe
10549      Christianity; and he threatened every man with loss of life, and limbs,
10550      and property who would not subject himself to Christian law. He inflicted
10551      severe punishments on many men, great as well as small, and left no
10552      district until the people had consented to adopt the holy faith. The most
10553      of the men of power and of the great bondes made feasts for the king, and
10554      so he proceeded all the way north to Halogaland. Harek of Thjotta also
10555      made a feast for the king, at which there was a great multitude of guests,
10556      and the feast was very splendid. Harek was made lenderman, and got the
10557      same privileges he had enjoyed under the former chiefs of the country.
10558      112. OF ASMUND GRANKELSON.
10559      There was a man called Grankel, or Granketil, who was a rich bonde, and at
10560      this time rather advanced in age. In his youth he had been on viking
10561      cruises, and had been a powerful fighter; for he possessed great readiness
10562      in all sorts of bodily exercises. His son Asmund was equal to his father
10563      in all these, and in some, indeed, he excelled him. There were many who
10564      said that with respect to comeliness, strength, and bodily expertness, he
10565      might be considered the third remarkably distinguished for these that
10566      Norway had ever produced. The first was Hakon Athelstan's foster-son; the
10567      second, Olaf Trygvason. Grankel invited King Olaf to a feast, which was
10568      very magnificent; and at parting Grankel presented the king with many
10569      honourable gifts and tokens of friendship. The king invited Asmund, with
10570      many persuasions, to follow him; and as Asmund could not decline the
10571      honours offered him, he got ready to travel with the king, became his man,
10572      and stood in high favour with him. The king remained in Halogaland the
10573      greater part of the summer, went to all the Things, and baptized all the
10574      people. Thorer Hund dwelt at that time in the island Bjarkey. He was the
10575      most powerful man in the North, and also became one of Olaf's lendermen.
10576      Many sons of great bondes resolved also to follow King Olaf from
10577      Halogaland. Towards the end of summer King Olaf left the North, and sailed
10578      back to Throndhjem, and landed at Nidaros, where he passed the winter
10579      (A.D. 1021). It was then that Thorkel the Fosterer came from the West from
10580      Orkney, after killing Einar Rangmumd, as before related. This autumn corn
10581      was dear in Throndhjem, after a long course of good seasons, and the
10582      farther north the dearer was the corn; but there was corn enough in the
10583      East country, and in the Uplands, and it was of great help to the people
10584      of Throndhjem that many had old corn remaining beside them.
10585      113. OF THE SACRIFICES OF THE THRONDHJEM PEOPLE.
10586      In autumn the news was brought to King Olaf that the bondes had had a
10587      great feast on the first winter-day's eve, at which there was a numerous
10588      attendance and much drinking; and it was told the king that all the
10589      remembrance-cups to the Asas, or old gods, were blessed according to the
10590      old heathen forms; and it was added, that cattle and horses had been
10591      slain, and the altars sprinkled with their blood, and the sacrifices
10592      accompanied with the prayer that was made to obtain good seasons. It was
10593      also reported that all men saw clearly that the gods were offended at the
10594      Halogaland people turning Christian. Now when the king heard this news he
10595      sent men into the Throndhjem country, and ordered several bondes, whose
10596      names he gave, to appear before him. There was a man called Olver of
10597      Eggja, so called after his farm on which he lived. He was powerful, of
10598      great family, and the head-man of those who on account of the bondes
10599      appeared before the king. Now, when they came to the king, he told them
10600      these accusations; to which Olver, on behalf of the bondes, replied, that
10601      they had had no other feasts that harvest than their usual entertainments,
10602      and social meetings, and friendly drinking parties. "But as to what may
10603      have been told you of the words which may have fallen from us Throndhjem
10604      people in our drinking parties, men of understanding would take good care
10605      not to use such language; but I cannot hinder drunken or foolish people's
10606      talk." Olver was a man of clever speech, and bold in what he said, and
10607      defended the bondes against such accusations. In the end, the king said
10608      the people of the interior of Thorndhjem must themselves give the best
10609      testimony to their being in the right faith. The bondes got leave to
10610      return home, and set off as soon as they were ready.
10611      114. OF THE SACRIFICES BY THE PEOPLE OF THE INTERIOR OF THE THRONDHJEM
10612      DISTRICT.
10613      Afterwards, when winter was advanced, it was told the king that the people
10614      of the interior of Throndhjem had assembled in great number at Maerin, and
10615      that there was a great sacrifice in the middle of winter, at which they
10616      sacrificed offerings for peace and a good season. Now when the king knew
10617      this on good authority to be true, he sent men and messages into the
10618      interior, and summoned the bondes whom he thought of most understanding
10619      into the town. The bondes held a council among themselves about this
10620      message; and all those who had been upon the same occasion in the
10621      beginning of winter were now very unwilling to make the journey. Olver,
10622      however, at the desire of all the bondes, allowed himself to be persuaded.
10623      When he came to the town he went immediately before the king, and they
10624      talked together. The king made the same accusation against the bondes,
10625      that they had held a mid-winter sacrifice. Olver replies, that this
10626      accusation against the bondes was false. "We had," said he, "Yule feasts
10627      and drinking feasts wide around in the districts; and the bondes do not
10628      prepare their feasts so sparingly, sire, that there is not much left over,
10629      which people consume long afterwards. At Maerin there is a great farm,
10630      with a large house on it, and a great neighbourhood all around it, and it
10631      is the great delight of the people to drink many together in company." The
10632      king said little in reply, but looked angry, as he thought he knew the
10633      truth of the matter better than it was now represented. He ordered the
10634      bondes to return home. "I shall some time or other," said he, "come to the
10635      truth of what you are now concealing, and in such a way that ye shall not
10636      be able to contradict it. But, however, that may be, do not try such
10637      things again." The bondes returned home, and told the result of their
10638      journey, and that the king was altogether enraged.
10639      115. MURDER OF OLVER OF EGGJA.
10640      At Easter (A.D. 1021) the king held a feast, to which he had invited many
10641      of the townspeople as well as bondes. After Easter he ordered his ships to
10642      be launched into the water, oars and tackle to be put on board, decks to
10643      be laid in the ships, and tilts (1) and rigging to be set up, and to be
10644      laid ready for sea at the piers. Immediately after Easter he sent men into
10645      Veradal. There was a man called Thoralde, who was the king's bailiff, and
10646      who managed the king's farm there at Haug; and to him the king sent a
10647      message to come to him as quickly as possible. Thoralde did not decline
10648      the journey, but went immediately to the town with the messenger. The king
10649      called him in and in a private conversation asked him what truth there was
10650      in what had been told him of the principles and living of the people of
10651      the interior of Throndhjem, and if it really was so that they practised
10652      sacrifices to heathen gods. "I will," says the king, "that thou declare to
10653      me the things as they are, and as thou knowest to be true; for it is thy
10654      duty to tell me the truth, as thou art my man."
10655      Thoralde replies, "Sire, I will first tell you that I have brought here to
10656      the town my two children, my wife, and all my loose property that I could
10657      take with me, and if thou desirest to know the truth it shall be told
10658      according to thy command; but if I declare it, thou must take care of me
10659      and mine."
10660      The king replies, "Say only what is true on what I ask thee, and I will
10661      take care that no evil befall thee."
10662      Then said Thoralde, "If I must say the truth, king, as it is, I must
10663      declare that in the interior of the Throndhjem land almost all the people
10664      are heathen in faith, although some of them are baptized. It is their
10665      custom to offer sacrifice in autumn for a good winter, a second at
10666      mid-winter, and a third in summer. In this the people of Eyna, Sparby,
10667      Veradal, and Skaun partake. There are twelve men who preside over these
10668      sacrifice-feasts; and in spring it is Olver who has to get the feast in
10669      order, and he is now busy transporting to Maerin everything needful for
10670      it." Now when the king had got to the truth with a certainty, he ordered
10671      the signal to be sounded for his men to assemble, and for the men-at-arms
10672      to go on board ship. He appointed men to steer the ships, and leaders for
10673      the people, and ordered how the people should be divided among the
10674      vessels. All was got ready in haste, and with five ships and 300 men he
10675      steered up the fjord. The wind was favourable, the ships sailed briskly
10676      before it, and nobody could have thought that the king would be so soon
10677      there. The king came in the night time to Maerin, and immediately
10678      surrounded the house with a ring of armed men. Olver was taken, and the
10679      king ordered him to be put to death, and many other men besides. Then the
10680      king took all the provision for the feast, and had it brought to his
10681      ships; and also all the goods, both furniture, clothes, and valuables,
10682      which the people had brought there, and divided the booty among his men.
10683      The king also let all the bondes he thought had the greatest part in the
10684      business be plundered by his men-at-arms. Some were taken prisoners and
10685      laid in irons, some ran away, and many were robbed of their goods.
10686      Thereafter the bondes were summoned to a Thing; but because he had taken
10687      many powerful men prisoners, and held them in his power, their friends and
10688      relations resolved to promise obedience to the king, so that there was no
10689      insurrection against the king on this occasion. He thus brought the whole
10690      people back to the right faith, gave them teachers, and built and
10691      consecrated churches. The king let Olver lie without fine paid for his
10692      bloodshed, and all that he possessed was adjudged to the king; and of the
10693      men he judged the most guilty, some he ordered to be executed, some he
10694      maimed, some he drove out of the country, and took fines from others. The
10695      king then returned to Nidaros.
10696   ENDNOTES: (1) The ships appear to have been decked fore and aft only;
10697     and in the middle, where the rowers sat, to have had tilts or
10698     tents set up at night to sleep under. -L.
10699      116. OF THE SONS OF ARNE.
10700      There was a man called Arne Arnmodson, who was married to Thora, Thorstein
10701      Galge's daughter. Their children were Kalf, Fin, Thorberg, Amunde,
10702      Kolbjorn, Arnbjorn, and Arne. Their daughter, who was called Ragnhild, was
10703      married to Harek of Thjotta. Arne was a lenderman, powerful, and of
10704      ability, and a great friend of King Olaf. At that time his sons Kalf and
10705      Fin were with the king, and in great favour. The wife whom Olver of Eggja
10706      had left was young and handsome, of great family, and rich, so that he who
10707      got her might be considered to have made an excellent marriage; and her
10708      land was in the gift of the king. She and Olver had two sons, who were
10709      still in infancy. Kalf Arneson begged of the king that he would give him
10710      to wife the widow of Olver; and out of friendship the king agreed to it,
10711      and with her he got all the property Olver had possessed. The king at the
10712      same time made him his lenderman, and gave him an office in the interior
10713      of the Throndhjem country. Kalf became a great chief, and was a man of
10714      very great understanding.
10715      117. KING OLAF'S JOURNEY TO THE UPLANDS.
10716      When King Olaf had been seven years (A.D. 1015-1021) in Norway the earls
10717      Thorfin and Bruse came to him, as before related, in the summer, from
10718      Orkney, and he became master of their land. The same summer Olaf went to
10719      North and South More, and in autumn to Raumsdal. He left his ships there,
10720      and came to the Uplands, and to Lesjar. Here he laid hold of all the best
10721      men, and forced them, both at Lesjar and Dovre, either to receive
10722      Christianity or suffer death, if they were not so lucky as to escape.
10723      After they received Christianity, the king took their sons in his hands as
10724      hostages for their fidelity. The king stayed several nights at a farm in
10725      Lesjar called Boar, where he placed priests. Then he proceeded over
10726      Orkadal and Lorodal, and came down from the Uplands at a place called
10727      Stafabrekka. There a river runs along the valley, called the Otta, and a
10728      beautiful hamlet, by name Loar, lies on both sides of the river, and the
10729      king could see far down over the whole neighbourhood. "A pity it is," said
10730      the king, "so beautiful a hamlet should be burnt." And he proceeded down
10731      the valley with his people, and was all night on a farm called Nes. The
10732      king took his lodging in a loft, where he slept himself; and it stands to
10733      the present day, without anything in it having been altered since. The
10734      king was five days there, and summoned by message-token the people to a
10735      Thing, both for the districts of Vagar, Lear, and Hedal; and gave out the
10736      message along with the token, that they must either receive Christianity
10737      and give their sons as hostages, or see their habitations burnt. They came
10738      before the king, and submitted to his pleasure; but some fled south down
10739      the valley.
10740      118. THE STORY OF DALE-GUDBRAND.
10741      There was a man called Dale-Gudbrand, who was like a king in the valley
10742      (Gudbrandsdal), but was only herse in title. Sigvat the skald compared him
10743      for wealth and landed property to Erling Skjalgson. Sigvat sang thus
10744      concerning Erling: -
10745     "I know but one who can compare
10746     With Erling for broad lands and gear -
10747     Gudbrand is he, whose wide domains
10748     Are most like where some small king reigns.
10749     These two great bondes, I would say,
10750     Equal each other every way.
10751     He lies who says that he can find
10752     One by the other left behind."
10753      Gudbrand had a son, who is here spoken of. Now when Gudbrand received the
10754      tidings that King Olaf was come to Lear, and obliged people to accept
10755      Christianity, he sent out a message-token, and summoned all the men in the
10756      valley to meet him at a farm called Hundthorp. All came, so that the
10757      number could not be told; for there is a lake in the neighbourhood called
10758      Laugen, so that people could come to the place both by land and by water.
10759      There Gudbrand held a Thing with them, and said, "A man is come to Loar
10760      who is called Olaf, and will force upon us another faith than what we had
10761      before, and will break in pieces all our gods. He says that he has a much
10762      greater and more powerful god; and it is wonderful that the earth does not
10763      burst asunder under him, or that our god lets him go about unpunished when
10764      he dares to talk such things. I know this for certain, that if we carry
10765      Thor, who has always stood by us, out of our temple that is standing upon
10766      this farm, Olaf's god will melt away, and he and his men be made nothing
10767      so soon as Thor looks upon them." Then the bondes all shouted as one
10768      person that Olaf should never get away with life if he came to them; and
10769      they thought he would never dare to come farther south through the valley.
10770      They chose out 700 men to go northwards to Breida, to watch his movements.
10771      The leader of this band was Gudbrand's son, eighteen years of age, and
10772      with him were many other men of importance. When they came to a farm
10773      called Hof they heard of the king; and they remained three nights there.
10774      People streamed to them from all parts, from Lesjar, Loar, and Vagar, who
10775      did not wish to receive Christianity. The king and Bishop Sigurd fixed
10776      teachers in Loaf and in Vagar. From thence they went round Vagarost, and
10777      came down into the valley at Sil, where they stayed all night, and heard
10778      the news that a great force of men were assembled against them. The bondes
10779      who were in Breida heard also of the king's arrival, and prepared for
10780      battle. As soon as the king arose in the morning he put on his armour, and
10781      went southwards over the Sil plains, and did not halt until he came to
10782      Breida, where he saw a great army ready for battle. Then the king drew up
10783      his troops, rode himself at the head of them, and began a speech to the
10784      bondes, in which he invited them to adopt Christianity. They replied, "We
10785      shall give thee something else to do to-day than to be mocking us;" and
10786      raised a general shout, striking also upon their shields with their
10787      weapons. Then the king's men ran forward and threw their spears; but the
10788      bondes turned round instantly and fled, so that only few men remained
10789      behind. Gudbrand's son was taken prisoner; but the king gave him his life,
10790      and took him with him. The king was four days here. Then the king said to
10791      Gudbrand's son, "Go home now to thy father, and tell him I expect to be
10792      with him soon."
10793      He went accordingly, and told his father the news, that they had fallen in
10794      with the king, and fought with him; but that their whole army, in the very
10795      beginning, took flight. "I was taken prisoner," said he, "but the king
10796      gave me my life and liberty, and told me to say to thee that he will soon
10797      be here. And now we have not 200 men of the force we raised against him;
10798      therefore I advise thee, father, not to give battle to that man."
10799      Says Gudbrand, "It is easy to see that all courage has left thee, and it
10800      was an unlucky hour ye went out to the field. Thy proceeding will live
10801      long in the remembrance of people, and I see that thy fastening thy faith
10802      on the folly that man is going about with has brought upon thee and thy
10803      men so great a disgrace."
10804      But the night after, Gudbrand dreamt that there came to him a man
10805      surrounded by light, who brought great terror with him, and said to him,
10806      "Thy son made no glorious expedition against King Olaf; but still less
10807      honour wilt thou gather for thyself by holding a battle with him. Thou
10808      with all thy people wilt fall; wolves will drag thee, and all thine, away;
10809      ravens wilt tear thee in stripes." At this dreadful vision he was much
10810      afraid, and tells it to Thord Istermage, who was chief over the valley. He
10811      replies, "The very same vision came to me." In the morning they ordered
10812      the signal to sound for a Thing, and said that it appeared to them
10813      advisable to hold a Thing with the man who had come from the north with
10814      this new teaching, to know if there was any truth in it. Gudbrand then
10815      said to his son, "Go thou, and twelve men with thee, to the king who gave
10816      thee thy life." He went straightway, and found the king, and laid before
10817      him their errand; namely, that the bondes would hold a Thing with him, and
10818      make a truce between them and him. The king was content; and they bound
10819      themselves by faith and law mutually to hold the peace so long as the
10820      Thing lasted. After this was settled the men returned to Gudbrand and
10821      Thord, and told them there was made a firm agreement for a truce. The
10822      king, after the battle with the son of Gudbrand, had proceeded to Lidstad,
10823      and remained there for five days: afterwards he went out to meet the
10824      bondes, and hold a Thing with them. On that day there fell a heavy rain.
10825      When the Thing was seated, the king stood up and said that the people in
10826      Lesjar, Loaf, and Vagar had received Christianity, broken down their
10827      houses of sacrifice, and believed now in the true God who had made heaven
10828      and earth and knows all things.
10829      Thereupon the king sat down, and Gudbrand replies, "We know nothing of him
10830      whom thou speakest about. Dost thou call him God, whom neither thou nor
10831      any one else can see? But we have a god who call be seen every day,
10832      although he is not out to-day, because the weather is wet, and he will
10833      appear to thee terrible and very grand; and I expect that fear will mix
10834      with your very blood when he comes into the Thing. But since thou sayest
10835      thy God is so great, let him make it so that to-morrow we have a cloudy
10836      day but without rain, and then let us meet again."
10837      The king accordingly returned home to his lodging, taking Gudbrand's son
10838      as a hostage; but he gave them a man as hostage in exchange. In the
10839      evening the king asked Gudbrand's son what like their god was. He replied,
10840      that he bore the likeness of Thor; had a hammer in his hand; was of great
10841      size, but hollow within; and had a high stand, upon which he stood when he
10842      was out. "Neither gold nor silver are wanting about him, and every day he
10843      receives four cakes of bread, besides meat." They then went to bed, but
10844      the king watched all night in prayer. When day dawned the king went to
10845      mass, then to table, and from thence to the Thing. The weather was such as
10846      Gudbrand desired. Now the bishop stood up in his choir-robes, with
10847      bishop's coif upon his head, and bishop's staff in his hands. He spoke to
10848      the bondes of the true faith, told the many wonderful acts of God, and
10849      concluded his speech well.
10850      Thord Istermage replies, "Many things we are told of by this horned man
10851      with the staff in his hand crooked at the top like a ram's horn; but since
10852      ye say, comrades, that your god is so powerful, and can do so many
10853      wonders, tell him to make it clear sunshine to-morrow forenoon, and then
10854      we shall meet here again, and do one of two things, -either agree
10855      with you about this business, or fight you." And they separated for the
10856      day.
10857      119. DALE-GUDBRAND IS BAPTIZED.
10858      There was a man with King Olaf called Kolbein Sterke (the strong), who
10859      came from a family in the Fjord district. Usually he was so equipped that
10860      he was girt with a sword, and besides carried a great stake, otherwise
10861      called a club, in his hands. The king told Kolbein to stand nearest to him
10862      in the morning; and gave orders to his people to go down in the night to
10863      where the ships of the bondes lay and bore holes in them, and to set loose
10864      their horses on the farms where they were; all which was done. Now the
10865      king was in prayer all the night, beseeching God of His goodness and mercy
10866      to release him from evil. When mass was ended, and morning was grey, the
10867      king went to the Thing. When he came there some bondes had already
10868      arrived, and they saw a great crowd coming along, and bearing among them a
10869      huge man's image glancing with gold and silver. When the bondes who were
10870      at the Thing saw it they started up, and bowed themselves down before the
10871      ugly idol. Thereupon it was set down upon the Thing-field; and on the one
10872      side of it sat the bondes, and on the other the king and his people.
10873      Then Dale-Gudbrand stood up, and said, "Where now, king, is thy god? I
10874      think he will now carry his head lower; and neither thou, nor the man with
10875      the horn whom ye call bishop, and sits there beside thee, are so bold
10876      to-day as on the former days; for now our god, who rules over all, is
10877      come, and looks on you with an angry eye; and now I see well enough that
10878      ye are terrified, and scarcely dare to raise your eyes. Throw away now all
10879      your opposition, and believe in the god who has all your fate in his
10880      hands."
10881      The king now whispers to Kolbein Sterke, without the bondes perceiving it,
10882      "If it come so in the course of my speech that the bondes look another way
10883      than towards their idol, strike him as hard as thou canst with thy club."
10884      The king then stood up and spoke. "Much hast thou talked to us this
10885      morning, and greatly hast thou wondered that thou canst not see our God;
10886      but we expect that he will soon come to us. Thou wouldst frighten us with
10887      thy god, who is both blind and deaf, and can neither save himself nor
10888      others, and cannot even move about without being carried; but now I expect
10889      it will be but a short time before he meets his fate: for turn your eyes
10890      towards the east, -behold our God advancing in great light."
10891      The sun was rising, and all turned to look. At that moment Kolbein gave
10892      their god a stroke, so that the idol burst asunder; and there ran out of
10893      it mice as big almost as cats, and reptiles, and adders. The bondes were
10894      so terrified that some fled to their ships; but when they sprang out upon
10895      them they filled with water, and could not get away. Others ran to their
10896      horses, but could not find them. The king then ordered the bondes to be
10897      called together, saying he wanted to speak with them; on which the bondes
10898      came back, and the Thing was again seated.
10899      The king rose up and said, "I do not understand what your noise and
10900      running mean. Ye see yourselves what your god can do, -the idol ye
10901      adorned with gold and silver, and brought meat and provisions to. Ye see
10902      now that the protecting powers who used it were the mice and adders,
10903      reptiles and paddocks; and they do ill who trust to such, and will not
10904      abandon this folly. Take now your gold and ornaments that are lying
10905      strewed about on the grass, and give them to your wives and daughters; but
10906      never hang them hereafter upon stock or stone. Here are now two conditions
10907      between us to choose upon, -either accept Christianity, or fight this
10908      very day; and the victory be to them to whom the God we worship gives it."
10909      Then Dale-Gudbrand stood up and said, "We have sustained great damage upon
10910      our god; but since he will not help us, we will believe in the God thou
10911      believest in."
10912      Then all received Christianity. The bishop baptized Gudbrand and his son.
10913      King Olaf and Bishop Sigurd left behind them teachers, and they who met as
10914      enemies parted as friends; and Gudbrand built a church in the valley.
10915      120. HEDEMARK BAPTIZED.
10916      King Olaf proceeded from thence to Hedemark, and baptized there; but as he
10917      had formerly carried away their kings as prisoners, he did not venture
10918      himself, after such a deed, to go far into the country with few people at
10919      that time, but a small part of Hedemark was baptized; but the king did not
10920      desist from his expedition before he had introduced Christianity over all
10921      Hedemark, consecrated churches, and placed teachers. He then went to
10922      Hadaland and Thoten, improving the customs of the people, and persisting
10923      until all the country was baptized. He then went to Ringerike, where also
10924      all people went over to Christianity. The people of Raumarike then heard
10925      that Olaf intended coming to them, and they gathered a great force. They
10926      said among themselves that the journey Olaf had made among them the last
10927      time was not to be forgotten, and he should never proceed so again. The
10928      king, notwithstanding, prepared for the journey. Now when the king went up
10929      into Raumarike with his forces, the multitude of bondes came against him
10930      at a river called Nitja; and the bondes had a strong army, and began the
10931      battle as soon as they met; but they soon fell short, and took to flight.
10932      They were forced by this battle into a better disposition, and immediately
10933      received Christianity; and the king scoured the whole district, and did
10934      not leave it until all the people were made Christians. He then went east
10935      to Soleys, and baptized that neighbourhood. The skald Ottar Black came to
10936      him there, and begged to be received among his men. Olaf the Swedish king
10937      had died the winter before (A.D. 1021), and Onund, the son of Olaf, was
10938      now the sole king over all Sweden. King Olaf returned, when the winter
10939      (A.D. 1022) was far advanced, to Raumarike. There he assembled a numerous
10940      Thing, at a place where the Eidsvold Things have since been held. He made
10941      a law, that the Upland people should resort to this Thing, and that
10942      Eidsvold laws should be good through all the districts of the Uplands, and
10943      wide around in other quarters, which also has taken place. As spring was
10944      advancing, he rigged his ships, and went by sea to Tunsberg. He remained
10945      there during the spring, and the time the town was most frequented, and
10946      goods from other countries were brought to the town for sale. There had
10947      been a good year in Viken, and tolerable as far north as Stad; but it was
10948      a very dear time in all the country north of there.
10949      121. RECONCILIATION OF THE KING AND EINAR.
10950      In spring (A.D. 1022) King Olaf sent a message west to Agder, and north
10951      all the way to Hordaland and Rogaland, prohibiting the exporting or
10952      selling of corn, malt, or meal; adding, that he, as usual, would come
10953      there with his people in guest-quarters. The message went round all the
10954      districts; but the king remained in Viken all summer, and went east to the
10955      boundary of the country. Einar Tambaskelfer had been with the Swedish king
10956      Olaf since the death of his relation Earl Svein, and had, as the khag's
10957      man, received great fiefs from him. Now that the king was dead, Einar had
10958      a great desire to come into friendship agreement with Olaf; and the same
10959      spring messages passed between them about it. While the king was lying in
10960      the Gaut river, Einar Tambaskelfer came there with some men; and after
10961      treating about an agreement, it was settled that Einar should go north to
10962      Throndhjem, and there take possession of all the lands and property which
10963      Bergliot had received in dower. Thereupon Einar took his way north; but
10964      the king remained behind in Viken, and remained long in Sarpsborg in
10965      autumn (A.D. 1022), and during the first part of winter.
10966      122. RECONCILIATION OF THE KING AND ERLING.
10967      Erling Skjalgson held his dominion so, that all north from Sogn Lake, and
10968      east to the Naze, the bondes stood under him; and although he had much
10969      smaller royal fiefs than formerly, still so great a dread of him prevailed
10970      that nobody dared to do anything against his will, so that the king
10971      thought his power too great. There was a man called Aslak Fitiaskalle, who
10972      was powerful and of high birth. Erling's father Skjalg, and Aslak's father
10973      Askel, were brother's sons. Aslak was a great friend of King Olaf, and the
10974      king settled him in South Hordaland, where he gave him a great fief, and
10975      great income, and ordered him in no respect to give way to Erling. But
10976      this came to nothing when the king was not in the neighbourhood; for then
10977      Erling would reign as he used to do, and was not more humble because Aslak
10978      would thrust himself forward as his equal. At last the strife went so far
10979      that Aslak could not keep his place, but hastened to King Olaf, and told
10980      him the circumstances between him and Erling. The king told Aslak to
10981      remain with him until he should meet Erling; and sent a message to Erling
10982      that he should come to him in spring at Tunsberg. When they all arrived
10983      there they held a meeting at which the king said to him, "It is told me
10984      concerning thy government, Erling, that no man from Sogn Lake to the Naze
10985      can enjoy his freedom for thee; although there are many men there who
10986      consider themselves born to udal rights, and have their privileges like
10987      others born as they are. Now, here is your relation Aslak, who appears to
10988      have suffered great inconvenience from your conduct; and I do not know
10989      whether he himself is in fault, or whether he suffers because I have
10990      placed him to defend what is mine; and although I name him, there are many
10991      others who have brought the same complaint before us, both among those who
10992      are placed in office in our districts, and among the bailiffs who have our
10993      farms to manage, and are obliged to entertain me and my people."
10994      Erling replies to this, "I will answer at once. I deny altogether that I
10995      have ever injured Aslak, or any one else, for being in your service; but
10996      this I will not deny, that it is now, as it has long been, that each of us
10997      relations will willingly be greater than the other: and, moreover, I
10998      freely acknowledge that I am ready to bow my neck to thee, King Olaf; but
10999      it is more difficult for me to stoop before one who is of slave descent in
11000      all his generation, although he is now your bailiff, or before others who
11001      are but equal to him in descent, although you bestow honours on them."
11002      Now the friends of both interfered, and entreated that they would be
11003      reconciled; saying, that the king never could have such powerful aid as
11004      from Erling, "if he was your friend entirely." On the other hand, they
11005      represent to Erling that he should give up to the king; for if he was in
11006      friendship with the king, it would be easy to do with all the others what
11007      he pleased. The meeting accordingly ended so that Erling should retain the
11008      fiefs he formerly had, and every complaint the king had against Erling
11009      should be dropped; but Skjalg, Erling's son, should come to the king, and
11010      remain in his power. Then Aslak returned to his dominions, and the two
11011      were in some sort reconciled. Erling returned home also to his domains,
11012      and followed his own way of ruling them.
11013      123. HERE BEGINS THE STORY OF ASBJORN SELSBANE.
11014      There was a man named Sigurd Thoreson, a brother of Thorer Hund of Bjarkey
11015      Island. Sigurd was married to Sigrid Skjalg's daughter, a sister of
11016      Erling. Their son, called Asbjorn, became as he grew up a very able man.
11017      Sigurd dwelt at Omd in Thrandarnes, and was a very rich and respected man.
11018      He had not gone into the king's service; and Thorer in so far had attained
11019      higher dignity than his brother, that he was the king's lenderman. But at
11020      home, on his farm, Sigurd stood in no respect behind his brother in
11021      splendour and magnificence. As long as heathenism prevailed, Sigurd
11022      usually had three sacrifices every year: one on winter-night's eve, one on
11023      mid-winter's eve, and the third in summer. Although he had adopted
11024      Christianity, he continued the same custom with his feasts: he had,
11025      namely, a great friendly entertainment at harvest time; a Yule feast in
11026      winter, to which he invited many; the third feast he had about Easter, to
11027      which also he invited many guests. He continued this fashion as long as he
11028      lived. Sigurd died on a bed of sickness when Asbjorn was eighteen years
11029      old. He was the only heir of his father, and he followed his father's
11030      custom of holding three festivals every year. Soon after Asbjorn came to
11031      his heritage the course of seasons began to grow worse, and the corn
11032      harvests of the people to fail; but Asbjorn held his usual feasts, and
11033      helped himself by having old corn, and an old provision laid up of all
11034      that was useful. But when one year had passed and another came, and the
11035      crops were no better than the year before, Sigrid wished that some if not
11036      all of the feasts should be given up. That Asbjorn would not consent to,
11037      but went round in harvest among his friends, buying corn where he could
11038      get it, and some he received in presents. He thus kept his feasts this
11039      winter also; but the spring after people got but little seed into the
11040      ground, for they had to buy the seed-corn. Then Sigurd spoke of
11041      diminishing the number of their house-servants. That Asbjorn would not
11042      consent to, but held by the old fashion of the house in all things. In
11043      summer (A.D. 1022) it appeared again that there would be a bad year for
11044      corn; and to this came the report from the south that King Olaf prohibited
11045      all export of corn, malt, or meal from the southern to the northern parts
11046      of the country. Then Asbjorn perceived that it would be difficult to
11047      procure what was necessary for a house-keeping, and resolved to put into
11048      the water a vessel for carrying goods which he had, and which was large
11049      enough to go to sea with. The ship was good, all that belonged to her was
11050      of the best, and in the sails were stripes of cloth of various colours.
11051      Asbjorn made himself ready for a voyage, and put to sea with twenty men.
11052      They sailed from the north in summer; and nothing is told of their voyage
11053      until one day, about the time the days begin to shorten, they came to
11054      Karmtsund, and landed at Augvaldsnes. Up in the island Karmt there is a
11055      large farm, not far from the sea, and a large house upon it called
11056      Augvaldsnes, which was a king's house, with an excellent farm, which
11057      Thorer Sel, who was the king's bailiff, had under his management. Thorer
11058      was a man of low birth, but had swung himself up in the world as an active
11059      man; and he was polite in speech, showy in clothes, and fond of
11060      distinction, and not apt to give way to others, in which he was supported
11061      by the favour of the king. He was besides quick in speech,
11062      straightforward, and free in conversation. Asbjorn, with his company,
11063      brought up there for the night; and in the morning, when it was light,
11064      Thorer went down to the vessel with some men, and inquired who commanded
11065      the splendid ship. Asbjorn named his own and his father's name. Thorer
11066      asks where the voyage was intended for, and what was the errand.
11067      Asbjorn replies, that he wanted to buy corn and malt; saying, as was true,
11068      that it was a very dear time north in the country. "But we are told that
11069      here the seasons are good; and wilt thou, farmer, sell us corn? I see that
11070      here are great corn stacks, and it would be very convenient if we had not
11071      to travel farther."
11072      Thorer replies, "I will give thee the information that thou needst not go
11073      farther to buy corn, or travel about here in Rogaland; for I can tell thee
11074      that thou must turn about, and not travel farther, for the king forbids
11075      carrying corn out of this to the north of the country. Sail back again,
11076      Halogalander, for that will be thy safest course."
11077      Asbjorn replies, "If it be so, bonde, as thou sayest, that we can get no
11078      corn here to buy, I will, notwithstanding, go forward upon my errand, and
11079      visit my family in Sole, and see my relation Erling's habitation."
11080      Thorer: "How near is thy relationship to Erling?"
11081      Asbjorn: "My mother is his sister."
11082      Thorer: "It may be that I have spoken heedlessly, if so be that thou art
11083      sister's son of Erling."
11084      Thereupon Asbjorn and his crew struck their tents, and turned the ship to
11085      sea. Thorer called after them. "A good voyage, and come here again on your
11086      way back." Asbjorn promised to do so, sailed away, and came in the evening
11087      to Jadar. Asbjorn went on shore with ten men; the other ten men watched
11088      the ship. When Asbjorn came to the house he was very well received, and
11089      Erling was very glad to see him, placed him beside himself, and asked him
11090      all the news in the north of the country. Asbjorn concealed nothing of his
11091      business from him; and Erling said it happened unfortunately that the king
11092      had just forbid the sale of corn. "And I know no man here." says he, "who
11093      has courage to break the king's order, and I find it difficult to keep
11094      well with the king, so many are trying to break our friendship."
11095      Asbjorn replies, "It is late before we learn the truth. In my childhood I
11096      was taught that my mother was freeborn throughout her whole descent, and
11097      that Erling of Sole was her boldest relation; and now I hear thee say that
11098      thou hast not the freedom, for the king's slaves here in Jadar, to do with
11099      thy own corn what thou pleasest."
11100      Erling looked at him, smiled through his teeth, and said, "Ye
11101      Halogalanders know less of the king's power than we do here; but a bold
11102      man thou mayst be at home in thy conversation. Let us now drink, my
11103      friend, and we shall see tomorrow what can be done in thy business."
11104      They did so, and were very merry all the evening. The following day Erling
11105      and Asbjorn talked over the matter again, and Erling said. "I have found
11106      out a way for you to purchase corn, Asbjorn. It is the same thing to you
11107      whoever is the seller." He answered that he did not care of whom he bought
11108      the corn, if he got a good right to his purchase. Erling said. "It appears
11109      to me probable that my slaves have quite as much corn as you require to
11110      buy; and they are not subject to law, or land regulation, like other men."
11111      Asbjorn agreed to the proposal. The slaves were now spoken to about the
11112      purchase, and they brought forward corn and malt, which they sold to
11113      Asbjorn, so that he loaded his vessel with what he wanted. When he was
11114      ready for sea Erling followed him on the road, made him presents of
11115      friendship, and they took a kind farewell of each other. Asbjorn got a
11116      good breeze, landed in the evening at Karmtsund, near to Augvaldsnes, and
11117      remained there for the night. Thorer Sel had heard of Asbjorn's voyage,
11118      and also that his vessel was deeply laden. Thorer summoned people to him
11119      in the night, so that before daylight he had sixty men; and with these he
11120      went against Asbjorn as soon as it was light, and went out to the ship
11121      just as Asbjorn and his men were putting on their clothes. Asbjorn saluted
11122      Thorer, and Thorer asked what kind of goods Asbjorn had in the vessel.
11123      He replied, "Corn and malt."
11124      Thorer said, "Then Erling is doing as he usually does, and despising the
11125      king's orders, and is unwearied in opposing him in all things, insomuch
11126      that it is wonderful the king suffers it."
11127      Thorer went on scolding in this way, and when he was silent Asbjorn said
11128      that Erling's slaves had owned the corn.
11129      Thorer replied hastily, that he did not regard Erling's tricks. "And now,
11130      Asbjorn, there is no help for it; ye must either go on shore, or we will
11131      throw you overboard; for we will not be troubled with you while we are
11132      discharging the cargo."
11133      Asbjorn saw that he had not men enough to resist Thorer; therefore he and
11134      his people landed, and Thorer took the whole cargo out of the vessel. When
11135      the vessel was discharged Thorer went through the ship, and observed. "Ye
11136      Halogalanders have good sails: take the old sail of our vessel and give it
11137      them; it is good enough for those who are sailing in a light vessel." Thus
11138      the sails were exchanged. When this was done Asbjorn and his comrades
11139      sailed away north along the coast, and did not stop until they reached
11140      home early in whiter. This expedition was talked of far and wide, and
11141      Asbjorn had no trouble that winter in making feasts at home. Thorer Hund
11142      invited Asbjorn and his mother, and also all whom they pleased to take
11143      along with him, to a Yule feast; but Asbjorn sat at home, and would not
11144      travel, and it was to be seen that Thorer thought Asbjorn despised his
11145      invitation, since he would not come. Thorer scoffed much at Asbjorn's
11146      voyage. "Now," said he, "it is evident that Asbjorn makes a great
11147      difference in his respect towards his relations; for in summer he took the
11148      greatest trouble to visit his relation Erling in Jadar, and now will not
11149      take the trouble to come to me in the next house. I don't know if he
11150      thinks there may be a Thorer Sel in his way upon every holm." Such words,
11151      and the like sarcasms, Asbjorn heard of; and very ill satisfied he was
11152      with his voyage, which had thus made him a laughing-stock to the country,
11153      and he remained at home all winter, and went to no feasts.
11154      124. MURDER OF THORER SEL.
11155      Asbjorn had a long-ship standing in the noust (shipshed), and it was a
11156      snekke (cutter) of twenty benches; and after Candlemas (February 2, 1023),
11157      he had the vessel put in the water, brought out all his furniture, and
11158      rigged her out. He then summoned to him his friends and people, so that he
11159      had nearly ninety men all well armed. When he was ready for sea, and got a
11160      wind, he sailed south along the coast, but as the wind did not suit, they
11161      advanced but slowly. When they came farther south they steered outside the
11162      rocks, without the usual ships' channel, keeping to sea as much as it was
11163      possible to do so. Nothing is related of his voyage before the fifth day
11164      of Easter (April 18, 1023), when, about evening, they came on the outside
11165      of Karmt Island. This island is so shaped that it is very long, but not
11166      broad at its widest part; and without it lies the usual ships' channel. It
11167      is thickly inhabited; but where the island is exposed to the ocean great
11168      tracts of it are uncultivated. Asbjorn and his men landed at a place in
11169      the island that was uninhabited. After they had set up their ship-tents
11170      Asbjorn said, "Now ye must remain here and wait for me. I will go on land
11171      in the isle, and spy what news there may be which we know nothing of."
11172      Asbjorn had on mean clothes, a broadbrimmed hat, a fork in his hand, but
11173      had girt on his sword under his clothes. He went up to the land, and in
11174      through the island; and when he came upon a hillock, from which he could
11175      see the house on Augvaldsnes, and on as far as Karmtsund, he saw people in
11176      all quarters flocking together by land and by sea, and all going up to the
11177      house of Augvaldsnes. This seemed to him extraordinary; and therefore he
11178      went up quietly to a house close by, in which servants were cooking meat.
11179      From their conversation he discovered immediately that the king Olaf had
11180      come there to a feast, and that he had just sat down to table. Asbjorn
11181      turned then to the feasting-room, and when he came into the ante-room one
11182      was going in and another coming out; but nobody took notice of him. The
11183      hall-door was open, and he saw that Thorer Sel stood before the table of
11184      the high-seat. It was getting late in the evening, and Asbjorn heard
11185      people ask Thorer what had taken place between him and Asbjorn; and Thorer
11186      had a long story about it, in which he evidently departed from the truth.
11187      Among other things he heard a man say, "How did Asbjorn behave when you
11188      discharged his vessel?" Thorer replied, "When we were taking out the cargo
11189      he bore it tolerably, but not well; and when we took the sail from him he
11190      wept." When Asbjorn heard this he suddenly drew his sword, rushed into the
11191      hall, and cut at Thorer. The stroke took him in the neck, so that the head
11192      fell upon the table before the king, and the body at his feet, and the
11193      table-cloth was soiled with blood from top to bottom. The king ordered him
11194      to be seized and taken out. This was done. They laid hands on Asbjorn, and
11195      took him from the hall. The table-furniture and table-cloths were removed,
11196      and also Thorer's corpse, and all the blood wiped up. The king was enraged
11197      to the highest; but remained quiet in speech, as he always was when in
11198      anger.
11199      125. OF SKJALG, THE SON OF ERLING SKJALGSON.
11200      Skjalg Erlingson stood up, went before the king, and said, "Now may it go,
11201      as it often does, that every case will admit of alleviation. I will pay
11202      thee the mulct for the bloodshed on account of this man, so that he may
11203      retain life and limbs. All the rest determine and do, king, according to
11204      thy pleasure."
11205      The king replies, "Is it not a matter of death, Skjalg, that a man break
11206      the Easter peace; and in the next place that he kills a man in the king's
11207      lodging; and in the third that he makes my feet his execution-block,
11208      although that may appear a small matter to thee and thy father?"
11209      Skjalg replies, "It is ill done, king, in as far as it displeases thee;
11210      but the deed is, otherwise, done excellently well. But if the deed appear
11211      to thee so important, and be so contrary to thy will, yet may I expect
11212      something for my services from thee; and certainly there are many who will
11213      say that thou didst well."
11214      The king replies, "Although thou hast made me greatly indebted to thee,
11215      Skjalg, for thy services, yet I will not for thy sake break the law, or
11216      cast away my own dignity."
11217      Then Skjalg turned round, and went out of the hall. Twelve men who had
11218      come with Skjalg all followed him, and many others went out with him.
11219      Skjalg said to Thorarin Nefiulfson, "If thou wilt have me for a friend,
11220      take care that this man be not killed before Sunday." Thereupon Skjalg and
11221      his men set off, took a rowing boat which he had, and rowed south as fast
11222      as they could, and came to Jadar with the first glimpse of morning. They
11223      went up instantly to the house, and to the loft in which Erling slept.
11224      Skjalg rushed so hard against the door that it burst asunder at the nails.
11225      Erling and the others who were within started up. He was in one spring
11226      upon his legs, grasped his shield and sword, and rushed to the door,
11227      demanding who was there. Skjalg named himself, and begs him to open the
11228      door. Erling replies, "It was most likely to be thee who hast behaved so
11229      foolishly; or is there any one who is pursuing thee?" Thereupon the door
11230      was unlocked. Then said Skjalg, "Although it appears to thee that I am so
11231      hasty, I suppose our relation Asbjorn will not think my proceedings too
11232      quick; for he sits in chains there in the north at Augvaldsnes, and it
11233      would be but manly to hasten back and stand by him." The father and son
11234      then had a conversation together, and Skjalg related the whole
11235      circumstances of Thorer Sel's murder.
11236      126. OF THORARIN NEFIULFSON.
11237      King Olaf took his seat again when everything in the hall was put in
11238      order, and was enraged beyond measure. He asked how it was with the
11239      murderer. He was answered, that he was sitting out upon the doorstep under
11240      guard.
11241      The king says, "Why is he not put to death?"
11242      Thorarin Nefiulfson replies, "Sire, would you not call it murder to kill a
11243      man in the night-time?"
11244      The king answers, "Put him in irons then, and kill him in the morning."
11245      Then Asbjorn was laid in chains, and locked up in a house for the night.
11246      The day after the king heard the morning mass, and then went to the Thing,
11247      where he sat till high mass. As he was going to mass he said to Thorarin,
11248      "Is not the sun high enough now in the heavens that your friend Asbjorn
11249      may be hanged?"
11250      Thorarin bowed before the king, and said, "Sire, it was said by Bishop
11251      Sigurd on Friday last, that the King who has all things in his power had
11252      to endure great temptation of spirit; and blessed is he who rather
11253      imitates him, than those who condemned the man to death, or those who
11254      caused his slaughter. It is not long till tomorrow, and that is a working
11255      day."
11256      The king looked at him, and said, "Thou must take care then that he is not
11257      put to death to-day; but take him under thy charge, and know for certain
11258      that thy own life shall answer for it if he escape in any way."
11259      Then the king went away. Thorarin went also to where Asbjorn lay in irons,
11260      took off his chains, and brought him to a small room, where he had meat
11261      and drink set before him, and told him what the king had determined in
11262      case Asbjorn ran away. Asbjorn replies, that Thorarin need not be afraid
11263      of him. Thorarin sat a long while with him during the day, and slept there
11264      all night. On Saturday the king arose and went to the early mass, and from
11265      thence he went to the Thing, where a great many bondes were assembled, who
11266      had many complaints to be determined. The king sat there long in the day,
11267      and it was late before the people went to high mass. Thereafter the king
11268      went to table. When he had got meat he sat drinking for a while, so that
11269      the tables were not removed. Thorarin went out to the priest who had the
11270      church under his care, and gave him two marks of silver to ring in the
11271      Sabbath as soon as the king's table was taken away. When the king had
11272      drunk as much as he wished the tables were removed. Then said the king,
11273      that it was now time for the slaves to go to the murderer and put him to
11274      death. In the same moment the bell rang in the Sabbath.
11275      Then Thorarin went before the king, and said, "The Sabbath-peace this man
11276      must have, although he has done evil."
11277      The king said, "Do thou take care, Thorarin, that he do not escape."
11278      The king then went to the church, and attended the vesper service, and
11279      Thorarin sat the whole day with Asbjorn. On Sunday the bishop visited
11280      Asbjorn, confessed him, and gave him orders to hear high mass. Thorarin
11281      then went to the king, and asked him to appoint men to guard the murderer.
11282      "I will now," he said, "be free of this charge." The king thanked him for
11283      his care, and ordered men to watch over Asbjorn, who was again laid in
11284      chains. When the people went to high mass Asbjorn was led to the church,
11285      and he stood outside of the church with his guard; but the king and all
11286      the people stood in the church at mass.
11287      127. ERLING'S RECONCILIATION WITH KING OLAF.
11288      Now we must again take up our story where we left it, -that Erling
11289      and his son Skjalg held a council on this affair, and according to the
11290      resolution of Erling, and of Skjalg and his other sons, it was determined
11291      to assemble a force and send out message-tokens. A great multitude of
11292      people accordingly came together. They got ready with all speed, rigged
11293      their ships, and when they reckoned upon their force they found they had
11294      nearly 1500 men. With this war-force they set off, and came on Sunday to
11295      Augvaldsnes on Karmt Island. They went straight up to the house with all
11296      the men, and arrived just as the Scripture lesson was read. They went
11297      directly to the church, took Asbjorn, and broke off his chains. At the
11298      tumult and clash of arms all who were outside of the church ran into it;
11299      but they who were in the church looked all towards them, except the king,
11300      who stood still, without looking around him. Erling and his sons drew up
11301      their men on each side of the path which led from the church to the hall,
11302      and Erling with his sons stood next to the hall. When high mass was
11303      finished the king went immediately out of the church, and first went
11304      through the open space between the ranks drawn up, and then his retinue,
11305      man by man; and as he came to the door Erling placed himself before the
11306      door, bowed to the king, and saluted him. The king saluted him in return,
11307      and prayed God to help him. Erling took up the word first, and said, "My
11308      relation, Asbjorn, it is reported to me, has been guilty of misdemeanor,
11309      king; and it is a great one, if he has done anything that incurs your
11310      displeasure. Now I am come to entreat for him peace, and such penalties as
11311      you yourself may determine; but that thereby he redeem life and limb, and
11312      his remaining here in his native land."
11313      The king replies, "It appears to me, Erling, that thou thinkest the case
11314      of Asbjorn is now in thy own power, and I do not therefore know why thou
11315      speakest now as if thou wouldst offer terms for him. I think thou hast
11316      drawn together these forces because thou are determined to settle what is
11317      between us."
11318      Erling replies, "Thou only, king, shalt determine, and determine so that
11319      we shall be reconciled."
11320      The king: "Thinkest thou, Erling, to make me afraid? And art thou come
11321      here in such force with that expectation? No, that shall not be; and if
11322      that be thy thought, I must in no way turn and fly."
11323      Erling replies, "Thou hast no occasion to remind me how often I have come
11324      to meet thee with fewer men than thou hadst. But now I shall not conceal
11325      what lies in my mind, namely, that it is my will that we now enter into a
11326      reconciliation; for otherwise I expect we shall never meet again." Erling
11327      was then as red as blood in the face.
11328      Now Bishop Sigurd came forward to the king and said, "Sire, I entreat you
11329      on God Almighty's account to be reconciled with Erling according to his
11330      offer, -that the man shall retain life and limb, but that thou shalt
11331      determine according to thy pleasure all the other conditions."
11332      The king replies, "You will determine."
11333      Then said the bishop, "Erling, do thou give security for Asbjorn, such as
11334      the king thinks sufficient, and then leave the conditions to the mercy of
11335      the king, and leave all in his power."
11336      Erling gave a surety to the king on his part, which he accepted.
11337      Thereupon Asbjorn received his life and safety, and delivered himself into
11338      the king's power, and kissed his hand.
11339      Erling then withdrew with his forces, without exchanging salutation with
11340      the king; and the king went into the hall, followed by Asbjorn. The king
11341      thereafter made known the terms of reconciliation to be these: -"In
11342      the first place, Asbjorn, thou must submit to the law of the land, which
11343      commands that the man who kills a servant of the king must undertake his
11344      service, if the king will. Now I will that thou shalt undertake the office
11345      of bailiff which Thorer Sel had, and manage my estate here in
11346      Augvaldsnes." Asbjorn replies, that it should be according to the king's
11347      will; "but I must first go home to my farm, and put things in order
11348      there." The king was satisfied with this, and proceeded to another
11349      guest-quarter. Asbjorn made himself ready with his comrades, who all kept
11350      themselves concealed in a quiet creek during the time Asbjorn was away
11351      from them. They had had their spies out to learn how it went with him, and
11352      would not depart without having some certain news of him.
11353      128. OF THORER HUND AND ASBJORN SELSBANE.
11354      Asbjorn then set out on his voyage, and about spring (A.D. 1023) got home
11355      to his farm. After this exploit he was always called Asbjorn Selsbane.
11356      Asbjorn had not been long at home before he and his relation Thorer met
11357      and conversed together, and Thorer asked Asbjorn particularly all about
11358      his journey, and about all the circumstances which had happened on the
11359      course of it. Asbjorn told everything as it had taken place.
11360      Then said Thorer, "Thou thinkest that thou hast well rubbed out the
11361      disgrace of having been plundered in last harvest."
11362      "I think so," replies Asbjorn; "and what is thy opinion, cousin?"
11363      "That I will soon tell thee," said Thorer. "Thy first expedition to the
11364      south of the country was indeed very disgraceful, and that disgrace has
11365      been redeemed; but this expedition is both a disgrace to thee and to thy
11366      family, if it end in thy becoming the king's slave, and being put on a
11367      footing with that worst of men, Thorer Sel. Show that thou art manly
11368      enough to sit here on thy own property, and we thy relations shall so
11369      support thee that thou wilt never more come into such trouble."
11370      Asbjorn found this advice much to his mind; and before they parted it was
11371      firmly, determined that Asbjorn should remain on his farm, and not go back
11372      to the king or enter into his service. And he did so, and sat quietly at
11373      home on his farm.
11374      129. KING OLAF BAPTIZES IN VORS AND VALDERS.
11375      After King Olaf and Erling Skjalgson had this meeting at Augvaldsnes, new
11376      differences arose between them, and increased so much that they ended in
11377      perfect enmity. In spring (A.D. 1023) the king proceeded to guest-quarters
11378      in Hordaland, and went up also to Vors, because he heard there was but
11379      little of the true faith among the people there. He held a Thing with the
11380      bondes at a place called Vang, and a number of bondes came to it fully
11381      armed. The king ordered them to adopt Christianity; but they challenged
11382      him to battle, and it proceeded so far that the men were drawn up on both
11383      sides. But when it came to the point such a fear entered into the blood of
11384      the bondes that none would advance or command, and they chose the part
11385      which was most to their advantage; namely, to obey the king and receive
11386      Christianity; and before the king left them they were all baptized. One
11387      day it happened that the king was riding on his way a singing of psalms,
11388      and when he came right opposite some hills he halted and said, "Man after
11389      man shall relate these my words, that I think it not advisable for any
11390      king of Norway to travel hereafter between these hills." And it is a
11391      saying among the people that the most kings since that time have avoided
11392      it. The king proceeded to Ostrarfjord, and came to his ships, with which
11393      he went north to Sogn, and had his living in guest-quarters there in
11394      summer (A.D. 1023); when autumn approached he turned in towards the Fjord
11395      district, and went from thence to Valders, where the people were still
11396      heathen. The king hastened up to the lake in Valders, came unexpectedly on
11397      the bondes, seized their vessels, and went on board of them with all his
11398      men. He then sent out message-tokens, and appointed a Thing so near the
11399      lake that he could use the vessels if he found he required them. The
11400      bondes resorted to the Thing in a great and well-armed host; and when he
11401      commanded them to accept Christianity the bondes shouted against him, told
11402      him to be silent, and made a great uproar and clashing of weapons. But
11403      when the king saw that they would not listen to what he would teach them,
11404      and also that they had too great a force to contend with, he turned his
11405      discourse, and asked if there were people at the Thing who had disputes
11406      with each other which they wished him to settle. It was soon found by the
11407      conversation of the bondes that they had many quarrels among themselves,
11408      although they had all joined in speaking against Christianity. When the
11409      bondes began to set forth their own cases, each endeavored to get some
11410      upon his side to support him; and this lasted the whole day long until
11411      evening, when the Thing was concluded. When the bondes had heard that the
11412      king had travelled to Valders, and was come into their neighborhood, they
11413      had sent out message-tokens summoning the free and the unfree to meet in
11414      arms, and with this force they had advanced against the king; so that the
11415      neighbourhood all around was left without people. When the Thing was
11416      concluded the bondes still remained assembled; and when the king observed
11417      this he went on board his ships, rowed in the night right across the
11418      water, landed in the country there, and began to plunder and burn. The day
11419      after the king's men rowed from one point of land to another, and over all
11420      the king ordered the habitations to be set on fire. Now when the bondes
11421      who were assembled saw what the king was doing, namely, plundering and
11422      burning, and saw the smoke and flame of their houses, they dispersed, and
11423      each hastened to his own home to see if he could find those he had left.
11424      As soon as there came a dispersion among the crowd, the one slipped away
11425      after the other, until the whole multitude was dissolved. Then the king
11426      rowed across the lake again, burning also on that side of the country. Now
11427      came the bondes to him begging for mercy, and offering to submit to him.
11428      He gave every man who came to him peace if he desired it, and restored to
11429      him his goods; and nobody refused to adopt Christianity. The king then had
11430      the people christened, and took hostages from the bondes. He ordered
11431      churches to be built and consecrated, and placed teachers in them. He
11432      remained a long time here in autumn, and had his ships drawn across the
11433      neck of land between the two lakes. The king did not go far from the sides
11434      of the lakes into the country, for he did not much trust the bondes. When
11435      the king thought that frost might be expected, he went further up the
11436      country, and came to Thoten. Arnor, the earl's skald, tells how King Olaf
11437      burnt in the Uplands, in the poem he composed concerning the king's
11438      brother King Harald: -
11439     "Against the Upland people wroth,
11440     Olaf, to most so mild, went forth:
11441          The houses burning,
11442          All people mourning;
11443          Who could not fly
11444          Hung on gallows high.
11445     It was, I think, in Olaf's race
11446     The Upland people to oppress."
11447      Afterwards King Olaf went north through the valleys to Dovrefield, and did
11448      not halt until he reached the Throndhjem district and arrived at Nidaros,
11449      where he had ordered winter provision to be collected, and remained all
11450      winter (A.D. 1024). This was the tenth year of his reign.
11451      130. OF EINAR TAMBASKELFER.
11452      The summer before Einar Tambaskelfer left the country, and went westward
11453      to England (A.D. 1023). There he met his relative Earl Hakon, and stayed
11454      some time with him. He then visited King Canute, from whom he received
11455      great presents. Einar then went south all the way to Rome, and came back
11456      the following summer (A.D. 1024), and returned to his house and land. King
11457      Olaf and Einar did not meet this time.
11458      131. THE BIRTH OF KING MAGNUS.
11459      There was a girl whose name was Alfhild, and who was usually called the
11460      king's slave-woman, although she was of good descent. She was a remarkably
11461      handsome girl, and lived in King Olaf's court. It was reported this spring
11462      that Alfhild was with child, and the king's confidential friends knew that
11463      he was father of the child. It happened one night that Alfhild was taken
11464      ill, and only few people were at hand; namely, some women, priests, Sigvat
11465      the skald, and a few others. Alfhild was so ill that she was nearly dead;
11466      and when she was delivered of a man-child, it was some time before they
11467      could discover whether the child was in life. But when the infant drew
11468      breath, although very weak, the priest told Sigvat to hasten to the king,
11469      and tell him of the event.
11470      He replies, "I dare not on any account waken the king; for he has forbid
11471      that any man should break his sleep until he awakens of himself."
11472      The priest replies, "It is of necessity that this child be immediately
11473      baptized, for it appears to me there is but little life in it."
11474      Sigvat said, "I would rather venture to take upon me to let thee baptize
11475      the child, than to awaken the king; and I will take it upon myself if
11476      anything be amiss, and will give the child a name."
11477      They did so; and the child was baptized, and got the name of Magnus. The
11478      next morning, when the king awoke and had dressed himself, the
11479      circumstance was told him. He ordered Sigvat to be called, and said. "How
11480      camest thou to be so bold as to have my child baptized before I knew
11481      anything about it?"
11482      Sigvat replies, "Because I would rather give two men to God than one to
11483      the devil."
11484      The king -"What meanest thou?"
11485      Sigvat -"The child was near death, and must have been the devil's if
11486      it had died as a heathen, and now it is God's. And I knew besides that if
11487      thou shouldst be so angry on this account that it affected my life, I
11488      would be God's also."
11489      The king asked, "But why didst thou call him Magnus, which is not a name
11490      of our race?"
11491      Sigvat -"I called him after King Carl Magnus, who, I knew, had been
11492      the best man in the world."
11493      Then said the king, "Thou art a very lucky man, Sigvat; but it is not
11494      wonderful that luck should accompany understanding. It is only wonderful
11495      how it sometimes happens that luck attends ignorant men, and that foolish
11496      counsel turns out lucky." The king was overjoyed at the circumstance. The
11497      boy grew up, and gave good promise as he advanced in age.
11498      132. THE MURDER OF ASBJORN SELSBANE.
11499      The same spring (A.D. 1024) the king gave into the hands of Asmund
11500      Grankelson the half of the sheriffdom of the district of Halogaland, which
11501      Harek of Thjotta had formerly held, partly in fief, partly for defraying
11502      the king's entertainment in guest-quarters. Asmund had a ship manned with
11503      nearly thirty well-armed men. When Asmund came north he met Harek, and
11504      told him what the king had determined with regard to the district, and
11505      produced to him the tokens of the king's full powers. Harek said, "The
11506      king had the right to give the sheriffdom to whom he pleased; but the
11507      former sovereigns had not been in use to diminish our rights who are
11508      entitled by birth to hold powers from the king, and to give them into the
11509      hands of the peasants who never before held such offices." But although it
11510      was evident that it was against Harek's inclination, he allowed Asmund to
11511      take the sheriffdom according to the king's order. Then Asmund proceeded
11512      home to his father, stayed there a short time, and then went north to
11513      Halogaland to his sheriffdom; and he came north to Langey Island, where
11514      there dwelt two brothers called Gunstein and Karle, both very rich and
11515      respectable men. Gunstein, the eldest of the brothers, was a good
11516      husbandman. Karle was a handsome man in appearance, and splendid in his
11517      dress; and both were, in many respects, expert in all feats. Asmund was
11518      well received by them, remained with them a while, and collected such
11519      revenues of his sheriffdom as he could get. Karle spoke with Asmund of his
11520      wish to go south with him and take service in the court of King Olaf, to
11521      which Asmund encouraged him much, promising his influence with the king
11522      for obtaining for Karle such a situation as he desired; and Karle
11523      accordingly accompanied Asmund. Asmund heard that Asbjorn, who had killed
11524      Thorer Sel, had gone to the market-meeting of Vagar with a large ship of
11525      burden manned with nearly twenty men, and that he was now expected from
11526      the south. Asmund and his retinue proceeded on their way southwards along
11527      the coast with a contrary wind, but there was little of it. They saw some
11528      of the fleet for Vagar sailing towards them; and they privately inquired
11529      of them about Asbjorn, and were told he was upon the way coming from the
11530      south. Asmund and Karle were bedfellows, and excellent friends. One day,
11531      as Asmund and his people were rowing through a sound, a ship of burden
11532      came sailing towards them. The ship was easily known, having high
11533      bulwarks, was painted with white and red colours, and coloured cloth was
11534      woven in the sail. Karle said to Asmund, "Thou hast often said thou wast
11535      curious to see Asbjorn who killed Thorer Sel; and if I know one ship from
11536      another, that is his which is coming sailing along."
11537      Asmund replies, "Be so good, comrade, and tell me which is he when thou
11538      seest him."
11539      When the ships came alongside of each other, "That is Asbjorn," said
11540      Karle; "the man sitting at the helm in a blue cloak."
11541      Asmund replies, "I shall make his blue cloak red;" threw a spear at
11542      Asbjorn, and hit him in the middle of the body, so that it flew through
11543      and through him, and stuck fast in the upper part of the stern-post; and
11544      Asbjorn fell down dead from the helm. Then each vessel sailed on its
11545      course, and Asbjorn's body was carried north to Thrandarnes. Then Sigrid
11546      sent a message to Bjarkey Isle to Thorer Hund, who came to her while they
11547      were, in the usual way, dressing the corpse of Asbjorn. When he returned
11548      Sigrid gave presents to all her friends, and followed Thorer to his ship;
11549      but before they parted she said, "It has so fallen out, Thorer, that my
11550      son has suffered by thy friendly counsel, but he did not retain life to
11551      reward thee for it; but although I have not his ability yet will I show my
11552      good will. Here is a gift I give thee, which I expect thou wilt use. Here
11553      is the spear which went through Asbjorn my son, and there is still blood
11554      upon it, to remind thee that it fits the wound thou hast seen on the
11555      corpse of thy brother's son Asbjorn. It would be a manly deed, if thou
11556      shouldst throw this spear from thy hand so that it stood in Olaf's breast;
11557      and this I can tell thee, that thou wilt be named coward in every man's
11558      mouth, if thou dost not avenge Asbjorn." Thereupon she turned about, and
11559      went her way.
11560      Thorer was so enraged at her words that he could not speak. He neither
11561      thought of casting the spear from him, nor took notice of the gangway; so
11562      that he would have fallen into the sea, if his men had not laid hold of
11563      him as he was going on board his ship. It was a feathered spear; not
11564      large, but the handle was gold-mounted. Now Thorer rowed away with his
11565      people, and went home to Bjarkey Isle. Asmund and his companions also
11566      proceeded on their way until they came south to Throndhjem, where they
11567      waited on King Olaf; and Asmund related to the king all that had happened
11568      on the voyage. Karle became one of the king's court-men, and the
11569      friendship continued between him and Asmund. They did not keep secret the
11570      words that had passed between Asmund and Karle before Asbjorn was killed;
11571      for they even told them to the king. But then it happened, according to
11572      the proverb, that every one has a friend in the midst of his enemies.
11573      There were some present who took notice of the words, and they reached
11574      Thorer Hund's ears.
11575      133. OF KING OLAF.
11576      When spring (A.D. 1024) was advanced King Olaf rigged out his ships, and
11577      sailed southwards in summer along the land. He held Things with the bondes
11578      on the way, settled the law business of the people, put to rights the
11579      faith of the country, and collected the king's taxes wherever he came. In
11580      autumn he proceeded south to the frontier of the country; and King Olaf
11581      had now made the people Christians in all the great districts, and
11582      everywhere, by laws, had introduced order into the country. He had also,
11583      as before related, brought the Orkney Islands under his power, and by
11584      messages had made many friends in Iceland, Greenland, and the Farey
11585      Islands. King Olaf had sent timber for building a church to Iceland, of
11586      which a church was built upon the Thing-field where the General Thing is
11587      held, and had sent a bell for it, which is still there. This was after the
11588      Iceland people had altered their laws, and introduced Christianity,
11589      according to the word King Olaf had sent them. After that time, many
11590      considerable persons came from Iceland, and entered into King Olaf's
11591      service; as Thorkel Eyjolfson, and Thorleif Bollason, Thord Kolbeinson,
11592      Thord Barkarson, Thorgeir Havarson, Thormod Kalbrunar-skald. King Olaf had
11593      sent many friendly presents to chief people in Iceland; and they in return
11594      sent him such things as they had which they thought most acceptable. Under
11595      this show of friendship which the king gave Iceland were concealed many
11596      things which afterwards appeared.
11597      134. KING OLAF'S MESSAGE TO ICELAND, AND THE COUNSELS OF THE ICELANDERS.
11598      King Olaf this summer (A.D. 1024) sent Thorarin Nefiulfson to Iceland on
11599      his errands; and Thorarin went out of Throndhjem fjord along with the
11600      king, and followed him south to More. From thence Thorarin went out to
11601      sea, and got such a favourable breeze that after four days sail he landed
11602      at the Westman Isles, in Iceland. He proceeded immediately to the Althing,
11603      and came just as the people were upon the Lawhillock, to which he
11604      repaired. When the cases of the people before the Thing had been
11605      determined according to law, Thorarin Nefiulfson took up the word as
11606      follows: -"We parted four days ago from King Olaf Haraldson, who
11607      sends God Almighty's and his own salutation to all the chiefs and
11608      principal men of the land; as also to all the people in general, men and
11609      women, young and old, rich and poor. He also lets you know that he will be
11610      your sovereign if ye will become his subjects, so that he and you will be
11611      friends, assisting each other in all that is good."
11612      The people replied in a friendly way, that they would gladly be the king's
11613      friends, if he would be a friend of the people of their country.
11614      Then Thorarin again took up the word: -"This follows in addition to
11615      the king's message, that he will in friendship desire of the people of the
11616      north district that they give him the island, or out-rock, which lies at
11617      the mouth of Eyfjord, and is called Grimsey, for which he will give you
11618      from his country whatever good the people of the district may desire. He
11619      sends this message particularly to Gudmund of Modruvellir to support this
11620      matter, because he understands that Gudmund has most influence in that
11621      quarter."
11622      Gudmund replies, "My inclination is greatly for King Olaf's friendship,
11623      and that I consider much more useful than the out-rock he desires. But the
11624      king has not heard rightly if he think I have more power in this matter
11625      than any other, for the island is a common. We, however, who have the most
11626      use of the isle, will hold a meeting among ourselves about it."
11627      Then the people went to their tent-houses; and the Northland people had a
11628      meeting among themselves, and talked over the business, and every one
11629      spoke according to his judgment. Gudmund supported the matter, and many
11630      others formed their opinions by his. Then some asked why his brother Einar
11631      did not speak on the subject. "We think he has the clearest insight into
11632      most things."
11633      Einar answers, "I have said so little about the matter because nobody has
11634      asked me about it; but if I may give my opinion, our countrymen might just
11635      as well make themselves at once liable to land-scat to King Olaf, and
11636      submit to all his exactions as he has them among his people in Norway; and
11637      this heavy burden we will lay not only upon ourselves, but on our sons,
11638      and their sons, and all our race, and on all the community dwelling and
11639      living in this land, which never after will be free from this slavery. Now
11640      although this king is a good man, as I well believe him to be, yet it must
11641      be hereafter, when kings succeed each other, that some will be good, and
11642      some bad. Therefore if the people of this country will preserve the
11643      freedom they have enjoyed since the land was first inhabited, it is not
11644      advisable to give the king the smallest spot to fasten himself upon the
11645      country by, and not to give him any kind of scat or service that can have
11646      the appearance of a duty. On the other hand, I think it very proper that
11647      the people send the king such friendly presents of hawks or horses, tents
11648      or sails, or such things which are suitable gifts; and these are well
11649      applied if they are repaid with friendship. But as to Grimsey Isle, I have
11650      to say, that although nothing is drawn from it that can serve for food,
11651      yet it could support a great war-force cruising from thence in long-ships;
11652      and then, I doubt not, there would be distress enough at every poor
11653      peasant's door."
11654      When Einar had thus explained the proper connection of the matter, the
11655      whole community were of one mind that such a thing should not be
11656      permitted; and Thorarin saw sufficiently well what the result of his
11657      errand was to be.
11658      135. THE ANSWER OF THE ICELANDERS.
11659      The day following, Thorarin went again to the Lawhill, and brought forward
11660      his errand in the following words: -"King Olaf sends his message to
11661      his friends here in the country, among whom he reckons Gudmund Eyjolfson,
11662      Snorre Gode, Thorkel Eyjolfson, Skapte the lagman, and Thorstein Halson,
11663      and desires them by me to come to him on a friendly visit; and adds, that
11664      ye must not excuse yourselves, if you regard his friendship as worth
11665      anything." In their answer they thanked the king for his message and
11666      added, that they would afterwards give a reply to it by Thorarin when they
11667      had more closely considered the matter with their friends. The chiefs now
11668      weighed the matter among themselves, and each gave his own opinion about
11669      the journey. Snorre and Skapte dissuaded from such a dangerous proceeding
11670      with the people of Norway; namely, that all the men who had the most to
11671      say in the country should at once leave Iceland. They added, that from
11672      this message, and from what Einar had said, they had the suspicion that
11673      the king intended to use force and strong measures against the Icelanders
11674      if he ruled in the country. Gudmund and Thorkel Eyjolfson insisted much
11675      that they should follow King Olaf's invitation, and called it a journey of
11676      honour. But when they had considered the matter on all sides, it was at
11677      last resolved that they should not travel themselves, but that each of
11678      them should send in his place a man whom they thought best suited for it.
11679      After this determination the Thing was closed, and there was no journey
11680      that summer. Thorarin made two voyages that summer, and about harvest was
11681      back again at King Olaf's, and reported the result of his mission, and
11682      that some of the chiefs, or their sons, would come from Iceland according
11683      to his message.
11684      136. OF THE PEOPLE OF THE FAREY ISLANDS.
11685      The same summer (A.D. 1024) there came from the Farey Islands to Norway,
11686      on the king's invitation, Gille the lagman, Leif Ossurson, Thoralf of
11687      Dimun, and many other bondes' sons. Thord of Gata made himself ready for
11688      the voyage; but just as he was setting out he got a stroke of palsy, and
11689      could not come, so he remained behind. Now when the people from the Farey
11690      Isles arrived at King Olaf's, he called them to him to a conference, and
11691      explained the purpose of the journey he had made them take, namely, that
11692      he would have scat from the Farey Islands, and also that the people there
11693      should be subject to the laws which the king should give them. In that
11694      meeting it appeared from the king's words that he would make the Farey
11695      people who had come answerable, and would bind them by oath to conclude
11696      this union. He also offered to the men whom he thought the ablest to take
11697      them into his service, and bestow honour and friendship on them. These
11698      Farey men understood the king's words so, that they must dread the turn
11699      the matter might take if they did not submit to all that the king desired.
11700      Although they held several meetings about the business before it ended,
11701      the king's desire at last prevailed. Leif, Gille, and Thoralf went into
11702      the king's service, and became his courtmen; and they, with all their
11703      travelling companions, swore the oath to King Olaf, that the law and land
11704      privilege which he set them should be observed in the Farey Islands, and
11705      also the scat be levied that he laid upon them. Thereafter the Farey
11706      people prepared for their return home, and at their departure the king
11707      gave those who had entered into his service presents in testimony of his
11708      friendship, and they went their way. Now the king ordered a ship to be
11709      rigged, manned it, and sent men to the Farey Islands to receive the scat
11710      from the inhabitants which they should pay him. It was late before they
11711      were ready; but they set off at last: and of their journey all that is to
11712      be told is, that they did not come back, and no scat either, the following
11713      summer; for nobody had come to the Farey Isles, and no man had demanded
11714      scat there.
11715      137. OF THE MARRIAGE OF KETIL AND OF THORD TO THE KING'S SISTERS.
11716      King Olaf proceeded about harvest time to Viken, and sent a message before
11717      him to the Uplands that they should prepare guest-quarters for him, as he
11718      intended to be there in winter. Afterwards he made ready for his journey,
11719      and went to the Uplands, and remained the winter there; going about in
11720      guest-quarters, and putting things to rights where he saw it needful,
11721      advancing also the cause of Christianity wheresoever it was requisite. It
11722      happened while King Olaf was in Hedemark that Ketil Kalf of Ringanes
11723      courted Gunhild, a daughter of Sigurd Syr and of King Olaf's mother Asta.
11724      Gunhild was a sister of King Olaf, and therefore it belonged to the king
11725      to give consent and determination to the business. He took it in a
11726      friendly way; for he know Ketil, that he was of high birth, wealthy, and
11727      of good understanding, and a great chief; and also he had long been a
11728      great friend of King Olaf, as before related. All these circumstances
11729      induced the king to approve of the match, and so it was that Ketil got
11730      Gunhild. King Olaf was present at the wedding. From thence the king went
11731      north to Gudbrandsdal, where he was entertained in guest-quarters. There
11732      dwelt a man, by name Thord Guthormson, on a farm called Steig; and he was
11733      the most powerful man in the north end of the valley. When Thord and the
11734      king met, Thord made proposals for Isrid, the daughter of Gudbrand, and
11735      the sister of King Olaf's mother, as it belonged to the king to give
11736      consent. After the matter was considered, it was determined that the
11737      marriage should proceed, and Thord got Isrid. Afterwards Thord was the
11738      king's faithful friend, and also many of Thord's relations and friends,
11739      who followed his footsteps. From thence King Olaf returned south through
11740      Thoten and Hadaland, from thence to Ringerike, and so to Viken. In spring
11741      (A.D. 1025) he went to Tunsberg, and stayed there while there was the
11742      market-meeting, and a great resort of people. He then had his vessels
11743      rigged out, and had many people about him.
11744      138. OF THE ICELANDERS.
11745      The same summer (A.D. 1025) came Stein, a son of the lagman Skapte, from
11746      Iceland, in compliance with King Olaf's message; and with him Thorod, a
11747      son of Snorre the gode, and Geller, a son of Thorkel Eyjolfson, and Egil,
11748      a son of Hal of Sida, brother of Thorstein Hal. Gudmund Eyjolfson had died
11749      the winter before. These Iceland men repaired to King Olaf as soon as they
11750      had opportunity; and when they met the king they were well received, and
11751      all were in his house. The same summer King Olaf heard that the ship was
11752      missing which he had sent the summer before to the Farey Islands after the
11753      scat, and nobody knew what had become of it. The king fitted out another
11754      ship, manned it, and sent it to the Farey Islands for the scat. They got
11755      under weigh, and proceeded to sea; but as little was ever heard of this
11756      vessel as of the former one, and many conjectures were made about what had
11757      become of them.
11758      139. HERE BEGINS THE STORY OF CANUTE THE GREAT.
11759      During this time Canute the Great, called by some Canute the Old, was king
11760      of England and Denmark. Canute the Great was a son of Svein Haraldson
11761      Forkedbeard, whose forefathers, for a long course of generations, had
11762      ruled over Denmark. Harald Gormson, Canute's grandfather, had conquered
11763      Norway after the fall of Harald Grafeld, Gunhild's son, had taken scat
11764      from it, and had placed Earl Hakon the Great to defend the country. The
11765      Danish King, Svein Haraldson, ruled also over Norway, and placed his
11766      son-in-law Earl Eirik, the son of Earl Hakon, to defend the country. The
11767      brothers Eirik and Svein, Earl Hakon's sons, ruled the land until Earl
11768      Eirik went west to England, on the invitation of his brother-in-law Canute
11769      the Great, when he left behind his son Earl Hakon, sister's son of Canute
11770      the Great, to govern Norway. But when Olaf the Thick came first to Norway,
11771      as before related, he took prisoner Earl Hakon the son of Eirik, and
11772      deposed him from the kingdom. Then Hakon proceeded to his mother's
11773      brother, Canute the Great, and had been with him constantly until the time
11774      to which here in our saga we have now come. Canute the Great had conquered
11775      England by blows and weapons, and had a long struggle before the people of
11776      the land were subdued. But when he had set himself perfectly firm in the
11777      government of the country, he remembered that he also had right to a
11778      kingdom which he had not brought under his authority; and that was Norway.
11779      He thought he had hereditary right to all Norway; and his sister's son
11780      Hakon, who had held a part of it, appeared to him to have lost it with
11781      disgrace. The reason why Canute and Hakon had remained quiet with respect
11782      to their claims upon Norway was, that when King Olaf Haraldson landed in
11783      Norway the people and commonalty ran together in crowds, and would hear of
11784      nothing but that Olaf should be king over all the country, although some
11785      afterwards, who thought that the people upon account of his power had no
11786      self-government left to them, went out of the country. Many powerful men,
11787      or rich bondes sons, had therefore gone to Canute the Great, and pretended
11788      various errands; and every one who came to Canute and desired his
11789      friendship was loaded with presents. With Canute, too, could be seen
11790      greater splendour and pomp than elsewhere, both with regard to the
11791      multitude of people who were daily in attendance, and also to the other
11792      magnificent things about the houses he owned and dwelt in himself. Canute
11793      the Great drew scat and revenue from the people who were the richest of
11794      all in northern lands; and in the same proportion as he had greater
11795      revenues than other kings, he also made greater presents than other kings.
11796      In his whole kingdom peace was so well established, that no man dared
11797      break it. The people of the country kept the peace towards each other, and
11798      had their old country law: and for this he was greatly celebrated in all
11799      countries. And many of those who came from Norway represented their
11800      hardships to Earl Hakon, and some even to King Canute himself; and that
11801      the Norway people were ready to turn back to the government of King
11802      Canute, or Earl Hakon, and receive deliverance from them. This
11803      conversation suited well the earl's inclination, and he carried it to the
11804      king, and begged of him to try if King Olaf would not surrender the
11805      kingdom, or at least come to an agreement to divide it; and many supported
11806      the earl's views.
11807      140. CANUTE'S MESSAGE TO KING OLAF.
11808      Canute the Great sent men from the West, from England, to Norway, and
11809      equipped them magnificently for the journey. They were bearers of the
11810      English king Canute's letter and seal. They came about spring (A.D. 1025)
11811      to the king of Norway, Olaf Haraldson, in Tunsberg. Now when it was told
11812      the king that ambassadors had arrived from Canute the Great he was ill at
11813      ease, and said that Canute had not sent messengers hither with any
11814      messages that could be of advantage to him or his people; and it was some
11815      days before the ambassadors could come before the king. But when they got
11816      permission to speak to him they appeared before the king, and made known
11817      King Canute's letter, and their errand which accompanied it; namely, "that
11818      King Canute considers all Norway as his property, and insists that his
11819      forefathers before him have possessed that kingdom; but as King Canute
11820      offers peace to all countries, he will also offer peace to all here, if it
11821      can be so settled, and will not invade Norway with his army if it can be
11822      avoided. Now if King Olaf Haraldson wishes to remain king of Norway, he
11823      will come to King Canute, and receive his kingdom as a fief from him,
11824      become his vassal, and pay the scat which the earls before him formerly
11825      paid." Thereupon they presented their letters, which contained precisely
11826      the same conditions.
11827      Then King Olaf replies, "I have heard say, by old stories, that the Danish
11828      king Gorm was considered but a small king of a few people, for he ruled
11829      over Denmark alone; but the kings who succeeded him thought that was too
11830      little. It has since come so far that King Canute rules over Denmark and
11831      England, and has conquered for himself a great part of Scotland. Now he
11832      claims also my paternal heritage, and will then show some moderation in
11833      his covetousness. Does he wish to rule over all the countries of the
11834      North? Will he eat up all the kail in England? He shall do so, and reduce
11835      that country to a desert, before I lay my head in his hands, or show him
11836      any other kind of vassalage. Now ye shall tell him these my words, -I
11837      will defend Norway with battle-axe and sword as long as life is given me,
11838      and will pay scat to no man for my kingdom."
11839      After this answer King Canute's ambassadors made themselves ready for
11840      their journey home, and were by no means rejoiced at the success of their
11841      errand.
11842      Sigvat the skald had been with King Canute, who had given him a gold ring
11843      that weighed half a mark. The skald Berse Skaldtorfason was also there,
11844      and to him King Canute gave two gold rings, each weighing two marks, and
11845      besides a sword inlaid with gold. Sigvat made this song about it: -
11846     "When we came o'er the wave, you cub,
11847          When we came o'er the wave,
11848     To me one ring, to thee two rings,
11849          The mighty Canute gave:
11850     One mark to me,
11851     Four marks to thee, -
11852          A sword too, fine and brave.
11853     Now God knows well,
11854     And skalds can tell,
11855          What justice here would crave."
11856      Sigvat the skald was very intimate with King Canute's messengers, and
11857      asked them many questions. They answered all his inquiries about their
11858      conversation with King Olaf, and the result of their message. They said
11859      the king listened unwillingly to their proposals. "And we do not know,"
11860      say they, "to what he is trusting when he refuses becoming King Canute's
11861      vassal, and going to him, which would be the best thing he could do; for
11862      King Canute is so mild that however much a chief may have done against
11863      him, he is pardoned if he only show himself obedient. It is but lately
11864      that two kings came to him from the North, from Fife in Scotland, and he
11865      gave up his wrath against them, and allowed them to retain all the lands
11866      they had possessed before, and gave them besides very valuable gifts."
11867      Then Sigvat sang: -
11868     "From the North land, the midst of Fife,
11869     Two kings came begging peace and life;
11870     Craving from Canute life and peace, -
11871     May Olaf's good luck never cease!
11872     May he, our gallant Norse king, never
11873     Be brought, like these, his head to offer
11874     As ransom to a living man
11875     For the broad lands his sword has won."
11876      King Canute's ambassadors proceeded on their way back, and had a
11877      favourable breeze across the sea. They came to King Canute, and told him
11878      the result of their errand, and King Olaf's last words. King Canute
11879      replies, "King Olaf guesses wrong, if he thinks I shall eat up all the
11880      kail in England; for I will let him see that there is something else than
11881      kail under my ribs, and cold kail it shall be for him." The same summer
11882      (A.D. 1025) Aslak and Skjalg, the sons of Erling of Jadar, came from
11883      Norway to King Canute, and were well received; for Aslak was married to
11884      Sigrid, a daughter of Earl Svein Hakonson, and she and Earl Hakon Eirikson
11885      were brothers' children. King Canute gave these brothers great fiefs over
11886      there, and they stood in great favour.
11887      141. KING OLAF'S ALLIANCE WITH ONUND THE KING OF SVITHJOD.
11888      King Olaf summoned to him all the lendermen, and had a great many people
11889      about him this summer (A.D. 1025), for a report was abroad that King
11890      Canute would come from England. People had heard from merchant vessels
11891      that Canute was assembling a great army in England. When summer was
11892      advanced, some affirmed and others denied that the army would come. King
11893      Olaf was all summer in Viken, and had spies out to learn if Canute was
11894      come to Denmark. In autumn (A.D. 1025) he sent messengers eastward to
11895      Svithjod to his brother-in-law King Onund, and let him know King Canute's
11896      demand upon Norway; adding, that, in his opinion, if Canute subdued
11897      Norway, King Onund would not long enjoy the Swedish dominions in peace. He
11898      thought it advisable, therefore, that they should unite for their defence.
11899      "And then," said he, "we will have strength enough to hold out against
11900      Canute." King Onund received King Olaf's message favourably, and replied
11901      to it, that he for his part would make common cause with King Olaf, so
11902      that each of them should stand by the one who first required help with all
11903      the strength of his kingdom. In these messages between them it was also
11904      determined that they should have a meeting, and consult with each other.
11905      The following winter (A.D. 1026) King Onund intended to travel across West
11906      Gautland, and King Olaf made preparations for taking his winter abode at
11907      Sarpsborg.
11908      142. KING CANUTE'S AMBASSADORS TO ONUND OF SVITHJOD.
11909      In autumn King Canute the Great came to Denmark, and remained there all
11910      winter (A.D. 1026) with a numerous army. It was told him that ambassadors
11911      with messages had been passing between the Swedish and Norwegian kings,
11912      and that some great plans must be concerting between them. In winter King
11913      Canute sent messengers to Svithjod, to King Onund, with great gifts and
11914      messages of friendship. He also told Onund that he might sit altogether
11915      quiet in this strife between him and Olaf the Thick; "for thou, Onund,"
11916      says he, "and thy kingdom, shall be in peace as far as I am concerned."
11917      When the ambassadors came to King Onund they presented the gifts which
11918      King Canute sent him, together with the friendly message. King Onund did
11919      not hear their speech very willingly, and the ambassadors could observe
11920      that King Onund was most inclined to a friendship with King Olaf. They
11921      returned accordingly, and told King Canute the result of their errand, and
11922      told him not to depend much upon the friendship of King Onund.
11923      143. THE EXPEDITION TO BJARMALAND.
11924      This winter (A.D. 1026) King Olaf sat in Sarpsborg, and was surrounded by
11925      a very great army of people. He sent the Halogalander Karle to the north
11926      country upon his business. Karle went first to the Uplands, then across
11927      the Dovrefield, and came down to Nidaros, where he received as much money
11928      as he had the king's order for, together with a good ship, such as he
11929      thought suitable for the voyage which the king had ordered him upon; and
11930      that was to proceed north to Bjarmaland. It was settled that the king
11931      should be in partnership with Karle, and each of them have the half of the
11932      profit. Early in spring Karle directed his course to Halogaland, where his
11933      brother Gunstein prepared to accompany him, having his own merchant goods
11934      with him. There were about twenty-five men in the ship; and in spring they
11935      sailed north to Finmark. When Thorer Hund heard this, he sent a man to the
11936      brothers with the verbal message that he intended in summer to go to
11937      Bjarmaland, and that he would sail with them, and that they should divide
11938      what booty they made equally between them. Karle sent him back the message
11939      that Thorer must have twenty-five men as they had, and they were willing
11940      to divide the booty that might be taken equally, but not the merchant
11941      goods which each had for himself. When Thorer's messenger came back he had
11942      put a stout long-ship he owned into the water, and rigged it, and he had
11943      put eighty men on board of his house-servants. Thorer alone had the
11944      command over this crew, and he alone had all the goods they might acquire
11945      on the cruise. When Thorer was ready for sea he set out northwards along
11946      the coast, and found Karle a little north of Sandver. They then proceeded
11947      with good wind. Gunstein said to his brother, as soon as they met Thorer,
11948      that in his opinion Thorer was strongly manned. "I think," said he, "we
11949      had better turn back than sail so entirely in Thorer's power, for I do not
11950      trust him." Karle replies, "I will not turn back, although if I had known
11951      when we were at home on Langey Isle that Thorer Hund would join us on this
11952      voyage with so large a crew as he has, I would have taken more hands with
11953      us." The brothers spoke about it to Thorer, and asked what was the meaning
11954      of his taking more people with him than was agreed upon between them. He
11955      replies, "We have a large ship which requires many hands, and methinks
11956      there cannot be too many brave lads for so dangerous a cruise." They went
11957      in summer as fast in general as the vessels could go. When the wind was
11958      light the ship of the brothers sailed fastest, and they separated; but
11959      when the wind freshened Thorer overtook them. They were seldom together,
11960      but always in sight of each other. When they came to Bjarmaland they went
11961      straight to the merchant town, and the market began. All who had money to
11962      pay with got filled up with goods. Thorer also got a number of furs, and
11963      of beaver and sable skins. Karle had a considerable sum of money with him,
11964      with which he purchased skins and furs. When the fair was at an end they
11965      went out of the Vina river, and then the truce of the country people was
11966      also at an end. When they came out of the river they held a seaman's
11967      council, and Thorer asked the crews if they would like to go on the land
11968      and get booty.
11969      They replied, that they would like it well enough, if they saw the booty
11970      before their eyes.
11971      Thorer replies, that there was booty to be got, if the voyage proved
11972      fortunate; but that in all probability there would be danger in the
11973      attempt.
11974      All said they would try, if there was any chance of booty. Thorer
11975      explained, that it was so established in this land, that when a rich man
11976      died all his movable goods were divided between the dead man and his
11977      heirs. He got the half part, or the third part, or sometimes less, and
11978      that part was carried out into the forest and buried, -sometimes
11979      under a mound, sometimes in the earth, and sometimes even a house was
11980      built over it. He tells them at the same time to get ready for this
11981      expedition at the fall of day. It was resolved that one should not desert
11982      the other, and none should hold back when the commander ordered them to
11983      come on board again. They now left people behind to take care of the
11984      ships, and went on land, where they found flat fields at first, and then
11985      great forests. Thorer went first, and the brothers Karle and Gunstein in
11986      rear. Thorer commanded the people to observe the utmost silence. "And let
11987      us peel the bark off the trees," says he, "so that one tree-mark can be
11988      seen from the other." They came to a large cleared opening, where there
11989      was a high fence upon which there was a gate that was locked. Six men of
11990      the country people held watch every night at this fence, two at a time
11991      keeping guard, each two for a third part of the night, when Thorer and his
11992      men came to the fence the guard had gone home, and those who should
11993      relieve them had not yet come upon guard. Thorer went to the fence, stuck
11994      his axe up in it above his head, hauled himself up by it, and so came over
11995      the fence, and inside the gate. Karle had also come over the fence, and to
11996      the inside of the gate; so that both came at once to the port, took the
11997      bar away, and opened the port; and then the people got in within the
11998      fence. Then said Thorer, "Within this fence there is a mound in which
11999      gold, and silver, and earth are all mixed together: seize that. But within
12000      here stands the Bjarmaland people's god Jomala: let no one be so
12001      presumptuous as to rob him." Thereupon they went to the mound and took as
12002      much of the money as they could carry away in their clothes, with which,
12003      as might be expected, much earth was mixed. Thereafter Thorer said that
12004      the people now should retreat. "And ye brothers, Karle and Gunstein," says
12005      he, "do ye lead the way, and I will go last." They all went accordingly
12006      out of the gate: but Thorer went back to Jomala, and took a silver bowl
12007      that stood upon his knee full of silver money. He put the silver in his
12008      purse, and put his arm within the handle of the bowl, and so went out of
12009      the gate. The whole troop had come without the fence; but when they
12010      perceived that Thorer had stayed behind, Karle returned to trace him, and
12011      when they met upon the path Thorer had the silver bowl with him. Thereupon
12012      Karle immediately ran to Jomala; and observing he had a thick gold
12013      ornament hanging around his neck, he lifted his axe, cut the string with
12014      which the ornament was tied behind his neck, and the stroke was so strong
12015      that the head of Jomala rang with such a great sound that they were all
12016      astonished. Karle seized the ornament, and they all hastened away. But the
12017      moment the sound was made the watchmen came forward upon the cleared
12018      space, and blew their horns. Immediately the sound of the loor (1) was
12019      heard all around from every quarter, calling the people together. They
12020      hastened to the forest, and rushed into it; and heard the shouts and cries
12021      on the other side of the Bjarmaland people in pursuit. Thorer Hund went
12022      the last of the whole troop; and before him went two men carrying a great
12023      sack between them, in which was something that was like ashes. Thorer took
12024      this in his hand, and strewed it upon the footpath, and sometimes over the
12025      people. They came thus out of the woods, and upon the fields, but heard
12026      incessantly the Bjarmaland people pursuing with shouts and dreadful yells.
12027      The army of the Bjarmaland people rushed out after them upon the field,
12028      and on both sides of them; but neither the people nor their weapons came
12029      so near as to do them any harm: from which they perceived that the
12030      Bjarmaland people did not see them. Now when they reached their ships
12031      Karle and his brother went on board; for they were the foremost, and
12032      Thorer was far behind on the land. As soon as Karle and his men were on
12033      board they struck their tents, cast loose their land ropes, hoisted their
12034      sails, and their ship in all haste went to sea. Thorer and his people, on
12035      the other hand, did not get on so quickly, as their vessel was heavier to
12036      manage; so that when they got under sail, Karle and his people were far
12037      off from land. Both vessels sailed across the White sea (Gandvik). The
12038      nights were clear, so that both ships sailed night and day; until one day,
12039      towards the time the day turns to shorten, Karle and his people took up
12040      the land near an island, let down the sail, cast anchor, and waited until
12041      the slack-tide set in, for there was a strong rost before them. Now Thorer
12042      came up, and lay at anchor there also. Thorer and his people then put out
12043      a boat, went into it, and rowed to Karle's ship. Thorer came on board, and
12044      the brothers saluted him. Thorer told Karle to give him the ornament. "I
12045      think," said he, "that I have best earned the ornaments that have been
12046      taken, for methinks ye have to thank me for getting away without any loss
12047      of men; and also I think thou, Karle, set us in the greatest fright."
12048      Karle replies, "King Olaf has the half part of all the goods I gather on
12049      this voyage, and I intend the ornament for him. Go to him, if you like,
12050      and it is possible he will give thee the ornament, although I took it from
12051      Jomala."
12052      Then Thorer insisted that they should go upon the island, and divide the
12053      booty.
12054      Gunstein says, "It is now the turn of the tide, and it is time to sail."
12055      Whereupon they began to raise their anchor.
12056      When Thorer saw that, he returned to his boat and rowed to his own ship.
12057      Karle and his men had hoisted sail, and were come a long way before Thorer
12058      got under way. They now sailed so that the brothers were always in
12059      advance, and both vessels made all the haste they could. They sailed thus
12060      until they came to Geirsver, which is the first roadstead of the traders
12061      to the North. They both came there towards evening, and lay in the harbour
12062      near the landing-place. Thorer's ship lay inside, and the brothers' the
12063      outside vessel in the port. When Thorer had set up his tents he went on
12064      shore, and many of his men with him. They went to Karle's ship, which was
12065      well provided. Thorer hailed the ship, and told the commanders to come on
12066      shore; on which the brothers, and some men with them, went on the land.
12067      Now Thorer began the same discourse, and told them to bring the goods they
12068      got in booty to the land to have them divided. The brothers thought that
12069      was not necessary, until they had arrived at their own neighbourhood.
12070      Thorer said it was unusual not to divide booty but at their own home, and
12071      thus to be left to the honour of other people. They spoke some words about
12072      it, but could not agree. Then Thorer turned away; but had not gone far
12073      before he came back, and tells his comrades to wait there. Thereupon he
12074      calls to Karle, and says he wants to speak with him alone. Karle went to
12075      meet him; and when he came near, Thorer struck at him with a spear, so
12076      that it went through him. "There," said Thorer, "now thou hast learnt to
12077      know a Bjarkey Island man. I thought thou shouldst feel Asbjorn's spear."
12078      Karle died instantly, and Thorer with his people went immediately on board
12079      their ship. When Gunstein and his men saw Karle fall they ran instantly to
12080      him, took his body and carried it on board their ship, struck their tents,
12081      and cast off from the pier, and left the land. When Thorer and his men saw
12082      this, they took down their tents and made preparations to follow. But as
12083      they were hoisting the sail the fastenings to the mast broke in two, and
12084      the sail fell down across the ship, which caused a great delay before they
12085      could hoist the sail again. Gunstein had already got a long way ahead
12086      before Thorer's ship fetched way, and now they used both sails and oars.
12087      Gunstein did the same. On both sides they made great way day and night;
12088      but so that they did not gain much on each other, although when they came
12089      to the small sounds among the islands Gunstein's vessel was lighter in
12090      turning. But Thorer's ship made way upon them, so that when they came up
12091      to Lengjuvik, Gunstein turned towards the land, and with all his men ran
12092      up into the country, and left his ship. A little after Thorer came there
12093      with his ship, sprang upon the land after them, and pursued them. There
12094      was a woman who helped Gunstein to conceal himself, and it is told that
12095      she was much acquainted with witchcraft. Thorer and his men returned to
12096      the vessels, and took all the goods out of Gunstein's vessel, and put on
12097      board stones in place of the cargo, and then hauled the ship out into the
12098      fjord, cut a hole in its bottom, and sank it to the bottom. Thereafter
12099      Thorer, with his people, returned home to Bjarkey Isle. Gunstein and his
12100      people proceeded in small boats at first, and lay concealed by day, until
12101      they had passed Bjarkey, and had got beyond Thorer's district. Gunstein
12102      went home first to Langey Isle for a short time, and then proceeded south
12103      without any halt, until he came south to Throndhjem, and there found King
12104      Olaf, to whom he told all that had happened on this Bjarmaland expedition.
12105      The king was ill-pleased with the voyage, but told Gunstein to remain with
12106      him, promising to assist him when opportunity offered. Gunstein took the
12107      invitation with thanks, and stayed with King Olaf.
12108   ENDNOTES: (1) Ludr -the loor -is a long tube or roll of birch-bark
12109     used as a horn by the herdboys in the mountains in Norway.
12110    -L.
12111      144. MEETING OF KING OLAF AND KING ONUND.
12112      King Olaf was, as before related, in Sarpsborg the winter (A.D. 1026) that
12113      King Canute was in Denmark. The Swedish king Onund rode across West
12114      Gautland the same winter, and had thirty hundred (3600) men with him. Men
12115      and messages passed between them; and they agreed to meet in spring at
12116      Konungahella. The meeting had been postponed, because they wished to know
12117      before they met what King Canute intended doing. As it was now approaching
12118      towards winter, King Canute made ready to go over to England with his
12119      forces, and left his son Hardaknut to rule in Denmark, and with him Earl
12120      Ulf, a son of Thorgils Sprakaleg. Ulf was married to Astrid, King Svein's
12121      daughter, and sister of Canute the Great. Their son Svein was afterwards
12122      king of Denmark. Earl Ulf was a very distinguished man. When the kings
12123      Olaf and Onund heard that Canute the Great had gone west to England, they
12124      hastened to hold their conference, and met at Konungahella, on the Gaut
12125      river. They had a joyful meeting, and had many friendly conversations, of
12126      which something might become known to the public; but they also spake
12127      often a great deal between themselves, with none but themselves two
12128      present, of which only some things afterwards were carried into effect,
12129      and thus became known to every one. At parting the kings presented each
12130      other with gifts, and parted the best of friends. King Onund went up into
12131      Gautland, and Olaf northwards to Viken, and afterwards to Agder, and
12132      thence northwards along the coast, but lay a long time at Egersund waiting
12133      a wind. Here he heard that Erling Skjalgson, and the inhabitants of Jadar
12134      with him, had assembled a large force. One day the king's people were
12135      talking among themselves whether the wind was south or south-west, and
12136      whether with that wind they could sail past Jadar or not. The most said it
12137      was impossible to fetch round. Then answers Haldor Brynjolfson, "I am of
12138      opinion that we would go round Jadar with this wind fast enough if Erling
12139      Skjalgson had prepared a feast for us at Sole." Then King Olaf ordered the
12140      tents to be struck, and the vessels to be hauled out, which was done. They
12141      sailed the same day past Jadar with the best wind, and in the evening
12142      reached Hirtingsey, from whence the king proceeded to Hordaland, and was
12143      entertained there in guest-quarters.
12144      145. THORALF'S MURDER.
12145      The same summer (A.D. 1026) a ship sailed from Norway to the Farey
12146      Islands, with messengers carrying a verbal message from King Olaf, that
12147      one of his court-men, Leif Ossurson, or Lagman Gille, or Thoralf of Dimun,
12148      should come over to him from the Farey Islands. Now when this message came
12149      to the Farey Islands, and was delivered to those whom it concerned, they
12150      held a meeting among themselves, to consider what might lie under this
12151      message, and they were all of opinion that the king wanted to inquire into
12152      the real state of the event which some said had taken place upon the
12153      islands; namely, the failure and disappearance of the former messengers of
12154      the king, and the loss of the two ships, of which not a man had been
12155      saved. It was resolved that Thoralf should undertake the journey. He got
12156      himself ready, and rigged out a merchant-vessel belonging to himself,
12157      manned with ten or twelve men. When it was ready, waiting a wind, it
12158      happened, at Austrey, in the house of Thrand of Gata, that he went one
12159      fine day into the room where his brother's two sons, Sigurd and Thord,
12160      sons of Thorlak, were lying upon the benches in the room. Gaut the Red was
12161      also there, who was one of their relations and a man of distinction.
12162      Sigurd was the oldest, and their leader in all things. Thord had a
12163      distinguished name, and was called Thord the Low, although in reality he
12164      was uncommonly tall, and yet in proportion more strong than large. Then
12165      Thrand said, "How many things are changed in the course of a man's life!
12166      When we were young, it was rare for young people who were able to do
12167      anything to sit or lie still upon a fine day, and our forefathers would
12168      scarcely have believed that Thoralf of Dimun would be bolder and more
12169      active than ye are. I believe the vessel I have standing here in the
12170      boat-house will be so old that it will rot under its coat of tar. Here are
12171      all the houses full of wool, which is neither used nor sold. It should not
12172      be so if I were a few winters younger." Sigurd sprang up, called upon Gaut
12173      and Thord, and said he would not endure Thrand's scoffs. They went out to
12174      the houseservants, and launched the vessel upon the water, brought down a
12175      cargo, and loaded the ship. They had no want of a cargo at home, and the
12176      vessel's rigging was in good order, so that in a few days they were ready
12177      for sea. There were ten or twelve men in the vessel. Thoralf's ship and
12178      theirs had the same wind, and they were generally in sight of each other.
12179      They came to the land at Herna in the evening, and Sigurd with his vessel
12180      lay outside on the strand, but so that there was not much distance between
12181      the two ships. It happened towards evening, when it was dark, that just as
12182      Thoralf and his people were preparing to go to bed, Thoralf and another
12183      went on shore for a certain purpose. When they were ready, they prepared
12184      to return on board. The man who had accompanied Thoralf related afterwards
12185      this story, -that a cloth was thrown over his head, and that he was
12186      lifted up from the ground, and he heard a great bustle. He was taken away,
12187      and thrown head foremost down; but there was sea under him, and he sank
12188      under the water. When he got to land, he went to the place where he and
12189      Thoralf had been parted, and there he found Thoralf with his head cloven
12190      down to his shoulders, and dead. When the ship's people heard of it they
12191      carried the body out to the ship, and let it remain there all night. King
12192      Olaf was at that time in guest-quarters at Lygra, and thither they sent a
12193      message. Now a Thing was called by message-token, and the king came to the
12194      Thing. He had also ordered the Farey people of both vessels to be
12195      summoned, and they appeared at the Thing. Now when the Thing was seated,
12196      the king stood up and said, "Here an event has happened which (and it is
12197      well that it is so) is very seldom heard of. Here has a good man been put
12198      to death, without any cause. Is there any man upon the Thing who can say
12199      who has done it?"
12200      Nobody could answer.
12201      "Then," said the king, "I cannot conceal my suspicion that this deed has
12202      been done by the Farey people themselves. It appears to me that it has
12203      been done in this way, -that Sigurd Thorlakson has killed the man,
12204      and Thord the Low has cast his comrade into the sea. I think, too, that
12205      the motives to this must have been to hinder Thoralf from telling about
12206      the misdeed of which he had information; namely, the murder which I
12207      suspect was committed upon my messengers."
12208      When he had ended his speech, Sigurd Thorlakson stood up, and desired to
12209      be heard. "I have never before," said he, "spoken at a Thing, and I do not
12210      expect to be looked upon as a man of ready words. But I think there is
12211      sufficient necessity before me to reply something to this. I will venture
12212      to make a guess that the speech the king has made comes from some man's
12213      tongue who is of far less understanding and goodness than he is, and has
12214      evidently proceeded from those who are our enemies. It is speaking
12215      improbabilities to say that I could be Thoralf's murderer; for he was my
12216      foster-brother and good friend. Had the case been otherwise, and had there
12217      been anything outstanding between me and Thoralf, yet I am surely born
12218      with sufficient understanding to have done this deed in the Farey Islands,
12219      rather than here between your hands, sire. But I am ready to clear myself,
12220      and my whole ship's crew, of this act, and to make oath according to what
12221      stands in your laws. Or, if ye find it more satisfactory, I offer to clear
12222      myself by the ordeal of hot iron; and I wish, sire, that you may be
12223      present yourself at the proof."
12224      When Sigurd had ceased to speak there were many who supported his case,
12225      and begged the king that Sigurd might be allowed to clear himself of this
12226      accusation. They thought that Sigurd had spoken well, and that the
12227      accusation against him might be untrue.
12228      The king replies, "It may be with regard to this man very differently, and
12229      if he is belied in any respect he must be a good man; and if not, he is
12230      the boldest I have ever met with: and I believe this is the case, and that
12231      he will bear witness to it himself."
12232      At the desire of the people, the king took Sigurd's obligation to take the
12233      iron ordeal; he should come the following day to Lygra, where the bishop
12234      should preside at the ordeal; and so the Thing closed. The king went back
12235      to Lygra, and Sigurd and his comrades to their ship.
12236      As soon as it began to be dark at night Sigurd said to his ship's people.
12237      "To say the truth, we have come into a great misfortune; for a great lie
12238      is got up against us, and this king is a deceitful, crafty man. Our fate
12239      is easy to be foreseen where he rules; for first he made Thoralf be slain,
12240      and then made us the misdoers, without benefit of redemption by fine. For
12241      him it is an easy matter to manage the iron ordeal, so that I fear he will
12242      come ill off who tries it against him. Now there is coming a brisk
12243      mountain breeze, blowing right out of the sound and off the land; and it
12244      is my advice that we hoist our sail, and set out to sea. Let Thrand
12245      himself come with his wool to market another summer; but if I get away, it
12246      is my opinion I shall never think of coming to Norway again."
12247      His comrades thought the advice good, hoisted their sail, and in the
12248      night-time took to the open sea with all speed. They did not stop until
12249      they came to Farey, and home to Gata. Thrand was ill-pleased with their
12250      voyage, and they did not answer him in a very friendly way; but they
12251      remained at home, however, with Thrand. The morning after, King Olaf heard
12252      of Sigurd's departure, and heavy reports went round about this case; and
12253      there were many who believed that the accusation against Sigurd was true,
12254      although they had denied and opposed it before the king. King Olaf spoke
12255      but little about the matter, but seemed to know of a certainty that the
12256      suspicion he had taken up was founded in truth. The king afterwards
12257      proceeded in his progress, taking up his abode where it was provided for
12258      him.
12259      146. OF THE ICELANDERS.
12260      King Olaf called before him the men who had come from Iceland, Thorod
12261      Snorrason, Geller Thorkelson, Stein Skaptason, and Egil Halson, and spoke
12262      to them thus: -"Ye have spoken to me much in summer about making
12263      yourselves ready to return to Iceland, and I have never given you a
12264      distinct answer. Now I will tell you what my intention is. Thee, Geller, I
12265      propose to allow to return, if thou wilt carry my message there; but none
12266      of the other Icelanders who are now here may go to Iceland before I have
12267      heard how the message which thou, Geller, shalt bring thither has been
12268      received."
12269      When the king had made this resolution known, it appeared to those who had
12270      a great desire to return, and were thus forbidden, that they were
12271      unreasonably and hardly dealt with, and that they were placed in the
12272      condition of unfree men. In the meantime Geller got ready for his journey,
12273      and sailed in summer (A.D. 1026) to Iceland, taking with him the message
12274      he was to bring before the Thing the following summer (A.D. 1027). The
12275      king's message was, that he required the Icelanders to adopt the laws
12276      which he had set in Norway, also to pay him thane-tax and nose-tax (1);
12277      namely, a penny for every nose, and the penny at the rate of ten pennies
12278      to the yard of wadmal (2). At the same time he promised them his
12279      friendship if they accepted, and threatened them with all his vengeance if
12280      they refused his proposals.
12281      The people sat long in deliberation on this business; but at last they
12282      were unanimous in refusing all the taxes and burdens which were demanded
12283      of them. That summer Geller returned back from Iceland to Norway to King
12284      Olaf, and found him in autumn in the east in Viken, just as he had come
12285      from Gautland; of which I shall speak hereafter in this story of King
12286      Olaf. Towards the end of autumn King Olaf repaired north to Throndhjem,
12287      and went with his people to Nidaros, where he ordered a winter residence
12288      to be prepared for him. The winter (A.D. 1027) that he passed here in the
12289      merchant-town of Nidaros was the thirteenth year of his reign.
12290   ENDNOTES: (1) Nefgildi (nef=nose), a nose-tax or poll-tax payable to the
12291     king.  This ancient "nose-tax" was also imposed by the
12292     Norsemen on conquered countries, the penalty for defaulters
12293     being the loss of their nose.
12294(2) Wadmal was the coarse woollen cloth made in Iceland, and so
12295     generally used for clothing that it was a measure of value
12296     in the North, like money, for other commodities. -L.
12297      147. OF THE JAMTALAND PEOPLE.
12298      There was once a man called Ketil Jamte, a son of Earl Onund of Sparby, in
12299      the Throndhjem district. He fled over the ridge of mountains from Eystein
12300      Illrade, cleared the forest, and settled the country now called the
12301      province of Jamtaland. A great many people joined him from the Throndhjem
12302      land, on account of the disturbances there; for this King Eystein had laid
12303      taxes on the Throndhjem people, and set his dog, called Saur, to be king
12304      over them. Thorer Helsing was Ketil's grandson, and he colonised the
12305      province called Helsingjaland, which is named after him. When Harald
12306      Harfager subdued the kingdom by force, many people fled out of the country
12307      from him, both Throndhjem people and Naumudal people, and thus new
12308      settlements were added to Jamtaland; and some settlers went even eastwards
12309      to Helsingjaland and down to the Baltic coast, and all became subjects of
12310      the Swedish king. While Hakon Athelstan's foster-son was over Norway there
12311      was peace, and merchant traffic from Throndhjem to Jamtaland; and, as he
12312      was an excellent king, the Jamtalanders came from the east to him, paid
12313      him scat, and he gave them laws and administered justice. They would
12314      rather submit to his government than to the Swedish king's, because they
12315      were of Norwegian race; and all the Helsingjaland people, who had their
12316      descent from the north side of the mountain ridge, did the same. This
12317      continued long after those times, until Olaf the Thick and the Swedish
12318      king Olaf quarrelled about the boundaries. Then the Jamtaland and
12319      Helsingjaland people went back to the Swedish king; and then the forest of
12320      Eid was the eastern boundary of the land, and the mountain ridge, or keel
12321      of the country, the northern: and the Swedish king took scat of
12322      Helsingjaland, and also of Jamtaland. Now, thought the king of Norway,
12323      Olaf, in consequence of the agreement between him and the Swedish king,
12324      the scat of Jamtaland should be paid differently than before; although it
12325      had long been established that the Jamtaland people paid their scat to the
12326      Swedish king, and that he appointed officers over the country. The Swedes
12327      would listen to nothing, but that all the land to the east of the keel of
12328      the country belonged to the Swedish king. Now this went so, as it often
12329      happens, that although the kings were brothers-in-law and relations, each
12330      would hold fast the dominions which he thought he had a right to. King
12331      Olaf had sent a message round in Jamtaland, declaring it to be his will
12332      that the Jamtaland people should be subject to him, threatening them with
12333      violence if they refused; but the Jamtaland people preferred being
12334      subjects of the Swedish king.
12335      148. STEIN'S STORY.
12336      The Icelanders, Thorod Snorrason and Stein Skaptason, were ill-pleased at
12337      not being allowed to do as they liked. Stein was a remarkably handsome
12338      man, dexterous at all feats, a great poet, splendid in his apparel, and
12339      very ambitious of distinction. His father, Skapte, had composed a poem on
12340      King Olaf, which he had taught Stein, with the intention that he should
12341      bring it to King Olaf. Stein could not now restrain himself from making
12342      the king reproaches in word and speech, both in verse and prose. Both he
12343      and Thorod were imprudent in their conversation, and said the king would
12344      be looked upon as a worse man than those who, under faith and law, had
12345      sent their sons to him, as he now treated them as men without liberty. The
12346      king was angry at this. One day Stein stood before the king, and asked if
12347      he would listen to the poem which his father Skapte had composed about
12348      him. The king replies, "Thou must first repeat that, Stein, which thou
12349      hast composed about me." Stein replies, that it was not the case that he
12350      had composed any. "I am no skald, sire," said he; "and if I even could
12351      compose anything, it, and all that concerns me, would appear to thee of
12352      little value." Stein then went out, but thought he perceived what the king
12353      alluded to. Thorgeir, one of the king's land-bailiffs, who managed one of
12354      his farms in Orkadal, happened to be present, and heard the conversation
12355      of the king and Stein, and soon afterwards Thorgeir returned home. One
12356      night Stein left the city, and his footboy with him. They went up Gaularas
12357      and into Orkadal. One evening they came to one of the king's farms which
12358      Thorgeir had the management of, and Thorgeir invited Stein to pass the
12359      night there, and asked where he was travelling to. Stein begged the loan
12360      of a horse and sledge, for he saw they were just driving home corn.
12361      Thorgeir replies, "I do not exactly see how it stands with thy journey,
12362      and if thou art travelling with the king's leave. The other day, methinks,
12363      the words were not very sweet that passed between the king and thee."
12364      Stein said, "If it be so that I am not my own master for the king, yet I
12365      will not submit to such treatment from his slaves;" and, drawing his
12366      sword, he killed the landbailiff. Then he took the horse, put the boy upon
12367      him, and sat himself in the sledge, and so drove the whole night. They
12368      travelled until they came to Surnadal in More. There they had themselves
12369      ferried across the fjord, and proceeded onwards as fast as they could.
12370      They told nobody about the murder, but wherever they came called
12371      themselves king's men, and met good entertainment everywhere. One day at
12372      last they came towards evening to Giske Isle, to Thorberg Arnason's house.
12373      He was not at home himself, but his wife Ragnhild, a daughter of Erling
12374      Skjalgson, was. There Stein was well received, because formerly there had
12375      been great friendship between them. It had once happened, namely, that
12376      Stein, on his voyage from Iceland with his own vessel, had come to Giske
12377      from sea, and had anchored at the island. At that time Ragnhild was in the
12378      pains of childbirth, and very ill, and there was no priest on the island,
12379      or in the neighbourhood of it. There came a message to the merchant-vessel
12380      to inquire if, by chance, there was a priest on board. There happened to
12381      be a priest in the vessel, who was called Bard; but he was a young man
12382      from Westfjord, who had little learning. The messengers begged the priest
12383      to go with them, but he thought it was a difficult matter: for he knew his
12384      own ignorance, and would not go. Stein added his word to persuade the
12385      priest. The priest replies, "I will go if thou wilt go with me; for then I
12386      will have confidence, if I should require advice." Stein said he was
12387      willing; and they went forthwith to the house, and to where Ragnhild was
12388      in labour. Soon after she brought forth a female child, which appeared to
12389      be rather weak. Then the priest baptized the infant, and Stein held it at
12390      the baptism, at which it got the name of Thora; and Stein gave it a gold
12391      ring. Ragnhild promised Stein her perfect friendship, and bade him come to
12392      her whenever he thought he required her help. Stein replied that he would
12393      hold no other female child at baptism, and then they parted. Now it was
12394      come to the time when Stein required this kind promise of Ragnhild to be
12395      fulfilled, and he told her what had happened, and that the king's wrath
12396      had fallen upon him. She answered, that all the aid she could give should
12397      stand at his service; but bade him wait for Thorberg's arrival. She then
12398      showed him to a seat beside her son Eystein Orre, who was then twelve
12399      years old. Stein presented gifts to Ragnhild and Eystein. Thorberg had
12400      already heard how Stein had conducted himself before he got home, and was
12401      rather vexed at it. Ragnhild went to him, and told him how matters stood
12402      with Stein, and begged Thorberg to receive him, and take care of him.
12403      Thorberg replies, "I have heard that the king, after sending out a
12404      message-token, held a Thing concerning the murder of Thorgeir, and has
12405      condemned Stein as having fled the country, and likewise that the king is
12406      highly incensed: and I have too much sense to take the cause of a
12407      foreigner in hand, and draw upon myself the king's wrath. Let Stein,
12408      therefore, withdraw from hence as quickly as thou canst."
12409      Ragnhild replied, that they should either both go or both stay.
12410      Thorberg told her to go where she pleased. "For I expect," said he, "that
12411      wherever thou goest thou wilt soon come back, for here is thy importance
12412      greatest."
12413      Her son Eystein Orre then stood forward, and said he would not stay behind
12414      if Ragnhild goes.
12415      Thorberg said that they showed themselves very stiff and obstinate in this
12416      matter. "And it appears that ye must have your way in it, since ye take it
12417      so near to heart; but thou art reckoning too much, Ragnhild, upon thy
12418      descent, in paying so little regard to King Olaf's word."
12419      Ragnhild replied, "If thou art so much afraid to keep Stein with thee
12420      here, go with him to my father Erling, or give him attendants, so that he
12421      may get there in safety." Thorberg said he would not send Stein there;
12422      "for there are enough of things besides to enrage the king against
12423      Erling." Stein thus remained there all winter (A.D. 1027).
12424      After Yule a king's messenger came to Thorberg, with the order that
12425      Thorberg should come to him before midsummer; and the order was serious
12426      and severe. Thorberg laid it before his friends, and asked their advice if
12427      he should venture to go to the king after what had taken place. The
12428      greater number dissuaded him, and thought it more advisable to let Stein
12429      slip out of his hands than to venture within the king's power: but
12430      Thorberg himself had rather more inclination not to decline the journey.
12431      Soon after Thorberg went to his brother Fin, told him the circumstances,
12432      and asked him to accompany him. Fin replied, that he thought it foolish to
12433      be so completely under woman's influence that he dared not, on account of
12434      his wife, keep the fealty and law of his sovereign.
12435      "Thou art free," replied Thorberg, "to go with me or not; but I believe it
12436      is more fear of the king than love to him that keeps thee back." And so
12437      they parted in anger.
12438      Then Thorberg went to his brother Arne Arnason, and asked him to go with
12439      him to the king. Arne says, "It appears to me wonderful that such a
12440      sensible, prudent man, should fall into such a misfortune, without
12441      necessity, as to incur the king's indignation. It might be excused if it
12442      were thy relation or foster-brother whom thou hadst thus sheltered; but
12443      not at all that thou shouldst take up an Iceland man, and harbour the
12444      king's outlaw, to the injury of thyself and all thy relations."
12445      Thorberg replies, "It stands good, according to the proverb, -a
12446      rotten branch will be found in every tree. My father's greatest misfortune
12447      evidently was that he had such ill luck in producing sons that at last he
12448      produced one incapable of acting, and without any resemblance to our race,
12449      and whom in truth I never would have called brother, if it were not that
12450      it would have been to my mother's shame to have refused."
12451      Thorberg turned away in a gloomy temper, and went home. Thereafter he sent
12452      a message to his brother Kalf in the Throndhjem district, and begged him
12453      to meet him at Agdanes; and when the messengers found Kalf he promised,
12454      without more ado, to make the journey. Ragnhild sent men east to Jadar to
12455      her father Erling, and begged him to send people. Erling's sons, Sigurd
12456      and Thord, came out, each with a ship of twenty benches of rowers and
12457      ninety men. When they came north Thorberg received them joyfully,
12458      entertained them well, and prepared for the voyage with them. Thorberg had
12459      also a vessel with twenty benches, and they steered their course
12460      northwards. When they came to the mouth of the Throndhjem fjord Thorberg's
12461      two brothers, Fin and Arne, were there already, with two ships each of
12462      twenty benches. Thorberg met his brothers with joy, and observed that his
12463      whetstone had taken effect; and Fin replied he seldom needed sharpening
12464      for such work. Then they proceeded north with all their forces to
12465      Throndhjem, and Stein was along with them. When they came to Agdanes, Kaff
12466      Arnason was there before them; and he also had a wellmanned ship of twenty
12467      benches. With this war-force they sailed up to Nidaros, where they lay all
12468      night. The morning after they had a consultation with each other. Kalf and
12469      Erling's sons were for attacking the town with all their forces, and
12470      leaving the event to fate; but Thorberg wished that they should first
12471      proceed with moderation, and make an offer; in which opinion Fin and Arne
12472      also concurred. It was accordingly resolved that Fin and Arne, with a few
12473      men, should first wait upon the king. The king had previously heard that
12474      they had come so strong in men, and was therefore very sharp in his
12475      speech. Fin offered to pay mulct for Thorberg, and also for Stein, and
12476      bade the king to fix what the penalties should be, however large;
12477      stipulating only for Thorberg safety and his fiefs, and for Stein life and
12478      limb.
12479      The king replies, "It appears to me that ye come from home so equipped
12480      that ye can determine half as much as I can myself, or more; but this I
12481      expected least of all from you brothers, that ye should come against me
12482      with an army; and this counsel, I can observe, has its origin from the
12483      people of Jadar; but ye have no occasion to offer me money in mulct."
12484      Fin replies, "We brothers have collected men, not to offer hostility to
12485      you, sire, but to offer rather our services; but if you will bear down
12486      Thorberg altogether, we must all go to King Canute the Great with such
12487      forces as we have."
12488      Then the king looked at him, and said, "If ye brothers will give your
12489      oaths that ye will follow me in the country and out of the country, and
12490      not part from me without my leave and permission, and shall not conceal
12491      from me any treasonable design that may come to your knowledge against me,
12492      then will I agree to a peace with you brothers."
12493      Then Fin returned to his forces, and told the conditions which the king
12494      had proposed to them. Now they held a council upon it, and Thorberg, for
12495      his part, said he would accept the terms offered. "I have no wish," says
12496      he, "to fly from my property, and seek foreign masters; but, on the
12497      contrary, will always consider it an honour to follow King Olaf, and be
12498      where he is." Then says Kalf, "I will make no oath to King Olaf, but will
12499      be with him always, so long as I retain my fiefs and dignities, and so
12500      long as the king will be my friend; and my opinion is that we should all
12501      do the same." Fin says, "we will venture to let King Olaf himself
12502      determine in this matter." Arne Arnason says, "I was resolved to follow
12503      thee, brother Thorberg, even if thou hadst given battle to King Olaf, and
12504      I shall certainly not leave thee for listening to better counsel; so I
12505      intend to follow thee and Fin, and accept the conditions ye have taken."
12506      Thereupon the brothers Thorberg, Fin, and Arne, went on board a vessel,
12507      rowed into the fjord, and waited upon the king. The agreement went
12508      accordingly into fulfillment, so that the brothers gave their oaths to the
12509      king. Then Thorberg endeavored to make peace for Stein with the king; but
12510      the king replied that Stein might for him depart in safety, and go where
12511      he pleased, but "in my house he can never be again." Then Thorberg and his
12512      brothers went back to their men. Kalf went to Eggja, and Fin to the king;
12513      and Thorberg, with the other men, went south to their homes. Stein went
12514      with Erling's sons; but early in the spring (A.D. 1027) he went west to
12515      England into the service of Canute the Great, and was long with him, and
12516      was treated with great distinction.
12517      149. FIN ARNASON'S EXPEDITION TO HALOGALAND.
12518      Now when Fin Arnason had been a short time with King Olaf, the king called
12519      him to a conference, along with some other persons he usually held
12520      consultation with; and in this conference the king spoke to this effect: -"The
12521      decision remains fixed in my mind that in spring I should raise the whole
12522      country to a levy both of men and ships, and then proceed, with all the
12523      force I can muster, against King Canute the Great: for I know for certain
12524      that he does not intend to treat as a jest the claim he has awakened upon
12525      my kingdom. Now I let thee know my will, Fin Arnason, that thou proceed on
12526      my errand to Halogaland, and raise the people there to an expedition, men
12527      and ships, and summon that force to meet me at Agdanes." Then the king
12528      named other men whom he sent to Throndhjem, and some southwards in the
12529      country, and he commanded that this order should be circulated through the
12530      whole land. Of Fin's voyage we have to relate that he had with him a ship
12531      with about thirty men, and when he was ready for sea he prosecuted his
12532      journey until he came to Halogaland. There he summoned the bondes to a
12533      Thing, laid before them his errand, and craved a levy. The bondes in that
12534      district had large vessels, suited to a levy expedition, and they obeyed
12535      the king's message, and rigged their ships. Now when Fin came farther
12536      north in Halogaland he held a Thing again, and sent some of his men from
12537      him to crave a levy where he thought it necessary. He sent also men to
12538      Bjarkey Island to Thorer Hund, and there, as elsewhere, craved the quota
12539      to the levy. When the message came to Thorer he made himself ready, and
12540      manned with his house-servants the same vessel he had sailed with on his
12541      cruise to Bjarmaland, and which he equipped at his own expense. Fin
12542      summoned all the people of Halogaland who were to the north to meet at
12543      Vagar. There came a great fleet together in spring, and they waited there
12544      until Fin returned from the North. Thorer Hund had also come there. When
12545      Fin arrived he ordered the signal to sound for all the people of the levy
12546      to attend a House-Thing; and at it all the men produced their weapons, and
12547      also the fighting men from each ship-district were mustered. When that was
12548      all finished Fin said, "I have also to bring thee a salutation, Thorer
12549      Hund, from King Olaf, and to ask thee what thou wilt offer him for the
12550      murder of his court-man Karle, or for the robbery in taking the king's
12551      goods north in Lengjuvik. I have the king's orders to settle that
12552      business, and I wait thy answer to it."
12553      Thorer looked about him, and saw standing on both sides many fully armed
12554      men, among whom were Gunstein and others of Karle's kindred. Then said
12555      Thorer, "My proposal is soon made. I will refer altogether to the king's
12556      pleasure the matter he thinks he has against me."
12557      Fin replies, "Thou must put up with a less honour; for thou must refer the
12558      matter altogether to my decision, if any agreement is to take place."
12559      Thorer replies, "And even then I think it will stand well with my case,
12560      and therefore I will not decline referring it to thee."
12561      Thereupon Thorer came forward, and confirmed what he said by giving his
12562      hand upon it; and Fin repeated first all the words he should say.
12563      Fin now pronounced his decision upon the agreement, -that Thorer
12564      should pay to the king ten marks of gold, and to Gunstein and the other
12565      kindred ten marks, and for the robbery and loss of goods ten marks more;
12566      and all which should be paid immediately.
12567      Thorer says, "This is a heavy money mulct."
12568      "Without it," replies Fin, "there will be no agreement."
12569      Thorer says, there must time be allowed to gather so much in loan from his
12570      followers; but Fin told him to pay immediately on the spot; and besides,
12571      Thorer should lay down the great ornament which he took from Karle when he
12572      was dead. Thorer asserted that he had not got the ornament. Then Gunstein
12573      pressed forward, and said that Karle had the ornament around his neck when
12574      they parted, but it was gone when they took up his corpse. Thorer said he
12575      had not observed any ornament; but if there was any such thing, it must be
12576      lying at home in Bjarkey. Then Fin put the point of his spear to Thorer's
12577      breast, and said that he must instantly produce the ornament; on which
12578      Thorer took the ornament from his neck and gave it to Fin. Thereafter
12579      Thorer turned away, and went on board his ship. Fin, with many other men,
12580      followed him, went through the whole vessel, and took up the hatches. At
12581      the mast they saw two very large casks; and Fin asked, "What are these
12582      puncheons?"
12583      Thorer replies, "It is my liquor."
12584      Fin says, "Why don't you give us something to drink then, comrade, since
12585      you have so much liquor?"
12586      Thorer ordered his men to run off a bowlfull from the puncheons, from
12587      which Fin and his people got liquor of the best quality. Now Fin ordered
12588      Thorer to pay the mulcts. Thorer went backwards and forwards through the
12589      ship, speaking now to the one, now to the other, and Fin calling out to
12590      produce the pence. Thorer begged him to go to the shore, and said he would
12591      bring the money there, and Fin with his men went on shore. Then Thorer
12592      came and paid silver; of which, from one purse, there were weighed ten
12593      marks. Thereafter Thorer brought many knotted nightcaps; and in some was
12594      one mark, in others half a mark, and in others some small money. "This is
12595      money my friends and other good people have lent me," said he; "for I
12596      think all my travelling money is gone." Then Thorer went back again to his
12597      ship, and returned, and paid the silver by little and little; and this
12598      lasted so long that the day was drawing towards evening. When the Thing
12599      had closed the people had gone to their vessels, and made ready to depart;
12600      and as fast as they were ready they hoisted sail and set out, so that most
12601      of them were under sail. When Fin saw that they were most of them under
12602      sail, he ordered his men to get ready too; but as yet little more than a
12603      third part of the mulct had been paid. Then Fin said, "This goes on very
12604      slowly, Thorer, with the payment. I see it costs thee a great deal to pay
12605      money. I shall now let it stand for the present, and what remains thou
12606      shalt pay to the king himself." Fin then got up and went away.
12607      Thorer replies, "I am well enough pleased, Fin, to part now; but the good
12608      will is not wanting to pay this debt, so that both thou and the king shall
12609      say it is not unpaid."
12610      Then Fin went on board his ship, and followed the rest of his fleet.
12611      Thorer was late before he was ready to come out of the harbour. When the
12612      sails were hoisted he steered out over Westfjord, and went to sea, keeping
12613      south along the land so far off that the hill-tops were half sunk, and
12614      soon the land altogether was sunk from view by the sea. Thorer held this
12615      course until he got into the English sea, and landed in England. He betook
12616      himself to King Canute forthwith, and was well received by him. It then
12617      came out that Thorer had with him a great deal of property; and, with
12618      other things, all the money he and Karle had taken in Bjarmaland. In the
12619      great liquor-casks there were sides within the outer sides, and the liquor
12620      was between them. The rest of the casks were filled with furs, and beaver
12621      and sable skins. Thorer was then with King Canute. Fin came with his
12622      forces to King Olaf, and related to him how all had gone upon his voyage,
12623      and told at the same time his suspicion that Thorer had left the country,
12624      and gone west to England to King Canute. "And there I fear he will cause
12625      as much trouble."
12626      The king replies, "I believe that Thorer must be our enemy, and it appears
12627      to me always better to have him at a distance than near."
12628      150. DISPUTE BETWEEN HAREK AND ASMUND.
12629      Asmund Grankelson had been this winter (A.D. 1027) in Halogaland in his
12630      sheriffdom, and was at home with his father Grankel. There lies a rock out
12631      in the sea, on which there is both seal and bird catching, and a fishing
12632      ground, and egg-gathering; and from old times it had been an appendage to
12633      the farm which Grankel owned, but now Harek of Thjotta laid claim to it.
12634      It had gone so far, that some years he had taken by force all the gain of
12635      this rock; but Asmund and his father thought that they might expect the
12636      king's help in all cases in which the right was upon their side. Both
12637      father and son went therefore in spring to Harek, and brought him a
12638      message and tokens from King Olaf that he should drop his claim. Harek
12639      answered Asmund crossly, because he had gone to the king with such
12640      insinuations -"for the just right is upon my side. Thou shouldst
12641      learn moderation, Asmund, although thou hast so much confidence in the
12642      king's favour. It has succeeded with thee to kill some chiefs, and leave
12643      their slaughter unpaid for by any mulct; and also to plunder us, although
12644      we thought ourselves at least equal to all of equal birth, and thou art
12645      far from being my equal in family."
12646      Asmund replies, "Many have experienced from thee, Harek, that thou art of
12647      great connections, and too great power; and many in consequence have
12648      suffered loss in their property through thee. But it is likely that now
12649      thou must turn thyself elsewhere, and not against us with thy violence,
12650      and not go altogether against law, as thou art now doing." Then they
12651      separated.
12652      Harek sent ten or twelve of his house-servants with a large rowing boat,
12653      with which they rowed to the rock, took all that was to be got upon it,
12654      and loaded their boat. But when they were ready to return home, Asmund
12655      Grankelson came with thirty men, and ordered them to give up all they had
12656      taken. Harek's house-servants were not quick in complying, so that Asmund
12657      attacked them. Some of Harek's men were cudgelled, some wounded, some
12658      thrown into the sea, and all they had caught was taken from on board of
12659      their boat, and Asmund and his people took it along with them. Then
12660      Harek's servants came home, and told him the event. Harek replies, "That
12661      is called news indeed that seldom happens; never before has it happened
12662      that my people have been beaten."
12663      The matter dropped. Harek never spoke about it, but was very cheerful. In
12664      spring, however, Harek rigged out a cutter of twenty seats of rowers, and
12665      manned it with his house-servants, and the ship was remarkably well fitted
12666      out both with people and all necessary equipment; and Harek went to the
12667      levy; but when he came to King Olaf, Asmund was there before him. The king
12668      summoned Harek and Asmund to him, and reconciled them so that they left
12669      the matter entirely to him. Asmund then produced witnesses to prove that
12670      Grankel had owned the rock, and the king gave judgment accordingly. The
12671      case had a one-sided result. No mulct was paid for Harek's house-servants,
12672      and the rock was declared to be Grankel's. Harek observed it was no
12673      disgrace to obey the king's decision, whatever way the case itself was
12674      decided.
12675      151. THOROD'S STORY.
12676      Thorod Snorrason had remained in Norway, according to King Olaf's
12677      commands, when Geller Thorkelson got leave to go to Iceland, as before
12678      related. He remained there (A.D. 1027) with King Olaf, but was ill pleased
12679      that he was not free to travel where he pleased. Early in winter, King
12680      Olaf, when he was in Nidaros, made it known that he would send people to
12681      Jamtaland to collect the scat; but nobody had any great desire to go on
12682      this business, after the fate of those whom King Olaf had sent before,
12683      namely, Thrand White and others, twelve in number, who lost their lives,
12684      as before related; and the Jamtalanders had ever since been subject to the
12685      Swedish king. Thorod Snorrason now offered to undertake this journey, for
12686      he cared little what became of him if he could but become his own master
12687      again. The king consented, and Thorod set out with eleven men in company.
12688      They came east to Jamtaland, and went to a man called Thorar, who was
12689      lagman, and a person in high estimation. They met with a hospitable
12690      reception; and when they had been there a while, they explained their
12691      business to Thorar. He replied, that other men and chiefs of the country
12692      had in all respects as much power and right to give an answer as he had,
12693      and for that purpose he would call together a Thing. It was so done; the
12694      message-token was sent out, and a numerous Thing assembled. Thorar went to
12695      the Thing, but the messengers in the meantime remained at home. At the
12696      Thing, Thorar laid the business before the people, but all were unanimous
12697      that no scat should be paid to the king of Norway; and some were for
12698      hanging the messengers, others for sacrificing them to the gods. At last
12699      it was resolved to hold them fast until the king of Sweden's sheriffs
12700      arrived, and they could treat them as they pleased with consent of the
12701      people; and that, in the meantime, this decision should be concealed, and
12702      the messengers treated well, and detained under pretext that they must
12703      wait until the scat is collected; and that they should be separated, and
12704      placed two and two, as if for the convenience of boarding them. Thorod and
12705      another remained in Thorar's house. There was a great Yule feast and
12706      ale-drinking, to which each brought his own liquor; for there were many
12707      peasants in the village, who all drank in company together at Yule. There
12708      was another village not far distant, where Thorar's brother-in-law dwelt,
12709      who was a rich and powerful man, and had a grown-up son. The
12710      brothers-in-law intended to pass the Yule in drinking feasts, half of it
12711      at the house of the one and half with the other; and the feast began at
12712      Thorar's house. The brothers-in-law drank together, and Thorod and the
12713      sons of the peasants by themselves; and it was a drinking match. In the
12714      evening words arose, and comparisons between the men of Sweden and of
12715      Norway, and then between their kings both of former times and at the
12716      present, and of the manslaughters and robberies that had taken place
12717      between the countries. Then said the peasants sons, "If our king has lost
12718      most people, his sheriffs will make it even with the lives of twelve men
12719      when they come from the south after Yule; and ye little know, ye silly
12720      fools, why ye are kept here." Thorod took notice of these words, and many
12721      made jest about it, and scoffed at them and their king. When the ale began
12722      to talk out of the hearts of the Jamtalanders, what Thorod had before long
12723      suspected became evident. The day after Thorod and his comrade took all
12724      their clothes and weapons, and laid them ready; and at night, when the
12725      people were all asleep, they fled to the forest. The next morning, when
12726      the Jamtalanders were aware of their flight, men set out after them with
12727      dogs to trace them, and found them in a wood in which they had concealed
12728      themselves. They brought them home to a room in which there was a deep
12729      cellar, into which they were thrown, and the door locked upon them. They
12730      had little meat, and only the clothes they had on them. In the middle of
12731      Yule, Thorar, with all his freeborn men, went to his brother's-in-law,
12732      where he was to be a guest until the last of Yule. Thorar's slaves were to
12733      keep guard upon the cellar, and they were provided with plenty of liquor;
12734      but as they observed no moderation in drinking, they became towards
12735      evening confused in the head with the ale. As they were quite drunk, those
12736      who had to bring meat to the prisoners in the cellar said among themselves
12737      that they should want for nothing. Thorod amused the slaves by singing to
12738      them. They said he was a clever man, and gave him a large candle that was
12739      lighted; and the slaves who were in went to call the others to come in;
12740      but they were all so confused with the ale, that in going out they neither
12741      locked the cellar nor the room after them. Now Thorod and his comrades
12742      tore up their skin clothes in strips, knotted them together, made a noose
12743      at one end, and threw up the rope on the floor of the room. It fastened
12744      itself around a chest, by which they tried to haul themselves up. Thorod
12745      lifted up his comrade until he stood on his shoulders, and from thence
12746      scrambled up through the hatchhole. There was no want of ropes in the
12747      chamber, and he threw a rope down to Thorod; but when he tried to draw him
12748      up, he could not move him from the spot. Then Thorod told him to cast the
12749      rope over a cross-beam that was in the house, make a loop in it, and place
12750      as much wood and stones in the loop as would outweigh him; and the heavy
12751      weight went down into the cellar, and Thorod was drawn up by it. Now they
12752      took as much clothes as they required in the room; and among other things
12753      they took some reindeer hides, out of which they cut sandals, and bound
12754      them under their feet, with the hoofs of the reindeer feet trailing
12755      behind. But before they set off they set fire to a large corn barn which
12756      was close by, and then ran out into the pitch-dark night. The barn blazed,
12757      and set fire to many other houses in the village. Thorod and his comrade
12758      travelled the whole night until they came to a lonely wood, where they
12759      concealed themselves when it was daylight. In the morning they were
12760      missed. There was chase made with dogs to trace the footsteps all round
12761      the house; but the hounds always came back to the house, for they had the
12762      smell of the reindeer hoofs, and followed the scent back on the road that
12763      the hoofs had left, and therefore could not find the right direction.
12764      Thorod and his comrade wandered long about in the desert forest, and came
12765      one evening to a small house, and went in. A man and a woman were sitting
12766      by the fire. The man called himself Thorer, and said it was his wife who
12767      was sitting there, and the hut belonged to them. The peasant asked them to
12768      stop there, at which they were well pleased. He told them that he had come
12769      to this place, because he had fled from the inhabited district on account
12770      of a murder. Thorod and his comrade were well received, and they all got
12771      their supper at the fireside; and then the benches were cleared for them,
12772      and they lay down to sleep, but the fire was still burning with a clear
12773      light. Thorod saw a man come in from another house, and never had he seen
12774      so stout a man. He was dressed in a scarlet cloak beset with gold clasps,
12775      and was of very handsome appearance. Thorod heard him scold them for
12776      taking guests, when they had scarcely food for themselves. The housewife
12777      said, "Be not angry, brother; seldom such a thing happens; and rather do
12778      them some good too, for thou hast better opportunity to do so than we."
12779      Thorod heard also the stout man named by the name of Arnliot Gelline, and
12780      observed that the woman of the house was his sister. Thorod had heard
12781      speak of Arnliot as the greatest-of robbers and malefactors. Thorod and
12782      his companion slept the first part of the night, for they were wearied
12783      with walking; but when a third of the night was still to come, Arnliot
12784      awoke them, told them to get up, and make ready to depart. They arose
12785      immediately, put on their clothes, and some breakfast was given them; and
12786      Arnliot gave each of them also a pair of skees. Arnliot made himself ready
12787      to accompany them, and got upon his skees, which were both broad and long;
12788      but scarcely had he swung his skee-staff before he was a long way past
12789      them. He waited for them, and said they would make no progress in this
12790      way, and told them to stand upon the edge of his skees beside him. They
12791      did so. Thorod stood nearest to him, and held by Arnliot's belt, and his
12792      comrade held by him. Arnliot strode on as quickly with them both, as if he
12793      was alone and without any weight. The following day they came, towards
12794      night, to a lodge for travellers, struck fire, and prepared some food; but
12795      Arnliot told them to throw away nothing of their food, neither bones nor
12796      crumbs. Arnliot took a silver plate out of the pocket of his cloak, and
12797      ate from it. When they were done eating, Arnliot gathered up the remains
12798      of their meal, and they prepared to go to sleep. In the other end of the
12799      house there was a loft upon cross-beams, and Arnliot and the others went
12800      up, and laid themselves down to sleep. Arnliot had a large halberd, of
12801      which the upper part was mounted with gold, and the shaft was so long that
12802      with his arm stretched out he could scarcely touch the top of it; and he
12803      was girt with a sword. They had both their weapons and their clothes up in
12804      the loft beside them. Arnliot, who lay outermost in the loft, told them to
12805      be perfectly quiet. Soon after twelve men came to the house, who were
12806      merchants going with their wares to Jamtaland; and when they came into the
12807      house they made a great disturbance, were merry, and made a great fire
12808      before them; and when they took their supper they cast away all the bones
12809      around them. They then prepared to go to sleep, and laid themselves down
12810      upon the benches around the fire. When they, had been asleep a short time,
12811      a huge witch came into the house; and when she came in, she carefully
12812      swept together all the bones and whatever was of food kind into a heap,
12813      and threw it into her mouth. Then she gripped the man who was nearest to
12814      her, riving and tearing him asunder, and threw him upon the fire. The
12815      others awoke in dreadful fright, and sprang up, but she took them, and put
12816      them one by one to death, so that only one remained in life. He ran under
12817      the loft calling for help, and if there was any one on the loft to help
12818      him. Arnliot reached down his hand, seized him by the shoulder, and drew
12819      him up into the loft. The witch-wife had turned towards the fire, and
12820      began to eat the men who were roasting. Now Arnliot stood up, took his
12821      halberd, and struck her between the shoulders, so that the point came out
12822      at her breast. She writhed with it, gave a dreadful shriek, and sprang up.
12823      The halberd slipped from Arnliot's hands, and she ran out with it. Arnliot
12824      then went in; cleared away the dead corpses out of the house; set the door
12825      and the door-posts up, for she had torn them down in going out; and they
12826      slept the rest of the night. When the day broke they got up; and first
12827      they took their breakfast. When they had got food, Arnliot said, "Now we
12828      must part here. Ye can proceed upon the new-traced path the merchants have
12829      made in coming here yesterday. In the meantime I will seek after my
12830      halberd, and in reward for my labour I will take so much of the goods
12831      these men had with them as I find useful to me. Thou, Thorod, must take my
12832      salutation to King Olaf; and say to him that he is the man I am most
12833      desirous to see, although my salutation may appear to him of little
12834      worth." Then he took his silver plate, wiped it dry with a cloth, and
12835      said, "Give King Olaf this plate; salute him, and say it is from me." Then
12836      they made themselves ready for their journey, and parted. Thorod went on
12837      with his comrade and the man of the merchants company who had escaped. He
12838      proceeded until he came to King Olaf in the town (Nidaros); told the king
12839      all that had happened, and presented to him the silver plate. The king
12840      said it was wrong that Arnliot himself had not come to him; "for it is a
12841      pity so brave a hero, and so distinguished a man, should have given
12842      himself up to misdeeds."
12843      Thorod remained the rest of the winter with the king, and in summer got
12844      leave to return to Iceland; and he and King Olaf parted the best of
12845      friends.
12846      152. KING OLAF'S LEVY OF MEN.
12847      King Olaf made ready in spring (A.D. 1027) to leave Nidaros, and many
12848      people were assembled about him, both from Throndhjem and the Northern
12849      country; and when he was ready he proceeded first with his men to More,
12850      where he gathered the men of the levy, and did the same at Raumsdal. He
12851      went from thence to South More. He lay a long time at the Herey Isles
12852      waiting for his forces; and he often held House-things, as many reports
12853      came to his ears about which he thought it necessary to hold councils. In
12854      one of these Things he made a speech, in which he spoke of the loss he
12855      suffered from the Farey islanders. "The scat which they promised me," he
12856      said, "is not forthcoming; and I now intend to send men thither after it."
12857      Then he proposed to different men to undertake this expedition; but the
12858      answer was, that all declined the adventure.
12859      Then there stood up a stout and very remarkable looking man in the Thing.
12860      He was clad in a red kirtle, had a helmet on his head, a sword in his
12861      belt, and a large halberd in his hands. He took up the word and said, "In
12862      truth here is a great want of men. Ye have a good king; but ye are bad
12863      servants who say no to this expedition he offers you, although ye have
12864      received many gifts of friendship and tokens of honour from him. I have
12865      hitherto been no friend of the king, and he has been my enemy, and says,
12866      besides, that he has good grounds for being so. Now, I offer, sire, to go
12867      upon this expedition, if no better will undertake it."
12868      The king answers, "Who is this brave man who replies to my offer? Thou
12869      showest thyself different from the other men here present, in offering
12870      thyself for this expedition from which they excuse themselves, although I
12871      expected they would willingly have undertaken it; but I do not know thee
12872      in the least, and do not know thy name."
12873      He replies, "My name, sire, is not difficult to know, and I think thou
12874      hast heard my name before. I am Karl Morske."
12875      The king -"So this is Karl! I have indeed heard thy name before; and,
12876      to say the truth, there was a time when our meeting must have been such,
12877      if I had had my will; that thou shouldst not have had to tell it now. But
12878      I will not show myself worse than thou, but will join my thanks and my
12879      favour to the side of the help thou hast offered me. Now thou shalt come
12880      to me, Karl, and be my guest to-day; and then we shall consult together
12881      about this business." Karl said it should be so.
12882      153. KARL MORSKE'S STORY.
12883      Karl Morske had been a viking, and a celebrated robber. Often had the king
12884      sent out men against him, and wished to make an end of him; but Karl, who
12885      was a man of high connection, was quick in all his doing's, and besides a
12886      man of great dexterity, and expert in all feats. Now when Karl had
12887      undertaken this business the king was reconciled to him, gave him his
12888      friendship, and let him be fitted out in the best manner for this
12889      expedition. There were about twenty men in the ship; and the king sent
12890      messages to his friends in the Farey Islands, and recommended him also to
12891      Leif Ossurson and Lagman Gille, for aid and defence; and for this purpose
12892      furnished Karl with tokens of the full powers given him. Karl set out as
12893      soon as he was ready; and as he got a favourable breeze soon came to the
12894      Farey Islands, and landed at Thorshavn, in the island Straumey. A Thing
12895      was called, to which there came a great number of people. Thrand of Gata
12896      came with a great retinue, and Leif and Gille came there also, with many
12897      in their following. After they had set up their tents, and put themselves
12898      in order, they went to Karl Morske, and saluted each other on both sides
12899      in a friendly way. Then Karl produced King Olaf's words, tokens, and
12900      friendly message to Leif and Gille, who received them in a friendly
12901      manner, invited Karl to come to them, and promised him to support his
12902      errand, and give him all the aid in their power, for which he thanked
12903      them. Soon after came Thrand of Gata, who also received Karl in the most
12904      friendly manner, and said he was glad to see so able a man coming to their
12905      country on the king's business, which they were all bound to promote. "I
12906      will insist, Karl," says he, "on thy taking-up thy winter abode with me,
12907      together with all those of thy people who may appear to thee necessary for
12908      thy dignity."
12909      Karl replies, that he had already settled to lodge with Leif; "otherwise I
12910      would with great pleasure have accepted thy invitation."
12911      "Then fate has given great honour to Leif," says Thrand; "but is there any
12912      other way in which I can be of service?"
12913      Karl replies, that he would do him a great service by collecting the scat
12914      of the eastern island, and of all the northern islands.
12915      Thrand said it was both his duty and interest to assist in the king's
12916      business, and thereupon Thrand returned to his tent; and at that Thing
12917      nothing else worth speaking of occurred. Karl took up his abode with Leif
12918      Ossurson, and was there all winter (A.D. 1028). Leif collected the scat of
12919      Straumey Island, and all the islands south of it. The spring after Thrand
12920      of Gata fell ill, and had sore eyes and other complaints; but he prepared
12921      to attend the Thing, as was his custom. When he came to the Thing he had
12922      his tent put up, and within it another black tent, that the light might
12923      not penetrate. After some days of the Thing had passed, Leif and Karl came
12924      to Thrand's tent, with a great many people, and found some persons
12925      standing outside. They asked if Thrand was in the tent, and were told he
12926      was. Leif told them to bid Thrand come out, as he and Karl had some
12927      business with him. They came back, and said that Thrand had sore eyes, and
12928      could not come out; "but he begs thee, Leif, to come to him within." Leif
12929      told his comrades to come carefully into the tent, and not to press
12930      forward, and that he who came last in should go out first. Leif went in
12931      first, followed by Karl, and then his comrades; and all fully armed as if
12932      they were going into battle. Leif went into the black tent and asked if
12933      Thrand was there. Thrand answered and saluted Leif. Leif returned his
12934      salutation, and asked if he had brought the scat from the northern
12935      islands, and if he would pay the scat that had been collected. Thrand
12936      replies, that he had not forgotten what had been spoken of between him and
12937      Karl, and that he would now pay over the scat. "Here is a purse, Leif,
12938      full of silver, which thou canst receive." Leif looked around, and saw but
12939      few people in the tent, of whom some were lying upon the benches, and a
12940      few were sitting up. Then Leif went to Thrand, and took the purse, and
12941      carried it into the outer tent, where it was light, turned out the money
12942      on his shield, groped about in it with his hand, and told Karl to look at
12943      the silver. When they had looked at it a while, Karl asked Leif what he
12944      thought of the silver. He replied, "I am thinking where the bad money that
12945      is in the north isles can have come from." Thrand heard this, and said,
12946      "Do you not think, Leif, the silver is good?" "No," says he. Thrand
12947      replies, "Our relations, then, are rascals not to be trusted. I sent them
12948      in spring to collect the scat in the north isles, as I could not myself go
12949      anywhere, and they have allowed themselves to be bribed by the bondes to
12950      take false money, which nobody looks upon as current and good; it is
12951      better, therefore, Leif, to look at this silver which has been paid me as
12952      land-rent." Leif thereupon carried back this silver, and received another
12953      bag, which he carried to Karl, and they looked over the money together.
12954      Karl asked Leif what he thought of this money. He answered, that it
12955      appeared to him so bad that it would not be taken in payment, however
12956      little hope there might be of getting a debt paid in any other way:
12957      "therefore I will not take this money upon the king's account." A man who
12958      had been lying on the bench now cast the skin coverlet off which he had
12959      drawn over his head, and said, "True is the old word, -he grows worse
12960      who grows older: so it is with thee, Thrand, who allowest Karl Morske to
12961      handle thy money all the day." This was Gaut the Red. Thrand sprang up at
12962      Gaut's words, and reprimanded his relation with many angry words. At last
12963      he said that Leif should leave this silver, and take a bag which his own
12964      peasants had brought him in spring. "And although I am weak-sighted, yet
12965      my own hand is the truest test." Another man who was lying on the bench
12966      raised himself now upon his elbow; and this was Thord the Low. He said,
12967      "These are no ordinary reproaches we suffer from Karl Morske, and
12968      therefore he well deserves a reward for them." Leif in the meantime took
12969      the bag, and carried it to Karl; and when they cast their eyes on the
12970      money, Leif said, "We need not look long at this silver, for here the one
12971      piece of money is better than the other; and this is the money we will
12972      have. Let a man come to be present at the counting it out." Thrand says
12973      that he thought Leif was the fittest man to do it upon his account. Leif
12974      and Karl thereupon went a short way from the tent, sat down, and counted
12975      and weighed the silver. Karl took the helmet off his head, and received in
12976      it the weighed silver. They saw a man coming to them who had a stick with
12977      an axe-head on it in his hand, a hat low upon his head, and a short green
12978      cloak. He was bare-legged, and had linen breeches on tied at the knee. He
12979      laid his stick down in the field, and went to Karl and said, "Take care,
12980      Karl Morske, that thou does not hurt thyself against my axe-stick."
12981      Immediately a man came running and calls with great haste to Leif
12982      Ossurson, telling him to come as quickly as possible to Lagman Gille's
12983      tent; "for," says he, "Sirurd Thorlakson ran in just now into the mouth of
12984      the tent, and gave one of Gille's men a desperate wound." Leif rose up
12985      instantly, and went off to Gille's tent along with his men. Karl remained
12986      sitting, and the Norway people stood around in all corners. Gaut
12987      immediately sprang up, and struck with a hand-axe over the heads of the
12988      people, and the stroke came on Karl's head; but the wound was slight.
12989      Thord the Low seized the stick-axe, which lay in the field at his side,
12990      and struck the axe-blade right into Karl's skull. Many people now streamed
12991      out of Thrand's tent. Karl was carried away dead. Thrand was much grieved
12992      at this event, and offered money-mulcts for his relations; but Leif and
12993      Gille, who had to prosecute the business, would accept no mulct. Sigurd
12994      was banished the country for having wounded Gille's tent comrade, and Gaut
12995      and Thord for the murder of Karl. The Norway people rigged out the vessel
12996      which Karl had with him, and sailed eastward to Olaf, and gave him these
12997      tidings. He was in no pleasant humour at it, and threatened a speedy
12998      vengeance; but it was not allotted by fate to King Olaf to revenge himself
12999      on Thrand and his relations, because of the hostilities which had begun in
13000      Norway, and which are now to be related. And there is nothing more to be
13001      told of what happened after King Olaf sent men to the Farey Islands to
13002      take scat of them. But great strife arose after Karl's death in the Farey
13003      Islands between the family of Thrand of Gata and Leif Ossurson, and of
13004      which there are great sagas.
13005      154. KING OLAF'S EXPEDITION WITH HIS LEVY.
13006      Now we must proceed with the relation we began before, -that King
13007      Olaf set out with his men, and raised a levy over the whole country (A.D.
13008      1027). All lendermen in the North followed him excepting Einar
13009      Tambaskelfer, who sat quietly at home upon his farm since his return to
13010      the country, and did not serve the king. Einar had great estates and
13011      wealth, although he held no fiefs from the king, and he lived splendidly.
13012      King Olaf sailed with his fleet south around Stad, and many people from
13013      the districts around joined him. King Olaf himself had a ship which he had
13014      got built the winter before (A.D. 1027), and which was called the Visund
13015      (1). It was a very large ship, with a bison's head gilded all over upon
13016      the bow. Sigvat the skald speaks thus of it: -
13017     "Trygvason's Long Serpent bore,
13018     Grim gaping o'er the waves before,
13019     A dragon's head with open throat,
13020     When last the hero was afloat:
13021          His cruise was closed,
13022          As God disposed.
13023     Olaf has raised a bison's head,
13024     Which proudly seems the waves to tread.
13025     While o'er its golden forehead dashing
13026     The waves its glittering horns are washing:
13027          May God dispose
13028          A luckier close."
13029      The king went on to Hordaland; there he heard the news that Erling
13030      Skjalgson had left the country with a great force, and four or five ships.
13031      He himself had a large war-ship, and his sons had three of twenty
13032      rowing-banks each; and they had sailed westward to England to Canute the
13033      Great. Then King Olaf sailed eastward along the land with a mighty
13034      war-force, and he inquired everywhere if anything was known of Canute's
13035      proceedings; and all agreed in saying he was in England but added that he
13036      was fitting out a levy, and intended coming to Norway. As Olaf had a large
13037      fleet, and could not discover with certainty where he should go to meet
13038      King Canute, and as his people were dissatisfied with lying quiet in one
13039      place with so large an armament, he resolved to sail with his fleet south
13040      to Denmark, and took with him all the men who were best appointed and most
13041      warlike; and he gave leave to the others to return home. Now the people
13042      whom he thought of little use having gone home, King Olaf had many
13043      excellent and stout men-at-arms besides those who, as before related, had
13044      fled the country, or sat quietly at home; and most of the chief men and
13045      lendermen of Norway were along with him.
13046   ENDNOTES: (1) Visundr is the buffalo; although the modern bison, or
13047     American animal of that name, might have been known through
13048     the Greenland colonists, who in this reign had visited some
13049     parts of America. -L.
13050      155. OF KING OLAF AND KING ONUND.
13051      When King Olaf sailed to Denmark, he set his course for Seeland; and when
13052      he came there he made incursions on the land, and began to plunder. The
13053      country people were severely treated; some were killed, some bound and
13054      dragged to the ships. All who could do so took to flight, and made no
13055      opposition. King Olaf committed there the greatest ravages. While Olaf was
13056      in Seeland, the news came that King Onund Olafson of Sweden had raised a
13057      levy, and fallen upon Scania, and was ravaging there; and then it became
13058      known what the resolution had been that the two kings had taken at the
13059      Gaut river, where they had concluded a union and friendship, and had bound
13060      themselves to oppose King Canute. King Onund continued his march until he
13061      met his brother-in-law King Olaf. When they met they made proclamation
13062      both to their own people and to the people of the country, that they
13063      intended to conquer Denmark; and asked the support of the people of the
13064      country for this purpose. And it happened, as we find examples of
13065      everywhere, that if hostilities are brought upon the people of a country
13066      not strong enough to withstand, the greatest number will submit to the
13067      conditions by which peace can be purchased at any rate. So it happened
13068      here that many men went into the service of the kings, and agreed to
13069      submit to them. Wheresoever they went they laid the country all round
13070      subjection to them, and otherwise laid waste all with fire and sword.
13071      Of this foray Sigvat the skald speaks, in a ballad he composed concerning
13072      King Canute the Great: -
13073          "'Canute is on the sea!'
13074          The news is told,
13075          And the Norsemen bold
13076     Repeat it with great glee.
13077     And it runs from mouth to mouth -
13078          'On a lucky day
13079          We came away
13080     From Throndhjem to the south.'
13081     Across the cold East sea,
13082          The Swedish king
13083          His host did bring,
13084     To gain great victory.
13085     King Onund came to fight,
13086          In Seeland's plains,
13087          Against the Danes,
13088     With his steel-clad men so bright.
13089     Canute is on the land;
13090          Side to side
13091          His long-ships ride
13092     Along the yellow strand.
13093     Where waves wash the green banks,
13094          Mast to mast,
13095          All bound fast,
13096     His great fleet lies in ranks."
13097      156. OF KING CANUTE THE GREAT.
13098      King Canute had heard in England that King Olaf of Norway had called out a
13099      levy, and had gone with his forces to Denmark, and was making great
13100      ravages in his dominions there. Canute began to gather people, and he had
13101      speedily collected a great army and a numerous fleet. Earl Hakon was
13102      second in command over the whole.
13103      Sigvat the skald came this summer (A.D. 1027) from the West, from Ruda
13104      (Rouen) in Valland, and with him was a man called Berg. They had made a
13105      merchant voyage there the summer before. Sigvat had made a little poem
13106      about this journey, called "The Western Traveller's Song," which begins
13107      thus: -
13108     "Berg! many a merry morn was pass'd,
13109     When our vessel was made fast,
13110     And we lay on the glittering tide
13111     or Rouen river's western side."
13112      When Sigvat came to England he went directly to King Canute, and asked his
13113      leave to proceed to Norway; for King Canute had forbidden all merchant
13114      vessels to sail until he himself was ready with his fleet. When Sigvat
13115      arrived he went to the house in which the king was lodged; but the doors
13116      were locked, and he had to stand a long time outside, but when he got
13117      admittance he obtained the permission he desired. He then sang: -
13118     "The way to Jutland's king I sought;
13119     A little patience I was taught.
13120     The doors were shut -all full within;
13121     The udaller could not get in.
13122     But Gorm's great son did condescend
13123     To his own chamber me to send,
13124     And grant my prayer -although I'm one
13125     Whose arms the fetters' weight have known."
13126      When Sigvat became aware that King Canute was equipping an armament
13127      against King Olaf, and knew what a mighty force King Canute had, he made
13128      these lines: -
13129     "The mighty Canute, and Earl Hakon,
13130     Have leagued themselves, and counsel taken
13131     Against King Olaf's life,
13132     And are ready for the strife.
13133     In spite of king and earl, I say,
13134     'I love him well -may he get away:'
13135     On the Fields, wild and dreary,
13136     With him I'd live, and ne'er be weary."
13137      Sigvat made many other songs concerning this expedition of Canute and
13138      Hakon. He made this among others: -
13139     "'Twas not the earl's intention then
13140     'Twixt Olaf and the udalmen
13141     Peace to establish, and the land
13142     Upright to hold with Northman's hand;
13143     But ever with deceit and lies
13144     Eirik's descendant, Hakon, tries
13145     To make ill-will and discontent,
13146     Till all the udalmen are bent
13147     Against King Olaf's rule to rise."
13148      157. OF KING CANUTE'S SHIP THE DRAGON.
13149      Canute the Great was at last ready with his fleet, and left the land; and
13150      a vast number of men he had, and ships frightfully large. He himself had a
13151      dragon-ship, so large that it had sixty banks of rowers, and the head was
13152      gilt all over. Earl Hakon had another dragon of forty banks, and it also
13153      had a gilt figure-head. The sails of both were in stripes of blue, red,
13154      and green, and the vessels were painted all above the water-stroke; and
13155      all that belonged to their equipment was most splendid. They had also many
13156      other huge ships remarkably well fitted out, and grand. Sigvat the skald
13157      talks of this in his song on Canute: -
13158     "Canute is out beneath the sky -
13159     Canute of the clear blue eye!
13160     The king is out on the ocean's breast,
13161     Leading his grand fleet from the West.
13162     On to the East the ship-masts glide,
13163     Glancing and bright each long-ship's side.
13164     The conqueror of great Ethelred,
13165     Canute, is there, his foemen's dread:
13166     His dragon with her sails of blue,
13167     All bright and brilliant to the view,
13168     High hoisted on the yard arms wide,
13169     Carries great Canute o'er the tide.
13170     Brave is the royal progress -fast
13171     The proud ship's keel obeys the mast,
13172     Dashes through foam, and gains the land,
13173     Raising a surge on Limfjord's strand."
13174      It is related that King Canute sailed with this vast force from England,
13175      and came with all his force safely to Denmark, where he went into
13176      Limfjord, and there he found gathered besides a large army of the men of
13177      the country.
13178      158. HARDAKNUT TAKEN TO BE KING IN DENMARK.
13179      Earl Ulf Sprakalegson had been set as protector over Denmark when King
13180      Canute went to England, and the king had intrusted his son Hardaknut in
13181      the earl's hands. This took place the summer before (A.D. 1026), as we
13182      related. But the earl immediately gave it out that King Canute had, at
13183      parting, made known to him his will and desire that the Danes should take
13184      his son Hardaknut as king over the Danish dominions. "On that account,"
13185      says the earl, "he gave the matter into our hands; as I, and many other
13186      chiefs and leading men here in the country, have often complained to King
13187      Canute of the evil consequences to the country of being without a king,
13188      and that former kings thought it honour and power enough to rule over the
13189      Danish kingdom alone; and in the times that are past many kings have ruled
13190      over this kingdom. But now there are greater difficulties than have ever
13191      been before; for we have been so fortunate hitherto as to live without
13192      disturbance from foreign kings, but now we hear the king of Norway is
13193      going to attack us, to which is added the fear of the people that the
13194      Swedish king will join him; and now King Canute is in England." The earl
13195      then produced King Canute's letter and seal, confirming all that the earl
13196      asserted. Many other chiefs supported this business; and in consequence of
13197      all these persuasions the people resolved to take Hardaknut as king, which
13198      was done at the same Thing. The Queen Emma had been principal promoter of
13199      this determination; for she had got the letter to be written, and provided
13200      with the seal, having cunningly got hold of the king's signet; but from
13201      him it was all concealed. Now when Hardaknut and Earl Ulf heard for
13202      certain that King Olaf was come from Norway with a large army, they went
13203      to Jutland, where the greatest strength of the Danish kingdom lies, sent
13204      out message-tokens, and summoned to them a great force; but when they
13205      heard the Swedish king was also come with his army, they thought they
13206      would not have strength enough to give battle to both, and therefore kept
13207      their army together in Jutland, and resolved to defend that country
13208      against the kings. The whole of their ships they assembled in Limfjord,
13209      and waited thus for King Canute. Now when they heard that King Canute had
13210      come from the West to Limfjord they sent men to him, and to Queen Emma,
13211      and begged her to find out if the king was angry at them or not, and to
13212      let them know. The queen talked over the matter with him, and said, "Your
13213      son Hardaknut will pay the full mulct the king may demand, if he has done
13214      anything which is thought to be against the king." He replies, that
13215      Hardaknut has not done this of his own judgement. "And therefore," says
13216      he, "it has turned out as might have been expected, that when he, a child,
13217      and without understanding, wanted to be called king, the country, when any
13218      evil came and an enemy appeared, must be conquered by foreign princes, if
13219      our might had not come to his aid. If he will have any reconciliation with
13220      me let him come to me, and lay down the mock title of king he has given
13221      himself." The queen sent these very words to Hardaknut, and at the same
13222      time she begged him not to decline coming; for, as she truly observed, he
13223      had no force to stand against his father. When this message came to
13224      Hardaknut he asked the advice of the earl and other chief people who were
13225      with him; but it was soon found that when the people heard King Canute the
13226      Old was arrived they all streamed to him, and seemed to have no confidence
13227      but in him alone. Then Earl Ulf and his fellows saw they had but two roads
13228      to take; either to go to the king and leave all to his mercy, or to fly
13229      the country. All pressed Hardaknut to go to his father, which advice he
13230      followed. When they met he fell at his father's feet, and laid his seal,
13231      which accompanied the kingly title, on his knee. King Canute took
13232      Hardaknut by the hand, and placed him in as high a seat as he used to sit
13233      in before. Earl Ulf sent his son Svein, who was a sister's son of King
13234      Canute, and the same age as Hardaknut, to the king. He prayed for grace
13235      and reconciliation for his father, and offered himself as hostage for the
13236      earl. King Canute ordered him to tell the earl to assemble his men and
13237      ships, and come to him, and then they would talk of reconciliation. The
13238      earl did so.
13239      159. FORAY IN SCANIA.
13240      When King Olaf and King Onund heard that King Canute was come from the
13241      West, and also that he had a vast force, they sailed east to Scania, and
13242      allowed themselves to ravage and burn in the districts there, and then
13243      proceeded eastward along the land to the frontier of Sweden. As soon as
13244      the country people heard that King Canute was come from the West, no one
13245      thought of going into the service of the two kings.
13246      Now the kings sailed eastward along the coast, and brought up in a river
13247      called Helga, and remained there some time. When they heard that King
13248      Canute was coming eastward with his forces against them, they held a
13249      council; and the result was, that King Olaf with his people went up the
13250      country to the forest, and to the lake out of which the river Helga flows.
13251      There at the riverhead they made a dam of timber and turf, and dammed in
13252      the lake. They also dug a deep ditch, through which they led several
13253      waters, so that the lake waxed very high. In the river-bed they laid large
13254      logs of timber. They were many days about this work, and King Olaf had the
13255      management of this piece of artifice; but King Onund had only to command
13256      the fleet and army. When King Canute heard of the proceedings of the two
13257      kings, and of the damage they had done to his dominions, he sailed right
13258      against them to where they lay in Helga river. He had a War-force which
13259      was one half greater than that of both the kings together. Sigvat speaks
13260      of these things: -
13261     "The king, who shields
13262     His Jutland fields
13263     From scaith or harm
13264     By foeman's arm,
13265     Will not allow
13266     Wild plundering now:
13267     'The greatest he,
13268     On land or sea.'"
13269      160. BATTLE IN HELGA RIVER.
13270      One day, towards evening, King Onund's spies saw King Canute coming
13271      sailing along, and he was not far off. Then King Onund ordered the
13272      war-horns to sound; on which his people struck their tents, put on their
13273      weapons, rowed out of the harbour and east round the land, bound their
13274      ships together, and prepared for battle. King Onund made his spies run up
13275      the country to look for King Olaf, and tell him the news. Then King Olaf
13276      broke up the dam, and let the river take its course. King Olaf travelled
13277      down in the night to his ships. When King Canute came outside the harbour,
13278      he saw the forces of the kings ready for battle. He thought that it would
13279      be too late in the day to begin the fight by the time his forces could be
13280      ready; for his fleet required a great deal of room at sea, and there was a
13281      long distance between the foremost of his ships and the hindmost, and
13282      between those outside and those nearest the land, and there was but little
13283      wind. Now, as Canute saw that the Swedes and Norwegians had quitted the
13284      harbour, he went into it with as many ships as it could hold; but the main
13285      strength of the fleet lay without the harbour. In the morning, when it was
13286      light, a great part of the men went on shore; some for amusement, some to
13287      converse with the people of other ships. They observed nothing until the
13288      water came rushing over them like a waterfall, carrying huge trees, which
13289      drove in among their ships, damaging all they struck; and the water
13290      covered all the fields. The men on shore perished, and many who were in
13291      the ships. All who could do it cut their cables; so that the ships were
13292      loose, and drove before the stream, and were scattered here and there. The
13293      great dragon, which King Canute himself was in, drove before the stream;
13294      and as it could not so easily be turned with oars, drove out among Olaf's
13295      and Onund's ships. As they knew the ship, they laid her on board on all
13296      quarters. But the ship was so high in the hull, as if it were a castle,
13297      and had besides such a numerous and chosen crew on board, well armed and
13298      exercised, that it was not easy to attack her. After a short time also
13299      Earl Ulf came up with his fleet; and then the battle began, and King
13300      Canute's fleet gathered together from all quarters. But the kings Olaf and
13301      Onund, seeing they had for this time got all the victory that fate
13302      permitted them to gain, let their ships retreat, cast themselves loose
13303      from King Canute's ship, and the fleets separated. But as the attack had
13304      not been made as King Canute had determined, he made no further attempt;
13305      and the kings on each side arranged their fleets and put their ships in
13306      order. When the fleets were parted, and each sailing its course, Olaf and
13307      Onund looked over their forces, and found they had suffered no loss of
13308      men. In the meantime they saw that if they waited until King Canute got
13309      his large fleet in order to attack them, the difference of force was so
13310      great that for them there was little chance of victory. It was also
13311      evident that if the battle was renewed, they must suffer a great loss of
13312      men. They took the resolution, therefore, to row with the whole fleet
13313      eastward along the coast. Observing that King Canute did not pursue them,
13314      they raised up their masts and set sail. Ottar Svarte tells thus of it in
13315      the poem he composed upon King Canute the Great: -
13316     "The king, in battle fray,
13317     Drove the Swedish host away:
13318     The wolf did not miss prey,
13319     Nor the raven on that day.
13320     Great Canute might deride
13321     Two kings if he had pride,
13322     For at Helga river's side
13323     They would not his sword abide."
13324      Thord Sjarekson also sang these lines in his death song of King Olaf: -
13325     "King Olaf, Agder's lord,
13326          Ne'er shunned the Jutland king,
13327     But with his blue-edged sword
13328          Broke many a panzer ring.
13329     King Canute was not slow:
13330          King Onund filled the plain
13331     With dead, killed by his bow:
13332          The wolf howled o'er the slain."
13333      161. KING OLAF AND KING ONUND'S PLANS.
13334      King Olaf and King Onund sailed eastward to the Swedish king's dominions;
13335      and one day, towards evening, landed at a place called Barvik, where they
13336      lay all night. But then it was observed of the Swedes that they were
13337      home-sick; for the greater part of their forces sailed eastward along the
13338      land in the night, and did not stop their course until they came home to
13339      their houses. Now when King Onund observed this he ordered, as soon as the
13340      day dawned, to sound the signal for a House-thing; and the whole people
13341      went on shore, and the Thing sat down. Then King Onund took up the word,
13342      and spake thus: "So it is, King Olaf, that, as you know, we have been
13343      assembled in summer, and have forayed wide around in Denmark, and have
13344      gained much booty, but no land. I had 350 vessels, and now have not above
13345      100 remaining with me. Now it appears to me we can make no greater
13346      progress than we have made, although you have still the 60 vessels which
13347      have followed you the whole summer. It therefore appears to me best that
13348      we come back to my kingdom; for it is always good to drive home with the
13349      wagon safe. In this expedition we have won something, and lost nothing.
13350      Now I will offer you, King Olaf, to come with me, and we shall remain
13351      assembled during the winter. Take as much of my kingdom as you will, so
13352      that you and the men who follow you may support yourselves well; and when
13353      spring comes let us take such measures as we find serviceable. If you,
13354      however, will prefer to travel across our country, and go overland to
13355      Norway, it shall be free for you to do so."
13356      King Olaf thanked King Onund for his friendly offer. "But if I may
13357      advise," says he, "then we should take another resolution, and keep
13358      together the forces we have still remaining. I had in the first of summer,
13359      before I left Norway, 350 ships; but when I left the country I chose from
13360      among the whole war-levy those I thought to be the best, and with them I
13361      manned 60 ships; and these I still have. Now it appears to me that the
13362      part of your war-force which has now run away is the most worthless, and
13363      of least resistance; but now I see here all your chiefs and leaders, and I
13364      know well that the people who belong to the court-troops (1) are by far
13365      the best suited to carry arms. We have here chosen men and superb ships,
13366      and we can very well lie all winter in our ships, as viking's custom is.
13367      But Canute cannot lie long in Helga river; for the harbour will not hold
13368      so many vessels as he has. If he steers eastward after us, we can escape
13369      from him, and then people will soon gather to us; but if he return to the
13370      harbours where his fleet can lie, I know for certain that the desire to
13371      return home will not be less in his army than in ours. I think, also, we
13372      have ravaged so widely in summer, that the villagers, both in Scania and
13373      in Halland, know well whose favour they have to seek. Canute's army will
13374      thus be dispersed so widely, that it is uncertain to whom fate may at the
13375      last give the victory; but let us first find out what resolution he
13376      takes."
13377      Thus King Olaf ended his speech, and it found much applause, and his
13378      advice was followed. Spies were sent into King Canute's army, and both the
13379      kings Olaf and Onund remained lying where they were.
13380   ENDNOTES: (1) The thingmen, or hired body-guard attending the court. -L.
13381      162. OF KING CANUTE AND EARL ULF.
13382      When King Canute saw that the kings of Norway and Sweden steered eastward
13383      with their forces along the coast, he sent men to ride night and day on
13384      the land to follow their movements. Some spies went forward, others
13385      returned; so that King Canute had news every day of their progress. He had
13386      also spies always in their army. Now when he heard that a great part of
13387      the fleet had sailed away from the kings, he turned back with his forces
13388      to Seeland, and lay with his whole fleet in the Sound; so that a part lay
13389      on the Scania side, and a part on the Seeland side. King Canute himself,
13390      the day before Michaelmas, rode with a great retinue to Roeskilde. There
13391      his brother-in-law, Earl Ulf, had prepared a great feast for him. The earl
13392      was the most agreeable host, but the king was silent and sullen. The earl
13393      talked to him in every way to make him cheerful, and brought forward
13394      everything which he thought would amuse him; but the king remained stern,
13395      and speaking little. At last the earl proposed to him a game at chess,
13396      which he agreed to; and a chess-board was produced, and they played
13397      together. Earl Ulf was hasty in temper, stiff, and in nothing yielding;
13398      but everything he managed went on well in his hands; and he was a great
13399      warrior, about whom there are many stories. He was the most powerful man
13400      in Denmark next to the king. Earl Ulf's sister Gyda was married to Earl
13401      Gudin (Godwin) Ulfnadson; and their sons were Harald king of England, and
13402      Earl Toste, Earl Valthiof, Earl Morukare, and Earl Svein. Gyda was the
13403      name of their daughter, who was married to the English king Edward the
13404      Good.
13405      163. OF THE EARL'S MURDER.
13406      When they had played a while the king made a false move, at which the earl
13407      took a knight from the king; but the king set the piece again upon the
13408      board, and told the earl to make another move; but the earl grew angry,
13409      threw over the chess-board, stood up, and went away. The king said,
13410      "Runnest thou away, Ulf the coward?" The earl turned round at the door and
13411      said, "Thou wouldst have run farther at Helga river, if thou hadst come to
13412      battle there. Thou didst not call me Ulf the coward, when I hastened to
13413      thy help while the Swedes were beating thee like a dog." The earl then
13414      went out, and went to bed. A little later the king also went to bed. The
13415      following morning while the king was putting on his clothes he said to his
13416      footboy, "Go thou to Earl Ulf, and kill him."
13417      The lad went, was away a while, and then came back.
13418      The king said, "Hast thou killed the earl?"
13419      "I did not kill him, for he was gone to Saint Lucius' church."
13420      There was a man called Ivar White, a Norwegian by birth, who was the
13421      king's courtman and chamberlain. The king said to him, "Go thou and kill
13422      the earl."
13423      Ivar went to the church, and in at the choir, and thrust his sword through
13424      the earl, who died on the spot. Then Ivar went to the king, with the
13425      bloody sword in his hand.
13426      The king said, "Hast thou killed the earl?"
13427      "I have killed him," says he.
13428      "Thou didst well."
13429      After the earl was killed the monks closed the church, and locked the
13430      doors. When that was told the king he sent a message to the monks,
13431      ordering them to open the church and sing high mass. They did as the king
13432      ordered; and when the king came to the church he bestowed on it great
13433      property, so that it had a large domain, by which that place was raised
13434      very high; and these lands have since always belonged to it. King Canute
13435      rode down to his ships, and lay there till late in harvest with a very
13436      large army.
13437      164. OF KING OLAF AND THE SWEDES.
13438      When King Olaf and King Onund heard that King Canute had sailed to the
13439      Sound, and lay there with a great force, the kings held a House-thing, and
13440      spoke much about what resolution they should adopt. King Olaf wished they
13441      should remain there with all the fleet, and see what King Canute would at
13442      last resolve to do. But the Swedes held it to be unadvisable to remain
13443      until the frost set in, and so it was determined; and King Onund went home
13444      with all his army, and King Olaf remained lying after them.
13445      165. OF EGIL AND TOFE.
13446      While King Olaf lay there, he had frequently conferences and consultations
13447      with his people. One night Egil Halson and Tofe Valgautson had the watch
13448      upon the king's ship. Tofe came from West Gautland, and was a man of high
13449      birth. While they sat on watch they heard much lamentation and crying
13450      among the people who had been taken in the war, and who lay bound on the
13451      shore at night. Tofe said it made him ill to hear such distress, and asked
13452      Egil to go with him, and let loose these people. This work they set about,
13453      cut the cords, and let the people escape, and they looked upon it as a
13454      piece of great friendship; but the king was so enraged at it, that they
13455      themselves were in the greatest danger. When Egil afterwards fell sick the
13456      king for a long time would not visit him, until many people entreated it
13457      of him. It vexed Egil much to have done anything the king was angry at,
13458      and he begged his forgiveness. The king now dismissed his wrath against
13459      Egil, laid his hands upon the side on which Egil's pain was, and sang a
13460      prayer; upon which the pain ceased instantly, and Egil grew better. Tofe
13461      came, after entreaty, into reconciliation with the king, on condition that
13462      he should exhort his father Valgaut to come to the king. He was a heathen;
13463      but after conversation with the king he went over to Christianity, and
13464      died instantly when he was baptized.
13465      166. TREACHERY TOWARDS KING OLAF.
13466      King Olaf had now frequent conferences with his people, and asked advice
13467      from them, and from his chiefs, as to what he should determine upon. But
13468      there was no unanimity among them -some considering that unadvisable
13469      which others considered highly serviceable; and there was much indecision
13470      in their councils. King Canute had always spies in King Olaf's army, who
13471      entered into conversation with many of his men, offering them presents and
13472      favour on account of King Canute. Many allowed themselves to be seduced,
13473      and gave promises of fidelity, and to be King Canute's men, and bring the
13474      country into his hands if he came to Norway. This was apparent,
13475      afterwards, of many who at first kept it concealed. Some took at once
13476      money bribes, and others were promised money afterwards; and a great many
13477      there were who had got great presents of money from him before: for it may
13478      be said with truth of King Canute, that every man who came to him, and who
13479      he thought had the spirit of a man and would like his favour, got his
13480      hands full of gifts and money. On this account he was very popular,
13481      although his generosity was principally shown to foreigners, and was
13482      greatest the greater distance they came from.
13483      167. KING OLAF'S CONSULTATIONS.
13484      King Olaf had often conferences and meetings with his people, and asked
13485      their counsel; but as he observed they gave different opinions, he had a
13486      suspicion that there must be some who spoke differently from what they
13487      really thought advisable for him, and he was thus uncertain if all gave
13488      him due fidelity in council. Some pressed that with the first fair wind
13489      they should sail to the Sound, and so to Norway. They said the Danes would
13490      not dare to attack them, although they lay with so great a force right in
13491      the way. But the king was a man of too much understanding not to see that
13492      this was impracticable. He knew also that Olaf Trygvason had found it
13493      quite otherwise, as to the Danes not daring to fight, when he with a few
13494      people went into battle against a great body of them. The king also knew
13495      that in King Canute's army there were a great many Norwegians; therefore
13496      he entertained the suspicion that those who gave this advice were more
13497      favourable to King Canute than to him. King Olaf came at last to the
13498      determination, from all these considerations, that the people who would
13499      follow him should make themselves ready to proceed by land across
13500      Gautland, and so to Norway. "But our ships," said he, "and all things that
13501      we cannot take with us, I will send eastward to the Swedish king's
13502      dominions, and let them be taken care of for us there."
13503      168. HAREK OF THJOTTA'S VOYAGE.
13504      Harek of Thjotta replied thus to the king's speech: "It is evident that I
13505      cannot travel on foot to Norway. I am old and heavy, and little accustomed
13506      to walking. Besides, I am unwilling to part with my ship; for on that ship
13507      and its apparel I have bestowed so much labour, that it would go much
13508      against my inclination to put her into the hands of my enemies." The king
13509      said, "Come along with us, Harek, and we shall carry thee when thou art
13510      tired of walking." Then Harek sang these lines: -
13511     "I'11 mount my ocean steed,
13512     And o'er the sea I'll speed;
13513     Forests and hills are not for me, -
13514     I love the moving sea,
13515     Though Canute block the Sound,
13516     Rather than walk the ground,
13517     And leave my ship, I'll see
13518     What my ship will do for me."
13519      Then King Olaf let everything be put in order for the journey. The people
13520      had their walking clothing and weapons, but their other clothes and
13521      effects they packed upon such horses as they could get. Then he sent off
13522      people to take his ships east to Calmar. There he had the vessels laid up,
13523      and the ships' apparel and other goods taken care of. Harek did as he had
13524      said, and waited for a wind, and then sailed west to Scania, until, about
13525      the decline of the day, he came with a fresh and fair wind to the eastward
13526      of Holar. There he let the sail and the vane, and flag and mast be taken
13527      down, and let the upper works of the ship be covered over with some grey
13528      tilt-canvas, and let a few men sit at the oars in the fore part and aft,
13529      but the most were sitting low down in the vessel.
13530      When Canute's watchmen saw the ship, they talked with each other about
13531      what ship it might be, and made the guess that it must be one loaded with
13532      herrings or salt, as they only saw a few men at the oars; and the ship,
13533      besides, appeared to them grey, and wanting tar, as if burnt up by the
13534      sun, and they saw also that it was deeply loaded. Now when Harek came
13535      farther through the Sound, and past the fleet, he raised the mast, hoisted
13536      sail, and set up his gilded vane. The sail was white as snow, and in it
13537      were red and blue stripes of cloth interwoven. When the king's men saw the
13538      ship sailing in this state, they told the king that probably King Olaf had
13539      sailed through them. But King Canute replies, that King Olaf was too
13540      prudent a man to sail with a single ship through King Canute's fleet, and
13541      thought it more likely to be Harek of Thjotta, or the like of him. Many
13542      believed the truth to be that King Canute knew of this expedition of
13543      Harek, and that it would not have succeeded so if they had not concluded a
13544      friendship beforehand with each other; which seemed likely, after King
13545      Canute's and Harek's friendly understanding became generally known.
13546      Harek made this song as he sailed northward round the isle of Vedrey: -
13547     "The widows of Lund may smile through their tears,
13548     The Danish girls may have their jeers;
13549          They may laugh or smile,
13550          But outside their isle
13551     Old Harek still on to his North land steers."
13552      Harek went on his way, and never stopped till he came north to Halogaland,
13553      to his own house in Thjotta.
13554      169. KING OLAF'S COURSE FROM SVITHJOD.
13555      When King Olaf began his journey, he came first into Smaland, and then
13556      into West Gautland. He marched quietly and peaceably, and the country
13557      people gave him all assistance on his journey. Thus he proceeded until he
13558      came into Viken, and north through Viken to Sarpsborg, where he remained,
13559      and ordered a winter abode to be prepared (A.D. 1028). Then he gave most
13560      of the chiefs leave to return home, but kept the lendermen by him whom he
13561      thought the most serviceable. There were with him also all the sons of
13562      Arne Arnmodson, and they stood in great favour with the king. Geller
13563      Thorkelson, who the summer before had come from Iceland, also came there
13564      to the king, as before related.
13565      170. OF SIGVAT THE SKALD.
13566      Sigvat the skald had long been in King Olaf's household, as before
13567      related, and the king made him his marshal. Sigvat had no talent for
13568      speaking in prose; but in skaldcraft he was so practised, that the verses
13569      came as readily from his tongue as if he were speaking in usual language.
13570      He had made a mercantile journey to Normandy, and in the course of it had
13571      come to England, where he met King Canute, and obtained permission from
13572      him to sail to Norway, as before related. When he came to Norway he
13573      proceeded straight to King Olaf, and found him at Sarpsborg. He presented
13574      himself before the king just as he was sitting down to table. Sigvat
13575      saluted him. The king looked at Sigvat and was silent. Then Sigvat sang: -
13576     "Great king!  thy marshal is come home,
13577     No more by land or sea to roam,
13578          But by thy side
13579          Still to abide.
13580     Great king!  what seat here shall he take
13581     For the king's honour -not his sake?
13582          For all seats here
13583          To me are dear."
13584      Then was verified the old saying, that "many are the ears of a king;" for
13585      King Olaf had heard all about Sigvat's journey, and that he had spoken
13586      with Canute. He says to Sigvat, "I do not know if thou art my marshal, or
13587      hast become one of Canute's men." Sigvat said: -
13588     "Canute, whose golden gifts display
13589     A generous heart, would have me stay,
13590     Service in his great court to take,
13591     And my own Norway king forsake.
13592     Two masters at a time, I said,
13593     Were one too many for men bred
13594     Where truth and virtue, shown to all,
13595     Make all men true in Olaf's hall."
13596      Then King Olaf told Sigvat to take his seat where he before used to sit;
13597      and in a short time Sigvat was in as high favour with the king as ever.
13598      171. OF ERLING SKJALGSON AND HIS SONS.
13599      Erling Skjalgson and all his sons had been all summer in King Canute's
13600      army, in the retinue of Earl Hakon. Thorer Hund was also there, and was in
13601      high esteem. Now when King Canute heard that King Olaf had gone overland
13602      to Norway, he discharged his army, and gave all men leave to go to their
13603      winter abodes. There was then in Denmark a great army of foreigners, both
13604      English, Norwegians, and men of other countries, who had joined the
13605      expedition in summer. In autumn (A.D. 1027) Erling Skjalgson went to
13606      Norway with his men, and received great presents from King Canute at
13607      parting; but Thorer Hund remained behind in King Canute's court. With
13608      Erling went messengers from King Canute well provided with money; and in
13609      winter they travelled through all the country, paying the money which King
13610      Canute had promised to many in autumn for their assistance. They gave
13611      presents in money, besides, to many whose friendship could be purchased
13612      for King Canute. They received much assistance in their travels from
13613      Erling. In this way it came to pass that many turned their support to King
13614      Canute, promised him their services, and agreed to oppose King Olaf. Some
13615      did this openly, but many more concealed it from the public. King Olaf
13616      heard this news, for many had something to tell him about it; and the
13617      conversation in the court often turned upon it. Sigvat the skald made a
13618      song upon it: -
13619     "The base traitors ply
13620          With purses of gold,
13621     Wanting to buy
13622          What is not to be sold, -
13623     The king's life and throne
13624          Wanting to buy:
13625     But our souls are our own,
13626          And to hell we'll not hie.
13627     No pleasure in heaven,
13628          As we know full well,
13629     To the traitor is given, -
13630          His soul is his hell."
13631      Often also the conversation turned upon how ill it beseemed Earl Hakon to
13632      raise his hand in arms against King Olaf, who had given him his life when
13633      he fell into the king's power; but Sigvat was a particular friend of Earl
13634      Hakon, and when he heard the earl spoken against he sang: -
13635     "Our own court people we may blame,
13636     If they take gold to their own shame,
13637     Their king and country to betray.
13638     With those who give it's not the same,
13639     From them we have no faith to claim:
13640     'Tis we are wrong, if we give way."
13641      172. OF KING OLAF'S PRESENTS AT YULE.
13642      King Olaf gave a great feast at Yule, and many great people had come to
13643      him. It was the seventh day of Yule, that the king, with a few persons,
13644      among whom was Sigvat, who attended him day and night, went to a house in
13645      which the king's most precious valuables were kept. He had, according to
13646      his custom, collected there with great care the valuable presents he was
13647      to make on New Year's eve. There was in the house no small number of
13648      gold-mounted swords; and Sigvat sang: -
13649     "The swords stand there,
13650     All bright and fair, -
13651     Those oars that dip in blood:
13652     If I in favour stood,
13653     I too might have a share.
13654     A sword the skald would gladly take,
13655     And use it for his master's sake:
13656     In favour once he stood,
13657     And a sword has stained in blood."
13658      The king took a sword of which the handle was twisted round with gold, and
13659      the guard was gold-mounted, and gave it to him. It was a valuable article;
13660      but the gift was not seen without envy, as will appear hereafter.
13661      Immediately after Yule (1028) the king began his journey to the Uplands;
13662      for he had a great many people about him, but had received no income that
13663      autumn from the North country, for there had been an armament in summer,
13664      and the king had laid out all the revenues he could command; and also he
13665      had no vessels with which he and his people could go to the North. At the
13666      same time he had news from the North, from which he could see that there
13667      would be no safety for him in that quarter, unless he went with a great
13668      force. For these reasons he determined to proceed through the Uplands,
13669      although it was not so long a time since he had been there in
13670      guest-quarters as the law prescribes, and as the kings usually had the
13671      custom of observing in their visits. When he came to the Uplands the
13672      lendermen and the richest bondes invited him to be their guest, and thus
13673      lightened his expenses.
13674      173. OF BJORN THE BAILIFF.
13675      There was a man called Bjorn who was of Gautland family, and a friend and
13676      acquaintance of Queen Astrid, and in some way related to her. She had
13677      given him farm-management and other offices in the upper part of Hedemark.
13678      He had also the management of Osterdal district. Bjorn was not in esteem
13679      with the king, nor liked by the bondes. It happened in a hamlet which
13680      Bjorn ruled over, that many swine and cattle were missing: therefore Bjorn
13681      ordered a Thing to be called to examine the matter. Such pillage he
13682      attributed chiefly to the people settled in forest-farms far from other
13683      men; by which he referred particularly to those who dwelt in Osterdal, for
13684      that district was very thinly inhabited, and full of lakes and
13685      forest-cleanings, and but in few places was any great neighbourhood
13686      together.
13687      174. OF RAUD'S SONS.
13688      There was a man called Raud who dwelt in Osterdal. His wife was called
13689      Ragnhild; and his sons, Dag and Sigurd, were men of great talent. They
13690      were present at the Thing, made a reply in defence of the Osterdal people,
13691      and removed the accusation from them. Bjorn thought they were too pert in
13692      their answer, and too fine in their clothes and weapons; and therefore
13693      turned his speech against these brothers, and said it was not unlikely
13694      they may have committed these thefts. They denied it, and the Thing
13695      closed. Soon after King Olaf, with his retinue, came to guest-quarters in
13696      the house of bailiff Bjorn. The matter which had been before the Thing was
13697      then complained of to the king; and Bjorn said that Raud's sons appeared
13698      to him to have committed these thefts. A messenger was sent for Raud's
13699      sons; and when they appeared before the king he said they had not at all
13700      the appearance of thieves, and acquitted them. Thereupon they invited the
13701      king, with all his retinue, to a three days' entertainment at their
13702      father's; and although Bjorn dissuaded him from it, the king went. At
13703      Raud's there was a very excellent feast. The king asked Raud what people
13704      he and his wife were. Raud answered that he was originally a Swedish man,
13705      rich and of high birth; "but I ran away with the wife I have ever since
13706      had, and she is a sister of King Hring Dagson." The king then remembered
13707      both their families. He found that father and sons were men of
13708      understanding, and asked them what they could do. Sigurd said he could
13709      interpret dreams, and determine the time of the day although no heavenly
13710      bodies could be seen. The king made trial of his art, and found it was as
13711      Sigurd had said. Dag stated, as his accomplishment, that he could see the
13712      misdeeds and vices of every man who came under his eye, when he chose to
13713      observe him closely. The king told him to declare what faults of
13714      disposition he saw in the king himself. Dag mentioned a fault which the
13715      king was sensible he really had. Then the king asked what fault the
13716      bailiff Bjorn had. Dag said Bjorn was a thief; and told also where Bjorn
13717      had concealed on his farm the bones, horns, and hides of the cattle he had
13718      stolen in autumn; "for he committed," said Dag, "all the thefts in autumn
13719      which he accuses other people of." Dag also told the king the places where
13720      the king should go after leaving them. When the king departed from Raud's
13721      house he was accompanied on the way, and presented with friendly gifts;
13722      and Raud's sons remained with the king. The king went first to Bjorn's,
13723      and found there that all Dag had told him was true. Upon which he drove
13724      Bjorn out of the country; and he had to thank the queen that he preserved
13725      life and limbs.
13726      175. THORER'S DEATH.
13727      Thorer, a son of Olver of Eggja, a stepson of Kalf Arnason, and a sister's
13728      son of Thorer Hund, was a remarkably handsome man, stout and strong. He
13729      was at this time eighteen years old; had made a good marriage in Hedemark,
13730      by which he got great wealth; and was besides one of the most popular of
13731      men, and formed to be a chief. He invited the king and his retinue home to
13732      him to a feast. The king accepted the invitation, went to Thorer's, and
13733      was well received. The entertainment was very splendid; they were
13734      excellently treated, and all that was set before the guests was of the
13735      best that could be got. The king and his people talked among themselves of
13736      the excellence of everything, and knew not what they should admire the
13737      most, -whether Thorer's house outside, or the inside furniture, the
13738      table service, or the liquors, or the host who gave them such a feast. But
13739      Dag said little about it. The king used often to speak to Dag, and ask him
13740      about various things; and he had proved the truth of all that Dag had
13741      said, both of things that had happened or were to happen, and therefore
13742      the king had much confidence in what he said. The king called Dag to him
13743      to have a private conversation together, and spoke to him about many
13744      things. Afterwards the king turned the conversation on Thorer, -what
13745      an excellent man Thorer was, and what a superb feast he had made for them.
13746      Dag answered but little to this, but agreed it was true what the king
13747      said. The king then asked Dag what disposition or faith he found in
13748      Thorer. Dag replied that he must certainly consider Thorer of a good
13749      disposition, if he be really what most people believe him to be. The king
13750      told him to answer direct what he was asked, and said that it was his duty
13751      to do so. Dag replies, "Then thou must allow me to determine the
13752      punishment if I disclose his faith." The king replied that he would not
13753      submit his decision to another man, but again ordered Dag to reply to what
13754      he asked.
13755      Dag replies, "The sovereign's order goes before all. I find this
13756      disposition in Thorer, as in so many others, that he is too greedy of
13757      money."
13758      The king: "Is he then a thief, or a robber?"
13759      "He is neither."
13760      "What is he then?"
13761      "To win money he is a traitor to his sovereign. He has taken money from
13762      King Canute the Great for thy head."
13763      The king asks, "What proof hast thou of the truth of this?"
13764      Dag: "He has upon his right arm, above the elbow, a thick gold ring, which
13765      King Canute gave him, and which he lets no man see."
13766      This ended their conference, and the king was very wroth. Now as the king
13767      sat at table, and the guests had drunk a while with great mirth, and
13768      Thorer went round to see the guests well served, the king ordered Thorer
13769      to be called to him. He went up before the table, and laid his hands upon
13770      it.
13771      The king asked, "How old a man art thou, Thorer?"
13772      He answered, "I am eighteen years old."
13773      "A stout man thou art for those years, and thou hast been fortunate also."
13774      Then the king took his right hand, and felt it towards the elbow.
13775      Thorer said, "Take care, for I have a boil upon my arm."
13776      The king held his hand there, and felt there was something hard under it.
13777      "Hast thou not heard," said he, "that I am a physician? Let me see the
13778      boil."
13779      As Thorer saw it was of no use to conceal it longer, he took off the ring
13780      and laid it on the table.
13781      The king asked if that was the gift of King Canute.
13782      Thorer replied that he could not deny it was.
13783      The king ordered him to be seized and laid in irons. Kalf came up and
13784      entreated for mercy, and offered money for him, which also was seconded by
13785      many; but the king was so wroth that nobody could get in a word. He said
13786      Thorer should suffer the doom he had prepared for himself. Thereupon he
13787      ordered Thorer to be killed. This deed was much detested in the Uplands,
13788      and not less in the Throndhjem country, where many of Thorer's connections
13789      were. Kalf took the death of this man much to heart, for he had been his
13790      foster-son in childhood.
13791      176. THE FALL OF GRJOTGARD.
13792      Grjotgard Olverson, Thorer's brother, and the eldest of the brothers, was
13793      a very wealthy man, and had a great troop of people about him. He lived
13794      also at this time in Hedemark. When he heard that Thorer had been killed,
13795      he made an attack upon the places where the king's goods and men were;
13796      but, between whiles, he kept himself in the forest and other secret
13797      places. When the king heard of this disturbance, he had inquiry made about
13798      Grjotgard's haunts, and found out that he had taken up night-quarters not
13799      far from where the king was. King Olaf set out in the night-time, came
13800      there about day-dawn, and placed a circle of men round the house in which
13801      Grjotgard was sleeping. Grjotgard and his men, roused by the stir of
13802      people and clash of arms, ran to their weapons, and Grjotgard himself
13803      sprang to the front room. He asked who commanded the troop; and it was
13804      answered him, "King Olaf was come there." Grjotgard asked if the king
13805      would hear his words. The king, who stood at the door, said that Grjotgard
13806      might speak what he pleased, and he would hear his words. Grjotgard said,
13807      "I do not beg for mercy;" and at the same moment he rushed out, having his
13808      shield over his head, and his drawn sword in his hand. It was not so much
13809      light that he could see clearly. He struck his sword at the king; but
13810      Arnbjorn ran in, and the thrust pierced him under his armour into his
13811      stomach, and Arnbjorn got his deathwound. Grjotgard was killed
13812      immediately, and most of his people with him. After this event the king
13813      turned back to the south to Viken.
13814      177. KING OLAF SENDS FOR HIS SHIPS AND GOODS.
13815      Now when the king came to Tunsberg he sent men out to all the districts,
13816      and ordered the people out upon a levy. He had but a small provision of
13817      shipping, and there were only bondes' vessels to be got. From the
13818      districts in the near neighbourhood many people came to him, but few from
13819      any distance; and it was soon found that the people had turned away from
13820      the king. King Olaf sent people to Gautland for his ships, and other goods
13821      and wares which had been left there in autumn; but the progress of these
13822      men was very slow, for it was no better now than in autumn to sail through
13823      the Sound, as King Canute had in spring fitted out an army throughout the
13824      whole of the Danish dominions, and had no fewer than 1200 vessels.
13825      178. KING OLAF'S COUNSELS.
13826      The news came to Norway that King Canute had assembled an immense armament
13827      through all Denmark, with which he intended to conquer Norway. When this
13828      became known the people were less willing to join King Olaf, and he got
13829      but little aid from the bondes. The king's men often spoke about this
13830      among themselves. Sigvat tells of it thus: -
13831     "Our men are few, our ships are small,
13832     While England's king is strong in all;
13833     But yet our king is not afraid -
13834     O!  never be such king betrayed!
13835     'Tis evil counsel to deprive
13836     Our king of countrymen to strive
13837     To save their country, sword in hand:
13838     Tis money that betrays our land."
13839      The king held meetings with the men of the court, and sometimes
13840      House-things with all his people, and consulted with them what they
13841      should, in their opinion, undertake. "We must not conceal from ourselves,"
13842      said he, "that Canute will come here this summer; and that he has, as ye
13843      all know, a large force, and we have at present but few men to oppose to
13844      him; and, as matters now stand, we cannot depend much on the fidelity of
13845      the country people." The king's men replied to his speech in various ways;
13846      but it is said that Sigvat the skald replied thus, advising flight, as
13847      treachery, not cowardice, was the cause of it: -
13848     "We may well fly, when even our foe
13849     Offers us money if we go.
13850     I may be blamed, accused of fear;
13851     But treachery, not faith, rules here.
13852     Men may retire who long have shown
13853     Their faith and love, and now alone
13854     Retire because they cannot save -
13855     This is no treachery in the brave."
13856      179. HAREK OF THJOTTA BURNS GRANKEL AND HIS MEN.
13857      The same spring (A.D. 1028) it happened in Halogaland that Harek of
13858      Thjotta remembered how Asmund Grankelson had plundered and beaten his
13859      house-servants. A cutter with twenty rowing-benches, which belonged to
13860      Harek, was afloat in front of the house, with tent and deck, and he spread
13861      the report that he intended to go south to Throndhjem. One evening Harek
13862      went on board with his house-servants, about eighty men, who rowed the
13863      whole night; and he came towards morning to Grankel's house, and
13864      surrounded it with his men. They then made an attack on the house, and set
13865      fire to it; and Grankel with his people were burnt, and some were killed
13866      outside; and in all about thirty men lost their lives. After this deed
13867      Harek returned home, and sat quietly in his farm. Asmund was with King
13868      Olaf when he heard of it; therefore there was nobody in Halogaland to sue
13869      Harek for mulct for this deed, nor did he offer any satisfaction.
13870      180. KING CANUTE'S EXPEDITION TO NORWAY.
13871      Canute the Great collected his forces, and went to Limfjord. When he was
13872      ready with his equipment he sailed from thence with his whole fleet to
13873      Norway; made all possible speed, and did not land to the eastward of the
13874      Fjords, but crossed Folden, and landed in Agder, where he summoned a
13875      Thing. The bondes came down from the upper country to hold a Thing with
13876      Canute, who was everywhere in that country accepted as king. Then he
13877      placed men over the districts, and took hostages from the bondes, and no
13878      man opposed him. King Olaf was in Tunsberg when Canute's fleet sailed
13879      across the mouth of the fjord. Canute sailed northwards along the coast,
13880      and people came to him from all the districts, and promised him fealty. He
13881      lay a while in Egersund, where Erling Skjalgson came to him with many
13882      people, and King Canute and Erling renewed their league of friendship.
13883      Among other things, Canute promised Erling the whole country between Stad
13884      and Rygiarbit to rule over. Then King Canute proceeded; and, to be short
13885      in our tale, did not stop until he came to Throndhjem, and landed at
13886      Nidaros. In Throndhjem he called together a Thing for the eight districts,
13887      at which King Canute was chosen king of all Norway. Thorer Hund, who had
13888      come with King Canute from Denmark, was there, and also Harek of Thjotta;
13889      and both were made sheriffs of the king, and took the oath of fealty to
13890      him. King Canute gave them great fiefs, and also right to the Lapland
13891      trade, and presented them besides with great gifts. He enriched all men
13892      who were inclined to enter into friendly accord with him both with fiefs
13893      and money, and gave them greater power than they had before.
13894      181. OF KING CANUTE.
13895      When King Canute had laid the whole of Norway trader his authority, he
13896      called together a numerous Thing, both of his own people and of the people
13897      of the country; and at it he made proclamation, that he made his relation
13898      Earl Hakon the governor-in-chief of all the land in Norway that he had
13899      conquered in this expedition. In like manner he led his son Hardaknut to
13900      the high-seat at his side, gave him the title of king, and therewith the
13901      whole Danish dominion. King Canute took as hostages from all lendermen and
13902      great bondes in Norway either their sons, brothers, or other near
13903      connections, or the men who were dearest to them and appeared to him most
13904      suitable; by which he, as before observed, secured their fidelity to him.
13905      As soon as Earl Hakon had attained this power in Norway his
13906      brother-in-law, Einar Tambaskelfer, made an agreement with him, and
13907      received back all the fiefs he formerly had possessed while the earls
13908      ruled the country. King Canute gave Einar great gifts, and bound him by
13909      great kindness to his interests; and promised that Einar should be the
13910      greatest and most important man in Norway, among those who did not hold
13911      the highest dignity, as long as he had power over the country. He added to
13912      this, that Einar appeared to him the most suitable man to hold the highest
13913      title of honour in Norway if no earls remained, and his son Eindride also,
13914      on account of his high birth. Einar placed a great value on these
13915      promises, and, in return, promised the greatest fidelity. Einar's
13916      chiefship began anew with this.
13917      182. OF THORARIN LOFTUNGA.
13918      There was a man by name Thorarin Loftunga, an Icelander by birth, and a
13919      great skald, who had been much with the kings and other great chiefs. He
13920      was now with King Canute the Great, and had composed a flock, or short
13921      poem, in his praise. When the king heard of this he was very angry, and
13922      ordered him to bring the next day a drapa, or long poem, by the time he
13923      went to table; and if he failed to do so, said the king, "he shall be
13924      hanged for his impudence in composing such a small poem about King
13925      Canute." Thorarin then composed a stave as a refrain, which he inserted in
13926      the poem, and also augmented it with several other strophes or verses.
13927      This was the refrain: -
13928     "Canute protects his realm, as Jove,
13929     Guardian of Greece, his realm above."
13930      King Canute rewarded him for the poem with fifty marks of silver. The poem
13931      was called the "Headransom" ("Hofudlausn"). Thorarin composed another poem
13932      about King Canute, which was called the "Campaign Poem" ("Togdrapa"); and
13933      therein he tells King Canute's expedition when he sailed from Denmark to
13934      Norway; and the following are strophes from one of the parts of this poem: -
13935     "Canute with all his men is out,
13936     Under the heavens in war-ships stout, -
13937     'Out on the sea, from Limfjord's green,
13938     My good, my brave friend's fleet is seen.
13939     The men of Adger on the coast
13940     Tremble to see this mighty host:
13941     The guilty tremble as they spy
13942     The victor's fleet beneath the sky.
13943
13944     "The sight surpasses far the tale,
13945     As glacing in the sun they sail;
13946     The king's ship glittering all with gold,
13947     And splendour there not to be told.
13948     Round Lister many a coal-black mast
13949     Of Canute's fleet is gliding past.
13950     And now through Eger sound they ride,
13951     Upon the gently heaving tide.
13952
13953     "And all the sound is covered o'er
13954     With ships and sails, from shore to shore,
13955     A mighty king, a mighty host,
13956     Hiding the sea on Eger coast.
13957     And peaceful men in haste now hie
13958     Up Hiornagla-hill the fleet to spy,
13959     As round the ness where Stad now lies
13960     Each high-stemmed ship in splendour flies.
13961
13962     "Nor seemed the voyage long, I trow,
13963     To warrior on the high-built bow,
13964     As o'er the ocean-mountains riding
13965     The land and hill seem past him gliding.
13966     With whistling breeze and flashing spray
13967     Past Stein the gay ships dashed away;
13968     In open sea, the southern gale
13969     Filled every wide out-bellying sail.
13970
13971     "Still on they fly, still northward go,
13972     Till he who conquers every foe,
13973     The mighty Canute, came to land,
13974     Far in the north on Throndhjem's strand.
13975     There this great king of Jutland race,
13976     Whose deeds and gifts surpass in grace
13977     All other kings, bestowed the throne
13978     Of Norway on his sister's son.
13979
13980     "To his own son he gave the crown
13981     (This I must add to his renown)
13982     Of Denmark -land of shadowy vales,
13983     In which the white swan trims her sails."
13984      Here it is told that King Canute's expedition was grander than saga can
13985      tell; but Thorarin sang thus because he would pride himself upon being one
13986      of King Canute's retinue when he came to Norway.
13987      183. OF THE MESSENGERS SENT BY KING OLAF FOR HIS SHIPS.
13988      The men whom King Olaf had sent eastwards to Gautland after his ships took
13989      with them the vessels they thought the best, and burnt the rest. The
13990      ship-apparel and other goods belonging to the king and his men they also
13991      took with them; and when they heard that King Canute had gone to Norway
13992      they sailed west through the Sound, and then north to Viken to King Olaf,
13993      to whom they delivered his ships. He was then at Tunsberg. When King Olaf
13994      learnt that King Canute was sailing north along the coast, King Olaf
13995      steered with his fleet into Oslo fjord, and into a branch of it called
13996      Drafn, where he lay quiet until King Canute's fleet had sailed southwards
13997      again. On this expedition which King Canute made from the North along the
13998      coast, he held a Thing in each district, and in every Thing the country
13999      was bound by oath in fealty to him, and hostages were given him. He went
14000      eastward across the mouths of the fjords to Sarpsborg, and held a Thing
14001      there, and, as elsewhere, the country was surrendered to him under oath of
14002      fidelity. King Canute then returned south to Denmark, after having
14003      conquered Norway without stroke of sword, and he ruled now over three
14004      kingdoms. So says Halvard Hareksblese when he sang of King Canute: -
14005     "The warrior-king, whose blood-stain'd shield
14006     Has shone on many a hard-fought field,
14007     England and Denmark now has won,
14008     And o'er three kingdoms rules alone.
14009     Peace now he gives us fast and sure,
14010     Since Norway too is made secure
14011     By him who oft, in days of yore,
14012     Glutted the hawk and wolf with gore."
14013      184. OF KING OLAF IN HIS PROCEEDINGS.
14014      King Olaf sailed with his ships out to Tunsberg, as soon as he heard that
14015      King Canute had turned back, and was gone south to Denmark. He then made
14016      himself ready with the men who liked to follow him, and had then thirteen
14017      ships. Afterwards he sailed out along Viken; but got little money, and few
14018      men, as those only followed him who dwelt in islands, or on outlying
14019      points of land. The king landed in such places, but got only the money and
14020      men that fell in his way; and he soon perceived that the country had
14021      abandoned him. He proceeded on according to the winds. This was in the
14022      beginning of winter (A.D. 1029). The wind turned very late in the season
14023      in their favour, so that they lay long in the Seley islands, where they
14024      heard the news from the North, through merchants, who told the king that
14025      Erling Skjalgson had collected a great force in Jadar, and that his ship
14026      lay fully rigged outside of the land, together with many other vessels
14027      belonging to the bondes; namely, skiffs, fisher-yachts, and great
14028      row-boats. Then the king sailed with his fleet from the East, and lay a
14029      while in Egersund. Both parties heard of each other now, and Erling
14030      assembled all the men he could.
14031      185. OF KING OLAF'S VOYAGE.
14032      On Thomasmas, before Yule (Dec. 21), the king left the harbour as soon as
14033      day appeared. With a good but rather strong gale he sailed northwards past
14034      Jadar. The weather was rainy, with dark flying clouds in the sky. The
14035      spies went immediately in through the Jadar country when the king sailed
14036      past it; and as soon as Erling heard that the king was sailing past from
14037      the East, he let the war-horn call all the people on board, and the whole
14038      force hastened to the ships, and prepared for battle. The king's ship
14039      passed by Jadar at a great rate; but thereafter turned in towards the
14040      land, intending to run up the fjords to gather men and money. Erling
14041      Skjalgson perceived this, and sailed after him with a great force and many
14042      ships. Swiftly their vessels flew, for they had nothing on board but men
14043      and arms: but Erling's ship went much faster than the others; therefore he
14044      took in a reef in the sails, and waited for the other vessels. Then the
14045      king saw that Erling with his fleet gained upon him fast; for the king's
14046      ships were heavily laden, and were besides water-soaked, having been in
14047      the sea the whole summer, autumn, and winter, up to this time. He saw also
14048      that there would be a great want of men, if he should go against the whole
14049      of Erling's fleet when it was assembled. He hailed from ship to ship the
14050      orders to let the sails gently sink, and to unship the booms and
14051      outriggers, which was done. When Erling saw this he calls out to his
14052      people, and orders them to get on more sail. "Ye see," says he, "that
14053      their sails are diminishing, and they are getting fast away from our
14054      sight." He took the reef out of the sails of his ship, and outsailed all
14055      the others immediately; for Erling was very eager in his pursuit of King
14056      Olaf.
14057      186. OF ERLING SKJALGSON'S FALL.
14058      King Olaf then steered in towards the Bokn fjord, by which the ships came
14059      out of sight of each other. Thereafter the king ordered his men to strike
14060      the sails, and row forwards through a narrow sound that was there, and all
14061      the ships lay collected within a rocky point. Then all the king's men put
14062      on their weapons. Erling sailed in through the sound, and observed nothing
14063      until the whole fleet was before him, and he saw the king's men rowing
14064      towards him with all their ships at once. Erling and his crew let fall the
14065      sails, and seized their weapons; but the king's fleet surrounded his ship
14066      on all sides. Then the fight began, and it was of the sharpest; but soon
14067      the greatest loss was among Erling's men. Erling stood on the quarter-deck
14068      of his ship. He had a helmet on his head, a shield before him, and a sword
14069      in his hand. Sigvat the skald had remained behind in Viken, and heard the
14070      tidings. He was a great friend of Erling, had received presents from him,
14071      and had been at his house. Sigvat composed a poem upon Erling's fall, in
14072      which there is the following verse: -
14073     "Erling has set his ship on sea -
14074     Against the king away is he:
14075     He who oft lets the eagle stain
14076     Her yellow feet in blood of slain.
14077     His little war-ship side by side
14078     With the king's fleet, the fray will bide.
14079     Now sword to sword the fight is raging,
14080
14081     Which Erling with the king is waging."
14082      Then Erling's men began to fall, and at the same moment his ship was
14083      carried by boarding, and every man of his died in his place. The king
14084      himself was amongst the foremost in the fray. So says Sigvat: -
14085     "The king's men hewed with hasty sword, -
14086     The king urged on the ship to board, -
14087     All o'er the decks the wounded lay:
14088     Right fierce and bloody was that fray.
14089     In Tungur sound, on Jadar shore,
14090     The decks were slippery with red gore;
14091     Warm blood was dropping in the sound,
14092     Where the king's sword was gleaming round."
14093      So entirely had Erling's men fallen, that not a man remained standing in
14094      his ship but himself alone; for there was none who asked for quarter, or
14095      none who got it if he did ask. There was no opening for flight, for there
14096      lay ships all around Erling's ship on every side, and it is told for
14097      certain that no man attempted to fly; and Sigvat says: -
14098     "All Erling's men fell in the fray,
14099     Off Bokn fjord, this hard-fought day.
14100     The brave king boarded, onward cheered,
14101     And north of Tungur the deck was cleared.
14102     Erling alone, the brave, the stout,
14103     Cut off from all, yet still held out;
14104     High on the stern -a sight to see -
14105     In his lone ship alone stood he."
14106      Then Erling was attacked both from the forecastle and from the other
14107      ships. There was a large space upon the poop which stood high above the
14108      other ships, and which nobody could reach but by arrow-shot, or partly
14109      with the thrust of spear, but which he always struck from him by parrying.
14110      Erling defended himself so manfully, that no example is known of one man
14111      having sustained the attack of so many men so long. Yet he never tried to
14112      get away, nor asked for quarter. So says Sigvat: -
14113     "Skjalg's brave son no mercy craves, -
14114     The battle's fury still he braves;
14115     The spear-storm, through the air sharp singing,
14116     Against his shield was ever ringing.
14117     So Erling stood; but fate had willed
14118     His life off Bokn should be spilled.
14119     No braver man has, since his day,
14120     Past Bokn fjord ta'en his way."
14121      When Olaf went back a little upon the fore-deck he saw Erling's behaviour;
14122      and the king accosted him thus: -"Thou hast turned against me to-day,
14123      Erling."
14124      He replies, "The eagle turns his claws in defence when torn asunder."
14125      Sigvat the skald tells thus of these words of Erling: -
14126     "Erling, our best defence of old, -
14127     Erling the brave, the brisk, the bold, -
14128     Stood to his arms, gaily crying,
14129     'Eagles should show their claws, though dying:'
14130     The very words which once before
14131     To Olaf he had said on shore,
14132     At Utstein when they both prepared
14133     To meet the foe, and danger shared."
14134      Then said the king, "Wilt thou enter into my service, Erling?"
14135      "That I will," said he; took the helmet off his head, laid down his sword
14136      and shield, and went forward to the forecastle deck.
14137      The king struck him in the chin with the sharp point of his battle-axe,
14138      and said, "I shall mark thee as a traitor to thy sovereign."
14139      Then Aslak Fitiaskalle rose up, and struck Erling in the head with an axe,
14140      so that it stood fast in his brain, and was instantly his death-wound.
14141      Thus Erling lost his life.
14142      The king said to Aslak, "May all ill luck attend thee for that stroke; for
14143      thou hast struck Norway out of my hands."
14144      Aslak replied, "It is bad enough if that stroke displease thee, for I
14145      thought it was striking Norway into thy hands; and if I have given thee
14146      offence, sire, by this stroke, and have thy ill-will for it, it will go
14147      badly with me, for I will get so many men's ill-will and enmity for this
14148      deed that I would need all your protection and favour."
14149      The king replied that he should have it.
14150      Thereafter the king ordered every man to return to his ship, and to get
14151      ready to depart as fast as he could. "We will not plunder the slain," says
14152      he, "and each man may keep what he has taken." The men returned to the
14153      ships and prepared themselves for the departure as quickly as possible;
14154      and scarcely was this done before the vessels of the bondes ran in from
14155      the south into the sound. It went with the bonde-army as is often seen,
14156      that the men, although many in numbers, know not what to do when they have
14157      experienced a check, have lost their chief, and are without leaders. None
14158      of Erling's sons were there, and the bondes therefore made no attack, and
14159      the king sailed on his way northwards. But the bondes took Erling's
14160      corpse, adorned it, and carried it with them home to Sole, and also the
14161      bodies of all who had fallen. There was great lamentation over Erling; and
14162      it has been a common observation among people, that Erling Skjalgson was
14163      the greatest and worthiest man in Norway of those who had no high title.
14164      Sigvat made these verses upon the occasion: -
14165     "Thus Erling fell -and such a gain
14166     To buy with such a loss was vain;
14167     For better man than he ne'er died,
14168     And the king's gain was small beside.
14169     In truth no man I ever knew
14170     Was, in all ways, so firm and true;
14171     Free from servility and pride,
14172     Honoured by all, yet thus he died."
14173      Sigvat also says that Aslak had very unthinkingly committed this murder of
14174      his own kinsman: -
14175     "Norway's brave defender's dead!
14176     Aslak has heaped on his own head
14177     The guilt of murdering his own kin:
14178     May few be guilty of such sin!
14179     His kinsman's murder on him lies -
14180     Our forefathers, in sayings wise,
14181     Have said, what is unknown to few,
14182     'Kinsmen to kinsmen should be true.'"
14183      187. OF THE INSURRECTION OF AGDER DISTRICT.
14184      Of Erling's sons some at that time were north in Throndhjem, some in
14185      Hordaland, and some in the Fjord district, for the purpose of collecting
14186      men. When Erling's death was reported, the news came also that there was a
14187      levy raising in Agder, Hordaland, and Rogaland. Forces were raised and a
14188      great army assembled, under Erling's sons, to pursue King Olaf.
14189      When King Olaf retired from the battle with Erling he went northward
14190      through the sounds, and it was late in the day. It is related that the
14191      king then made the following verses: -
14192     "This night, with battle sounds wild ringing,
14193     Small joy to the fair youth is bringing
14194     Who sits in Jadar, little dreaming
14195     O'er what this night the raven's screaming.
14196     The far-descended Erling's life
14197     Too soon has fallen; but, in the strife
14198     He met the luck they well deserve
14199     Who from their faith and fealty swerve."
14200      Afterwards the king sailed with his fleet along the land northwards, and
14201      got certain tidings of the bondes assembling an army. There were many
14202      chiefs and lendermen at this time with King Olaf, and all the sons of
14203      Arne. Of this Bjarne Gullbrarskald speaks in the poem he composed about
14204      Kalf Arnason: -
14205     "Kalf!  thou hast fought at Bokn well;
14206     Of thy brave doings all men tell:
14207     When Harald's son his men urged on
14208     To the hard strife, thy courage shone.
14209     Thou soon hadst made a good Yule feast
14210     For greedy wolf there in the East:
14211     Where stone and spear were flying round,
14212     There thou wast still the foremost found.
14213     The people suffered in the strife
14214     When noble Erling lost his life,
14215     And north of Utstein many a speck
14216     Of blood lay black upon the deck.
14217     The king, 'tis clear, has been deceived,
14218     By treason of his land bereaved;
14219     And Agder now, whose force is great.
14220     Will rule o'er all parts of the state."
14221      King Olaf continued his voyage until he came north of Stad, and brought up
14222      at the Herey Isles. Here he heard the news that Earl Hakon had a great
14223      war-force in Throndhjem, and thereupon the king held a council with his
14224      people. Kalf Arnason urged much to advance to Throndhjem, and fight Earl
14225      Hakon, notwithstanding the difference of numbers. Many others supported
14226      this advice, but others dissuaded from it, and the matter was left to the
14227      king's judgment.
14228      188. DEATH OF ASLAK FITIASKALLE.
14229      Afterwards the king went into Steinavag, and remained there all night; but
14230      Aslak Fitiaskalle ran into Borgund, where he remained the night, and where
14231      Vigleik Arnason was before him. In the morning, when Aslak was about
14232      returning on board, Vigleik assaulted him, and sought to avenge Erling's
14233      murder. Aslak fell there. Some of the king's court-men, who had been home
14234      all summer, joined the king here. They came from Frekeysund, and brought
14235      the king tidings that Earl Hakon, and many lendermen with him, had come in
14236      the morning to Frekeysund with a large force; "and they will end thy days,
14237      sire, if they have strength enough." Now the king sent his men up to a
14238      hill that was near; and when they came to the top, and looked northwards
14239      to Bjarney Island, they perceived that a great armament of many ships was
14240      coming from the north, and they hastened back to the king with this
14241      intelligence. The king, who was lying there with only twelve ships,
14242      ordered the war-horn to sound, the tents to be taken down on his ships,
14243      and they took to their oars. When they were quite ready, and were leaving
14244      the harbour, the bonde army sailed north around Thiotande with twenty-five
14245      ships. The king then steered inside of Nyrfe Island, and inside of
14246      Hundsver. Now when King Olaf came right abreast of Borgund, the ship which
14247      Aslak had steered came out to meet him, and when they found the king they
14248      told him the tidings, -that Vigleik Arnason had killed Aslak
14249      Fitiaskalle, because he had killed Erling Skjalgson. The king took this
14250      news very angrily, but could not delay his voyage on account of the enemy
14251      and he sailed in by Vegsund and Skor. There some of his people left him;
14252      among others, Kalf Arnason, with many other lendermen and ship commanders,
14253      who all went to meet Earl Hakon. King Olaf, however, proceeded on his way
14254      without stopping until he came to Todar fjord, where he brought up at
14255      Valdal, and landed from his ship. He had then five ships with him, which
14256      he drew up upon the shore, and took care of their sails and materials.
14257      Then he set up his land-tent upon a point of land called Sult, where there
14258      are pretty flat fields, and set up a cross near to the point of land. A
14259      bonde, by name Bruse, who dwelt there in More, and was chief over the
14260      valley, came down to King Olaf, together with many other bondes, and
14261      received him well, and according to his dignity; and he was friendly, and
14262      pleased with their reception of him. Then the king asked if there was a
14263      passable road up in the country from the valley to Lesjar; and Bruse
14264      replied, that there was an urd in the valley called Skerfsurd not passable
14265      for man or beast. King Olaf answers, "That we must try, bonde, and it will
14266      go as God pleases. Come here in the morning with your yoke, and come
14267      yourself with it, and let us then see. When we come to the sloping
14268      precipice, what chance there may be, and if we cannot devise some means of
14269      coming over it with horses and people."
14270      189. CLEARING OF THE URD.
14271      Now when day broke the bondes drove down with their yokes, as the king had
14272      told them. The clothes and weapons were packed upon horses, but the king
14273      and all the people went on foot. He went thus until he came to a place
14274      called Krosbrekka, and when he came up upon the hill he rested himself,
14275      sat down there a while, looked down over the fjord, and said, "A difficult
14276      expedition ye have thrown upon my hands, ye lendermen, who have now
14277      changed your fealty, although but a little while ago ye were my friends
14278      and faithful to me." There are now two crosses erected upon the bank on
14279      which the king sat. Then the king mounted a horse, and rode without
14280      stopping up the valley, until he came to the precipice. Then the king
14281      asked Bruse if there was no summer hut of cattle-herds in the
14282      neighbourhood, where they could remain. He said there was. The king
14283      ordered his land-tent to be set up, and remained there all night. In the
14284      morning the king ordered them to drive to the urd, and try if they could
14285      get across it with the waggons. They drove there, and the king remained in
14286      the meantime in his tent. Towards evening the king's court-men and the
14287      bondes came back, and told how they had had a very fatiguing labour,
14288      without making any progress, and that there never could be a road made
14289      that they could get across: so they continued there the second night,
14290      during which, for the whole night, the king was occupied in prayer. As
14291      soon as he observed day dawning he ordered his men to drive again to the
14292      urd, and try once more if they could get across it with the waggons; but
14293      they went very unwillingly, saying nothing could be gained by it. When
14294      they were gone the man who had charge of the king's kitchen came, and said
14295      there were only two carcasses of young cattle remaining of provision:
14296      "Although you, sire, have 400 men, and there are 100 bondes besides." Then
14297      the king ordered that he should set all the kettles on the fire, and put a
14298      little bit of meat in each kettle, which was done. Then the king went
14299      there, and made the sign of the cross over each kettle, and told them to
14300      make ready the meat. The king then went to the urd called Skerfsurd, where
14301      a road should be cleared. When the king came all his people were sitting
14302      down, quite worn out with the hard labour. Bruse said, "I told you, sire,
14303      but you would not believe me, that we could make nothing of this urd." The
14304      king laid aside his cloak, and told them to go to work once more at the
14305      urd. They did so, and now twenty men could handle stones which before 100
14306      men could not move from the place; and thus before midday the road was
14307      cleared so well that it was as passable for men, and for horses with
14308      packs, as a road in the plain fields. The king, after this, went down
14309      again to where the meat was, which place is called Olaf's Rock. Near the
14310      rock is a spring, at which Olaf washed himself; and therefore at the
14311      present day, when the cattle in the valley are sick, their illness is made
14312      better by their drinking at this well. Thereafter the king sat down to
14313      table with all the others; and when he was satisfied he asked if there was
14314      any other sheeling on the other side of the urd, and near the mountains,
14315      where they could pass the night. Bruse said there was such a sheeling,
14316      called Groningar; but that nobody could pass the night there on account of
14317      witchcraft, and evil beings who were in the sheeling. Then the king said
14318      they must get ready for their journey, as he wanted to be at the sheeling
14319      for the night. Then came the kitchen-master to the king, and tells that
14320      there was come an extraordinary supply of provisions, and he did not know
14321      where it had come from, or how. The king thanked God for this blessing,
14322      and gave the bondes who drove down again to their valley some rations of
14323      food, but remained himself all night in the sheeling. In the middle of the
14324      night, while the people were asleep, there was heard in the cattle-fold a
14325      dreadful cry, and these words: "Now Olaf's prayers are burning me," says
14326      the spirit, "so that I can no longer be in my habitation; now must I fly,
14327      and never more come to this fold." When the king's people awoke in the
14328      morning the king proceeded to the mountains, and said to Bruse, "Here
14329      shall now a farm be settled, and the bonde who dwells here shall never
14330      want what is needful for the support of life; and never shall his crop be
14331      destroyed by frost, although the crops be frozen on the farms both above
14332      it and below it." Then the king proceeded over the mountains, and came to
14333      a farm called Einby, where he remained for the night. King Olaf had then
14334      been fifteen years king of Norway (A.D. 1015-1029), including the year
14335      both he and Svein were in the country, and this year we have now been
14336      telling about. It was, namely, a little past Yule when the king left his
14337      ships and took to the land, as before related. Of this portion of his
14338      reign the priest Are Thorgilson the Wise was the first who wrote; and he
14339      was both faithful in his story, of a good memory, and so old a man that he
14340      could remember the men, and had heard their accounts, who were so old that
14341      through their age they could remember these circumstances as he himself
14342      wrote them in his books, and he named the men from whom he received his
14343      information. Otherwise it is generally said that King Olaf had been
14344      fifteen years king of Norway when he fell; but they who say so reckon to
14345      Earl Svein's government, the last year he was in the country, for King
14346      Olaf lived fifteen years afterwards as king.
14347      190. OLAF'S PROPHECIES.
14348      When the king had been one night at Lesjar he proceeded on his journey
14349      with his men, day by day; first into Gudbrandsdal, and from thence out to
14350      Redemark. Now it was seen who had been his friends, for they followed him;
14351      but those who had served him with less fidelity separated from him, and
14352      some showed him even indifference, or even full hostility, which
14353      afterwards was apparent; and also it could be seen clearly in many Upland
14354      people that they took very ill his putting Thorer to death, as before
14355      related. King Olaf gave leave to return home to many of his men who had
14356      farms and children to take care of; for it seemed to them uncertain what
14357      safety there might be for the families and property of those who left the
14358      country with him. Then the king explained to his friends his intention of
14359      leaving the country, and going first east into Svithjod, and there taking
14360      his determination as to where he should go; but he let his friends know
14361      his intention to return to the country, and regain his kingdoms, if God
14362      should grant him longer life; and he did not conceal his expectation that
14363      the people of Norway would again return to their fealty to him. "I think,"
14364      says he, "that Earl Hakon will have Norway but a short time under his
14365      power, which many will not think an extraordinary expectation, as Earl
14366      Hakon has had but little luck against me; but probably few people will
14367      trust to my prophecy, that Canute the Great will in the course of a few
14368      years die, and his kingdoms vanish; and there will he no risings in favour
14369      of his race." When the king had ended his speech, his men prepared
14370      themselves for their departure. The king, with the troop that followed
14371      him, turned east to Eid forest. And there were along with him the Queen
14372      Astrid; their daughter Ulfhild; Magnus, King Olaf's son; Ragnvald
14373      Brusason; the three sons of Arne, Thorberg, Fin, and Arne, with many
14374      lendermen; and the king's attendants consisted of many chosen men. Bjorn
14375      the marshal got leave to go home, and he went to his farm, and many others
14376      of the king's friends returned home with his permission to their farms.
14377      The king begged them to let him know the events which might happen in the
14378      country, and which it might be important for him to know; and now the king
14379      proceeded on his way.
14380      191. KING OLAF PROCEEDS TO RUSSIA.
14381      It is to be related of King Olaf's journey, that he went first from Norway
14382      eastward through Eid forest to Vermaland, then to Vatnsby, and through the
14383      forests in which there are roads, until he came out in Nerike district.
14384      There dwelt a rich and powerful man in that part called Sigtryg, who had a
14385      son, Ivar, who afterwards became a distinguished person. Olaf stayed with
14386      Sigtryg all spring (A.D. 1029); and when summer came he made ready for a
14387      journey, procured a ship for himself, and without stopping went on to
14388      Russia to King Jarisleif and his queen Ingegerd; but his own queen Astrid,
14389      and their daughter Ulfhild, remained behind in Svithjod, and the king took
14390      his son Magnus eastward with him. King Jarisleif received King Olaf in the
14391      kindest manner, and made him the offer to remain with him, and to have so
14392      much land as was necessary for defraying the expense of the entertainment
14393      of his followers. King Olaf accepted this offer thankfully, and remained
14394      there. It is related that King Olaf was distinguished all his life for
14395      pious habits, and zeal in his prayers to God. But afterwards, when he saw
14396      his own power diminished, and that of his adversaries augmented, he turned
14397      all his mind to God's service; for he was not distracted by other
14398      thoughts, or by the labour he formerly had upon his hands, for during all
14399      the time he sat upon the throne he was endeavouring to promote what was
14400      most useful: and first to free and protect the country from foreign
14401      chiefs' oppressions, then to convert the people to the right faith; and
14402      also to establish law and the rights of the country, which he did by
14403      letting justice have its way, and punishing evil-doers.
14404      192. CAUSES OF THE REVOLT AGAINST KING OLAF.
14405      It had been an old custom in Norway that the sons of lendermen, or other
14406      great men, went out in war-ships to gather property, and they marauded
14407      both in the country and out of the country. But after King Olaf came to
14408      the sovereignty he protected the country, so that he abolished all
14409      plundering there; and even if they were the sons of powerful men who
14410      committed any depredation, or did what the king considered against law, he
14411      did not spare them at all, but they must suffer in life or limbs; and no
14412      man's entreaties, and no offer of money-penalties, could help them. So
14413      says Sigvat: -
14414     "They who on viking cruises drove
14415     With gifts of red gold often strove
14416     To buy their safety -but our chief
14417     Had no compassion for the thief.
14418     He made the bravest lose his head
14419     Who robbed at sea, and pirates led;
14420     And his just sword gave peace to all,
14421     Sparing no robber, great or small."
14422      And he also says: -
14423     "Great king!  whose sword on many a field
14424     Food to the wandering wolf did yield,
14425     And then the thief and pirate band
14426     Swept wholly off by sea and land -
14427     Good king!  who for the people's sake
14428     Set hands and feet upon a stake,
14429     When plunderers of great name and bold
14430     Harried the country as of old.
14431     The country's guardian showed his might
14432     When oft he made his just sword bite
14433     Through many a viking's neck and hair,
14434     And never would the guilty spare.
14435     King Magnus' father, I must say,
14436     Did many a good deed in his day.
14437     Olaf the Thick was stern and stout,
14438     Much good his victories brought out."
14439      He punished great and small with equal severity, which appeared to the
14440      chief people of the country too severe; and animosity rose to the highest
14441      when they lost relatives by the king's just sentence, although they were
14442      in reality guilty. This was the origin of the hostility of the great men
14443      of the country to King Olaf, that they could not bear his just judgments.
14444      He again would rather renounce his dignity than omit righteous judgment.
14445      The accusation against him, of being stingy with his money, was not just,
14446      for he was a most generous man towards his friends; but that alone was the
14447      cause of the discontent raised against him, that he appeared hard and
14448      severe in his retributions. Besides, King Canute offered great sums of
14449      money, and the great chiefs were corrupted by this, and by his offering
14450      them greater dignities than they had possessed before. The inclinations of
14451      the people, also, were all in favour of Earl Hakon, who was much beloved
14452      by the country folks when he ruled the country before.
14453      193. OF JOKUL BARDSON.
14454      Earl Hakon had sailed with his fleet from Throndhjem, and gone south to
14455      More against King Olaf, as before related. Now when the king bore away,
14456      and ran into the fjord, the earl followed him thither; and then Kalf
14457      Arnason came to meet him, with many of the men who had deserted King Olaf.
14458      Kalf was well received. The earl steered in through Todar fjord to Valdal,
14459      where the king had laid up his ships on the strand. He took the ships
14460      which belonged to the king, had them put upon the water and rigged, and
14461      cast lots, and put commanders in charge of them according to the lots.
14462      There was a man called Jokul, who was an Icelander, a son of Bard Jokulson
14463      of Vatnsdal; the lot fell upon Jokul to command the Bison, which King Olaf
14464      himself had commanded. Jokul made these verses upon it: -
14465     "Mine is the lot to take the helm
14466     Which Olaf owned, who owned the realm;
14467     From Sult King Olaf's ship to steer
14468     (Ill luck I dread on his reindeer).
14469     My girl will never hear the tidings,
14470     Till o'er the wild wave I come riding
14471     In Olaf's ship, who loved his gold,
14472     And lost his ships with wealth untold."
14473      We may here shortly tell what happened a long time after. -that this
14474      Jokul fell in with King Olaf's men in the island of Gotland, and the king
14475      ordered him to be taken out to be beheaded. A willow twig accordingly was
14476      plaited in with his hair, and a man held him fast by it. Jokul sat down
14477      upon a bank, and a man swung the axe to execute him; but Jokul hearing the
14478      sound, raised his head, and the blow struck him in the head, and made a
14479      dreadful wound. As the king saw it would be his death-wound, he ordered
14480      them to let him lie with it. Jokul raised himself up, and he sang: -
14481     "My hard fate I mourn, -
14482     Alas! my wounds burn,
14483     My red wounds are gaping,
14484     My life-blood escaping.
14485     My wounds burn sore;
14486     But I suffer still more
14487     From the king's angry word,
14488     Than his sharp-biting sword."
14489      194. OF KALF ARNASON.
14490      Kalf Arnason went with Earl Hakon north to Throndhjem, and the earl
14491      invited him to enter into his service. Kalf said he would first go home to
14492      his farm at Eggja, and afterwards make his determination; and Kalf did so.
14493      When he came home he found his wife Sigrid much irritated; and she
14494      reckoned up all the sorrow inflicted on her, as she insisted, by King
14495      Olaf. First, he had ordered her first husband Olver to be killed. "And now
14496      since," says she, "my two sons; and thou thyself, Kalf, wert present when
14497      they were cut off, and which I little expected from thee." Kalf says, it
14498      was much against his will that Thorer was killed. "I offered money-penalty
14499      for him," says he; "and when Grjotgard was killed I lost my brother
14500      Arnbjorn at the same time." She replies, "It is well thou hast suffered
14501      this from the king; for thou mayest perhaps avenge him, although thou wilt
14502      not avenge my injuries. Thou sawest how thy foster-son Thorer was killed,
14503      with all the regard of the king for thee." She frequently brought out such
14504      vexatious speeches to Kalf, to which he often answered angrily; but yet he
14505      allowed himself to be persuaded by her to enter into the earl's service,
14506      on condition of renewing his fiefs to him. Sigrid sent word to the earl
14507      how far she had brought the matter with Kalf. As soon as the earl heard of
14508      it, he sent a message to Kalf that he should come to the town to him. Kalf
14509      did not decline the invitation, but came directly to Nidaros, and waited
14510      on the earl, who received him kindly. In their conversation it was fully
14511      agreed upon that Kalf should go into the earl's service, and should
14512      receive great fiefs. After this Kalf returned home, and had the greater
14513      part of the interior of the Throndhjem country under him. As soon as it
14514      was spring Kalf rigged out a ship that belonged to him, and when she was
14515      ready he put to sea, and sailed west to England; for he had heard that in
14516      spring King Canute was to sail from Denmark to England, and that King
14517      Canute had given Harald, a son of Thorkel the High, an earldom in Denmark.
14518      Kalf Arnason went to King Canute as soon as he arrived in England. Bjarne
14519      Gullbrarskald tells of this: -
14520     "King Olaf eastward o'er the sea
14521     To Russia's monarch had to flee;
14522     Our Harald's brother ploughed the main,
14523     And furrowed white its dark-blue plain.
14524     Whilst thou -the truth I still will say,
14525     Nor fear nor favour can me sway -
14526     Thou to King Canute hastened fast,
14527     As soon as Olaf's luck was past."
14528      Now when Kalf came to King Canute the king received him particularly well,
14529      and had many conversations with him. Among other things, King Canute, in a
14530      conference, asked Kalf to bind himself to raise a warfare against King
14531      Olaf, if ever he should return to the country. "And for which," says the
14532      king, "I will give thee the earldom, and place thee to rule over Norway;
14533      and my relation Hakon shall come to me, which will suit him better, for he
14534      is so honourable and trustworthy that I believe he would not even throw a
14535      spear against the person of King Olaf if he came back to the country."
14536      Kalf lent his ear to what the king proposed, for he had a great desire to
14537      attain this high dignity; and this conclusion was settled upon between
14538      King Canute and Kalf. Kalf then prepared to return home, and on his
14539      departure he received splendid presents from King Canute. Bjarne the skald
14540      tells of these circumstances: -
14541     "Sprung from old earls! -to England's lord
14542     Thou owest many a thankful word
14543     For many a gift: if all be true,
14544     Thy interest has been kept in view;
14545     For when thy course was bent for home,
14546     (Although that luck is not yet come,)
14547     'That Norway should be thine,' 'tis said,
14548     The London king a promise made."
14549      Kalf thereafter returned to Norway, and came to his farm.
14550      195. OF THE DEATH OF EARL HAKON.
14551      Earl Hakon left the country this summer (A.D. 1029), and went to England,
14552      and when he came there was well received by the king. The earl had a bride
14553      in England, and he travelled to conclude this marriage, and as he intended
14554      holding his wedding in Norway, he came to procure those things for it in
14555      England which it was difficult to get in Norway. In autumn he made ready
14556      for his return, but it was somewhat late before he was clear for sea; but
14557      at last he set out. Of his voyage all that can be told is, that the vessel
14558      was lost, and not a man escaped. Some relate that the vessel was seen
14559      north of Caithness in the evening in a heavy storm, and the wind blowing
14560      out of Pentland Firth. They who believe this report say the vessel drove
14561      out among the breakers of the ocean; but with certainty people knew only
14562      that Earl Hakon was missing in the ocean, and nothing belonging to the
14563      ship ever came to land. The same autumn some merchants came to Norway, who
14564      told the tidings that were going through the country of Earl Hakon being
14565      missing; and all men knew that he neither came to Norway nor to England
14566      that autumn, so that Norway that winter was without a head.
14567      196. OF BJORN THE MARSHAL.
14568      Bjorn the marshal sat at home on his farm after his parting from King
14569      Olaf. Bjorn was a celebrated man; therefore it was soon reported far and
14570      wide that he had set himself down in quietness. Earl Hakon and the other
14571      chiefs of the country heard this also, and sent persons with a verbal
14572      message to Bjorn. When the messengers arrived Bjorn received them well;
14573      and afterwards Bjorn called them to him to a conference, and asked their
14574      business. He who was their foreman presented to Bjorn the salutations of
14575      King Canute, Earl Hakon, and of several chiefs. "King Canute," says he,
14576      "has heard much of thee, and that thou hast been long a follower of King
14577      Olaf the Thick, and hast been a great enemy of King Canute; and this he
14578      thinks not right, for he will be thy friend, and the friend of all worthy
14579      men, if thou wilt turn from thy friendship to King Olaf and become his
14580      enemy. And the only thing now thou canst do is to seek friendship and
14581      protection there where it is most readily to be found, and which all men
14582      in this northern world think it most honourable to be favoured with. Ye
14583      who have followed Olaf the Thick should consider how he is now separated
14584      from you; and that now ye have no aid against King Canute and his men,
14585      whose lands ye plundered last summer, and whose friends ye murdered.
14586      Therefore ye ought to accept, with thanks, the friendship which the king
14587      offers you; and it would become you better if you offered money even in
14588      mulct to obtain it."
14589      When he had ended his speech Bjorn replies, "I wish now to sit quietly at
14590      home, and not to enter into the service of any chief."
14591      The messenger answers, "Such men as thou art are just the right men to
14592      serve the king; and now I can tell thee there are just two things for thee
14593      to choose, -either to depart in peace from thy property, and wander
14594      about as thy comrade Olaf is doing; or, which is evidently better, to
14595      accept King Canute's and Earl Hakon's friendship, become their man, and
14596      take the oaths of fealty to them. Receive now thy reward." And he
14597      displayed to him a large bag full of English money.
14598      Bjorn was a man fond of money, and self-interested; and when he saw the
14599      silver he was silent, and reflected with himself what resolution he should
14600      take. It seemed to him much to abandon his property, as he did not think
14601      it probable that King Olaf would ever have a rising in his favour in
14602      Norway. Now when the messenger saw that Bjorn's inclinations were turned
14603      towards the money, he threw down two thick gold rings, and said, "Take the
14604      money at once, Bjorn, and swear the oaths to King Canute; for I can
14605      promise thee that this money is but a trifle, compared to what thou wilt
14606      receive if thou followest King Canute."
14607      By the heap of money, the fine promises, and the great presents, he was
14608      led by covetousness, took the money, went into King Canute's service, and
14609      gave the oaths of fealty to King Canute and Earl Hakon, and then the
14610      messengers departed.
14611      197. BJORN THE MARSHAL'S JOURNEY.
14612      When Bjorn heard the tidings that Earl Hakon was missing he soon altered
14613      his mind, and was much vexed with himself for having been a traitor in his
14614      fidelity to King Olaf. He thought, now, that he was freed from the oath by
14615      which he had bound himself to Earl Hakon. It seemed to Bjorn that now
14616      there was some hope that King Olaf might again come to the throne of
14617      Norway if he came back, as the country was without a head. Bjorn therefore
14618      immediately made himself ready to travel, and took some men with him. He
14619      then set out on his journey, travelling night and day, on horseback when
14620      he could, and by ship when he found occasion; and never halted until he
14621      came, after Yule, east to Russia to King Olaf, who was very glad to see
14622      Bjorn. Then the king inquired much about the news from Norway. Bjorn tells
14623      him that Earl Hakon was missing, and the kingdom left without a head. At
14624      this news the men who had followed King Olaf were very glad, -all who
14625      had left property, connections, and friends in Norway; and the longing for
14626      home was awakened in them. Bjorn told King Olaf much news from Norway, and
14627      very anxious the king was to know, and asked much how his friends had kept
14628      their fidelity towards him. Bjorn answered, it had gone differently with
14629      different people.
14630      Then Bjorn stood up, fell at the king's feet, held his foot, and said,
14631      "All is in your power, sire, and in God's! I have taken money from King
14632      Canute's men, and sworn them the oaths of fealty; but now will I follow
14633      thee, and not part from thee so long as we both live."
14634      The king replies, "Stand up, Bjorn' thou shalt be reconciled with me; but
14635      reconcile thy perjury with God. I can see that but few men in Norway have
14636      held fast by their fealty, when such men as thou art could be false to me.
14637      But true it is also that people sit in great danger when I am distant, and
14638      they are exposed to the wrath of my enemies."
14639      Bjorn then reckoned up those who had principally bound themselves to rise
14640      in hostility against the king and his men; and named, among others,
14641      Erling's son in Jadar and their connections, Einar Tambaskelfer, Kalf
14642      Arnason, Thorer Hund, and Harek of Thjotta.
14643      198. OF KING OLAF.
14644      After King Olaf came to Russia he was very thoughtful, and weighed what
14645      counsel he now should follow. King Jarisleif and Queen Ingegerd offered
14646      him to remain with them, and receive a kingdom called Vulgaria, which is a
14647      part of Russia, and in which land the people were still heathen. King Olaf
14648      thought over this offer; but when he proposed it to his men they dissuaded
14649      him from settling himself there, and urged the king to betake himself to
14650      Norway to his own kingdom: but the king himself had resolved almost in his
14651      own mind to lay down his royal dignity, to go out into the world to
14652      Jerusalem, or other holy places, and to enter into some order of monks.
14653      But yet the thought lay deep in his soul to recover again, if there should
14654      be any opportunity for him, his kingdom in Norway. When he thought over
14655      this, it recurred to his mind how all things had gone prosperously with
14656      him during the first ten years of his reign, and how afterwards every
14657      thing he undertook became heavy, difficult, and hard; and that he had been
14658      unlucky, on all occasions in which he had tried his luck. On this account
14659      he doubted if it would be prudent to depend so much upon his luck, as to
14660      go with so little strength into the hands of his enemies, seeing that all
14661      the people of the country had taken part with them to oppose King Olaf.
14662      Such cares he had often on his mind, and he left his cause to God, praying
14663      that He would do what to Him seemed best. These thoughts he turned over in
14664      his mind, and knew not what to resolve upon; for he saw how evidently
14665      dangerous that was which his inclination was most bent upon.
14666      199. OF KING OLAF'S DREAM.
14667      One night the king lay awake in his bed, thinking with great anxiety about
14668      his determination, and at last, being tired of thinking, sleep came over
14669      him towards morning; but his sleep was so light that he thought he was
14670      awake, and could see all that was doing in the house. Then he saw a great
14671      and superb man, in splendid clothes, standing by his bed; and it came into
14672      the king's mind that this was King Olaf Trygvason who had come to him.
14673      This man said to him, "Thou are very sick of thinking about thy future
14674      resolutions; and it appears to me wonderful that these thoughts should be
14675      so tumultuous in thy soul that thou shouldst even think of laying down the
14676      kingly dignity which God hath given thee, and of remaining here and
14677      accepting of a kingdom from foreign and unknown kings. Go back rather to
14678      that kingdom which thou hast received in heritage, and rule over it with
14679      the strength which God hath given thee, and let not thy inferiors take it
14680      from thee. It is the glory of a king to be victorious over his enemies,
14681      and it is a glorious death to die in battle. Or art thou doubtful if thou
14682      hast right on thy side in the strife with thine enemies? Thou must have no
14683      doubts, and must not conceal the truth from thyself. Thou must go back to
14684      thy country, and God will give open testimony that the kingdom is thine by
14685      property." When the king awoke he thought he saw the man's shoulders going
14686      out. From this time the king's courage rose, and he fixed firmly his
14687      resolution to return to Norway; to which his inclination also tended most,
14688      and which he also found was the desire of all his men. He bethought
14689      himself also that the country being without a chief could be easily
14690      attacked, from what he had heard, and that after he came himself many
14691      would turn back towards him. When the king told his determination to his
14692      people they all gave it their approbation joyfully.
14693      200. OF KING OLAF'S HEALING POWERS.
14694      It is related that once upon a time, while King Olaf was in Russia, it
14695      happened that the son of an honest widow had a sore boil upon his neck, of
14696      which the lad lay very ill; and as he could not swallow any food, there
14697      was little hope of his life. The boy's mother went to Queen Ingegerd, with
14698      whom she was acquainted, and showed her the lad. The queen said she knew
14699      no remedy for it. "Go," said she, "to King Olaf, he is the best physician
14700      here; and beg him to lay his hands on thy lad, and bring him my words if
14701      he will not otherwise do it." She did as the queen told her; and when she
14702      found the king she says to him that her son is dangerously ill of a boil
14703      in his neck, and begs him to lay his hand on the boil. The king tells her
14704      he is not a physician, and bids her go to where there were physicians. She
14705      replies, that the queen had told her to come to him; "and told me to add
14706      the request from her, that you would would use the remedy you understood,
14707      and she said that thou art the best physician here in the town." Then the
14708      king took the lad, laid his hands upon his neck, and felt the boil for a
14709      long time, until the boy made a very wry face. Then the king took a piece
14710      of bread, laid it in the figure of the cross upon the palm of his hand,
14711      and put it into the boy's mouth. He swallowed it down, and from that time
14712      all the soreness left his neck, and in a few days he was quite well, to
14713      the great joy of his mother and all his relations. Then first came Olaf
14714      into the repute of having as much healing power in his hands as is
14715      ascribed to men who have been gifted by nature with healing by the touch;
14716      and afterwards when his miracles were universally acknowledged, this also
14717      was considered one of his miracles.
14718      201. KING OLAF BURNS THE WOOD SHAVINGS ON HIS HAND FOR HIS SABBATH BREACH.
14719      It happened one Sunday that the king sat in his highseat at the dinner
14720      table, and had fallen into such deep thought that he did not observe how
14721      time went. In one hand he had a knife, and in the other a piece of
14722      fir-wood from which he cut splinters from time to time. The table-servant
14723      stood before him with a bowl in his hands; and seeing what the king was
14724      about, and that he was involved in thought, he said, "It is Monday, sire,
14725      to-morrow." The king looked at him when he heard this, and then it came
14726      into his mind what he was doing on the Sunday. Then the king ordered a
14727      lighted candle to be brought him, swept together all the shavings he had
14728      made, set them on fire, and let them burn upon his naked hand; showing
14729      thereby that he would hold fast by God's law and commandment, and not
14730      trespass without punishment on what he knew to be right.
14731      202. OF KING OLAF.
14732      When King Olaf had resolved on his return home, he made known his
14733      intention to King Jarisleif and Queen Ingegerd. They dissuaded him from
14734      this expedition, and said he should receive as much power in their
14735      dominions as he thought desirable; but begged him not to put himself
14736      within the reach of his enemies with so few men as he had. Then King Olaf
14737      told them of his dream; adding, that he believed it to be God's will and
14738      providence that it should be so. Now when they found he was determined on
14739      travelling to Norway, they offered him all the assistance to his journey
14740      that he would accept from them. The king thanked them in many fine words
14741      for their good will; and said that he accepted from them, with no ordinary
14742      pleasure, what might be necessary for his undertaking.
14743      203. OF KING OLAF'S JOURNEY FROM RUSSIA.
14744      Immediately after Yule (A.D. 1080), King Olaf made himself ready; and had
14745      about 200 of his men with him. King Jarisleif gave him all the horses, and
14746      whatever else he required; and when he was ready he set off. King
14747      Jarisleif and Queen Ingegerd parted from him with all honour; and he left
14748      his son Magnus behind with the king. The first part of his journey, down
14749      to the sea-coast, King Olaf and his men made on the ice; but as spring
14750      approached, and the ice broke up, they rigged their vessels, and when they
14751      were ready and got a wind they set out to sea, and had a good voyage. When
14752      Olaf came to the island of Gotland with his ships he heard the news -which
14753      was told as truth, both in Svithjod, Denmark, and over all Norway -that
14754      Earl Hakon was missing, and Norway without a head. This gave the king and
14755      his men good hope of the issue of their journey. From thence they sailed,
14756      when the wind suited, to Svithjod, and went into the Maelar lake, to Aros,
14757      and sent men to the Swedish King Onund appointing a meeting. King Onund
14758      received his brother-in-law's message in the kindest manner, and went to
14759      him according to his invitation. Astrid also came to King Olaf, with the
14760      men who had attended her; and great was the joy on all sides at this
14761      meeting. The Swedish king also received his brother-in-law King Olaf with
14762      great joy when they met.
14763      204. OF THE LENDERMEN IN NORWAY.
14764      Now we must relate what, in the meantime, was going on in Norway. Thorer
14765      Hund, in these two winters (A.D. 1029-1030), had made a Lapland journey,
14766      and each winter had been a long time on the mountains, and had gathered to
14767      himself great wealth by trading in various wares with the Laplanders. He
14768      had twelve large coats of reindeer-skin made for him, with so much Lapland
14769      witchcraft that no weapon could cut or pierce them any more than if they
14770      were armour of ring-mail, nor so much. The spring thereafter Thorer rigged
14771      a long-ship which belonged to him, and manned it with his house-servants.
14772      He summoned the bondes, demanded a levy from the most northern Thing
14773      district, collected in this way a great many people, and proceeded with
14774      this force southwards. Harek of Thjotta had also collected a great number
14775      of people; and in this expedition many people of consequence took a part,
14776      although these two were the most distinguished. They made it known
14777      publicly that with this war-force they were going against King Olaf, to
14778      defend the country against him, in case he should come from the eastward.
14779      205. OF EINAR TAMBASKELFER.
14780      Einar Tambaskelfer had most influence in the outer part of the Throndhjem
14781      country after Earl Hakon's death was no longer doubtful; for he and his
14782      son Eindride appeared to be the nearest heirs to the movable property the
14783      earl had possessed. Then Einar remembered the promises and offers of
14784      friendship which King Canute had made him at parting; and he ordered a
14785      good vessel which belonged to him to be got ready, and embarked with a
14786      great retinue, and when he was ready sailed southwards along the coast,
14787      then set out to sea westwards, and sailed without stopping until he came
14788      to England. He immediately waited on King Canute, who received him well
14789      and joyfully. Then Einar opened his business to the king, and said he was
14790      come there to see the fulfillment of the promises the king had made him;
14791      namely, that he, Einar, should have the highest title of honour in Norway
14792      if Earl Hakon were no more. King Canute replies, that now the
14793      circumstances were altered. "I have now," said he, "sent men and tokens to
14794      my son Svein in Denmark, and promised him the kingdom of Norway; but thou
14795      shalt retain my friendship, and get the dignity and title which thou art
14796      entitled by birth to hold. Thou shalt be lenderman with great fiefs, and
14797      be so much more raised above other lendermen as thou art more able than
14798      they." Einar saw sufficiently how matters stood with regard to his
14799      business, and got ready to return home; but as he now knew the king's
14800      intentions, and thought it probable if King Olaf came from the East the
14801      country would not be very peaceable, it came into his mind that it would
14802      be better to proceed slowly, and not to be hastening his voyage, in order
14803      to fight against King Olaf, without his being advanced by it to any higher
14804      dignity than he had before. Einar accordingly went to sea when he was
14805      ready; but only came to Norway after the events were ended which took
14806      place there during that summer.
14807      206. OF THE CHIEF PEOPLE IN NORWAY.
14808      The chiefs in Norway had their spies east in Svithjod, and south in
14809      Denmark, to find out if King Olaf had come from Russia. As soon as these
14810      men could get across the country, they heard the news that King Olaf was
14811      arrived in Svithjod; and as soon as full certainty of this was obtained,
14812      the war message-token went round the land. The whole people were called
14813      out to a levy, and a great army was collected. The lendermen who were from
14814      Agder, Rogaland, and Hordaland, divided themselves, so that some went
14815      towards the north, and some towards the east; for they thought they
14816      required people on both sides. Erling's sons from Jadar went eastward,
14817      with all the men who lived east of them, and over whom they were chiefs;
14818      Aslak of Finey, and Erlend of Gerde, with the lendermen north of them,
14819      went towards the north. All those now named had sworn an oath to King
14820      Canute to deprive Olaf of life, if opportunity should offer.
14821      207. OF HARALD SIGURDSON'S PROCEEDINGS.
14822      Now when it was reported in Norway that King Olaf was come from the East
14823      to Svithjod, his friends gathered together to give him aid. The most
14824      distinguished man in this flock was Harald Sigurdson, a brother of King
14825      Olaf, who then was fifteen years of age, very stout, and manly of growth
14826      as if he were full-grown. Many other brave men were there also; and there
14827      were in all 600 men when they proceeded from the uplands, and went
14828      eastward with their force through Eid forest to Vermaland. From thence
14829      they went eastward through the forests to Svithjod and made inquiry about
14830      King Olaf's proceedings.
14831      208. OF KING OLAF'S PROCEEDINGS IN SVITHJOD.
14832      King Olaf was in Svithjod in spring (A.D. 1030), and had sent spies from
14833      thence to Norway. All accounts from that quarter agreed that there was no
14834      safety for him if he went there, and the people who came from the north
14835      dissuaded him much from penetrating into the country. But he had firmly
14836      resolved within himself, as before stated, to go into Norway; and he asked
14837      King Onund what strength King Onund would give him to conquer his kingdom.
14838      King Onund replied, that the Swedes were little inclined to make an
14839      expedition against Norway. "We know," says he, "that the Northmen are
14840      rough and warlike, and it is dangerous to carry hostility to their doors,
14841      but I will not be slow in telling thee what aid I can give. I will give
14842      thee 400 chosen men from my court-men, active and warlike, and well equipt
14843      for battle; and moreover will give thee leave to go through my country,
14844      and gather to thyself as many men as thou canst get to follow thee." King
14845      Olaf accepted this offer, and got ready for his march. Queen Astrid, and
14846      Ulfhild the king's daughter, remained behind in Svithjod.
14847      209. KING OLAF ADVANCES TO JARNBERALAND.
14848      Just as King Olaf began his journey the men came to him whom the Swedish
14849      king had given, in all 400 men, and the king took the road the Swedes
14850      showed him. He advanced upwards in the country to the forests, and came to
14851      a district called Jarnberaland. Here the people joined him who had come
14852      out of Norway to meet him, as before related; and he met here his brother
14853      Harald, and many other of his relations, and it was a joyful meeting. They
14854      made out together 1200 men.
14855      210. OF DAG HRINGSON.
14856      There was a man called Dag, who is said to have been a son of King Hring,
14857      who fled the country from King Olaf. This Hring, it is said further, had
14858      been a son of Dag, and grandson of Hring, Harald Harfager's son. Thus was
14859      Dag King Olaf's relative. Both Hring the father, and Dag the son, had
14860      settled themselves in Svithjod, and got land to rule over. In spring, when
14861      Olaf came from the East to Svithjod, he sent a message to his relation
14862      Dag, that he should join him in this expedition with all the force he
14863      could collect; and if they gained the country of Norway again, Dag should
14864      have no smaller part of the kingdom under him than his forefathers had
14865      enjoyed. When this message came to Dag it suited his inclination well, for
14866      he had a great desire to go to Norway and get the dominion his family had
14867      ruled over. He was not slow, therefore, to reply, and promised to come.
14868      Dag was a quick-speaking, quick-resolving man, mixing himself up in
14869      everything; eager, but of little understanding. He collected a force of
14870      almost 1200 men, with which he joined King Olaf.
14871      211. OF KING OLAF'S JOURNEY.
14872      King Olaf sent a message before him to all the inhabited places he passed
14873      through, that the men who wished to get goods and money, and share of
14874      booty, and the lands besides which now were in the hands of his enemies,
14875      should come to him, and follow him. Thereafter King Olaf led his army
14876      through forests, often over desert moors, and often over large lakes; and
14877      they dragged, or carried the boats, from lake to lake. On the way a great
14878      many followers joined the king, partly forest settlers, partly vagabonds.
14879      The places at which he halted for the night are since called Olaf's
14880      Booths. He proceeded without any break upon his journey until he came to
14881      Jamtaland, from which he marched north over the keel or ridge of the land.
14882      The men spread themselves over the hamlets, and proceeded, much scattered,
14883      so long as no enemy was expected; but always, when so dispersed, the
14884      Northmen accompanied the king. Dag proceeded with his men on another line
14885      of march, and the Swedes on a third with their troop.
14886      212. OF VAGABOND-MEN.
14887      There were two men, the one called Gauka-Thorer, the other Afrafaste, who
14888      were vagabonds and great robbers, and had a company of thirty men such as
14889      themselves. These two men were larger and stronger than other men, and
14890      they wanted neither courage nor impudence. These men heard speak of the
14891      army that was crossing the country, and said among themselves it would be
14892      a clever counsel to go to the king, follow him to his country, and go with
14893      him into a regular battle, and try themselves in this work; for they had
14894      never been in any battle in which people were regularly drawn up in line,
14895      and they were curious to see the king's order of battle. This counsel was
14896      approved of by their comrades, and accordingly they went to the road on
14897      which King Olaf was to pass. When they came there they presented
14898      themselves to the king, with their followers, fully armed. They saluted
14899      him, and he asked what people they were. They told their names, and said
14900      they were natives of the place; and told their errand, and that they
14901      wished to go with the king. The king said, it appeared to him there was
14902      good help in such folks. "And I have a great inclination," said he, "to
14903      take such; but are ye Christian men?"
14904      Gauka-Thorer replies, that he is neither Christian nor heathen. "I and my
14905      comrades have no faith but on ourselves, our strength, and the luck of
14906      victory; and with this faith we slip through sufficiently well."
14907      The king replies, "A great pity it is that such brave slaughtering fellows
14908      did not believe in Christ their Creator."
14909      Thorer replies, "Is there any Christian man, king, in thy following, who
14910      stands so high in the air as we two brothers?"
14911      The king told them to let themselves be baptized, and to accept the true
14912      faith. "Follow me then, and I will advance you to great dignities; but if
14913      ye will not do so, return to your former vocation."
14914      Afrafaste said he would not take on Christianity, and he turned away.
14915      Then said Gauka-Thorer, "It is a great shame that the king drives us thus
14916      away from his army, and I never before came where I was not received into
14917      the company of other people, and I shall never return back on this
14918      account." They joined accordingly the rear with other forest-men, and
14919      followed the troops. Thereafter the king proceeded west up to the
14920      keel-ridge of the country.
14921      213. OF KING OLAF'S VISION.
14922      Now when King Olaf, coming from the east, went over the keel-ridge and
14923      descended on the west side of the mountain, where it declines towards the
14924      sea, he could see from thence far over the country. Many people rode
14925      before the king and many after, and he himself rode so that there was a
14926      free space around him. He was silent, and nobody spoke to him, and thus he
14927      rode a great part of the day without looking much about him. Then the
14928      bishop rode up to him, asked him why he was so silent, and what he was
14929      thinking of; for, in general, he was very cheerful, and very talkative on
14930      a journey to his men, so that all who were near him were merry. The king
14931      replied, full of thought, "Wonderful things have come into my mind a while
14932      ago. As I just now looked over Norway, out to the west from the mountains,
14933      it came into my mind how many happy days I have had in that land. It
14934      appeared to me at first as if I saw over all the Throndhjem country, and
14935      then over all Norway; and the longer this vision was before my eyes the
14936      farther, methought, I saw, until I looked over the whole wide world, both
14937      land and sea. Well I know the places at which I have been in former days;
14938      some even which I have only heard speak of, and some I saw of which I had
14939      never heard, both inhabited and uninhabited, in this wide world." The
14940      bishop replied that this was a holy vision, and very remarkable.
14941      214. OF THE MIRACLE ON THE CORN LAND.
14942      When the king had come lower down on the mountain, there lay a farm before
14943      him called Sula, on the highest part of Veradal district; and as they came
14944      nearer to the house the corn-land appeared on both sides of the path. The
14945      king told his people to proceed carefully, and not destroy the corn to the
14946      bondes. The people observed this when the king was near; but the crowd
14947      behind paid no attention to it, and the people ran over the corn, so that
14948      it was trodden flat to the earth. There dwelt a bonde there called
14949      Thorgeir Flek, who had two sons nearly grown up. Thorgeir received the
14950      king and his people well, and offered all the assistance in his power. The
14951      king was pleased with his offer, and asked Thorgeir what was the news of
14952      the country, and if any forces were assembled against him. Thorgeir says
14953      that a great army was drawn together in the Throndhjem country, and that
14954      there were some lendermen both from the south of the country, and from
14955      Halogaland in the north; "but I do not know," says he. "if they are
14956      intended against you, or going elsewhere." Then he complained to the king
14957      of the damage and waste done him by the people breaking and treading down
14958      all his corn fields. The king said it was ill done to bring upon him any
14959      loss. Then the king rode to where the corn had stood, and saw it was laid
14960      flat on the earth; and he rode round the field, and said, "I expect,
14961      bonde, that God will repair thy loss, so that the field, within a week,
14962      will be better;" and it proved the best of the corn, as the king had said.
14963      The king remained all night there, and in the morning he made himself
14964      ready, and told Thorgeir the bonde to accompany him and Thorgear offered
14965      his two sons also for the journey; and although the king said that he did
14966      not want them with him, the lads would go. As they would not stay behind,
14967      the king's court-men were about binding them; but the king seeing it said,
14968      "Let them come with us; the lads will come safe back again." And it was
14969      with the lads as the king foretold.
14970      215. OF THE BAPTISM OF THE VAGABOND FOREST-MEN.
14971      Thereafter the army advanced to Staf, and when the king reached Staf's
14972      moor he halted. There he got the certain information that the bondes were
14973      advancing with an army against him, and that he might soon expect to have
14974      a battle with them. He mustered his force here, and, after reckoning them
14975      up, found there were in the army 900 heathen men, and when he came to know
14976      it he ordered them to allow themselves to be baptized, saying that he
14977      would have no heathens with him in battle. "We must not," says he, "put
14978      our confidence in numbers, but in God alone must we trust; for through his
14979      power and favour we must be victorious, and I will not mix heathen people
14980      with my own." When the heathens heard this, they held a council among
14981      themselves, and at last 400 men agreed to be baptized; but 500 men refused
14982      to adopt Christianity, and that body returned home to their land. Then the
14983      brothers Gauka-Thorer and Afrafaste presented themselves to the king, and
14984      offered again to follow him. The king asked if they had now taken baptism.
14985      Gauka-Thorer replied that they had not. Then the king ordered them to
14986      accept baptism and the true faith, or otherwise to go away. They stepped
14987      aside to talk with each other on what resolution they should take.
14988      Afrafaste said, "To give my opinion, I will not turn back, but go into the
14989      battle, and take a part on the one side or the other; and I don't care
14990      much in which army I am." Gauka-Thorer replies, "If I go into battle I
14991      will give my help to the king, for he has most need of help. And if I must
14992      believe in a God, why not in the white Christ as well as in any other? Now
14993      it is my advice, therefore, that we let ourselves be baptized, since the
14994      king insists so much upon it, and then go into the battle with him." They
14995      all agreed to this, and went to the king, and said they would receive
14996      baptism. Then they were baptized by a priest, and the baptism was
14997      confirmed by the bishop. The king then took them into the troop of his
14998      court-men, and said they should fight under his banner in the battle.
14999      216. KING OLAF'S SPEECH.
15000      King Olaf got certain intelligence now that it would be but a short time
15001      until he had a battle with the bondes; and after he had mustered his men,
15002      and reckoned up the force, he had more than 3000 men, which appears to be
15003      a great army in one field. Then the king made the following speech to the
15004      people: "We have a great army, and excellent troops; and now I will tell
15005      you, my men, how I will have our force drawn up. I will let my banner go
15006      forward in the middle of the army, and my-court-men, and pursuivants shall
15007      follow it, together with the war forces that joined us from the Uplands,
15008      and also those who may come to us here in the Throndhjem land. On the
15009      right hand of my banner shall be Dag Hringson, with all the men he brought
15010      to our aid; and he shall have the second banner. And on the left hand of
15011      our line shall the men be whom the Swedish king gave us, together with all
15012      the people who came to us in Sweden; and they shall have the third banner.
15013      I will also have the people divide themselves into distinct flocks or
15014      parcels, so that relations and acquaintances should be together; for thus
15015      they defend each other best, and know each other. We will have all our men
15016      distinguished by a mark, so as to be a field-token upon their helmets and
15017      shields, by painting the holy cross thereupon with white colour. When we
15018      come into battle we shall all have one countersign and field-cry, -'Forward,
15019      forward, Christian men! cross men! king's men!' We must draw up our meal
15020      in thinner ranks, because we have fewer people, and I do not wish to let
15021      them surround us with their men. Now let the men divide themselves into
15022      separate flocks, and then each flock into ranks; then let each man observe
15023      well his proper place, and take notice what banner he is drawn up under.
15024      And now we shall remain drawn up in array; and our men shall be fully
15025      armed, night and day, until we know where the meeting shall be between us
15026      and the bondes." When the king had finished speaking, the army arrayed,
15027      and arranged itself according to the king's orders.
15028      217. KING OLAF'S COUNSEL.
15029      Thereafter the king had a meeting with the chiefs of the different
15030      divisions, and then the men had returned whom the king had sent out into
15031      the neighbouring districts to demand men from the bondes. They brought the
15032      tidings from the inhabited places they had gone through, that all around
15033      the country was stripped of all men able to carry arms, as all the people
15034      had joined the bondes' army; and where they did find any they got but few
15035      to follow them, for the most of them answered that they stayed at home
15036      because they would not follow either party: they would not go out against
15037      the king, nor yet against their own relations. Thus they had got but few
15038      people. Now the king asked his men their counsel, and what they now should
15039      do. Fin Arnason answered thus to the king's question: "I will say what
15040      should be done, if I may advise. We should go with armed hand over all the
15041      inhabited places, plunder all the goods, and burn all the habitations, and
15042      leave not a hut standing, and thus punish the bondes for their treason
15043      against their sovereign. I think many a man will then cast himself loose
15044      from the bondes' army, when he sees smoke and flame at home on his farm,
15045      and does not know how it is going with children, wives, or old men,
15046      fathers, mothers, and other connections. I expect also," he added, "that
15047      if we succeed in breaking the assembled host, their ranks will soon be
15048      thinned; for so it is with the bondes, that the counsel which is the
15049      newest is always the dearest to them all, and most followed." When Fin had
15050      ended his speech it met with general applause; for many thought well of
15051      such a good occasion to make booty, and all thought the bondes well
15052      deserved to suffer damage; and they also thought it probable, what Fin
15053      said, that many would in this way be brought to forsake the assembled army
15054      of the bondes.
15055      Now when the king heard the warm expressions of his people he told them to
15056      listen to him, and said, "The bondes have well deserved that it should be
15057      done to them as ye desire. They also know that I have formerly done so,
15058      burning their habitations, and punishing them severely in many ways; but
15059      then I proceeded against them with fire and sword because they rejected
15060      the true faith, betook themselves to sacrifices, and would not obey my
15061      commands. We had then God's honour to defend. But this treason against
15062      their sovereign is a much less grievous crime, although it does not become
15063      men who have any manhood in them to break the faith and vows they have
15064      sworn to me. Now, however, it is more in my power to spare those who have
15065      dealt ill with me, than those whom God hated. I will, therefore, that my
15066      people proceed gently, and commit no ravage. First, I will proceed to meet
15067      the bondes; if we can then come to a reconciliation, it is well; but if
15068      they will fight with us, then there are two things before us; either we
15069      fail in the battle, and then it will be well advised not to have to retire
15070      encumbered with spoil and cattle; or we gain the victory, and then ye will
15071      be the heirs of all who fight now against us; for some will fall, and
15072      others will fly, but both will have forfeited their goods and properties,
15073      and then it will be good to enter into full houses and well-stocked farms;
15074      but what is burnt is of use to no man, and with pillage and force more is
15075      wasted than what turns to use. Now we will spread out far through the
15076      inhabited places, and take with us all the men we can find able to carry
15077      arms. Then men will also capture cattle for slaughter, or whatever else of
15078      provision that can serve for food; but not do any other ravage. But I will
15079      see willingly that ye kill any spies of the bonde army ye may fall in
15080      with. Dag and his people shall go by the north side down along the valley,
15081      and I will go on along the country road, and so we shall meet in the
15082      evening, and all have one night quarter."
15083      218. OF KING OLAF'S SKALDS.
15084      It is related that when King Olaf drew up his men in battle order, he made
15085      a shield rampart with his troop that should defend him in battle, for
15086      which he selected the strongest and boldest. Thereafter he called his
15087      skalds, and ordered them to go in within the shield defence. "Ye shall."
15088      says the king, "remain here, and see the circumstances which may take
15089      place, and then ye will not have to follow the reports of others in what
15090      ye afterwards tell or sing concerning it." There were Thormod
15091      Kolbrunarskald, Gissur Gulbraskald, a foster-son of Hofgardaref, and
15092      Thorfin Mun. Then said Thormod to Gissur, "Let us not stand so close
15093      together, brother, that Sigvat the skald should not find room when he
15094      comes. He must stand before the king, and the king will not have it
15095      otherwise." The king heard this, and said, "Ye need not sneer at Sigvat,
15096      because he is not here. Often has he followed me well, and now he is
15097      praying for us, and that we greatly need." Thormod replies, "It may be,
15098      sire, that ye now require prayers most; but it would be thin around the
15099      banner-staff if all thy court-men were now on the way to Rome. True it was
15100      what we spoke about, that no man who would speak with you could find room
15101      for Sigvat."
15102      Thereafter the skalds talked among themselves that it would be well to
15103      compose a few songs of remembrance about the events which would soon be
15104      taking place.
15105      Then Gissur sang: -
15106     "From me shall bende girl never hear
15107     A thought of sorrow, care, or fear:
15108     I wish my girl knew how gay
15109     We arm us for our viking fray.
15110     Many and brave they are, we know,
15111     Who come against us there below;
15112     But, life or death, we, one and all,
15113     By Norway's king will stand or fall."
15114      And Thorfin Mun made another song, viz.: -
15115     "Dark is the cloud of men and shields,
15116     Slow moving up through Verdal's fields:
15117     These Verdal folks presume to bring
15118     Their armed force against their king.
15119     On!  let us feed the carrion crow, -
15120     Give her a feast in every blow;
15121     And, above all, let Throndhjem's hordes
15122     Feel the sharp edge of true men's swords."
15123      And Thorrood sang: -
15124     "The whistling arrows pipe to battle,
15125     Sword and shield their war-call rattle.
15126     Up!  brave men, up!  the faint heart here
15127     Finds courage when the danger's near.
15128     Up!  brave men, up!  with Olaf on!
15129     With heart and hand a field is won.
15130     One viking cheer! -then, stead of words,
15131     We'll speak with our death-dealing swords."
15132      These songs were immediately got by heart by the army.
15133      219. OF KING OLAF'S GIFTS FOR THE SOULS OF THOSE WHO SHOULD BE SLAIN.
15134      Thereafter the king made himself ready, and marched down through the
15135      valley. His whole forces took up their night-quarter in one place, and lay
15136      down all night under their shields; but as soon as day broke the king
15137      again put his army in order, and that being done they proceeded down
15138      through the valley. Many bondes then came to the king, of whom the most
15139      joined his army; and all, as one man, told the same tale, -that the
15140      lendermen had collected an enormous army, with which they intended to give
15141      battle to the king.
15142      The king took many marks of silver, and delivered them into the hands of a
15143      bonde, and said, "This money thou shalt conceal, and afterwards lay out,
15144      some to churches, some to priests, some to alms-men, -as gifts for
15145      the life and souls of those who fight against us, and may fall in battle."
15146      The bonde replies, "Should you not rather give this money for the
15147      soul-mulct of your own men?"
15148      The king says, "This money shall be given for the souls of those who stand
15149      against us in the ranks of the bondes' army, and fall by the weapons of
15150      our own men. The men who follow us to battle, and fall therein, will all
15151      be saved together with ourself."
15152      220. OF THORMOD KOLBRUNARSKALD.
15153      This night the king lay with his army around him on the field, as before
15154      related, and lay long awake in prayer to God, and slept but little.
15155      Towards morning a slumber fell on him, and when he awoke daylight was
15156      shooting up. The king thought it too early to awaken the army, and asked
15157      where Thormod the skald was. Thormod was at hand, and asked what was the
15158      king's pleasure. "Sing us a song," said the king. Thormod raised himself
15159      up, and sang so loud that the whole army could hear him. He began to sing
15160      the old "Bjarkamal", of which these are the first verses: -
15161     "The day is breaking, -
15162     The house cock, shaking
15163     His rustling wings,
15164     While priest-bell rings,
15165     Crows up the morn,
15166     And touting horn
15167     Wakes thralls to work and weep;
15168     Ye sons of Adil, cast off sleep,
15169     Wake up!  wake up!
15170     Nor wassail cup,
15171     Nor maiden's jeer,
15172     Awaits you here.
15173     Hrolf of the bow!
15174     Har of the blow!
15175     Up in your might!  the day is breaking;
15176     'Tis Hild's game (1) that bides your waking."
15177      Then the troops awoke, and when the song was ended the people thanked him
15178      for it; and it pleased many, as it was suitable to the time and occasion,
15179      and they called it the house-carle's whet. The king thanked him for the
15180      pleasure, and took a gold ring that weighed half a mark and gave it him.
15181      Thormod thanked the king for the gift, and said, "We have a good king; but
15182      it is not easy to say how long the king's life may be. It is my prayer,
15183      sire, that thou shouldst never part from me either in life or death." The
15184      king replies, "We shall all go together so long as I rule, and as ye will
15185      follow me."
15186      Thormod says, "I hope, sire, that whether in safety or danger I may stand
15187      near you as long as I can stand, whatever we may hear of Sigvat travelling
15188      with his gold-hilted sword." Then Thormod made these lines: -
15189     "To thee, my king, I'll still be true,
15190     Until another skald I view,
15191     Here in the field with golden sword,
15192     As in thy hall, with flattering word.
15193     Thy skald shall never be a craven,
15194     Though he may feast the croaking raven,
15195     The warrior's fate unmoved I view, -
15196     To thee, my king, I'll still be true."
15197   ENDNOTES: (1) Hild's game is the battle, from the name of the
15198war-goddess     Hild. -L.
15199      221. KING OLAF COMES TO STIKLESTAD.
15200      King Olaf led his army farther down through the valley, and Dag and his
15201      men went another way, and the king did not halt until he came to
15202      Stiklestad. There he saw the bonde army spread out all around; and there
15203      were so great numbers that people were going on every footpath, and great
15204      crowds were collected far and near. They also saw there a troop which came
15205      down from Veradal, and had been out to spy. They came so close to the
15206      king's people that they knew each other. It was Hrut of Viggia, with
15207      thirty men. The king ordered his pursuivants to go out against Hrut, and
15208      make an end of him, to which his men were instantly ready. The king said
15209      to the Icelanders, "It is told me that in Iceland it is the custom that
15210      the bondes give their house-servants a sheep to slaughter; now I give you
15211      a ram to slaughter." (1) The Icelanders were easily invited to this, and
15212      went out immediately with a few men against Hrut, and killed him and the
15213      troop that followed him. When the king came to Stiklestad he made a halt,
15214      and made the army stop, and told his people to alight from their horses
15215      and get ready for battle; and the people did as the king ordered. Then he
15216      placed his army in battle array, and raised his banner. Dag was not yet
15217      arrived with his men, so that his wing of the battle array was wanting.
15218      Then the king said the Upland men should go forward in their place, and
15219      raise their banner there. "It appears to me advisable," says the king,
15220      "that Harald my brother should not be in the battle, for he is still in
15221      the years of childhood only." Harald replies, "Certainly I shall be in the
15222      battle, for I am not so weak that I cannot handle the sword; and as to
15223      that, I have a notion of tying the sword-handle to my hand. None is more
15224      willing than I am to give the bondes a blow; so I shall go with my
15225      comrades." It is said that Harald made these lines: -
15226     "Our army's wing, where I shall stand,
15227     I will hold good with heart and hand;
15228     My mother's eye shall joy to see
15229     A battered, blood-stained shield from me.
15230     The brisk young skald should gaily go
15231     Into the fray, give blow for blow,
15232     Cheer on his men, gain inch by inch,
15233     And from the spear-point never flinch."
15234      Harald got his will, and was allowed to be in the battle.
15235   ENDNOTES: (1) Hrut means a young ram. -L.
15236      222. OF THORGILS HALMASON.
15237      A bonde, by name Thorgils Halmason, father to Grim the Good, dwelt in
15238      Stiklestad farm. Thorgils offered the king his assistance, and was ready
15239      to go into battle with him. The king thanked him for the offer. "I would
15240      rather," says the king, "thou shouldst not be in the fight. Do us rather
15241      the service to take care of the people who are wounded, and to bury those
15242      who may fall, when the battle is over. Should it happen, bonde, that I
15243      fall in this battle, bestow the care on my body that may be necessary, if
15244      that be not forbidden thee." Thorgils promised the king what he desired.
15245      223. OLAF'S SPEECH.
15246      Now when King Olaf had drawn up his army in battle array he made a speech,
15247      in which he told the people to raise their spirit, and go boldly forward,
15248      if it came to a battle. "We have," says he, "many men, and good; and
15249      although the bondes may have a somewhat larger force than we, it is fate
15250      that rules over victory. This I will make known to you solemnly, that I
15251      shall not fly from this battle, but shall either be victorious over the
15252      bondes, or fall in the fight. I will pray to God that the lot of the two
15253      may befall me which will be most to my advantage. With this we may
15254      encourage ourselves, that we have a more just cause than the bondes; and
15255      likewise that God must either protect us and our cause in this battle, or
15256      give us a far higher recompense for what we may lose here in the world
15257      than what we ourselves could ask. Should it be my lot to have anything to
15258      say after the battle, then shall I reward each of you according to his
15259      service, and to the bravery he displays in the battle; and if we gain the
15260      victory, there must be land and movables enough to divide among you, and
15261      which are now in the hands of your enemies. Let us at the first make the
15262      hardest onset, for then the consequences are soon seen. There being a
15263      great difference in the numbers, we have to expect victory from a sharp
15264      assault only; and, on the other hand, it will be heavy work for us to
15265      fight until we are tired, and unable to fight longer; for we have fewer
15266      people to relieve with than they, who can come forward at one time and
15267      retreat and rest at another. But if we advance so hard at the first attack
15268      that those who are foremost in their ranks must turn round, then the one
15269      will fall over the other, and their destruction will be the greater the
15270      greater numbers there are together." When the king had ended his speech it
15271      was received with loud applause, and the one encouraged the other.
15272      224. OF THORD FOLASON.
15273      Thord Folason carried King Olaf's banner. So says Sigvat the skald, in the
15274      death-song which he composed about King Olaf, and put together according
15275      to resurrection saga: -
15276     "Thord. I have heard, by Olaf's side,
15277     Where raged the battle's wildest tide,
15278     Moved on, and, as by one accord
15279     Moved with them every heart and sword.
15280     The banner of the king on high,
15281     Floating all splendid in the sky
15282     From golden shaft, aloft he bore, -
15283     The Norsemen's rallying-point of yore."
15284      225. OF KING OLAF'S ARMOUR.
15285      King Olaf was armed thus: -He had a gold-mounted helmet on his head;
15286      and had in one hand a white shield, on which the holy cross was inlaid in
15287      gold. In his other hand he had a lance, which to the present day stands
15288      beside the altar in Christ Church. In his belt he had a sword, which was
15289      called Hneiter, which was remarkably sharp, and of which the handle was
15290      worked with gold. He had also a strong coat of ring-mail. Sigvat the
15291      skald, speaks of this: -
15292     "A greater victory to gain,
15293     Olaf the Stout strode o'er the plain
15294     In strong chain armour, aid to bring
15295     To his brave men on either wing.
15296     High rose the fight and battle-heat, -
15297     the clear blood ran beneath the feet
15298     Of Swedes, who from the East came there,
15299     In Olaf's gain or loss to share."
15300      226. KING OLAF'S DREAM.
15301      Now when King Olaf had drawn up his men the army of the bondes had not yet
15302      come near upon any quarter, so the king said the people should sit down
15303      and rest themselves. He sat down himself, and the people sat around him in
15304      a widespread crowd. He leaned down, and laid his head upon Fin Arnason's
15305      knee. There a slumber came upon him, and he slept a little while; but at
15306      the same time the bondes' army was seen advancing with raised banners, and
15307      the multitude of these was very great.
15308      Then Fin awakened the king, and said that the bonde-army advanced against
15309      them.
15310      The king awoke, and said, "Why did you waken me, Fin, and did not allow me
15311      to enjoy my dream?"
15312      Fin: "Thou must not be dreaming; but rather thou shouldst be awake, and
15313      preparing thyself against the host which is coming down upon us; or, dost
15314      thou not see that the whole bonde-crowd is coming?"
15315      The king replies, "They are not yet so near to us, and it would have been
15316      better to have let me sleep."
15317      Then said Fin, "What was the dream, sire, of which the loss appears to
15318      thee so great that thou wouldst rather have been left to waken of
15319      thyself?"
15320      Now the king told his dream, -that he seemed to see a high ladder,
15321      upon which he went so high in the air that heaven was open: for so high
15322      reached the ladder. "And when you awoke me, I was come to the highest step
15323      towards heaven."
15324      Fin replies, "This dream does not appear to me so good as it does to thee.
15325      I think it means that thou art fey (1); unless it be the mere want of
15326      sleep that has worked upon thee."
15327   ENDNOTES: (1) Fey means doomed to die.
15328      227. OF ARNLJOT GELLINE'S BAPTISM.
15329      When King Olaf was arrived at Stiklestad, it happened, among other
15330      circumstances, that a man came to him; and although it was nowise
15331      wonderful that there came many men from the districts, yet this must be
15332      regarded as unusual, that this man did not appear like the other men who
15333      came to him. He was so tall that none stood higher than up to his
15334      shoulders: very handsome he was in countenance, and had beautiful fair
15335      hair. He was well armed; had a fine helmet, and ring armour; a red shield;
15336      a superb sword in his belt; and in his hand a gold-mounted spear, the
15337      shaft of it so thick that it was a handful to grasp. The man went before
15338      the king, saluted him, and asked if the king would accept his services.
15339      The king asked his name and family, also what countryman he was.
15340      He replies, "My family is in Jamtaland and Helsingjaland, and my name is
15341      Arnljot Gelline; but this I must not forget to tell you, that I came to
15342      the assistance of those men you sent to Jamtaland to collect scat, and I
15343      gave into their hands a silver dish, which I sent you as a token that I
15344      would be your friend."
15345      Then the king asked Arnljot if he was a Christian or not. He replied, "My
15346      faith has been this, to rely upon my power and strength, and which faith
15347      hath hitherto given me satisfaction; but now I intend rather to put my
15348      faith, sire, in thee."
15349      The king replies, "If thou wilt put faith in me thou must also put faith
15350      in what I will teach thee. Thou must believe that Jesus Christ has made
15351      heaven and earth, and all mankind, and to him shall all those who are good
15352      and rightly believing go after death."
15353      Arnljot answers, "I have indeed heard of the white Christ, but neither
15354      know what he proposes, nor what he rules over; but now I will believe all
15355      that thou sayest to me, and lay down my lot in your hands."
15356      Thereupon Arnljot was baptized. The king taught him so much of the holy
15357      faith as appeared to him needful, and placed him in the front rank of the
15358      order of battle, in advance of his banner, where also Gauka-Thorer and
15359      Afrafaste, with their men, were.
15360      228. CONCERNING THE ARMY COLLECTED IN NORWAY.
15361      Now shall we relate what we have left behind in our tale, -that the
15362      lendermen and bondes had collected a vast host as soon as it was reported
15363      that King Olaf was come from Russia, and had arrived in Svithjod; but when
15364      they heard that he had come to Jamtaland, and intended to proceed
15365      westwards over the keel-ridge to Veradal, they brought their forces into
15366      the Throndhjem country, where they gathered together the whole people,
15367      free and unfree, and proceeded towards Veradal with so great a body of men
15368      that there was nobody in Norway at that time who had seen so large a force
15369      assembled. But the force, as it usually happens in so great a multitude,
15370      consisted of many different sorts of people. There were many lendermen,
15371      and a great many powerful bondes; but the great mass consisted of
15372      labourers and cottars. The chief strength of this army lay in the
15373      Throndhjem land, and it was the most warm in enmity and opposition to the
15374      king.
15375      229. OF BISHOP SIGURD.
15376      When King Canute had, as before related, laid all Norway under his power,
15377      he set Earl Hakon to manage it, and gave the earl a court-bishop, by name
15378      Sigurd, who was of Danish descent, and had been long with King Canute.
15379      This bishop was of a very hot temper, and particularly obstinate, and
15380      haughty in his speech; but supported King Canute all he could in
15381      conversation, and was a great enemy of King Olaf. He was now also in the
15382      bondes' army, spoke often before the people, and urged them much to
15383      insurrection against King Olaf.
15384      230. BISHOP SIGURD'S SPEECH.
15385      At a House-thing, at which a great many people were assembled, the bishop
15386      desired to be heard, and made the following speech: "Here are now
15387      assembled a great many men, so that probably there will never be
15388      opportunity in this poor country of seeing so great a native army; but it
15389      would be desirable if this strength and multitude could be a protection;
15390      for it will all be needed, if this Olaf does not give over bringing war
15391      and strife upon you. From his very earliest youth he has been accustomed
15392      to plunder and kill: for which purposes he drove widely around through all
15393      countries, until he turned at last against this, where he began to show
15394      hostilities against the men who were the best and most powerful; and even
15395      against King Canute, whom all are bound to serve according to their
15396      ability, and in whose scat-lands he set himself down. He did the same to
15397      Olaf the Swedish king. He drove the earls Svein and Hakon away from their
15398      heritages; and was even most tyrannical towards his own connections, as he
15399      drove all the kings out of the Uplands: although, indeed, it was but just
15400      reward for having been false to their oaths of fealty to King Canute, and
15401      having followed this King Olaf in all the folly he could invent; so their
15402      friendship ended according to their deserts, by this king mutilating some
15403      of them, taking their kingdoms himself, and ruining every man in the
15404      country who had an honourable name. Ye know yourselves how he has treated
15405      the lendermen, of whom many of the worthlest have been murdered, and many
15406      obliged to fly from their country; and how he has roamed far and wide
15407      through the land with robber-bands, burning and plundering houses, and
15408      killing people. Who is the man among us here of any consideration who has
15409      not some great injury from him to avenge? Now he has come hither with a
15410      foreign troop, consisting mostly of forest-men, vagabonds, and such
15411      marauders. Do ye think he will now be more merciful to you, when he is
15412      roaming about with such a bad crew, after committing devastations which
15413      all who followed him dissuaded him from? Therefore it is now my advice,
15414      that ye remember King Canute's words when he told you, if King Olaf
15415      attempted to return to the country ye should defend the liberty King
15416      Canute had promised you, and should oppose and drive away such a vile
15417      pack. Now the only thing to be done is to advance against them, and cast
15418      forth these malefactors to the wolves and eagles, leaving their corpses on
15419      the spot they cover, unless ye drag them aside to out-of-the-way corners
15420      in the woods or rocks. No man would be so imprudent as to remove them to
15421      churches, for they are all robbers and evil-doers." When he had ended his
15422      speech it was hailed with the loudest applause, and all unanimously agreed
15423      to act according to his recommendation.
15424      231. OF THE LENDERMEN.
15425      The lendermen who had come together appointed meetings with each other,
15426      and consulted together how they should draw up their troops, and who
15427      should be their leader. Kalf Arnason said that Harek of Thjotta was best
15428      fitted to be the chief of this army, for he was descended from Harald
15429      Harfager's race. "The king also is particularly enraged against him on
15430      account of the murder of Grankel, and therefore he would be exposed to the
15431      severest fate if Olaf recovered the kingdom; and Harek withal is a man
15432      experienced in battles, and a man who does much for honour alone."
15433      Harek replies, that the men are best suited for this who are in the flower
15434      of their age. "I am now," says he, "an old and decaying man, not able to
15435      do much in battle: besides, there is near relationship between me and King
15436      Olaf; and although he seems not to put great value upon that tie, it would
15437      not beseem me to go as leader of the hostilities against him, before any
15438      other in this meeting. On the other hand, thou, Thorer, art well suited to
15439      be our chief in this battle against King Olaf; and thou hast distinct
15440      grounds for being so, both because thou hast to avenge the death of thy
15441      relation, and also hast been driven by him as an outlaw from thy property.
15442      Thou hast also promised King Canute, as well as thy connections, to avenge
15443      the murder of thy relative Asbjorn; and dost thou suppose there ever will
15444      be a better opportunity than this of taking vengeance on Olaf for all
15445      these insults and injuries?"
15446      Thorer replies thus to his speech: "I do not confide in myself so much as
15447      to raise the banner against King Olaf, or, as chief, to lead on this army;
15448      for the people of Throndhjem have the greatest part in this armament, and
15449      I know well their haughty spirit, and that they would not obey me, or any
15450      other Halogaland man, although I need not be reminded of my injuries to be
15451      roused to vengeance on King Olaf. I remember well my heavy loss when King
15452      Olaf slew four men, all distinguished both by birth and personal
15453      qualities; namely, my brother's son Asbjorn, my sister's sons Thorer and
15454      Grjotgard, and their father Olver; and it is my duty to take vengeance for
15455      each man of them. I will not conceal that I have selected eleven of my
15456      house-servants for that purpose, and of those who are the most daring; and
15457      I do not think we shall be behind others in exchanging blows with King
15458      Olaf, should opportunity be given."
15459      232. KALF ARNASON'S SPEECH.
15460      Then Kalf Arnason desired to speak. "It is highly necessary," says he,
15461      "that this business we have on hand do not turn out a mockery and
15462      child-work, now that an army is collected. Something else is needful, if
15463      we are to stand battle with King Olaf, than that each should shove the
15464      danger from himself; for we must recollect that although King Olaf has not
15465      many people compared to this army of ours, the leader of them is intrepid,
15466      and the whole body of them will be true to him, and obedient in the
15467      battle. But if we who should be the leaders of this army show any fear,
15468      and will not encourage the army and go at the head of it, it must happen
15469      that with the great body of our people the spirit will leave their hearts,
15470      and the next thing will be that each will seek his own safety. Although we
15471      have now a great force assembled, we shall find our destruction certain,
15472      when we meet King Olaf and his troops, if we, the chiefs of the people,
15473      are not confident in our cause, and have not the whole army confidently
15474      and bravely going along with us. If it cannot be so, we had better not
15475      risk a battle; and then it is easy to see that nothing would be left us
15476      but to shelter ourselves under King Olaf's mercy, however hard it might
15477      be, as then we would be less guilty than we now may appear to him to be.
15478      Yet I know there are men in his ranks who would secure my life and peace
15479      if I would seek it. Will ye now adopt my proposal -then shalt thou,
15480      friend Thorer, and thou, Harek, go under the banner which we will all of
15481      us raise up, and then follow. Let us all be speedy and determined in the
15482      resolution we have taken, and put ourselves so at the head of the bondes'
15483      army that they see no distrust in us; for then will the common man advance
15484      with spirit when we go merrily to work in placing the army in
15485      battle-order, and in encouraging the people to the strife."
15486      When Kalf had ended they all concurred in what he proposed, and all would
15487      do what Kalf thought of advantage. All desired Kalf to be the leader of
15488      the army, and to give each what place in it he chose.
15489      233. HOW THE LENDERMEN SET UP THEIR BANNERS.
15490      Kalf Arnason then raised his banner, and drew up his house-servants along
15491      with Harek of Thjotta and his men. Thorer Hund, with his troop, was at the
15492      head of the order of battle in front of the banner; and on both sides of
15493      Thorer was a chosen body of bondes, all of them the most active and best
15494      armed in the forces. This part of the array was long and thick, and in it
15495      were drawn up the Throndhjem people and the Halogalanders. On the right
15496      wing was another array; and on the left of the main array were drawn up
15497      the men from Rogaland, Hordaland, the Fjord districts, and Scgn, and they
15498      had the third banner.
15499      234. OF THORSTEIN KNARRARSMID.
15500      There was a man called Thorstein Knarrarsmid, who was a merchant and
15501      master ship-carpenter, stout and strong, very passionate, and a great
15502      manslayer. He had been in enmity against King Olaf, who had taken from him
15503      a new and large merchant-vessel he had built, on account of some
15504      manslaughter-mulct, incurred in the course of his misdeeds, which he owed
15505      to the king. Thorstein, who was with the bondes' army, went forward in
15506      front of the line in which Thorer Hund stood, and said, "Here I will be,
15507      Thorer, in your ranks; for I think, if I and King Olaf meet, to be the
15508      first to strive a weapon at him, if I can get so near, to repay him for
15509      the robbery of the ship he took from me, which was the best that ever went
15510      on merchant voyage." Thorer and his men received Thorstein, and he went
15511      into their ranks.
15512      235. OF THE PREPARATIONS OF THE BONDES.
15513      When the bondes' men and array were drawn up the lendermen addressed the
15514      men, and ordered them to take notice of the place to which each man
15515      belonged, under which banner each should be, who there were in front of
15516      the banner, who were his side-men, and that they should be brisk and quick
15517      in taking up their places in the array; for the army had still to go a
15518      long way, and the array might be broken in the course of march. Then they
15519      encouraged the people; and Kalf invited all the men who had any injury to
15520      avenge on King Olaf to place themselves under the banner which was
15521      advancing against King Olaf's own banner. They should remember the
15522      distress he had brought upon them; and, he said, never was there a better
15523      opportunity to avenge their grievances, and to free themselves from the
15524      yoke and slavery he had imposed on them. "Let him," says he, "be held a
15525      useless coward who does not fight this day boldly; and they are not
15526      innocents who are opposed to you, but people who will not spare you if ye
15527      spare them."
15528      Kalf's speech was received with loud applause, and shouts of encouragement
15529      were heard through the whole army.
15530      236. OF THE KING'S AND THE BONDES' ARMIES.
15531      Thereafter the bondes' army advanced to Stiklestad, where King Olaf was
15532      already with his people. Kalf and Harek went in front, at the head of the
15533      army under their banners. But the battle did not begin immediately on
15534      their meeting; for the bondes delayed the assault, because all their men
15535      were not come upon the plain, and they waited for those who came after
15536      them. Thorer Hund had come up with his troop the last, for he had to take
15537      care that the men did not go off behind when the battlecry was raised, or
15538      the armies were closing with each other; and therefore Kalf and Harek
15539      waited for Thorer. For the encouragement of their men in the battle the
15540      bondes had the field-cry -"Forward, forward, bondemen!" King Olaf
15541      also made no attack, for he waited for Dag and the people who followed
15542      him. At last the king saw Dag and his men approaching. It is said that the
15543      army of the bondes was not less on this day than a hundred times a hundred
15544      men. Sigvat the skald speaks thus of the numbers: -
15545     "I grieve to think the king had brought
15546     Too small a force for what he sought:
15547     He held his gold too fast to bring
15548     The numbers that could make him king.
15549     The foemen, more than two to one,
15550     The victory by numbers won;
15551     And this alone, as I've heard say,
15552     Against King Olaf turned the day."
15553      237. MEETING OF THE KING AND THE BONDES.
15554      As the armies on both sides stood so near that people knew each other, the
15555      king said, "Why art thou here, Kalf, for we parted good friends south in
15556      More? It beseems thee ill to fight against us, or to throw a spear into
15557      our army; for here are four of thy brothers."
15558      Kalf replied, "Many things come to pass differently from what may appear
15559      seemly. You parted from us so that it was necessary to seek peace with
15560      those who were behind in the country. Now each must remain where he
15561      stands; but if I might advise, we should be reconciled."
15562      Then Fin, his brother, answered, "This is to be observed of Kalf, that
15563      when he speaks fairly he has it in his mind to do ill."
15564      The king answered, "It may be, Kalf, that thou art inclined to
15565      reconciliation; but, methinks, the bondes do not appear so peaceful."
15566      Then Thorgeir of Kviststad said, "You shall now have such peace as many
15567      formerly have received at your hands, and which you shall now pay for."
15568      The king replies, "Thou hast no occasion to hasten so much to meet us; for
15569      fate has not decreed to thee to-day a victory over me, who raised thee to
15570      power and dignity from a mean station."
15571      238. BEGINNING OF THE BATTLE OF STIKLESTAD.
15572      Now came Thorer Hund, went forward in front of the banner with his troop,
15573      and called out, "Forward, forward, bondemen!" Thereupon the bondemen
15574      raised the war-cry, and shot their arrows and spears. The king's men
15575      raised also a war-shout; and that done, encouraged each other to advance,
15576      crying out, "Forward, forward, Christ-men! cross-men! king's men!" When
15577      the bondes who stood outermost on the wings heard it, they repeated the
15578      same cry; but when the other bondes heard them they thought these were
15579      king's men, turned their arms against them, and they fought together, and
15580      many were slain before they knew each other. The weather was beautiful,
15581      and the sun shone clear; but when the battle began the heaven and the sun
15582      became red, and before the battle ended it became as dark as at night.
15583      King Olaf had drawn up his army upon a rising ground, and it rushed down
15584      from thence upon the bonde-army with such a fierce assault, that the
15585      bondes' array went before it; so that the breast of the king's array came
15586      to stand upon the ground on which the rear of the bondes' array had stood,
15587      and many of the bondes' army were on the way to fly, but the lendermen and
15588      their house-men stood fast, and the battle became very severe. So says
15589      Sigvat: -
15590     "Thundered the ground beneath their tread,
15591     As, iron-clad, thick-tramping, sped
15592     The men-at-arms, in row and rank,
15593     Past Stiklestad's sweet grassy bank.
15594     The clank of steel, the bowstrings' twang,
15595     The sounds of battle, loudly rang;
15596     And bowman hurried on advancing,
15597     Their bright helms in the sunshine glancing."
15598      The lendermen urged their men, and forced them to advance. Sigvat speaks
15599      of this: -
15600     "Midst in their line their banner flies,
15601     Thither the stoutest bonde hies:
15602     But many a bonde thinks of home,
15603     And many wish they ne'er had come."
15604      Then the bonde-army pushed on from all quarters. They who stood in front
15605      hewed down with their swords; they who stood next thrust with their
15606      spears; and they who stood hindmost shot arrows, cast spears, or threw
15607      stones, hand-axes, or sharp stakes. Soon there was a great fall of men in
15608      the battle. Many were down on both sides. In the first onset fell Arnljot
15609      Gelline, Gauka-Thorer, and Afrafaste, with all their men, after each had
15610      killed a man or two, and some indeed more. Now the ranks in front of the
15611      king's banner began to be thinned, and the king ordered Thord to carry the
15612      banner forward, and the king himself followed it with the troop he had
15613      chosen to stand nearest to him in battle; and these were the best armed
15614      men in the field, and the most expert in the use of their weapons. Sigvat
15615      the skald tells of this: -
15616     "Loud was the battle-storm there,
15617     Where the king's banner flamed in air.
15618     The king beneath his banner stands,
15619     And there the battle he commands."
15620      Olaf came forth from behind the shield-bulwark, and put himself at the
15621      head of the army; and when the bondes looked him in the face they were
15622      frightened, and let their hands drop. So says Sigvat: -
15623     "I think I saw them shrink with fear
15624     Who would not shrink from foeman's spear,
15625     When Olaf's lion-eye was cast
15626     On them, and called up all the past.
15627     Clear as the serpent's eye -his look
15628     No Throndhjem man could stand, but shook
15629     Beneath its glance, and skulked away,
15630     Knowing his king, and cursed the day."
15631      The combat became fierce, and the king went forward in the fray. So says
15632      Sigvat: -
15633     "When on they came in fierce array,
15634     And round the king arose the fray,
15635     With shield on arm brave Olaf stood,
15636     Dyeing his sword in their best blood.
15637     For vengeance on his Throndhjem foes,
15638     On their best men he dealt his blows;
15639     He who knew well death's iron play,
15640     To his deep vengeance gave full sway."
15641      239. THORGEIR OF KVISTSTAD'S FALL.
15642      King Olaf fought most desperately. He struck the lenderman before
15643      mentioned (Thorgeir of Kviststad) across the face, cut off the nose-piece
15644      of his helmet, and clove his head down below the eyes so that they almost
15645      fell out. When he fell the king said, "Was it not true, Thorgeir, what I
15646      told thee, that thou shouldst not be victor in our meeting?" At the same
15647      instant Thord stuck the banner-pole so fast in the earth that it remained
15648      standing. Thord had got his death-wound, and fell beneath the banner.
15649      There also fell Thorfin Mun, and also Gissur Gullbrarskald, who was
15650      attacked by two men, of whom he killed one, but only wounded the other
15651      before he fell. So says Hofgardaref: -
15652     "Bold in the Iron-storm was he,
15653     Firm and stout as forest tree,
15654     The hero who, 'gainst two at once,
15655     Made Odin's fire from sword-edge glance;
15656     Dealing a death-blow to the one,
15657     Known as a brave and generous man,
15658     Wounding the other, ere he fell, -
15659     His bloody sword his deeds showed well."
15660      It happened then, as before related, that the sun, although the air was
15661      clear, withdrew from the sight, and it became dark. Of this Sigvat the
15662      skald speaks: -
15663     "No common wonder in the sky
15664     Fell out that day -the sun on high,
15665     And not a cloud to see around,
15666     Shone not, nor warmed Norway's ground.
15667     The day on which fell out this fight
15668     Was marked by dismal dusky light,
15669     This from the East I heard -the end
15670     Of our great king it did portend."
15671      At the same time Dag Hringson came up with his people, and began to put
15672      his men in array, and to set up his banner; but on account of the darkness
15673      the onset could not go on so briskly, for they could not see exactly whom
15674      they had before them. They turned, however, to that quarter where the men
15675      of Hordaland and Rogaland stood. Many of these circumstances took place at
15676      the same time, and some happened a little earlier, and some a little
15677      later.
15678      240. KING OLAF'S FALL.
15679      On the one side of Kalf Arnason stood his two relations, Olaf and Kalf,
15680      with many other brave and stout men. Kalf was a son of Arnfin Arnmodson,
15681      and a brother's son of Arne Arnmodson. On the other side of Kalf Arnason
15682      stood Thorer Hund. King Olaf hewed at Thorer Hund, and struck him across
15683      the shoulders; but the sword would not cut, and it was as if dust flew
15684      from his reindeer-skin coat. So says Sigvat: -
15685     "The king himself now proved the power
15686     Of Fin-folk's craft in magic hour,
15687     With magic song; for stroke of steel
15688     Thor's reindeer coat would never feel,
15689     Bewitched by them it turned the stroke
15690     Of the king's sword, -a dust-like smoke
15691     Rose from Thor's shoulders from the blow
15692     Which the king though would end his foe."
15693      Thorer struck at the king, and they exchanged some blows; but the king's
15694      sword would not cut where it met the reindeer skin, although Thorer was
15695      wounded in the hands. Sigvat sang thus of it: -
15696     "Some say that Thorer's not right bold;
15697     Why never yet have I been told
15698     Of one who did a bolder thing
15699     Than to change blows with his true king.
15700     Against his king his sword to wield,
15701     Leaping across the shield on shield
15702     Which fenced the king round in the fight,
15703     Shows the dog's (1) courage -brave, not bright."
15704      The king said to Bjorn the marshal, "Do thou kill the dog on whom steel
15705      will not bite." Bjorn turned round the axe in his hands, and gave Thorer a
15706      blow with the hammer of it on the shoulder so hard that he tottered. The
15707      king at the same moment turned against Kalf and his relations, and gave
15708      Olaf his death-wound. Thorer Hund struck his spear right through the body
15709      of Marshal Bjorn, and killed him outright; and Thorer said, "It is thus we
15710      hunt the bear." (2) Thorstein Knarrarsmid struck at King Olaf with his
15711      axe, and the blow hit his left leg above the knee. Fin Arnason instantly
15712      killed Thorstein. The king after the wound staggered towards a stone,
15713      threw down his sword, and prayed God to help him. Then Thorer Hund struck
15714      at him with his spear, and the stroke went in under his mail-coat and into
15715      his belly. Then Kalf struck at him on the left side of the neck. But all
15716      are not agreed upon Kalf having been the man who gave him the wound in the
15717      neck. These three wounds were King Olaf's death; and after the king's
15718      death the greater part of the forces which had advanced with him fell with
15719      the king. Bjarne Gullbrarskald sang these verses about Kalf Arnason: -
15720     "Warrior!  who Olaf dared withstand,
15721     Who against Olaf held the land,
15722     Thou hast withstood the bravest, best,
15723     Who e'er has gone to his long rest.
15724     At Stiklestad thou wast the head;
15725     With flying banners onwards led
15726     Thy bonde troops, and still fought on,
15727     Until he fell -the much-mourned one."
15728      Sigvat also made these verses on Bjorn: -
15729     "The marshal Bjorn, too, I find,
15730     A great example leaves behind,
15731     How steady courage should stand proof,
15732     Though other servants stand aloof.
15733     To Russia first his steps he bent,
15734     To serve his master still intent;
15735     And now besides his king he fell, -
15736     A noble death for skalds to tell."
15737   ENDNOTES: (1) Thorer's name was Hund -the dog; and a play upon Thorer
15738     Hund's name was intended by the skald. -L.
15739    (2) Bjorn, the marshal's name, signifies a bear. -L.
15740      241. BEGINNING OF DAG HRINGSON'S ATTACK.
15741      Dag Hringson still kept up the battle, and made in the beginning so fierce
15742      an assault that the bondes gave way, and some betook themselves to flight.
15743      There a great number of the bondes fell, and these lendermen, Erlend of
15744      Gerde and Aslak of Finey; and the banner also which they had stood under
15745      was cut down. This onset was particularly hot, and was called Dag's storm.
15746      But now Kalf Arnason, Harek of Thjotta, and Thorer Hund turned against
15747      Dag, with the array which had followed them, and then Dag was overwhelmed
15748      with numbers; so he betook himself to flight with the men still left him.
15749      There was a valley through which the main body of the fugitives fled, and
15750      men lay scattered in heaps on both sides; and many were severely wounded,
15751      and many so fatigued that they were fit for nothing. The bondes pursued
15752      only a short way; for their leaders soon returned back to the field of
15753      battle, where they had their friends and relations to look after.
15754      242. KING OLAF'S MIRACLE SHOWN TO THORER HUND.
15755      Thorer Hund went to where King Olaf's body lay, took care of it, laid it
15756      straight out on the ground, and spread a cloak over it. He told since that
15757      when he wiped the blood from the face it was very beautiful; and there was
15758      red in the cheeks, as if he only slept, and even much clearer than when he
15759      was in life. The king's blood came on Thorer's hand, and ran up between
15760      his fingers to where he had been wounded, and the wound grew up so
15761      speedily that it did not require to be bound up. This circumstance was
15762      testified by Thorer himself when King Olaf's holiness came to be generally
15763      known among the people; and Thorer Hund was among the first of the king's
15764      powerful opponents who endeavoured to spread abroad the king's sanctity.
15765      243. OF KALF ARNASON'S BROTHERS.
15766      Kalf Arnason searched for his brothers who had fallen, and found Thorberg
15767      and Fin. It is related that Fin threw his dagger at him, and wanted to
15768      kill him, giving him hard words, and calling him a faithless villain, and
15769      a traitor to his king. Kalf did not regard it, but ordered Fin and
15770      Thorberg to be carried away from the field. When their wounds were
15771      examined they were found not to be deadly, and they had fallen from
15772      fatigue, and under the weight of their weapons. Thereafter Kalf tried to
15773      bring his brothers down to a ship, and went himself with them. As soon as
15774      he was gone the whole bonde-army, having their homes in the neighbourhood,
15775      went off also, excepting those who had friends or relations to look after,
15776      or the bodies of the slain to take care of. The wounded were taken home to
15777      the farms, so that every house was full of them; and tents were erected
15778      over some. But wonderful as was the number collected in the bonde-army, no
15779      less wonderful was the haste with which this vast body was dispersed when
15780      it was once free; and the cause of this was, that the most of the people
15781      gathered together from the country places were longing for their homes.
15782      244. OF THE BONDES OF VERADAL.
15783      The bondes who had their homes in Veradal went to the chiefs Harek and
15784      Thorer, and complained of their distress, saying, "The fugitives who have
15785      escaped from the battle have proceeded up over the valley of Veradal, and
15786      are destroying our habitations, and there is no safety for us to travel
15787      home so long as they are in the valley. Go after them with war-force, and
15788      let no mother's son of them escape with life; for that is what they
15789      intended for us if they had got the upper hand in the battle, and the same
15790      they would do now if they met us hereafter, and had better luck than we.
15791      It may also be that they will linger in the valley if they have nothing to
15792      be frightened for, and then they would not proceed very gently in the
15793      inhabited country." The bondes made many words about this, urging the
15794      chiefs to advance directly, and kill those who had escaped. Now when the
15795      chiefs talked over this matter among themselves, they thought there was
15796      much truth in what the bondes said. They resolved, therefore, that Thorer
15797      Hund should undertake this expedition through Veradal, with 600 men of his
15798      own troops. Then, towards evening, he set out with his men; and Thorer
15799      continued his march without halt until he came in the night to Sula, where
15800      he heard the news that Dag Hringson had come there in the evening, with
15801      many other flocks of the king's men, and had halted there until they took
15802      supper, but were afterwards gone up to the mountains. Then Thorer said he
15803      did not care to pursue them up through the mountains, and he returned down
15804      the valley again, and they did not kill many of them this time. The bondes
15805      then returned to their homes, and the following day Thorer, with his
15806      people, went to their ships. The part of the king's men who were still on
15807      their legs concealed themselves in the forests, and some got help from the
15808      people.
15809      245. OF THE KING'S BROTHER, HARALD SIGURDSON.
15810      Harald Sigurdson was severely wounded; but Ragnvald Brusason brought him
15811      to a bonde's the night after the battle, and the bonde took in Harald, and
15812      healed his wound in secret, and afterwards gave him his son to attend him.
15813      They went secretly over the mountains, and through the waste forests, and
15814      came out in Jamtaland. Harald Sigurdson was fifteen years old when King
15815      Olaf fell. In Jamtaland Harald found Ragnvald Brusason; and they went both
15816      east to King Jarisleif in Russia, as is related in the Saga of Harald
15817      Sigurdson.
15818      246. OF THORMOD KOLBRUNARSKALD.
15819      Thormod Kolbrunarskald was under King Olaf's banner in the battle; but
15820      when the king had fallen, the battle was raging so that of the king's men
15821      the one fell by the side of the other, and the most of those who stood on
15822      their legs were wounded. Thormod was also severely wounded, and retired,
15823      as all the others did, back from where there was most danger of life, and
15824      some even fled. Now when the onset began which is called Dag's storm, all
15825      of the king's men who were able to combat went there; but Thormod did not
15826      come into that combat, being unable to fight, both from his wound and from
15827      weariness, but he stood by the side of his comrade in the ranks, although
15828      he could do nothing. There he was struck by an arrow in the left side; but
15829      he broke off the shaft of the arrow, went out of the battle, and up
15830      towards the houses, where he came to a barn which was a large building.
15831      Thormod had his drawn sword in his hand; and as he went in a man met him,
15832      coming out, and said, "It is very bad there with howling and screaming;
15833      and a great shame it is that brisk young fellows cannot bear their wounds:
15834      it may be that the king's men have done bravely to-day, but they certainly
15835      bear their wounds very ill."
15836      Thormod asks. "What is thy name?"
15837      He called himself Kimbe.
15838      Thormod: "Wast thou in the battle, too?"
15839      "I was with the bondes, which was the best side," says he.
15840      "And art thou wounded any way?" says Thormod.
15841      "A little," said Kimbe. "And hast thou been in the battle too?"
15842      Thormod replied, "I was with them who had the best."
15843      "Art thou wounded?" says Kimbe.
15844      "Not much to signify," replies Thormod.
15845      As Kimbe saw that Thormod had a gold ring on his arm, he said, "Thou art
15846      certainly a king's man. Give me thy gold ring, and I will hide thee. The
15847      bondes will kill thee if thou fallest in their way."
15848      Thormod says, "Take the ring if thou canst get it: I have lost that which
15849      is more worth."
15850      Kimbe stretched out his hand, and wanted to take the ring; but Thormod,
15851      swinging his sword, cut off his hand; and it is related that Kimbe behaved
15852      himself no better under his wound than those he had been blaming just
15853      before. Kimbe went off, and Thormod sat down in the barn, and listened to
15854      what people were saying. The conversation was mostly about what each had
15855      seen in the battle, and about the valour of the combatants. Some praised
15856      most King Olaf's courage, and some named others who stood nowise behind
15857      him in bravery. Then Thormod sang these verses: -
15858     "Olaf was brave beyond all doubt, -
15859     At Stiklestad was none so stout;
15860     Spattered with blood, the king, unsparing,
15861     Cheered on his men with deed and daring.
15862     But I have heard that some were there
15863     Who in the fight themselves would spare;
15864     Though, in the arrow-storm, the most
15865     Had perils quite enough to boast."
15866      247. THORMOD'S DEATH.
15867      Thormod went out, and entered into a chamber apart, in which there were
15868      many wounded men, and with them a woman binding their wounds. There was
15869      fire upon the floor, at which she warmed water to wash and clean their
15870      wounds. Thormod sat himself down beside the door, and one came in, and
15871      another went out, of those who were busy about the wounded men. One of
15872      them turned to Thormod, looked at him, and said, "Why art thou so
15873      dead-pale? Art thou wounded? Why dost thou not call for the help of the
15874      wound-healers?" Thormod then sang these verses: -
15875     "I am not blooming, and the fair
15876     And slender girl loves to care
15877     For blooming youths -few care for me;
15878     With Fenja's meal I cannot fee.
15879     This is the reason why I feel
15880     The slash and thrust of Danish steel;
15881     And pale and faint, and bent with pain,
15882     Return from yonder battle-plain."
15883      Then Thormod stood up and went in towards the fire, and stood there
15884      awhile. The young woman said to him, "Go out, man, and bring in some of
15885      the split firewood which lies close beside the door." He went out and
15886      brought in an armful of wood, which he threw down upon the floor. Then the
15887      nurse-girl looked him in the face, and said, "Dreadfully pale is this man -why
15888      art thou so?" Then Thormod sang: -
15889     "Thou wonderest, sweet sprig, at me,
15890     A man so hideous to see:
15891     Deep wounds but rarely mend the face,
15892     The crippling blow gives little grace.
15893     The arrow-drift o'ertook me, girl, -
15894     A fine-ground arrow in the whirl
15895     Went through me, and I feel the dart
15896     Sits, lovely girl, too near my heart."
15897      The girl said, "Let me see thy wound, and I will bind it." Thereupon
15898      Thormod sat down, cast off his clothes, and the girl saw his wounds, and
15899      examined that which was in his side, and felt that a piece of iron was in
15900      it, but could not find where the iron had gone in. In a stone pot she had
15901      stirred together leeks and other herbs, and boiled them, and gave the
15902      wounded men of it to eat, by which she discovered if the wounds had
15903      penetrated into the belly; for if the wound had gone so deep, it would
15904      smell of leek. She brought some of this now to Thormod, and told him to
15905      eat of it. He replied, "Take it away, I have no appetite for my broth."
15906      Then she took a large pair of tongs, and tried to pull out the iron; but
15907      it sat too fast, and would in no way come, and as the wound was swelled,
15908      little of it stood out to lay hold of. Now said Thormod, "Cut so deep in
15909      that thou canst get at the iron with the tongs, and give me the tongs and
15910      let me pull." She did as he said. Then Thormod took a gold ring from his
15911      hand, gave it to the nurse-woman, and told her to do with it what she
15912      liked. "It is a good man's gift," said he: "King Olaf gave me the ring
15913      this morning." Then Thormod took the tongs, and pulled the iron out; but
15914      on the iron there was a hook, at which there hung some morsels of flesh
15915      from the heart, -some white, some red. When he saw that, he said,
15916      "The king has fed us well. I am fat, even at the heart-roots;" and so
15917      saying he leant back, and was dead. And with this ends what we have to say
15918      about Thormod.
15919      248. OF SOME CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE BATTLE.
15920      King Olaf fell on Wednesday, the 29th of July (A.D. 1030). It was near
15921      mid-day when the two armies met, and the battle began before half-past
15922      one, and before three the king fell. The darkness continued from about
15923      half-past one to three also. Sigvat the skald speaks thus of the result of
15924      the battle: -
15925     "The loss was great to England's foes,
15926     When their chief fell beneath the blows
15927     By his own thoughtless people given, -
15928     When the king's shield in two was riven.
15929     The people's sovereign took the field,
15930     The people clove the sovereign's shield.
15931     Of all the chiefs that bloody day,
15932     Dag only came out of the fray."
15933      And he composed these: -
15934     "Such mighty bonde-power, I ween,
15935     With chiefs or rulers ne'er was seen.
15936     It was the people's mighty power
15937     That struck the king that fatal hour.
15938     When such a king, in such a strife,
15939     By his own people lost his life,
15940     Full many a gallant man must feel
15941     The death-wound from the people's steel."
15942      The bondes did not spoil the slain upon the field of battle, for
15943      immediately after the battle there came upon many of them who had been
15944      against the king a kind of dread as it were; yet they held by their evil
15945      inclination, for they resolved among themselves that all who had fallen
15946      with the king should not receive the interment which belongs to good men,
15947      but reckoned them all robbers and outlaws. But the men who had power, and
15948      had relations on the field, cared little for this, but removed their
15949      remains to the churches, and took care of their burial.
15950      249. A MIRACLE ON A BLIND MAN.
15951      Thorgils Halmason and his son Grim went to the field of battle towards
15952      evening when it was dusk, took King Olaf's corpse up, and bore it to a
15953      little empty houseman's hut which stood on the other side of their farm.
15954      They had light and water with them. Then they took the clothes off the
15955      body, swathed it in a linen cloth, laid it down in the house, and
15956      concealed it under some firewood so that nobody could see it, even if
15957      people came into the hut. Thereafter they went home again to the
15958      farmhouse. A great many beggars and poor people had followed both armies,
15959      who begged for meat; and the evening after the battle many remained there,
15960      and sought lodging round about in all the houses, great or small. It is
15961      told of a blind man who was poor, that a boy attended him and led him.
15962      They went out around the farm to seek a lodging, and came to the same
15963      empty house, of which the door was so low that they had almost to creep
15964      in. Now when the blind man had come in, he fumbled about the floor seeking
15965      a place where he could lay himself down. He had a hat on his head, which
15966      fell down over his face when he stooped down. He felt with his hands that
15967      there was moisture on the floor, and he put up his wet hand to raise his
15968      hat, and in doing so put his fingers on his eyes. There came immediately
15969      such an itching in his eyelids, that he wiped the water with his fingers
15970      from his eyes, and went out of the hut, saying nobody could lie there, it
15971      was so wet. When he came out of the hut he could distinguish his hands,
15972      and all that was near him, as far as things can be distinguished by sight
15973      in the darkness of light; and he went immediately to the farm-house into
15974      the room, and told all the people he had got his sight again, and could
15975      see everything, although many knew he had been blind for a long time, for
15976      he had been there, before, going about among the houses of the
15977      neighbourhood. He said he first got his sight when he was coming out of a
15978      little ruinous hut which was all wet inside. "I groped in the water," said
15979      he, "and rubbed my eyes with my wet hands." He told where the hut stood.
15980      The people who heard him wondered much at this event, and spoke among
15981      themselves of what it could be that produced it: but Thorgils the peasant
15982      and his son Grim thought they knew how this came to pass; and as they were
15983      much afraid the king's enemies might go there and search the hut, they
15984      went and took the body out of it, and removed it to a garden, where they
15985      concealed it, and then returned to the farm, and slept there all night.
15986      250. OF THORER HUND.
15987      The fifth day (Thursday), Thorer Hund came down the valley of Veradal to
15988      Stiklestad; and many people, both chiefs and bondes, accompanied him. The
15989      field of battle was still being cleared, and people were carrying away the
15990      bodies of their friends and relations, and were giving the necessary help
15991      to such of the wounded as they wished to save; but many had died since the
15992      battle. Thorer Hund went to where the king had fallen, and searched for
15993      his body; but not finding it, he inquired if any one could tell him what
15994      had become of the corpse, but nobody could tell him where it was. Then he
15995      asked the bonde Thorgils, who said, "I was not in the battle, and knew
15996      little of what took place there; but many reports are abroad, and among
15997      others that King Olaf has been seen in the night up at Staf, and a troop
15998      of people with him: but if he fell in the battle, your men must have
15999      concealed him in some hole, or under some stone-heap." Now although Thorer
16000      Hund knew for certain that the king had fallen, many allowed themselves to
16001      believe, and to spread abroad the report, that the king had escaped from
16002      the battle, and would in a short time come again upon them with an army.
16003      Then Thorer went to his ships, and sailed down the fjord, and the
16004      bonde-army dispersed, carrying with them all the wounded men who could
16005      bear to be removed.
16006      251. OF KING OLAF'S BODY.
16007      Thorgils Halmason and his son Grim had King Olaf's body, and were anxious
16008      about preserving it from falling into the hands of the king's enemies, and
16009      being ill-treated; for they heard the bondes speaking about burning it, or
16010      sinking it in the sea. The father and son had seen a clear light burning
16011      at night over the spot on the battlefield where King Olaf's body lay, and
16012      since, while they concealed it, they had always seen at night a light
16013      burning over the corpse; therefore they were afraid the king's enemies
16014      might seek the body where this signal was visible. They hastened,
16015      therefore, to take the body to a place where it would be safe. Thorgils
16016      and his son accordingly made a coffin, which they adorned as well as they
16017      could, and laid the king's body in it; and afterwards made another coffin
16018      in which they laid stones and straw, about as much as the weight of a man,
16019      and carefully closed the coffins. As soon as the whole bonde-army had left
16020      Stiklestad, Thorgils and his son made themselves ready, got a large
16021      rowing-boat, and took with them seven or eight men, who were all Thorgil's
16022      relations or friends, and privately took the coffin with the king's body
16023      down to the boat, and set it under the foot-boards. They had also with
16024      them the coffin containing the stones, and placed it in the boat where all
16025      could see it; and then went down the fjord with a good opportunity of wind
16026      and weather, and arrived in the dusk of the evening at Nidaros, where they
16027      brought up at the king's pier. Then Thorgils sent some of his men up to
16028      the town to Bishop Sigurd, to say that they were come with the king's
16029      body. As soon as the bishop heard this news, he sent his men down to the
16030      pier, and they took a small rowing-boat, came alongside of Thorgil's ship,
16031      and demanded the king's body. Thorgils and his people then took the coffin
16032      which stood in view, and bore it into the boat; and the bishop's men rowed
16033      out into the fjord, and sank the coffin in the sea. It was now quite dark.
16034      Thorgils and his people now rowed up into the river past the town, and
16035      landed at a place called Saurhlid, above the town. Then they carried the
16036      king's body to an empty house standing at a distance from other houses,
16037      and watched over it for the night, while Thorgils went down to the town,
16038      where he spoke with some of the best friends of King Olaf, and asked them
16039      if they would take charge of the king's body; but none of them dared to do
16040      so. Then Thorgils and his men went with the body higher up the river,
16041      buried it in a sand-hill on the banks, and levelled all around it so that
16042      no one could observe that people had been at work there. They were ready
16043      with all this before break of day, when they returned to their vessel,
16044      went immediately out of the river, and proceeded on their way home to
16045      Stiklestad.
16046      252. OF THE BEGINNING OF KING SVEIN ALFIFASON'S GOVERNMENT.
16047      Svein, a son of King Canute, and of Alfifa, a daughter of Earl Alfrin, had
16048      been appointed to govern Jomsborg in Vindland. There came a message to him
16049      from his father King Canute, that he should come to Denmark; and likewise
16050      that afterwards he should proceed to Norway, and take that kingdom under
16051      his charge, and assume, at the same time, the title of king of Norway.
16052      Svein repaired to Denmark, and took many people with him from thence, and
16053      also Earl Harald and many other people of consequence attended him.
16054      Thorarin Loftunga speaks of this in the song he composed about King Svein,
16055      called the "Glelogn Song": -
16056     "'Tis told by fame,
16057     How grandly came
16058     The Danes to tend
16059     Their young king Svein.
16060     Grandest was he,
16061     That all could see;
16062     Then, one by one,
16063     Each following man
16064     More splendour wore
16065     Than him before."
16066      Then Svein proceeded to Norway, and his mother Alfifa was with him; and he
16067      was taken to be king at every Law-thing in the country. He had already
16068      come as far as Viken at the time the battle was fought at Stiklestad, and
16069      King Olaf fell. Svein continued his journey until he came north, in
16070      autumn, to the Throndhjem country; and there, as elsewhere, he was
16071      received as king.
16072      253. OF KING SVEIN'S LAWS.
16073      King Svein introduced new laws in many respects into the country, partly
16074      after those which were in Denmark, and in part much more severe. No man
16075      must leave the country without the king's permission; or if he did, his
16076      property fell to the king. Whoever killed a man outright, should forfeit
16077      all his land and movables. If any one was banished the country, and all
16078      heritage fell to him, the king took his inheritance. At Yule every man
16079      should pay the king a meal of malt from every harvest steading, and a leg
16080      of a three-year old ox, which was called a friendly gift, together with a
16081      spand of butter; and every house-wife a rock full of unspun lint, as thick
16082      as one could span with the longest fingers of the hand. The bondes were
16083      bound to build all the houses the king required upon his farms. Of every
16084      seven males one should be taken for the service of war, and reckoning from
16085      the fifth year of age; and the outfit of ships should be reckoned in the
16086      same proportion. Every man who rowed upon the sea to fish should pay the
16087      king five fish as a tax, for the land defence, wherever he might come
16088      from. Every ship that went out of the country should have stowage reserved
16089      open for the king in the middle of the ship. Every man, foreigner or
16090      native, who went to Iceland, should pay a tax to the king. And to all this
16091      was added, that Danes should enjoy so much consideration in Norway, that
16092      one witness of them should invalidate ten of Northmen (1).
16093      When these laws were promulgated the minds of the people were instantly
16094      raised against them, and murmurs were heard among them. They who had not
16095      taken part against King Olaf said, "Now take your reward and friendship
16096      from the Canute race, ye men of the interior Throndhjem who fought against
16097      King Olaf, and deprived him of his kingdom. Ye were promised peace and
16098      justice, and now ye have got oppression and slavery for your great
16099      treachery and crime." Nor was it very easy to contradict them, as all men
16100      saw how miserable the change had been. But people had not the boldness to
16101      make an insurrection against King Svein, principally because many had
16102      given King Canute their sons or other near relations as hostages; and also
16103      because no one appeared as leader of an insurrection. They very soon,
16104      however, complained of King Svein; and his mother Alfifa got much of the
16105      blame of all that was against their desire. Then the truth, with regard to
16106      Olaf, became evident to many.
16107   ENDNOTES: (1) This may probably have referred not to witnesses of an
16108act,     but to the class of witnesses in the jurisprudence of the
16109     Middle Ages called compurgators, who testified not the fact,
16110     but their confidence in the statements of the accused; and
16111     from which, possibly, our English bail for offenders arose.
16112    -L.
16113      254. OF KING OLAF'S SANCTITY.
16114      This winter (A.D. 1031) many in the Throndhjem land began to declare that
16115      Olaf was in reality a holy man, and his sanctity was confirmed by many
16116      miracles. Many began to make promises and prayers to King Olaf in the
16117      matters in which they thought they required help, and many found great
16118      benefit from these invocations. Some in respect of health, others of a
16119      journey, or other circumstances in which such help seemed needful.
16120      255. OF EINAR TAMBASKELFER.
16121      Einar Tambaskelfer was come home from England to his farm, and had the
16122      fiefs which King Canute had given him when they met in Throndhjem, and
16123      which were almost an earldom. Einar had not been in the strife against
16124      King Olaf, and congratulated himself upon it. He remembered that King
16125      Canute had promised him the earldom over Norway, and at the same time
16126      remembered that King Canute had not kept his promise. He was accordingly
16127      the first great person who looked upon King Olaf as a saint.
16128      256. OF THE SONS OF ARNE.
16129      Fin Arnason remained but a short time at Eggja with his brother Kalf; for
16130      he was in the highest degree ill-pleased that Kalf had been in the battle
16131      against King Olaf, and always made his brother the bitterest reproaches on
16132      this account. Thorberg Arnason was much more temperate in his discourse
16133      than Fin; but yet he hastened away, and went home to his farm. Kalf gave
16134      the two brothers a good long-ship, with full rigging and other
16135      necessaries, and a good retinue. Therefore they went home to their farms,
16136      and sat quietly at home. Arne Arnason lay long ill of his wounds, but got
16137      well at last without injury of any limb, and in winter he proceeded south
16138      to his farm. All the brothers made their peace with King Svein, and sat
16139      themselves quietly down in their homes.
16140      257. BISHOP SIGURD'S FLIGHT.
16141      The summer after (A.D. 1031) there was much talk about King Olaf's
16142      sanctity, and there was a great alteration in the expressions of all
16143      people concerning him. There were many who now believed that King Olaf
16144      must be a saint, even among those who had persecuted him with the greatest
16145      animosity, and would never in their conversation allow truth or justice in
16146      his favour. People began then to turn their reproaches against the men who
16147      had principally excited opposition to the king; and on this account Bishop
16148      Sigurd in particular was accused. He got so many enemies, that he found it
16149      most advisable to go over to England to King Canute. Then the Throndhjem
16150      people sent men with a verbal message to the Uplands, to Bishop Grimkel,
16151      desiring him to come north to Throndhjem. King Olaf had sent Bishop
16152      Grimkel back to Norway when he went east into Russia, and since that time
16153      Grimkel had been in the Uplands. When the message came to the bishop he
16154      made ready to go, and it contributed much to this journey that the bishop
16155      considered it as true what was told of King Olaf's miracles and sanctity.
16156      258. KING OLAF THE SAINT'S REMAINS DISINTERRED.
16157      Bishop Grimkel went to Einar Tambaskelfer, who received him joyfully. They
16158      talked over many things, and, among others, of the important events which
16159      had taken place in the country; and concerning these they were perfectly
16160      agreed. Then the bishop proceeded to the town (Nidaros), and was well
16161      received by all the community. He inquired particularly concerning the
16162      miracles of King Olaf that were reported, and received satisfactory
16163      accounts of them. Thereupon the bishop sent a verbal message to Stiklestad
16164      to Thorgils and his son Grim, inviting them to come to the town to him.
16165      They did not decline the invitation, but set out on the road immediately,
16166      and came to the town and to the bishop. They related to him all the signs
16167      that had presented themselves to them, and also where they had deposited
16168      the king's body. The bishop sent a message to Einar Tambaskelfer, who came
16169      to the town. Then the bishop and Einar had an audience of the king and
16170      Alfifa, in which they asked the king's leave to have King Olaf's body
16171      taken up out of the earth. The king gave his permission, and told the
16172      bishop to do as he pleased in the matter. At that time there were a great
16173      many people in the town. The bishop, Einar, and some men with them, went
16174      to the place where the king's body was buried, and had the place dug; but
16175      the coffin had already raised itself almost to the surface of the earth.
16176      It was then the opinion of many that the bishop should proceed to have the
16177      king buried in the earth at Clement's church; and it was so done. Twelve
16178      months and five days (Aug. 3, A.D. 1031), after King Olaf's death his holy
16179      remains were dug up, and the coffin had raised itself almost entirely to
16180      the surface of the earth; and the coffin appeared quite new, as if it had
16181      but lately been made. When Bishop Grimkel came to King Olaf's opened
16182      coffin, there was a delightful and fresh smell. Thereupon the bishop
16183      uncovered the king's face, and his appearance was in no respect altered,
16184      and his cheeks were as red as if he had but just fallen asleep. The men
16185      who had seen King Olaf when he fell remarked, also, that his hair and
16186      nails had grown as much as if he had lived on the earth all the time that
16187      had passed since his fall. Thereupon King Svein, and all the chiefs who
16188      were at the place, went out to see King Olaf's body. Then said Alfifa,
16189      "People buried in sand rot very slowly, and it would not have been so if
16190      he had been buried in earth." Afterwards the bishop took scissors, clipped
16191      the king's hair, and arranged his beard; for he had had a long beard,
16192      according to the fashion of that time. Then said the bishop to the king
16193      and Alfifa, "Now the king's hair and beard are such as when he gave up the
16194      ghost, and it has grown as much as ye see has been cut off." Alfifa
16195      answers, "I will believe in the sanctity of his hair, if it will not burn
16196      in the fire; but I have often seen men's hair whole and undamaged after
16197      lying longer in the earth than this man's." Then the bishop had live coals
16198      put into a pan, blessed it, cast incense upon it, and then laid King
16199      Olaf's hair on the fire. When all the incense was burnt the bishop took
16200      the hair out of the fire, and showed the king and the other chiefs that it
16201      was not consumed. Now Alfifa asked that the hair should be laid upon
16202      unconsecrated fire; but Einar Tambaskelfer told her to be silent, and gave
16203      her many severe reproaches for her unbelief. After the bishop's
16204      recognition, with the king's approbation and the decision of the Thing, it
16205      was determined that King Olaf should be considered a man truly holy;
16206      whereupon his body was transported into Clement's church, and a place was
16207      prepared for it near the high altar. The coffin was covered with costly
16208      cloth, and stood under a gold embroidered tent. Many kinds of miracles
16209      were soon wrought by King Olaf's holy remains.
16210      259. OF KING OLAF'S MIRACLES.
16211      In the sand-hill where King Olaf's body had lain on the ground a beautiful
16212      spring of water came up and many human ailments and infirmities were cured
16213      by its waters. Things were put in order around it, and the water ever
16214      since has been carefully preserved. There was first a chapel built, and an
16215      altar consecrated, where the king's body had lain; but now Christ's church
16216      stands upon the spot. Archbishop Eystein had a high altar raised upon the
16217      spot where the king's grave had been, when he erected the great temple
16218      which now stands there; and it is the same spot on which the altar of the
16219      old Christ church had stood. It is said that Olaf's church stands on the
16220      spot on which the empty house had stood in which King Olaf's body had been
16221      laid for the night. The place over which the holy remains of King Olaf
16222      were carried up from the vessel is now called Olaf's Road, and is now in
16223      the middle of the town. The bishop adorned King Olaf's holy remains, and
16224      cut his nails and hair; for both grew as if he had still been alive. So
16225      says Sigvat the skald: -
16226     "I lie not, when I say the king
16227     Seemed as alive in every thing:
16228     His nails, his yellow hair still growing,
16229     And round his ruddy cheek still flowing,
16230     As when, to please the Russian queen,
16231     His yellow locks adorned were seen;
16232     Or to the blind he cured he gave
16233     A tress, their precious sight to save."
16234      Thorarin Loftunga also composed a song upon Svein Alfifason, called the
16235      "Glelogn Song", in which are these verses: -
16236     "Svein, king of all,
16237     In Olaf's hall
16238     Now sits on high;
16239     And Olaf's eye
16240     Looks down from heaven,
16241     Where it is given
16242     To him to dwell:
16243     Or here in cell,
16244     As heavenly saint,
16245     To heal men's plaint,
16246     May our gold-giver
16247     Live here for ever!
16248
16249     "King Olaf there
16250     To hold a share
16251     On earth prepared,
16252     Nor labour spared
16253     A seat to win
16254     From heaven's great King;
16255     Which he has won
16256     Next God's own Son.
16257
16258     "His holy form,
16259     Untouched by worm,
16260     Lies at this day
16261     Where good men pray,
16262     And nails and hair
16263     Grow fresh and fair;
16264     His cheek is red,
16265     His flesh not dead.
16266
16267     "Around his bier,
16268     Good people hear
16269     The small bells ring
16270     Over the king,
16271     Or great bell toll;
16272     And living soul
16273     Not one can tell
16274     Who tolls the bell.
16275
16276     "Tapers up there,
16277     (Which Christ holds dear,)
16278     By day and night
16279     The altar light:
16280     Olaf did so,
16281     And all men know
16282     In heaven he
16283     From sin sits free.
16284
16285     "And crowds do come,
16286     The deaf and dumb,
16287     Cripple and blind,
16288     Sick of all kind,
16289     Cured to be
16290     On bended knee;
16291     And off the ground
16292     Rise whole and sound.
16293
16294     "To Olaf pray
16295     To eke thy day,
16296     To save thy land
16297     From spoiler's hand.
16298     God's man is he
16299     To deal to thee
16300     Good crops and peace;
16301     Let not prayer cease.
16302
16303     "Book-prayers prevail,
16304     If, nail for nail (1),
16305     Thou tellest on,
16306     Forgetting none."
16307      Thorarin Loftunga was himself with King Svein, and heard these great
16308      testimonials of King Olaf's holiness, that people, by the heavenly power,
16309      could hear a sound over his holy remains as if bells were ringing, and
16310      that candles were lighted of themselves upon the altar as by a heavenly
16311      fire. But when Thorarin says that a multitude of lame, and blind, and
16312      other sick, who came to the holy Olaf, went back cured, he means nothing
16313      more than that there were a vast number of persons who at the beginning of
16314      King Olaf's miraculous working regained their health. King Olaf's greatest
16315      miracles are clearly written down, although they occurred somewhat later.
16316   ENDNOTES: (1) Before the entrance of the temples or churches were posts
16317     called Ondveigis-sulor, with nails called Rigin-naglar -
16318     the gods' nails -either for ornament, or, as Schoning
16319     suggests, to assist the people in reckoning weeks, months,
16320     festivals, and in reckoning or keeping tale of prayers
16321     repeated, and to recall them to memory, in the same way as
16322     beads are used still by the common people in Catholic
16323     countries for the same purpose. -L.
16324      260. OF KING OLAF'S AGE AND REIGN.
16325      It is reckoned by those who have kept an exact account, that Olaf the
16326      Saint was king of Norway for fifteen years from the time Earl Svein left
16327      the country; but he had received the title of king from the people of the
16328      Uplands the winter before. Sigvat the skald tells this: -
16329     "For fifteen winters o'er the land
16330     King Olaf held the chief command,
16331     Before he fell up in the North:
16332     His fall made known to us his worth.
16333     No worthier prince before his day
16334     In our North land e'er held the sway,
16335     Too short he held it for our good;
16336     All men wish now that he had stood."
16337      Saint Olaf was thirty-five years old when he fell, according to what Are
16338      Frode the priest says, and he had been in twenty pitched battles. So says
16339      Sigvat the skald: -
16340     "Some leaders trust in God -some not;
16341     Even so their men; but well I wot
16342     God-fearing Olaf fought and won
16343     Twenty pitched battles, one by one,
16344     And always placed upon his right
16345     His Christian men in a hard fight.
16346     May God be merciful, I pray,
16347     To him -for he ne'er shunned his fray."
16348      We have now related a part of King Olaf's story, namely, the events which
16349      took place while he ruled over Norway; also his death, and how his
16350      holiness was manifested. Now shall we not neglect to mention what it was
16351      that most advanced his honour. This was his miracles; but these will come
16352      to be treated of afterwards in this book.
16353      261. OF THE THRONDHJEM PEOPLE.
16354      King Svein, the son of Canute the Great, ruled over Norway for some years;
16355      but was a child both in age and understanding. His mother Alfifa had most
16356      sway in the country; and the people of the country were her great enemies,
16357      both then and ever since. Danish people had a great superiority given them
16358      within the country, to the great dissatisfaction of the people; and when
16359      conversation turned that way, the people of the rest of Norway accused the
16360      Throndhjem people of having principally occasioned King Olaf the Holy's
16361      fall, and also that the men of Norway were subject, through them, to the
16362      ill government by which oppression and slavery had come upon all the
16363      people, both great and small; indeed upon the whole community. They
16364      insisted that it was the duty of the Throndhjem people to attempt
16365      opposition and insurrection, and thus relieve the country from such
16366      tyranny; and, in the opinion of the common people, Throndhjem was also the
16367      chief seat of the strength of Norway at that time, both on account of the
16368      chiefs and of the population of that quarter. When the Throndhjem people
16369      heard these remarks of their countrymen, they could not deny that there
16370      was much truth in them, and that in depriving King Olaf of life and land
16371      they had committed a great crime, and at the same time the misdeed had
16372      been ill paid. The chiefs began to hold consultations and conferences with
16373      each other, and the leader of these was Einar Tambaskelfer. It was
16374      likewise the case with Kalf Arnason, who began to find into what errors he
16375      had been drawn by King Canute's persuasion. All the promises which King
16376      Canute had made to Kalf had been broken; for he had promised him the
16377      earldom and the highest authority in Norway: and although Kalf had been
16378      the leader in the battle against King Olaf, and had deprived him of his
16379      life and kingdom, Kalf had not got any higher dignity than he had before.
16380      He felt that he had been deceived, and therefore messages passed between
16381      the brothers Kalf, Fin, Thorberg, and Arne, and they renewed their family
16382      friendship.
16383      262. OF KING SVEIN'S LEVY.
16384      When King Svein had been three years in Norway (A.D. 1031-33), the news
16385      was received that a force was assembled in the western countries, under a
16386      chief who called himself Trygve, and gave out that he was a son of Olaf
16387      Trygvason and Queen Gyda of England. Now when King Svein heard that
16388      foreign troops had come to the country, he ordered out the people on a
16389      levy in the north, and the most of the lendermen hastened to him; but
16390      Einar Tambaskelfer remained at home, and would not go out with King Svein.
16391      When King Svein's order came to Kalf Arnason at Eggja, that he should go
16392      out on a levy with King Svein, he took a twenty-benched ship which he
16393      owned, went on board with his house-servants, and in all haste proceeded
16394      out of the fjord, without waiting for King Svein, sailed southwards to
16395      More, and continued his voyage south until he came to Giske to his brother
16396      Thorberg. Then all the brothers, the sons of Arne, held a meeting, and
16397      consulted with each other. After this Kalf returned to the north again;
16398      but when he came to Frekeysund, King Svein was lying in the sound before
16399      him. When Kalf came rowing from the south into the sound they hailed each
16400      other, and the king's men ordered Kalf to bring up with his vessel, and
16401      follow the king for the defence of the country. Kalf replies, "I have done
16402      enough, if not too much, when I fought against my own countrymen to
16403      increase the power of the Canute family." Thereupon Kalf rowed away to the
16404      north until he came home to Eggja. None of these Arnasons appeared at this
16405      levy to accompany the king. He steered with his fleet southwards along the
16406      land; but as he could not hear the least news of any fleet having come
16407      from the west, he steered south to Rogaland, and all the way to Agder; for
16408      many guessed that Trygve would first make his attempt on Viken, because
16409      his forefathers had been there, and had most of their strength from that
16410      quarter, and he had himself great strength by family connection there.
16411      263. KING TRYGVE OLAFSON'S FALL.
16412      When Trygve came from the west he landed first on the coast of Hordaland,
16413      and when he heard King Svein had gone south he went the same way to
16414      Rogaland. As soon as Svein got the intelligence that Trygve had come from
16415      the west he returned, and steered north with his fleet; and both fleets
16416      met within Bokn in Soknarsund, not far from the place where Erling
16417      Skjalgson fell. The battle, which took place on a Sunday, was great and
16418      severe. People tell that Trygve threw spears with both hands at once. "So
16419      my father," said he, "taught me to celebrate mass." His enemies had said
16420      that he was the son of a priest; but the praise must be allowed him that
16421      he showed himself more like a son of King Olaf Trygvason, for this Trygve
16422      was a slaughtering man. In this battle King Trygve fell, and many of his
16423      men with him; but some fled, and some received quarter and their lives. It
16424      is thus related in the ballad of Trygve: -
16425     "Trygve comes from the northern coast,
16426     King Svein turns round with all his host;
16427     To meet and fight, they both prepare,
16428     And where they met grim death was there.
16429     From the sharp strife I was not far, -
16430     I heard the din and the clang of war;
16431     And the Hordaland men at last gave way,
16432     And their leader fell, and they lost the day."
16433      This battle is also told of in the ballad about King Svein, thus: -
16434     "My girl!  it was a Sunday morn,
16435     And many a man ne'er saw its eve,
16436     Though ale and leeks by old wives borne
16437     The bruised and wounded did relieve.
16438     'Twas Sunday morn, when Svein calls out,
16439     'Stem to stem your vessels bind;'
16440     The raven a mid-day feast smells out,
16441     And he comes croaking up the wind."
16442      After this battle King Svein ruled the country for some time, and there
16443      was peace in the land. The winter after it (A.D. 1034) he passed in the
16444      south parts of the country.
16445      264. OF THE COUNSELS OF EINAR TAMBASKELFER AND KALF ARNASON.
16446      Einar Tambaskelfer and Kalf Arnason had this winter meetings and
16447      consultations between themselves in the merchant town (1). Then there came
16448      a messenger from King Canute to Kalf Arnason, with a message to send him
16449      three dozen axes, which must be chosen and good. Kalf replies, "I will
16450      send no axes to King Canute. Tell him I will bring his son Svein so many,
16451      that he shall not think he is in want of any."
16452   ENDNOTES: (1) Nidaros, or Throndhjem, is usually called merely the
16453     merchant town. -L.
16454      265. OF EINAR TAMBASKELFER AND KALF ARNASON'S JOURNEY.
16455      Early in spring (A.D. 1034) Einar Tambaskelfer and Kalf Arnason made
16456      themselves ready for a journey, with a great retinue of the best and most
16457      select men that could be found in the Throndhjem country. They went in
16458      spring eastward over the ridge of the country to Jamtaland, from thence to
16459      Helsingjaland, and came to Svithjod, where they procured ships, with which
16460      in summer they proceeded east to Russia, and came in autumn to Ladoga.
16461      They sent men up to Novgorod to King Jarisleif, with the errand that they
16462      offered Magnus, the son of King Olaf the Saint, to take him with them,
16463      follow him to Norway, and give him assistance to attain his father's
16464      heritage and be made king over the country. When this message came to King
16465      Jarisleif he held a consultation with the queen and some chiefs, and they
16466      all resolved unanimously to send a message to the Northmen, and ask them
16467      to come to King Jarisleif and Magnus; for which journey safe conduct was
16468      given them. When they came to Novgorod it was settled among them that the
16469      Northmen who had come there should become Magnus's men, and be his
16470      subjects; and to this Kalf and the other men who had been against King
16471      Olaf at Stiklestad were solemnly bound by oath. On the other hand, King
16472      Magnus promised them, under oath, secure peace and full reconciliation;
16473      and that he would be true and faithful to them all when he got the
16474      dominions and kingdom of Norway. He was to become Kalf Arnason's
16475      foster-son; and Kalf should be bound to do all that Magnus might think
16476      necessary for extending his dominion, and making it more independent than
16477      formerly.
16478      SAGA OF MAGNUS THE GOOD.
16479      PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
16480      Magnus reigned from A.D. 1035 to 1047, when he died. During the last year
16481      of his reign his half-brother Harald Sigurdson was his co-regent.
16482      The history of Magnus is treated in "Agrip.", ch. 28-32; in "Fagrskinna",
16483      ch. 119-146; in "Fornmannasogur", part vi., and in "Knytlinga Saga".
16484      The skalds quoted in this saga are: Arnor the earls' skald (Arnor
16485      Jarlaskald), Sigvat, Thjodulf, Bjarne Gullbrarskald, Thorgeir Flek, Od
16486      Kikinaskald.
16487      1. MAGNUS OLAFSON'S JOURNEY FROM THE WEST.
16488      After Yule Magnus Olafson began his journey from the East from Novgorod to
16489      Ladoga, where he rigged out his ships as soon as the ice was loosened in
16490      spring (A.D. 1035). Arnor, the earls' skald, tells of this in the poem on
16491      Magnus: -
16492     "It is no loose report that he,
16493     Who will command on land and sea,
16494     In blood will make his foeman feel
16495     Olaf's sword Hneiter's sharp blue steel.
16496     This generous youth, who scatters gold,
16497     Norway's brave son, but ten years old,
16498     Is rigging ships in Russia's lake,
16499     His crown, with friend's support, to take."
16500      In spring Magnus sailed from the East to Svithjod. So says Arnor: -
16501     "The young sword-stainer called a Thing,
16502     Where all his men should meet their king:
16503     Heroes who find the eagle food
16504     Before their lord in arms stood.
16505     And now the curved plank of the bow
16506     Cleaves the blue sea; the ocean-plough
16507     By grey winds driven across the main,
16508     Reaches Sigtuna's grassy plain."
16509      Here it is related that when King Magnus and his fellow-travellers sailed
16510      from the East to Svithjod, they brought up at Sigtuna. Emund Olafson was
16511      then king in Svithjod. Queen Astrid, who had been married to King Olaf the
16512      Saint, was also there. She received very gladly and well her stepson King
16513      Magnus, and summoned immediately a numerous Thing of Swedes at a place
16514      called Hangtar. At the Thing Queen Astrid spoke these words: "Here is come
16515      to us a son of Olaf the Saint, called Magnus, who intends to make an
16516      expedition to Norway to seek his father's heritage. It is my great duty to
16517      give him aid towards this expedition; for he is my stepson, as is well
16518      known to all, both Swedes and Norwegians. Neither shall he want men or
16519      money, in so far as I can procure them or have influence, in order that
16520      his strength may be as great as possible; and all the men who will support
16521      this cause of his shall have my fullest friendship; and I would have it
16522      known that I intend myself to go with him on this attempt, that all may
16523      see I will spare nothing that is in my power to help him." She spoke long
16524      and cleverly in this strain; but when she had ended many replied thus:
16525      "The Swedes made no honourable progress in Norway when they followed King
16526      Olaf his father, and now no better success is to be expected, as this man
16527      is but in years of boyhood; and therefore we have little inclination for
16528      this expedition." Astrid replies, "All men who wish to be thought of true
16529      courage must not be deterred by such considerations. If any have lost
16530      connections at the side of King Olaf, or been themselves wounded, now is
16531      the time to show a man's heart and courage, and go to Norway to take
16532      vengeance." Astrid succeeded so far with words and encouragement that many
16533      men determined to go with her, and follow King Magnus to Norway. Sigvat
16534      the skald speaks of this: -
16535     "Now Astrtd, Olaf's widowed Queen, -
16536     She who so many a change had seen, -
16537     Took all the gifts of happier days,
16538     Jewels and rings, all she could raise,
16539     And at a Thing at Hangrar, where
16540     The Swedes were numerous, did declare
16541     What Olaf's son proposed to do,
16542     And brought her gifts -their pay -in view.
16543
16544     "And with the Swedes no wiser plan,
16545     To bring out every brave bold man,
16546     Could have been found, had Magnus been
16547     The son himself of the good queen.
16548     With help of Christ, she hoped to bring
16549     Magnus to be the land's sole king,
16550     As Harald was, who in his day
16551     Obtained o'er all the upper sway.
16552
16553     "And glad are we so well she sped, -
16554     The people's friend is now their head;
16555     And good King Magnus always shows
16556     How much be to Queen Astrid owes.
16557     Such stepmothers as this good queen
16558     In truth are very rarely seen;
16559     And to this noble woman's praise
16560     The skald with joy his song will raise."
16561      Thiodolf the skald also says in his song of Magnus: -
16562     "When thy brave ship left the land,
16563     The bending yard could scarce withstand
16564     The fury of the whistling gale,
16565     That split thy many-coloured sail;
16566     And many a stout ship, tempest-tost,
16567     Was in that howling storm lost
16568     That brought them safe to Sigtuna's shore,
16569     Far from the sound of ocean's roar."
16570      2. MAGNUS'S EXPEDITION FROM SVITHJOD.
16571      King Magnus set out on his journey from Sigtuna with a great force, which
16572      he had gathered in Svithjod. They proceeded through Svithjod on foot to
16573      Helsingjaland. So says Arnor, the earl's skald: -
16574     "And many a dark-red Swedish shield
16575     Marched with thee from the Swedish field.
16576     The country people crowded in,
16577     To help Saint Olaf's son to win;
16578     And chosen men by thee were led,
16579     Men who have stained the wolf's tongue red.
16580     Each milk-white shield and polished spear
16581     Came to a splendid gathering there."
16582      Magnus Olafson went from the East through Jamtaland over the keel-ridge of
16583      the country and came down upon the Throndhjem district, where all men
16584      welcomed the king with joy. But no sooner did the men of King Svein, the
16585      son of Alfifa, hear that King Magnus Olafson was come to the country, than
16586      they fled on all sides and concealed themselves, so that no opposition was
16587      made to King Magnus; for King Svein was in the south part of the country.
16588      So says Arnor, the earls' skald: -
16589     "He who the eagle's talons stains
16590     Rushed from the East on Throndhjem's plains;
16591     The terror of his plumed helm
16592     Drove his pale foemen from the realm.
16593     The lightning of thy eye so near,
16594     Great king!  thy foemen could not bear,
16595     Scattered they fled -their only care
16596     If thou their wretched lives wilt spare."
16597      3. MAGNUS MADE KING.
16598      Magnus Olafson advanced to the town (Nidaros), where he was joyfully
16599      received. He then summoned the people to the Eyra-thing (1); and when the
16600      bondes met at the Thing, Magnus was taken to be king over the whole land,
16601      as far as his father Olaf had possessed it. Then the king selected a
16602      court, and named lendermen, and placed bailiffs and officers in all
16603      domains and offices. Immediately after harvest King Magnus ordered a levy
16604      through all Throndhjem land, and he collected men readily; and thereafter
16605      he proceeded southwards along the coast.
16606   ENDNOTES: (1) Eyra Thing, held on the ayr of the river Nid, that is, on
16607     the spit of sand, still called an ayr in the north of
16608     Scotland, dividing a lake, pond, or river-mouth from the
16609     sea.  At the Thing held here the kings of Norway were chosen
16610     and proclaimed.  It was held to be the proper Thing for
16611     settling disputes between kings in Norway. -L.
16612      4. KING SVEIN'S FLIGHT.
16613      King Svein Alfifason was staying in South Hordaland when he heard this
16614      news of war. He immediately sent out war-tokens to four different
16615      quarters, summoned the bondes to him, and made it known to all that they
16616      should join him with men and ships to defend the country. All the men who
16617      were in the neighbourhood of the king presented themselves; and the king
16618      formed a Thing, at which in a speech he set forth his business, and said
16619      he would advance against Magnus Olafson and have a battle with him, if the
16620      bondes would aid his cause. The king's speech was not very long, and was
16621      not received with much approbation by the bondes. Afterwards the Danish
16622      chiefs who were about the king made long and clever speeches; but the
16623      bondes then took up the word, and answered them; and although many said
16624      they would follow Svein, and fight on his side, some refused to do so
16625      bluntly, some were altogether silent, and some declared they would join
16626      King Magnus as soon as they had an opportunity. Then King Svein says,
16627      "Methinks very few of the bondes to whom we sent a message have appeared
16628      here; and of those who have come, and tell us to our face that they will
16629      join King Magnus as soon as they can, we shall have as little benefit as
16630      of those who say they will sit at home quietly. It is the same with those
16631      who say nothing at all. But as to those who promise to help us, there are
16632      not more than every other man; and that force will avail us little against
16633      King Magnus. It is my counsel, therefore, that we do not trust to these
16634      bondes; but let us rather go to the land where all the people are sure and
16635      true to us, and where we will obtain forces to conquer this country
16636      again." As soon as the king had made known this resolution all his men
16637      followed it, turned their ship's bows, and hoisted sail. King Svein sailed
16638      eastward along the land, and then set right over to Denmark without delay,
16639      and Hardaknut received his brother Svein very kindly. At their first
16640      meeting Hardaknut offered King Svein to divide the kingdom of Denmark with
16641      him, which offer King Svein accepted.
16642      5. KING MAGNUS'S JOURNEY TO NORWAY.
16643      In autumn (A.D. 1035) King Magnus proceeded eastward to the end of the
16644      country, and was received as king throughout the whole land, and the
16645      country people were rejoiced at his arrival.
16646      6. DEATH OF KING CANUTE THE GREAT AND HIS SON SVEIN.
16647      King Svein, Canute's son, went to Denmark, as before related, and took
16648      part in the government with his brother Hardaknut. In the same autumn King
16649      Canute the Great died in England, the 13th November, forty years old, and
16650      was buried at Winchester. He had been king of Denmark for twenty-seven
16651      years, and over Denmark and England together twenty-four years, and also
16652      over Norway for seven years. King Canute's son Harald was then made king
16653      in England. The same winter (A.D. 1036) King Svein, Alfifa's son, died in
16654      Denmark. Thiodolf the skald made these lines concerning King Magnus: -
16655     "Through Sweden's dirty roads the throng
16656     Followed the king in spearmen strong.
16657     Svein doth fly, in truth afraid,
16658     And partly by his men betrayed;
16659     Flying to Denmark o'er the sea,
16660     He leaves the land quite clear to thee."
16661      Bjarne Gullbrarskald composed the following lines concerning Kalf Arnason: -
16662     "By thee the kings got each his own, -
16663     Magnus by thee got Norway's throne;
16664     And Svein in Denmark got a seat,
16665     When out of Norway he was beat.
16666     Kalf!  It was you who showed the way
16667     To our young king, the battle-lover, -
16668     From Russia to his father's sway
16669     You showed the way, and brought him over."
16670      King Magnus ruled over Norway this winter (A.D. 1036), and Hardaknut over
16671      Denmark.
16672      7. RECONCILIATION BETWEEN HARDAKNUT AND KING MAGNUS.
16673      The following spring (A.D. 1036) the kings on both sides ordered out a
16674      levy, and the news was that they would have a battle at the Gaut river;
16675      but when the two armies approached each other, the lendermen in the one
16676      army sent messengers to their connections and friends in the other; and it
16677      came to a proposal for a reconciliation between the two kings, especially
16678      as, from both kings being but young and childish, some powerful men, who
16679      had been chosen in each of the countries for that purpose, had the rule of
16680      the country on their account. It thus was brought about that there was a
16681      friendly meeting between the kings, and in this meeting a peace was
16682      proposed; and the peace was to be a brotherly union under oath to keep the
16683      peace towards each other to the end of their lives; and if one of them
16684      should die without leaving a son, the longest liver should succeed to the
16685      whole land and people. Twelve of the principal men in each kingdom swore
16686      to the kings that this treaty should be observed, so long as any one of
16687      them was in life. Then the kings separated, and each returned home to his
16688      kingdom; and the treaty was kept as long as both lived.
16689      8. OF QUEEN ASTRID.
16690      Queen Astrid, who had been married to King Olaf the Saint, came to Norway
16691      with King Magnus her stepson, as before related, and was held by him
16692      deservedly in great honour and esteem. Then came also Alfhild, King
16693      Magnus's mother, to the court, and the king received her with the greatest
16694      affection, and showed her great respect. But it went with Alfhild, as it
16695      does with many who come to power and honour, that pride keeps pace with
16696      promotion. She was ill pleased that Queen Astrid was treated with more
16697      respect, had a higher seat, and more attention. Alfhild wanted to have a
16698      seat next to the king, but Astrid called Alfhild her slave-woman, as
16699      indeed she had formerly been when Astrid was queen of Norway and King Olaf
16700      ruled the land, and therefore would on no account let her have a seat
16701      beside her, and they could not lodge in the same house.
16702      9. OF SIGVAT THE SKALD.
16703      Sigvat the skald had gone to Rome, where he was at the time of the battle
16704      of Stiklestad.
16705      He was on his way back from the South when he heard tidings of King Olaf's
16706      fall, which gave him great grief. He then sang these lines: -
16707     "One morning early on a hill,
16708     The misty town asleep and still,
16709     Wandering I thought upon the fields.
16710     Strewed o'er with broken mail and shields,
16711     Where our king fell, -our kind good king,
16712     Where now his happy youthful spring?
16713     My father too! -for Thord was then
16714     One of the good king's chosen men."
16715      One day Sigvat went through a village, and heard a husband lamenting
16716      grievously over the loss of his wife, striking his breast, tearing his
16717      clothes, weeping bitterly, and saying he wanted to die; and Sigvat sang
16718      these lines: -
16719     "This poor man mourns a much-loved wife,
16720     Gladly would he be quit of life.
16721     Must love be paid for by our grief?
16722     The price seems great for joy so brief.
16723     But the brave man who knows no fear
16724     Drops for his king a silent tear,
16725     And feels, perhaps, his loss as deep
16726     As those who clamour when they weep."
16727      Sigvat came home to Norway to the Throndhjem country, where he had a farm
16728      and children. He came from the South along the coast in a merchant vessel,
16729      and as they lay in Hillarsund they saw a great many ravens flying about.
16730      Then Sigvat said: -
16731     "I see here many a croaking raven
16732     Flying about the well-known haven:
16733     When Olaf's ship was floating here,
16734     They knew that food for them was near;
16735     When Olaf's ship lay here wind-bound,
16736     Oft screamed the erne o'er Hillar sound,
16737     Impatient for the expected prey,
16738     And wont to follow to the fray."
16739      When Sigvat came north to the town of Throndhjem King Svein was there
16740      before him. He invited Sigvat to stay with him, as Sigvat had formerly
16741      been with his father King Canute the Great; but Sigvat said he would first
16742      go home to his farm. One day, as Sigvat was walking in the street, he saw
16743      the king's men at play, and he sang: -
16744     "One day before I passed this way,
16745     When the king's guards were at their play,
16746     Something there was -I need not tell -
16747     That made me pale, and feel unwell.
16748     Perhaps it was I thought, just then,
16749     How noble Olaf with his men,
16750     In former days, I oft have seen
16751     In manly games upon this green."
16752      Sigvat then went to his farm; and as he heard that many men upbraided him
16753      with having deserted King Olaf, he made these verses: -
16754     "May Christ condemn me still to burn
16755     In quenchless fire, if I did turn,
16756     And leave King Olaf in his need, -
16757     My soul is free from such base deed.
16758     I was at Rome, as men know well
16759     Who saw me there, and who can tell
16760     That there in danger I was then:
16761     The truth I need not hide from men."
16762      Sigvat was ill at ease in his home. One day he went out and sang: -
16763     "While Olaf lived, how smiled the land!
16764     Mountain and cliff, and pebbly strand.
16765     All Norway then, so fresh, so gay,
16766     On land or sea, where oft I lay.
16767     But now to me all seems so dready,
16768     All black and dull -of life I'm weary;
16769     Cheerless to-day, cheerless to-morrow -
16770     Here in the North we have great sorrow."
16771      Early in winter Sigvat went westward over the ridge of the country to
16772      Jamtaland, and onwards to Helsingjaland, and came to Svithjod. He went
16773      immediately to Queen Astrid, and was with her a long time, and was a
16774      welcome guest. He was also with her brother King Emund, and received from
16775      him ten marks of proved silver, as is related in the song of Canute.
16776      Sigvat always inquired of the merchants who traded to Novgorod if they
16777      could tell him any news of Magnus Olafson. Sigvat composed these lines at
16778      that time: -
16779     "I ask the merchant oft who drives
16780     His trade to Russia, 'How he thrives,
16781     Our noble prince?  How lives he there?
16782     And still good news -his praise -I hear.
16783     To little birds, which wing their way
16784     Between the lands, I fain would say,
16785     How much we long our prince to see,
16786     They seem to hear a wish from me."
16787      10. OF KING MAGNUS'S FIRST ARRIVAL IN SVITHJOD.
16788      Immediately after Magnus Olafson came to Svithjod from Russia, Sigvat met
16789      him at Queen Astrid's house, and glad they all were at meeting. Sigvat
16790      then sang: -
16791     "Thou art come here, prince, young and bold!
16792     Thou art come home! With joy behold
16793     Thy land and people.  From this hour
16794     I join myself to thy young power.
16795     I could not o'er to Russie hie, -
16796     Thy mother's guardian here was I.
16797     It was my punishment for giving
16798     Magnus his name, while scarcely living."
16799      Afterwards Sigvat travelled with Queen Astrid, and followed Magnus to
16800      Norway. Sigvat sang thus: -
16801     "To the crowds streaming to the Thing,
16802     To see and hear Magnus their king,
16803     Loudly, young king, I'll speak my mind -
16804     'God to His people has been kind.'
16805     If He, to whom be all the praise,
16806     Give us a son in all his ways
16807     Like to his sire, no folk on earth
16808     Will bless so much a royal birth."
16809      Now when Magnus became king of Norway Sigvat attended him, and was his
16810      dearest friend. Once it happened that Queen Astrid and Alfhild the king's
16811      mother had exchanged some sharp words with each other, and Sigvat said: -
16812     "Alfhild!  though it was God's will
16813     To raise thee -yet remember still
16814     The queen-born Astrid should not be
16815     Kept out of due respect by thee."
16816      11. KING OLAF'S SHRINE.
16817      King Magnus had a shrine made and mounted with gold and silver, and
16818      studded with jewels. This shrine was made so that in shape and size it was
16819      like a coffin. Under it was an arched way, and above was a raised roof,
16820      with a head and a roof-ridge. Behind were plaited hangings; and before
16821      were gratings with padlocks, which could be locked with a key. In this
16822      shrine King Magnus had the holy remains of King Olaf deposited, and many
16823      were the miracles there wrought. Of this Sigvat speaks: -
16824     "For him a golden shrine is made,
16825     For him whose heart was ne'er afraid
16826     Of mortal man -the holy king,
16827     Whom the Lord God to heaven did bring.
16828     Here many a man shall feel his way,
16829     Stone-blind, unconscious of the day,
16830     And at the shrine where Olaf lies
16831     Give songs of praise for opened eyes."
16832      It was also appointed by law that King Olaf's holy day should be held
16833      sacred over all Norway, and that day has been kept ever afterwards as the
16834      greatest of Church days. Sigvat speaks of it: -
16835     "To Olaf, Magnus' father, raise,
16836     Within my house, the song of praise!
16837     With joy, yet grief, we'll keep the day
16838     Olaf to heaven was called away.
16839     Well may I keep within my breast
16840     A day for him in holy rest, -
16841     My upraised hands a golden ring
16842     On every branch (1) bear from that king."
16843   ENDNOTES: (1) The fingers, the branches of the hand, bore golden fruits
16844     from the generosity of the king. -L.
16845      12. OF THORER HUND.
16846      Thorer Hund left the country immediately after King Olaf's fall. He went
16847      all the way to Jerusalem, and many people say he never came back. Thorer
16848      Hund had a son called Sigurd, father of Ranveig who was married to Joan, a
16849      son of Arne Arnason. Their children were Vidkun of Bjarkey, Sigurd Hund,
16850      Erling, and Jardthrud.
16851      13. OF THE MURDER OF HAREK OF THJOTTA.
16852      Harek of Thjotta sat at home on his farm, till King Magnus Olafson came to
16853      the country and was made king. Then Harek went south to Throndhjem to King
16854      Magnus. At that time Asmund Grankelson was in the king's house. When Harek
16855      came to Nidaros, and landed out of the ship, Asmund was standing with the
16856      king in the gallery outside the loft, and both the king and Asmund knew
16857      Harek when they saw him. "Now," says Asmund to the king, "I will pay Harek
16858      for my father's murder." He had in his hand a little thin hatchet. The
16859      king looked at him, and said, "Rather take this axe of mine." It was
16860      thick, and made like a club. "Thou must know, Asmund," added he, "that
16861      there are hard bones in the old fellow." Asmund took the axe, went down,
16862      and through the house, and when he came down to the cross-road Harek and
16863      his men coming up met him. Asmund struck Harek on the head, so that the
16864      axe penetrated to the brains; and that was Harek's death-wound. Asmund
16865      turned back directly to the king's house, and the whole edge of the axe
16866      was turned with the blow. Then said the king, "What would thy axe have
16867      done, for even this one, I think, is spoilt?" King Magnus afterwards gave
16868      him a fief and office in Halogaland, and many are the tales about the
16869      strife between Asmund and Harek's sons.
16870      14. OF THORGEIR FLEK.
16871      Kalf Arnason had at first, for some time, the greatest share of the
16872      government of the country under King Magnus; but afterwards there were
16873      people who reminded the king of the part Kalf had taken at Stiklestad, and
16874      then it became difficult for Kalf to give the king satisfaction in
16875      anything. Once it happened there were many men with the king bringing
16876      their affairs before him; and Thorgeir Flek from Sula in Veradal, of whom
16877      mention is made before in the history of King Olaf the Saint, came to him
16878      about some needful business. The king paid no attention to his words, but
16879      was listening to people who stood near him. Then Thorgeir said to the
16880      king, so loud that all who were around him could hear: -
16881     "Listen, my lord, to my plain word.
16882     I too was there, and had to bear
16883     A bloody head from Stiklestad:
16884     For I was then with Olaf's men.
16885     Listen to me: well did I see
16886     The men you're trusting the dead corpse thrusting
16887     Out of their way, as dead it lay;
16888     And striking o'er your father's gore."
16889      There was instantly a great uproar, and some told Thorgeir to go out; but
16890      the king called him, and not only despatched his business to his
16891      satisfaction, but promised him favour and friendship.
16892      15. KALF ARNASON FLIES THE COUNTRY
16893      Soon after this the king was at a feast at the farm of Haug in Veradel,
16894      and at the dinner-table Kalf Arnason sat upon one side of him, and Einar
16895      Tambaskelfer on the other. It was already come so far that the king took
16896      little notice of Kalf, but paid most attention to Einar. The king said to
16897      Einar, "Let us ride to-day to Stiklestad. I should like to see the
16898      memorials of the things which took place there." Einar replies, "I can
16899      tell thee nothing about it; but take thy foster-father Kalf with thee; he
16900      can give thee information about all that took place." When the tables were
16901      removed, the king made himself ready, and said to Kalf, "Thou must go with
16902      me to Stiklestad."
16903      Kalf replied, "That is really not my duty."
16904      Then the king stood up in a passion, and said, "Go thou shalt, Kalf!" and
16905      thereupon he went out.
16906      Kalf put on his riding clothes in all haste, and said to his foot-boy,
16907      "Thou must ride directly to Eggja, and order my house-servants to ship all
16908      my property on board my ship before sunset."
16909      King Magnus now rides to Stiklestad, and Kalf with him. They alighted from
16910      horseback, and went to the place where the battle had been. Then said the
16911      king to Kalf, "Where is the spot at which the king fell?"
16912      Kalf stretched out his spear-shaft, and said, "There he lay when he fell."
16913      The king: "And where wast thou, Kalf?"
16914      Kalf: "Here where I am now standing."
16915      The king turned red as blood in the face, and said, "Then thy axe could
16916      well have reached him."
16917      Kalf replied, "My axe did not come near him;" and immediately went to his
16918      horse, sprang on horseback, and rode away with all his men; and the king
16919      rode back to Haug. Kalf did not stop until he got home in the evening to
16920      Eggja. There his ship lay ready at the shore side, and all his effects
16921      were on board, and the vessel manned with his house-servants. They set off
16922      immediately by night down the fjord, and afterwards proceeded day and
16923      night, when the wind suited. He sailed out into the West sea, and was
16924      there a long time plundering in Ireland, Scotland, and the Hebudes. Bjarne
16925      Gullbrarskald tells of this in the song about Kalf: -
16926     "Brother of Thorberg, who still stood
16927     Well with the king!  in angry mood
16928     He is the first to break with thee,
16929     Who well deserves esteemed to be;
16930     He is the first who friendship broke,
16931     For envious men the falsehood spoke;
16932     And he will he the first to rue
16933     The breach of friendship 'twixt you two."
16934      16. OF THE THREATS OF THE BONDES.
16935      King Magnus added to his property Veggia, which Hrut had been owner of,
16936      and Kviststad, which had belonged to Thorgeir, and also Eggja, with all
16937      the goods which Kalf had left behind him; and thus he confiscated to the
16938      king's estate many great farms, which had belonged to those of the
16939      bonde-army who had fallen at Stiklestad. In like manner, he laid heavy
16940      fined upon many of those who made the greatest opposition to King Olaf. He
16941      drove some out of the country, took large sums of money from others, and
16942      had the cattle of others slaughtered for his use. Then the bondes began to
16943      murmur, and to say among themselves, "Will he go on in the same way as his
16944      father and other chiefs, whom we made an end of when their pride and
16945      lawless proceedings became insupportable?" This discontent spread widely
16946      through the country. The people of Sogn gathered men, and, it was said,
16947      were determined to give battle to King Magnus, if he came into the Fjord
16948      district. King Magnus was then in Hordaland, where he had remained a long
16949      time with a numerous retinue, and was now come to the resolution to
16950      proceed north to Sogn. When the king's friends observed this, twelve men
16951      had a meeting, and resolved to determine by casting lots which of them
16952      should inform the king of the discontent of the people; and it so happened
16953      that the lot fell upon Sigvat.
16954      17. OF THE FREE-SPEAKING SONG ("BERSOGLISVISUR").
16955      Sigvat accordingly composed a poem, which he called the "Free-speaking
16956      Song", which begins with saying the king had delayed too long to pacify
16957      the people, who were threatening to rise in tumult against him. He said: -
16958     "Here in the south, from Sogn is spread
16959     The news that strife draws to a head:
16960     The bondes will the king oppose -
16961     Kings and their folk should ne'er be foes.
16962     Let us take arms, and briskly go
16963     To battle, if it must be so;
16964     Defend our king -but still deplore
16965     His land plunged in such strife once more."
16966      In this song are also these verses: -
16967     "Hakon, who at Fitiar died, -
16968     Hakon the Good, could not abide
16969     The viking rule, or robber train,
16970     And all men's love he thus did gain.
16971     The people since have still in mind
16972     The laws of Hakon, just and kind;
16973     And men will never see the day
16974     When Hakon's laws have passed away.
16975
16976     "The bondes ask but what is fair;
16977     The Olafs and the Earls, when there
16978     Where Magnus sits, confirmed to all
16979     Their lands and gear -to great and small,
16980     Bold Trygve's son, and Harald's heir,
16981     The Olafs, while on earth they were,
16982     Observed the laws themselves had made,
16983     And none was for his own afraid.
16984
16985     "Let not thy counsellors stir thy wrath
16986     Against the man who speaks the truth;
16987     Thy honour lies in thy good sword,
16988     But still more in thy royal word;
16989     And, if the people do not lie,
16990     The new laws turn out not nigh
16991     So Just and mild, as the laws given
16992     At Ulfasund in face of heaven.
16993
16994     "Dread king!  who urges thee to break
16995     Thy pledged word, and back to take
16996     Thy promise given?  Thou warrior bold;
16997     With thy own people word to hold,
16998     Thy promise fully to maintain,
16999     Is to thyself the greatest gain:
17000     The battle-storm raiser he
17001     Must by his own men trusted be.
17002
17003     "Who urges thee, who seek'st renown,
17004     The bondes' cattle to cut down?
17005     No king before e'er took in hand
17006     Such viking-work in his own land.
17007     Such rapine men will not long bear,
17008     And the king's counsellors will but share
17009     In their ill-will: when once inflamed,
17010     The king himself for all is blamed.
17011
17012     "Do cautious, with this news of treason
17013     Flying about -give them no reason.
17014     We hange the thief, but then we use
17015     Consideration of the excuse.
17016     I think, great king (who wilt rejoice
17017     Eagle and wolf with battle voice),
17018     It would be wise not to oppose
17019     Thy bondes, and make them thy foes.
17020
17021     "A dangerous sign it is, I fear,
17022     That old grey-bearded men appear
17023     In corners whispering at the Thing,
17024     As if they had bad news to bring.
17025     The young sit still, -no laugh, or shout, -
17026     More looks than words passing shout;
17027     And groups of whispering heads are seen,
17028     On buttoned breasts, with lowering mien.
17029
17030     "Among the udalmen, they say
17031     The king, if he could have his way,
17032     Would seize the bondes' udal land,
17033     And free-born men must this withstand.
17034     In truth the man whose udal field,
17035     By any doom that law can yield
17036     From him adjudged the king would take,
17037     Could the king's throne and power shake."
17038      This verse is the last: -
17039     "A holy bond between us still
17040     Makes me wish speedy end to ill:
17041     The sluggard waits till afternoon, -
17042     At once great Magnus!  grant our boon.
17043     Then we will serve with heart and hand,
17044     With thee we'll fight by sea or land:
17045     With Olaf's sword take Olaf's mind,
17046     And to thy bondes be more kind."
17047      In this song the king was exhorted to observe the laws which his father
17048      had established. This exhortation had a good effect on the king, for many
17049      others held the same language to him. So at last the king consulted the
17050      most prudent men, who ordered all affairs according to law. Thereafter
17051      King Magnus had the law-book composed in writing which is still in use in
17052      Throndhjem district, and is called "The Grey Goose" (1). King Magnus
17053      afterwards became very popular, and was beloved by all the country people,
17054      and therefore he was called Magnus the Good.
17055   ENDNOTES: (1) "The Grey Goose", so called probably from the colour of
17056     the parchment on which it is written, is one of the most curious
17057     relics of the Middle Ages, and give us an unexpected view of
17058     the social condition of the Northmen in the eleventh
17059     century.  Law appears to have been so far advanced among
17060     them that the forms were not merely established, but the
17061     slightest breach of the legal forms of proceeding involved
17062     the loss of the case.  The "Grey Goose" embraces subjects
17063     not dealt with probably by any other code in Europe at that
17064     period.  The provision for the poor, the  equality of
17065     weights and measures, police of markets and of sea havens,
17066     provision for illegitimate children of the poor, inns for
17067     travellers, wages of servants and support of them in
17068     sickness, protection of pregnant women and even of domestic
17069     animals from injury, roads, bridges, vagrants, beggars, are
17070     subjects treated of in this code. -"Schlegel." -L.
17071      18. OF THE ENGLISH KINGS.
17072      The king of the English, King Harald, died (A.D. 1040) five years after
17073      his father King Canute, and was buried beside his father at Winchester.
17074      After his death his brother Hardaknut, the second son of the old King
17075      Canute, was king of England, and was thus king both of Denmark and
17076      England. He ruled these kingdoms two years, and then died of sickness in
17077      England, leaving no children. He was buried at Winchester beside his
17078      father. After his death Edward the Good, a son of the English king
17079      Ethelred (and Emma, a daughter of Richard earl of Rouen), was chosen king
17080      in England. King Edward the Good was, on his mother's side, a brother of
17081      Harald and Hardaknut, the sons of Canute the Great; and the daughter of
17082      Canute and Queen Emma was Gunhild, who was married to the Emperor Henry of
17083      Germany, who was called Henry the Mild. Gunhild had been three years in
17084      Germamy when she fell sick, and she died five years after the death of her
17085      father King Canute the Great.
17086      19. OF KING MAGNUS OLAFSON.
17087      When King Magnus Olafson heard of Hardaknut's death, he immediately sent
17088      people south to Denmark, with a message to the men who had bound
17089      themselves by oath to the peace and agreement which was made between King
17090      Magnus and Hardaknut, and reminded them of their pledge. He added, as a
17091      conclusion, that in summer (A.D. 1042.) he would come with his army to
17092      Denmark to take possession of his Danish dominions, in terms of the
17093      agreement, or to fall in the field with his army. So says Arnor, the
17094      earls' skald: -
17095     "Wise were the words, exceeding wise,
17096     Of him who stills the hungriest cries
17097     Of beasts of prey -the earl's lord;
17098     And soon fulfilled will be his word:
17099     'With his good sword he'll Denmark gain,
17100     Or fall upon a bloody plain;
17101     And rather than give up his cause,
17102     Will leave his corpse to raven's claws.'"
17103      20. KING MAGNUS'S ARMAMENT.
17104      Thereafter King Magnus gathered together a great army, and summoned to him
17105      all lendermen and powerful bondes, and collected war-ships. When the army
17106      was assembled it was very handsome, and well fitted out. He had seventy
17107      large vessels when he sailed from Norway. So says Thiodolf the skald: -
17108     "Brave king!  the terror of the foe,
17109     With thee will many a long-ship go.
17110     Full seventy sail are gathered here,
17111     Eastward with their great king to steer.
17112     And southward now the bright keel glides;
17113     O'er the white waves the Bison rides.
17114     Sails swell, yards crack, the highest mast
17115     O'er the wide sea scarce seen at last."
17116      Here it related that King Magnus had the great Bison, which his father
17117      King Olaf had built. It had more than thirty banks of rowers; and forward
17118      on the bow was a great buffalo head, and aft on the stern-post was its
17119      tail. Both the head and the tail, and both sides of the ship, were gilded
17120      over. Of this speaks Arnor, the earls' skald: -
17121     "The white foam lashing o'er the deck
17122     Oft made the glided head to shake;
17123     The helm down, the vessel's heel
17124     Oft showed her stem's bright-glacing steel.
17125     Around Stavanger-point careering,
17126     Through the wild sea's white flames steering,
17127     Tackle loud singing to the strain,
17128     The storm-horse flies to Denmark's plain."
17129      King Magnus set out to sea from Agder, and sailed over to Jutland. So says
17130      Arnor: -
17131     "I can relate how through the gale
17132     The gallant Bison carried sail.
17133     With her lee gunwale in the wave,
17134     The king on board, Magnus the brave!
17135     The iron-clad Thingmen's chief to see
17136     On Jutland's coast right glad were we, -
17137     Right glad our men to see a king
17138     Who in the fight his sword could swing."
17139      21. KING MAGNUS COMES TO DENMARK.
17140      When King Magnus came to Denmark he was joyfully received. He appointed a
17141      Thing without delay, to which he summoned the people of the country, and
17142      desired they would take him as king, according to the agreement which had
17143      been entered into. As the highest of the chiefs of the country were bound
17144      by oath to King Magnus, and were desirous of keeping their word and oath,
17145      they endeavoured zealously to promote the cause with the people. It
17146      contributed also that King Canute the Great, and all his descendants, were
17147      dead; and a third assistance was, that his father King Olaf's sanctity and
17148      miracles were become celebrated in all countries.
17149      22. KING MAGNUS CHOSEN KING OF DENMARK.
17150      King Magnus afterwards ordered the people to be summoned to Viborg to a
17151      Thing. Both in older and later times, the Danes elected their kings at the
17152      Viborg Thing. At this Thing the Danes chose Magnus Olafson to be king of
17153      all the Danish dorninions. King Magnus remained long in Denmark during the
17154      summer (A.D. 1042); and wherever he came the people received him joyfully,
17155      and obeyed him willingly. He divided the country into baronies and
17156      districts, and gave fiefs to men of power in the land. Late in autumn he
17157      returned with his fleet to Norway, but lay for some time at the Gaut
17158      river.
17159      23. OF SVEIN ULFSON.
17160      There was a man, by name Svein, a son of Earl Ulf, and grandson of
17161      Thorgils Sprakaleg. Svein's mother was Astrid, a daughter of King Svein
17162      Forkbeard. She was a sister of Canute the Great by the father's side, and
17163      of the Swedish King Olaf Eirikson by the mother's side; for her mother was
17164      Queen Sigrid the Haughty, a daughter of Skoglar Toste. Svein Ulfson had
17165      been a long time living with his relation the Swedish king, ever since
17166      King Canute had ordered his father Ulf to be killed, as is related in the
17167      saga of old King Canute, that he had his brother-in-law, Earl Ulf,
17168      murdered in Roskilde; and on which account Svein had not since been in
17169      Denmark. Svein Ulfson was one of the handsomest men that could be seen; he
17170      was very stout and strong, and very expert in all exercises, and a
17171      well-spoken man withal. Every one who knew him said he had every quality
17172      which became a good chief. Svein Ulfson waited upon King Magnus while he
17173      lay in the Gaut river, as before mentioned, and the king received him
17174      kindly, as he was by many advised to do; for Svein was a particularly
17175      popular man. He could also speak for himself to the king well and
17176      cleverly; so that it came at lasf to Svein's entering into King Magnus's
17177      service, and becoming his man. They often talked together afterwards in
17178      private concerning many affairs.
17179      24. SVEIN ULFSON CREATED AN EARL.
17180      One day, as King Magnus sat in his high-seat and many people were around
17181      him, Svein Ulfson sat upon a footstool before the king. The king then made
17182      a speech: "Be it known to you, chiefs, and the people in general, that I
17183      have taken the following resolution. Here is a distinguished man, both for
17184      family and for his own merits, Svein Ulfson, who has entered into my
17185      service, and given me promise of fidelity. Now, as ye know, the Danes have
17186      this summer become my men, so that when I am absent from the country it is
17187      without a head; and it is not unknown to you how it is ravaged by the
17188      people of Vindland, Kurland, and others from the Baltic, as well as by
17189      Saxons. Therefore I promised them a chief who could defend and rule their
17190      land; and I know no man better fitted, in all respects, for this than
17191      Svein Ulfson, who is of birth to be chief of the country. I will therefore
17192      make him my earl, and give him the government of my Danish dominions while
17193      I am in Norway; just as King Canute the Great set his father, Earl Ulf,
17194      over Denmark while he was in England."
17195      Then Einar Tambaskelfer said, "Too great an earl -too great an earl,
17196      my foster-son!"
17197      The king replied in a passion, "Ye have a poor opinion of my judgment, I
17198      think. Some consider that ye are too great earls, and others that ye are
17199      fit for nothing."
17200      Then the king stood up, took a sword, and girt it on the earl's loins, and
17201      took a shield and fastened it on his shoulders, put a helmet upon his
17202      head, and gave him the title of earl, with the same fiefs in Denmark which
17203      his father Earl Ulf had formerly held. Afterwards a shrine was brought
17204      forth containing holy relics, and Svein laid his hand hereon, and swore
17205      the oath of fidelity to King Magnus; upon which the king led the earl to
17206      the highseat by his side. So says Thiodolf: -
17207     "Twas at the Gaut river's shore,
17208     With hand on shrine Svein Ulfson swore.
17209     King Magnus first said o'er the oath,
17210     With which Svein Ulfson pledged his troth.
17211     The vows by Svein solemnly given,
17212     On holy bones of saints in heaven,
17213     To Magnus seemed both fair and fast;
17214     He found they were too fair to last."
17215      Earl Svein went thereafter to Denmark, and the whole nation received him
17216      well. He established a court about him, and soon became a great man. In
17217      winter (A.D. 1043), he went much about the country, and made friends among
17218      the powerful chiefs; and, indeed, he was beloved by all the people of the
17219      land.
17220      25. KING MAGNUS'S FORAY.
17221      King Magnus proceeded northward to Norway with his fleet, and wintered
17222      there; but when the spring set in (A.D. 1048) he gathered a large force,
17223      with which he sailed south to Demnark, having heard the news from Vindland
17224      that the Vindland people in Jomsborg had withdrawn from their submission
17225      to him. The Danish kings had formerly had a very large earldom there, and
17226      they first founded Jomsborg; and now the place was become a very strong
17227      fortress. When King Magnus heard of this, he ordered a large fleet and
17228      army to be levied in Denmark, and sailed in summer to Vindland with all
17229      his forces, which made a very large army altogether. Arnor, the earls'
17230      skald, tells of it thus: -
17231     "Now in this strophe, royal youth!
17232     I tell no more than the plain truth.
17233     Thy armed outfit from the strand
17234     Left many a keel-trace on the sand,
17235     And never did a king before
17236     SO many ships to any shore
17237     Lead on, as thou to Vindland's isle:
17238     The Vindland men in fright recoil."
17239      Now when King Magnus came to Vindland he attacked Jomsborg, and soon took
17240      the fortress, killing' many people, burning and destroying both in the
17241      town and in the courttry all around, and making the greatest havoc. So
17242      says Arnor, the earl's skald: -
17243     "The robbers, hemmed 'twixt death and fire,
17244     Knew not how to escape thy ire;
17245     O'er Jomsborg castle's highest towers
17246     Thy wrath the whirlwind-fire pours.
17247     The heathen on his false gods calls,
17248     And trembles even in their halls;
17249     And by the light from its own flame
17250     The king this viking-hold o'ercame."
17251      Many people in Vindland submitted to King Magnus, but many more got out of
17252      the way and fled. King Magnus returned to Denmark, and prepared to take
17253      his winter abode there, and sent away the Danish, and also a great many of
17254      the Norwegian people he had brought with him.
17255      26. SVEIN RECEIVES THE TITLE OF KING.
17256      The same winter (A.D. 1043), in which Svein Ulfson was raised to the
17257      government of the whole Danish dominions, and had made friends of a great
17258      number of the principal chiefs in Denmark, and obtained the affections of
17259      the people, he assumed by the advice of many of the chiefs the title of
17260      king. But when in the spring thereafter he heard that King Magnus had come
17261      from the north with a great army, Svein went over to Scania, from thence
17262      up to Gautland, and so on to Svithjod to his relation, King Emund, where
17263      he remained all summer, and sent spies out to Denmark, to inquire about
17264      the king's proceedings and the number of his men. Now when Svein heard
17265      that King Magnus had let a great part of his army go away, and also that
17266      he was south in Jutland, he rode from Svithjod with a great body of peopie
17267      which the Swedish king had given him. When Svein came to Scania the people
17268      of that country received him well, treated him as their king, and men
17269      joined him in crowds. He then went on to Seeland, where he was also well
17270      received, and the whole country joined him. He then went to Fyen, and laid
17271      all the islands under his power; and as the people also joined him, he
17272      collected a great army and many ships of war.
17273      27. OF KING MAGNUS'S MILITARY FORCE.
17274      King Magnus heard this news, and at the same time that the people of
17275      Vindland had a large force on foot. He summoned people therefore to come
17276      to him, and drew together a great army in Jutland. Otto, also, the Duke of
17277      Brunsvik, who had married Ulfhild, King Olaf the Saint's daughter, and the
17278      sister of King Magnus, came to him with a great troop. The Danish chiefs
17279      pressed King Magnus to advance against the Vindland army, and not allow
17280      pagans to march over and lay waste the country; so it was resolved that
17281      the king with his army should proceed south to Heidaby. While King Magnus
17282      lay at Skotborg river, on Hlyrskog Heath, he got intelligence concerning
17283      the Vindland army, and that it was so numerous it could not be counted;
17284      whereas King Magnus had so few, that there seemed no chance for him but to
17285      fly. The king, however, determined on fighting, if there was any
17286      possibility of gaining the victory; but the most dissuaded him from
17287      venturing on an engagement, and all, as one man, said that the Vindland
17288      people had undoubtedly a prodigious force. Duke Otto, however, pressed
17289      much to go to battle. Then the king ordered the whole army to be gathered
17290      by the war trumpets into battle array, and ordered all the men to arm, and
17291      to lie down for the night under their shields; for he was told the enemy's
17292      army had come to the neighbourhood. The king was very thoughtful; for he
17293      was vexed that he should be obliged to fly, which fate he had never
17294      experienced before. He slept but little all night, and chanted his
17295      prayers.
17296      28. OF KING OLAF'S MIRACLE.
17297      The following day was Michaelmas eve. Towards dawn the king slumbered, and
17298      dreamt that his father, King Olaf the Saint, appeared to him, and said,
17299      "Art thou so melancholy and afraid, because the Vindland people come
17300      against thee with a great army? Be not afraid of heathens, although they
17301      be many; for I shall be with thee in the battle. Prepare, therefore, to
17302      give battle to the Vindlanders, when thou hearest my trumpet." When the
17303      king awoke he told his dream to his men, and the day was then dawning. At
17304      that moment all the people heard a ringing of bells in the air; and those
17305      among King Magnus's men who had been in Nidaros thought that it was the
17306      ringing of the bell called Glod, which King Olaf had presented to the
17307      church of Saint Clement in the town of Nidaros.
17308      29. BATTLE OF HLYRSKOG HEATH.
17309      Then King Magnus stood up, and ordered the war trumpets to sound, and at
17310      that moment the Vindland army advanced from the south across the river
17311      against him; on which the whole of the king's army stood up, and advanced
17312      against the heathens. King Magnus threw off from him his coat of
17313      ring-mail, and had a red silk shirt outside over his clothes, and had in
17314      his hands the battle-axe called Hel (1), which had belonged to King Olaf.
17315      King Magnus ran on before all his men to the enemy's army, and instantly
17316      hewed down with both hands every man who came against him. So says Arnor,
17317      the earls' skald: -
17318     "His armour on the ground he flung
17319     His broad axe round his head he swung;
17320     And Norway's king strode on in might,
17321     Through ringing swords, to the wild fight.
17322     His broad axe Hel with both hands wielding,
17323     Shields, helms, and skulls before it yielding,
17324     He seemed with Fate the world to share,
17325     And life or death to deal out there."
17326      This battle was not very long; for the king's men were very fiery, and
17327      where they came the Vindland men fell as thick as tangles heaped up by the
17328      waves on the strand. They who stood behind betook themselves to flight,
17329      and were hewed down like cattle at a slaughter. The king himself drove the
17330      fugitives eastward over the heath, and people fell all over the moor. So
17331      says Thiodolf: -
17332     "And foremost he pursued,
17333     And the flying foe down hewed;
17334     An eagle's feast each stroke,
17335     As the Vindland helms he broke.
17336     He drove them o'er the hearth,
17337     And they fly from bloody death;
17338     But the moor, a mile or more,
17339     With the dead was studded o'er."
17340      It is a common saying, that there never was so great a slaughter of men in
17341      the northern lands, since the time of Christianity, as took place among
17342      the Vindland people on Hlyrskog's Heath. On the other side, not many of
17343      King Magnus's people were killed, although many were wounded. After the
17344      battle the king ordered the wounds of his men to be bound; but there were
17345      not so many doctors in the army as were necessary, so the king himself
17346      went round, and felt the hands of those he thought best suited for the
17347      business; and when he had thus stroked their palms, he named twelve men,
17348      who, he thought, had the softest hands, and told them to bind the wounds
17349      of the people; and although none of them had ever tried it before, they
17350      all became afterwards the best of doctors. There were two Iceland men
17351      among them; the one was Thorkil, a son of Geire, from Lyngar; the other
17352      was Atle, father of Bard Svarte of Selardal, from whom many good doctors
17353      are descended. After this battle, the report of the miracle which King
17354      Olaf the Saint had worked was spread widely through the country; and it
17355      was the common saying of the people, that no man could venture to fight
17356      against King Magnus Olafson, for his father Saint Olaf stood so near to
17357      him that his enemies, on that account, never could do him harm.
17358   ENDNOTES: (1) Hel -Death: the goddess of Death. -L.
17359      30. BATTLE AT RE.
17360      King Magnus immediately turned round with his army against Svein, whom he
17361      called his earl, although the Danes called him their king; and he
17362      collected ships, and a great force, and on both sides a great strength was
17363      assembled. In Svein's army were many chiefs from Scania, Halland, Seeland,
17364      and Fyen; while King Magnus, on the other hand, had mostly Norway and
17365      Jutland men, and with that war-force he hastened to meet Svein. They met
17366      at Re, near Vestland; and there was a great battle, which ended in King
17367      Magnus gaining the victory, and Svein taking flight. After losing many
17368      people, Svein fled back to Scania, and from thence to Gautland, which was
17369      a safe refuge if he needed it, and stood open to him. King Magnus returned
17370      to Jutland, where he remained all winter (A.D. 1044) with many people, and
17371      had a guard to watch his ships. Arnor, the earls' skald, speaks of this: -
17372     "At Re our battle-loving lord
17373     In bloody meeting stained his sword, -
17374     At Re upon the western shore,
17375     In Vestland warrior's blood once more."
17376      31. BATTLE AT AROS.
17377      Svein Ulfson went directly to his ships as soon as he heard that King
17378      Magnus had left his fleet. He drew to him all the men he could, and went
17379      round in winter among the islands, Seeland, Fyen, and others. Towards Yule
17380      he sailed to Jutland, and went into Limfjord, where many people submitted
17381      to him. He imposed scat upon some, but some joined King Magnus. Now when
17382      King Magnus heard what Svein was doing, he betook himself to his ships
17383      with all the Northmen then in Denmark, and a part of the Danish troops,
17384      and steered south along the land. Svein was then in Aros with a great
17385      force; and when he heard of King Magnus he laid his vessels without the
17386      town, and prepared for battle. When King Magnus heard for certain where
17387      Svein was, and that the distance between them was but short, he held a
17388      House-thing, and addressed his people thus: "It is reported to me that the
17389      earl and his fleet are lying not far from us, and that he has many people.
17390      Now I would let you know that I intend to go out against the earl and
17391      fight for it, although, we have fewer people. We will, as formerly, put
17392      our trust in God, and Saint Olaf, my father, who has given us victory
17393      sometimes when we fought, even though we had fewer men than the enemy. Now
17394      I would have you get ready to seek out the enemy, and give battle the
17395      moment we find him by rowing all to attack, and being all ready for
17396      battle." Thereupon the men put on their weapons, each man making himself
17397      and his place ready; and then they stretched themselves to their oars.
17398      When they saw the earl's ships they rowed towards them, and made ready to
17399      attack. When Svein's men saw the forces they armed themselves, bound their
17400      ships together, and then began one of the sharpest of battles. So says
17401      Thiodolf, the skald: -
17402     "Shield against shield, the earl and king
17403     Made shields and swords together ring.
17404     The gold-decked heroes made a play
17405     Which Hild's iron-shirt men say
17406     They never saw before or since
17407     On battle-deck; the brave might wince,
17408     As spear and arrow whistling flew,
17409     Point blank, death-bringing, quick and true."
17410      They fought at the bows, so that the men only on the bows could strike;
17411      the men on the forecastle thrust with spears: and all who were farther off
17412      shot with light spears or javelins, or war-arrows. Some fought with stones
17413      or short stakes; and those who were aft of the mast shot with the bow. So
17414      Says Thiodolf: -
17415     "Steel-pointed spear, and sharpened stake,
17416     Made the broad shield on arm shake:
17417     The eagle, hovering in the air,
17418     Screamed o'er the prey preparing there.
17419     And stones and arrows quickly flew,
17420     And many a warrior bold they slew.
17421     The bowman never twanged his bow
17422     And drew his shaft so oft as now;
17423     And Throndhjem's bowmen on that day
17424     Were not the first tired of this play:
17425     Arrows and darts so quickly fly,
17426     You could not follow with the eye."
17427      Here it appears how hot the battle was with casting weapons. King Magnus
17428      stood in the beginning of the battle within a shield-rampart; but as it
17429      appeared to him that matters were going on too slowly, he leaped over the
17430      shields, and rushed forward in the ship, encouraging his men with a loud
17431      cheer, and springing to the bows, where the battle was going on hand to
17432      hand. When his men saw this they urged each other on with mutual cheering,
17433      and there was one great hurrah through all the ships. So says Thiodolf: -
17434     "'On with our ships!  on to the foe!'
17435     Cry Magnus' men -on, on they go.
17436     Spears against shields in fury rattle, -
17437     Was never seen so fierce a battle."
17438      And now the battle was exceedingly sharp; and in the assault Svein's ship
17439      was cleared of all her forecastle men, upon and on both sides of the
17440      forecastle. Then Magnus boarded Svein's ship, followed by his men; and one
17441      after the other came up, and made so stout an assault that Svein's men
17442      gave way, and King Magnus first cleared that ship, and then the rest, one
17443      after the other. Svein fled, with a great part of his people; but many
17444      fell, and many got life and peace. Thiodolf tells of this: -
17445     "Brave Magnus, from the stern springing
17446     On to the stem, where swords were ringing
17447     From his sea-raven's beak of gold
17448     Deals death around -the brave!  the bold!
17449     The earl's housemen now begin
17450     To shrink and fall: their ranks grow thin -
17451     The king's luck thrives -their decks are cleared,
17452     Of fighting men no more appeared.
17453     The earl's ships are driven to flight,
17454     Before the king would stop the fight:
17455     The gold-distributor first then
17456     Gave quarters to the vanquished men."
17457      This battle was fought on the last Sunday before Yule. So says Thiodolf: -
17458     "'Twas on a Sunday morning bright,
17459     Fell out this great and bloody fight,
17460     When men were arming, fighting, dying,
17461     Or on the red decks wounded lying.
17462     And many a man, foredoomed to die,
17463     To save his life o'erboard did fly,
17464     But sank; for swimming could not save,
17465     And dead men rolled in every wave."
17466      Magnus took seven ships from Svein's people. So says Thiodolf: -
17467     "Thick Olaf's son seven vessels cleared,
17468     And with his fleet the prizes steered.
17469     The Norway girls will not be sad
17470     To hear such news -each from her lad."
17471      He also sings: -
17472     "The captured men will grieve the most
17473     Svein and their comrades to have lost;
17474     For it went ill with those who fled,
17475     Their wounded had no easy bed.
17476     A heavy storm that very night
17477     O'ertook them flying from the fight;
17478     And skulls and bones are tumbling round,
17479     Under the sea, on sandy ground."
17480      Svein fled immediately by night to Seeland, with the men who had escaped
17481      and were inclined to follow him; but King Magnus brought his ships to the
17482      shore, and sent his men up the country in the night-time, and early in the
17483      morning they came flown to the strand with a great booty in cattle.
17484      Thiodolf tells about it: -
17485     "But yesterday with heavy stones
17486     We crushed their skulls, and broke their bones,
17487     And thinned their ranks; and now to-day
17488     Up through their land we've ta'en our way,
17489     And driven their cattle to the shore,
17490     And filled out ships with food in store.
17491     To save his land from our quick swords,
17492     Svein will need something more than words."
17493      32. SVEIN'S FLIGHT.
17494      King Magnus sailed with his fleet from the south after Svein to Seeland;
17495      but as soon as the king came there Svein fled up the country with his men,
17496      and Magnus followed them, and pursued the fugitives, killing all that were
17497      laid hold of. So says Thiodolf: -
17498     "The Seeland girl asks with fear,
17499     'Whose blood-bespattered shield and spear -
17500     The earl's or king's -up from the shore
17501     Moved on with many a warrior more?'
17502     We scoured through all their muddy lanes,
17503     Woodlands, and fields, and miry plains.
17504     Their hasty footmarks in the clay
17505     Showed that to Ringsted led their way.
17506
17507     "Spattered with mud from heel to head,
17508     Our gallant lord his true men led.
17509     Will Lund's earl halt his hasty flight,
17510     And try on land another fight?
17511     His banner yesterday was seen,
17512     The sand-bills and green trees between,
17513     Through moss and mire to the strand,
17514     In arrow flight, leaving the land."
17515      Then Svein fled over to Fyen Island, and King Magnus carried fire and
17516      sword through Seeland, and burnt all round, because their men had joined
17517      Svein's troop in harvest. So says Thiodolf: -
17518     "As Svein in winter had destroyed
17519     The royal house, the king employed
17520     No little force to guard the land,
17521     And the earl's forays to withstand.
17522     An armed band one morn he found,
17523     And so beset them round and round,
17524     That Canute's nephew quickly fled,
17525     Or he would have been captive led.
17526
17527     "Our Throndhjem king in his just ire
17528     Laid waste the land with sword and fire,
17529     Burst every house, and over all
17530     Struck terror into great and small.
17531     To the earl's friends he well repaid
17532     Their deadly hate -such wild work made
17533     On them and theirs, that from his fury,
17534     Flying for life, away they hurry."
17535      33. BURNING IN FYEN.
17536      As soon as King Magnus heard that Svein with his troops had gone across to
17537      Fyen, he sailed after them; and when Svein heard this news he went on
17538      board ship and sailed to Scania, and from thence to Gautland, and at last
17539      to the Swedish King. King Magnus landed in Fyen, and plundered and burned
17540      over all; and all of Svein's men who came there fled far enough. Thiodolf
17541      speaks of it thus: -
17542     "Fiona isle, once green and fair,
17543     Lies black and reeking through the air:
17544     The red fog rises, thick and hot,
17545     From burning farm and smouldering cot.
17546     The gaping thralls in terror gaze
17547     On the broad upward-spiring blaze,
17548     From thatched roofs and oak-built walls,
17549     Their murdered masters' stately halls.
17550
17551     "Svein's men, my girl, will not forget
17552     That thrice they have the Norsemen met,
17553     By sea, by land, with steel, with fire,
17554     Thrice have they felt the Norse king's ire.
17555     Fiona's maids are slim and fair,
17556     The lovely prizes, lads, we'll share:
17557     Some stand to arms in rank and row,
17558     Some seize, bring off, and fend with blow."
17559      After this the people of Denmark submitted to King Magnus, and during the
17560      rest of the winter, there was peace. King Magnus then appointed some of
17561      his men to govern Denmark; and when spring was advanced he sailed
17562      northwards with his fleet to Norway, where he remained a great part of the
17563      summer.
17564      34. BATTLE AT HELGANES
17565      Now, when Svein heard that King Magnus had gone to Norway he rode straight
17566      down, and had many people out of Svithjod with him. The people of Scania
17567      received him well, and he again collected an army, with which he first
17568      crossed over into Seeland and seized upon it and Fyen, and all the other
17569      isles. When King Magnus heard of this he gathered together men and ships,
17570      and sailed to Denmark; and as soon as he knew where Svein was lying with
17571      his ships King Magnus sailed to meet him. They met at a place called
17572      Helganes, and the battle began about the fall of day. King Magnus had
17573      fewer men, but larger and better equipt vessels. So says Arnor, the earls'
17574      skald: -
17575     "At Helganes -so goes the tale -
17576     The brave wolf-feeder, under sail,
17577     Made many an ocean-elk (1) his prey,
17578     Seized many a ship ere break of day.
17579     When twilight fell he urged the fight,
17580     Close combat -man to man all night;
17581     Through a long harvest night's dark hours,
17582     Down poured the battle's iron showers."
17583      The battle was very hot, and as night advanced the fall of men was great.
17584      King Magnus, during the whole night, threw hand-spears. Thiodolf speaks of
17585      this: -
17586     "And there at Helganes sunk down,
17587     Sore wounded, men of great renown;
17588     And Svein's retainers lost all heart,
17589     Ducking before the flying dart.
17590     The Norsemen's king let fly his spears,
17591     His death-wounds adding to their fears;
17592     For each spear-blade was wet all o'er,
17593     Up to the shaft in their life-gore."
17594      To make a short tale, King Magnus won the victory in this battle, and
17595      Svein fled. His ship was cleared of men from stem to stern; and it went so
17596      on board many others of his ships. So says Thiodolf: -
17597     "Earl Svein fled from the empty deck,
17598     His lonely ship an unmann'd wreck;
17599     Magnus the Good, the people's friend,
17600     Pressed to the death on the false Svein.
17601     Hneiter (2), the sword his father bore,
17602     Was edge and point, stained red with gore;
17603     Swords sprinkle blood o'er armour bright,
17604
17605     When kings for land and power fight."
17606      And Arnor says: -
17607     "The cutters of Bjorn's own brother
17608     Soon changed their owner for another;
17609     The king took them and all their gear;
17610     The crews, however, got off clear."
17611      A great number of Svein's men fell, and King Magnus and his men had a vast
17612      booty to divide. So says Thiodolf: -
17613     "Where the Norsemen the Danish slew,
17614     A Gautland shield and breast-plate true
17615     Fell to my share of spoil by lot;
17616     And something more i' the south I got:
17617     (There all the summer swords were ringing)
17618     A helm, gay arms, and gear worth bringing,
17619     Home to my quiet lovely one
17620     I sent -with news how we had won."
17621      Svein fled up to Scania with all the men who escaped with him; and King
17622      Magnus and his people drove the fugitives up through the country without
17623      meeting any opposition either from Svein's men or the bondes. So says
17624      Thiodolf: -
17625     "Olaf's brave son then gave command,
17626     All his ships' crews should quickly land:
17627     King Magnus, marching at their head,
17628     A noble band of warriors led.
17629     A foray through the land he makes;
17630     Denmark in every quarter shakes.
17631     Up hill and down the horses scour,
17632     Carrying the Danes from Norsemen's power."
17633      King Magnus drove with fire and sword through the land. So says Thiodolf: -
17634     "And now the Norsemen storm along,
17635     Following their banner in a throng:
17636     King Magnus' banner flames on high,
17637     A star to guide our roaming by.
17638     To Lund, o'er Scania's peaceful field,
17639     My shoulder bore my useless shield;
17640     A fairer land, a better road,
17641     As friend or foe, I never trod."
17642      They began to burn the habitations all around, and the people fled on
17643      every side. So says Thiodolf: -
17644     "Our ice-cold iron in great store,
17645     Our arms, beside the king we bore:
17646     The Scanian rogues fly at the view
17647     Of men and steel all sharp and true.
17648     Their timbered houses flame on high,
17649     Red flashing over half the sky;
17650     The blazing town flings forth its light,
17651     Lighting the cowards on their flight."
17652      And he also sang: -
17653     "The king o'er all the Danish land
17654     Roams, with his fire-bringing band:
17655     The house, the hut, the farm, the town,
17656     All where men dwelt is burned down.
17657     O'er Denmark's plains and corn-fields,
17658     Meadows and moors, are seen our shields:
17659     Victorious over all, we chase
17660     Svein's wounded men from place to place.
17661
17662     "Across Fiona's moor again,
17663     The paths late trodden by our men
17664     We tread once more, until quite near,
17665     Through morning mist, the foes appear.
17666     Then up our numerous banners flare
17667     In the cold early morning air;
17668     And they from Magnus' power who fly
17669     Cannot this quick war-work deny."
17670      Then Svein fled eastwards along Scania, and King Magnus returned to his
17671      ships, and steered eastwards also along the Scanian coast, having got
17672      ready with the greatest haste to sail. Thiodolf sings thus about it: -
17673     "No drink but the salt sea
17674     On board our ships had we,
17675     When, following our king,
17676     On board our ships we spring.
17677     Hard work on the salt sea,
17678     Off Scania's coast, had we;
17679     But we laboured for the king,
17680     To his foemen death to bring."
17681      Svein fled to Gautland, and then sought refuge with the Swedish king, with
17682      whom he remained all winter (A.D. 1046), and was treated with great
17683      respect.
17684   ENDNOTES: (1) Ship. -L.
17685     (2) This was the name of Saint Olaf's sword,
17686     which Magnus had recovered. -L.
17687      35. OF KING MAGNUS'S CAMPAIGN.
17688      When King Magnus had subdued Scania he turned about, and first went to
17689      Falster, where he landed, plundered, and killed many people who had before
17690      submitted to Svein. Arnor speaks of this: -
17691     "A bloody vengeance for their guile
17692     King Magnus takes on Falster Isle;
17693     The treacherous Danes his fury feel,
17694     And fall before his purpled steel.
17695     The battle-field is covered o'er,
17696     With eagle's prey from shore to shore;
17697     And the king's courtmen were the first
17698     To quench with blood the raven's thirst."
17699      Thereafter Magnus with his fleet proceeded to the isle of Fyen, went on
17700      land, plundered, and made great devastation. So says Arnor, the earls'
17701      skald: -
17702     "To fair Fiona's grassy shore
17703     His banner now again he bore:
17704     He who the mail-shirt's linked chains
17705     Severs, and all its lustre stains, -
17706     He will be long remembered there,
17707     The warrior in his twentieth year,
17708     Whom their black ravens from afar
17709     Saluted as he went to war."
17710      36. OF KING MAGNUS'S BATTLES.
17711      King Magnus remained in Denmark all that winter (A.D. 1046), and sat in
17712      peace. He had held many battles, and had gained the victory in all. So
17713      says Od Kikinaskald: -
17714     "'Fore Michaelmas was struck the blow,
17715     That laid the Vindland vikings low;
17716     And people learned with joy to hear
17717     The clang of arms, and leaders' cheer.
17718     Short before Yule fell out the day,
17719     Southward of Aros, where the fray,
17720     Though not enough the foe to quell,
17721     Was of the bloodiest men can tell."
17722      And Arnor says: -
17723     "Olaf's avenger who can sing?
17724     The skald cannot o'ertake the king,
17725     Who makes the war-bird daily drain
17726     The corpse-blood of his foemen slain.
17727     Four battles won within a year, -
17728     Breaker of shields!  with swords and spear,
17729     And hand to hand, exalt thy fame
17730     Above the kings of greatest name."
17731      King Magnus had three battles with Svein Ulfson. So says Thiodolf: -
17732     "To our brave Throndhjem sovereign's praise
17733     The skald may all his skaldcraft raise;
17734     For fortune, and for daring deed,
17735     His song will not the truth exceed.
17736     After three battles to regain
17737     What was his own, unjustly ta'en,
17738     Unjustly kept, and dues denied,
17739     He levied dues in red-blood dyed."
17740      37. OF KING MAGNUS, AND THORFIN AND RAGNVALD, EARLS OF ORKNEY.
17741      While King Magnus the Good, a son of King Olaf the Saint, ruled over
17742      Norway, as before related, the Earl Ragnvald Brusason lived with him. Earl
17743      Thorfin Sigurdson, the uncle of Ragnvald, ruled then over Orkney. King
17744      Magnus sent Ragnvald west to Orkney, and ordered that Thorfin should let
17745      him have his father's heritage. Thorfin let Ragnvald have a third part of
17746      the land along with him; for so had Erase, the father of Ragnvald, had it
17747      at his dying day. Earl Thorfin was married to Ingebjorg, the earl-mother,
17748      who was a daughter of Fin Arnason. Earl Ragnvald thought he should have
17749      two-thirds of the land, as Olaf the Saint had promised to his father
17750      Bruse, and as Bruse had enjoyed as long as Olaf lived. This was the origin
17751      of a great strife between these relations, concerning which we have a long
17752      saga. They had a great battle in Pentland Firth, in which Kalf Arnason was
17753      with Earl Thorfin. So says Bjarne Gullbrarskald: -
17754     "Thy cutters, dashing through the tide,
17755     Brought aid to Earl Thorfin's side,
17756     Fin's son-in-law, and people say
17757     Thy aid made Bruse's son give way.
17758     Kalf, thou art fond of warlike toil,
17759     Gay in the strife and bloody broil;
17760     But here 'twas hate made thee contend
17761     Against Earl Ragnvald, the king's friend."
17762      38. OF KING MAGNUS'S LETTER TO ENGLAND.
17763      King Magnus ruled then both over Denmark and Norway; and when he had got
17764      possession of the Danish dominions he sent ambassadors over to England to
17765      King Edward, who brought to him King Magnus's letter and seal. And in this
17766      letter there stood, along with a salutation from King Magnus, these words: -"Ye
17767      must have heard of the agreement which I and Hardaknut made, -that he
17768      of us two who survived the other should have all the land and people which
17769      the deceased had possessed. Now it has so turned out, as ye have no doubt
17770      heard, that I have taken the Danish dominions as my heritage after
17771      Hardaknut. But before he departed this life he had England as well as
17772      Denmark; therefore I consider myself now, in consequence of my rights by
17773      this agreement, to own England also. Now I will therefore that thou
17774      deliver to me the kingdom; otherwise I will seek to take it by arms, both
17775      from Denmark and Norway; and let him rule the land to whom fate gives the
17776      victory."
17777      39. KING EDWARD'S ANSWER TO KING MAGNUS'S LETTER.
17778      Now when King Edward had read this letter, he replied thus: "It is known
17779      to all men in this country that King Ethelred, my father, was udal-born to
17780      this kingdom, both after the old and new law of inheritance. We were four
17781      sons after him; and when he by death left the throne my brother Edmund
17782      took the government and kingdom; for he was the oldest of us brothers, and
17783      I was well satisfied that it was so. And after him my stepfather, Canute
17784      the Great, took the kingdom, and as long as he lived there was no access
17785      to it. After him my brother Harald was king as long as he lived; and after
17786      him my brother Hardaknut took the kingdoms both of Denmark and England;
17787      for he thought that a just brotherly division that he should have both
17788      England and Denmark, and that I should have no kingdom at all. Now he
17789      died, and then it was the resolution of all the people of the country to
17790      take me for king here in England. So long as I had no kingly title I
17791      served only superiors in all respects, like those who had no claims by
17792      birth to land or kingdom. Now, however, I have received the kingly title,
17793      and am consecrated king. I have established my royal dignity and
17794      authority, as my father before me; and while I live I will not renounce my
17795      title. If King Magnus come here with an army, I will gather no army
17796      against him; but he shall only get the opportunity of taking England when
17797      he has taken my life. Tell him these words of mine." The ambassadors went
17798      back to King Magnus, and told him the answer to their message. King Magnus
17799      reflected a while, and answered thus: "I think it wisest, and will succeed
17800      best, to let King Edward have his kingdom in peace for me, and that I keep
17801      the kingdoms God has put into my hands."
17802      SAGA OF HARALD HARDRADE.
17803      PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
17804      Harald, son of Sigurd Syr, was born in the year A.D. 1015, and left Norway
17805      A.D. 1030. He was called Hardrade, that is, the severe counsellor, the
17806      tyrant, though the Icelanders never applied this epithet to him. Harald
17807      helped the Icelanders in the famine of A.D. 1056, and sent them timber for
17808      a church at Thingvol. It was the Norwegians who gave him the name tyrant
17809      in contrast to the "debonairete" of Magnus. He came to Norway in A.D.
17810      1046, and became sole king in A.D. 1047. He died in A.D. 1066, and his son
17811      and successor Magnus died in A.D. 1069.
17812      His saga is to be compared with "Agrip", "Fagrskinna", and "Morkinskinna".
17813      The skalds quoted are: Thiodolf, Bolverk, Illuge Bryndalaskald, Stuf the
17814      skald, Thorarin Skeggjason, Valgard o' Val, Od Kikinaskald, Grane Skald,
17815      Thorleik the Fair, Stein Herdison, Ulf the Marshal, Arnor the earls'
17816      skald, Thorkel Skallason, and King Harald Hardrade himself.
17817      1. HARALD ESCAPES FROM THE BATTLE OF STIKLESTAD.
17818      Harald, son of Sigurd Syr, brother of Olaf the Saint, by the same mother,
17819      was at the battle of Stiklestad, and was fifteen years old when King Olaf
17820      the Saint fell, as was before related. Harald was wounded, and escaped
17821      with other fugitives. So says Thiodolf: -
17822     "At Haug the fire-sparks from his shield
17823     Flew round the king's head on the field,
17824     As blow for blow, for Olaf's sake,
17825     His sword and shield would give and take.
17826     Bulgaria's conqueror, I ween,
17827     Had scarcely fifteen winters seen,
17828     When from his murdered brother's side
17829     His unhelmed head he had to hide."
17830      Ragnvald Brusason led Harald from the battle, and the night after the fray
17831      took him to a bonde who dwelt in a forest far from other people. The
17832      peasant received Harald, and kept him concealed; and Harald was waited
17833      upon until he was quite cured of his wounds. Then the bonde's son attended
17834      him on the way east over the ridge of the land, and they went by all the
17835      forest paths they could, avoiding the common road. The bonde's son did not
17836      know who it was he was attending; and as they were riding together between
17837      two uninhabited forests, Harald made these verses:
17838     "My wounds were bleeding as I rode;
17839     And down below the bondes strode,
17840     Killing the wounded with the sword,
17841     The followers of their rightful lord.
17842     From wood to wood I crept along,
17843     Unnoticed by the bonde-throng;
17844     'Who knows,' I thought, 'a day may come
17845     My name will yet be great at home.'"
17846      He went eastward over the ridge through Jamtaland and Helsingjaland, and
17847      came to Svithjod, where he found Ragnvald Brusason, and many others of
17848      King Olaf's men who had fled from the battle at Stiklestad, and they
17849      remained there till winter was over.
17850      2. HARALD'S JOURNEY TO CONSTANTINOPLE.
17851      The spring after (A.D. 1031) Harald and Ragnvald got ships, and went east
17852      in summer to Russia to King Jarisleif, and were with him all the following
17853      winter. So says the skald Bolverk: -
17854     "The king's sharp sword lies clean and bright,
17855     Prepared in foreign lands to fight:
17856     Our ravens croak to have their fill,
17857     The wolf howls from the distant hill.
17858     Our brave king is to Russia gone, -
17859     Braver than he on earth there's none;
17860     His sharp sword will carve many feast
17861     To wolf and raven in the East."
17862      King Jarisleif gave Harald and Ragnvald a kind reception, and made Harald
17863      and Ellif, the son of Earl Ragnvald, chiefs over the land-defence men of
17864      the king. So says Thiodolf: -
17865     "Where Ellif was, one heart and hand
17866     The two chiefs had in their command;
17867     In wedge or line their battle order
17868     Was ranged by both without disorder.
17869     The eastern Vindland men they drove
17870     Into a corner; and they move
17871     The Lesians, although ill at ease,
17872     To take the laws their conquerors please."
17873      Harald remained several years in Russia, and travelled far and wide in the
17874      Eastern land. Then he began his expedition out to Greece, and had a great
17875      suite of men with him; and on he went to Constantinople. So says Bolverk: -
17876     "Before the cold sea-curling blast
17877     The cutter from the land flew past,
17878     Her black yards swinging to and fro,
17879     Her shield-hung gunwale dipping low.
17880     The king saw glancing o'er the bow
17881     Constantinople's metal glow
17882     From tower and roof, and painted sails
17883     Gliding past towns and wooded vales."
17884      3. OF HARALD.
17885      At that time the Greek empire was ruled by the Empress Zoe the Great, and
17886      with her Michael Catalactus. Now when Harald came to Constantinople he
17887      presented himself to the empress, and went into her pay; and immediately,
17888      in autumn, went on board the galleys manned with troops which went out to
17889      the Greek sea. Harald had his own men along with him. Now Harald had been
17890      but a short time in the army before all the Varings flocked to him, and
17891      they all joined together when there was a battle. It thus came to pass
17892      that Harald was made chief of the Varings. There was a chief over all the
17893      troops who was called Gyrger, and who was a relation of the empress.
17894      Gyrger and Harald went round among all the Greek islands, and fought much
17895      against the corsairs.
17896      4. OF HARALD AND GYRGER CASTING LOTS.
17897      It happened once that Gyrger and the Varings were going through the
17898      country, and they resolved to take their night quarters in a wood; and as
17899      the Varings came first to the ground, they chose the place which was best
17900      for pitching their tents upon, which was the highest ground; for it is the
17901      nature of the land there to be soft when rain falls, and therefore it is
17902      bad to choose a low situation for your tents. Now when Gyrger, the chief
17903      of the army, came up, and saw where the Varings had set up their tents, he
17904      told them to remove, and pitch their tents elsewhere, saying he would
17905      himself pitch his tents on their ground. Harald replies, "If ye come first
17906      to the night quarter, ye take up your ground, and we must go pitch our
17907      tents at some other place where we best can. Now do ye so, in the same
17908      way, and find a place where ye will. It is, I think, the privilege of us
17909      Varings here in the dominions of the Greek emperor to be free, and
17910      independent of all but their own commanders, and bound only to serve the
17911      emperor and empress." They disputed long and hotly about this, and both
17912      sides armed themselves, and were on the way to fight for it; but men of
17913      understanding came between and separated them. They said it would be
17914      better to come to an agreement about such questions, so that in future no
17915      dispute could arise. It came thus to an arbitration between them, at which
17916      the best and most sagacious men should give their judgment in the case. At
17917      this arbitration it was determined, with the consent of all parties, that
17918      lots should be thrown into a box, and the Greeks and Varings should draw
17919      which was first to ride, or to row, or to take place in a harbour, or to
17920      choose tent ground; and each side should be satisfied with what the
17921      drawing of the lots gave them. Accordingly the lots were made and marked.
17922      Harald said to Gyrger, "Let me see what mark thou hast put upon thy lot,
17923      that we may not both mark our lots in the same way." He did so. Then
17924      Harald marked his lot, and put it into the box along with the other. The
17925      man who was to draw out the lots then took up one of the lots between his
17926      fingers, held it up in the air, and said, "This lot shall be the first to
17927      ride, and to row, and to take place in harbour and on the tent field."
17928      Harald seized his band, snatched the die, and threw it into the sea, and
17929      called out, "That was our lot!" Gyrger said, "Why did you not let other
17930      people see it?" Harald replies, "Look at the one remaining in the box, -there
17931      you see your own mark upon it." Accordingly the lot which was left behind
17932      was examined, and all men saw that Gyrger's mark was upon it, and
17933      accordingly the judgment was given that the Varings had gained the first
17934      choice in all they had been quarrelling about. There were many things they
17935      quarrelled about, but the end always was that Harald got his own way.
17936      5. HARALD'S EXPEDITION IN THE LAND OF THE SARACENS (SERKLAND).
17937      They went out all on a campaign in summer. When the whole army was thus
17938      assembled Harald kept his men out of the battle, or wherever he saw the
17939      least danger, under pretext of saving his men; but where he was alone with
17940      his own men only, he fought so desperately that they must either come off
17941      victorious or die. It thus happened often that when he commanded the army
17942      he gained victories, while Gyrger could do nothing. The troops observed
17943      this, and insisted they would be more successful if Harald alone was chief
17944      of the whole army, and upbraided the general with never effecting
17945      anything, neither himself, nor his people. Gyrger again said that the
17946      Varings would give him no assistance, and ordered Harald to go with his
17947      men somewhere else, and he, with the rest of his army, would win what they
17948      could. Harald accordingly left the army with the Varings and the Latin
17949      men, and Gyrger on his side went off with the Greek troops. Then it was
17950      seen what each could do. Harald always gained victories and booty; but the
17951      Greeks went home to Constantinople with their army, all except a few brave
17952      men, who, to gain booty and money, joined themselves to Harald, and took
17953      him for their leader. He then went with his troops westward to Africa,
17954      which the Varings call Serkland, where he was strengthened with many men.
17955      In Serkland he took eighty castles, some of which surrendered, and others
17956      were stormed. He then went to Sicily. So says Thiodolf: -
17957     "The serpent's bed of glowing gold
17958     He hates -the generous king, the bold!
17959     He who four score towers laid low,
17960     Ta'en from the Saracenic foe.
17961     Before upon Sicilian plains,
17962     Shield joined to shield, the fight he gains,
17963     The victory at Hild's war game;
17964     And now the heathens dread his name."
17965      So says also Illuge Bryndala-skald: -
17966     "For Michael's empire Harald fought,
17967     And southern lands to Michael brought;
17968     So Budle's son his friendship showed
17969     When he brought friends to his abode."
17970      Here it is said that Michael was king of the Greeks at that time. Harald
17971      remained many years in Africa, where he gathered great wealth in gold,
17972      jewels, and all sorts of precious things; and all the wealth he gathered
17973      there which he did not need for his expenses, he sent with trusty men of
17974      his own north to Novgorod to King Jarisleif's care and keeping. He
17975      gathered together there extraordinary treasure, as is reasonable to
17976      suppose; for he had the plundering of the part of the world richest in
17977      gold and valuable things, and he had done such great deeds as with truth
17978      are related, such as taking eighty strongholds by his valour.
17979      6. BATTLE IN SICILY.
17980      Now when Harald came to Sicily he plundered there also, and sat down with
17981      his army before a strong and populous castle. He surrounded the castle;
17982      but the walls were so thick there was no possibility of breaking into it,
17983      and the people of the castle had enough of provisions, and all that was
17984      necessary for defence. Then Harald hit upon an expedient. He made his
17985      bird-catchers catch the small birds which had their nests within the
17986      castle, but flew into the woods by day to get food for their young. He had
17987      small splinters of tarred wood bound upon the backs of the birds, smeared
17988      these over with wax and sulphur, and set fire to them. As soon as the
17989      birds were let loose they all flew at once to the castle to their young,
17990      and to their nests, which they had under the house roofs that were covered
17991      with reeds or straw. The fire from the birds seized upon the house roofs;
17992      and although each bird could only carry a small burden of fire, yet all at
17993      once there was a mighty flame, caused by so many birds carrying fire with
17994      them and spreading it widely among the house roofs. Thus one house after
17995      the other was set on fire, until the castle itself was in flames. Then the
17996      people came out of the castle and begged for mercy; the same men who for
17997      many days had set at defiance the Greek army and its leader. Harald
17998      granted life and safety to all who asked quarter, and made himself master
17999      of the place.
18000      7. BATTLE AT ANOTHER CASTLE.
18001      There was another castle before which Harald had come with his army. This
18002      castle was both full of people and so strong, that there was no hope of
18003      breaking into it. The castle stood upon a flat hard plain. Then Harald
18004      undertook to dig a passage from a place where a stream ran in a bed so
18005      deep that it could not be seen from the castle. They threw out all the
18006      earth into the stream, to be carried away by the water. At this work they
18007      laboured day and night, and relieved each other in gangs; while the rest
18008      of the army went the whole day against the castle, where the castle people
18009      shot through their loop-holes. They shot at each other all day in this
18010      way, and at night they slept on both sides. Now when Harald perceived that
18011      his underground passage was so long that it must be within the castle
18012      walls, he ordered his people to arm themselves. It was towards daybreak
18013      that they went into the passage. When they got to the end of it they dug
18014      over their heads until they came upon stones laid in lime which was the
18015      floor of a stone hall. They broke open the floor and rose into the hall.
18016      There sat many of the castle-men eating and drinking, and not in the least
18017      expecting such uninvited wolves; for the Varings instantly attacked them
18018      sword in hand, and killed some, and those who could get away fled. The
18019      Varings pursued them; and some seized the castle gate, and opened it, so
18020      that the whole body of the army got in. The people of the castle fled; but
18021      many asked quarter from the troops, which was granted to all who
18022      surrendered. In this way Harald got possession of the place, and found an
18023      immense booty in it.
18024      8. BATTLE AT A THIRD CASTLE.
18025      They came to a third castle, the greatest and strongest of them all, and
18026      also the richest in property and the fullest of people. Around this castle
18027      there were great ditches, so that it evidently could not be taken by the
18028      same device as the former; and they lay a long time before it without
18029      doing anything. When the castle-men saw this they became bolder, drew up
18030      their array on the castle walls, threw open the castle gates, and shouted
18031      to the Varings, urging them, and jeering at them, and telling them to come
18032      into the castle, and that they were no more fit for battle than so many
18033      poultry. Harald told his men to make as if they did not know what to do,
18034      or did not understand what was said. "For," says he, "if we do make an
18035      assault we can effect nothing, as they can throw their weapons under their
18036      feet among us; and if we get in the castle with a party of our people,
18037      they have it in their power to shut them in. and shut out the others; for
18038      they have all the castle gates beset with men. We shall therefore show
18039      them the same scorn they show us, and let them see we do not fear them.
18040      Our men shall go out upon the plain nearest to the castle; taking care,
18041      however, to keep out of bow-shot. All our men shall go unarmed, and be
18042      playing with each other, so that the castle-men may see we do not regard
18043      them or their array." Thus it went on for some days, without anything
18044      being done.
18045      9. OF ULF AND HALDOR.
18046      Two Iceland men were then with Harald; the one was Haldor (1), a son of
18047      the gode Snorre, who brought this account to Iceland; the other was Ulf
18048      Uspakson, a grandson of Usvifer Spake. Both were very strong men, bold
18049      under arms, and Harald's best friends; and both were in this play. Now
18050      when some days were passed the castle people showed more courage, and
18051      would go without weapons upon the castle wall, while the castle gates were
18052      standing open. The Varings observing this, went one day to their sports
18053      with the sword under their cloaks, and the helmet under their hats. After
18054      playing awhile they observed that the castle people were off their guard;
18055      and instantly seizing their weapons, they made at the castle gate. When
18056      the men of the castle saw this they went against them armed completely,
18057      and a battle began in the castle gate. The Varings had no shields, but
18058      wrapped their cloaks round their left arms. Some of them were wounded,
18059      some killed, and all stood in great danger. Now came Harald with the men
18060      who had remained in the camp, to the assistance of his people; and the
18061      castle-men had now got out upon the walls, from which they shot and threw
18062      stones down upon them; so that there was a severe battle, and those who
18063      were in the castle gates thought that help was brought them slower than
18064      they could have wished. When Harald came to the castle gate his
18065      standard-bearer fell, and Harald said to Haldor, "Do thou take up the
18066      banner now." Haldor took up the banner, and said foolishly, "Who will
18067      carry the banner before thee, if thou followest it so timidly as thou hast
18068      done for a while?" But these were words more of anger than of truth; for
18069      Harald was one of the boldest of men under arms. Then they pressed in, and
18070      had a hard battle in the castle; and the end was that Harald gained the
18071      victory and took the castle. Haldor was much wounded in the face, and it
18072      gave him great pain as long as he lived.
18073   ENDNOTES: (1) One of the descendants of this Haldor was Snorre
18074        Sturlason, the author of "Heimskringla".
18075      10. BATTLE AT A FOURTH CASTLE.
18076      The fourth castle which Harald came to was the greatest of all we have
18077      been speaking about. It was so strong that there was no possibility of
18078      breaking into it. They surrounded the castle, so that no supplies could
18079      get into it. When they had remained here a short time Harald fell sick,
18080      and he betook himself to his bed. He had his tent put up a little from the
18081      camp, for he found quietness and rest out of the clamour and clang of
18082      armed men. His men went usually in companies to or from him to hear his
18083      orders; and the castle people observing there was something new among the
18084      Varings, sent out spies to discover what this might mean. When the spies
18085      came back to the castle they had to tell of the illness of the commander
18086      of the Varings, and that no assault on that account had been made on the
18087      castle. A while after Harald's strength began to fail, at which his men
18088      were very melancholy and cast down; all which was news to the castle-men.
18089      At last Harald's sickness increased so rapidly that his death was expected
18090      through all the army. Thereafter the Varings went to the castle-men; told
18091      them, in a parley, of the death of their commander; and begged of the
18092      priests to grant him burial in the castle. When the castle people heard
18093      this news, there were many among them who ruled over cloisters or other
18094      great establishments within the place, and who were very eager to get the
18095      corpse for their church, knowing that upon that there would follow very
18096      rich presents. A great many priests, therefore, clothed themselves in all
18097      their robes, and went out of the castle with cross and shrine and relics
18098      and formed a beautiful procession. The Varings also made a great burial.
18099      The coffin was borne high in the air, and over it was a tent of costly
18100      linen and before it were carried many banners. Now when the corpse was
18101      brought within the castle gate the Varings set down the coffin right
18102      across the entry, fixed a bar to keep the gates open, and sounded to
18103      battle with all their trumpets, and drew their swords. The whole army of
18104      the Varings, fully armed, rushed from the camp to the assault of the
18105      castle with shout and cry; and the monks and other priests who had gone to
18106      meet the corpse and had striven with each other who should be the first to
18107      come out and take the offering at the burial, were now striving much more
18108      who should first get away from the Varings; for they killed before their
18109      feet every one who was nearest, whether clerk or unconsecrated. The
18110      Varings rummaged so well this castle that they killed all the men,
18111      pillaged everything and made an enormous booty.
18112      11. OF HARALD.
18113      Harald was many years in these campaigns, both in Serkland and in Sicily.
18114      Then he came back to Constantinople with his troops and stayed there but a
18115      little time before he began his expedition to Jerusalem. There he left the
18116      pay he had received from the Greek emperor and all the Varings who
18117      accompanied him did the same. It is said that on all these expeditions
18118      Harald had fought eighteen regular battles. So says Thiodolf: -
18119     "Harald the Stern ne'er allowed
18120     Peace to his foemen, false and proud;
18121     In eighteen battles, fought and won,
18122     The valour of the Norseman shone.
18123     The king, before his home return,
18124     Oft dyed the bald head of the erne
18125     With bloody specks, and o'er the waste
18126     The sharp-claw'd wolf his footsteps traced."
18127      12. HARALD'S EXPEDITION TO PALESTINE.
18128      Harald went with his men to the land of Jerusalem and then up to the city
18129      of Jerusalem, and wheresoever he came in the land all the towns and
18130      strongholds were given up to him. So says the skald Stuf, who had heard
18131      the king himself relate these tidings: -
18132     "He went, the warrior bold and brave,
18133     Jerusalem, the holy grave,
18134     And the interior of the land,
18135     To bring under the Greeks' command;
18136     And by the terror of his name
18137     Under his power the country came,
18138     Nor needed wasting fire and sword
18139     To yield obediance to his word."
18140      Here it is told that this land came without fire and sword under Harald's
18141      command. He then went out to Jordan and bathed therein, according to the
18142      custom of other pilgrims. Harald gave great gifts to our Lord's grave, to
18143      the Holy Cross, and other holy relics in the land of Jerusalem. He also
18144      cleared the whole road all the way out to Jordan, by killing the robbers
18145      and other disturbers of the peace. So says the skald Stuf: -
18146     "The Agder king cleared far and wide
18147     Jordan's fair banks on either side;
18148     The robber-bands before him fled,
18149     And his great name was widely spread.
18150     The wicked people of the land
18151     Were punished here by his dread hand,
18152     And they hereafter will not miss
18153     Much worse from Jesus Christ than this."
18154      13. HARALD PUT IN PRISON.
18155      Thereafter he went back to Constantinople. When Harald returned to
18156      Constantinople from Jerusalem he longed to return to the North to his
18157      native land; and when he heard that Magnus Olafson, his brother's son, had
18158      become king both of Norway and Denmark, he gave up his command in the
18159      Greek service. And when the empress Zoe heard of this she became angry and
18160      raised an accusation against Harald that he had misapplied the property of
18161      the Greek emperor which he had received in the campaigns in which he was
18162      commander of the army. There was a young and beautiful girl called Maria,
18163      a brother's daughter of the empress Zoe, and Harald had paid his addresses
18164      to her; but the empress had given him a refusal. The Varings, who were
18165      then in pay in Constantinople, have told here in the North that there went
18166      a report among well-informed people that the empress Zoe herself wanted
18167      Harald for her husband, and that she chiefly blamed Harald for his
18168      determination to leave Constantinople, although another reason was given
18169      out to the public. Constantinus Monomachus was at that time emperor of the
18170      Greeks and ruled along with Zoe. On this account the Greek emperor had
18171      Harald made prisoner and carried to prison.
18172      14. KING OLAF'S MIRACLE AND BLINDING THE GREEK EMPEROR.
18173      When Harald drew near to the prison King Olaf the Saint stood before him
18174      and said he would assist him. On that spot of the street a chapel has
18175      since been built and consecrated to Saint Olaf and which chapel has stood
18176      there ever since. The prison was so constructed that there was a high
18177      tower open above, but a door below to go into it from the street. Through
18178      it Harald was thrust in, along with Haldor and Ulf. Next night a lady of
18179      distinction with two servants came, by the help of ladders, to the top of
18180      the tower, let down a rope into the prison and hauled them up. Saint Olaf
18181      had formerly cured this lady of a sickness and he had appeared to her in a
18182      vision and told her to deliver his brother. Harald went immediately to the
18183      Varings, who all rose from their seats when he came in and received him
18184      with joy. The men armed themselves forthwith and went to where the emperor
18185      slept. They took the emperor prisoner and put out both the eyes of him. So
18186      says Thorarin Skeggjason in his poem: -
18187     "Of glowing gold that decks the hand
18188     The king got plenty in this land;
18189     But it's great emperor in the strife
18190     Was made stone-blind for all his life."
18191      So says Thiodolf, the skald, also: -
18192     "He who the hungry wolf's wild yell
18193     Quiets with prey, the stern, the fell,
18194     Midst the uproar of shriek and shout
18195     Stung tho Greek emperor's eyes both out:
18196     The Norse king's mark will not adorn,
18197     The Norse king's mark gives cause to mourn;
18198     His mark the Eastern king must bear,
18199     Groping his sightless way in fear."
18200      In these two songs, and many others, it is told that Harald himself
18201      blinded the Greek emperor; and they would surely have named some duke,
18202      count, or other great man, if they had not known this to be the true
18203      account; and King Harald himself and other men who were with him spread
18204      the account.
18205      15. HARALD'S JOURNEY FROM CONSTANTINOPLE.
18206      The same night King Harald and his men went to the house where Maria slept
18207      and carried her away by force. Then they went down to where the galleys of
18208      the Varings lay, took two of them and rowed out into Sjavid sound. When
18209      they came to the place where the iron chain is drawn across the sound,
18210      Harald told his men to stretch out at their oars in both galleys; but the
18211      men who were not rowing to run all to the stern of the galley, each with
18212      his luggage in his hand. The galleys thus ran up and lay on the iron
18213      chain. As soon as they stood fast on it, and would advance no farther,
18214      Harald ordered all the men to run forward into the bow. Then the galley,
18215      in which Harald was, balanced forwards and swung down over the chain; but
18216      the other, which remained fast athwart the chain, split in two, by which
18217      many men were lost; but some were taken up out of the sound. Thus Harald
18218      escaped out of Constantinople and sailed thence into the Black Sea; but
18219      before he left the land he put the lady ashore and sent her back with a
18220      good escort to Constantinople and bade her tell her relation, the Empress
18221      Zoe, how little power she had over Harald, and how little the empress
18222      could have hindered him from taking the lady. Harald then sailed
18223      northwards in the Ellipalta and then all round the Eastern empire. On this
18224      voyage Harald composed sixteen songs for amusement and all ending with the
18225      same words. This is one of them: -
18226     "Past Sicily's wide plains we flew,
18227     A dauntless, never-wearied crew;
18228     Our viking steed rushed through the sea,
18229     As viking-like fast, fast sailed we.
18230     Never, I think, along this shore
18231     Did Norsemen ever sail before;
18232     Yet to the Russian queen, I fear,
18233     My gold-adorned, I am not dear."
18234      With this he meant Ellisif, daughter of King Jarisleif in Novgorod.
18235      16. OF KING HARALD.
18236      When Harald came to Novgorod King Jarisleif received him in the most
18237      friendly way and he remained there all winter (A.D. 1045). Then he took
18238      into his own keeping all the gold and the many kinds of precious things
18239      which he had sent there from Constantinople and which together made up so
18240      vast a treasure that no man in the Northern lands ever saw the like of it
18241      in one man's possession. Harald had been three times in the poluta-svarf
18242      while he was in Constantinople. It is the custom, namely, there, that
18243      every time one of the Greek emperors dies, the Varings are allowed
18244      poluta-svarf; that is, they may go through all the emperor's palaces where
18245      his treasures are and each may take and keep what he can lay hold of while
18246      he is going through them.
18247      17. KING HARALD'S MARRIAGE.
18248      This winter King Jarisleif gave Harald his daughter Elisabeth in marriage.
18249      She is called by the Northmen Ellisif. This is related by Stuf the Blind,
18250      thus: -
18251     "Agder's chief now got the queen
18252     Who long his secret love had been.
18253     Of gold, no doubt, a mighty store
18254     The princess to her husband bore."
18255      In spring he began his journey from Novgorod and came to Aldeigjuborg,
18256      where he took shipping and sailed from the East in summer. He turned first
18257      to Svithjod and came to Sigtuna. So says Valgard o' Val: -
18258     "The fairest cargo ship e'er bore,
18259     From Russia's distant eastern shore
18260     The gallant Harald homeward brings -
18261     Gold, and a fame that skald still sings.
18262     The ship through dashing foam he steers,
18263     Through the sea-rain to Svithjod veers,
18264     And at Sigtuna's grassy shores
18265     His gallant vessel safely moors."
18266      18. THE LEAGUE BETWEEN KING HARALD AND SVEIN ULFSON.
18267      Harald found there before him Svein Ulfson, who the autumn before (A.D.
18268      1045) had fled from King Magnus at Helganes; and when they met they were
18269      very friendly on both sides. The Swedish king, Olaf the Swede, was brother
18270      of the mother of Ellisif, Harald's wife; and Astrid, the mother of Svein,
18271      was King Olaf's sister. Harald and Svein entered into friendship with each
18272      other and confirmed it by oath. All the Swedes were friendly to Svein,
18273      because he belonged to the greatest family in the country; and thus all
18274      the Swedes were Harald's friends and helpers also, for many great men were
18275      connected with him by relationship. So says Thiodolf:
18276     "Cross the East sea the vessel flew, -
18277     Her oak-keel a white furrow drew
18278     From Russia's coast to Swedish land.
18279     Where Harald can great help command.
18280     The heavy vessel's leeward side
18281     Was hid beneath the rushing tide;
18282     While the broad sail and gold-tipped mast
18283     Swung to and fro in the hard blast."
18284      19. KING HARALD'S FORAY.
18285      Then Harald and Svein fitted out ships and gathered together a great
18286      force; and when the troops were ready they sailed from the East towards
18287      Denmark. So says Valgard: -
18288     "Brave Yngve!  to the land decreed
18289     To thee by fate, with tempest speed
18290     The winds fly with thee o'er the sea -
18291     To thy own udal land with thee.
18292     As past the Scanlan plains they fly,
18293     The gay ships glances 'twixt sea and sky,
18294     And Scanian brides look out, and fear
18295     Some ill to those they hold most dear."
18296      They landed first in Seeland with their men and herried and burned in the
18297      land far and wide. Then they went to Fyen, where they also landed and
18298      wasted. So says Valgard: -
18299     "Harald! thou hast the isle laid waste,
18300     The Seeland men away hast chased,
18301     And the wild wolf by daylight roams
18302     Through their deserted silent homes.
18303     Fiona too could not withstand
18304     The fury of thy wasting hand.
18305     Helms burst, shields broke, -Fiona's bounds.
18306     Were filled with death's terrific sounds.
18307
18308     "Red flashing in the southern sky,
18309     The clear flame sweeping broad and high,
18310     From fair Roeskilde's lofty towers,
18311     On lowly huts its fire-rain pours;
18312     And shows the housemates' silent train
18313     In terror scouring o'er the plain,
18314     Seeking the forest's deepest glen,
18315     To house with wolves, and 'scape from men.
18316
18317     "Few were they of escape to tell,
18318     For, sorrow-worn, the people fell:
18319     The only captives form the fray
18320     Were lovely maidens led away.
18321     And in wild terror to the strand,
18322     Down to the ships, the linked band
18323     Of fair-haired girls is roughly driven,
18324     Their soft skins by the irons riven."
18325      20. KING MAGNUS'S LEVY.
18326      King Magnus Olafson sailed north to Norway in the autumn after the battle
18327      at Helganes (A.D. 1045). There he hears the news that Harald Sigurdson,
18328      his relation, was come to Svithjod; and moreover that Svein Ulfson and
18329      Harald had entered into a friendly bond with each other and gathered
18330      together a great force, intending first to subdue Denmark and then Norway.
18331      King Magnus then ordered a general levy over all Norway and he soon
18332      collected a great army. He hears then that Harald and Svein were come to
18333      Denmark and were burning and laying waste the land and that the country
18334      people were everywhere submitting to them. It was also told that King
18335      Harald was stronger and stouter than other men, and so wise withal that
18336      nothing was impossible to him, and he had always the victory when he
18337      fought a battle; and he was also so rich in gold that no man could compare
18338      with him in wealth. Thiodolf speaks thus of it:
18339     "Norsemen, who stand the sword of foe
18340     Like forest-stems unmoved by blow!
18341     My hopes are fled, no peace is near, -
18342     People fly here and there in fear.
18343     On either side of Seeland's coast
18344     A fleet appears -a white winged host;
18345     Magnus form Norway takes his course,
18346     Harald from Sweden leads his force.
18347      21. TREATY BETWEEN HARALD AND MAGNUS.
18348      Those of Harald's men who were in his counsel said that it would be a
18349      great misfortune if relations like Harald and Magnus should fight and
18350      throw a death-spear against each other; and therefore many offered to
18351      attempt bringing about some agreement between them, and the kings, by
18352      their persuasion, agreed to it. Thereupon some men were sent off in a
18353      light boat, in which they sailed south in all haste to Denmark, and got
18354      some Danish men, who were proven friends of King Magnus, to propose this
18355      matter to Harald. This affair was conducted very secretly. Now when Harald
18356      heard that his relation, King Magnus, would offer him a league and
18357      partition, so that Harald should have half of Norway with King Magnus, and
18358      that they should divide all their movable property into two equal parts,
18359      he accepted the proposal, and the people went back to King Magnus with
18360      this answer.
18361      22. TREATY BETWEEN HARALD AND SVEIN BROKEN.
18362      A little after this it happened that Harald and Svein one evening were
18363      sitting at table drinking and talking together, and Svein asked Harald
18364      what valuable piece of all his property he esteemed the most.
18365      He answered, it was his banner Land-waster.
18366      Svein asked what was there remarkable about it, that he valued it so
18367      highly.
18368      Harald replied, it was a common saying that he must gain the victory
18369      before whom that banner is borne, and it had turned out so ever since he
18370      had owned it.
18371      Svein replies, "I will begin to believe there is such virtue in the banner
18372      when thou hast held three battles with thy relation Magnus, and hast
18373      gained them all."
18374      Then answered Harald with an angry voice, "I know my relationship to King
18375      Magnus, without thy reminding me of it; and although we are now going in
18376      arms against him, our meeting may be of a better sort."
18377      Svein changed colour, and said, "There are people, Harald, who say that
18378      thou hast done as much before as only to hold that part of an agreement
18379      which appears to suit thy own interest best."
18380      Harald answers, "It becomes thee ill to say that I have not stood by an
18381      agreement, when I know what King Magnus could tell of thy proceedings with
18382      him."
18383      Thereupon each went his own way. At night, when Harald went to sleep
18384      within the bulwarks of his vessel, he said to his footboy, "I will not
18385      sleep in my bed to-night, for I suspect there may be treachery abroad. I
18386      observed this evening that my friend Svein was very angry at my free
18387      discourse. Thou shalt keep watch, therefore, in case anything happen in
18388      the night." Harald then went away to sleep somewhere else, and laid a
18389      billet of wood in his place. At midnight a boat rowed alongside to the
18390      ship's bulwark; a man went on board, lifted up the cloth of the tent of
18391      the bulwarks, went up, and struck in Harald's bed with a great ax, so that
18392      it stood fast in the lump of wood. The man instantly ran back to his boat
18393      again, and rowed away in the dark night, for the moon was set; but the axe
18394      remained sticking in the piece of wood as an evidence. Thereupon Harald
18395      waked his men and let them know the treachery intended. "We can now see
18396      sufficiently," said he, "that we could never match Svein if he practises
18397      such deliberate treachery against us; so it will be best for us to get
18398      away from this place while we can. Let us cast loose our vessel and row
18399      away as quietly as possible." They did so, and rowed during the night
18400      northwards along the land; and then proceeded night and day until they
18401      came to King Magnus, where he lay with his army. Harald went to his
18402      relation Magnus, and there was a joyful meeting betwixt them. So says
18403      Thiodolf: -
18404     "The far-known king the order gave,
18405     In silence o'er the swelling wave,
18406     With noiseless oars, his vessels gay
18407     From Denmark west to row away;
18408     And Olaf's son, with justice rare,
18409     Offers with him the realm to share.
18410     People, no doubt, rejoiced to find
18411     The kings had met in peaceful mind."
18412      Afterwards the two relatives conversed with each other and all was settled
18413      by peaceful agreement.
18414      23. KING MAGNUS GIVES HARALD HALF OF NORWAY.
18415      King Magnus lay at the shore and had set up tents upon the land. There he
18416      invited his relation, King Harald, to be his guest at table; and Harald
18417      went to the entertainment with sixty of his men and was feasted
18418      excellently. Towards the end of the day King Magnus went into the tent
18419      where Harald sat and with him went men carrying parcels consisting of
18420      clothes and arms. Then the king went to the man who sat lowest and gave
18421      him a good sword, to the next a shield, to the next a kirtle, and so on, -clothes,
18422      or weapons, or gold; to all he gave one or the other valuable gift, and
18423      the more costly to the more distinguished men among them. Then he placed
18424      himself before his relation Harald, holding two sticks in his hand, and
18425      said, "Which of these two sticks wilt thou have, my friend?"
18426      Harald replies, "The one nearest me."
18427      "Then," said King Magnus, "with this stick I give thee half of the
18428      Norwegian power, with all the scat and duties, and all the domains
18429      thereunto belonging, with the condition that everywhere thou shalt be as
18430      lawful king in Norway as I am myself; but when we are both together in one
18431      place, I shall be the first man in seat, service and salutation; and if
18432      there be three of us together of equal dignity, that I shall sit in the
18433      middle, and shall have the royal tent-ground and the royal landing-place.
18434      Thou shalt strengthen and advance our kingdom, in return for making thee
18435      that man in Norway whom we never expected any man should be so long as our
18436      head was above ground." Then Harald stood up, and thanked him for the high
18437      title and dignity. Thereupon they both sat down, and were very merry
18438      together. The same evening Harald and his men returned to their ships.
18439      24. HARALD GIVES MAGNUS THE HALF OF HIS TREASURES.
18440      The following morning King Magnus ordered the trumpets to sound to a
18441      General Thing of the people; and when it was seated, he made known to the
18442      whole army the gift he had given to his relation Harald. Thorer of Steig
18443      gave Harald the title of King there at the Thing; and the same day King
18444      Harald invited King Magnus to table with him, and he went with sixty men
18445      to King Harald's land-tent, where he had prepared a feast. The two kings
18446      sat together on a high-seat, and the feast was splendid; everything went
18447      on with magnificence, and the kings' were merry and glad. Towards the
18448      close of the day King Harald ordered many caskets to be brought into the
18449      tent, and in like manner people bore in weapons, clothes and other sorts
18450      of valuables; and all these King Harald divided among King Magnus's men
18451      who were at the feast. Then he had the caskets opened and said to King
18452      Magnus, "Yesterday you gave us a large kingdom, which your hand won from
18453      your and our enemies, and took us in partnership with you, which was well
18454      done; and this has cost you much. Now we on our side have been in foreign
18455      parts, and oft in peril of life, to gather together the gold which you
18456      here see. Now, King Magnus, I will divide this with you. We shall both own
18457      this movable property, and each have his equal share of it, as each has
18458      his equal half share of Norway. I know that our dispositions are
18459      different, as thou art more liberal than I am; therefore let us divide
18460      this property equally between us, so that each may have his share free to
18461      do with as he will." Then Harald had a large ox-hide spread out, and
18462      turned the gold out of the caskets upon it. Then scales and weights were
18463      taken and the gold separated and divided by weight into equal parts; and
18464      all people wondered exceedingly that so much gold should have come
18465      together in one place in the northern countries. But it was understood
18466      that it was the Greek emperor's property and wealth; for, as all people
18467      say, there are whole houses there full of red gold. The kings were now
18468      very merry. Then there appeared an ingot among the rest as big as a man's
18469      hand. Harald took it in his hands and said, "Where is the gold, friend
18470      Magnus, that thou canst show against this piece?"
18471      King Magnus replied, "So many disturbances and levies have been in the
18472      country that almost all the gold and silver I could lay up is gone. I have
18473      no more gold in my possession than this ring." And he took the ring off
18474      his hand and gave it to Harald.
18475      Harald looked at it, and said, "That is but little gold, friend, for the
18476      king who owns two kingdoms; and yet some may doubt whether thou art
18477      rightful owner of even this ring."
18478      Then King Magnus replied, after a little reflection, "If I be not rightful
18479      owner of this ring, then I know not what I have got right to; for my
18480      father, King Olaf the Saint, gave me this ring at our last parting."
18481      Then said King Harald, laughing, "It is true, King Magnus, what thou
18482      sayest. Thy father gave thee this ring, but he took the ring from my
18483      father for some trifling cause; and in truth it was not a good time for
18484      small kings in Norway when thy father was in full power."
18485      King Harald gave Thorer of Steig at that feast a bowl of mountain birch,
18486      that was encircled with a silver ring and had a silver handle, both which
18487      parts were gilt; and the bowl was filled with money of pure silver. With
18488      that came also two gold rings, which together stood for a mark. He gave
18489      him also his cloak of dark purple lined with white skins within, and
18490      promised him besides his friendship and great dignity. Thorgils Snorrason,
18491      an intelligent man, says he has seen an altar-cloth that was made of this
18492      cloak; and Gudrid, a daughter of Guthorm, the son of Thorer of Steig,
18493      said, according to Thorgil's account, that she had seen this bowl in her
18494      father Guthorm's possession. Bolverk also tells of these matters: -
18495     "Thou, generous king, I have been told,
18496     For the green land hast given gold;
18497     And Magnus got a mighty treasure,
18498     That thou one half might'st rule at pleasure.
18499     The people gained a blessed peace,
18500     Which 'twixt the kings did never cease;
18501     While Svein, disturbed with war's alarms,
18502     Had his folk always under arms."
18503      25. OF KING MAGNUS.
18504      The kings Magnus and Harald both ruled in Norway the winter after their
18505      agreement (A.D. 1047), and each had his court. In winter they went around
18506      the Upland country in guest-quarters; and sometimes they were both
18507      together, sometimes each was for himself. They went all the way north to
18508      Throndhjem, to the town of Nidaros. King Magnus had taken special care of
18509      the holy remains of King Olaf after he came to the country; had the hair
18510      and nails clipped every twelve month, and kept himself the keys that
18511      opened the shrine. Many miracles were worked by King Olaf's holy remains.
18512      It was not long before there was a breach in the good understanding
18513      between the two kings, as many were so mischievous as to promote discord
18514      between them.
18515      26. OF SVEIN ULFSON.
18516      Svein Ulfson remained behind in the harbour after Harald had gone away,
18517      and inquired about his proceedings. When he heard at last of Magnus and
18518      Harald having agreed and joined their forces, he steered with his forces
18519      eastward along Scania, and remained there until towards winter, when he
18520      heard that King Magnus and King Harald had gone northwards to Norway. Then
18521      Svein, with his troops, came south to Denmark and took all the royal
18522      income that winter (A.D. 1047).
18523      27. OF THE LEVY OF THE TWO KINGS.
18524      Towards spring (A.D. 1047) King Magnus and his relation, King Harald,
18525      ordered a levy in Norway. It happened once that the kings lay all night in
18526      the same harbour and next day, King Harald, being first ready, made sail.
18527      Towards evening he brought up in the harbour in which Magnus and his
18528      retinue had intended to pass the night. Harald laid his vessel in the
18529      royal ground, and there set up his tents. King Magnus got under sail later
18530      in the day and came into the harbour just as King Harald had done pitching
18531      his tents. They saw then that King Harald had taken up the king's ground
18532      and intended to lie there. After King Magnus had ordered the sails to be
18533      taken in, he said, "The men will now get ready along both sides of the
18534      vessel to lay out their oars, and some will open the hatches and bring up
18535      the arms and arm themselves; for, if they will not make way for us, we
18536      will fight them." Now when King Harald sees that King Magnus will give him
18537      battle, he says to his men, "Cut our land-fastenings and back the ship out
18538      of the ground, for friend Magnus is in a passion." They did so and laid
18539      the vessel out of the ground and King Magnus laid his vessel in it. When
18540      they were now ready on both sides with their business, King Harald went
18541      with a few men on board of King Magnus's ship. King Magnus received him in
18542      a friendly way, and bade him welcome. King Harald answered, "I thought we
18543      were come among friends; but just now I was in doubt if ye would have it
18544      so. But it is a truth that childhood is hasty, and I will only consider it
18545      as a childish freak." Then said King Magnus, "It is no childish whim, but
18546      a trait of my family, that I never forget what I have given, or what I
18547      have not given. If this trifle had been settled against my will, there
18548      would soon have followed' some other discord like it. In all particulars I
18549      will hold the agreement between us; but in the same way we will have all
18550      that belongs to us by that right." King Harald coolly replied, that it is
18551      an old custom for the wisest to give way; and returned to his ship. From
18552      such circumstances it was found difficult to preserve good understanding
18553      between the kings. King Magnus's men said he was in the right; but others,
18554      less wise, thought there was some slight put upon Harald in the business.
18555      King Harald's men, besides, insisted that the agreement was only that King
18556      Magnus should have the preference of the harbour-ground when they arrived
18557      together, but that King Harald was not bound to draw out of his place when
18558      he came first. They observed, also, that King Harald had conducted himself
18559      well and wisely in the matter. Those who viewed the business in the worst
18560      light insisted that King Magnus wanted to break the agreement, and that he
18561      had done King Harald injustice, and put an affront on him. Such disputes
18562      were talked over so long among foolish people, that the spirit of
18563      disagreeing affected the kings themselves. Many other things also
18564      occurred, in which the kings appeared determined to have each his own way;
18565      but of these little will be set down here.
18566      28. KING MAGNUS THE GOOD'S DEATH.
18567      The kings, Magnus and Harald, sailed with their fleet south to Denmark;
18568      and when Svein heard of their approach, he fled away east to Scania.
18569      Magnus and Harald remained in Denmark late in summer, and subdued the
18570      whole country. In autumn they were in Jutland. One night, as King Magnus
18571      lay in his bed, it appeared to him in a dream that he was in the same
18572      place as his father, Saint Olaf, and that he spoke to him thus: "Wilt thou
18573      choose, my son, to follow me, or to become a mighty king, and have long
18574      life; but to commit a crime which thou wilt never be able to expiate?" He
18575      thought he made the answer, "Do thou, father, choose for me." Then the
18576      king thought the answer was, "Thou shalt follow me." King Magnus told his
18577      men this dream. Soon after he fell sick and lay at a place called
18578      Sudathorp. When he was near his death he sent his brother, Thorer, with
18579      tokens to Svein Ulfson, with the request to give Thorer the aid he might
18580      require. In this message King Magnus also gave the Danish dominions to
18581      Svein after his death; and said it was just that Harald should rule over
18582      Norway and Svein over Denmark. Then King Magnus the Good died (A.D. 1047),
18583      and great was the sorrow of all the people at his death. So says Od
18584      Kikinaskald: -
18585     "The tears o'er good King Magnus' bier,
18586     The people's tears, were all sincere:
18587     Even they to whom he riches gave
18588     Carried him heavily to the grave.
18589     All hearts were struck at the king's end;
18590     His house-thralls wept as for a friend;
18591     His court-men oft alone would muse,
18592     As pondering o'er unthought of news."
18593      29. KING MAGNUS'S FUNERAL.
18594      After this event King Harald held a Thing of his men-at-arms, and told
18595      them his intention to go with the army to Viborg Thing, and make himself
18596      be proclaimed king over the whole Danish dominions, to which, he said, he
18597      had hereditary right after his relation Magnus, as well as to Norway. He
18598      therefore asked his men for their aid, and said he thought the Norway man
18599      should show himself always superior to the Dane. Then Einar Tambaskelfer
18600      replies that he considered it a greater duty to bring his foster-son King
18601      Magnus's corpse to the grave, and lay it beside his father, King Olaf's,
18602      north in Throndhjem town, than to be fighting abroad and taking another
18603      king's dominions and property. He ended his speech with saying that he
18604      would rather follow King Magnus dead than any other king alive. Thereupon
18605      he had the body adorned in the most careful way, so that most magnificent
18606      preparations were made in the king's ship. Then all the Throndhjem people
18607      and all the Northmen made themselves ready to return home with the king's
18608      body, and so the army was broken up. King Harald saw then that it was
18609      better for him to return to Norway to secure that kingdom first, and to
18610      assemble men anew; and so King Harald returned to Norway with all his
18611      army. As soon as he came to Norway he held a Thing with the people of the
18612      country, and had himself proclaimed king everywhere. He proceeded thus
18613      from the East through Viken, and in every district in Norway he was named
18614      king. Einar Tambaskelfer, and with him all the Throndhjem troops, went
18615      with King Magnus's body and transported it to the town of Nidaros, where
18616      it was buried in St. Clement's church, where also was the shrine of King
18617      Olaf the Saint. King Magnus was of middle size, of long and
18618      clear-complexioned countenance, and light hair, spoke well and hastily,
18619      was brisk in his actions, and extremely generous. He was a great warrior,
18620      and remarkably bold in arms. He was the most popular of kings, prized even
18621      by enemies as well as friends.
18622      30. OF SVEIN ULFSON.
18623      Svein Ulfson remained that autumn in Scania (A.D. 1047), and was making
18624      ready to travel eastward to Sweden, with the intention of renouncing the
18625      title of king he had assumed in Denmark; but just as he was mounting his
18626      horse some men came riding to him with the first news that King Magnus was
18627      dead, and all the Northmen had left Denmark. Svein answered in haste, "I
18628      call God to witness that I shall never again fly from the Danish dominions
18629      as long as I live." Then he got on his horse and rode south into Scania,
18630      where immediately many people crowded to him. That winter he brought under
18631      his power all the Danish dominions, and all the Danes took him for their
18632      king. Thorer, King Magnus's brother, came to Svein in autumn with the
18633      message of King Magnus, as before related, and was well received; and
18634      Thorer remained long with Svein and was well taken care of.
18635      31. OF KING HARALD SIGURDSON.
18636      King Harald Sigurdson took the royal power over all Norway after the death
18637      of King Magnus Olafson; and when he had reigned over Norway one winter and
18638      spring was come (A.D. 1048), he ordered a levy through all the land of
18639      one-half of all men and ships and went south to Jutland. He herried and
18640      burned all summer wide around in the land and came into Godnarfjord, where
18641      King Harald made these verses: -
18642     "While wives of husbands fondly dream,
18643     Here let us anchor in the stream,
18644     In Godnarfjord; we'll safely moor
18645     Our sea-homes, and sleep quite secure."
18646      Then he spoke to Thiodolf, the skald, and asked him to add to it what it
18647      wanted, and he sang: -
18648     "In the next summer, I foresee,
18649     Our anchorage in the South will be;
18650     To hold our sea-homes on the ground,
18651     More cold-tongued anchors will be found."
18652      To this Bolverk alludes in his song also, that Harald went to Denmark the
18653      summer after King Magnus's death. Bolverk sings thus: -
18654     "Next summer thou the levy raised,
18655     And seawards all the people gazed,
18656     Where thy sea-steeds in sunshine glancing
18657     Over the waves were gaily prancing;
18658     While the deep ships that plunder bore
18659     Seemed black specks from the distant shore.
18660     The Danes, from banks or hillocks green,
18661     Looked with dismay upon the scene."
18662      32. OF THORKEL GEYSA'S DAUGHTERS.
18663      Then they burned the house of Thorkel Geysa, who was a great lord, and his
18664      daughters they carried off bound to their ships. They had made a great
18665      mockery the winter before of King Harald's coming with war-ships against
18666      Denmark; and they cut their cheese into the shape of anchors, and said
18667      such anchors might hold all the ships of the Norway king. Then this was
18668      composed: -
18669     "The Island-girls, we were told,
18670     Made anchors all our fleet to hold:
18671     Their Danish jest cut out in cheese
18672     Did not our stern king's fancy please.
18673     Now many a maiden fair, may be,
18674     Sees iron anchors splash the sea,
18675     Who will not wake a maid next morn
18676     To laugh at Norway's ships in scorn."
18677      It is said that a spy who had seen the fleet of King Harald said to
18678      Thorkel Geysa's daughters, "Ye said, Geysa's daughters, that King Harald
18679      dared not come to Denmark." Dotta, Thorkel's daughter, replied, "That was
18680      yesterday." Thorkel had to ransom his daughters with a great sum. So says
18681      Grane: -
18682     "The gold-adorned girl's eye
18683     Through Hornskeg wood was never dry,
18684     As down towards the sandy shore
18685     The men their lovely prizes bore.
18686     The Norway leader kept at bay
18687     The foe who would contest the way,
18688     And Dotta's father had to bring
18689     Treasure to satisfy the king."
18690      King Harald plundered in Denmark all that summer, and made immense booty;
18691      but he had not any footing in the land that summer in Denmark. He went to
18692      Norway again in autumn and remained there all winter (A.D. 1049).
18693      33. MARRIAGES AND CHILDREN OF HARALD HARDRADE.
18694      The winter after King Magnus the Good died, King Harald took Thora,
18695      daughter of Thorberg Arnason, and they had two sons; the oldest called
18696      Magnus, and the other Olaf. King Harald and Queen Ellisif had two
18697      daughters; the one Maria, the other Ingegerd. The spring after the foray
18698      which has just been related King Harald ordered the people out and went
18699      with them to Denmark (A.D. 1049), and herried there, and did so summer
18700      after summer thereafter. So says Stuf, the skald: -
18701     "Falster lay waste, as people tell, -
18702     The raven in other isles fared well.
18703     The Danes were everywhere in fear,
18704     For the dread foray every year."
18705      34. OF THE ARMAMENTS OF SVEIN ULFSON AND HARALD.
18706      King Svein ruled over all the Danish dominions after King Magnus's death.
18707      He sat quiet all the winter; but in summer he lay out in his ships with
18708      all his people and it was said he would go north to Norway with the Danish
18709      army and make not less havoc there than King Harald had made in Denmark.
18710      King Svein proposed to King Harald in winter (A.D. 1049) to meet him the
18711      following summer at the Gaut river and fight until in the battle-field
18712      their differences were ended, or they were settled peacefully. They made
18713      ready on both sides all winter with their ships, and called out in summer
18714      one-half of all the fighting men. The same summer came Thorleik the Fair
18715      out of Iceland, and composed a poem about King Svein Ulfson. He heard,
18716      when he arrived in Norway, that King Harald had sailed south to the Gaut
18717      river against King Svein. Then Thorleik sang this: -
18718     "The wily Svein, I think, will meet
18719     These inland Norsemen fleet to fleet;
18720     The arrow-storm, and heaving sea,
18721     His vantage-fight and field will be.
18722     God only knows the end of strife,
18723     Or which shall have his land and life;
18724     This strife must come to such an end,
18725     For terms will never bind King Svein."
18726      He also sang these verses: -
18727     "Harald, whose red shield oft has shone
18728     O'er herried coasts, and fields hard won,
18729     Rides in hot wrath, and eager speeds
18730     O'er the blue waves his ocean-steeds.
18731     Svein, who in blood his arrows stains,
18732     Brings o'er the ocean's heaving plains
18733     His gold-beaked ships, which come in view
18734     Out from the Sound with many a hue."
18735      King Harald came with his forces to the appointed meeting-place; but there
18736      he heard that King Svein was lying with his fleet at the south side of
18737      Seeland. Then King Harald divided his forces; let the greater part of the
18738      bonde-troops return home; and took with him his court-men, his lendermen,
18739      the best men-at-arms, and all the bonde-troops who lived nearest to the
18740      Danish land. They sailed over to Jutland to the south of Vendilskage, and
18741      so south to Thioda; and over all they carried fire and sword. So says
18742      Stuf, the skald: -
18743     "In haste the men of Thyland fly
18744     From the great monarch's threat'ning eye;
18745     At the stern Harald's angry look
18746     The boldest hearts in Denmark shook."
18747      They went forward all the way south to Heidaby, took the merchant town and
18748      burnt it. Then one of Harald's men made the following verses: -
18749     "All Heidaby is burned down!
18750     Strangers will ask where stood the town.
18751     In our wild humour up it blazed,
18752     And Svein looks round him all amazed.
18753     All Heidaby is burned down!
18754     From a far corner of the town
18755     I saw, before the peep of morning,
18756     Roofs, walls, and all in flame high burning."
18757      To this also Thorleik alludes in his verses, when he heard there had been
18758      no battle at the Gaut river: -
18759     "The stranger-warrior may inquire
18760     Of Harald's men, why in his ire
18761     On Heidaby his wrath he turns,
18762     And the fair town to ashes burns?
18763     Would that the day had never come
18764     When Harald's ships returned home
18765     From the East Sea, since now the town,
18766     Without his gain, is burned down!"
18767      35. HARALD'S ESCAPE INTO THE JUTLAND SEA.
18768      Then King Harald sailed north and had sixty ships and the most of them
18769      large and heavily laden with the booty taken in summer; and as they sailed
18770      north past Thioda King Svein came down from the land with a great force
18771      and he challenged King Harald to land and fight. King Harald had little
18772      more than half the force of King Svein and therefore he challenged Svein
18773      to fight at sea. So says Thorleik the Fair: -
18774     "Svein, who of all men under heaven
18775     Has had the luckiest birth-hour given,
18776     Invites his foemen to the field,
18777     There to contest with blood-stained shield.
18778     The king, impatient of delay,
18779     Harald, will with his sea-hawks stay;
18780     On board will fight, and fate decide
18781     If Svein shall by his land abide."
18782      After that King Harald sailed north along Vendilskage; and the wind then
18783      came against them, and they brought up under Hlesey, where they lay all
18784      night. A thick fog lay upon the sea; and when the morning came and the sun
18785      rose they saw upon the other side of the sea as if many lights were
18786      burning. This was told to King Harald; and he looked at it, and said
18787      immediately, "Strike the tilts down on the ships and take to the oars. The
18788      Danish forces are coming upon us, and the fog there where they are must
18789      have cleared off, and the sun shines upon the dragon-heads of their ships,
18790      which are gilded, and that is what we see." It was so as he had said.
18791      Svein had come there with a prodigious armed force. They rowed now on both
18792      sides all they could. The Danish ships flew lighter before the oars; for
18793      the Northmen's ships were both soaked with water and heavily laden, so
18794      that the Danes approached nearer and nearer. Then Harald, whose own
18795      dragon-ship was the last of the fleet, saw that he could not get away; so
18796      he ordered his men to throw overboard some wood, and lay upon it clothes
18797      and other good and valuable articles; and it was so perfectly calm that
18798      these drove about with the tide. Now when the Danes saw their own goods
18799      driving about on the sea, they who were in advance turned about to save
18800      them; for they thought it was easier to take what was floating freely
18801      about, than to go on board the Northmen to take it. They dropped rowing
18802      and lost ground. Now when King Svein came up to them with his ship, he
18803      urged them on, saying it would be a great shame if they, with so great a
18804      force, could not overtake and master so small a number. The Danes then
18805      began again to stretch out lustily at their oars. When King Harald saw
18806      that the Danish ships went faster he ordered his men to lighten their
18807      ships, and cast overboard malt, wheat, bacon, and to let their liquor run
18808      out, which helped a little. Then Harald ordered the bulwarkscreens, the
18809      empty casks and puncheons and the prisoners to be thrown overboard; and
18810      when all these were driving about on the sea, Svein ordered help to be
18811      given to save the men. This was done; but so much time was lost that they
18812      separated from each other. The Danes turned back and the Northmen
18813      proceeded on their way. So says Thorleik the Fair: -
18814     "Svein drove his foes from Jutland's coast, -
18815     The Norsemen's ships would have been lost,
18816     But Harald all his vessels saves,
18817     Throwing his booty on the waves.
18818     The Jutlanders saw, as he threw,
18819     Their own goods floating in their view;
18820     His lighten'd ships fly o'er the main
18821     While they pick up their own again."
18822      King Svein returned southwards with his ships to Hlesey, where he found
18823      seven ships of the Northmen, with bondes and men of the levy. When King
18824      Svein came to them they begged for mercy, and offered ransom for
18825      themselves. So says Thorleik the Fair: -
18826     "The stern king's men good offers make,
18827     If Svein will ransom for them take;
18828     Too few to fight, they boldly say
18829     Unequal force makes them give way.
18830     The hasty bondes for a word
18831     Would have betaken them to the sword,
18832     And have prolonged a bloody strife -
18833     Such men can give no price for life."
18834      36. OF HARALD.
18835      King Harald was a great man, who ruled his kingdom well in home-concerns.
18836      Very prudent was he, of good understanding; and it is the universal
18837      opinion that no chief ever was in northern lands of such deep judgment and
18838      ready counsel as Harald. He was a great warrior; bold in arms; strong and
18839      expert in the use of his weapons beyond any others, as has been before
18840      related, although many of the feats of his manhood are not here written
18841      down. This is owing partly to our uncertainty about them, partly to our
18842      wish not to put stories into this book for which there is no testimony.
18843      Although we have heard, many things talked about, and even
18844      circumstantially related, yet we think it better that something may be
18845      added to, than that it should be necessary to take something away from our
18846      narrative. A great part of his history is put in verse by Iceland men,
18847      which poems they presented to him or his sons, and for which reason he was
18848      their great friend. He was, indeed, a great friend to all the people of
18849      that country; and once, when a very dear time set in, he allowed four
18850      ships to transport meal to Iceland, and fixed that the shippund should not
18851      be dearer than 100 ells of wadmal. He permitted also all poor people, who
18852      could find provisions to keep them on the voyage across the sea, to
18853      emigrate from Iceland to Norway; and from that time there was better
18854      subsistence in the country, and the seasons also turned out better. King
18855      Harold also sent from Norway a bell for the church of which Olaf the Saint
18856      had sent the timbers to Iceland, and which was erected on the Thing-plain.
18857      Such remembrances of King Harald are found here in the country, besides
18858      many great gifts which he presented to those who visited him.
18859      37. OF HALDOR SNORRASON.
18860      Haldor Snorrason and Ulf Uspakson, as before related, came to Norway with
18861      King Harald. They were, in many respects, of different dispositions.
18862      Haldor was very stout and strong, and remarkably handsome in appearance.
18863      King Harald gave him this testimony, that he, among all his men, cared
18864      least about doubtful circumstances, whether they betokened danger or
18865      pleasure; for, whatever turned up, he was never in higher nor in lower
18866      spirits, never slept less nor more on account of them, nor ate or drank
18867      but according to his custom. Haldor was not a man of many words, but short
18868      in conversation, told his opinion bluntly and was obstinate and hard; and
18869      this could not please the king, who had many clever people about him
18870      zealous in his service. Haldor remained a short time with the king; and
18871      then came to Iceland, where he took up his abode in Hjardarholt, and dwelt
18872      in that farm to a very advanced age.
18873      38. OF ULF USPAKSON.
18874      Ulf Uspakson stood in great esteem with King Harald; for he was a man of
18875      great understanding, clever in conversation, active and brave, and withal
18876      true and sincere. King Harald made Ulf his marshal, and married him to
18877      Jorun, Thorberg's daughter, a sister of Harald's wife, Thora. Ulf and
18878      Jorun's children were Joan the Strong of Rasvol, and Brigida, mother of
18879      Sauda-Ulf, who was father of Peter Byrdar-Svein, father of Ulf Fly and
18880      Sigrid. Joan the Strong's son was Erlend Himalde, father of Archbishop
18881      Eystein and his brothers. King Harald gave Ulf the marshal the rights of a
18882      lenderman and a fief of twelve marks income, besides a half-district in
18883      the Throndhjem land. Of this Stein Herdison speaks in his song about Ulf.
18884      39. OF THE BUILDING OF CHURCHES AND HOUSES.
18885      King Magnus Olafson built Olaf's church in the town (Nidaros), on the spot
18886      where Olaf's body was set down for the night, and which, at that time, was
18887      above the town. He also had the king's house built there. The church was
18888      not quite finished when the king died; but King Harald had what was
18889      wanting completed. There, beside the house, he began to construct a stone
18890      hall, but it was not finished when he died. King Harald had the church
18891      called Mary Church built from the foundations up, at the sandhill close to
18892      the spot where the king's holy remains were concealed in the earth the
18893      first winter after his fall. It was a large temple, and so strongly built
18894      with lime that it was difficult to break it when the Archbishop Eystein
18895      had it pulled down. Olaf's holy remains were kept in Olaf's church while
18896      Mary Church was building. King Harald had the king's house erected below
18897      Mary Kirk, at the side of the river, where it now is; and he had the house
18898      in which he had made the great hall consecrated and called Gregorius
18899      Church.
18900      40. BEGINNING OF HAKON IVARSON'S STORY.
18901      There was a man called Ivar the White, who was a brave lenderman dwelling
18902      in the Uplands, and was a daughter's son of Earl Hakon the Great. Ivar was
18903      the handsomest man that could be seen. Ivar's son was called Hakon; and of
18904      him it was said that he was distinguished above all men then in Norway for
18905      beauty, strength and perfection of figure. In his very youth he had been
18906      sent out on war expeditions, where he acquired great honour and
18907      consideration, and became afterwards one of the most celebrated men.
18908      41. OF EINAR TAMBASKELFER.
18909      Einar Tambaskelfer was the most powerful lenderman in the Throndhjem land.
18910      There was but little friendship between him and King Harald, although
18911      Einar retained all the fiefs he had held while Magnus the Good lived.
18912      Einar had many large estates, and was married to Bergliot, a daughter of
18913      Earl Hakon, as related above. Their son Eindride was grown up, and married
18914      to Sigrid, a daughter of Ketil Kalf and Gunhild, King Harald's sister's
18915      daughter. Eindride had inherited the beauty of his mother's father, Earl
18916      Hakon, and his sons; and in size and strength he took after his father,
18917      Einar, and also in all bodily perfections by which Einar had been
18918      distinguished above other men. He was, also, as well as his father, the
18919      most popular of men, which the sagas, indeed, show sufficiently.
18920      42. OF EARL ORM.
18921      Orm was at that time earl in the Uplands. His mother was Ragnhild, a
18922      daughter of Earl Hakon the Great, and Orm was a remarkably clever man.
18923      Aslak Erlingson was then in Jadar at Sole, and was married to Sigrid, a
18924      daughter of Earl Svein Hakonson. Gunhild, Earl Svein's other daughter, was
18925      married to the Danish king, Svein Ulfson. These were the descendants of
18926      Earl Hakon at that time in Norway, besides many other distinguished
18927      people; and the whole race was remarkable for their very beautiful
18928      appearance, and the most of them were gifted with great bodily perfection,
18929      and were all distinguished and important men.
18930      43. HARALD'S PRIDE.
18931      King Harald was very proud, and his pride increased after he was
18932      established in the country; and it came so far that at last it was not
18933      good to speak against him, or to propose anything different from what he
18934      desired. So says Thiodolf, the skald: -
18935     "In arms 'tis right the common man
18936     Should follow orders, one by one, -
18937     Should stoop or rise, or run or stand,
18938     As his war-leader may command;
18939     But now to the king who feeds the ravens
18940     The people bend like heartless cravens -
18941     Nothing is left them, but consent
18942     To what the king calls his intent."
18943      44. OF THE QUARREL OF KING HARALD AND EINAR TAMBASKELFER.
18944      Einar Tambaskelfer was the principal man among the bondes all about
18945      Throndhjem, and answered for them at the Things even against the king's
18946      men. Einar knew well the law, and did not want boldness to bring forward
18947      his opinion at Things, even if the king was present; and all the bondes
18948      stood by him. The king was very angry at this, and it came so far that
18949      they disputed eagerly against each other. Einar said that the bondes would
18950      not put up with any unlawful proceedings from him if he broke through the
18951      law of the land; and this occurred several times between them. Einar then
18952      began to keep people about him at home, and he had many more when he came
18953      into the town if the king was there. It once happened that Einar came to
18954      the town with a great many men and ships; he had with him eight or nine
18955      great war-ships and nearly 500 men. When he came to the town he went up
18956      from the strand with his attendants. King Harald was then in his house,
18957      standing out in the gallery of the loft; and when he saw Einar's people
18958      going on shore, it is said Harald composed these verses: -
18959     "I see great Tambaskelfer go,
18960     With mighty pomp, and pride, and show,
18961     Across the ebb-shore up the land, -
18962     Before, behind, an armed band.
18963     This bonde-leader thinks to rule,
18964     And fill himself the royal stool.
18965     A goodly earl I have known
18966     With fewer followers of his own.
18967     He who strikes fire from the shield,
18968     Einar, may some day make us yield,
18969     Unless our axe-edge quickly ends,
18970     With sudden kiss, what he intends."
18971      Einar remained several days in the town.
18972      45. THE FALL OF EINAR AND EINDRIDE.
18973      One day there was a meeting held in the town, at which the king himself
18974      was present. A thief had been taken in the town, and he was brought before
18975      the Thing. The man had before been in the service of Einar, who had been
18976      very well satisfied with him. This was told to Einar, and he well knew the
18977      king would not let the man off, and more because he took an interest in
18978      the matter. Einar, therefore, let his men get under arms, went to the
18979      Thing, and took the man by force. The friends on both sides then came
18980      between and endeavoured to effect a reconciliation; and they succeeded so
18981      far that a meeting-place was appointed, to which both should come. There
18982      was a Thing-room in the king's house at the river Nid, and the king went
18983      into it with a few men, while the most of his people were out in the yard.
18984      The king ordered the shutters of the loft-opening to be turned, so that
18985      there was but a little space left clear. When Einar came into the yard
18986      with his people, he told his son Eindride to remain outside with the men,
18987      "for there is no danger here for me." Eindride remained standing outside
18988      at the room-door. When Einar came into the Thing-room, he said, "It is
18989      dark in the king's Thing-room." At that moment some men ran against him
18990      and assaulted him, some with spears, some with swords. When Eindride heard
18991      this he drew his sword and rushed into the room; but he was instantly
18992      killed along with his father. The king's men then ran up and placed
18993      themselves before the door, and the bondes lost courage, having no leader.
18994      They urged each other on, indeed, and said it was a shame they should not
18995      avenge their chief; but it came to nothing with their attack. The king
18996      went out to his men, arrayed them in battle order, and set up his
18997      standard: but the bondes did not venture to assault. Then the king went
18998      with all his men on board of his ships, rowed down the river, and then
18999      took his way out of the fjord. When Einar's wife Bergliot, who was in the
19000      house which Einar had possessed in the town, heard of Einar's fall, she
19001      went immediately to the king's house where the bondes army was and urged
19002      them to the attack; but at the same moment the king was rowing out of the
19003      river. Then said Bergliot, "Now we want here my relation, Hakon Ivarson:
19004      Einar's murderer would not be rowing out of the river if Ivar stood here
19005      on the riverbank." Then Bergliot adorned Einar's and Eindride's corpses
19006      and buried them in Olaf's church, beside King Magnus Olafson's
19007      burial-place. After Einar's murder the king was so much disliked for that
19008      deed that there was nothing that prevented the lendermen and bondes from
19009      attacking the king, and giving him battle, but the want of some leader to
19010      raise the banner in the bonde army.
19011      46. OF KING HARALD AND FIN ARNASON.
19012      Fin Arnason dwelt at Austrat in Yrjar, and was King Harald's lenderman
19013      there. Fin was married to Bergliot, a daughter of Halfdan, who was a son
19014      of Sigurd Syr, and brother of Olaf the Saint and of King Harald. Thora,
19015      King Harald's wife, was Fin Arnason's brother's daughter: and Fin and all
19016      his brothers were the king's dearest friends. Fin Arnason had been for
19017      some summers on a viking cruise in the West sea; and Fin, Guthorm
19018      Gunhildson and Hakon Ivarson had all been together on that cruise. King
19019      Harald now proceeded out of Throndhjem fjord to Austrat, where he was well
19020      received. Afterwards the king and Fin conversed with each other about this
19021      new event of Einar's and his son's death, and of the murmuring and
19022      threatening which the bondes made against the king.
19023      Fin took up the conversation briskly, and said, "Thou art managing ill in
19024      two ways: first, in doing all manner of mischief; and next, in being so
19025      afraid that thou knowest not what to do."
19026      The king replied, laughing, "I will send thee, friend, into the town to
19027      bring about a reconciliation with the bondes; and if that will not do,
19028      thou must go to the Uplands and bring matters to such an understanding
19029      with Hakon Ivarson that he shall not be my opponent."
19030      Fin replies, "And how wilt thou reward me if I undertake this dangerous
19031      errand; for both the people of Throndhjem and the people of Upland are so
19032      great enemies to thee that it would not be safe for any of thy messengers
19033      to come among them, unless he were one who would be spared for his own
19034      sake?"
19035      The king replies, "Go thou on this embassy, for I know thou wilt succeed
19036      in it if any man can, and bring about a reconciliation; and then choose
19037      whatever favour from us thou wilt."
19038      Fin says, "Hold thou thy word, king, and I will choose my petition. I will
19039      desire to have peace and safe residence in the country for my brother
19040      Kalf, and all his estates restored; and also that he receive all the
19041      dignity and power he had when he left the country."
19042      The king assented to all that Fin laid down, and it was confirmed by
19043      witnesses and shake of hand.
19044      Then said Fin, "What shall I offer Hakon, who rules most among his
19045      relations in the land, to induce him to agree to a treaty and
19046      reconciliation with thee?"
19047      The king replies, "Thou shalt first hear what Hakon on his part requires
19048      for making an agreement; then promote my interest as thou art best able;
19049      and deny him nothing in the end short of the kingdom."
19050      Then King Harald proceeded southwards to More, and drew together men in
19051      considerable numbers.
19052      47. OF FIN ARNASON'S JOURNEY.
19053      Fin Arnason proceeded to the town and had with him his house-servants,
19054      nearly eighty men. When he came into the town he held a Thing with the
19055      town's people. Fin spoke long and ably at the Thing; and told the town's
19056      people, and bondes, above all things not to have a hatred against their
19057      king, or to drive him away. He reminded them of how much evil they had
19058      suffered by acting thus against King Olaf the Saint; and added, that the
19059      king was willing to pay penalty for this murder, according to the judgment
19060      of understanding and good men. The effect of Fin's speech was that the
19061      bondes promised to wait quietly until the messengers came back whom
19062      Bergliot had sent to the Uplands to her relative, Hakon Ivarson. Fin then
19063      went out to Orkadal with the men who had accompanied him to the town. From
19064      thence he went up to Dovrefield, and eastwards over the mountains. He went
19065      first to his son-in-law, Earl Orm, who was married to Sigrid, Fin's
19066      daughter, and told him his business.
19067      48. OF FIN AND HAKON IVARSON.
19068      Then Fin and Earl Orm appointed a meeting with Hakon Ivarson; and when
19069      they met Fin explained his errand to Hakon, and the offer which King
19070      Harald made him. It was soon seen, from Hakon's speech, that he considered
19071      it to be his great duty to avenge the death of his relative, Eindride; and
19072      added, that word was come to him from Throndhjem, from which he might
19073      expect help in making head against the king. Then Fin represented to Hakon
19074      how much better it would be for him to accept of as high a dignity from
19075      the king as he himself could desire, rather than to attempt raising a
19076      strife against the king to whom he was owing service and duty. He said if
19077      he came out of the conflict without victory, he forfeited life and
19078      property: "And even if thou hast the victory, thou wilt still be called a
19079      traitor to thy sovereign." Earl Orm also supported Fin's speech. After
19080      Hakon had reflected upon this he disclosed what lay on his mind, and said,
19081      "I will be reconciled with King Harald if he will give me in marriage his
19082      relation Ragnhild, King Magnus Olafson's daughter, with such dower as is
19083      suitable to her and she will be content with." Fin said he would agree to
19084      this on the king's part; and thus it was settled among them. Fin then
19085      returned to Throndhjem, and the disturbance and enmity was quashed, so
19086      that the king could retain his kingdom in peace at home; and the league
19087      was broken which Eindride's relations had made among themselves for
19088      opposing King Harald.
19089      49. OF THE COURTSHIP OF HAKON IVARSON.
19090      When the day arrived for the meeting at which this agreement with Harald
19091      should be finally concluded, Hakon went to King Harald; and in their
19092      conference the king said that he, for his part, would adhere to all that
19093      was settled in their agreement. "Thou Hakon," says he, "must thyself
19094      settle that which concerns Ragnhild, as to her accepting thee in marriage;
19095      for it would not be advisable for thee, or for any one, to marry Ragnhild
19096      without her consent." Then Hakon went to Ragnhild, and paid his addresses
19097      to her. She answered him thus: "I have often to feel that my father, King
19098      Magnus, is dead and gone from me, since I must marry a bonde; although I
19099      acknowledge thou art a handsome man, expert in all exercises. But if King
19100      Magnus had lived he would not have married me to any man less than a king;
19101      so it is not to be expected that I will take a man who has no dignity or
19102      title." Then Hakon went to King Harald and told him his conversation with
19103      Ragnhild, and also repeated the agreement which was made between him and
19104      Fin, who was with him, together with many others of the persons who had
19105      been present at the conversation between him and Fin. Hakon takes them all
19106      to witness that such was the agreement that the king should give Ragnhild
19107      the dower she might desire. "And now since she will have no man who has
19108      not a high dignity, thou must give me such a title of honour; and,
19109      according to the opinion of the people, I am of birth, family and other
19110      qualifications to be called earl."
19111      The king replies, "When my brother, King Olaf, and his son, King Magnus,
19112      ruled the kingdom, they allowed only one earl at a time to be in the
19113      country, and I have done the same since I came to the kingly title; and I
19114      will not take away from Orm the title of honour I had before given him."
19115      Hakon saw now that his business had not advanced, and was very ill
19116      pleased; and Fin was outrageously angry. They said the king had broken his
19117      word; and thus they all separated.
19118      50. HAKON'S JOURNEY TO DENMARK.
19119      Hakon then went out of the country with a well-manned ship. When he came
19120      to Denmark he went immediately to his relative, King Svein, who received
19121      him honourably and gave him great fiefs. Hakon became King Svein's
19122      commander of the coast defence against the vikings, -the Vindland
19123      people, Kurland people, and others from the East countries, -who
19124      infested the Danish dominions; and he lay out with his ships of war both
19125      winter and summer.
19126      51. MURDER OF ASMUND.
19127      There was a man called Asmund, who is said to have been King Svein's
19128      sister's son, and his foster-son. This Asmund was distinguished among all
19129      by his boldness and was much disliked by the king. When Asmund came to
19130      years, and to age of discretion, he became an ungovernable person given to
19131      murder and manslaughter. The king was ill pleased at this, and sent him
19132      away, giving him a good fief, which might keep him and his followers well.
19133      As soon as Asmund had got this property from the king he drew together a
19134      large troop of people; and as the estate he had got from the king was not
19135      sufficient for his expenses he took as his own much more which belonged to
19136      the king. When the king heard this he summoned Asmund to him, and when
19137      they met the king said that Asmund should remain with the court without
19138      keeping any retinue of his own; and this took place as the king desired.
19139      But when Asmund had been a little time in the king's court he grew weary
19140      of being there, and escaped in the night, returned to his former
19141      companions and did more mischief than ever. Now when the king was riding
19142      through the country he came to the neighbourhood where Asmund was, and he
19143      sent out men-at-arms to seize him. The king then had him laid in irons,
19144      and kept him so for some time in hope he would reform; but no sooner did
19145      Asmund get rid of his chains than he absconded again, gathered together
19146      people and men-at-arms and betook himself to plunder, both abroad and at
19147      home. Thus he made great forays, killing and plundering all around. When
19148      the people who suffered under these disturbances came to the king and
19149      complained to him of their losses, he replied, "Why do ye tell me of this?
19150      Why don't you go to Hakon Ivarson, who is my officer for the land-defence,
19151      placed on purpose to keep the peace for you peasants, and to hold the
19152      vikings in check? I was told that Hakon was a gallant and brave man, but I
19153      think he is rather shy when any danger of life is in the way." These words
19154      of the king were brought to Hakon, with many additions. Then Hakon went
19155      with his men in search of Asmund, and when their ships met Hakon gave
19156      battle immediately -and the conflict was sharp, and many men were
19157      killed. Hakon boarded Asmund's ship and cut down the men before his feet.
19158      At last he and Asmund met and exchanged blows until Asmund fell. Hakon cut
19159      off his head, went in all haste to King Svein and found him just sitting
19160      down to the dinner-table. Hakon presented himself before the table, laid
19161      Asmund's head upon the table before the king, and asked if he knew it. The
19162      king made no reply, but became as red as blood in the face. Soon after the
19163      king sent him a message, ordering him to leave his service immediately.
19164      "Tell him I will do him no harm; but I cannot keep watch over all our
19165      relations." (1)
19166   ENDNOTES: (1) This incident shows how strong, in those ages, was the tie
19167     of relationship, and the point of honour of avenging its
19168     injuries -the clanship spirit. -L.
19169      52. HAKON IVARSON'S MARRIAGE.
19170      Hakon then left Denmark, and came north to his estates in Norway. His
19171      relation Earl Orm was dead. Hakon's relations and friends were glad to see
19172      Hakon, and many gallant men gave themselves much trouble to bring about a
19173      reconciliation between King Harald and Hakon. It was at last settled in
19174      this way, that Hakon got Ragnhild, the king's daughter, and that King
19175      Harald gave Hakon the earldom, with the same power Earl Orm had possessed.
19176      Hakon swore to King Harald an oath of fidelity to all the services he was
19177      liable to fulfill.
19178      53. RECONCILIATION OF KING HARALD AND KALF.
19179      Kalf Arnason had been on a viking cruise to the Western countries ever
19180      since he had left Norway; but in winter he was often in the Orkney Islands
19181      with his relative, Earl Thorfin. Fin Arnason sent a message to his brother
19182      Kalf, and told him the agreement which he had made with King Harald, that
19183      Kalf should enjoy safety in Norway, and his estates, and all the fiefs he
19184      had held from King Magnus. When this message came to Kalf he immediately
19185      got ready for his voyage, and went east to Norway to his brother Fin. Then
19186      Fin obtained the king's peace for Kalf, and when Kalf and the king met
19187      they went into the agreement which Fin and the king had settled upon
19188      before. Kalf bound himself to the king in the same way as he had bound
19189      himself to serve King Magnus, according to which Kalf should do all that
19190      the king desired and considered of advantage to his realm. Thereupon Kalf
19191      received all the estates and fiefs he had before.
19192      54. FALL OF KALF ARNASON.
19193      The summer following (A.D. 1050) King Harald ordered out a levy, and went
19194      to Denmark, where he plundered during the summer; but when he came south
19195      to Fyen he found a great force assembled against him. Then the king
19196      prepared to land his men from the ships and to engage in a land-fight. He
19197      drew up his men on board in order of battle; set Kalf Arnason at the head
19198      of one division; ordered him to make the first attack, and told him where
19199      they should direct their assault, promising that he would soon make a
19200      landing with the others, and come to their assistance. When Kalf came to
19201      the land with his men a force came down immediately to oppose them, and
19202      Kalf without delay engaged in battle, which, however, did not last long;
19203      for Kalf was immediately overpowered by numbers, and betook himself to
19204      flight with his men. The Danes pursued them vigorously, and many of the
19205      Northmen fell, and among them Kalf Arnason. Now King Harald landed with
19206      his array; and they soon came on their way to the field of battle, where
19207      they found Kalf's body, and bore it down to the ships. But the king
19208      penetrated into the country, killing many people and destroying much. So
19209      says Arnor: -
19210     "His shining sword with blood he stains,
19211     Upon Fyona's grassy plains;
19212     And in the midst of fire and smoke,
19213     The king Fyona's forces broke."
19214      55. FIN ARNASON'S EXPEDITION OUT OF THE COUNTRY.
19215      After this Fin Arnason thought he had cause to be an enemy of the king
19216      upon account of his brother Kalf's death; and said the king had betrayed
19217      Kalf to his fall, and had also deceived him by making him entice his
19218      brother Kalf to come over from the West and trust to King Harald's faith.
19219      When these speeches came out among people, many said that it was very
19220      foolish in Fin to have ever supposed that Kalf could obtain the king's
19221      sincere friendship and favour; for they thought the king was the man to
19222      seek revenge for smaller offences than Kalf had committed against the
19223      king. The king let every one say what he chose, and he himself neither
19224      said yes or no about the affair; but people perceived that the king was
19225      very well pleased with what had happened. King Harald once made these
19226      verses: -
19227     "I have, in all, the death-stroke given
19228     To foes of mine at least eleven;
19229     Two more, perhaps, if I remember,
19230     May yet be added to this number,
19231     I prize myself upon these deeds,
19232     My people such examples needs.
19233     Bright gold itself they would despise,
19234     Or healing leek-herb underprize,
19235     If not still brought before their eyes."
19236      Fin Arnason took the business so much to heart that he left the country
19237      and went to Denmark to King Svein, where he met a friendly reception. They
19238      spoke together in private for a long time; and the end of the business was
19239      that Fin went into King Svein's service, and became his man. King Svein
19240      then gave Fin an earldom, and placed him in Halland, where he was long
19241      earl and defended the country against the Northmen.
19242      56. OF GUTHORM GUNHILDSON.
19243      Ketil Kalf and Gunhild of Ringanes had a son called Guthorm, and he was a
19244      sister's son to King Olaf and Harald Sigurdson. Guthorm was a gallant man,
19245      early advanced to manhood. He was often with King Harald, who loved him
19246      much, and asked his advice; for he was of good understanding, and very
19247      popular. Guthorm had also been engaged early in forays, and had marauded
19248      much in the Western countries with a large force. Ireland was for him a
19249      land of peace; and he had his winter quarters often in Dublin, and was in
19250      great friendship with King Margad.
19251      57. GUTHORM'S JUNCTION WITH THE IRISH KING MARGAD.
19252      The summer after King Margad, and Guthorm with him, went out on an
19253      expedition against Bretland, where they made immense booty. But when the
19254      king saw the quantity of silver which was gathered he wanted to have the
19255      whole booty, and regarded little his friendship for Guthorm. Guthorm was
19256      ill pleased that he and his men should be robbed of their share; but the
19257      king said, "Thou must choose one of two things, -either to be content
19258      with what we determine, or to fight; and they shall have the booty who
19259      gain the victory; and likewise thou must give up thy ships, for them I
19260      will have." Guthorm thought there were great difficulties on both sides;
19261      for it was disgraceful to give up ships and goods without a stroke, and
19262      yet it was highly dangerous to fight the king and his force, the king
19263      having sixteen ships and Guthorm only five. Then Guthorm desired three
19264      days' time to consider the matter with his people, thinking in that time
19265      to pacify the king, and come to a better understanding with him through
19266      the mediation of others; but he could not obtain from the king what he
19267      desired. This was the day before St. Olaf's day. Guthorm chose the
19268      condition that they would rather die or conquer like men, than suffer
19269      disgrace, contempt and scorn, by submitting to so great a loss. He called
19270      upon God, and his uncle Saint Olaf, and entreated their help and aid;
19271      promising to give to the holy man's house the tenth of all the booty that
19272      fell to their share, if they gained the victory. Then he arranged his men,
19273      placed them in battle order against the great force, prepared for battle,
19274      and gave the assault. By the help of God, and the holy Saint Olaf, Guthorm
19275      won the battle. King Margad fell, and every man, old and young, who
19276      followed him; and after that great victor, Guthorm and all his people
19277      returned home joyfully with all the booty they had gained by the battle.
19278      Every tenth penny of the booty they had made was taken, according to the
19279      vow, to King Olaf the Saint's shrine; and there was so much silver that
19280      Guthorm had an image made of it, with rays round the head, which was the
19281      size of his own, or of his forecastle-man's head; and the image was seven
19282      feet high. The image thus produced was given by Guthorm to King Olaf of
19283      the Saint's temple, where it has since remained as a memorial of Guthorm's
19284      victory and King Olaf the Saint's miracle.
19285      58. MIRACLE OF KING OLAF IN DENMARK.
19286      There was a wicked, evil-minded count in Denmark who had a Norwegian
19287      servant-girl whose family belonged to Throndhjem district. She worshipped
19288      King Olaf the Saint, and believed firmly in his sanctity. But the above
19289      mentioned count doubted all that was told of the holy man's miracles,
19290      insisted that it was nothing but nonsense and idle talk, and made a joke
19291      and scorn of the esteem and honour which all the country people showed the
19292      good king. Now when his holyday came, on which the mild monarch ended his
19293      life, and which all Northmen kept sacred, this unreasonable count would
19294      not observe it, but ordered his servant-girl to bake and put fire in the
19295      oven that day. She knew well the count's mad passion, and that he would
19296      revenge himself severely on her if she refused doing as he ordered. She
19297      went, therefore, of necessity, and baked in the oven, but wept much at her
19298      work; and she threatened King Olaf that she never would believe in him, if
19299      he did not avenge this misdeed by some mischance or other. And now shall
19300      ye come to hear a well-deserved vengeance, and a true miracle. It
19301      happened, namely, in the same hour that the count became blind of both
19302      eyes, and the bread which she had shoved into the oven was turned into
19303      stone! Of these stones some are now in St. Olaf's temple, and in other
19304      places; and since that time Olafsmas has been always held holy in Denmark.
19305      59. KING OLAF'S MIRACLE ON A CRIPPLE.
19306      West in Valland, a man had such bad health that he became a cripple, and
19307      went on his knees and elbows. One day he was upon the road, and had fallen
19308      asleep. He dreamt that a gallant man came up to him and asked him where he
19309      was going. When he named the neighbouring town, the man said to him, "Go
19310      to Saint Olaf's church that stands in London, and there thou shalt be
19311      cured." There-upon he awoke, and went straightway to inquire the road to
19312      Olaf's church in London. At last he came to London Bridge, and asked the
19313      men of the castle if they could tell him where Olaf's church was; but they
19314      replied, there were so many churches that they could not tell to whom each
19315      of them was consecrated. Soon after a man came up and asked him where he
19316      wanted to go, and he answered to Olaf's church. Then said the man, "We
19317      shall both go together to Olaf's church, for I know the way to it."
19318      Thereupon they went over the bridge to the shrine where Olaf's church was;
19319      and when they came to the gates of the churchyard the man mounted over the
19320      half-door that was in the gate, but the cripple rolled himself in, and
19321      rose up immediately sound and strong: when he looked about him his
19322      conductor had vanished.
19323      60. KING HARALD'S FORAY IN DENMARK.
19324      King Harald had built a merchant town in the East at Oslo, where he often
19325      resided; for there was good supply from the extensive cultivated district
19326      wide around. There also he had a convenient station to defend the country
19327      against the Danes, or to make an attack upon Denmark, which he was in the
19328      custom of doing often, although he kept no great force on foot. One summer
19329      King Harald went from thence with a few light ships and a few men. He
19330      steered southwards out from Viken, and, when the wind served, stood over
19331      to Jutland, and marauded; but the country people collected and defended
19332      the country. Then King Harald steered to Limfjord, and went into the
19333      fjord. Limfjord is so formed that its entrance is like a narrow river; but
19334      when one gets farther into the fjord it spreads out into a wide sea. King
19335      Harald marauded on both sides of the land; and when the Danes gathered
19336      together on every side to oppose him, he lay at a small island which was
19337      uncultivated. They wanted drink on board his ships, and went up into the
19338      island to seek water; but finding none, they reported it to the king. He
19339      ordered them to look for some long earthworms on the island, and when they
19340      found one they brought it to the king. He ordered the people to bring the
19341      worm to a fire, and bake it before it, so that it should be thirsty. Then
19342      he ordered a thread to be tied round the tail of the worm, and to let it
19343      loose. The worm crept away immediately, while thread wound off from the
19344      clew as the worm took it away; and the people followed the worm until it
19345      sought downwards in the earth. There the king ordered them to dig for
19346      water, which they did, and found so much water that they had no want of
19347      it. King Harald now heard from his spies that King Svein was come with a
19348      large armament to the mouth of the fjord; but that it was too late for him
19349      to come into it, as only one ship at a time can come in. King Harald then
19350      steered with his fleet in through the fjord to where it was broadest to a
19351      place called Lusbreid. In the inmost bight, there is but a narrow neck of
19352      land dividing the fjord from the West sea. Thither King Harald rowed with
19353      his men towards evening; and at night when it was dark he unloaded his
19354      ships, drew them over the neck of land into the West sea, loaded them
19355      again, and was ready with all this before day. He then steered northwards
19356      along the Jutland coast. People then said that Harald had escaped from the
19357      hands of the Danes. Harald said that he would come to Denmark next time
19358      with more people and larger vessels. King Harald then proceeded north to
19359      Throndhjem.
19360      61. KING HARALD HAD A SHIP BUILT.
19361      King Harald remained all winter at Nidaros (A.D. 1062) and had a vessel
19362      built out upon the strand, and it was a buss. The ship was built of the
19363      same size as the Long Serpent, and every part of her was finished with the
19364      greatest care. On the stem was a dragon-head, and on the stern a
19365      dragon-tail, and the sides of the bows of the ship were gilt. The vessel
19366      was of thirty-five rowers benches, and was large for that size, and was
19367      remarkably handsome; for the king had everything belonging to the ship's
19368      equipment of the best, both sails and rigging, anchors and cables. King
19369      Harald sent a message in winter south to Denmark to King Svein, that he
19370      should come northwards in spring; that they should meet at the Gaut river
19371      and fight, and so settle the division of the countries that the one who
19372      gained the victory should have both kingdoms.
19373      62. KING HARALD'S CHALLENGE.
19374      King Harald during this winter called out a general levy of all the people
19375      of Norway, and assembled a great force towards spring. Then Harald had his
19376      great ship drawn down and put into the river Nid, and set up the dragon's
19377      head on her. Thiodolf, the skald, sang about it thus: -
19378     "My lovely girl!  the sight was grand
19379     When the great war-ships down the strand
19380     Into the river gently slid,
19381     And all below her sides was hid.
19382     Come, lovely girl, and see the show! -
19383     Her sides that on the water glow,
19384     Her serpent-head with golden mane,
19385     All shining back from the Nid again."
19386      Then King Harald rigged out his ship, got ready for sea, and when he had
19387      all in order went out of the river. His men rowed very skilfully and
19388      beautifully. So says Thiodolf: -
19389     "It was upon a Saturday,
19390     Ship-tilts were struck and stowed away,
19391     And past the town our dragon glides,
19392     That girls might see our glancing sides.
19393     Out from the Nid brave Harald steers;
19394     Westward at first the dragon veers;
19395     Our lads together down with oars,
19396     The splash is echoed round the shores.
19397
19398     "Their oars our king's men handle well,
19399     One stroke is all the eye can tell:
19400     All level o'er the water rise;
19401     The girls look on in sweet surprise.
19402     Such things, they think, can ne'er give way;
19403     The little know the battle day.
19404     The Danish girls, who dread our shout,
19405     Might wish our ship-gear not so stout.
19406
19407     "'Tis in the fight, not on the wave,
19408     That oars may break and fail the brave.
19409     At sea, beneath the ice-cold sky,
19410     Safely our oars o'er ocean ply;
19411     And when at Throndhjem's holy stream
19412     Our seventy cars in distance gleam,
19413     We seem, while rowing from the sea,
19414     An erne with iron wings to be."
19415      King Harald sailed south along the land, and called out the levy
19416      everywhere of men and ships. When they came east to Viken they got a
19417      strong wind against them and the forces lay dispersed about in the
19418      harbour; some in the isles outside, and some in the fjords. So says
19419      Thiodolf: -
19420     "The cutters' sea-bleached bows scarce find
19421     A shelter from the furious wind
19422     Under the inland forests' side,
19423     Where the fjord runs its farthest tide.
19424     In all the isles and creeks around
19425     The bondes' ships lie on the ground,
19426     And ships with gunwales hung with shields
19427     Seek the lee-side of the green fields."
19428      In the heavy storm that raged for some time the great ship had need of
19429      good ground tackle. So says Thiodolf: -
19430     "With lofty bow above the seas,
19431     Which curl and fly before the breeze,
19432     The gallant vessel rides and reels,
19433     And every plunge her cable feels.
19434     The storm that tries the spar and mast
19435     Tries the main-anchor at the last:
19436     The storm above, below the rock,
19437     Chafe the thick cable with each shock."
19438      When the weather became favourable King Harald sailed eastwards to the
19439      Gaut river with his fleet and arrived there in the evening. So says
19440      Thiodolf: -
19441     "The gallant Harald now has come
19442     To Gaut, full half way from his home,
19443     And on the river frontier stands,
19444     To fight with Svein for life and lands.
19445     The night passed o'er, the gallant king
19446     Next day at Thumia calls a Thing,
19447     Where Svein is challenged to appear -
19448     A day which ravens wish were near."
19449      63. OF KING HARALD'S FLEET.
19450      When the Danes heard that the Northmen's army was come to the Gaut river
19451      they all fled who had opportunity to get away. The Northmen heard that the
19452      Danish king had also called out his forces and lay in the south, partly at
19453      Fyen and partly about Seeland. When King Harald found that King Svein
19454      would not hold a meeting with him, or a fight, according to what had been
19455      agreed upon between them, he took the same course as before -letting
19456      the bonde troops return home, but manning 150 ships, with which he sailed
19457      southwards along Halland, where he herried all round, and then brought up
19458      with his fleet in Lofufjord, and laid waste the country. A little
19459      afterwards King Svein came upon them with all the Danish fleet, consisting
19460      of 300 ships. When the Northmen saw them King Harald ordered a general
19461      meeting of the fleet to be called by sound of trumpet; and many there said
19462      it was better to fly, as it was not now advisable to fight. The king
19463      replied, "Sooner shall all lie dead one upon another than fly." So says
19464      Stein Herdison: -
19465     "With falcon eye, and courage bright,
19466     Our king saw glory in the fight;
19467     To fly, he saw, would ruin bring
19468     On them and him -the folk and king.
19469     'Hands up the arms to one and all!'
19470     Cries out the king; 'we'll win or fall!
19471     Sooner than fly, heaped on each other
19472     Each man shall fall across his brother!'"
19473      Then King Harald drew up his ships to attack, and brought forward his
19474      great dragon in the middle of his fleet. So says Thiodolf: -
19475     "The brave king through his vessels' throng
19476     His dragon war-ship moves along;
19477     He runs her gaily to the front,
19478     To meet the coming battle's brunt."
19479      The ship was remarkably well equipt, and fully manned. So says Thiodolf: -
19480     "The king had got a chosen crew -
19481     He told his brave lads to stand true.
19482     The ring of shields seemed to enclose
19483     The ship's deck from the boarding foes.
19484     The dragon, on the Nis-river flood,
19485     Beset with men, who thickly stood,
19486     Shield touching shield, was something rare,
19487     That seemed all force of man to dare."
19488      Ulf, the marshal, laid his ship by the side of the king's and ordered his
19489      men to bring her well forward. Stein Herdison, who was himself in Ulf's
19490      ship, sings of it thus: -
19491     "Our oars were stowed, our lances high,
19492     As the ship moved swung in the sky.
19493     The marshal Ulf went through our ranks,
19494     Drawn up beside the rowers' banks:
19495     The brave friend of our gallant king
19496     Told us our ship well on to bring,
19497     And fight like Norsemen in the cause -
19498     Our Norsemen answered with huzzas."
19499      Hakon Ivarson lay outside on the other wing, and had many ships with him,
19500      all well equipt. At the extremity of the other side lay the Throndhjem
19501      chiefs, who had also a great and strong force.
19502      64. OF KING SVEIN'S ARMAMENT.
19503      Svein, the Danish king, also drew up his fleet, and laid his ship forward
19504      in the center against King Harald's ship, and Fin Arnason laid his ship
19505      next; and then the Danes laid their ships, according as they were bold or
19506      well-equipt. Then, on both sides, they bound the ships together all
19507      through the middle of the fleets; but as the fleets were so large, very
19508      many ships remained loose, and each laid his ship forward according to his
19509      courage, and that was very unequal. Although the difference among the men
19510      was great, altogether there was a very great force on both sides. King
19511      Svein had six earls among the people following him. So says Stein
19512      Herdison: -
19513     "Danger our chief would never shun,
19514     With eight score ships he would not run:
19515     The Danish fleet he would abide,
19516     And give close battle side by side.
19517     From Leire's coast the Danish king
19518     Three hundred ocean steeds could bring,
19519     And o'er the sea-weed plain in haste
19520     Thought Harald's vessels would be chased."
19521      65. BEGINNING OF THE BATTLE OF NIS-RIVER.
19522      As soon as King Harald was ready with his fleet, he orders the war-blast
19523      to sound, and the men to row forward to the attack. So says Stein
19524      Herdison: -
19525     "Harald and Svein first met as foes,
19526     Where the Nis in the ocean flows;
19527     For Svein would not for peace entreat,
19528     But, strong in ships, would Harald meet.
19529     The Norsemen prove, with sword in hand,
19530     That numbers cannot skill withstand.
19531     Off Halland's coast the blood of Danes
19532     The blue sea's calm smooth surface stains."
19533      Soon the battle began, and became very sharp; both kings urging on their
19534      men. So says Stein Herdison: -
19535     "Our king, his broad shield disregarding,
19536     More keen for striking than for warding,
19537     Now tells his lads their spears to throw, -
19538     Now shows them where to strike a blow.
19539     From fleet to fleet so short the way,
19540     That stones and arrows have full play;
19541     And from the keen sword dropped the blood
19542     Of short-lived seamen in the flood."
19543      It was late in the day when the battle began, and it continued the whole
19544      night. King Harald shot for a long time with his bow. So says Thiodolf: -
19545     "The Upland king was all the night
19546     Speeding the arrows' deadly flight.
19547     All in the dark his bow-string's twang
19548     Was answered; for some white shield rang,
19549     Or yelling shriek gave certain note
19550     The shaft had pierced some ring-mail coat,
19551     The foemen's shields and bulwarks bore
19552     A Lapland arrow-scat(1) or more."
19553      Earl Hakon, and the people who followed him, did not make fast their ships
19554      in the fleet, but rowed against the Danish ships that were loose, and slew
19555      the men of all the ships they came up with. When the Danes observed this
19556      each drew his ship out of the way of the earl; but he set upon those who
19557      were trying to escape, and they were nearly driven to flight. Then a boat
19558      came rowing to the earl's ship and hailed him and said that the other wing
19559      of King Harald's fleet was giving way and many of their people had fallen.
19560      Then the earl rowed thither and gave so severe an assault that the Danes
19561      had to retreat before him. The earl went on in this way all the night,
19562      coming forward where he was most wanted, and wheresoever he came none
19563      could stand against him. Hakon rowed outside around the battle. Towards
19564      the end of the night the greatest part of the Danish fleet broke into
19565      flight, for then King Harald with his men boarded the vessel of King
19566      Svein; and it was so completely cleared that all the crew fell in the
19567      ship, except those who sprang overboard. So says Arnor, the earls' skald: -
19568     "Brave Svein did not his vessel leave
19569     Without good cause, as I believe:
19570     Oft on his casque the sword-blade rang,
19571     Before into the sea he sprang.
19572     Upon the wave his vessel drives;
19573     All his brave crew had lost their lives.
19574     O'er dead courtmen into the sea
19575     The Jutland king had now to flee."
19576      And when King Svein's banner was cut down, and his ship cleared of its
19577      crew, all his forces took to flight, and some were killed. The ships which
19578      were bound together could not be cast loose, so the people who were in
19579      them sprang overboard, and some got to the other ships that were loose;
19580      and all King Svein's men who could get off rowed away, but a great many of
19581      them were slain. Where the king himself fought the ships were mostly bound
19582      together, and there were more than seventy left behind of King Svein's
19583      vessels. So says Thiodolf: -
19584     "Svein's ships rode proudly o'er the deep,
19585     When, by a single sudden sweep,
19586     Full seventy sail, as we are told,
19587     Were seized by Norway's monarch bold."
19588      King Harald rowed after the Danes and pursued them; but that was not easy,
19589      for the ships lay so thick together that they scarcely could move. Earl
19590      Fin Arnason would not flee; and being also shortsighted, was taken
19591      prisoner. So says Thiodolf: -
19592     "To the six Danish earls who came
19593     To aid his force, and raise his name,
19594     No mighty thanks King Svein is owing
19595     For mighty actions of their doing.
19596     Fin Arnason, in battle known,
19597     With a stout Norse heart of his own,
19598     Would not take flight his life to gain,
19599     And in the foremost ranks was ta'en."
19600   ENDNOTES: (1) The Laplanders paid their seat, or yearly tax, in bows and
19601     arrows; and the meaning of the skald appears to be, that as
19602     many as were paid in a year were shot at the foe. -L.
19603      66. KING SVEIN'S FLIGHT.
19604      Earl Hakon lay behind with his ships, while the king and the rest of the
19605      forces were pursuing the fugitives; for the earls' ships could not get
19606      forward on account of the ships which lay in the way before him. Then a
19607      man came rowing in a boat to the earl's ship and lay at the bulwarks. The
19608      man was stout and had on a white hat. He hailed the ship, "Where is the
19609      earl?" said he.
19610      The earl was in the fore-hold, stopping a man's blood. The earl cast a
19611      look at the man in the hat and asked what his name was. He answered, "Here
19612      is Vandrad: speak to me, earl."
19613      The earl leant over the ship's side to him. Then the man in the boat said,
19614      "Earl, I will accept of my life from thee, if thou wilt give it."
19615      Then the earl raised himself up, called two men who were friends dear to
19616      him, and said to them, "Go into the boat; bring Vandrad to the land;
19617      attend him to my friend's Karl the bonde; and tell Karl, as a token that
19618      these words come from me, that he let Vandrad have the horse which I gave
19619      to him yesterday, and also his saddle, and his son to attend him."
19620      Thereupon they went into the boat and took the oars in hand, while Vandrad
19621      steered. This took place just about daybreak, while the vessels were in
19622      movement, some rowing towards the land, some towards the sea, both small
19623      and great. Vandrad steered where he thought there was most room between
19624      the vessels; and when they came near to Norway's ships the earl's men gave
19625      their names and then they all allowed them to go where they pleased.
19626      Vandrad steered along the shore, and only set in towards the land when
19627      they had come past the crowd of ships. They then went up to Karl the
19628      bonde's farm, and it was then beginning to be light. They went into the
19629      room where Karl had just put on his clothes. The earl's men told him their
19630      message and Karl said they must first take some food; and he set a table
19631      before them and gave them water to wash with.
19632      Then came the housewife into the room and said, "I wonder why we could get
19633      no peace or rest all night with the shouting and screaming."
19634      Karl replies, "Dost thou not know that the kings were fighting all night?"
19635      She asked which had the better of it.
19636      Karl answered, "The Northmen gained."
19637      "Then," said she, "our king will have taken flight."
19638      "Nobody knows," says Karl, "whether he has fled or is fallen."
19639      She says, "What a useless sort of king we have! He is both slow and
19640      frightened."
19641      Then said Vandrad, "Frightened he is not; but he is not lucky."
19642      Then Vandrad washed his hands; but he took the towel and dried them right
19643      in the middle of the cloth. The housewife snatched the towel from him, and
19644      said, "Thou hast been taught little good; it is wasteful to wet the whole
19645      cloth at one time."
19646      Vandrad replies, "I may yet come so far forward in the world as to be able
19647      to dry myself with the middle of the towel."
19648      Thereupon Karl set a table before them and Vandrad sat down between them.
19649      They ate for a while and then went out. The horse was saddled and Karl's
19650      son ready to follow him with another horse. They rode away to the forest;
19651      and the earl's men returned to the boat, rowed to the earl's ship and told
19652      the success of their expedition.
19653      67. OF KING HARALD.
19654      King Harald and his men followed the fugitives only a short way, and rowed
19655      back to the place where the deserted ships lay. Then the battle-place was
19656      ransacked, and in King Svein's ship was found a heap of dead men; but the
19657      king's body was not found, although people believed for certain that he
19658      had fallen. Then King Harald had the greatest attention paid to the dead
19659      of his men, and had the wounds of the living bound up. The dead bodies of
19660      Svein's men were brought to the land, and he sent a message to the
19661      peasants to come and bury them. Then he let the booty be divided, and this
19662      took up some time. The news came now that King Svein had come to Seeland,
19663      and that all who had escaped from the battle had joined him, along with
19664      many more, and that he had a great force.
19665      68. FIN ARNASON GETS QUARTER.
19666      Earl Fin Arnason was taken prisoner in the battle, as before related; and
19667      when he was led before King Harald the king was very merry, and said,
19668      "Fin, we meet here now, and we met last in Norway. The Danish court has
19669      not stood very firmly by thee; and it will be a troublesome business for
19670      Northmen to drag thee, a blind old man, with them, and preserve thy life."
19671      The earl replies, "The Northmen find it very difficult now to conquer, and
19672      it is all the worse that thou hast the command of them."
19673      Then said King Harald, "Wilt thou accept of life and safety, although thou
19674      hast not deserved it?"
19675      The earl replies, "Not from thee, thou dog."
19676      The king: "Wilt thou, then, if thy relation Magnus gives thee quarter?"
19677      Magnus, King Harald's son, was then steering the ship.
19678      The earl replies, "Can the whelp rule over life and quarter?"
19679      The king laughed, as if he found amusement in vexing him. -"Wilt thou
19680      accept thy life, then, from thy she-relation Thorer?"
19681      The earl: "Is she here?"
19682      "She is here," said the king.
19683      Then Earl Fin broke out with the ugly expressions which since have been
19684      preserved, as a proof that he was so mad with rage that he could not
19685      govern his tongue: -
19686      "No wonder thou hast bit so strongly, if the mare was with thee."
19687      Earl Fin got life and quarter and the king kept him a while about him. But
19688      Fin was rather melancholy and obstinate in conversation; and King Harald
19689      said, "I see, Fin, that thou dost not live willingly in company with me
19690      and thy relations; now I will give thee leave to go to thy friend King
19691      Svein."
19692      The earl said, "I accept of the offer willingly, and the more gratefully
19693      the sooner I get away from hence."
19694      The king afterwards let Earl Fin be landed and the traders going to
19695      Halland received him well. King Harald sailed from thence to Norway with
19696      his fleet; and went first to Oslo, where he gave all his people leave to
19697      go home who wished to do so.
19698      69. OF KING SVEIN.
19699      King Svein, it is told, sat in Denmark all that winter, and had his
19700      kingdom as formerly. In winter he sent men north to Halland for Karl the
19701      bonde and his wife. When Karl came the king called him to him and asked
19702      him if he knew him, or thought he had ever seen him before.
19703      Karl replies, "I know thee, sire, and knew thee before, the moment I saw
19704      thee; and God be praised if the small help I could give was of any use to
19705      thee."
19706      The king replies, "I have to reward thee for all the days I have to live.
19707      And now, in the first place, I will give thee any farm in Seeland thou
19708      wouldst desire to have; and, in the next place, will make thee a great
19709      man, if thou knowest how to conduct thyself."
19710      Karl thanked the king for his promise, and said he had now but one thing
19711      to ask.
19712      The king asked what that was.
19713      Karl said that he would ask to take his wife with him.
19714      The king said, "I will not let thee do that; but I will provide thee a far
19715      better and more sensible wife. But thy wife can keep the bonde-farm ye had
19716      before and she will have her living from it."
19717      The king gave Karl a great and valuable farm, and provided him a good
19718      marriage; and he became a considerable man. This was reported far and wide
19719      and much praised; and thus it came to be told in Norway.
19720      70. OF THE TALK OF THE COURT-MEN.
19721      King Harald stayed in Oslo the winter after the battle at Nis-river (A.D.
19722      1063). In autumn, when the men came from the south, there was much talk
19723      and many stories about the battle which they had fought at Nis-river, and
19724      every one who had been there thought he could tell something about it.
19725      Once some of them sat in a cellar and drank, and were very merry and
19726      talkative. They talked about the Nis-river battle, and who had earne'd the
19727      greatest praise and renown. They all agreed that no man there had been at
19728      all equal to Earl Hakon. He was the boldest in arms, the quickest, and the
19729      most lucky; what he did was of the greatest help, and he won the battle.
19730      King Harald, in the meantime, was out in the yard, and spoke with some
19731      people. He went then to the room-door, and said, "Every one here would
19732      willingly be called Hakon;" and then went his way.
19733      71. OF THE ATTEMPT TO TAKE EARL HAKON.
19734      Earl Hakon went in winter to the Uplands, and was all winter in his
19735      domains. He was much beloved by all the Uplanders. It happened, towards
19736      spring, that some men were sitting drinking in the town, and the
19737      conversation turned, as usual, on the Nis-river battle; and some praised
19738      Earl Hakon, and some thought others as deserving of praise as he. When
19739      they had thus disputed a while, one of them said, "It is possible that
19740      others fought as bravely as the earl at Nis-river; but none, I think, has
19741      had such luck with him as he."
19742      The others replied, that his best luck was his driving so many Danes to
19743      flight along with other men.
19744      The same man replied, "It was greater luck that he gave King Svein
19745      quarter."
19746      One of the company said to him, "Thou dost not know what thou art saying."
19747      He replied, "I know it for certain, for the man told me himself who
19748      brought the king to the land."
19749      It went, according to the old proverb, that the king has many ears. This
19750      was told the king, and he immediately ordered horses to be gathered, and
19751      rode away directly with 900 men. He rode all that night and the following
19752      day. Then some men met them who were riding to the town with mead and
19753      malt. In the king's retinue was a man called Gamal, who rode to one of
19754      these bondes who was an acquaintance of his, and spoke to him privately.
19755      "I will pay thee," said he, "to ride with the greatest speed, by the
19756      shortest private paths that thou knowest, to Earl Hakon, and tell him the
19757      king will kill him; for the king has got to the knowledge that Earl Hakon
19758      set King Svein on shore at Nis-river." They agreed on the payment. The
19759      bonde rode, and came to the earl just as he was sitting drinking, and had
19760      not yet gone to bed. When the bonde told his errand, the earl immediately
19761      stood up with all his men, had all his loose property removed from the
19762      farm to the forest, and all the people left the house in the night. When
19763      the king came he halted there all night; but Hakon rode away, and came
19764      east to Svithjod to King Steinkel and stayed with him all summer. King
19765      Harald returned to the town, travelled northwards to Throndhjem district,
19766      and remained there all summer; but in autumn he returned eastwards to
19767      Viken.
19768      72. OF EARL HAKON.
19769      As soon as Earl Hakon heard the king had gone north he returned
19770      immediately in summer to the Uplands (A.D. 1063), and remained there until
19771      the king had returned from the north. Then the earl went east into
19772      Vermaland, where he remained during the winter, and where the king,
19773      Steinkel, gave him fiefs. For a short time in winter he went west to
19774      Raumarike with a great troop of men from Gautland and Vermaland, and
19775      received the scat and duties from the Upland people which belonged to him,
19776      and then returned to Glutland, and remained there till spring. King Harald
19777      had his seat in Oslo all winter (A.D. 1064), and sent his men to the
19778      Uplands to demand the scat, together with the king's land dues, and the
19779      mulcts of court; but the Uplanders said they would pay all the scat and
19780      dues which they had to pay, to Earl Hakon as long as he was in life, and
19781      had forfeited his life or his fief; and the king got no dues that winter.
19782      73. AGREEMENT BETWEEN KING HARALD AND KING SVEIN.
19783      This winter messengers and ambassadors went between Norway and Denmark,
19784      whose errand was that both Northmen and Danes should make peace, and a
19785      league with each other, and to ask the kings to agree to it. These
19786      messages gave favourable hopes of a peace; and the matter proceeded so far
19787      that a meeting for peace was appointed at the Gaut river between King
19788      Harald and King Svein. When spring approached, both kings assembled many
19789      ships and people for this meeting. So says a skald in a poem on this
19790      expedition of the kings, which begins thus: -
19791     "The king, who from the northern sound
19792     His land with war-ships girds around,
19793     The raven-feeder, filled the coast
19794     With his proud ships, a gallant host!
19795     The gold-tipped stems dash through the foam
19796     That shakes the seamen's planked home;
19797     The high wave breaks up to the mast,
19798     As west of Halland on they passed,
19799
19800     "Harald whose word is fixed and sure,
19801     Whose ships his land from foes secure,
19802     And Svein, whose isles maintain is fleet,
19803     Hasten as friends again to meet;
19804     And every creek with vessels teems, -
19805     All Denmark men and shipping seems;
19806     And all rejoice that strife will cease,
19807     And men meet now but to make peace."
19808      Here it is told that the two kings held the meeting that was agreed upon
19809      between them, and both came to the frontiers of their kingdoms. So says
19810      the skald: -
19811     "To meet (since peace the Dane now craves)
19812     On to the south upon the waves
19813     Sailed forth our gallant northern king,
19814     Peace to the Danes with him to bring.
19815     Svein northward to his frontier hies
19816     To get the peace his people prize,
19817     And meet King Harald, whom he finds
19818     On land hard used by stormy winds."
19819      When the kings found each other, people began at once to talk of their
19820      being reconciled. But as soon as peace was proposed, many began to
19821      complain of the damage they had sustained by harrying, robbing and killing
19822      men; and for a long time it did not look very like peace. It is here
19823      related: -
19824     "Before this meeting of the kings
19825     Each bende his own losses brings,
19826     And loudly claims some recompense
19827     From his king's foes, at their expense.
19828     It is not easy to make peace,
19829     Where noise and talking never cease:
19830     The bondes' warmth may quickly spread,
19831     And kings be by the people led.
19832
19833     "When kings are moved, no peace is sure;
19834     For that peace only is secure
19835     Which they who make it fairly make, -
19836     To each side give, from each side take.
19837     The kings will often rule but ill
19838     Who listen to the people's will:
19839     The people often have no view
19840     But their own interests to pursue."
19841      At last the best men, and those who were the wisest, came between the
19842      kings, and settled the peace thus: -that Harald should have Norway,
19843      and Svein Denmark, according to the boundaries of old established between
19844      Denmark and Norway; neither of them should pay to the other for any damage
19845      sustained; the war should cease as it now stood, each retaining what he
19846      had got; and this peace should endure as long as they were kings. This
19847      peace was confirmed by oath. Then the kings parted, having given each
19848      other hostages, as is here related: -
19849     "And I have heard that to set fast
19850     The peace God brought about at last,
19851     Svein and stern Harald pledges sent,
19852     Who witnessed to their sworn intent;
19853     And much I wish that they and all
19854     In no such perjury may fall
19855     That this peace ever should be broken,
19856     And oaths should fail before God spoken."
19857      King Harald with his people sailed northwards to Norway, and King Svein
19858      southwards to Denmark.
19859      74. KING HARALD'S BATTLE WITH EARL HAKON.
19860      King Harald was in Viken in the summer (A.D. 1064), and he sent his men to
19861      the Uplands after the scat and duty which belonged to him; but the bondes
19862      paid no attention to the demand, but said they would hold all for Earl
19863      Hakon until he came for it. Earl Hakon was then up in Gautland with a
19864      large armed force. When summer was past King Harald went south to
19865      Konungahella. Then he took all the light-sailing vessels he could get hold
19866      of and steered up the river. He had the vessels drawn past all the
19867      waterfalls and brought them thus into the Wener lake. Then he rowed
19868      eastward across the lake to where he heard Earl Hakon was; but when the
19869      earl got news of the king's expedition he retreated down the country, and
19870      would not let the king plunder the land. Earl Hakon had a large armed
19871      force which the Gautland people had raised for him. King Harald lay with
19872      his ships up in a river, and made a foray on land, but left some of his
19873      men behind to protect the ships. The king himself rode up with a part of
19874      the men, but the greater part were on foot. They had to cross a forest,
19875      where they found a mire or lake, and close to it a wood; and when they
19876      reached the wood they saw the earl's men, but the mire was between them.
19877      They drew up their people now on both sides. Then King Harald ordered his
19878      men to sit down on the hillside. "We will first see if they will attack
19879      us. Earl Hakon does not usually wait to talk." It was frosty weather, with
19880      some snow-drift, and Harald's men sat down under their shields; but it was
19881      cold for the Gautlanders, who had but little clothing with them. The earl
19882      told them to wait until King Harald came nearer, so that all would stand
19883      equally high on the ground. Earl Hakon had the same banner which had
19884      belonged to King Magnus Olafson.
19885      The lagman of the Gautland people, Thorvid, sat upon a horse, and the
19886      bridle was fastened to a stake that stood in the mire. He broke out with
19887      these words: "God knows we have many brave and handsome fellows here, and
19888      we shall let King Steinkel hear that we stood by the good earl bravely. I
19889      am sure of one thing: we shall behave gallantly against these Northmen, if
19890      they attack us; but if our young people give way, and should not stand to
19891      it, let us not run farther than to that stream; but if they should give
19892      way farther, which I am sure they will not do, let it not be farther than
19893      to that hill." At that instant the Northmen sprang up, raised the war-cry,
19894      and struck on their shields; and the Gautland army began also to shout.
19895      The lagman's horse got shy with the war-cry, and backed so hard that the
19896      stake flew up and struck the lagman on the head. He said, "Ill luck to
19897      thee, Northman, for that arrow!" and away fled the lagman. King Harald had
19898      told his people, "If we do make a clash with the weapons, we shall not
19899      however, go down from the hill until they come nearer to us;" and they did
19900      so. When the war-cry was raised the earl let his banner advance; but when
19901      they came under the hill the king's army rushed down upon them, and killed
19902      some of the earl's people, and the rest fled. The Northmen did not pursue
19903      the fugitives long, for it was the fall of day; but they took Earl Hakon's
19904      banner and all the arms and clothes they could get hold of. King Harald
19905      had both the banners carried before him as they marched away. They spoke
19906      among themselves that the earl had probably fallen. As they were riding
19907      through the forest they could only ride singly, one following the other.
19908      Suddenly a man came full gallop across the path, struck his spear through
19909      him who was carrying the earl's banner, seized the banner-staff, and rode
19910      into the forest on the other side with the banner. When this was told the
19911      king he said, "Bring me my armour, for the earl is alive." Then the king
19912      rode to his ships in the night; and many said that the earl had now taken
19913      his revenge. But Thiodolf sang thus: -
19914     "Steinkel's troops, who were so bold,
19915     Who the Earl Hakon would uphold,
19916     Were driven by our horsemen's power
19917     To Hel, death goddess, in an hour;
19918     And the great earl, so men say
19919     Who won't admit he ran away,
19920     Because his men fled from the ground,
19921     Retired, and cannot now be found."
19922      75. DEATH OF HAL, THE MURDERER OF KODRAN.
19923      The rest of the night Harald passed in his ships; but in the morning, when
19924      it was daylight, it was found that so thick ice had gathered about the
19925      vessels that one could walk around them. The king ordered his men to cut
19926      the ice from the ships all the way out to the clear water; on which they
19927      all went to break the ice. King Harald's son, Magnus, steered the vessel
19928      that lay lowest down the river and nearest the water. When the people had
19929      cleared the ice away almost entirely, a man ran out to the ice, and began
19930      hewing away at it like a madman. Then said one of the men, "It is going
19931      now as usual, that none can do so much as Hal who killed Kodran, when once
19932      he lays himself to the work. See how he is hewing away at the ice." There
19933      was a man in the crew of Magnus, the king's son, who was called Thormod
19934      Eindridason; and when he heard the name of Kodran's murderer he ran up to
19935      Hal, and gave him a death-wound. Kodran was a son of Gudmund Eyjolfson;
19936      and Valgerd, who was a sister of Gudmund, was the mother of Jorun, and the
19937      grandmother by the mother's side of this Thormod. Thormod was a year old
19938      when Kodran was killed, and had never seen Hal Utrygson until now. When
19939      the ice was broken all the way out to the water, Magnus drew his ship out,
19940      set sail directly, and sailed westward across the lake; but the king's
19941      ship, which lay farthest up the river, came out the last. Hal had been in
19942      the king's retinue, and was very dear to him; so that the king was enraged
19943      at his death. The king came the last into the harbour, and Magnus had let
19944      the murderer escape into the forest, and offered to pay the mulct for him;
19945      and the king had very nearly attacked Magnus and his crew, but their
19946      friends came up and reconciled them.
19947      76. OF KING HARALD.
19948      That winter (A.D. 1065) King Harald went up to Raumarike, and had many
19949      people with him; and he accused the bondes there of having kept from him
19950      his scat and duties, and of having aided his enemies to raise disturbance
19951      against him. He seized on the bondes and maimed some, killed others, and
19952      robbed many of all their property. They who could do it fled from him. He
19953      burned everything in the districts and laid them altogether waste. So says
19954      Thiodolf: -
19955     "He who the island-people drove,
19956     When they against his power strove,
19957     Now bridle's Raumarike's men,
19958     Marching his forces through their glen.
19959     To punish them the fire he lights
19960     That shines afar off in dark nights
19961     From house and yard, and, as he says,
19962     Will warn the man who disobeys."
19963      Thereafter the king went up to Hedemark, burnt the dwellings, and made no
19964      less waste and havoc there than in Raumarike. From thence he went to
19965      Hadeland and Ringerike, burning and ravaging all the land. So says
19966      Thiodolf: -
19967     "The bonde's household goods are seen
19968     Before his door upon the green,
19969     Smoking and singed: and sparks red hot
19970     Glow in the thatched roof of his cot.
19971     In Hedemark the bondes pray
19972     The king his crushing hand to stay;
19973     In Ringerike and Hadeland,
19974     None 'gainst his fiery wrath can stand."
19975      Then the bondes left all to the king's mercy. After the death of King
19976      Magnus fifteen years had passed when the battle at Nis-river took place,
19977      and afterwards two years elapsed before Harald and Svein made peace. So
19978      says Thiodolf: -
19979     "The Hordland king under the land
19980     At anchor lay close to the strand,
19981     At last, prepared with shield and spear
19982     The peace was settled the third year."
19983      After this peace the disturbances with the people of the Upland districts
19984      lasted a year and a half. So says Thiodolf: -
19985     "No easy task it is to say
19986     How the king brought beneath his sway
19987     The Upland bondes, and would give
19988     Nought but their ploughs from which to live.
19989     The king in eighteen months brought down
19990     Their bonde power, and raised his own,
19991     And the great honour he has gained
19992     Will still in memory be retained."
19993      77. OF THE KINGS OF ENGLAND.
19994      Edward, Ethelred's son, was king of England after his brother Hardacanute.
19995      He was called Edward the Good; and so he was. King Edward's mother was
19996      Queen Emma, daughter of Richard, earl of Rouen. Her brother was Earl
19997      Robert, whose son was William the Bastard, who at that time was earl at
19998      Rouen in Normandy. King Edward's queen was Gyda, a daughter of Earl
19999      Godwin, the son of Ulfnad. Gyda's brothers were, Earl Toste, the eldest;
20000      Earl Morukare the next; Earl Walter the third; Earl Svein the fourth; and
20001      the fifth was Harald, who was the youngest, and he was brought up at King
20002      Edward's court, and was his foster-son. The king loved him very much, and
20003      kept him as his own son; for he had no children.
20004      78. OF HARALD GODWINSON.
20005      One summer it happened that Harald, the son of Godwin, made an expedition
20006      to Bretland with his ships, but when they got to sea they met a contrary
20007      wind, and were driven off into the ocean. They landed west in Normandy,
20008      after suffering from a dangerous storm. They brought up at Rouen, where
20009      they met Earl William, who received Harald and his company gladly. Harald
20010      remained there late in harvest, and was hospitably entertained; for the
20011      stormy weather continued, and there was no getting to sea, and this
20012      continued until winter set in; so the earl and Harald agreed that he
20013      should remain there all winter. Harald sat on the high-seat on one side of
20014      the earl; and on the other side sat the earl's wife, one of the most
20015      beautiful women that could be seen. They often talked together for
20016      amusement at the drinking-table; and the earl went generally to bed, but
20017      Harald and the earl's wife sat long in the evenings talking together, and
20018      so it went on for a great part of the winter. In one of their
20019      conversations she said to Harald, "The earl has asked me what it is we
20020      have to talk about so much, for he is angry at it." Harald replies, "We
20021      shall then at once let him know all our conversation." The following day,
20022      Harald asked the earl to a conference, and they went together into the
20023      conference-chamber; where also the queen was, and some of the councillors.
20024      Then Harald began thus: -"I have to inform you, earl, that there lies
20025      more in my visit here than I have let you know. I would ask your daughter
20026      in marriage, and have often spoke over this matter with her mother, and
20027      she has promised to support my suit with you." As soon as Harald had made
20028      known this proposal of his, it was well received by all who were present.
20029      They explained the case to the earl; and at last it came so far that the
20030      earl was contracted to Harald, but as she was very young, it was resolved
20031      that the wedding should be deferred for some years.
20032      79. KING EDWARD'S DEATH.
20033      When spring came Harald rigged his ships and set off; and he and the earl
20034      parted with great friendship. Harald sailed over to England to King
20035      Edward, but did not return to Valland to fulfill the marriage agreement.
20036      Edward was king over England for twenty-three years and died on a bed of
20037      sickness in London on the 5th of January, and was buried in Paul's church.
20038      Englishmen call him a saint.
20039      80. HARALD GODWINSON MADE KING OF ENGLAND.
20040      The sons of Earl Godwin were the most powerful men in England. Toste was
20041      made chief of the English king's army, and was his land-defence man when
20042      the king began to grow old; and he was also placed above all the other
20043      earls. His brother Harald was always with the court itself, and nearest to
20044      the king in all service, and had the charge of the king's
20045      treasure-chamber. It is said that when the king was approaching his last
20046      hour, Harald and a few others were with him. Harald first leans down over
20047      the king, and then said, "I take you all to witness that the king has now
20048      given me the kingdom, and all the realm of England:" and then the king was
20049      taken dead out of the bed. The same day there was a meeting of the chiefs,
20050      at which there was some talk of choosing a king; and then Harald brought
20051      forward his witnesses that King Edward had given him the kingdom on his
20052      dying day. The meeting ended by choosing Harald as king, and he was
20053      consecrated and crowned the 13th day of Yule, in Paul's church. Then all
20054      the chiefs and all the people submitted to him. Now when his brother, Earl
20055      Toste, heard of this he took it very ill, as he thought himself quite as
20056      well entitled to be king. "I want," said he, "that the principal men of
20057      the country choose him whom they think best fitted for it." And sharp
20058      words passed between the brothers. King Harald says he will not give up
20059      his kingly dignity, for he is seated on the throne which kings sat upon,
20060      and is anointed and consecrated a king. On his side also was the strength
20061      of the people, for he had the king's whole treasure.
20062      81. EARL TOSTE'S EXPEDITION TO DENMARK.
20063      Now when King Harald perceived that his brother Toste wanted to have him
20064      deprived of the kingdom he did not trust him; for Toste was a clever man,
20065      and a great warrior, and was in friendship with the principal men of the
20066      country. He therefore took the command of the army from Toste, and also
20067      all the power he had beyond that of the other earls of the country. Earl
20068      Toste, again, would not submit to be his own brother's serving man;
20069      therefore he went with his people over the sea to Flanders, and stayed
20070      there awhile, then went to Friesland, and from thence to Denmark to his
20071      relation King Svein. Earl Ulf, King Svein's father, and Gyda, Earl Toste's
20072      mother, were brother's and sister's children. The earl now asked King
20073      Svein for support and help of men; and King Svein invited him to stay with
20074      him, with the promise that he should get so large an earldom in Denmark
20075      that he would be an important chief.
20076      The earl replies, "My inclination is to go back to my estate in England;
20077      but if I cannot get help from you for that purpose, I will agree to help
20078      you with all the power I can command in England, if you will go there with
20079      the Danish army, and win the country, as Canute, your mother's brother,
20080      did."
20081      The king replied, "So much smaller a man am I than Canute the Great, that
20082      I can with difficulty defend my own Danish dominions against the Northmen.
20083      King Canute, on the other hand, got the Danish kingdom in heritage, took
20084      England by slash and blow, and sometimes was near losing his life in the
20085      contest; and Norway he took without slash or blow. Now it suits me much
20086      better to be guided by my own slender ability than to imitate my relation,
20087      King Canute's, lucky hits."
20088      Then Earl Toste said, "The result of my errand here is less fortunate than
20089      I expected of thee who art so gallant a man, seeing that thy relative is
20090      in so great need. It may be that I will seek friendly help where it could
20091      less be expected; and that I may find a chief who is less afraid, king,
20092      than thou art of a great enterprise."
20093      Then the king and the earl parted, not just the best friends.
20094      82. EARL TOSTE'S EXPEDITION TO NORWAY.
20095      Earl Toste turned away then and went to Norway, where he presented himself
20096      to King Harald, who was at that time in Viken. When they met the earl
20097      explained his errand to the king. He told him all his proceedings since he
20098      left England, and asked his aid to recover his dominions in England.
20099      The king replied that the Northmen had no great desire for a campaign in
20100      England, and to have English chiefs over them there. "People say," added
20101      he, "that the English are not to be trusted."
20102      The earl replied, "Is it true what I have heard people tell in England,
20103      that thy relative, King Magnus, sent men to King Edward with the message
20104      that King Magnus had right to England as well as to Denmark, and had got
20105      that heritage after Hardacanute, in consequence of a regular agreement?"
20106      The king replied, "How came it that he did not get it, if he had a right
20107      to it?"
20108      "Why," replied the earl, "hast thou not Denmark, as King Magnus, thy
20109      predecessor, had it?"
20110      The king replies, "The Danes have nothing to brag of over us Northmen; for
20111      many a place have we laid in ashes to thy relations."
20112      Then said the earl, "If thou wilt not tell me, I will tell thee. Magnus
20113      subdued Denmark, because all the chiefs of the country helped him; and
20114      thou hast not done it, because all the people of the country were against
20115      thee. Therefore, also, King Magnus did not strive for England, because all
20116      the nation would have Edward for king. Wilt thou take England now? I will
20117      bring the matter so far that most of the principal men in England shall be
20118      thy friends, and assist thee; for nothing is wanting to place me at the
20119      side of my brother Harald but the king's name. All men allow that there
20120      never was such a warrior in the northern lands as thou art; and it appears
20121      to me extraordinary that thou hast been fighting for fifteen years for
20122      Denmark, and wilt not take England that lies open to thee."
20123      King Harald weighed carefully the earl's words, and perceived at once that
20124      there was truth in much of what he said; and he himself had also a great
20125      desire to acquire dominions. Then King Harald and the earl talked long and
20126      frequently together; and at last he took the resolution to proceed in
20127      summer to England, and conquer the country. King Harald sent a
20128      message-token through all Norway and ordered out a levy of one-half of all
20129      the men in Norway able to carry arms. When this became generally known,
20130      there were many guesses about what might be the end of this expedition.
20131      Some reckoned up King Harald's great achievements, and thought he was also
20132      the man who could accomplish this. Others, again, said that England was
20133      difficult to attack; that it was very full of people; and the men-at-arms,
20134      who were called Thingmen, were so brave, that one of them was better than
20135      two of Harald's best men. Then said Ulf the marshal: -
20136     "I am still ready gold to gain;
20137     But truly it would be in vain,
20138     And the king's marshal in the hall
20139     Might leave his good post once for all,
20140     If two of us in any strife
20141     Must for one Thingman fly for life,
20142     My lovely Norse maid, in my youth
20143     We thought the opposite the truth."
20144      Ulf the marshal died that spring (A.D. 1066). King Harald stood over his
20145      grave, and said, as he was leaving it, "There lies now the truest of men,
20146      and the most devoted to his king."
20147      Earl Toste sailed in spring west to Flanders, to meet the people who had
20148      left England with him, and others besides who had gathered to him both out
20149      of England and Flanders.
20150      83. GYRD'S DREAMS.
20151      King Harald's fleet assembled at the Solunds. When King Harald was ready
20152      to leave Nidaros he went to King Olaf's shrine, unlocked it, clipped his
20153      hair and nails, and locked the shrine again, and threw the keys into the
20154      Nid. Some say he threw them overboard outside of Agdanes; and since then
20155      the shrine of Saint Olaf, the king, has never been opened. Thirty-five
20156      years had passed since he was slain; and he lived thirty-five years here
20157      on earth (A.D. 1080-1066). King Harald sailed with his ships he had about
20158      him to the south to meet his people, and a great fleet was collected; so
20159      that, according to the people's reckoning, King Harald had nearly 200
20160      ships beside provision-ships and small craft.
20161      While they lay at the Solunds a man called Gyrd, on board the king's ship,
20162      had a dream. He thought he was standing in the king's ship and saw a great
20163      witch-wife standing on the island, with a fork in one hand and a trough in
20164      the other. He thought also that he saw over all the fleet, and that a fowl
20165      was sitting upon every ship's stern, and that these fowls were all ravens
20166      or ernes; and the witch-wife sang this song: -
20167     "From the east I'll 'tice the king,
20168     To the west the king I'll bring;
20169     Many a noble bone will be
20170     Ravens o'er Giuke's ship are fitting,
20171     Eyeing the prey they think most fitting.
20172     Upon the stem I'll sail with them!
20173     Upon the stem I'll sail with them!"
20174      84. THORD'S DREAM.
20175      There was also a man called Thord, in a ship which lay not far from the
20176      king's. He dreamt one night that he saw King Harald's fleet coming to
20177      land, and he knew the land to be England. He saw a great battle-array on
20178      the land; and he thought both sides began to fight, and had many banners
20179      flapping in the air. And before the army of the people of the country was
20180      riding a huge witch-wife upon a wolf; and the wolf had a man's carcass in
20181      his mouth, and the blood was dropping from his jaws; and when he had eaten
20182      up one body she threw another into his mouth, and so one after another,
20183      and he swallowed them all. And she sang thus: -
20184     "Skade's eagle eyes
20185     The king's ill luck espies:
20186     Though glancing shields
20187     Hide the green fields,
20188     The king's ill luck she spies.
20189     To bode the doom of this great king,
20190     The flesh of bleeding men I fling
20191     To hairy jaw and hungry maw!
20192     To hairy jaw and hungry maw!"
20193      85. KING HARALD'S DREAM.
20194      King Harald also dreamt one night that he was in Nidaros, and met his
20195      brother, King Olaf, who sang to him these verses: -
20196     "In many a fight
20197     My name was bright;
20198     Men weep, and tell
20199     How Olaf fell.
20200     Thy death is near;
20201     Thy corpse, I fear,
20202     The crow will feed,
20203     The witch-wife's steed."
20204      Many other dreams and forebodings were then told of, and most of them
20205      gloomy. Before King Harald left Throndhjem, he let his son Magnus be
20206      proclaimed king and set him as king over Norway while he was absent.
20207      Thora, the daughter of Thorberg, also remained behind; but he took with
20208      him Queen Ellisif and her two daughters, Maria and Ingegerd. Olaf, King
20209      Harald's son, also accompanied his father abroad.
20210      86. BATTLE AT SCARBOROUGH.
20211      When King Harald was clear for sea, and the wind became favourable, he
20212      sailed out into the ocean; and he himself landed in Shetland, but a part
20213      of his fleet in the Orkney Islands. King Harald stopped but a short time
20214      in Shetland before sailing to Orkney, from whence he took with him a great
20215      armed force, and the earls Paul and Erlend, the sons of Earl Thorfin; but
20216      he left behind him here the Queen Ellisif, and her daughters Maria and
20217      Ingegerd. Then he sailed, leaving Scotland and England westward of him,
20218      and landed at a place called Klifland. There he went on shore and
20219      plundered, and brought the country in subjection to him without
20220      opposition. Then he brought up at Skardaburg, and fought with the people
20221      of the place. He went up a hill which is there, and made a great pile upon
20222      it, which he set on fire; and when the pile was in clear flame, his men
20223      took large forks and pitched the burning wood down into the town, so that
20224      one house caught fire after the other, and the town surrendered. The
20225      Northmen killed many people there and took all the booty they could lay
20226      hold of. There was nothing left for the Englishmen now, if they would
20227      preserve their lives, but to submit to King Harald; and thus he subdued
20228      the country wherever he came. Then the king proceeded south along the
20229      land, and brought up at Hellornes, where there came a force that had been
20230      assembled to oppose him, with which he had a battle, and gained the
20231      victory.
20232      87. OF HARALD'S ORDER OF BATTLE.
20233      Thereafter the king sailed to the Humber, and up along the river, and then
20234      he landed. Up in Jorvik were two earls, Earl Morukare, and his brother,
20235      Earl Valthiof, and they had an immense army. While the army of the earls
20236      was coming down from the upper part of the country, King Harald lay in the
20237      Usa. King Harald now went on the land, and drew up his men. The one arm of
20238      this line stood at the outer edge of the river, the other turned up
20239      towards the land along a ditch; and there was also a morass, deep, broad,
20240      and full of water. The earls let their army proceed slowly down along the
20241      river, with all their troops in line. The king's banner was next the
20242      river, where the line was thickest. It was thinnest at the ditch, where
20243      also the weakest of the men were. When the earls advanced downwards along
20244      the ditch, the arm of the Northmen's line which was at the ditch gave way;
20245      and the Englishmen followed, thinking the Northmen would fly. The banner
20246      of Earl Morukare advanced then bravely.
20247      88. THE BATTLE AT THE HUMBER.
20248      When King Harald saw that the English array had come to the ditch against
20249      him, he ordered the charge to be sounded, and urged on his men. He ordered
20250      the banner which was called the Land-ravager to be carried before him, and
20251      made so severe an assault that all had to give way before it; and there
20252      was a great loss among the men of the earls, and they soon broke into
20253      flight, some running up the river, some down, and the most leaping into
20254      the ditch, which was so filled with dead that the Norsemen could go
20255      dry-foot over the fen. There Earl Morukare fell. So says Stein Herdison: -
20256     "The gallant Harald drove along,
20257     Flying but fighting, the whole throng.
20258     At last, confused, they could not fight,
20259     And the whole body took to flight.
20260     Up from the river's silent stream
20261     At once rose desperate splash and scream;
20262     But they who stood like men this fray
20263     Round Morukare's body lay."
20264      This song was composed by Stein Herdison about Olaf, son of King Harald;
20265      and he speaks of Olaf being in this battle with King Harald, his father.
20266      These things are also spoken of in the song called "Harald's Stave": -
20267     "Earl Valthiof's men
20268     Lay in the fen,
20269     By sword down hewed,
20270     So thickly strewed,
20271     That Norsemen say
20272     They paved a way
20273     Across the fen
20274     For the brave Norsemen."
20275      Earl Valthiof, and the people who escaped, fled up to the castle of York;
20276      and there the greatest loss of men had been. This battle took place upon
20277      the Wednesday next Mathias' day (A.D. 1066).
20278      89. OF EARL TOSTE.
20279      Earl Toste had come from Flanders to King Harald as soon as he arrived in
20280      England, and the earl was present at all these battles. It happened, as he
20281      had foretold the king at their first meeting, that in England many people
20282      would flock to them, as being friends and relations of Earl Toste, and
20283      thus the king's forces were much strengthened. After the battle now told
20284      of, all people in the nearest districts submitted to Harald, but some
20285      fled. Then the king advanced to take the castle, and laid his army at
20286      Stanforda-bryggiur (Stamford Bridge); and as King Harald had gained so
20287      great a victory against so great chiefs and so great an army, the people
20288      were dismayed, and doubted if they could make any opposition. The men of
20289      the castle therefore determined, in a council, to send a message to King
20290      Harald, and deliver up the castle into his power. All this was soon
20291      settled; so that on Sunday the king proceeded with the whole army to the
20292      castle, and appointed a Thing of the people without the castle, at which
20293      the people of the castle were to be present. At this Thing all the people
20294      accepted the condition of submitting to Harald, and gave him, as hostages,
20295      the children of the most considerable persons; for Earl Toste was well
20296      acquainted with all the people of that town. In the evening the king
20297      returned down to his ships, after this victory achieved with his own
20298      force, and was very merry. A Thing was appointed within the castle early
20299      on Monday morning, and then King Harald was to name officers to rule over
20300      the town, to give out laws, and bestow fiefs. The same evening, after
20301      sunset, King Harald Godwinson came from the south to the castle with a
20302      numerous army, and rode into the city with the good-will and consent of
20303      the people of the castle. All the gates and walls were beset so that the
20304      Northmen could receive no intelligence, and the army remained all night in
20305      the town.
20306      90. OF KING HARALD'S LANDING.
20307      On Monday, when King Harald Sigurdson had taken breakfast, he ordered the
20308      trumpets to sound for going on shore. The army accordingly got ready, and
20309      he divided the men into the parties who should go, and who should stay
20310      behind. In every division he allowed two men to land, and one to remain
20311      behind. Earl Toste and his retinue prepared to land with King Harald; and,
20312      for watching the ships, remained behind the king's son Olaf; the earls of
20313      Orkney, Paul and Erlend; and also Eystein Orre, a son of Thorberg Arnason,
20314      who was the most able and best beloved by the king of all the lendermen,
20315      and to whom the king had promised his daughter Maria. The weather was
20316      uncommonly fine, and it was hot sunshine. The men therefore laid aside
20317      their armour, and went on the land only with their shields, helmets and
20318      spears, and girt with swords; and many had also arrows and bows, and all
20319      were very merry. Now as they came near the castle a great army seemed
20320      coming against them, and they saw a cloud of dust as from horses' feet,
20321      and under it shining shields and bright armour. The king halted his
20322      people, and called to him Earl Toste, and asked him what army this could
20323      be. The earl replied that he thought it most likely to be a hostle army,
20324      but possibly it might be some of his relations who were seeking for mercy
20325      and friendship, in order to obtain certain peace and safety from the king.
20326      Then the king said, "We must all halt, to discover what kind of a force
20327      this is." They did so; and the nearer this force came the greater it
20328      appeared, and their shining arms were to the sight like glancing ice.
20329      91. OF EARL TOSTE'S COUNSEL.
20330      Then said King Harald, "Let us now fall upon some good sensible counsel;
20331      for it is not to be concealed that this is an hostile army and the king
20332      himself without doubt is here."
20333      Then said the earl, "The first counsel is to turn about as fast as we can
20334      to our ships to get our men and our weapons, and then we will make a
20335      defence according to our ability; or otherwise let our ships defend us,
20336      for there these horsemen have no power over us."
20337      Then King Harald said, "I have another counsel. Put three of our best
20338      horses under three of our briskest lads and let them ride with all speed
20339      to tell our people to come quickly to our relief. The Englishmen shall
20340      have a hard fray of it before we give ourselves up for lost."
20341      The earl said the king must order in this, as in all things, as he thought
20342      best; adding, at the same time, it was by no means his wish to fly. Then
20343      King Harald ordered his banner Land-ravager to be set up; and Frirek was
20344      the name of him who bore the banner.
20345      92. OF KING HARALD'S ARMY.
20346      Then King Harald arranged his army, and made the line of battle long, but
20347      not deep. He bent both wings of it back, so that they met together; and
20348      formed a wide ring equally thick all round, shield to shield, both in the
20349      front and rear ranks. The king himself and his retinue were within the
20350      circle; and there was the banner, and a body of chosen men. Earl Toste,
20351      with his retinue, was at another place, and had a different banner. The
20352      army was arranged in this way, because the king knew that horsemen were
20353      accustomed to ride forwards with great vigour, but to turn back
20354      immediately. Now the king ordered that his own and the earl's attendants
20355      should ride forwards where it was most required. "And our bowmen," said
20356      he, "shall be near to us; and they who stand in the first rank shall set
20357      the spear-shaft on the ground, and the spear-point against the horseman's
20358      breast, if he rides at them; and those who stand in the second rank shall
20359      set the spear-point against the horse's breast."
20360      93. OF KING HARALD GODWINSON.
20361      King Harald Godwinson had come with an immense army, both of cavalry and
20362      infantry. Now King Harald Sigurdson rode around his array, to see how
20363      every part was drawn up. He was upon a black horse, and the horse stumbled
20364      under him, so that the king fell off. He got up in haste and said, "A fall
20365      is lucky for a traveller."
20366      The English king Harald said to the Northmen who were with him, "Do ye
20367      know the stout man who fell from his horse, with the blue kirtle and the
20368      beautiful helmet?"
20369      "That is the king himself." said they.
20370      The English king said, "A great man, and of stately appearance is he; but
20371      I think his luck has left him."
20372      94. OF THE TROOP OF THE NOBILITY.
20373      Twenty horsemen rode forward from the Thing-men's troops against the
20374      Northmen's array; and all of them, and likewise their horses, were clothed
20375      in armour.
20376      One of the horsemen said, "Is Earl Toste in this army?"
20377      The earl answered, "It is not to be denied that ye will find him here."
20378      The horseman says, "Thy brother, King Harald, sends thee salutation, with
20379      the message that thou shalt have the whole of Northumberland; and rather
20380      than thou shouldst not submit to him, he will give thee the third part of
20381      his kingdom to rule over along with himself."
20382      The earl replies, "This is something different from the enmity and scorn
20383      he offered last winter; and if this had been offered then it would have
20384      saved many a man's life who now is dead, and it would have been better for
20385      the kingdom of England. But if I accept of this offer, what will he give
20386      King Harald Sigurdson for his trouble?"
20387      The horseman replied, "He has also spoken of this; and will give him seven
20388      feet of English ground, or as much more as he may be taller than other
20389      men."
20390      "Then," said the earl, "go now and tell King Harald to get ready for
20391      battle; for never shall the Northmen say with truth that Earl Toste left
20392      King Harald Sigurdson to join his enemy's troops, when he came to fight
20393      west here in England. We shall rather all take the resolution to die with
20394      honour, or to gain England by a victory."
20395      Then the horseman rode back.
20396      King Harald Sigurdson said to the earl, "Who was the man who spoke so
20397      well?"
20398      The earl replied, "That was King Harald Godwinson."
20399      Then, said King Harald Sigurdson, "That was by far too long concealed from
20400      me; for they had come so near to our army, that this Harald should never
20401      have carried back the tidings of our men's slaughter."
20402      Then said the earl, "It was certainly imprudent for such chiefs, and it
20403      may be as you say; but I saw he was going to offer me peace and a great
20404      dominion, and that, on the other hand, I would be his murderer if I
20405      betrayed him; and I would rather he should be my murderer than I his, if
20406      one of two be to die."
20407      King Harald Sigurdson observed to his men, "That was but a little man, yet
20408      he sat firmly in his stirrups."
20409      It is said that Harald made these verses at this time: -
20410     "Advance!  advance!
20411     No helmets glance,
20412     But blue swords play
20413     In our array.
20414     Advance!  advance!
20415     No mail-coats glance,
20416     But hearts are here
20417     That ne'er knew fear."
20418      His coat of mail was called Emma; and it was so long that it reached
20419      almost to the middle of his leg, and so strong that no weapon ever pierced
20420      it. Then said King Harald Sigurdson, "These verses are but ill composed; I
20421      must try to make better;" and he composed the following: -
20422     "In battle storm we seek no lee,
20423     With skulking head, and bending knee,
20424     Behind the hollow shield.
20425     With eye and hand we fend the head;
20426     Courage and skill stand in the stead
20427     Of panzer, helm, and shield,
20428     In hild's bloody field."
20429      Thereupon Thiodolf sang: -
20430     "And should our king in battle fall, -
20431     A fate that God may give to all, -
20432     His sons will vengeance take;
20433     And never shone the sun upon
20434     Two nobler eaglet; in his run,
20435     And them we'll never forsake."
20436      95. OF THE BEGINNING OF THE BATTLE.
20437      Now the battle began. The Englishmen made a hot assault upon the Northmen,
20438      who sustained it bravely. It was no easy matter for the English to ride
20439      against the Northmen on account of their spears; therefore they rode in a
20440      circle around them. And the fight at first was but loose and light, as
20441      long as the Northmen kept their order of battle; for although the English
20442      rode hard against the Northmen, they gave way again immediately, as they
20443      could do nothing against them. Now when the Northmen thought they
20444      perceived that the enemy were making but weak assaults, they set after
20445      them, and would drive them into flight; but when they had broken their
20446      shield-rampart the Englishmen rode up from all sides, and threw arrows and
20447      spears on them. Now when King Harald Sigurdson saw this, he went into the
20448      fray where the greatest crash of weapons was, and there was a sharp
20449      conflict, in which many people fell on both sides. King Harald then was in
20450      a rage, and ran out in front of the array, and hewed down with both hands;
20451      so that neither helmet nor armour could withstand him, and all who were
20452      nearest gave way before him. It was then very near with the English that
20453      they had taken to flight. So says Arnor, the earls' skald: -
20454     "Where battle-storm was ringing,
20455     Where arrow-cloud was singing,
20456          Harald stood there,
20457          Of armour bare,
20458     His deadly sword still swinging.
20459     The foeman feel its bite;
20460     His Norsemen rush to fight,
20461          Danger to share,
20462          With Harald there,
20463     Where steel on steel was ringing."
20464      96. FALL OF KING HARALD.
20465      King Harald Sigurdson was hit by an arrow in the windpipe, and that was
20466      his death-wound. He fell, and all who had advanced with him, except those
20467      who retired with the banner. There was afterwards the warmest conflict,
20468      and Earl Toste had taken charge of the king's banner. They began on both
20469      sides to form their array again, and for a long time there was a pause in
20470      fighting. Then Thiodolf sang these verses: -
20471     "The army stands in hushed dismay;
20472     Stilled is the clamour of the fray.
20473     Harald is dead, and with him goes
20474     The spirit to withstand our foes.
20475     A bloody scat the folk must pay
20476     For their king's folly on this day.
20477     He fell; and now, without disguise,
20478     We say this business was not wise."
20479      But before the battle began again Harald Godwinson offered his brother,
20480      Earl Toste, peace, and also quarter to the Northmen who were still alive;
20481      but the Northmen called out, all of them together, that they would rather
20482      fall, one across the other, than accept of quarter from the Englishmen.
20483      Then each side set up a war-shout, and the battle began again. So says
20484      Arnor, the earls' skald: -
20485     "The king, whose name would ill-doers scare,
20486     The gold-tipped arrow would not spare.
20487     Unhelmed, unpanzered, without shield,
20488     He fell among us in the field.
20489     The gallant men who saw him fall
20490     Would take no quarter; one and all
20491     Resolved to die with their loved king,
20492     Around his corpse in a corpse-ring."
20493      97. SKIRMISH OF ORRE.
20494      Eystein Orre came up at this moment from the ships with the men who
20495      followed him, and all were clad in armour. Then Eystein got King Harald's
20496      banner Land-ravager; and now was, for the third time, one of the sharpest
20497      of conflicts, in which many Englishmen fell, and they were near to taking
20498      flight. This conflict is called Orre's storm. Eystein and his men had
20499      hastened so fast from the ships that they were quite exhausted, and
20500      scarcely fit to fight before they came into the battle; but afterwards
20501      they became so furious, that they did not guard themselves with their
20502      shields as long as they could stand upright. At last they threw off their
20503      coats of ringmail, and then the Englishmen could easily lay their blows at
20504      them; and many fell from weariness, and died without a wound. Thus almost
20505      all the chief men fell among the Norway people. This happened towards
20506      evening; and then it went, as one might expect, that all had not the same
20507      fate, for many fled, and were lucky enough to escape in various ways; and
20508      darkness fell before the slaughter was altogether ended.
20509      98. OF STYRKAR THE MARSHAL.
20510      Styrkar, King Harald Sigurdson's marshal, a gallant man, escaped upon a
20511      horse, on which he rode away in the evening. It was blowing a cold wind,
20512      and Styrkar had not much other clothing upon him but his shirt, and had a
20513      helmet on his head, and a drawn sword in his hand. As soon as his
20514      weariness was over, he began to feel cold. A waggoner met him in a lined
20515      skin-coat. Styrkar asks him, "Wilt thou sell thy coat, friend?"
20516      "Not to thee," says the peasant: "thou art a Northman; that I can hear by
20517      thy tongue."
20518      Styrkar replies, "If I were a Northman, what wouldst thou do?"
20519      "I would kill thee," replied the peasant; "but as ill luck would have it,
20520      I have no weapon just now by me that would do it."
20521      Then Styrkar says, "As you can't kill me, friend, I shall try if I can't
20522      kill you." And with that he swung his sword, and struck him on the neck,
20523      so that his head came off. He then took the skin-coat, sprang on his
20524      horse, and rode down to the strand.
20525      Olaf Haraldson had not gone on land with the others, and when he heard of
20526      his father's fall he made ready to sail away with the men who remained.
20527      99. OF WILLIAM THE BASTARD.
20528      When the Earl of Rouen, William the Bastard, heard of his relation, King
20529      Edward's, death, and also that Harald Godwinson was chosen, crowned, and
20530      consecrated king of England, it appeared to him that he had a better right
20531      to the kingdom of England than Harald, by reason of the relationship
20532      between him and King Edward. He thought, also, that he had grounds for
20533      avenging the affront that Harald had put upon him with respect to his
20534      daughter. From all these grounds William gathered together a great army in
20535      Normandy, and had many men, and sufficient transport-shipping. The day
20536      that he rode out of the castle to his ships, and had mounted his horse,
20537      his wife came to him, and wanted to speak with him; but when he saw her he
20538      struck at her with his heel, and set his spurs so deep into her breast
20539      that she fell down dead; and the earl rode on to his ships, and went with
20540      his ships over to England. His brother, Archbishop Otto, was with him; and
20541      when the earl came to England he began to plunder, and take possession of
20542      the land as he came along. Earl William was stouter and stronger than
20543      other men; a great horseman and warrior, but somewhat stern; and a very
20544      sensible man, but not considered a man to be relied on.
20545      100. FALL OF KING HARALD GODWINSON.
20546      King Harald Godwinson gave King Harald Sigurdson's son Olaf leave to go
20547      away, with the men who had followed him and had not fallen in battle; but
20548      he himself turned round with his army to go south, for he had heard that
20549      William the Bastard was overwhelming the south of England with a vast
20550      army, and was subduing the country for himself. With King Harald went his
20551      brothers Svein and Gyrd, and Earl Valthiof. King Harald and Earl William
20552      met each other south in England at Helsingja-port (Hastings). There was a
20553      great battle in which King Harald and his brother Earl Gyrd and a great
20554      part of his men fell. This was the nineteenth day after the fall of King
20555      Harald Sigurdson. Harald's brother, Earl Valthiof, escaped by flight, and
20556      towards evening fell in with a division of William's people, consisting of
20557      100 men; and when they saw Earl Valthiof's troop they fled to a wood. Earl
20558      Valthiof set fire to the wood, and they were all burnt. So says Thorkel
20559      Skallason in Valthiof's ballad: -
20560     "Earl Valthiof the brave
20561     His foes a warming gave:
20562     Within the blazing grove
20563     A hundred men he drove.
20564     The wolf will soon return,
20565     And the witch's horse will burn
20566     Her sharp claws in the ash,
20567     To taste the Frenchman's flesh."
20568      101. EARL VALTHIOF'S DEATH.
20569      William was proclaimed king of England. He sent a message to Earl Valthiof
20570      that they should be reconciled, and gave him assurance of safety to come
20571      to the place of meeting. The earl set out with a few men; but when he came
20572      to a heath north of Kastala-bryggia, there met him two officers of King
20573      William, with many followers, who took him prisoner, put him in fetters,
20574      and afterwards he was beheaded; and the English call him a saint. Thorkel
20575      tells of this: -
20576     "William came o'er the sea,
20577     With bloody sword came he:
20578     Cold heart and bloody hand
20579     Now rule the English land.
20580     Earl Valthiof he slew, -
20581     Valthiof the brave and true.
20582     Cold heart and bloody hand
20583     Now rule the English land."
20584      William was after this king of England for twenty-one years, and his
20585      descendants have been so ever since.
20586      102. OF OLAF HARALDSON'S EXPEDITION TO NORWAY.
20587      Olaf, the son of King Harald Sigurdson, sailed with his fleet from England
20588      from Hrafnseyr, and came in autumn to the Orkney Isles, where the event
20589      had happened that Maria, a daughter of Harald Sigurdson, died a sudden
20590      death the very day and hour her father, King Harald, fell. Olaf remained
20591      there all winter; but the summer after he proceeded east to Norway, where
20592      he was proclaimed king along with his brother Magnus. Queen Ellisif came
20593      from the West, along with her stepson Olaf and her daughter Ingegerd.
20594      There came also with Olaf over the West sea Skule, a son of Earl Toste,
20595      and who since has been called the king's foster-son, and his brother Ketil
20596      Krok. Both were gallant men, of high family in England, and both were very
20597      intelligent; and the brothers were much beloved by King Olaf. Ketil Krok
20598      went north to Halogaland, where King Olaf procured him a good marriage,
20599      and from him are descended many great people. Skule, the king's
20600      foster-son, was a very clever man, and the handsomest man that could be
20601      seen. He was the commander of King Olaf's court-men, spoke at the Things
20602      (1) and took part in all the country affairs with the king. The king
20603      offered to give Skule whatever district in Norway he liked, with all the
20604      income and duties that belonged to the king in it. Skule thanked him very
20605      much for the offer, but said he would rather have something else from him.
20606      "For if there came a shift of kings," said he, "the gift might come to
20607      nothing. I would rather take some properties lying near to the merchant
20608      towns, where you, sire, usually take up your abode, and then I would enjoy
20609      your Yule-feasts." The king agreed to this, and conferred on him lands
20610      eastward at Konungahella, Oslo, Tunsberg, Sarpsborg, Bergen, and north at
20611      Nidaros. These were nearly the best properties at each place, and have
20612      since descended to the family branches which came from Skule. King Olaf
20613      gave Skule his female relative, Gudrun, the daughter of Nefstein, in
20614      marriage. Her mother was Ingerid, a daughter of Sigurd Syr and Asta, King
20615      Olaf the Saint's mother. Ingerid was a sister of King Olaf the Saint and
20616      of King Harald. Skule and Gudrun's son was Asolf of Reine, who married
20617      Thora, a daughter of Skopte Ogmundson; Asolf's and Thora's son was Guthorm
20618      of Reine, father of Bard, and grandfather of King Inge and of Duke Skule.
20619   ENDNOTES: (1) Another instance of the old Norse or Icelandic tongue
20620     having been generally known in a part of England.
20621      103. OF KING HARALD SIGURDSON.
20622      One year after King Harald's fall his body was transported from England
20623      north to Nidaros, and was buried in Mary church, which he had built. It
20624      was a common observation that King Harald distinguished himself above all
20625      other men by wisdom and resources of mind; whether he had to take a
20626      resolution suddenly for himself and others, or after long deliberation. He
20627      was, also, above all other men, bold, brave, and lucky, until his dying
20628      day, as above related; and bravery is half victory. So says Thiodolf: -
20629     "Harald, who till his dying day
20630     Came off the best in many a fray,
20631     Had one good rule in battle-plain,
20632     In Seeland and elsewhere, to gain -
20633     That, be his foes' strength more or less,
20634     Courage is always half success."
20635      King Herald was a handsome man, of noble appearance; his hair and beard
20636      yellow. He had a short beard, and long mustaches. The one eyebrow was
20637      somewhat higher than the other. He had large hands (1) and feet; but these
20638      were well made. His height was five ells. He was stern and severe to his
20639      enemies, and avenged cruelly all opposition or misdeed. So says Thiodolf: -
20640     "Severe alike to friends or foes,
20641     Who dared his royal will oppose;
20642     Severe in discipline to hold
20643     His men-at-arms wild and bold;
20644     Severe the bondes to repress;
20645     Severe to punish all excess;
20646     Severe was Harald -but we call
20647     That just which was alike to all."
20648      King Harald was most greedy of power, and of all distinction and honour.
20649      He was bountiful to the friends who suited him. So says Thiodolf: -
20650     "I got from him, in sea-fight strong,
20651     A mark of gold for my ship-song.
20652     Merit in any way
20653     He generously would pay."
20654      King Harald was fifty years old when he fell. We have no particular
20655      account of his youth before he was fifteen years old, when he was with his
20656      brother, King Olaf, at the battle of Stiklestad. He lived thirty-five
20657      years after that, and in all that time was never free from care and war.
20658      King Harald never fled from battle, but often tried cunning ways to escape
20659      when he had to do with great superiority of forces. All the men who
20660      followed King Harald in battle or skirmish said that when he stood in
20661      great danger, or anything came suddenly upon him, he always took that
20662      course which all afterwards saw gave the best hope of a fortunate issue.
20663   ENDNOTES: (1) It is a singular physical circumstance, that in almost all
20664     the swords of those ages to be found in the collection of
20665     weapons in the Antiquarian Museum at Copenhagen, the handles
20666     indicate a size of hand very much smaller than the hands of
20667     modern people of any class or rank.  No modern dandy, with
20668     the most delicate hands, would find room for his hand to
20669     grasp or wield with case some of the swords of these
20670     Northmen. -L.
20671      104. KING HARALD AND KING OLAF COMPARED.
20672      When Haldor, a son of Brynjolf Ulfalde the Old, who was a sensible man and
20673      a great chief, heard people talk of how unlike the brothers Saint Olaf and
20674      King Harald were in disposition, he used to say, "I was in great
20675      friendship with both the brothers, and I knew intimately the dispositions
20676      of both, and never did I know two men more like in disposition. Both were
20677      of the highest understanding, and bold in arms, and greedy of power and
20678      property; of great courage, but not acquainted with the way of winning the
20679      favour of the people; zealous in governing, and severe in their revenge.
20680      King Olaf forced the people into Christianity and good customs, and
20681      punished cruelly those who disobeyed. This just and rightful severity the
20682      chiefs of the country could not bear, but raised an army against him, and
20683      killed him in his own kingdom; and therefore he is held to be a saint.
20684      King Harald, again, marauded to obtain glory and power, forced all the
20685      people he could under his power, and died in another king's dominions.
20686      Both brothers, in daily life, were of a worthy and considerate manner of
20687      living; they were of great experience, and very laborious, and were known
20688      and celebrated far and wide for these qualities."
20689      105. KING MAGNUS'S DEATH.
20690      King Magnus Haraldson ruled over Norway the first winter after King
20691      Harald's death (A.D. 1067), and afterwards two years (A.D. 1068-1069)
20692      along with his brother, King Olaf. Thus there were two kings of Norway at
20693      that time; and Magnus had the northern and Olaf the eastern part of the
20694      country. King Magnus had a son called Hakon, who was fostered by Thorer of
20695      Steig in Gudbrandsdal, who was a brother of King Magnus by the mother's
20696      side; and Hakon was a most agreeable man.
20697      After King Harald Sigurdson's death the Danish king Svein let it be known
20698      that the peace between the Northmen and the Danes was at an end, and
20699      insisted that the league between Harald and Svein was not for longer time
20700      than their lives. There was a levy in both kingdoms. Harald's sons called
20701      out the whole people in Norway for procuring men and ships, and Svein set
20702      out from the south with the Danish army. Messengers then went between with
20703      proposals for a peace; and the Northmen said they would either have the
20704      same league as was concluded between King Harald and Svein, or otherwise
20705      give battle instantly on the spot. Verses were made on this occasion,
20706      viz.: -
20707     "Ready for war or peace,
20708     King Olaf will not cease
20709     From foeman's hand
20710     To guard his land."
20711      So says also Stein Herdison in his song of Olaf: -
20712     "From Throndhjem town, where in repose
20713     The holy king defies his foes,
20714     Another Olaf will defend
20715     His kingdom from the greedy Svein.
20716     King Olaf had both power and right,
20717     And the Saint's favour in the fight.
20718     The Saint will ne'er his kin forsake,
20719     And let Svein Ulfson Norway take."
20720      In this manner friendship was concluded between the kings and peace
20721      between the countries. King Magnus fell ill and died of the ringworm
20722      disease, after being ill for some time. He died and was buried at Nidaros.
20723      He was an amiable king and bewailed by the people.
20724      SAGA OF OLAF KYRRE.
20725      PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
20726      Snorri's account of Olaf Kyrre corresponds with the statements found in
20727      "Agrip", "Fagrskinna", and "Morkinskinna".
20728      There are but few events in Olaf's long reign, and hence he is very
20729      appropriately called the Quiet (Kyrre). As Hildebrand says, this saga
20730      seems to be written simply to fill out the empty space between Harald
20731      Hardrade and Magnus Barefoot.
20732      Skalds quoted in this saga are: Stein Herdison and Stuf.
20733      1. OLAF'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
20734      Olaf remained sole king of Norway after the death (A.D. 1069) of his
20735      brother King Magnus. Olaf was a stout man, well grown in limbs; and every
20736      one said a handsomer man could not be seen, nor of a nobler appearance.
20737      His hair was yellow as silk, and became him well; his skin was white and
20738      fine over all his body; his eyes beautiful, and his limbs well
20739      proportioned. He was rather silent in general, and did not speak much even
20740      at Things; but he was merry in drinking parties. He loved drinking much,
20741      and was talkative enough then; but quite peaceful. He was cheerful in
20742      conversation, peacefully inclined during all his reign, and loving
20743      gentleness and moderation in all things. Stein Herdison speaks thus of
20744      him: -
20745     "Our Throndhjem king is brave and wise,
20746     His love of peace our bondes prize;
20747     By friendly word and ready hand
20748     He holds good peace through every land.
20749     He is for all a lucky star;
20750     England he frightens from a war;
20751     The stiff-necked Danes he drives to peace;
20752     Troubles by his good influence cease."
20753      2. OF KING OLAF'S MANNER OF LIVING.
20754      It was the fashion in Norway in old times for the king's high-seat to be
20755      on the middle of a long bench, and the ale was handed across the fire (1);
20756      but King Olaf had his high-seat made on a high bench across the room; he
20757      also first had chimney-places in the rooms, and the floors strewed both
20758      summer and winter. In King Olaf's time many merchant towns arose in
20759      Norway, and many new ones were founded. Thus King Olaf founded a merchant
20760      town at Bergen, where very soon many wealthy people settled themselves,
20761      and it was regularly frequented by merchants from foreign lands. He had
20762      the foundations laid for the large Christ church, which was to be a stone
20763      church; but in his time there was little done to it. Besides, he completed
20764      the old Christ church, which was of wood. King Olaf also had a great
20765      feasting-house built in Nidaros, and in many other merchant towns, where
20766      before there were only private feasts; and in his time no one could drink
20767      in Norway but in these houses, adorned for the purpose with branches and
20768      leaves, and which stood under the king's protection. The great guild-bell
20769      in Throndhjem, which was called the pride of the town, tolled to call
20770      together to these guilds. The guild-brethren built Margaret's church in
20771      Nidaros of stone. In King Olaf's time there were general entertainments
20772      and hand-in-hand feasts. At this time also much unusual splendour and
20773      foreign customs and fashions in the cut of clothes were introduced; as,
20774      for instance, costly hose plaited about the legs. Some had gold rings
20775      about the legs, and also used coats which had lists down the sides, and
20776      arms five ells long, and so narrow that they must be drawn up with ties,
20777      and lay in folds all the way up to the shoulders. The shoes were high, and
20778      all edged with silk, or even with gold. Many other kinds of wonderful
20779      ornaments were used at that time.
20780   ENDNOTES: (1) We may understand the arrangement by supposing the fire in
20781     the middle of the room, the smoke escaping by a hole in the
20782     roof, and a long bench on each side of the fire; one bench
20783     occupied by the high-seat of the king and great guests, the
20784     other by the rest of the guests; and the cup handed across
20785     the fire, which appears to have had a religious meaning
20786     previous to the introduction of Christianity. -L.
20787      3. FASHION OF KING OLAF'S COURT.
20788      King Olaf used the fashion, which was introduced from the courts of
20789      foreign kings, of letting his grand-butler stand at the end of the table,
20790      and fill the table-cups for himself and the other distinguished guests who
20791      sat at the table. He had also torch-bearers, who held as many candles at
20792      the table as there were guests of distinction present. There was also a
20793      marshal's bench outside of the table-circle, where the marshal and other
20794      persons of distinction sat with their faces towards the high-seat. King
20795      Harald, and the kings before him, used to drink out of deer-horn; and the
20796      ale was handed from the high-seat to the otherside over the fire, and he
20797      drank to the memory of any one he thought of. So says Stuf the skald: -
20798     "He who in battle is the first,
20799     And now in peace is best to trust,
20800     A welcome, hearty and sincere,
20801     Gave to me on my coming here.
20802     He whom the ravens watch with care,
20803     He who the gold rings does not spare,
20804     A golden horn full to the brink
20805     Gave me himself at Haug to drink."
20806      4. ARRANGEMENT OF KING OLAF'S COURT.
20807      King Olaf had 120 courtmen-at-arms, and 60 pursuivants, besides 60
20808      house-servants, who provided what was wanted for the king's house wherever
20809      it might be, or did other work required for the king. When the bondes
20810      asked why he kept a greater retinue than the law allowed, or former kings
20811      kept when they went in guest-quarters or feasts which the bondes had to
20812      provide for them, the king answered, "It does not happen that I rule the
20813      kingdom better, or produce greater respect for me than ye had for my
20814      father, although I have one-half more people than he had. I do not by any
20815      means do it merely to plague you, or to make your condition harder than
20816      formerly."
20817      5. KING SVEIN ULFSON'S DEATH.
20818      King Svein Ulfson died ten years after the fall of both the Haralds (A.D.
20819      1076). After him his son, Harald Hein, was king for three years (A.D.
20820      1077-1080); then Canute the Holy for seven years (A.D. 1081-1087);
20821      afterwards Olaf, King Svein's third son, for eight years (A.D. 1088-1095).
20822      Then Eirik the Good, Svein's fourth son, for eight winters (A.D.
20823      1096-1103). Olaf, the king of Norway, was married to Ingerid, a daughter
20824      of Svein, the Danish king; and Olaf, the Danish King Svein's son, married
20825      Ingegerd, a daughter of King Harald, and sister of King Olaf of Norway.
20826      King Olaf Haraldson, who was called by some Olaf Kyrre, but by many Olaf
20827      the Bonde, had a son by Thora, Joan's daughter, who was called Magnus, and
20828      was one of the handsomest lads that could be seen, and was promising in
20829      every respect. He was brought up in the king's court.
20830      6. MIRACLES OF KING OLAF THE SAINT.
20831      King Olaf had a church of stone built in Nidaros, on the spot where King
20832      Olaf's body had first been buried, and the altar was placed directly over
20833      the spot where the king's grave had been. This church was consecrated and
20834      called Christ Church; and King Olaf's shrine was removed to it, and was
20835      placed before the altar, and many miracles took place there. The following
20836      summer, on the same day of the year as the church was consecrated, which
20837      was the day before Olafsmas, there was a great assemblage of people, and
20838      then a blind man was restored to sight. And on the mass-day itself, when
20839      the shrine and the holy relics were taken out and carried, and the shrine
20840      itself, according to custom, was taken and set down in the churchyard, a
20841      man who had long been dumb recovered his speech again, and sang with
20842      flowing tongue praise-hymns to God, and to the honour of King Olaf the
20843      Saint. The third miracle was of a woman who had come from Svithjod, and
20844      had suffered much distress on this pilgrimage from her blindness; but
20845      trusting in God's mercy, had come travelling to this solemnity. She was
20846      led blind into the church to hear mass this day; but before the service
20847      was ended she saw with both eyes, and got her sight fully and clearly,
20848      although she had been blind fourteen years. She returned with great joy,
20849      praising God and King Olaf the Saint.
20850      7. OF THE SHRINE OF KING OLAF THE SAINT.
20851      There happened a circumstance in Nidaros, when King Olaf's coffin was
20852      being carried about through the streets, that it became so heavy that
20853      people could not lift it from the spot. Now when the coffin was set down,
20854      the street was broken up to see what was under it at that spot, and the
20855      body of a child was found which had been murdered and concealed there. The
20856      body was carried away, the street put in order again as it had been
20857      before, and the shrine carried on according to custom.
20858      8. KING OLAF WAS BLESSED WITH PEACE.
20859      In the days of King Olaf there were bountiful harvests in Norway and many
20860      good things. In no man's life had times been so good in Norway since the
20861      days of Harald Harfager. King Olaf modified for the better many a matter
20862      that his father had inaugurated and maintained with severity. He was
20863      generous, but a strict ruler, for he was a wise man, and well understood
20864      what was of advantage to the kingdom. There are many stories of his good
20865      works. How much he loved and how kind he was to the people may be seen
20866      from the following words, which he once spoke at a large banquet. He was
20867      happy and in the best of spirits, when one of his men said, "It pleases
20868      us, sire, to see you so happy." He answered: "I have reason to be glad
20869      when I see my subjects sitting happy and free in a guild consecrated to my
20870      uncle, the sainted King Olaf. In the days of my father these people were
20871      subjected to much terror and fear; the most of them concealed their gold
20872      and their precious things, but now I see glittering on his person what
20873      each one owns, and your freedom is my gladness." In his reign there was no
20874      strife, and he protected himself and his realm against enemies abroad; and
20875      his nearest neighbours stood in great awe of him, although he was a most
20876      gentle man, as is confirmed by the skald.
20877      9. MEETING OF OLAF KYRRE AND CANUTE THE SAINT.
20878      King Olaf Kyrre was a great friend of his brother-in-law, the Danish king,
20879      Canute the holy. They appointed a meeting and met at the Gaut river at
20880      Konungahella, where the kings used to have their meetings. There King
20881      Canute made the proposal that they should send an army westward to England
20882      on account of the revenge they had to take there; first and foremost King
20883      Olaf himself, and also the Danish king. "Do one of two things," said King
20884      Canute, -"either take sixty ships, which I will furnish thee with,
20885      and be thou the leader; or give me sixty ships, and I shall be the
20886      leader." Then said King Olaf, "This speech of thine, King Canute, is
20887      altogether according to my mind; but there is this great difference
20888      between us; your family has had more luck in conquering England with great
20889      glory, and, among others, King Canute the Great; and it is likely that
20890      this good fortune follows your race. On the other hand, when King Harald,
20891      my father, went westward to England, he got his death there; and at that
20892      time the best men in Norway followed him. But Norway was so emptied then
20893      of chosen men, that such men have not since been to find in the country;
20894      for that expedition there was the most excellent outfit, and you know what
20895      was the end of it. Now I know my own capacity, and how little I am suited
20896      to be the leader; so I would rather you should go, with my help and
20897      assistance."
20898      So King Olaf gave Canute sixty large ships, with excellent equipment and
20899      faithful men, and set his lendermen as chiefs over them; and all must
20900      allow that this armament was admirably equipt. It is also told in the saga
20901      about Canute, that the Northmen alone did not break the levy when the army
20902      was assembled, but the Danes would not obey their king's orders. This king
20903      Canute acknowledged, and gave them leave to trade in merchandise where
20904      they pleased through his country, and at the same time sent the king of
20905      Norway costly presents for his assistance. On the other hand he was
20906      enraged against the Danes, and laid heavy fines upon them.
20907      10. A BONDE WHO UNDERSTOOD THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS.
20908      One summer, when King Olaf's men had gone round the country collecting his
20909      income and land dues, it happened that the king, on their return home
20910      asked them where on their expedition they had been best entertained. They
20911      said it was in the house of a bonde in one of the king's districts. "There
20912      is an old bonde there who knows many things before they happen. We asked
20913      him about many things, which he explained to us; nay, we even believe that
20914      he understands perfectly the language of birds." The king replies, "How
20915      can ye believe such nonsense?" and insisted that it was wrong to put
20916      confidence in such things. It happened soon after that the king was
20917      sailing along the coast; and as they sailed through a Sound the king said,
20918      "What is that township up in the country?"
20919      They replied, "That is the district, sire, where we told you we were best
20920      entertained."
20921      Then said the king, "What house is that which stands up there, not far
20922      from the Sound?"
20923      They replied, "That house belongs to the wise old bonde we told you of,
20924      sire."
20925      They saw now a horse standing close to the house. Then said the king, "Go
20926      there, and take that horse, and kill him."
20927      They replied, "We would not like to do him such harm."
20928      The king: "I will command. Cut off the horse's head; but take care of
20929      yourselves that ye let no blood come to the ground, and bear the horse out
20930      to my ship. Go then and bring to me the old man; but tell him nothing of
20931      what has happened, as ye shall answer for it with your lives."
20932      They did as they were ordered, and then came to the old man, and told him
20933      the king's message. When he came before the king, the king asked him, "Who
20934      owns the house thou art dwelling in?"
20935      He replies, "Sire, you own it, and take rent for it."
20936      The king: "Show us the way round the ness, for here thou must be a good
20937      pilot."
20938      The old man went into his boat and rowed before the king's ship; and when
20939      he had rowed a little way a crow came flying over the ship, and croaking
20940      hideously. The peasant listens to the crow. The king said, "Do you think,
20941      bonde, that betokens anything?"
20942      "Sire, that is certain," said he.
20943      Then another crow flies over the ship, and screeches dreadfully. The bonde
20944      was so ill hearing this that he could not row, and the oars hung loose in
20945      his hands.
20946      Then said the king, "Thy mind is turned much to these crows, bonde, and to
20947      what they say."
20948      The bonde replies, "Now I suspect it is true what they say."
20949      The third time the crow came flying screeching at its very worst, and
20950      almost settling on the ship. Now the bonde threw down his oars, regarded
20951      them no more, and stood up before the king.
20952      Then the king said, "Thou art taking this much to heart, bonde; what is it
20953      they say?"
20954      The peasant -"It is likely that either they or I have misunderstood -"
20955      "Say on," replied the king.
20956      The bonde replied in a song: -
20957     "The 'one-year old'
20958     Mere nonsense told;
20959     The 'two-years' chatter
20960     Seemed senseless matter;
20961     The three-years' croak
20962     Of wonders spoke.
20963     The foul bird said
20964     My old mare's head
20965     I row along;
20966     And, in her song,
20967     She said the thief
20968     Was the land's chief."
20969      The king said, "What is this, bonde! Wilt thou call me a thief?"
20970      Then the king gave him good presents, and remitted all the land-rent of
20971      the place he lived on. So says Stein: -
20972     "The pillar of our royal race
20973     Stands forth adorned with every grace.
20974     What king before e'er took such pride
20975     To scatter bounty far and wide?
20976     Hung round with shields that gleam afar;
20977     The merchant ship on one bestows,
20978     With painted streaks in glowing rows.
20979
20980     "The man-at-arms a golden ring
20981     Boasts as the present of his king;
20982     At the king's table sits the guest,
20983     By the king's bounty richly drest.
20984     King Olaf, Norway's royal son,
20985     Who from the English glory won,
20986     Pours out with ready-giving hand
20987     His wealth on children of the land.
20988
20989     "Brave clothes to servants he awards,
20990     Helms and ring-mail coats grace his guards;
20991     Or axe and sword Har's warriors gain,
20992     And heavy armour for the plain.
20993     Gold, too, for service duly paid,
20994     Red gold all pure, and duly weighed,
20995     King Olaf gives -he loves to pay
20996     All service in a royal way."
20997      11. OF KING OLAF KYRRE'S DEATH.
20998      King Olaf lived principally in his domains on his large farms. Once when
20999      he was east in Ranrike, on his estate of Haukby, he took the disease which
21000      ended in his death. He had then been king of Norway for twenty-six years
21001      (A.D. 1068-1093); for he was made king of Norway the year after King
21002      Harald's death. King Olaf's body was taken north to Nidaros, and buried in
21003      Christ church, which he himself had built there. He was the most amiable
21004      king of his time, and Norway was much improved in riches and cultivation
21005      during his reign.
21006      MAGNUS BAREFOOT'S SAGA.
21007      PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
21008      The greater part of the contents of this saga is also found in "Agrip",
21009      "Fagrskinna", and "Morkinskinna".
21010      Magnus and his cousin Hakon became kings in 1093, but Hakon ruled only two
21011      years and died in 1095. King Magnus fell in the year 1103.
21012      Skalds quoted are: Bjorn Krephende, Thorkel Hamarskald, and Eldjarn.
21013      1. BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF KING MAGNUS AND HIS COUSIN HAKON.
21014      Magnus, King Olaf's son, was, immediately after King Olaf's death,
21015      proclaimed at Viken king of all Norway; but the Upland people, on hearing
21016      of King Olaf's death, chose Hakon, Thorer's foster-son, a cousin of King
21017      Magnus, as king. Thereupon Hakon and Thorer went north to the Throndhjem
21018      country, and when they came to Nidaros they summoned the Eyrathing; and at
21019      that Thing Hakon desired the bondes to give him the kingly title, which
21020      was agreed to, and the Throndhjem people proclaimed him king of half of
21021      Norway, as his father, King Magnus, had been before. Hakon relieved the
21022      Throndhjem people of all harbour duties, and gave them many other
21023      privileges. He did away with Yule-gifts, and gained by this the good-will
21024      of all the Throndhjem people. Thereafter Hakon formed a court, and then
21025      proceeded to the Uplands, where he gave the Upland people the same
21026      privileges as the Throndhjem people; so that they also were perfectly well
21027      affected to him, and were his friends. The people in Throndhjem sang this
21028      ballad about him: -
21029     "Young Hakon was the Norseman's pride,
21030     And Steig-Thorer was on his side.
21031     Young Hakon from the Upland came,
21032     With royal birth, and blood, and name.
21033     Young Hakon from the king demands
21034     His royal birthright, half the lands;
21035     Magnus will not the kingdom break, -
21036     The whole or nothing he will take."
21037      2. HAKON'S DEATH.
21038      King Magnus proceeded north to the merchant town (Nidaros), and on his
21039      arrival went straight to the king's house, and there took up his abode. He
21040      remained here the first part of the winter (A.D. 1094), and kept seven
21041      longships in the open water of the river Nid, abreast of the king's house.
21042      Now when King Hakon heard that King Magnus was come to Throndhjem, he came
21043      from the East over the Dovrefield, and thence down from Throndhjem to the
21044      merchant town, where he took up his abode in the house of Skule, opposite
21045      to Clement's church, which had formerly been the king's house. King Magnus
21046      was ill pleased with the great gifts which Hakon had given to the bondes
21047      to gain their favour, and thought it was so much given out of his own
21048      property. This irritated his mind; and he thought he had suffered
21049      injustice from his relative in this respect, that he must now put up with
21050      less income than his father and his predecessors before him had enjoyed;
21051      and he gave Thorer the blame. When King Hakon and Thorer observed this,
21052      they were alarmed for what Magnus might do; and they thought it suspicious
21053      that Magnus kept long-ships afloat rigged out, and with tents. The
21054      following spring, after Candlemas, King Magnus left the town in the night
21055      with his ships; the tents up, and lights burning in the tents. They
21056      brought up at Hefring, remained there all night, and kindled a fire on the
21057      land. Then Hakon and the men in the town thought some treachery was on
21058      foot, and he let the trumpets call all the men together out on the Eyrar,
21059      where the whole people of the town came to him, and the people were
21060      gathering together the whole night. When it was light in the morning, King
21061      Magnus saw the people from all districts gathered together on the Eyrar;
21062      and he sailed out of the fjord, and proceeded south to where the Gulathing
21063      is held. Hakon thanked the people for their support which they had given
21064      him, and got ready to travel east to Viken. But he first held a meeting in
21065      the town, where, in a speech, he asked the people for their friendship,
21066      promising them his; and added, that he had some suspicions of his
21067      relation, King Magnus's intentions. Then King Hakon mounted his horse, and
21068      was ready to travel. All men promised him their good-will and support
21069      whenever he required them, and the people followed him out to the foot of
21070      Steinbjorg. From thence King Hakon proceeded up the Dovrefield; but as he
21071      was going over the mountains he rode all day after a ptarmigan, which flew
21072      up beside him, and in this chase a sickness overfell him, which ended in
21073      his death; and he died on the mountains. His body was carried north, and
21074      came to the merchant town just half a month after he left it. The whole
21075      townspeople went to meet the body, sorrowing, and the most of them
21076      weeping; for all people loved him with sincere affection. King Hakon's
21077      body was interred in Christ church, and Hakon and Magnus had ruled the
21078      country for two years. Hakon was a man full twenty-five years old, and was
21079      one of the chiefs the most beloved by all the people. He had made a
21080      journey to Bjarmaland, where he had given battle and gained a victory.
21081      3. OF A FORAY IN HALLAND.
21082      King Magnus sailed in winter (A.D. 1095) eastward to Viken; but when
21083      spring approached he went southwards to Halland, and plundered far and
21084      wide. He laid waste Viskardal and many other districts, and returned with
21085      a great booty back to his own kingdom. So says Bjorn Krephende in his song
21086      on Magnus: -
21087     "Through Halland wide around
21088     The clang and shriek resound;
21089          The houses burn,
21090          The people mourn,
21091     Through Halland wide around.
21092     The Norse king strides in flame,
21093     Through Viskardal he came;
21094          The fire sweeps,
21095          The widow weeps,
21096     The Norse king strides in flame."
21097      Here it is told that King Magnus made the greatest devastation through
21098      Halland.
21099      4. OF THORER OF STEIG.
21100      "There was a man called Svein, a son of Harald Fietter. He was a Danish
21101      man by family, a great viking and champion, and a very clever man, and of
21102      high birth in his own country. He had been some time with King Hakon
21103      Magnuson, and was very dear to him; but after King Hakon's decease Thorer
21104      of Steig, his foster-father, had no great confidence in any treaty or
21105      friendship with King Magnus, if the whole country came into his power, on
21106      account of the position in which Thorer had stood to King Magnus, and the
21107      opposition he had made to him. Thereupon Thorer and Svein took counsel
21108      with each other, which they afterwards carried into effect, -to
21109      raise, with Thorer's assistance, and his men, a troop against Magnus. But
21110      as Thorer was old and heavy, Svein took the command, and name of leader of
21111      the troop. In this design several chiefs took part, among whom the
21112      principal was Egil Aslakson of Aurland. Egil was a lenderman, and married
21113      to Ingebjorg, a daughter of Ogmund Thorbergson, a sister of Skopte of
21114      Giske. The rich and powerful man, Skjalg Erlingson, also joined their
21115      party. Thorkel Hamarskald speaks of this in his ballad of Magnus:
21116     "Thorer and Egil were not wise,
21117     They aimed too high to win a prize:
21118     There was no reason in their plan,
21119     And it hurt many a udalman.
21120     The stone, too great for them to throw,
21121     Fell back, and hurt them with the blow,
21122     And now the udalmen must rue
21123     That to their friends they were so true."
21124      Thorer and Svein collected a troop in the Uplands, and went down through
21125      Raumsdal into Sunmore, and there collected vessels, with which they
21126      afterwards sailed north to Throndhjem.
21127      5. OF THORER'S ADVENTURES.
21128      The lenderman Sigurd Ulstreng, a son of Lodin Viggiarskalle, collected men
21129      by sending round the war-token, as soon as he heard of Thorer and the
21130      troop which followed him, and had a rendezvous with all the men he could
21131      raise at Viggia. Svein and Thorer also met there with their people, fought
21132      with Sigurd, and gained the victory after giving him a great defeat; and
21133      Sigurd fled, and joined King Magnus. Thorer and his followers proceeded to
21134      the town (Nidaros), and remained there some time in the fjord, where many
21135      people joined them. King Magnus hearing this news immediately collected an
21136      army, and proceeded north to Throndhjem. And when he came into the fjord
21137      Thorer and his party heard of it while they lay at Herring, and they were
21138      ready to leave the fjord; and they rowed their ships to the strand at
21139      Vagnvik, and left them, and came into Theksdal in Seliuhverfe, and Thorer
21140      was carried in a litter over the mountains. Then they got hold of ships
21141      and sailed north to Halogaland. As soon as King Magnus was ready for sea,
21142      he sailed from Throndhjem in pursuit of them. Thorer and his party went
21143      north all the way to Bjarkey; and Jon, with his son Vidkun, fled from
21144      thence. Thorer and his men robbed all the movable goods, and burnt the
21145      house, and a good long-ship that belonged to Vidkun. While the hull was
21146      burning the vessel keeled to one side, and Thorer called out, "Hard to
21147      starboard, Vidkun!" Some verses were made about this burning in Bjarkey: -
21148     "The sweetest farm that I have seen
21149     Stood on Bjarkey's island green;
21150     And now, where once this farmhouse stood,
21151     Fire crackles through a pile of wood;
21152     And the clear red flame, burning high,
21153     Flashes across the dark-night sky.
21154     Jon and Vidkun, this dark night,
21155     Will not be wandering without light."
21156      6. DEATH OF THORER AND EGIL.
21157      Jon and Vidkun travelled day and night till they met King Magnus. Svein
21158      and Thorer proceeded northwards with their men, and plundered far and wide
21159      in Halogaland. But while they lay in a fjord called Harm, Thorer and his
21160      party saw King Magnus coming under sail towards them; and thinking they
21161      had not men enough to fight him, they rowed away and fled. Thorer and Egil
21162      brought up at Hesjutun; but Svein rowed out to sea, and some of their
21163      people rowed into the fjords. King Magnus pursued Thorer, and the vessels
21164      struck together while they were landing. Thorer stood in the forecastle of
21165      his ship, and Sigurd Ulstreng called out to him, and asked, "Art thou
21166      well, Thorer?" Thorer replied, "I am well in hands, but ill on my feet."
21167      Then all Thorer's men fled up the country, and Thorer was taken prisoner.
21168      Egil was also taken prisoner, for he would not leave his wife. King Magnus
21169      then ordered both of them to be taken out to Vambarholm; and when they
21170      were leading Thorer from the ship he tottered on his legs. Then Vidkun
21171      called out, "More to the larboard, Thorer!" When he was being led to the
21172      gallows he sang: -
21173     "We were four comrades gay, -
21174     Let one by the helm stay."
21175      When he came to the gallows he said, "Bad counsel comes to a bad end."
21176      Then Thorer was hanged; but when he was hoisted up the gallows tree he was
21177      so heavy that his neck gave way, and the body fell down to the ground; for
21178      Thorer was a man exceedingly stout, both high of stature and thick. Egil
21179      was also led to the gallows, and when the king's thralls were about
21180      hanging him he said, "Ye should not hang me, for in truth each of you
21181      deserves much more to be hanged." People sang these verses about it: -
21182     "I hear, my girl, that Egil said,
21183     When to the gallows he was led,
21184     That the king's thralls far more than he
21185     Deserved to hang on gallows-tree.
21186     It might be so; but, death in view,
21187     A man should to himself be true, -
21188     End a stout life by death as stout,
21189     Showing no fear; or care, or doubt."
21190      King Magnus sat near while they were being hanged, and was in such a rage
21191      that none of his men was so bold as to ask mercy for them. The king said,
21192      when Egil was spinning at the gallows, "Thy great friends help thee but
21193      poorly in time of need." From this people supposed that the king only
21194      wanted to have been entreated to have spared Egil's life. Bjorn Krephende
21195      speaks of these things: -
21196     "King Magnus in the robbers' gore
21197     Dyed red his sword; and round the shore
21198     The wolves howled out their wild delight,
21199     At corpses swinging in their sight.
21200     Have ye not heard how the king's sword
21201     Punished the traitors to their lord?
21202     How the king's thralls hung on the gallows
21203     Old Thorer and his traitor-fellows?"
21204      7. OF THE PUNISHMENT OF THE THRONDHJEM PEOPLE.
21205      After this King Magnus sailed south to Throndhjem, and brought up in the
21206      fjord, and punished severely all who had been guilty of treason towards
21207      him; killing some, and burning the houses of others. So says Bjorn
21208      Krephende: -
21209     "He who despises fence of shields
21210     Drove terror through the Throndhjem fields,
21211     When all the land through which he came
21212     Was swimming in a flood of flame.
21213     The raven-feeder, will I know,
21214     Cut off two chieftans at a blow;
21215     The wolf could scarcely ravenous be,
21216     The ernes flew round the gallows-tree."
21217      Svein Harald Fletter's son, fled out to sea first, and sailed then to
21218      Denmark, and remained there; and at last came into great favour with King
21219      Eystein, the son of King Magnus, who took so great a liking to Svein that
21220      he made him his dish-bearer, and held him in great respect. King Magnus
21221      had now alone the whole kingdom, and he kept good peace in the land, and
21222      rooted out all vikings and lawless men. He was a man quick, warlike, and
21223      able, and more like in all things to his grandfather, King Harald, in
21224      disposition and talents than to his father.
21225      8. OF THE BONDE SVEINKE, AND SIGURD ULSTRENG.
21226      There was a man called Sveinke Steinarson, who was very wealthy, and dwelt
21227      in Viken at the Gaut river. He had brought up Hakon Magnuson before Thorer
21228      of Steig took him. Sveinke had not yet submitted to King Magnus. King
21229      Magnus ordered Sigurd Ulstreng to be called, and told him he would send
21230      him to Sveinke with the command that he should quit the king's land and
21231      domain. "He has not yet submitted to us, or shown us due honour." He
21232      added, that there were some lendermen east in Viken, namely Svein
21233      Bryggjufot, Dag Eilifson, and Kolbjorn Klakke, who could bring this matter
21234      into right bearing. Then Sigurd said, "I did not know there was the man in
21235      Norway against whom three lendermen besides myself were needful." The king
21236      replied, "Thou needst not take this help, unless it be necessary." Now
21237      Sigurd made himself ready for the journey with a ship, sailed east to
21238      Viken, and there summoned the lendermen to him. Then a Thing was appointed
21239      to Viken, to which the people were called who dwelt on the Gaut river,
21240      besides others; so that it was a numerous assembly. When the Thing was
21241      formed they had to wait for Sveinke. They soon after saw a troop of men
21242      coming along, so well furnished with weapons that they looked like pieces
21243      of shining ice; and now came Sveinke and his people to the Thing, and set
21244      themselves down in a circle. All were clad in iron, with glowing arms, and
21245      500 in number. Then Sigurd stood up, and spoke. "My master, King Magnus,
21246      sends God's salutation and his own to all friends, lendermen and others,
21247      his subjects in the kingdom; also to the powerful bondes, and the people
21248      in general, with kind words and offers of friendship; and to all who will
21249      obey him he offers his friendship and good will. Now the king will, with
21250      all cheerfulness and peace, show himself a gracious master to all who will
21251      submit to him, and to all in his dominions. He will be the leader and
21252      defender of all the men of Norway; and it will be good for you to accept
21253      his gracious speech, and this offer."
21254      Then stood up a man in the troop of the Elfgrims, who was of great stature
21255      and grim countenance, clad in a leather cloak, with a halberd on his
21256      shoulder, and a great steel hat upon his head. He looked sternly, and
21257      said, "Here is no need of wheels, says the fox, when he draws the trap
21258      over the ice." He said nothing more, but sat down again.
21259      Soon after Sigurd Ulstreng stood up again, and spoke thus: "But little
21260      concern or help have we for the king's affairs from you, Elfgrims, and but
21261      little friendship; yet by such means every man shows how much he respects
21262      himself. But now I shall produce more clearly the king's errand."
21263      Thereupon he demanded land-dues and levy-dues, together with all other
21264      rights of the king, from the great bondes. He bade each of them to
21265      consider with himself how they had conducted themselves in these matters;
21266      and that they should now promote their own honour, and do the king
21267      justice, if they had come short hitherto in doing so. And then he sat
21268      down.
21269      Then the same man got up in the troop of Elfgrims who had spoken before,
21270      lifted his hat a little up, and said, "The lads run well, say the
21271      Laplanders, who have skates for nothing." Then he sat himself down again.
21272      Soon after Sigurd arose, after speaking with the lendermen, and said that
21273      so weighty a message as the king's ought not to be treated lightly as a
21274      jest. He was now somewhat angry; and added, that they ought not to receive
21275      the king's message and errand so scornfully, for it was not decent. He was
21276      dressed in a red or scarlet coat, and had a blue coat over it. He cast off
21277      his upper coat and said, "Now it is come so far that every one must look
21278      to himself, and not loiter and jest with others; for by so doing every man
21279      will show what he is. We do not require now to be taught by others; for
21280      now we can see ourselves how much we are regarded. But this may be borne
21281      with; but not that ye treat so scornfully the king's message. Thereby
21282      every one shows how highly he considers himself. There is one man called
21283      Sveinke Steinarson, who lives east at the Gaut river; and from him the
21284      king will have his just land-dues, together with his own land, or will
21285      banish him from the country. It is of no use here to seek excuses, or to
21286      answer with sharp words; for people are to be found who are his equals in
21287      power, although he now receives our speech so unworthily; and it is better
21288      now than afterwards to return to the right way, and do himself honour,
21289      rather than await disgrace for his obstinancy." He then sat down.
21290      Sveinke then got up, threw back his steel-hat, and gave Sigurd many
21291      scornful words, and said, "Tut! tut! 'tis a shame for the dogs, says the
21292      proverb, when the fox is allowed to cast their excrements in the peasant's
21293      well. Here will be a miracle! Thou useless fellow! with a coat without
21294      arms, and a kirtle with skirts, wilt thou drive me out of the country? Thy
21295      relation, Sigurd Woolsack, was sent before on this errand, and one called
21296      Gille the Backthief, and one who had still a worse name. They were a night
21297      in every house, and stole wherever they came. Wilt thou drive me out of
21298      the country? Formerly thou wast not so mighty, and thy pride was less when
21299      King Hakon, my foster-son, was in life. Then thou wert as frightened for
21300      him when he met thee on the road as a mouse in a mouse-trap, and hid
21301      thyself under a heap of clothes, like a dog on board a ship. Thou wast
21302      thrust into a leather-bag like corn in a sack, and driven from house and
21303      farm like a year-old colt from the mares; and dost thou dare to drive me
21304      from the land? Thou shouldst rather think thyself lucky to escape from
21305      hence with life. Let us stand up and attack him."
21306      Then all his men stood up, and made a great clash with their weapons. Then
21307      Svein Bryggjufot and the other lendermen saw there was no other chance for
21308      Sigurd but to get him on horseback, which was done, and he rode off into
21309      the forest. The end was that Sveinke returned home to his farm, and Sigurd
21310      Ulstreng came, with great difficulty, by land north to Throndhjem to King
21311      Magnus, and told the result of his errand. "Did I not say," said the king,
21312      "that the help of my lendermen would be needed?" Sigurd was ill pleased
21313      with his journey; insisted that he would be revenged, cost what it will;
21314      and urged the king much. The king ordered five ships to be fitted out; and
21315      as soon as they were ready for sea he sailed south along the land, and
21316      then east to Viken, where he was entertained in excellent guest-quarters
21317      by his lendermen. The king told them he would seek out Sveinke. "For I
21318      will not conceal my suspicion that he thinks to make himself king of
21319      Norway." They said that Sveinke was both a powerful and an ungovernable
21320      man. Now the king went from Viken until he came to Sveinke's farm. Then
21321      the lendermen desired that they might be put on shore to see how matters
21322      stood; and when they came to the land they saw that Sveinke had already
21323      come down from the farm, and was on the road with a number of well-armed
21324      men. The lendermen held up a white shield in the air, as a peace-token;
21325      and when Sveinke saw it he halted his men, and they approached each other.
21326      Then said Kolbjorn Klakke, "King Magnus sends thee God's salutation and
21327      his own, and bids thee consider what becomes thee, and do him obedience,
21328      and not prepare thyself to give him battle." Kolbjorn offered to mediate
21329      peace between them, if he could, and told him to halt his troops.
21330      Sveinke said he would wait for them where he was. "We came out to meet
21331      you," he said, "that ye might not tread down our corn-fields."
21332      The lendermen returned to the king, and told him all was now at his
21333      pleasure.
21334      The king said, "My doom is soon delivered. He shall fly the country, and
21335      never come back to Norway as long as the kingdom is mine; and he shall
21336      leave all his goods behind."
21337      "But will it not be more for thy honour," said Kolbjorn, "and give thee a
21338      higher reputation among other kings, if, in banishing him from the
21339      country, thou shouldst allow him to keep his property, and show himself
21340      among other people? And we shall take care that he never comes back while
21341      we live. Consider of this, sire, by yourself, and have respect for our
21342      assurance."
21343      The king replied, "Let him then go forth immediately."
21344      They went back, therefore, to Sveinke, and told him the king's words; and
21345      also that the king had ordered him out of the country, and he should show
21346      his obedience, since he had forgotten himself towards the king. "It is for
21347      the honour of both that thou shouldst show obedience to the king."
21348      Then Sveinke said, "There must be some great change if the king speaks
21349      agreeably to me; but why should I fly the country and my properties?
21350      Listen now to what I say. It appears to me better to die upon my property
21351      than to fly from my udal estates. Tell the king that I will not stir from
21352      them even an arrow-flight."
21353      Kolbjorn replied, "This is scarcely prudent, or right; for it is better
21354      for one's own honour to give way to the best chief, than to make
21355      opposition to one's own loss. A gallant man succeeds wheresoever he goes;
21356      and thou wilt be the more respected wheresoever thou art, with men of
21357      power, just because thou hast made head so boldly against so powerful a
21358      chief. Hear our promises, and pay some attention to our errand. We offer
21359      thee to manage thy estates, and take them faithfully under our protection;
21360      and also never, against thy will, to pay scat for thy land until thou
21361      comest back. We will pledge our lives and properties upon this. Do not
21362      throw away good counsel from thee, and avoid thus the ill fortune of other
21363      good men."
21364      Then Sveinke was silent for a short time, and said at last, "Your
21365      endeavours are wise; but I have my suspicions that ye are changing a
21366      little the king's message. In consideration, however, of the great
21367      good-will that ye show me, I will hold your advice in such respect that I
21368      will go out of the country for the whole winter, if, according to your
21369      promises, I can then retain my estates in peace. Tell the king, also,
21370      these my words, that I do this on your account, not on his."
21371      Thereupon they returned to the king, and said, that Sveinke left all in
21372      the king's hands. "But entreats you to have respect to his honour. He will
21373      be away for three years, and then come back, if it be the king's pleasure.
21374      Do this; let all things be done according to what is suitable for the
21375      royal dignity and according to our entreaty, now that the matter is
21376      entirely in thy power, and we shall do all we can to prevent his returning
21377      against thy will."
21378      The king replied, "Ye treat this matter like men, and, for your sakes,
21379      shall all things be as ye desire. Tell him so."
21380      They thanked the king, and then went to Sveinke, and told him the king's
21381      gracious intentions. "We will be glad," said they, "if ye can be
21382      reconciled. The king requires, indeed that thy absence shall be for three
21383      years; but, if we know the truth rightly, we expect that before that time
21384      he will find he cannot do without thee in this part of the country. It
21385      will be to thy own future honour, therefore, to agree to this."
21386      Sveinke replies, "What condition is better than this? Tell the king that I
21387      shall not vex him longer with my presence here, and accept of my goods and
21388      estates on this condition."
21389      Thereupon he went home with his men, and set off directly; for he had
21390      prepared everything beforehand. Kolbjorn remains behind, and makes ready a
21391      feast for King Magnus, which also was thought of and prepared. Sveinke, on
21392      the other hand, rides up to Gautland with all the men he thought proper to
21393      take with him. The king let himself be entertained in guest-quarters at
21394      his house, returned to Viken, and Sveinke's estates were nominally the
21395      king's, but Kolbjorn had them under his charge. The king received
21396      guest-quarters in Viken, proceeded from thence northwards, and there was
21397      peace for a while; but now that the Elfgrims were without a chief,
21398      marauding gangs infested them, and the king saw this eastern part of the
21399      kingdom would be laid waste. It appeared to him, therefore, most suitable
21400      and advisable to make Sveinke himself oppose the stream, and twice he sent
21401      messages to him. But he did not stir until King Magnus himself was south
21402      in Denmark, when Sveinke and the king met, and made a full reconciliation;
21403      on which Sveinke returned home to his house and estates, and was
21404      afterwards King Magnus's best and trustiest friend, who strengthened his
21405      kingdom on the eastern border; and their friendship continued as long as
21406      they lived.
21407      9. KING MAGNUS MAKES WAR ON THE SOUTHERN HEBUDES.
21408      King Magnus undertook an expedition out of the country, with many fine men
21409      and a good assortment of shipping. With this armament he sailed out into
21410      the West sea, and first came to the Orkney Islands. There he took the two
21411      earls, Paul and Erlend, prisoners, and sent them east to Norway, and
21412      placed his son Sigurd as chief over the islands, leaving some counsellors
21413      to assist him. From thence King Magnus, with his followers, proceeded to
21414      the Southern Hebudes, and when he came there began to burn and lay waste
21415      the inhabited places, killing the people and plundering wherever he came
21416      with his men; and the country people fled in all directions, some into
21417      Scotland-fjord, others south to Cantire, or out to Ireland; some obtained
21418      life and safety by entering into his service. So says Bjorn Krephende: -
21419     "In Lewis Isle with fearful blaze
21420     The house-destroying fire plays;
21421     To hills and rocks the people fly,
21422     Fearing all shelter but the sky.
21423     In Uist the king deep crimson made
21424     The lightning of his glancing blade;
21425     The peasant lost his land and life
21426     Who dared to bide the Norseman's strife.
21427     The hunger battle-birds were filled
21428     In Skye with blood of foemen killed,
21429     And wolves on Tyree's lonely shore
21430     Dyed red their hairy jaws in gore.
21431     The men of Mull were tired of flight;
21432     The Scottish foemen would not fight,
21433     And many an island-girl's wail
21434     Was heard as through the isles we strife sail."
21435      10. OF LAGMAN, KING GUDROD'S SON.
21436      King Magnus came with his forces to the Holy Island (Iona), and gave peace
21437      and safety to all men there. It is told that the king opened the door of
21438      the little Columb's Kirk there, but did not go in, but instantly locked
21439      the door again, and said that no man should be so bold as to go into that
21440      church hereafter; which has been the case ever since. From thence King
21441      Magnus sailed to Islay, where he plundered and burnt; and when he had
21442      taken that country he proceeded south around Cantire, marauding on both
21443      sides in Scotland and Ireland, and advanced with his foray to Man, where
21444      he plundered. So says Bjorn Krephende: -
21445     "On Sandey's plain our shield they spy:
21446     From Isla smoke rose heaven-high,
21447     Whirling up from the flashing blaze
21448     The king's men o'er the island raise.
21449     South of Cantire the people fled,
21450     Scared by our swords in blood dyed red,
21451     And our brave champion onward goes
21452     To meet in Man the Norseman's foes."
21453      Lagman (Lawman) was the name of the son of Gudrod, king of the Hebudes.
21454      Lawman was sent to defend the most northerly islands; but when King Magnus
21455      and his army came to the Hebudes, Lawman fled here and there about the
21456      isles, and at last King Magnus's men took him and his ship's crew as he
21457      was flying over to Ireland. The king put him in irons to secure him. So
21458      says Bjorn Krephende: -
21459     "To Gudrod's son no rock or cave,
21460     Shore-side or hill, a refuge gave;
21461     Hunted around from isle to isle,
21462     This Lawman found no safe asyle.
21463     From isle to isle, o'er firth and sound,
21464     Close on his track his foe he found.
21465     At Ness the Agder chief at length
21466     Seized him, and iron-chained his strength."
21467      11. OF THE FALL OF EARL HUGE THE BRAVE.
21468      Afterwards King Magnus sailed to Wales; and when he came to the sound of
21469      Anglesey there came against him an army from Wales, which was led by two
21470      earls -Hugo the brave, and Hugo the Stout. They began immediately to
21471      give battle, and there was a severe conflict. King Magnus shot with the
21472      bow; but Huge the Brave was all over in armour, so that nothing was bare
21473      about him excepting one eye. King Magnus let fly an arrow at him, as also
21474      did a Halogaland man who was beside the king. They both shot at once. The
21475      one shaft hit the nose-screen of the helmet, which was bent by it to one
21476      side, and the other arrow hit the earl's eye, and went through his head;
21477      and that was found to be the king's. Earl Huge fell, and the Britons fled
21478      with the loss of many people. So says Bjorn Krephende: -
21479     "The swinger of the sword
21480     Stood by Anglesey's ford;
21481     His quick shaft flew,
21482     And Huge slew.
21483     His sword gleamed a while
21484     O'er Anglesey Isle,
21485     And his Norsemen's band
21486     Scoured the Anglesey land."
21487      There was also sung the following verse about it: -
21488     "On the panzers arrows rattle,
21489     Where our Norse king stands in battle;
21490     From the helmets blood-streams flow,
21491     Where our Norse king draws his bow:
21492     His bowstring twangs, -its biting hail
21493     Rattles against the ring-linked mail.
21494     Up in the land in deadly strife
21495     Our Norse king took Earl Huge's life."
21496      King Magnus gained the victory in this battle, and then took Anglesey
21497      Isle, which was the farthest south the Norway kings of former days had
21498      ever extended their rule. Anglesey is a third part of Wales. After this
21499      battle King Magnus turned back with his fleet, and came first to Scotland.
21500      Then men went between the Scottish king, Melkolm and King Magnus, and a
21501      peace was made between them; so that all the islands lying west of
21502      Scotland, between which and the mainland he could pass in a vessel with
21503      her rudder shipped, should be held to belong to the king of Norway. Now
21504      when King Magnus came north to Cantire, he had a skiff drawn over the
21505      strand at Cantire, and shipped the rudder of it. The king himself sat in
21506      the stern-sheets, and held the tiller; and thus he appropriated to himself
21507      the land that lay on the farboard side. Cantire is a great district,
21508      better than the best of the southern isles of the Hebudes, excepting Man;
21509      and there is a small neck of land between it and the mainland of Scotland,
21510      over which longships are often drawn.
21511      12. DEATH OF THE EARLS OF ORKNEY.
21512      King Magnus was all the winter in the southern isles, and his men went
21513      over all the fjords of Scotland, rowing within all the inhabited and
21514      uninhabited isles, and took possession for the king of Norway of all the
21515      islands west of Scotland. King Magnus contracted in marriage his son
21516      Sigurd to Biadmynia, King Myrkjartan's daughter. Myrkjartan was a son of
21517      the Irish king Thialfe, and ruled over Connaught. The summer after, King
21518      Magnus, with his fleet, returned east to Norway. Earl Erland died of
21519      sickness at Nidaros, and is buried there; and Earl Paul died in Bergen.
21520      Skopte Ogmundson, a grandson of Thorberg, was a gallant lenderman, who
21521      dwelt at Giske in Sunmore, and was married to Gudrun, a daughter of Thord
21522      Folason. Their children were Ogmund, Fin, Thord, and Thora, who was
21523      married to Asolf Skulason. Skopte's and Gudrun's sons were the most
21524      promising and popular men in their youth.
21525      13. QUARRELS OF KING MAGNUS AND KING INGE.
21526      Steinkel, the Swedish king, died about the same time (A.D. 1066) as the
21527      two Haralds fell, and the king who came after him in Svithjod was called
21528      Hakon. Afterwards Inge, a son of Steinkel, was king, and was a good and
21529      powerful king, strong and stout beyond most men; and he was king of
21530      Svithjod when King Magnus was king of Norway. King Magnus insisted that
21531      the boundaries of the countries in old times had been so, that the Gaut
21532      river divided the kingdoms of the Swedish and Norwegian kings, but
21533      afterwards the Vener lake up to Vermaland. Thus King Magnus insisted that
21534      he was owner of all the places lying west of the Vener lake up to
21535      Vermaland, which are the districts of Sundal, Nordal, Vear, and Vardyniar,
21536      with all the woods belonging thereto. But these had for a long time been
21537      under the Swedish dominion, and with respect to scat were joined to West
21538      Gautland; and, besides, the forest-settlers preferred being under the
21539      Swedish king. King Magnus rode from Viken up to Gautland with a great and
21540      fine army, and when he came to the forest-settlements he plundered and
21541      burnt all round; on which the people submitted, and took the oath of
21542      fidelity to him. When he came to the Vener lake, autumn was advanced and
21543      he went out to the island Kvaldinsey, and made a stronghold of turf and
21544      wood, and dug a ditch around it. When the work was finished, provisions
21545      and other necessaries that might be required were brought to it. The king
21546      left in it 300 men, who were the chosen of his forces, and Fin Skoptason
21547      and Sigurd Ulstreng as their commanders. The king himself returned to
21548      Viken.
21549      14. OF THE NORTHMEN.
21550      When the Swedish king heard this he drew together people, and the report
21551      came that he would ride against these Northmen; but there was delay about
21552      his riding, and the Northmen made these lines: -
21553     "The fat-hipped king, with heavy sides,
21554     Finds he must mount before he rides."
21555      But when the ice set in upon the Vener lake King Inge rode down, and had
21556      near 300 men with him. He sent a message to the Northmen who sat in the
21557      burgh that they might retire with all the booty they had taken, and go to
21558      Norway. When the messengers brought this message, Sigurd Ulstreng replied
21559      to it; saying that King Inge must take the trouble to come, if he wished
21560      to drive them away like cattle out of a grass field, and said he must come
21561      nearer if he wished them to remove. The messengers returned with this
21562      answer to the king, who then rode out with all his army to the island, and
21563      again sent a message to the Northmen that they might go away, taking with
21564      them their weapons, clothes, and horses; but must leave behind all their
21565      booty. This they refused. The king made an assault upon them, and they
21566      shot at each other. Then the king ordered timber and stones to be
21567      collected, and he filled up the ditch; and then he fastened anchors to
21568      long spars which were brought up to the timber-walls, and, by the strength
21569      of many hands, the walls were broken down. Thereafter a large pile of wood
21570      was set on fire, and the lighted brands were flung in among them. Then the
21571      Northmen asked for quarter. The king ordered them to go out without
21572      weapons or cloaks. As they went out each of them received a stroke with a
21573      whip, and then they set off for Norway, and all the forest-men submitted
21574      again to King Inge. Sigurd and his people went to King Magnus, and told
21575      him their misfortune.
21576      15. KING MAGNUS AND GIPARDE.
21577      When King Magnus was east in Viken, there came to him a foreigner called
21578      Giparde. He gave himself out for a good knight, and offered his services
21579      to King Magnus; for he understood that in the king's dominions there was
21580      something to be done. The king received him well. At that time the king
21581      was preparing to go to Gautland, on which country the king had
21582      pretensions; and besides he would repay the Gautland people the disgrace
21583      they had occasioned him in spring, when he was obliged to fly from them.
21584      He had then a great force in arms, and the West Gautlanders in the
21585      northern districts submitted to him. He set up his camp on the borders,
21586      intending to make a foray from thence. When King Inge heard of this he
21587      collected troops, and hastened to oppose King Magnus; and when King Magnus
21588      heard of this expedition, many of the chiefs of the people urged him to
21589      turn back; but this the king would not listen to, but in the night time
21590      went unsuspectedly against the Swedish king. They met at Foxerne; and when
21591      he was drawing up his men in battle order he asked, "Where is Giparde?"
21592      but he was not to be found. Then the king made these verses: -
21593     "Cannot the foreign knight abide
21594     Our rough array? -where does he hide?"
21595      Then a skald who followed the king replied: -
21596     "The king asks where the foreign knight
21597     In our array rides to the fight:
21598     Giparde the knight rode quite away
21599     When our men joined in bloody fray.
21600     When swords were wet the knight was slow
21601     With his bay horse in front to go;
21602     The foreign knight could not abide
21603     Our rough array, and went to hide."
21604      There was a great slaughter, and after the battle the field was covered
21605      with the Swedes slain, and King Inge escaped by flight. King Magnus gained
21606      a great victory. Then came Giparde riding down from the country, and
21607      people did not speak well of him for not being in the fight. He went away,
21608      and proceeded westward to England; and the voyage was stormy, and Giparde
21609      lay in bed. There was an Iceland man called Eldjarn, who went to bale out
21610      the water in the ship's hold, and when he saw where Giparde was lying he
21611      made this verse: -
21612     "Does it beseem a courtman bold
21613     Here to be dozing in the hold?
21614     The bearded knight should danger face:
21615     The leak gains on our ship apace.
21616     Here, ply this bucket!  bale who can;
21617     We need the work of every man.
21618     Our sea-horse stands full to the breast, -
21619     Sluggards and cowards must not rest."
21620      When they came west to England, Giparde said the Northmen had slandered
21621      him. A meeting was appointed, and a count came to it, and the case was
21622      brought before him for trial. He said he was not much acquainted with law
21623      cases, as he was but young, and had only been a short time in office; and
21624      also, of all things, he said what he least understood to judge about was
21625      poetry. "But let us hear what it was." Then Eldjarn sang: -
21626     "I heard that in the bloody fight
21627     Giparde drove all our foes to flight:
21628     Brave Giparde would the foe abide,
21629     While all our men ran off to hide.
21630     At Foxerne the fight was won
21631     By Giparde's valour all alone;
21632     Where Giparde fought, alone was he;
21633     Not one survived to fight or flee."
21634      Then said the count, "Although I know but little about skald-craft, I can
21635      hear that this is no slander, but rather the highest praise and honour."
21636      Giparde could say nothing against it, yet he felt it was a mockery.
21637      16. BATTLE OF FOXERNE.
21638      The spring after, as soon as the ice broke up, King Magnus, with a great
21639      army, sailed eastwards to the Gaut river, and went up the eastern arm of
21640      it, laying waste all that belonged to the Swedish dominions. When they
21641      came to Foxerne they landed from their vessels; but as they came over a
21642      river on their way an army of Gautland people came against them, and there
21643      was immediately a great battle, in which the Northmen were overwhelmed by
21644      numbers, driven to flight, and many of them killed near to a waterfall.
21645      King Magnus fled, and the Gautlanders pursued, and killed those they could
21646      get near. King Magnus was easily known. He was a very stout man, and had a
21647      red short cloak over him, and bright yellow hair like silk that fell over
21648      his shoulders. Ogmund Skoptason, who was a tall and handsome man, rode on
21649      one side of the king. He said, "Sire, give me that cloak."
21650      The king said, "What would you do with it?"
21651      "I would like to have it," said Ogmund; "and you have given me greater
21652      gifts, sire."
21653      The road was such that there were great and wide plains, so that the
21654      Gautlanders and Northmen were always in sight of each other, unless where
21655      clumps of wood and bushes concealed them from each other now and then. The
21656      king gave Ogmund the cloak and he put it on. When they came out again upon
21657      the plain ground, Ogmund and his people rode off right across the road.
21658      The Gautlanders, supposing this must be the king, rode all after him, and
21659      the king proceeded to the ships. Ogmund escaped with great difficulty;
21660      however, he reached the ships at last in safety. King Magnus then sailed
21661      down the river, and proceeded north to Viken.
21662      17. MEETING OF THE KINGS AT THE GAUT RIVER.
21663      The following summer a meeting of the kings was agreed upon at Konghelle
21664      on the Gaut river; and King Magnus, the Swedish king, Inge, and the Danish
21665      king, Eirik Sveinson, all met there, after giving each other safe conduct
21666      to the meeting. Now when the Thing had sat down the kings went forward
21667      upon the plain, apart from the rest of the people, and they talked with
21668      each other a little while. Then they returned to their people, and a
21669      treaty was brought about, by which each should possess the dominions his
21670      forefathers had held before him; but each should make good to his own men
21671      the waste and manslaughter suffered by them, and then they should agree
21672      between themselves about settling this with each other. King Magnus should
21673      marry King Inge's daughter Margaret, who afterwards was called
21674      Peace-offering. This was proclaimed to the people; and thus, within a
21675      little hour, the greatest enemies were made the best of friends.
21676      It was observed by the people that none had ever seen men with more of the
21677      air of chiefs than these had. King Inge was the largest and stoutest, and,
21678      from his age, of the most dignified appearance. King Magnus appeared the
21679      most gallant and brisk, and King Eirik the most handsome. But they were
21680      all handsome men; stout, gallant, and ready in speech. After this was
21681      settled they parted.
21682      18. KING MAGNUS'S MARRIAGE.
21683      King Magnus got Margaret, King Inge's daughter, as above related; and she
21684      was sent from Svithjod to Norway with an honourable retinue. King Magnus
21685      had some children before, whose names shall here be given. The one of his
21686      sons who was of a mean mother was called Eystein; the other, who was a
21687      year younger, was called Sigurd, and his mother's name was Thora. Olaf was
21688      the name of a third son, who was much younger than the two first
21689      mentioned, and whose mother was Sigrid, a daughter of Saxe of Vik, who was
21690      a respectable man in the Throndhjem country; she was the king's concubine.
21691      People say that when King Magnus came home from his viking cruise to the
21692      Western countries, he and many of his people brought with them a great
21693      deal of the habits and fashion of clothing of those western parts. They
21694      went about on the streets with bare legs, and had short kirtles and
21695      over-cloaks; and therefore his men called him Magnus Barefoot or Bareleg.
21696      Some called him Magnus the Tall, others Magnus the Strife-lover. He was
21697      distinguished among other men by his tall stature. The mark of his height
21698      is put down in Mary church, in the merchant town of Nidaros, which King
21699      Harald built. In the northern door there were cut into the wall three
21700      crosses, one for Harald's stature, one for Olaf's, and one for Magnus's;
21701      and which crosses each of them could with the greatest ease kiss. The
21702      upper was Harald's cross; the lowest was Magnus's; and Olaf's was in the
21703      middle, about equally distant from both.
21704      It is said that Magnus composed the following verses about the emperor's
21705      daughter: -
21706     "The ring of arms where blue swords gleam,
21707     The battle-shout, the eagle's scream,
21708     The Joy of war, no more can please:
21709     Matilda is far o'er the seas.
21710     My sword may break, my shield be cleft,
21711     Of land or life I may be reft;
21712     Yet I could sleep, but for one care, -
21713     One, o'er the seas, with light-brown hair."
21714      He also composed the following: -
21715     "The time that breeds delay feels long,
21716     The skald feels weary of his song;
21717     What sweetens, brightens, eases life?
21718     'Tis a sweet-smiling lovely wife.
21719     My time feels long in Thing affairs,
21720     In Things my loved one ne'er appears.
21721     The folk full-dressed, while I am sad,
21722     Talk and oppose -can I be glad?"
21723      When King Magnus heard the friendly words the emperor's daughter had
21724      spoken about him -that she had said such a man as King Magnus was
21725      appeared to her an excellent man, he composed the following: -
21726     "The lover hears, -across the sea,
21727     A favouring word was breathed to me.
21728     The lovely one with light-brown hair
21729     May trust her thoughts to senseless air;
21730     Her thoughts will find like thoughts in me;
21731     And though my love I cannot see,
21732     Affection's thoughts fly in the wind,
21733     And meet each other, true and kind."
21734      19. OF THE QUARREL OF KING MAGNUS AND SKOPTE.
21735      Skopte Ogmundson came into variance with King Magnus, and they quarrelled
21736      about the inheritance of a deceased person which Skopte retained; but the
21737      king demanded it with so much earnestness, that it had a dangerous
21738      appearance. Many meetings were held about the affair, and Skopte took the
21739      resolution that he and his son should never put themselves into the king's
21740      power at the same time; and besides there was no necessity to do so. When
21741      Skopte was with the king he represented to him that there was relationship
21742      between the king and him; and also that he, Skopte, had always been the
21743      king's friend, and his father's likewise, and that their friendship had
21744      never been shaken. He added, "People might know that I have sense enough
21745      not to hold a strife, sire, with you, if I was wrong in what I asked; but
21746      it is inherited from my ancestors to defend my rights against any man,
21747      without distinction of persons." The king was just the same on this point,
21748      and his resolution was by no means softened by such a speech. Then Skopte
21749      went home.
21750      20. FIN SKOPTASON'S PROCEEDINGS.
21751      Then Fin Skoptason went to the king, spoke with him, and entreated him to
21752      render justice to the father and son in this business. The king answers
21753      angrily and sharply. Then said Fin, "I expected something else, sire, from
21754      you, than that you would use the law's vexations against me when I took my
21755      seat in Kvaldinsey Island, which few of your other friends would do; as
21756      they said, what was true, that those who were left there were deserted and
21757      doomed to death, if King Inge had not shown greater generosity to us than
21758      you did; although many consider that we brought shame and disgrace only
21759      from thence." The king was not to be moved by this speech, and Fin
21760      returned home.
21761      21. OGMUND SKOPTASON'S PROCEEDINGS.
21762      Then came Ogmund Skoptason to the king; and when he came before him he
21763      produced his errand, and begged the king to do what was right and proper
21764      towards him and his father. The king insisted that the right was on his
21765      side, and said they were "particularly impudent."
21766      Then said Ogmund, "It is a very easy thing for thee, having the power, to
21767      do me and my father injustice; and I must say the old proverb is true,
21768      that one whose life you save gives none, or a very bad return. This I
21769      shall add, that never again shall I come into thy service; nor my father,
21770      if I can help it." Then Ogmund went home, and they never saw each other
21771      again.
21772      22. SKOPTE OGMUNDSON'S VOYAGE ABROAD.
21773      The spring after, Skopte Ogmundson made ready to travel out of the
21774      country. They had five long-ships all well equipped. His sons, Ogmund,
21775      Fin, and Thord, accompanied him on this journey. It was very late before
21776      they were ready, and in autumn they went over to Flanders, and wintered
21777      there. Early in spring they sailed westward to Valland, and stayed there
21778      all summer. Then they sailed further, and through Norvasund; and came in
21779      autumn to Rome, where Skopte died. All, both father and sons, died on this
21780      journey. Thord, who died in Sicily, lived the longest. It is a common
21781      saying among the people that Skopte was the first Northman who sailed
21782      through Norvasund; and this voyage was much celebrated.
21783      23. MIRACLE OF KING OLAF THE SAINT AT A FIRE.
21784      It happened once in the merchant town (Nidaros) where King Olaf reposes,
21785      that there broke out a fire in the town which spread around. Then Olaf's
21786      shrine was taken out of the church, and set up opposite the fire.
21787      Thereupon came a crazy foolish man, struck the shrine, threatened the holy
21788      saint, and said all must be consumed by the flames, both churches and
21789      other houses, if he did not save them by his prayers. Now the burning of
21790      the church did cease, by the help of Almighty God; but the insane man got
21791      sore eyes on the following night, and he lay there until King Olaf
21792      entreated God Almighty to be merciful to him; after which he recovered in
21793      the same church.
21794      24. MIRACLE OF KING OLAF ON A LAME WOMAN.
21795      It happened once in the merchant town that a woman was brought to the
21796      place where the holy King Olaf reposes. She was so miserably shaped, that
21797      she was altogether crumpled up; so that both her feet lay in a circle
21798      against her loins. But as she was diligent in her prayers, often weeping
21799      and making vows to King Olaf, he cured her great infirmities; so that
21800      feet, legs, and other limbs straightened, and every limb and part came to
21801      the right use for which they were made. Before she could not creep there,
21802      and now she went away active and brisk to her family and home.
21803      25. WAR IN IRELAND.
21804      When King Magnus had been nine years king of Norway (A.D. 1094-1102), he
21805      equipped himself to go out of the country with a great force. He sailed
21806      out into the West sea with the finest men who could be got in Norway. All
21807      the powerful men of the country followed him; such as Sigurd Hranason,
21808      Vidkun Jonson, Dag Eilifson, Serk of Sogn, Eyvind Olboge, the king's
21809      marshal Ulf Hranason, brother of Sigurd, and many other great men. With
21810      all this armament the king sailed west to the Orkney Islands, from whence
21811      he took with him Earl Erlend's sons, Magnus and Erling, and then sailed to
21812      the southern Hebudes. But as he lay under the Scotch land, Magnus
21813      Erlendson ran away in the night from the king's ship, swam to the shore,
21814      escaped into the woods, and came at last to the Scotch king's court. King
21815      Magnus sailed to Ireland with his fleet, and plundered there. King
21816      Myrkjartan came to his assistance, and they conquered a great part of the
21817      country, both Dublin and Dyflinnarskire (Dublin shire). King Magnus was in
21818      winter (A.D. 1102) up in Connaught with King Myrkjartan, but set men to
21819      defend the country he had taken. Towards spring both kings went westward
21820      with their army all the way to Ulster, where they had many battles,
21821      subdued the country, and had conquered the greatest part of Ulster when
21822      Myrkjartan returned home to Connaught.
21823      26. KING MAGNUS'S FORAY ON THE LAND.
21824      King Magnus rigged his ships, and intended returning to Norway, but set
21825      his men to defend the country of Dublin. He lay at Ulster ready for sea
21826      with his whole fleet. As they thought they needed cattle for
21827      ship-provision, King Magnus sent a message to King Myrkjartan, telling him
21828      to send some cattle for slaughter; and appointed the day before
21829      Bartholomew's day as the day they should arrive, if the messengers reached
21830      him in safety; but the cattle had not made their appearance the evening
21831      before Bartholomew's mass. On the mass-day itself, when the sun rose in
21832      the sky, King Magnus went on shore himself with the greater part of his
21833      men, to look after his people, and to carry off cattle from the coast. The
21834      weather was calm, the sun shone, and the road lay through mires and
21835      mosses, and there were paths cut through; but there was brushwood on each
21836      side of the road. When they came somewhat farther, they reached a height
21837      from which they had a wide view. They saw from it a great dust rising up
21838      the country, as of horsemen, and they said to each other, "That must be
21839      the Irish army;" but others said, "It was their own men returning with the
21840      cattle." They halted there; and Eyvind Olboge said, "How, sire, do you
21841      intend to direct the march? The men think we are advancing imprudently.
21842      You know the Irish are treacherous; think, therefore, of a good counsel
21843      for your men." Then the king said, "Let us draw up our men, and be ready,
21844      if there be treachery." This was done, and the king and Eyvind went before
21845      the line. King Magnus had a helmet on his head; a red shield, in which was
21846      inlaid a gilded lion; and was girt with the sword of Legbit, of which the
21847      hilt was of tooth (ivory), and handgrip wound about with gold thread; and
21848      the sword was extremely sharp. In his hand he had a short spear, and a red
21849      silk short cloak, over his coat, on which, both before and behind, was
21850      embroidered a lion in yellow silk; and all men acknowledged that they
21851      never had seen a brisker, statelier man. Eyvind had also a red silk cloak
21852      like the king's; and he also was a stout, handsome, warlike man.
21853      27. FALL OF KING MAGNUS.
21854      When the dust-cloud approached nearer they knew their own men, who were
21855      driving the cattle. The Irish king had been faithful to the promises he
21856      had given the king, and had sent them. Thereupon they all turned towards
21857      the ships, and it was mid-day. When they came to the mires they went but
21858      slowly over the boggy places; and then the Irish started up on every side
21859      against them from every bushy point of land, and the battle began
21860      instantly. The Northmen were going divided in various heaps, so that many
21861      of them fell.
21862      Then said Eyvind to the king, "Unfortunate is this march to our people,
21863      and we must instantly hit upon some good plan."
21864      The king answered, "Call all the men together with the war-horns under the
21865      banner, and the men who are here shall make a rampart with their shields,
21866      and thus we will retreat backwards out of the mires; and we will clear
21867      ourselves fast enough when we get upon firm ground."
21868      The Irish shot boldly; and although they fell in crowds, there came always
21869      two in the place of one. Now when the king had come to the nearest ditch
21870      there was a very difficult crossing, and few places were passable; so that
21871      many Northmen fell there. Then the king called to his lenderman Thorgrim
21872      Skinhufa, who was an Upland man, and ordered him to go over the ditch with
21873      his division. "We shall defend you," said he, "in the meantime, so that no
21874      harm shall come to you. Go out then to those holms, and shoot at them from
21875      thence; for ye are good bowmen."
21876      When Thorgrim and his men came over the ditch they cast their shields
21877      behind their backs, and set off to the ships.
21878      When the king saw this, he said, "Thou art deserting thy king in an
21879      unmanly way. I was foolish in making thee a lenderman, and driving Sigurd
21880      Hund out of the country; for never would he have behaved so."
21881      King Magnus received a wound, being pierced by a spear through both thighs
21882      above the knees. The king laid hold of the shaft between his legs, broke
21883      the spear in two, and said, "Thus we break spear-shafts, my lads; let us
21884      go briskly on. Nothing hurts me." A little after King Magnus was struck in
21885      the neck with an Irish axe, and this was his death-wound. Then those who
21886      were behind fled. Vidkun Jonson instantly killed the man who had given the
21887      king his death-wound, and fled, after having received three wounds; but
21888      brought the king's banner and the sword Legbit to the ships. Vidkun was
21889      the last man who fled; the other next to him was Sigurd Hranason, and the
21890      third before him, Dag Eilifson. There fell with King Magnus, Eyvind
21891      Olboge, Ulf Hranason, and many other great people. Many of the Northmen
21892      fell, but many more of the Irish. The Northmen who escaped sailed away
21893      immediately in autumn. Erling, Earl Erlend's'son, fell with King Magnus in
21894      Ireland; but the men who fled from Ireland came to the Orkney Islands. Now
21895      when King Sigurd heard that his father had fallen, he set off immediately,
21896      leaving the Irish king's daughter behind, and proceeded in autumn with the
21897      whole fleet directly to Norway. COG{17507e07-2f39-4b36-8843-bf304ee3ad1d}
21898      28. OF KING MAGNUS AND VIDKUN JONSON. 
21899      King Magnus was ten years king of Norway (A.D. 1094-1105), and in his days
21900      there was good peace kept within the country; but the people were sorely
21901      oppressed with levies. King Magnus was beloved by his men, but the bondes
21902      thought him harsh. The words have been transmitted from him that he said
21903      when his friends observed that he proceeded incautiously when he was on
21904      his expeditions abroad, -"The kings are made for honour, not for long
21905      life." King Magnus was nearly thirty years of age when he fell. Vidkun did
21906      not fly until he had killed the man who gave the king his mortal wound,
21907      and for this cause King Magnus's sons had him in the most affectionate
21908      regard.
21909      SAGA OF SIGURD THE CRUSADER AND HIS BROTHERS EYSTEIN AND OLAF.
21910      PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
21911      "Agrip", "Fagrskinna", and "Morkinskinna" more or less complete the story
21912      of the sons of Magnus. They contain some things omitted by Snorre, while,
21913      on the other hand, some facts related by Snorre are not found in the above
21914      sources.
21915      Thjodrek the Monk tells of Sigurd that he made a Journey to Jerusalem,
21916      conquered many heathen cities, and among them Sidon; that he captured a
21917      cave defended by robbers, received presents from Baldwin, returned to
21918      Norway in Eystein's lifetime, and became insane, as a result, as some say,
21919      of a poisonous drink.
21920      The three brothers became kings in the year A.D. 1103. Olaf died 1115,
21921      Eystein 1122 or 1123, Sigurd 1130.
21922      Skalds quoted in this saga are: Thorarin Stutfeld, Einar Skulason, Haldor
21923      Skvaldre, and Arne Fjoruskeif.
21924      1. BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF KING MAGNUS'S SONS.
21925      After King Magnus Barefoot's fall, his sons, Eystein, Sigurd, and Olaf,
21926      took the kingdom of Norway. Eystein got the northern, and Sigurd the
21927      southern part of the country. King Olaf was then four or five years old,
21928      and the third part of the country which he had was under the management of
21929      his two brothers. King Sigurd was chosen king when he was thirteen or
21930      fourteen years old, and Eystein was a year older. King Sigurd left west of
21931      the sea the Irish king's daughter. When King Magnus's sons were chosen
21932      kings, the men who had followed Skopte Ogmundson returned home. Some had
21933      been to Jerusalem, some to Constantinople; and there they had made
21934      themselves renowned, and they had many kinds of novelties to talk about.
21935      By these extraordinary tidings many men in Norway were incited to the same
21936      expedition; and it was also told that the Northmen who liked to go into
21937      the military service at Constantinople found many opportunities of getting
21938      property. Then these Northmen desired much that one of the two kings,
21939      either Eystein or Sigurd, should go as commander of the troop which was
21940      preparing for this expedition. The kings agreed to this, and carried on
21941      the equipment at their common expense. Many great men, both of the
21942      lendermen and bondes, took part in this enterprise; and when all was ready
21943      for the journey it was determined that Sigurd should go, and Eystein in
21944      the meantime, should rule the kingdom upon their joint account.
21945      2. OF THE EARLS OF ORKNEY.
21946      A year or two after King Magnus Barefoot's fall, Hakon, a son of Earl
21947      Paul, came from Orkney. The kings gave him the earldom and government of
21948      the Orkney Islands, as the earls before him, his father Paul or his Uncle
21949      Erland, had possessed it; and Earl Hakon then sailed back immediately to
21950      Orkney.
21951      3. KING SIGURD'S JOURNEY OUT OF THE COUNTRY.
21952      Four years after the fall of King Magnus (A.D. 1107), King Sigurd sailed
21953      with his people from Norway. He had then sixty ships. So says Thorarin
21954      Stutfeld: -
21955     "A young king just and kind,
21956     People of loyal mind:
21957     Such brave men soon agree, -
21958     To distant lands they sail with glee.
21959     To the distant Holy Land
21960     A brave and pious band,
21961     Magnificent and gay,
21962     In sixty long-ships glide away."
21963      King Sigurd sailed in autumn to England, where Henry, son of William the
21964      Bastard, was then king, and Sigurd remained with him all winter. So says
21965      Einar Skulason: -
21966     "The king is on the waves!
21967     The storm he boldly braves.
21968          His ocean-steed,
21969          With winged speed,
21970     O'er the white-flashing surges,
21971     To England's coast he urges;
21972     And there he stays the winter o'er:
21973     More gallant king ne'er trod that shore."
21974      4. OF KING SIGURD'S JOURNEY.
21975      In spring King Sigurd and his fleet sailed westward to Valland (A.D.
21976      1108), and in autumn came to Galicia, where he stayed the second winter
21977      (A.D. 1109). So says Einar Skulason: -
21978     "Our king, whose land so wide
21979     No kingdom stands beside,
21980     In Jacob's land next winter spent,
21981     On holy things intent;
21982     And I have heard the royal youth
21983     Cut off an earl who swerved from truth.
21984     Our brave king will endure no ill, -
21985     The hawks with him will get their fill."
21986      It went thus: -The earl who ruled over the land made an agreement
21987      with King Sigurd, that he should provide King Sigurd and his men a market
21988      at which they could purchase victuals all the winter; but this he did not
21989      fulfil longer than to about Yule. It began then to be difficult to get
21990      food and necessaries, for it is a poor barren land. Then King Sigurd with
21991      a great body of men went against a castle which belonged to the earl; and
21992      the earl fled from it, having but few people. King Sigurd took there a
21993      great deal of victuals and of other booty, which he put on board of his
21994      ships, and then made ready and proceeded westward to Spain. It so fell
21995      out, as the king was sailing past Spain, that some vikings who were
21996      cruising for plunder met him with a fleet of galleys, and King Sigurd
21997      attacked them. This was his first battle with heathen men; and he won it,
21998      and took eight galleys from them. So says Haldor Skvaldre: -
21999     "Bold vikings, not slow
22000     To the death-fray to go,
22001     Meet our Norse king by chance,
22002     And their galleys advance.
22003     The bold vikings lost
22004     Many a man of their host,
22005     And eight galleys too,
22006     With cargo and crew."
22007      Thereafter King Sigurd sailed against a castle called Sintre and fought
22008      another battle. This castle is in Spain, and was occupied by many
22009      heathens, who from thence plundered Christian people. King Sigurd took the
22010      castle, and killed every man in it, because they refused to be baptized;
22011      and he got there an immense booty. So says Haldor Skvaldre: -
22012     "From Spain I have much news to tell
22013     Of what our generous king befell.
22014     And first he routs the viking crew,
22015     At Cintra next the heathens slew;
22016     The men he treated as God's foes,
22017     Who dared the true faith to oppose.
22018     No man he spared who would not take
22019     The Christian faith for Jesus' sake."
22020      5. LISBON TAKEN.
22021      After this King Sigurd sailed with his fleet to Lisbon, which is a great
22022      city in Spain, half Christian and half heathen; for there lies the
22023      division between Christian Spain and heathen Spain, and all the districts
22024      which lie west of the city are occupied by heathens. There King Sigurd had
22025      his third battle with the heathens, and gained the victory, and with it a
22026      great booty. So says Haldor Skvaldre: -
22027     "The son of kings on Lisbon's plains
22028     A third and bloody battle gains.
22029     He and his Norsemen boldly land,
22030     Running their stout ships on the strand."
22031      Then King Sigurd sailed westwards along heathen Spain, and brought up at a
22032      town called Alkasse; and here he had his fourth battle with the heathens,
22033      and took the town, and killed so many people that the town was left empty.
22034      They got there also immense booty. So says Haldor Skvaldre: -
22035     "A fourth great battle, I am told,
22036     Our Norse king and his people hold
22037     At Alkasse; and here again
22038     The victory fell to our Norsemen."
22039      And also this verse: -
22040     "I heard that through the town he went,
22041     And heathen widows' wild lament
22042     Resounded in the empty halls;
22043     For every townsman flies or falls."
22044      6. BATTLE IN THE ISLAND FORMINTERRA.
22045      King Sigurd then proceeded on his voyage, and came to Norfasund; and in
22046      the sound he was met by a large viking force, and the king gave them
22047      battle; and this was his fifth engagement with heathens since the time he
22048      left Norway. He gained the victory here also. So says Haldor Skvaldre: -
22049     "Ye moistened your dry swords with blood,
22050     As through Norfasund ye stood;
22051     The screaming raven got a feast,
22052     As ye sailed onward to the East."
22053      King Sigurd then sailed eastward along the coast of Serkland, and came to
22054      an island there called Forminterra. There a great many heathen Moors had
22055      taken up their dwelling in a cave, and had built a strong stone wall
22056      before its mouth. They harried the country all round, and carried all
22057      their booty to their cave. King Sigurd landed on this island, and went to
22058      the cave; but it lay in a precipice, and there was a high winding path to
22059      the stone wall, and the precipice above projected over it. The heathens
22060      defended the stone wall, and were not afraid of the Northmen's arms; for
22061      they could throw stones, or shoot down upon the Northmen under their feet;
22062      neither did the Northmen, under such circumstances, dare to mount up. The
22063      heathens took their clothes and other valuable things, carried them out
22064      upon the wall, spread them out before the Northmen, shouted, and defied
22065      them, and upbraided them as cowards. Then Sigurd fell upon this plan. He
22066      had two ship's boats, such as we call barks, drawn up the precipice right
22067      above the mouth of the cave; and had thick ropes fastened around the stem,
22068      stern, and hull of each. In these boats as many men went as could find
22069      room, and then the boats were lowered by the ropes down in front of the
22070      mouth of the cave; and the men in the boats shot with stones and missiles
22071      into the cave, and the heathens were thus driven from the stone wall. Then
22072      Sigurd with his troops climbed up the precipice to the foot of the stone
22073      wall, which they succeeded in breaking down, so that they came into the
22074      cave. Now the heathens fled within the stone wall that was built across
22075      the cave; on which the king ordered large trees to be brought to the cave,
22076      made a great pile in the mouth of it, and set fire to the wood. When the
22077      fire and smoke got the upper hand, some of the heathens lost their lives
22078      in it; some fled; some fell by the hands of the Northmen; and part were
22079      killed, part burned; and the Northmen made the greatest booty they had got
22080      on all their expeditions. So says Halder Skvaldre: -
22081     "Forminterra lay
22082     In the victor's way;
22083     His ships' stems fly
22084     To victory.
22085     The bluemen there
22086     Must fire bear,
22087     And Norsemen's steel
22088     At their hearts feel."
22089      And also thus: -
22090     "'Twas a feat of renown, -
22091     The boat lowered down,
22092     With a boat's crew brave,
22093     In front of the cave;
22094     While up the rock scaling,
22095     And comrades up trailing,
22096     The Norsemen gain,
22097     And the bluemen are slain."
22098      And also Thorarin Stutfeld says: -
22099     "The king's men up the mountain's side
22100     Drag two boats from the ocean's tide;
22101          The two boats lay,
22102          Like hill-wolves grey.
22103     Now o'er the rock in ropes they're swinging
22104     Well manned, and death to bluemen bringing;
22105          They hang before
22106          The robber's door."
22107      7. OF THE BATTLES OF IVIZA AND MINORCA.
22108      Thereafter King Sigurd proceeded on his expedition, and came to an island
22109      called Iviza (Ivica), and had there his seventh battle, and gained a
22110      victory. So says Haldor Skvaldre: -
22111     "His ships at Ivica now ride,
22112     The king's, whose fame spreads far and wide;
22113     And hear the bearers of the shield
22114     Their arms again in battle wield."
22115      Thereafter King Sigurd came to an island called Manork (Minorca), and held
22116      there his eighth battle with heathen men, and gained the victory. So says
22117      Haldor Skvaldre: -
22118     "On green Minorca's plains
22119     The eighth battle now he gains:
22120     Again the heathen foe
22121     Falls at the Norse king's blow."
22122      8. DUKE ROGER MADE A KING.
22123      In spring King Sigurd came to Sicily (A.D. 1109), and remained a long time
22124      there. There was then a Duke Roger in Sicily, who received the king
22125      kindly, and invited him to a feast. King Sigurd came to it with a great
22126      retinue, and was splendidly entertained. Every day Duke Roger stood at the
22127      company's table, doing service to the king; but the seventh day of the
22128      feast, when the people had come to table, and had wiped their hands, King
22129      Sigurd took the duke by the hand, led him up to the high-seat, and saluted
22130      him with the title of king; and gave the right that there should be always
22131      a king over the dominion of Sicily, although before there had only been
22132      earls or dukes over that country.
22133      9. OF KING ROGER.
22134      King Roger of Sicily was a very great king. He won and subdued all Apulia,
22135      and many large islands besides in the Greek sea; and therefore he was
22136      called Roger the Great. His son was William, king of Sicily, who for a
22137      long time had great hostility with the emperor of Constantinople. King
22138      William had three daughters, but no son. One of his daughters he married
22139      to the Emperor Henry, a son of the Emperor Frederik; and their son was
22140      Frederik, who for a short time after was emperor of Rome. His second
22141      daughter was married to the Duke of Kipr. The third daughter, Margaret,
22142      was married to the chief of the corsairs; but the Emperor Henry killed
22143      both these brothers-in-law. The daughter of Roger the Great, king of
22144      Sicily, was married to the Emperor Manuel of Constantinople; and their son
22145      was the Emperor Kirjalax.
22146      10. KING SIGURD'S EXPEDITION TO PALESTINE.
22147      In the summer (A.D. 1110) King Sigurd sailed across the Greek sea to
22148      Palestine, and thereupon went up to Jerusalem, where he met Baldwin, king
22149      of Palestine. King Baldwin received him particularly well, and rode with
22150      him all the way to the river Jordan, and then back to the city of
22151      Jerusalem. Einar Skulason speaks thus of it: -
22152     "Good reason has the skald to sing
22153     The generous temper of the king,
22154     Whose sea-cold keel from northern waves
22155     Ploughs the blue sea that green isles laves.
22156     At Acre scarce were we made fast,
22157     In holy ground our anchors cast,
22158     When the king made a joyful morn
22159     To all who toil with him had borne."
22160      And again he made these lines: -
22161     "To Jerusalem he came,
22162     He who loves war's noble game,
22163     (The skald no greater monarch finds
22164     Beneath the heaven's wide hall of winds)
22165     All sin and evil from him flings
22166     In Jordan's wave: for all his sins
22167     (Which all must praise) he pardon wins."
22168      King Sigurd stayed a long time in the land of Jerusalem (Jorsalaland) in
22169      autumn, and in the beginning of winter.
22170      11. SIDON TAKEN.
22171      King Baldwin made a magnificent feast for King Sigurd and many of his
22172      people, and gave him many holy relics. By the orders of King Baldwin and
22173      the patriarch, there was taken a splinter off the holy cross; and on this
22174      holy relic both made oath, that this wood was of the holy cross upon which
22175      God Himself had been tortured. Then this holy relic was given to King
22176      Sigurd; with the condition that he, and twelve other men with him, should
22177      swear to promote Christianity with all his power, and erect an
22178      archbishop's seat in Norway if he could; and also that the cross should be
22179      kept where the holy King Olaf reposed, and that he should introduce
22180      tithes, and also pay them himself. After this King Sigurd returned to his
22181      ships at Acre; and then King Baldwin prepared to go to Syria, to a heathen
22182      town called Saet. On this expedition King Sigurd accompanied him, and
22183      after the kings had besieged the town some time it surrendered, and they
22184      took possession of it, and of a great treasure of money; and their men
22185      found other booty. King Sigurd made a present of his share to King
22186      Baldwin. So say Haldor Skvaldre: -
22187     "He who for wolves provides the feast
22188     Seized on the city in the East,
22189     The heathen nest; and honour drew,
22190     And gold to give, from those he slew."
22191      Einar Skulason also tells of it: -
22192     "The Norsemen's king, the skalds relate,
22193     Has ta'en the heathen town of Saet:
22194     The slinging engine with dread noise
22195     Gables and roofs with stones destroys.
22196     The town wall totters too, -it falls;
22197     The Norsemen mount the blackened walls.
22198     He who stains red the raven's bill
22199     Has won, -the town lies at his will."
22200      Thereafter King Sigurd went to his ships and made ready to leave
22201      Palestine. They sailed north to the island Cyprus; and King Sigurd stayed
22202      there a while, and then went to the Greek country, and came to the land
22203      with all his fleet at Engilsnes. Here he lay still for a fortnight,
22204      although every day it blew a breeze for going before the wind to the
22205      north; but Sigurd would wait a side wind, so that the sails might stretch
22206      fore and aft in the ship; for in all his sails there was silk joined in,
22207      before and behind in the sail, and neither those before nor those behind
22208      the ships could see the slightest appearance of this, if the vessel was
22209      before the wind; so they would rather wait a side wind.
22210      12. SIGURD'S EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINOPLE.
22211      When King Sigurd sailed into Constantinople, he steered near the land.
22212      Over all the land there are burghs, castles, country towns, the one upon
22213      the other without interval. There from the land one could see into the
22214      bights of the sails; and the sails stood so close beside each other, that
22215      they seemed to form one enclosure. All the people turned out to see King
22216      Sigurd sailing past. The Emperor Kirjalax had also heard of King Sigurd's
22217      expedition, and ordered the city port of Constantinople to be opened,
22218      which is called the Gold Tower, through which the emperor rides when he
22219      has been long absent from Constantinople, or has made a campaign in which
22220      he has been victorious. The emperor had precious cloths spread out from
22221      the Gold Tower to Laktjarna, which is the name of the emperor's most
22222      splendid hall. King Sigurd ordered his men to ride in great state into the
22223      city, and not to regard all the new things they might see; and this they
22224      did. King Sigurd and his followers rode with this great splendour into
22225      Constantinople, and then came to the magnificent hall, where everything
22226      was in the grandest style.
22227      King Sigurd remained here some time. The Emperor Kirjalax sent his men to
22228      him to ask if he would rather accept from the emperor six lispund of gold,
22229      or would have the emperor give the games in his honour which the emperor
22230      was used to have played at the Padreim. King Sigurd preferred the games,
22231      and the messengers said the spectacle would not cost the emperor less than
22232      the money offered. Then the emperor prepared for the games, which were
22233      held in the usual way; but this day everything went on better for the king
22234      than for the queen; for the queen has always the half part in the games,
22235      and their men, therefore, always strive against each other in all games.
22236      The Greeks accordingly think that when the king's men win more games at
22237      the Padreim than the queen's, the king will gain the victory when he goes
22238      into battle. People who have been in Constantinople tell that the Padreim
22239      is thus constructed: -A high wall surrounds a flat plain, which may
22240      be compared to a round bare Thing-place, with earthen banks all around at
22241      the stone wall, on which banks the spectators sit; but the games
22242      themselves are in the flat plain. There are many sorts of old events
22243      represented concerning the Asas, Volsungs, and Giukungs, in these games;
22244      and all the figures are cast in copper, or metal, with so great art that
22245      they appear to be living things; and to the people it appears as if they
22246      were really present in the games. The games themselves are so artfully and
22247      cleverly managed, that people appear to be riding in the air; and at them
22248      also are used shot-fire (1), and all kinds of harp-playing, singing, and
22249      music instruments.
22250   ENDNOTES: (1) Fireworks, or the Greek fire, probably were used. -L.
22251      13. SIGURD AND THE EMPEROR OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
22252      It is related that King Sigurd one day was to give the emperor a feast,
22253      and he ordered his men to provide sumptuously all that was necessary for
22254      the entertainment; and when all things were provided which are suitable
22255      for an entertainment given by a great personage to persons of high
22256      dignity, King Sigurd ordered his men to go to the street in the city where
22257      firewood was sold, as they would require a great quantity to prepare the
22258      feast. They said the king need not be afraid of wanting firewood, for
22259      every day many loads were brought into the town. When it was necessary,
22260      however, to have firewood, it was found that it was all sold, which they
22261      told the king. He replied, "Go and try if you can get walnuts. They will
22262      answer as well as wood for fuel." They went and got as many as they
22263      needed. Now came the emperor, and his grandees and court, and sat down to
22264      table. All was very splendid; and King Sigurd received the emperor with
22265      great state, and entertained him magnificently. When the queen and the
22266      emperor found that nothing was wanting, she sent some persons to inquire
22267      what they had used for firewood; and they came to a house filled with
22268      walnuts, and they came back and told the queen. "Truly," said she, "this
22269      is a magnificent king, who spares no expense where his honour is
22270      concerned." She had contrived this to try what they would do when they
22271      could get no firewood to dress their feast with.
22272      14. KING SIGURD THE CRUSADER'S RETURN HOME.
22273      King Sigurd soon after prepared for his return home. He gave the emperor
22274      all his ships; and the valuable figureheads which were on the king's ships
22275      were set up in Peter's church, where they have since been to be seen. The
22276      emperor gave the king many horses and guides to conduct him through all
22277      his dominions. Then King Sigurd left Constantinople; but a great many
22278      Northmen remained, and went into the emperor's pay. Then King Sigurd
22279      traveled from Bulgaria, and through Hungary, Pannonia. Suabia, and
22280      Bavaria, where he met the Roman emperor, Lotharius, who received him in
22281      the most friendly way, gave him guides through his dominions, and had
22282      markets established for him at which he could purchase all he required.
22283      When King Sigurd came to Slesvik in Denmark, Earl Eilif made a sumptuous
22284      feast for him; and it was then midsummer. In Heidaby he met the Danish
22285      king, Nikolas, who received him in the most friendly way, made a great
22286      entertainment for him, accompanied him north to Jutland, and gave him a
22287      ship provided with everything needful. From thence the king returned to
22288      Norway, and was joyfully welcomed on his return to his kingdom (A.D.
22289      1110). It was the common talk among the people, that none had ever made so
22290      honourable a journey from Norway as this of King Sigurd. He was twenty
22291      years of age, and had been three years on these travels. His brother Olaf
22292      was then twelve years old.
22293      15. EYSTEIN'S DOINGS IN THE MEANTIME.
22294      King Eystein had also effected much in the country that was useful while
22295      King Sigurd was on his journey. He established a monastery at Nordnes in
22296      Bergen, and endowed it with much property. He also built Michael's church,
22297      which is a very splendid stone temple. In the king's house there he also
22298      built the Church of the Apostles, and the great hall, which is the most
22299      magnificent wooden structure that was ever built in Norway. He also built
22300      a church at Agdanes with a parapet; and a harbour, where formerly there
22301      had been a barren spot only. In Nidaros he built in the king's street the
22302      church of Saint Nikolas, which was particularly ornamented with carved
22303      work, and all in wood. He also built a church north in Vagar in
22304      Halogaland, and endowed it with property and revenues.
22305      16. OF KING EYSTEIN.
22306      King Eystein sent a verbal message to the most intelligent and powerful of
22307      the men of Jamtaland, and invited them to him; received them all as they
22308      came with great kindness; accompanied them part of the way home, and gave
22309      them presents, and thus enticed them into a friendship with him. Now as
22310      many of them became accustomed to visit him and receive gifts from him,
22311      and he also sent gifts to some who did not come themselves, he soon gained
22312      the favour of all the people who had most influence in the country. Then
22313      he spoke to the Jamtaland people, and told them they had done ill in
22314      turning away from the kings of Norway, and withdrawing from them their
22315      taxes and allegiance. He began by saying how the Jamtaland people had
22316      submitted to the reign of Hakon, the foster-son of Athelstane, and had
22317      long afterwards been subjected to the kings of Norway, and he represented
22318      to them how many useful things they could get from Norway, and how
22319      inconvenient it was for them to apply to the Swedish king for what they
22320      needed. By these speeches he brought matters so far that the Jamtaland
22321      people of their own accord offered to be subject to him, which they said
22322      was useful and necessary for them; and thus, on both sides, it was agreed
22323      that the Jamtalanders should put their whole country under King Eystein.
22324      The first beginning was with the men of consequence, who persuaded the
22325      people to take an oath of fidelity to King Eystein; and then they went to
22326      King Eystein and confirmed the country to him by oath; and this
22327      arrangement has since continued for a long time. King Eystein thus
22328      conquered Jamtaland by his wisdom, and not by hostile inroads, as some of
22329      his forefathers had done.
22330      17. OF KING EYSTEIN'S PERFECTIONS.
22331      King Eystein was the handsomest man that could be seen. He had blue open
22332      eyes; his hair yellow and curling; his stature not tall, but of the middle
22333      size. He was wise, intelligent, and acquainted with the laws and history.
22334      He had much knowledge of mankind, was quick in counsel, prudent in words,
22335      and very eloquent and very generous. He was very merry, yet modest; and
22336      was liked and beloved, indeed, by all the people. He was married to
22337      Ingebjorg, a daughter of Guthorm, son of Thorer of Steig; and their
22338      daughter was Maria, who afterwards married Gudbrand Skafhogson.
22339      18. OF IVAR INGIMUNDSON.
22340      King Eystein had in many ways improved the laws and priveleges of the
22341      country people, and kept strictly to the laws; and he made himself
22342      acquainted with all the laws of Norway, and showed in everything great
22343      prudence and understanding. What a valuable man King Eystein was, how full
22344      of friendship, and how much he turned his mind to examining and avoiding
22345      everything that could be of disadvantage to his friends, may be seen from
22346      his friendship to an Iceland man called Ivar Ingimundson. The man was
22347      witty, of great family, and also a poet. The king saw that Ivar was out of
22348      spirits, and asked him why he was so melancholy. "Before, when thou wast
22349      with us, we had much amusement with thy conversation. I know thou art a
22350      man of too good an understanding to believe that I would do anything
22351      against thee. Tell me then what it is."
22352      He replied, "I cannot tell thee what it is."
22353      Then said the king, "I will try to guess what it is. Are there any men who
22354      displease thee?"
22355      To this he replied, "No."
22356      "Dost thou think thou art held in less esteem by me than thou wouldst like
22357      to be?"
22358      To this he also replied, "No."
22359      "Hast thou observed anything whatever that has made an impression on thee
22360      at which thou art ill pleased?"
22361      He replied, it was not this either.
22362      The king: "Would you like to go to other chiefs or to other men?"
22363      To this he answered, "No."
22364      The king: "It is difficult now to guess. Is there any girl here, or in any
22365      other country, to whom thy affections are engaged?"
22366      He said it was so.
22367      The king said, "Do not be melancholy on that account. Go to Iceland when
22368      spring sets in, and I shall give thee money, and presents, and with these
22369      my letters and seal to the men who have the principal sway there; and I
22370      know no man there who will not obey my persuasions or threats."
22371      Ivar replied, "My fate is heavier, sire; for my own brother has the girl."
22372      Then said the king, "Throw it out of thy mind; and I know a counsel
22373      against this. After Yule I will travel in guest-quarters. Thou shalt come
22374      along with me, and thou will have an opportunity of seeing many beautiful
22375      girls; and, provided they are not of the royal stock, I will get thee one
22376      of them in marriage."
22377      Ivar replies, "Sire, my fate is still the heavier; for as oft as I see
22378      beautiful and excellent girls I only remember the more that girl, and they
22379      increase my misery."
22380      The king: "Then I will give thee property to manage, and estates for thy
22381      amusement."
22382      He replied, "For that I have no desire."
22383      The king: "Then I will give thee money, that thou mayest travel in other
22384      countries."
22385      He said he did not wish this.
22386      Then said the king, "It is difficult for me to seek farther, for I have
22387      proposed everything that occurs to me. There is but one thing else; and
22388      that is but little compared to what I have offered thee. Come to me every
22389      day after the tables are removed, and, if I am not sitting upon important
22390      business, I shall talk with thee about the girl in every way that I can
22391      think of; and I shall do so at leisure. It sometimes happens that sorrow
22392      is lightened by being brought out openly; and thou shalt never go away
22393      without some gift."
22394      He replied, "This I will do, sire, and return thanks for this inquiry."
22395      And now they did so constantly; and when the king was not occupied with
22396      weightier affairs he talked with him, and his sorrow by degrees wore away,
22397      and he was again in good spirits.
22398      19. OF KING SIGURD.
22399      King Sigurd was a stout and strong man, with brown hair; of a manly
22400      appearance, but not handsome; well grown; of little speech, and often not
22401      friendly, but good to his friends, and faithful; not very eloquent, but
22402      moral and polite. King Sigurd was self-willed, and severe in his revenge;
22403      strict in observing the law; was generous; and withal an able, powerful
22404      king. His brother Olaf was a tall, thin man; handsome in countenance;
22405      lively, modest, and popular. When all these brothers, Eystein, Sigurd and
22406      Olaf were kings of Norway, they did away with many burthens which the
22407      Danes had laid upon the people in the time that Svein Alfifason ruled
22408      Norway; and on this account they were much beloved, both by the people and
22409      the great men of the country.
22410      20. OF KING SIGURD'S DREAM.
22411      Once King Sigurd fell into low spirits, so that few could get him to
22412      converse, and he sat but a short time at the drinking table. This was
22413      heavy on his counsellors, friends, and court; and they begged King Eystein
22414      to consider how they could discover the cause why the people who came to
22415      the king could get no reply to what they laid before him. King Eystein
22416      answered them, that it was difficult to speak with the king about this;
22417      but at last, on the entreaty of many, he promised to do it. Once, when
22418      they were both together, King Eystein brought the matter before his
22419      brother, and asked the cause of his melancholy. "It is a great grief,
22420      sire, to many to see thee so melancholy; and we would like to know what
22421      has occasioned it, or if perchance thou hast heard any news of great
22422      weight?"
22423      King Sigurd replies, that it was not so.
22424      "Is it then, brother," says King Eystein, "that you would like to travel
22425      out of the country, and augment your dominions as our father did?"
22426      He answered, that it was not that either.
22427      "Is it, then, that any man here in the country has offended?"
22428      To this also the king said "No."
22429      "Then I would like to know if you have dreamt anything that has occasioned
22430      this depression of mind?"
22431      The king answered that it was so.
22432      "Tell me, then, brother, thy dream."
22433      King Sigurd said, "I will not tell it, unless thou interpret it as it may
22434      turn out; and I shall be quick at perceiving if thy interpretation be
22435      right or not."
22436      King Eystein replies, "This is a very difficult matter, sire, on both
22437      sides; as I am exposed to thy anger if I cannot interpret it, and to the
22438      blame of the public if I can do nothing in the matter; but I will rather
22439      fall under your displeasure, even if my interpretation should not be
22440      agreeable."
22441      King Sigurd replies, "It appeared to me, in a dream, as if we brothers
22442      were all sitting on a bench in front of Christ church in Throndhjem; and
22443      it appeared to me as if our relative, King Olaf the Saint, came out of the
22444      church adorned with the royal raiment glancing and splendid, and with the
22445      most delightful and joyful countenance. He went to our brother King Olaf,
22446      took him by the hand, and said cheerfully, to him, 'Come with me, friend.'
22447      On which he appeared to stand up and go into the church. Soon after King
22448      Olaf the Saint came out of the church, but not so gay and brilliant as
22449      before. Now he went to thee, brother, and said to thee that thou shouldst
22450      go with him; on which he led thee with him, and ye went into the church.
22451      Then I thought, and waited for it, that he would come to me, and meet me;
22452      but it was not so. Then I was seized with great sorrow, and great dread
22453      and anxiety fell upon me, so that I was altogether without strength; and
22454      then I awoke."
22455      King Eystein replies, "Thus I interpret your dream, sire, -That the
22456      bench betokens the kingdom we brothers have; and as you thought King Olaf
22457      came with so glad a countenance to our brother, King Olaf, he will likely
22458      live the shortest time of us brothers, and have all good to expect
22459      hereafter; for he is amiable, young in years, and has gone but little into
22460      excess, and King Olaf the Saint must help him. But as you thought he came
22461      towards me, but not with so much joy, I may possibly live a few years
22462      longer, but not become old, and I trust his providence will stand over me;
22463      but that he did not come to me with the same splendour and glory as to our
22464      brother Olaf, that will be because, in many ways, I have sinned and
22465      transgressed his command. If he delayed coming to thee, I think that in no
22466      way betokens thy death, but rather a long life; but it may be that some
22467      heavy accident may occur to thee, as there was an unaccountable dread
22468      overpowering thee; but I foretell that thou will be the oldest of us, and
22469      wilt rule the kingdom longest."
22470      Then said Sigurd, "This is well and intelligently interpreted, and it is
22471      likely it will be so." And now the king began to be cheerful again.
22472      21. OF KING SIGURD'S MARRIAGE.
22473      King Sigurd married Malmfrid, a daughter of King Harald Valdemarson,
22474      eastward in Novgorod. King Harald Valdemarson's mother was Queen Gyda the
22475      Old, a daughter of the Swedish king, Inge Steinkelson. Harald
22476      Valdemarson's other daughter, sister to Malmfrid, was Ingebjorg, who was
22477      married to Canute Lavard, a son of the Danish king, Eirik the Good, and
22478      grandson of King Svein Ulfson. Canute's and Ingebjorg's children were, the
22479      Danish king, Valdemar, who came to the Danish kingdom after Svein
22480      Eirikson; and daughters Margaret, Christina, and Catherine. Margaret was
22481      married to Stig Hvitaled; and their daughter was Christina, married to the
22482      Swedish king, Karl Sorkvison, and their son was King Sorkver.
22483      22. OF THE CASES BEFORE THE THING.
22484      The king's relative, Sigurd Hranason, came into strife with King Sigurd.
22485      He had had the Lapland collectorship on the king's account, because of
22486      their relationship and long friendship, and also of the many services
22487      Sigurd Hranason had done to the kings; for he was a very distinguished,
22488      popular man. But it happened to him, as it often does to others, that
22489      persons more wicked and jealous than upright slandered him to King Sigurd,
22490      and whispered in the king's ear that he took more of the Laplander's
22491      tribute to himself than was proper. They spoke so long about this, that
22492      King Sigurd conceived a dislike and anger to him, and sent a message to
22493      him. When he appeared before the king, the king carried these feelings
22494      with him, and said, "I did not expect that thou shouldst have repaid me
22495      for thy great fiefs and other dignities by taking the king's property, and
22496      abstracting a greater portion of it than is allowable."
22497      Sigurd Hranason replies, "It is not true that has been told you; for I
22498      have only taken such portion as I had your permission to take."
22499      King Sigurd replies, "Thou shalt not slip away with this; but the matter
22500      shall be seriously treated before it comes to an end." With that they
22501      parted.
22502      Soon after, by the advice of his friends, the king laid an action against
22503      Sigurd Hranason at the Thing-meeting in Bergen, and would have him made an
22504      outlaw. Now when the business took this turn, and appeared so dangerous,
22505      Sigurd Hranason went to King Eystein, and told him what mischief King
22506      Sigurd intended to do him, and entreated his assistance. King Eystein
22507      replied, "This is a difficult matter that you propose to me, to speak
22508      against my brother; and there is a great difference between defending a
22509      cause and pursuing it in law;" and added, that this was a matter which
22510      concerned him and Sigurd equally. "But for thy distress, and our
22511      relationship, I shall bring in a word for thee."
22512      Soon after Eystein visited King Sigurd, and entreated him to spare the
22513      man, reminding him of the relationship between them and Sigurd Hranason,
22514      who was married to their aunt, Skialdvor; and said he would pay the
22515      penalty for the crime committed against the king, although he could not
22516      with truth impute any blame to him in the matter. Besides, he reminded the
22517      king of the long friendship with Sigurd Hranason. King Sigurd replied,
22518      that it was better government to punish such acts. Then King Eystein
22519      replied, "If thou, brother, wilt follow the law, and punish such acts
22520      according to the country's privileges, then it would be most correct that
22521      Sigurd Hranason produce his witnesses, and that the case be judged at the
22522      Thing, but not at a meeting; for the case comes under the law of the land,
22523      not under Bjarkey law." Then said Sigurd, "It may possibly be so that the
22524      case belongs to it, as thou sayest, King Eystein; and if it be against law
22525      what has hitherto been done in this case, then we shall bring it before
22526      the Thing." Then the kings parted, and each seemed determined to take his
22527      own way. King Sigurd summoned the parties in the case before the Arnarnes
22528      Thing, and intended to pursue it there. King Eystein came also to the
22529      Thing-place; and when the case was brought forward for judgment, King
22530      Eystein went to the Thing before judgment was given upon Sigurd Hranason.
22531      Now King Sigurd told the lagmen to pronounce the judgment; but King
22532      Eystein replied thus: "I trust there are here men acquainted sufficiently
22533      with the laws of Norway, to know that they cannot condemn a lendermen to
22534      be outlawed at this Thing." And he then explained how the law was, so that
22535      every man clearly understood it. Then said King Sigurd, "Thou art taking
22536      up this matter very warmly, King Eystein, and it is likely the case will
22537      cost more trouble before it comes to an end than we intended; but
22538      nevertheless we shall follow it out. I will have him condemned to be
22539      outlawed in his native place." Then said King Eystein, "There are
22540      certainly not many things which do not succeed with thee, and especially
22541      when there are but few and small folks to oppose one who has carried
22542      through such great things." And thus they parted, without anything being
22543      concluded in the case. Thereafter King Sigurd called together a Gula
22544      Thing, went himself there, and summoned to him many high chiefs. King
22545      Eystein came there also with his suite; and many meetings and conferences
22546      were held among people of understanding concerning this case, and it was
22547      tried and examined before the lagmen. Now King Eystein objected that all
22548      the parties summoned in any cases tried here belonged to the
22549      Thing-district; but in this case the deed and the parties belonged to
22550      Halogaland. The Thing accordingly ended in doing nothing, as King Eystein
22551      had thus made it incompetent. The kings parted in great wrath; and King
22552      Eystein went north to Throndhjem. King Sigurd, on the other hand, summoned
22553      to him all lendermen, and also the house-servants of the lendermen, and
22554      named out of every district a number of the bondes from the south parts of
22555      the country, so that he had collected a large army about him; and
22556      proceeded with all this crowd northwards along the coast to Halogaland,
22557      and intended to use all his power to make Sigurd Hranason an outlaw among
22558      his own relations. For this purpose he summoned to him the Halogaland and
22559      Naumudal people, and appointed a Thing at Hrafnista. King Eystein prepared
22560      himself also, and proceeded with many people from the town of Nidaros to
22561      the Thing, where he made Sigurd Hranason, by hand-shake before witnesses,
22562      deliver over to him the following and defending this case. At this Thing
22563      both the kings spoke, each for his own side. Then King Eystein asks the
22564      lagmen where that law was made in Norway which gave the bondes the right
22565      to judge between the kings of the country, when they had pleas with each
22566      other. "I shall bring witnesses to prove that Sigurd has given the case
22567      into my hands; and it is with me, not with Sigurd Hranason, that King
22568      Sigurd has to do in this case." The lagmen said that disputes between
22569      kings must be judged only at the Eyra Thing in Nidaros.
22570      King Eystein said, "So I thought that it should be there, and the cases
22571      must be removed there."
22572      Then King Sigurd said, "The more difficulties and inconvenience thou
22573      bringest upon me in this matter, the more I will persevere in it." And
22574      with that they parted.
22575      Both kings then went south to Nidaros town, where they summoned a Thing
22576      from eight districts. King Eystein was in the town with a great many
22577      people, but Sigurd was on board his ships. When the Thing was opened,
22578      peace and safe conduct was given to all; and when the people were all
22579      collected, and the case should be gone into, Bergthor, a son of Svein
22580      Bryggjufot, stood up, and gave his evidence that Sigurd Hranason had
22581      concealed a part of the Laplanders' taxes.
22582      Then King Eystein stood up and said, "If thy accusation were true,
22583      although we do not know what truth there may be in thy testimony, yet this
22584      case has already been dismissed from three Things, and a fourth time from
22585      a town meeting; and therefore I require that the lagmen acquit Sigurd in
22586      this case according to law." And they did so.
22587      Then said King Sigurd, "I see sufficiently, King Eystein, that thou hast
22588      carried this case by law-quirks (1), which I do not understand. But now
22589      there remains, King Eystein, a way of determining the case which I am more
22590      used to, and which I shall now apply."
22591      He then retired to his ships, had the tents taken down, laid his whole
22592      fleet out at the holm, and held a Thing of his people; and told them that
22593      early in the morning they should land at Iluvellir, and give battle to
22594      King Eystein. But in the evening, as King Sigurd sat at his table in his
22595      ship taking his repast, before he was aware of it a man cast himself on
22596      the floor of the forehold, and at the king's feet. This was Sigurd
22597      Hranason, who begged the king to take what course with regard to him the
22598      king himself thought proper. Then came Bishop Magne and Queen Malmfrid,
22599      and many other great personages, and entreated forgiveness for Sigurd
22600      Hranason; and at their entreaty the king raised him up, took him by the
22601      hand, and placed him among his men, and took him along with himself to the
22602      south part of the country. In autumn the king gave Sigurd Hranason leave
22603      to go north to his farm, gave him an employment, and was always afterward
22604      his friend. After this day, however, the brothers were never much
22605      together, and there was no cordiality or cheerfulness among them.
22606   ENDNOTES: (1) These law-quirks show a singularly advanced state of law.
22607     and deference to the Law Things, amidst such social disorder
22608     and misdeeds. -L.
22609      23. OF KING OLAF'S DEATH.
22610      King Olaf Magnuson fell into a sickness which ended in his death. He was
22611      buried in Christ church in Nidaros, and many were in great grief at his
22612      death. After Olaf's death, Eystein and Sigurd ruled the country, the three
22613      brothers together having been kings of Norway for twelve years (A.D.
22614      1104-1115); namely, five years after King Sigurd returned home, and seven
22615      years before. King Olaf was seventeen years old when he died, and it
22616      happened on the 24th of December.
22617      24. MAGNUS THE BLIND; HIS BIRTH.
22618      King Eystein had been about a year in the east part of the country at that
22619      time, and King Sigurd was then in the north. King Eystein remained a long
22620      time that winter in Sarpsborg. There was once a powerful and rich bonde
22621      called Olaf of Dal, who dwelt in Great Dal in Aumord, and had two
22622      children, -a son called Hakon Fauk, and a daughter called Borghild,
22623      who was a very beautiful girl, and prudent, and well skilled in many
22624      things. Olaf and his children were a long time in winter in Sarpsborg, and
22625      Borghild conversed very often with King Eystein; so that many reports were
22626      spread about their friendship. The following summer King Eystein went
22627      north, and King Sigurd came eastward, where he remained all winter, and
22628      was long in Konungahella, which town he greatly enlarged and improved. He
22629      built there a great castle of turf and stone, dug a great ditch around it,
22630      and built a church and several houses within the castle. The holy cross he
22631      allowed to remain at Konungahella, and therein did not fulfill the oath he
22632      had taken in Palestine; but, on the other hand, he established tithe, and
22633      most of the other things to which he had bound himself by oath. The reason
22634      of his keeping the cross east at the frontier of the country was, that he
22635      thought it would be a protection to all the land; but it proved the
22636      greatest misfortune to place this relic within the power of the heathens,
22637      as it afterwards turned out.
22638      When Borghild, Olaf's daughter, heard it whispered that people talked ill
22639      of her conversations and intimacy with King Eystein, she went to
22640      Sarpsborg; and after suitable fasts she carried the iron as proof of her
22641      innocence, and cleared herself thereby fully from all offence. When King
22642      Sigurd heard this, he rode one day as far as usually was two days'
22643      travelling, and came to Dal to Olaf, where he remained all night, made
22644      Borghild his concubine, and took her away with him. They had a son, who
22645      was called Magnus, and he was sent immediately to Halogaland, to be
22646      fostered at Bjarkey by Vidkun Jonson; and he was brought up there. Magnus
22647      grew up to be the handsomest man that could be seen, and was very soon
22648      stout and strong.
22649      25. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TWO KINGS.
22650      King Eystein and King Sigurd went both in spring to guest-quarters in the
22651      Uplands; and each was entertained in a separate house, and the houses were
22652      not very distant from each other. The bondes, however, thought it more
22653      convenient that both should be entertained together by turns in each
22654      house; and thus they were both at first in the house of King Eystein. But
22655      in the evening, when the people began to drink, the ale was not good; so
22656      that the guests were very quiet and still. Then said King Eystein, "Why
22657      are the people so silent? It is more usual in drinking parties that people
22658      are merry, so let us fall upon some jest over our ale that will amuse
22659      people; for surely, brother Sigurd, all people are well pleased when we
22660      talk cheerfully."
22661      Sigurd replies, bluntly, "Do you talk as much as you please, but give me
22662      leave to be silent."
22663      Eystein says, "It is a common custom over the ale-table to compare one
22664      person with another, and now let us do so." Then Sigurd was silent.
22665      "I see," says King Eystein, "that I must begin this amusement. Now I will
22666      take thee, brother, to compare myself with, and will make it appear so as
22667      if we had both equal reputation and property, and that there is no
22668      difference in our birth and education."
22669      Then King Sigurd replies, "Do you remember that I was always able to throw
22670      you when we wrestled, although you are a year older?"
22671      Then King Eystein replied, "But I remember that you was not so good at the
22672      games which require agility."
22673      Sigurd: "Do you remember that I could drag you under water, when we swam
22674      together, as often as I pleased?"
22675      Eystein: "But I could swim as far as you, and could dive as well as you;
22676      and I could run upon snow-skates so well that nobody could beat me, and
22677      you could no more do it than an ox."
22678      Sigurd: "Methinks it is a more useful and suitable accomplishment for a
22679      chief to be expert at his bow; and I think you could scarcely draw my bow,
22680      even if you took your foot to help."
22681      Eystein: "I am not strong at the bow as you are, but there is less
22682      difference between our shooting near; and I can use the skees much better
22683      than you, and in former times that was held a great accomplishment."
22684      Sigurd: "It appears to me much better for a chief who is to be the
22685      superior of other men, that he is conspicuous in a crowd, and strong and
22686      powerful in weapons above other men; easily seen, and easily known, where
22687      there are many together."
22688      Eystein: "It is not less a distinction and an ornament that a man is of a
22689      handsome appearance, so as to be easily known from others on that account;
22690      and this appears to me to suit a chief best, because the best ornament is
22691      allied to beauty. I am moreover more knowing in the law than you, and on
22692      every subject my words flow more easily than yours."
22693      Sigurd: "It may be that you know more law-quirks, for I have had something
22694      else to do; neither will any deny you a smooth tongue. But there are many
22695      who say that your words are not to be trusted; that what you promise is
22696      little to be regarded; and that you talk just according to what those who
22697      are about you say, which is not kingly."
22698      Eystein: "This is because, when people bring their cases before me, I wish
22699      first to give every man that satisfaction in his affairs which he desires;
22700      but afterwards comes the opposite party, and then there is something to be
22701      given or taken away very often, in order to mediate between them, so that
22702      both may be satisfied. It often happens, too, that I promise whatever is
22703      desired of me, that all may be joyful about me. It would be an easy matter
22704      for me to do as you do, -to promise evil to all; and I never hear any
22705      complain of your not keeping this promise to them."
22706      Sigurd: "It is the conversation of all that the expedition that I made out
22707      of the country was a princely expedition, while you in the meantime sat at
22708      home like your father's daughter."
22709      Eystein: "Now you touched the tender spot. I would not have brought up
22710      this conversation if I had not known what to reply on this point. I can
22711      truly say that I equipt you from home like a sister, before you went upon
22712      this expedition."
22713      Sigurd: "You must have heard that on this expedition I was in many a
22714      battle in the Saracen's land, and gained the victory in all; and you must
22715      have heard of the many valuable articles I acquired, the like of which
22716      were never seen before in this country, and I was the most respected
22717      wherever the most gallant men were; and, on the other hand, you cannot
22718      conceal that you have only a home-bred reputation."
22719      Eystein: "I have heard that you had several battles abroad, but it was
22720      more useful for the country what I was doing in the meantime here at home.
22721      I built five churches from the foundations, and a harbour out at Agdanes,
22722      where it before was impossible to land, and where vessels ply north and
22723      south along the coast. I set a warping post and iron ring in the sound of
22724      Sinholm, and in Bergen I built a royal hall, while you were killing
22725      bluemen for the devil in Serkland. This, I think, was of but little
22726      advantage to our kingdom."
22727      King Sigurd said: "On this expedition I went all the way to Jordan and
22728      swam across the river. On the edge of the river there is a bush of
22729      willows, and there I twisted a knot of willows, and said this knot thou
22730      shouldst untie, brother, or take the curse thereto attached."
22731      King Eystein said: "I shall not go and untie the knot which you tied for
22732      me; but if I had been inclined to tie a knot for thee, thou wouldst not
22733      have been king of Norway at thy return to this country, when with a single
22734      ship you came sailing into my fleet."
22735      Thereupon both were silent, and there was anger on both sides. More things
22736      passed between the brothers, from which it appeared that each of them
22737      would be greater than the other; however, peace was preserved between them
22738      as long as they lived.
22739      26. OF KING SIGURD'S SICKNESS.
22740      King Sigurd was at a feast in the Upland, and a bath was made ready for
22741      him. When the king came to the bath and the tent was raised over the
22742      bathing-tub, the king thought there was a fish in the tub beside him; and
22743      a great laughter came upon him, so that he was beside himself, and was out
22744      of his mind, and often afterwards these fits returned.
22745      Magnus Barefoot's daughter, Ragnhild, was married by her brothers to
22746      Harald Kesia, a son of the Danish king, Eirik the Good; and their sons
22747      were Magnus, Olaf, Knut and Harald.
22748      27. OF KING EYSTEIN'S DEATH.
22749      King Eystein built a large ship at Nidaros, which, in size and shape, was
22750      like the Long Serpent which King Olaf Trygvason had built. At the stem
22751      there was a dragon's head, and at the stern a crooked tail, and both were
22752      gilded over. The ship was high-sided; but the fore and aft parts appeared
22753      less than they should be. He also made in Nidaros many and large dry-docks
22754      of the best material, and well timbered.
22755      Six years after King Olaf's death, it happened that King Eystein, at a
22756      feast at Hustadir in Stim, was seized with an illness which soon carried
22757      him off. He died the 29th of August, 1123, and his body was carried north
22758      to Nidaros, and buried in Christ church; and it is generally said that so
22759      many mourners never stood over any man's grave in Norway as over King
22760      Eystein's, at least since the time Magnus the Good, Saint Olaf's son,
22761      died. Eystein had been twenty years (A.D. 1104-1123) king of Norway; and
22762      after his decease his brother, King Sigurd, was the sole king of Norway as
22763      long as he lived.
22764      28. BAPTIZING THE PEOPLE OF SMALAND.
22765      The Danish king, Nikolas, a son of Svein Ulfson, married afterwards the
22766      Queen Margaret, a daughter of King Inge, who had before been married to
22767      King Magnus Barefoot; and their sons were Nikolas and Magnus the Strong.
22768      King Nikolas sent a message to King Sigurd the Crusader, and asked him if
22769      he would go with him with all his might and help him to the east of the
22770      Swedish dominion, Smaland, to baptize the inhabitants; for the people who
22771      dwelt there had no regard for Christianity, although some of them had
22772      allowed themselves to be baptized. At that time there were many people all
22773      around in the Swedish dominions who were heathens, and many were bad
22774      Christians; for there were some of the kings who renounced Christianity,
22775      and continued heathen sacrifices, as Blotsvein, and afterwards Eirik
22776      Arsale, had done. King Sigurd promised to undertake this journey, and the
22777      kings appointed their meeting at Eyrarsund. King Sigurd then summoned all
22778      people in Norway to a levy, both of men and ships; and when the fleet was
22779      assembled he had about 300 ships. King Nikolas came very early to the
22780      meeting-place, and stayed there a long time; and the bondes murmured much,
22781      and said the Northmen did not intend to come. Thereupon the Danish army
22782      dispersed, and the king went away with all his fleet. King Sigurd came
22783      there soon afterwards, and was ill pleased; but sailed east to Svimraros,
22784      and held a House-thing, at which Sigurd spoke about King Nikolas's breach
22785      of faith, and the Northmen, on this account, determined to go marauding in
22786      his country. They first plundered a village called Tumathorp, which is not
22787      far from Lund; and then sailed east to the merchant-town of Calmar, where
22788      they plundered, as well as in Smaland, and imposed on the country a
22789      tribute of 1500 cattle for ship provision; and the people of Smaland
22790      received Christianity. After this King Sigurd turned about with his fleet,
22791      and came back to his kingdom with many valuable articles and great booty,
22792      which he had gathered on this expedition; and this levy was called the
22793      Calmar levy. This was the summer before the eclipse. This was the only
22794      levy King Sigurd carried out as long as he was king.
22795      29. OF THORARIN STUTFELD.
22796      It happened once when King Sigurd was going from the drinking-table to
22797      vespers, that his men were very drunk and merry; and many of them sat
22798      outside the church singing the evening song, but their singing was very
22799      irregular. Then the king said, "Who is that fellow I see standing at the
22800      church with a skin jacket on?" They answered, that they did not know. Then
22801      the king said: -
22802     "This skin-clad man, in sorry plight,
22803     Puts all our wisdom here to flight."
22804      Then the fellow came forward and said: -
22805     "I thought that here I might be known,
22806     Although my dress is scanty grown.
22807     'Tis poor, but I must be content:
22808     Unless, great king, it's thy intent
22809     To give me better; for I have seen
22810     When I and rags had strangers been."
22811      The king answered, "Come to me to-morrow when I am at the drink-table."
22812      The night passed away; and the morning after the Icelander, who was
22813      afterwards called Thorarin Stutfetd, went into the drinking-room. A man
22814      stood outside of the door of the room with a horn in his hand, and said,
22815      "Icelander! the king says that if thou wilt deserve any gift from him thou
22816      shalt compose a song before going in, and make it about a man whose name
22817      is Hakon Serkson, and who is called Morstrut (1); and speak about that
22818      surname in thy song." The man who spoke to him was called Arne Fioruskeif.
22819      Then they went into the room; and when Thorarin came before the king's
22820      seat he recited these verses: -
22821     "Throndhjem's warrior-king has said
22822     The skald should be by gifts repaid,
22823     If he before this meeting gave
22824     The king's friend Serk a passing stave.
22825     The generous king has let me know
22826     My stave, to please, must be framed so
22827     That my poor verse extol the fame
22828     Of one called Hakon Lump by name."
22829      Then said the king, "I never said so, and somebody has been making a mock
22830      of thee. Hakon himself shall determine what punishment thou shalt have. Go
22831      into his suite." Hakon said, "He shall be welcome among us, for I can see
22832      where the joke came from;" and he placed the Icelander at his side next to
22833      himself, and they were very merry. The day was drawing to a close, and the
22834      liquor began to get into their heads, when Hakon said, "Dost thou not
22835      think, Icelander, that thou owest me some penalty? and dost thou not see
22836      that some trick has been played upon thee?"
22837      Thorarin replies, "It is true, indeed, that I owe thee some compensation."
22838      Hakon says, "Then we shall be quits, if thou wilt make me another stave
22839      about Arne."
22840      He said he was ready to do so; and they crossed over to the side of the
22841      room where Arne was sitting, and Thorarin gave these verses: -
22842     "Fioruskeif has often spread,
22843     With evil heart and idle head,
22844     The eagle's voidings round the land,
22845     Lampoons and lies, with ready hand.
22846     Yet this landlouper we all know,
22847     In Africa scarce fed a crow,
22848     Of all his arms used in the field,
22849     Those in most use were helm and shield."
22850      Arne sprang up instantly, drew his sword, and was going to fall upon him;
22851      but Hakon told him to let it alone and be quiet, and bade him remember
22852      that if it came to a quarrel he would come off the worst himself. Thorarin
22853      afterwards went up to the king, and said he had composed a poem which he
22854      wished the king to hear. The king consented, and the song is known by the
22855      name of the Stutfeld poem. The king asked Thorarin what he intended to do.
22856      He replied, it was his intention to go to Rome. Then the king gave him
22857      much money for his pilgrimage, and told him to visit him on his return,
22858      and promised to provide for him.
22859   ENDNOTES: (1) Morstrut is a short, fat, punchy fellow. -L.
22860      30. OF SIGURD AND OTTAR BIRTING.
22861      It is told that King Sigurd, one Whitsunday, sat at table with many
22862      people, among whom were many of his friends; and when he came to his
22863      high-seat, people saw that his countenance was very wild, and as if he had
22864      been weeping, so that people were afraid of what might follow. The king
22865      rolled his eyes, and looked at those who were seated on the benches. Then
22866      he seized the holy book which he had brought with him from abroad, and
22867      which was written all over with gilded letters; so that never had such a
22868      costly book come to Norway. His queen sat by his side. Then said King
22869      Sigurd, "Many are the changes which may take place during a man's
22870      lifetime. I had two things which were dear to me above all when I came
22871      from abroad, and these were this book and the queen; and now I think the
22872      one is only worse and more loathsome than the other, and nothing I have
22873      belonging to me that I more detest. The queen does not know herself how
22874      hideous she is; for a goat's horn is standing out on her head, and the
22875      better I liked her before the worse I like her now." Thereupon he cast the
22876      book on the fire which was burning on the hall-floor, and gave the queen a
22877      blow with his fist between the eyes. The queen wept; but more at the
22878      king's' illness than at the blow, or the affront she had suffered.
22879      Then a man stood up before the king; his name was Ottar Birting; and he
22880      was one of the torch-bearers, although a bonde's son, and was on service
22881      that day. He was of small stature, but of agreeable appearance; lively,
22882      bold, and full of fun; black haired, and of a dark skin. He ran and
22883      snatched the book which the king had cast into the fire, held it out, and
22884      said, "Different were the days, sire, when you came with great state and
22885      splendour to Norway, and with great fame and honour; for then all your
22886      friends came to meet you with joy, and were glad at your coming. All as
22887      one man would have you for king, and have you in the highest regard and
22888      honour. But now days of sorrow are come over us; for on this holy festival
22889      many of your friends have come to you, and cannot be cheerful on account
22890      of your melancholy and ill health. It is much to be desired that you would
22891      be merry with them; and do, good king, take this saving advice, make peace
22892      first with the queen, and make her joyful whom you have so highly
22893      affronted, with a friendly word; and then all your chiefs, friends, and
22894      servants; that is my advice."
22895      Then said King Sigurd, "Dost thou dare to give me advice, thou great lump
22896      of a houseman's lad!" And he sprang up, drew his sword, and swung it with
22897      both hands as if going to cut him down.
22898      But Ottar stood quiet and upright; did not stir from the spot, nor show
22899      the slightest sign of fear; and the king turned round the sword-blade
22900      which he had waved over Ottar's head, and gently touched him on the
22901      shoulder with it. Then he sat down in silence on his high-seat.
22902      All were silent who were in the hall, for nobody dared to say a word. Now
22903      the king looked around him, milder than before, and said, "It is difficult
22904      to know what there is in people. Here sat my friends, and lendermen,
22905      marshals and shield-bearers, and all the best men in the land; but none
22906      did so well against me as this man, who appears to you of little worth
22907      compared to any of you, although now he loves me most. I came here like a
22908      madman, and would have destroyed my precious property; but he turned aside
22909      my deed, and was not afraid of death for it. Then he made an able speech,
22910      ordering his words so that they were honourable to me, and not saying a
22911      single word about things which could increase my vexation; but even
22912      avoiding what might, with truth, have been said. So excellent was his
22913      speech, that no man here, however great his understanding, could have
22914      spoken better. Then I sprang up in a pretended rage, and made as if I
22915      would have cut him down; but he was courageous as if he had nothing to
22916      fear; and seeing that, I let go my purpose; for he was altogether
22917      innocent. Now ye shall know, my friends, how I intend to reward him; he
22918      was before my torchbearer, and shall now be my lenderman; and there shall
22919      follow what is still more, that he shall be the most distinguished of my
22920      lendermen. Go thou and sit among the lendermen, and be a servant no
22921      longer."
22922      Ottar became one of the most celebrated men in Norway for various good and
22923      praiseworthy deeds.
22924      31. OF KING SIGURD'S DREAM.
22925      In King Sigurd's latter days he was once at an entertainment at one of his
22926      farms; and in the morning when he was dressed he was silent and still, so
22927      that his friends were afraid he was not able to govern himself. Now the
22928      farm bailiff, who was a man of good sense and courage, brought him into
22929      conversation, and asked if he had heard any news of such importance that
22930      it disturbed his mirth; or if the entertainment had not satisfied him; or
22931      if there was anything else that people could remedy.
22932      King Sigurd said, that none of the things he had mentioned was the cause.
22933      "But it is that I think upon the dream I had in the night."
22934      "Sire," replied he, "may it prove a lucky dream! I would gladly hear it."
22935      The king: "I thought that I was in Jadar, and looked out towards the sea;
22936      and that I saw something very black moving itself; and when it came near
22937      it appeared to be a large tree, of which the branches stretched far above
22938      the water, and the roots were down in the sea. Now when the tree came to
22939      the shore it broke into pieces, and drove all about the land, both the
22940      mainland and the out-islands, rocks and strands; and it appeared to me as
22941      if I saw over all Norway along the sea-coast, and saw pieces of that tree,
22942      some small and some large, driven into every bight."
22943      Then said the bailiff, "It is likely that you an best interpret this dream
22944      yourself; and I would willingly hear your interpretation of it."
22945      Then said the king, "This dream appears to me to denote the arrival in
22946      this country of some man who will fix his seat here, and whose posterity
22947      will spread itself over the land; but with unequal power, as the dream
22948      shows."
22949      32. OF ASLAK HANE.
22950      It so happened once, that King Sigurd sat in a gloomy mood among many
22951      worthy men. It was Friday evening, and the kitchen-master asked what meat
22952      should be made ready.
22953      The king replies, "What else but flesh-meat?" And so harsh were his words
22954      that nobody dared to contradict him, and all were ill at ease. Now when
22955      people prepared to go to table, dishes of warm flesh-meat were carried in;
22956      but all were silent, and grieved at the king's illness. Before the
22957      blessing was pronounced over the meat, a man called Aslak Hane spoke. He
22958      had been a long time with King Sigurd on his journey abroad, and was not a
22959      man of any great family; and was small of stature, but fiery. When he
22960      perceived how it was, and that none dared to accost the king, he asked,
22961      "What is it, sire, that is smoking on the dish before you?"
22962      The king replies, "What do you mean, Aslak? what do you think it is?"
22963      Aslak: "I think it is flesh-meat; and I would it were not so."
22964      The king: "But if it be so, Aslak?"
22965      He replied, "It would be vexatious to know that a gallant king, who has
22966      gained so much honour in the world, should so forget himself. When you
22967      rose up out of Jordan, after bathing in the same waters as God himself,
22968      with palm-leaves in your hands, and the cross upon your breast, it was
22969      something else you promised, sire, than to eat flesh-meat on a Friday. If
22970      a meaner man were to do so, he would merit a heavy punishment. This royal
22971      hall is not so beset as it should be, when it falls upon me, a mean man,
22972      to challenge such an act."
22973      The king sat silent, and did not partake of the meat; and when the time
22974      for eating was drawing to an end, the king ordered the flesh dishes to be
22975      removed and other food was brought in, such as it is permitted to use.
22976      When the meal-time was almost past, the king began to be cheerful, and to
22977      drink. People advised Aslak to fly, but he said he would not do so. "I do
22978      not see how it could help me; and to tell the truth, it is as good to die
22979      now that I have got my will, and have prevented the king from committing a
22980      sin. It is for him to kill me if he likes."
22981      Towards evening the king called him, and said, "Who set thee on, Aslak
22982      Hane, to speak such free words to me in the hearing of so many people?"
22983      "No one, sire, but myself."
22984      The king: "Thou wouldst like, no doubt, to know what thou art to have for
22985      such boldness; what thinkest thou it deserves."
22986      He replies, "If it be well rewarded, sire, I shall be glad; but should it
22987      be otherwise, then it is your concern."
22988      Then the king said, "Smaller is thy reward than thou hast deserved. I give
22989      thee three farms. It has turned out, what could not have been expected,
22990      that thou hast prevented me from a great crime, -thou, and not the
22991      lendermen, who are indebted to me for so much good." And so it ended.
22992      33. OF A WOMAN BROUGHT TO THE KING.
22993      One Yule eve the king sat in the hall, and the tables were laid out, and
22994      the king said, "Get me flesh-meat."
22995      They answered, "Sire, it is not the custom to eat flesh-meat on Yule eve."
22996      The king said, "If it be not the custom I will make it the custom."
22997      They went out, and brought him a dolphin. The king stuck his knife into
22998      it, but did not eat of it. Then the king said, "Bring me a girl here into
22999      the hall." They brought him a woman whose head-dress went far down her
23000      brows. The king took her hand in his hands, looked at her, and said, "An
23001      ill looking girl!"
23002      ((LACUNA -The rest of this story is missing))
23003      34. HARALD GILLE COMES TO NORWAY.
23004      Halkel Huk, a son of Jon Smiorbalte, who was lenderman in More, made a
23005      voyage in the West sea, all the way to the South Hebudes. A man came to
23006      him out of Ireland called Gillikrist, and gave himself out for a son of
23007      King Magnus Barefoot. His mother came with him, and said his other name
23008      was Harald. Halkel received the man, brought him to Norway with him, and
23009      went immediately to King Sigurd with Harald and his mother. When they had
23010      told their story to the king, he talked over the matter with his principal
23011      men, and bade them give their opinions upon it. They were of different
23012      opinions, and all left it to the king himself, although there were several
23013      who opposed this; and the king followed his own counsel. King Sigurd
23014      ordered Harald to be called before him, and told him that he would not
23015      deny him the proof, by ordeal, of who his father was; but on condition
23016      that if he should prove his descent according to his claim, he should not
23017      desire the kingdom in the lifetime of King Sigurd, or of King Magnus: and
23018      to this he bound himself by oath. King Sigurd said he must tread over hot
23019      iron to prove his birth; but this ordeal was thought by many too severe,
23020      as he was to undergo it merely to prove his father, and without getting
23021      the kingdom; but Harald agreed to it, and fixed on the trial by iron: and
23022      this ordeal was the greatest ever made in Norway; for nine glowing
23023      plowshares were laid down, and Harald went over them with bare feet,
23024      attended by two bishops.
23025      Three days after the iron trial the ordeal was taken to proof, and the
23026      feet were found unburnt. Thereafter King Sigurd acknowledged Harald's
23027      relationship; but his son Magnus conceived a great hatred of him, and in
23028      this many chiefs followed Magnus. King Sigurd trusted so much to his
23029      favour with the whole people of the country, that he desired all men,
23030      under oath, to promise to accept Magnus after him as their king; and all
23031      the people took this oath.
23032      35. RACE BETWEEN MAGNUS AND HARALD GILLE.
23033      Harald Gille was a tall, slender-grown man, of a long neck and face, black
23034      eyes, and dark hair, brisk and quick, and wore generally the Irish dress
23035      of short light clothes. The Norse language was difficult for Harald, and
23036      he brought out words which many laughed at. Harald sat late drinking one
23037      evening. He spoke with another man about different things in the west in
23038      Ireland; and among other things, said that there were men in Ireland so
23039      swift of foot that no horse could overtake them in running. Magnus, the
23040      king's son, heard this, and said, "Now he is lying, as he usually does."
23041      Harald replies, "It is true that there are men in Ireland whom no horse in
23042      Norway could overtake." They exchanged some words about this, and both
23043      were drunk. Then said Magnus, "Thou shalt make a wager with me, and stake
23044      thy head if thou canst not run so fast as I ride upon my horse, and I
23045      shall stake my gold ring."
23046      Harald replies, "I did not say that I could run so swiftly; but I said
23047      that men are to be found in Ireland who will run as fast; and on that I
23048      would wager."
23049      The king's son Magnus replies, "I will not go to Ireland about it; we are
23050      wagering here, and not there."
23051      Harald on this went to bed, and would not speak to him more about it. This
23052      was in Oslo. The following morning, when the early mass was over, Magnus
23053      rode up the street, and sent a message to Harald to come to him. When
23054      Harald came he was dressed thus. He had on a shirt and trousers which were
23055      bound with ribands under his foot-soles, a short cloak, an Irish hat on
23056      his head, and a spear-shaft in his hand. Magnus set up a mark for the
23057      race. Harald said, "Thou hast made the course too long;" but Magnus made
23058      it at once even much longer, and said it was still too short. There were
23059      many spectators. They began the race, and Harald followed always the
23060      horse's pace; and when they came to the end of the race course, Magnus
23061      said, "Thou hadst hold of the saddle-girth, and the horse dragged thee
23062      along." Magnus had his swift runner, the Gautland horse. They began the
23063      race again, and Harald ran the whole race-course before the horse. When
23064      came to the end Harald asked, "Had I hold of the saddle-girths now?"
23065      Magnus replied, "Thou hadst the start at first."
23066      Then Magnus let his horse breathe a while, and when he was ready he put
23067      the spurs to him, and set off in full gallop. Harald stood still, and
23068      Magnus looked back, and called, "Set off now."
23069      Then Harald ran quickly past the horse, and came to the end of the course
23070      so long before him that he lay down, and got up and saluted Magnus as he
23071      came in.
23072      Then they went home to the town. In the meantime King Sigurd had been at
23073      high mass, and knew nothing of this until after he had dined that day.
23074      Then he said to Magnus angrily, "Thou callest Harald useless; but I think
23075      thou art a great fool, and knowest nothing of the customs of foreign
23076      people. Dost thou not know that men in other countries exercise themselves
23077      in other feats than in filling themselves with ale, and making themselves
23078      mad, and so unfit for everything that they scarcely know each other? Give
23079      Harald his ring, and do not try to make a fool of him again, as long as I
23080      am above ground."
23081      36. OF SIGURD'S SWIMMING.
23082      It happened once that Sigurd was out in his ship, which lay in the
23083      harbour; and there lay a merchant ship, which was an Iceland trader, at
23084      the side of it. Harald Gille was in the forecastle of the king's ship, and
23085      Svein Rimhildson, a son of Knut Sveinson of Jadar, had his berth the next
23086      before him. There was also Sigurd Sigurdson, a gallant lenderman, who
23087      himself commanded a ship. It was a day of beautiful weather and warm
23088      sunshine, and many went out to swim, both from the long-ship and the
23089      merchant vessel. An Iceland man, who was among the swimmers, amused
23090      himself by drawing those under water who could not swim so well as
23091      himself; and at that the spectators laughed. When King Sigurd saw and
23092      heard this, he cast off his clothes, sprang into the water, and swam to
23093      the Icelander, seized him, and pressed him under the water, and held him
23094      there; and as soon as the Icelander came up the king pressed him down
23095      again, and thus the one time after the other.
23096      Then said Sigurd Sigurdson, "Shall we let the king kill this man?"
23097      Somebody said, "No one has any wish to interfere."
23098      Sigurd replies, that "If Dag Eilifson were here, we should not be without
23099      one who dared."
23100      Then Sigurd sprang overboard, swam to the king, took hold of him, and
23101      said, "Sire, do not kill the man. Everybody sees that you are a much
23102      better swimmer."
23103      The king replies, "Let me loose, Sigurd: I shall be his death, for he will
23104      destroy our people under water."
23105      Sigurd says, "Let us first amuse ourselves; and, Icelander, do thou set
23106      off to the land," which he did. The king now got loose from Sigurd, and
23107      swam to his ship, and Sigurd went his way: but the king ordered that
23108      Sigurd should not presume to come into his presence; this was reported to
23109      Sigurd, and so he went up into the country.
23110      37. OF HARALD AND SVEIN RIMHILDSON.
23111      In the evening, when people were going to bed, some of the ship's men were
23112      still at their games up in the country. Harald was with those who played
23113      on the land, and told his footboy to go out to the ship, make his bed, and
23114      wait for him there. The lad did as he was ordered. The king had gone to
23115      sleep; and as the boy thought Harald late, he laid himself in Harald's
23116      berth. Svein Rimhildson said, "It is a shame for brave men to be brought
23117      from their farms at home, and to have here serving boys to sleep beside
23118      them." The lad said that Harald had ordered him to come there. Svein
23119      Rimhildson said, "We do not so much care for Harald himself lying here, if
23120      he do not bring here his slaves and beggars;" and seized a riding-whip,
23121      and struck the boy on the head until the blood flowed from him. The boy
23122      ran immediately up the country, and told Harald what had happened, who
23123      went immediately out to the ship, to the aft part of the forecastle, and
23124      with a pole-axe struck Svein so that he received a severe wound on his
23125      hands; and then Harald went on shore. Svein ran to the land after him,
23126      and, gathering his friends, took Harald prisoner, and they were about
23127      hanging him. But while they were busy about this, Sigurd Sigurdson went
23128      out to the king's ship and awoke him. When the king opened his eyes and
23129      recognised Sigurd, he said. "For this reason thou shalt die, that thou
23130      hast intruded into my presence; for thou knowest that I forbade thee:" and
23131      with these words the king sprang up.
23132      Sigurd replied, "That is in your power as soon as you please; but other
23133      business is more urgent. Go to the land as quickly as possible to help thy
23134      brother; for the Rogaland people are going to hang him."
23135      Then said the king, "God give us luck, Sigurd! Call my trumpeter, and let
23136      him call the people all to land, and to meet me."
23137      The king sprang on the land, and all who knew him followed him to where
23138      the gallows was being erected. The king instantly took Harald to him; and
23139      all the people gathered to the king in full armour, as they heard the
23140      trumpet. Then the king ordered that Svein and all his comrades should
23141      depart from the country as outlaws; but by the intercession of good men
23142      the king was prevailed on to let them remain and hold their properties,
23143      but no mulct should be paid for Svein's wound.
23144      Then Sigurd Sigurdson asked if the king wished that he should go forth out
23145      of the country.
23146      "That will I not," said the king; "for I can never be without thee."
23147      38. OF KING OLAF'S MIRACLE.
23148      There was a young and poor man called Kolbein; and Thora, King Sigurd the
23149      Crusader's mother, had ordered his tongue to be cut out of his mouth, and
23150      for no other cause than that this young man had taken a piece of meat out
23151      of the king-mother's tub which he said the cook had given him, and which
23152      the cook had not ventured to serve up to her. The man had long gone about
23153      speechless. So says Einar Skulason in Olaf's ballad: -
23154     "The proud rich dame, for little cause,
23155     Had the lad's tongue cut from his jaws:
23156     The helpless man, of speech deprived,
23157     His dreadful sore wound scarce survived.
23158     A few weeks since at Hild was seen,
23159     As well as ever he had been,
23160     The same poor lad -to speech restored
23161     By Olaf's power, whom he adored."
23162      Afterwards the young man came to Nidaros, and watched in the Christ
23163      church; but at the second mass for Olaf before matins he fell asleep, and
23164      thought he saw King Olaf the Saint coming to him; and that Olaf talked to
23165      him, and took hold with his hands of the stump of his tongue and pulled
23166      it. Now when he awoke he found himself restored, and joyfully did he thank
23167      our Lord and the holy Saint Olaf, who had pitied and helped him; for he
23168      had come there speechless, and had gone to the holy shrine, and went away
23169      cured, and with his speech clear and distinct.
23170      39. KING OLAF'S MIRACLE WITH A PRISONER.
23171      The heathens took prisoner a young man of Danish family and carried him to
23172      Vindland, where he was in fetters along with other prisoners. In the
23173      day-time he was alone in irons, without a guard; but at night a peasant's
23174      son was beside him in the chain, that he might not escape from them. This
23175      poor man never got sleep or rest from vexation and sorrow, and considered
23176      in many ways what could help him; for he had a great dread of slavery, and
23177      was pining with hunger and torture. He could not again expect to be
23178      ransomed by his friends, as they had already restored him twice from
23179      heathen lands with their own money; and he well knew that it would be
23180      difficult and expensive for them to submit a third time to this burden. It
23181      is well with the man who does not undergo so much in the world as this man
23182      knew he had suffered. He saw but one way; and that was to get off and
23183      escape if he could. He resolved upon this in the night-time, killed the
23184      peasant, and cut his foot off after killing him, and set off to the forest
23185      with the chain upon his leg. Now when the people knew this, soon after
23186      daylight in the morning, they pursued him with two dogs accustomed to
23187      trace any one who escaped, and to find him in the forest however carefully
23188      he might be concealed. They got him into their hands and beat him, and did
23189      him all kinds of mischief; and dragging him home, left barely alive, and
23190      showed him no mercy. They tortured him severely; put him in a dark room,
23191      in which there lay already sixteen Christian men; and bound him both with
23192      iron and other tyings, as fast as they could. Then he began to think that
23193      the misery and pain he had endured before were but shadows to his present
23194      sufferings. He saw no man before his eyes in this prison who would beg for
23195      mercy for him; no one had compassion on his wretchedness, except the
23196      Christian men who lay bound with him, who sorrowed with him, and bemoaned
23197      his fate together with their own misfortunes and helplessness. One day
23198      they advised him to make a vow to the holy King Olaf, to devote himself to
23199      some office in his sacred house, if he, by God's compassion and Saint
23200      Olaf's prayers could get away from this prison. He gladly agreed to this,
23201      and made a vow and prepared himself for the situation they mentioned to
23202      him. The night after he thought in his sleep that he saw a man, not tall,
23203      standing at his side, who spoke to him thus, "Here, thou wretched man, why
23204      dost thou not get up?"
23205      He replied, "Sir, who are you?"
23206      "I am King Olaf, on whom thou hast called."
23207      "Oh, my good lord! gladly would I raise myself; but I lie bound with iron
23208      and with chains on my legs, and also the other men who lie here."
23209      Thereupon the king accosts him with the words, "Stand up at once and be
23210      not afraid; for thou art loose."
23211      He awoke immediately, and told his comrades what, had appeared to him in
23212      his dream. They told him to stand up, and try if it was true. He stood up,
23213      and observed that he was loose. Now said his fellow-prisoners, this would
23214      help him but little, for the door was locked both on the inside and on the
23215      outside. Then an old man who sat there in a deplorable condition put in
23216      his word, and told him not to doubt the mercy of the man who had loosened
23217      his chains; "For he has wrought this miracle on thee that thou shouldst
23218      enjoy his mercy, and hereafter be free, without suffering more misery and
23219      torture. Make haste, then, and seek the door; and if thou are able to slip
23220      out, thou art saved."
23221      He did so, found the door open, slipped out, and away to the forest. As
23222      soon as the Vindland people were aware of this they set loose the dogs,
23223      and pursued him in great haste; and the poor man lay hid, and saw well
23224      where they were following him. But now the hounds lost the trace when they
23225      came nearer, and all the eyes that sought him were struck with a
23226      blindness, so that nobody could find him, although he lay before their
23227      feet; and they all returned home, vexed that they could not find him. King
23228      Olaf did not permit this man's destruction after he had reached the
23229      forest, and restored him also to his health and hearing; for they had so
23230      long tortured and beaten him that he had become deaf. At last he came on
23231      board of a ship, with two other Christian men who had been long afflicted
23232      in that country. All of them worked zealously in this vessel, and so had a
23233      successful flight. Then he repaired to the holy man's house, strong and
23234      fit to bear arms. Now he was vexed at his vow, went from his promise to
23235      the holy king, ran away one day, and came in the evening to a bonde who
23236      gave him lodging for God's sake. Then in the night he saw three girls
23237      coming to him; and handsome and nobly dressed were they. They spoke to him
23238      directly, and sharply reprimanded him for having been so bold as to run
23239      from the good king who had shown so much compassion to him, first in
23240      freeing him from his irons, and then from the prison; and yet he had
23241      deserted the mild master into whose service he had entered. Then he awoke
23242      full of terror, got up early, and told the house-father his dream. The
23243      good man had nothing so earnest in life as to send him-back to the holy
23244      place. This miracle was first written down by a man who himself saw the
23245      man, and the marks of the chains upon his body.
23246      40. KING SIGURD MARRIES CECILIA.
23247      In the last period of King Sigurd's life, his new and extraordinary
23248      resolution was whispered about, that he would be divorced from his queen,
23249      and would take Cecilia, who was a great man's daughter, to wife. He
23250      ordered accordingly a great feast to be prepared, and intended to hold his
23251      wedding with her in Bergen. Now when Bishop Magne heard this, he was very
23252      sorry; and one day the bishop goes to the king's hall, and with him a
23253      priest called Sigurd, who was afterwards bishop of Bergen. When they came
23254      to the king's hall, the bishop sent the king a message that he would like
23255      to meet him; and asked the king to come out to him. He did so, and came
23256      out with a drawn sword in his hand. He received the bishop kindly and
23257      asked him to go in and sit down to table with him.
23258      The bishop replies, "I have other business now. Is it true, sire, what is
23259      told me, that thou hast the intention of marrying, and of driving away thy
23260      queen, and taking another wife?"
23261      The king said it was true.
23262      Then the bishop changed countenance, and angrily replied, "How can it come
23263      into your mind, sire, to do such an act in our bishopric as to betray
23264      God's word and law, and the holy church? It surprises me that you treat
23265      with such contempt our episcopal office, and your own royal office. I will
23266      now do what is my duty; and in the name of God, of the holy King Olaf, of
23267      Peter the apostle, and of the other saints, forbid thee this wickedness."
23268      While he thus spoke he stood straight up, as if stretching out his neck to
23269      the blow, as if ready if the king chose to let the sword fall; and the
23270      priest Sigurd, who afterwards was bishop, has declared that the sky
23271      appeared to him no bigger than a calf's skin, so frightful did the
23272      appearance of the king present itself to him. The king returned to the
23273      hall, however, without saying a word; and the bishop went to his house and
23274      home so cheerful and gay that he laughed, and saluted every child on his
23275      way, and was playing with his fingers. Then the priest Sigurd asked him
23276      the reason, saying, "Why are you so cheerful, sir? Do you not consider
23277      that the king may be exasperated against you? and would it not be better
23278      to get out of the way?"
23279      Then said the bishop, "It appears to me more likely that he will not act
23280      so; and besides, what death could be better, or more desirable, than to
23281      leave life for the honour of God? or to die for the holy cause of
23282      Christianity and our own office, by preventing that which is not right? I
23283      am so cheerful because I have done what I ought to do."
23284      There was much noise in the town about this. The king got ready for a
23285      journey, and took with him corn, malt and honey. He went south to
23286      Stavanger, and prepared a feast there for his marriage with Cecilia. When
23287      a bishop who ruled there heard of this he went to the king, and asked if
23288      it were true that he intended to marry in the lifetime of the queen.
23289      The king said it was so.
23290      The bishop answers, "If it be so, sire, you must know how much such a
23291      thing is forbidden to inferior persons. Now it appears as if you thought
23292      it was allowable for you, because you have great power, and that it is
23293      proper for you, although it is against right and propriety; but I do not
23294      know how you will do it in our bishopric, dishonouring thereby God's
23295      command, the holy Church, and our episcopal authority. But you must bestow
23296      a great amount of gifts and estates on this foundation, and thereby pay
23297      the mulct due to God and to us for such transgression."
23298      Then said the king, "Take what thou wilt of our possessions. Thou art far
23299      more reasonable than Bishop Magne."
23300      Then the king went away, as well pleased with this bishop as ill pleased
23301      with him who had laid a prohibition on him. Thereafter the king married
23302      the girl, and loved her tenderly.
23303      41. IMPROVEMENT OF KONUNGAHELLA.
23304      King Sigurd improved the town of Konungahella so much, that there was not
23305      a greater town in Norway at the time, and he remained there long for the
23306      defence of the frontiers. He built a king's house in the castle, and
23307      imposed a duty on all the districts in the neighbourhood of the town, as
23308      well as on the townspeople, that every person of nine years of age and
23309      upwards should bring to the castle five missile stones for weapons, or as
23310      many large stakes sharp at one end and five ells long. In the castle the
23311      king built a cross-church of timber, and carefully put together, as far as
23312      regards the wood and other materials. The cross-church was consecrated in
23313      the 24th year of King Sigurd's reign (A.D. 1127). Here the king deposited
23314      the piece of the holy cross, and many other holy relics. It was called the
23315      castle church; and before the high altar he placed the tables he had got
23316      made in the Greek country, which were of copper and silver, all gilt, and
23317      beautifully adorned with jewels. Here was also the shrine which the Danish
23318      king Eirik Eimune had sent to King Sigurd; and the altar book, written
23319      with gold letters, which the patriarch had presented to King Sigurd.
23320      42. KING SIGURD'S DEATH.
23321      Three years after the consecration of the cross-church, when King Sigurd
23322      was stopping at Viken, he fell sick (A.D. 1130). He died the night before
23323      Mary's-mass (August 15), and was buried in Halvard's church, where he was
23324      laid in the stone wall without the choir on the south side. His son Magnus
23325      was in the town at the time and took possession of the whole of the king's
23326      treasury when King Sigurd died. Sigurd had been king of Norway
23327      twenty-seven years (A.D. 1104-1130), and was forty years of age when he
23328      died. The time of his reign was good for the country; for there was peace,
23329      and crops were good.
23330      SAGA OF MAGNUS THE BLIND AND OF HARALD GILLE.
23331      PRELIMINARY REMARKS
23332      An age of conflict now begins in Norway. On his death, in 1130, Sigurd
23333      left his son Magnus and his brother Harald. They soon divided the
23334      government, and then entered upon a five-years' conflict, until Magnus, in
23335      1135, with eyes picked out, went into a convent.
23336      The next year, 1136, a new pretender appeared in the person of Sigurd
23337      Slembe, who took King Harald's life in 1137. Magnus died in 1139.
23338      Other literature in regard to this epoch is "Fagrskinna" and
23339      "Morkinskinna". The corresponding part of "Agrip" is lost.
23340      Skalds quoted are: Haldor Skvaldre, Einar Skulason, and Ivar Ingemundson.
23341      1. MAGNUS AND HARALD PROCLAIMED KINGS.
23342      King Sigurd's son Magnus was proclaimed in Oslo king of all the country
23343      immediately after his father's death, according to the oath which the
23344      whole nation had sworn to King Sigurd; and many went into his service, and
23345      many became his lendermen. Magnus was the handsomest man then in Norway;
23346      of a passionate temper, and cruel, but distinguished in bodily exercises.
23347      The favour of the people he owed most to the respect for his father. He
23348      was a great drinker, greedy of money, hard, and obstinate.
23349      Harald Gille, on the other hand, was very pleasing in intercourse, gay,
23350      and full of mirth; and so generous that he spared in nothing for the sake
23351      of his friends. He willingly listened to good advice, so that he allowed
23352      others to consult with him and give counsel. With all this he obtained
23353      favour and a good repute, and many men attached themselves as much to him
23354      as to King Magnus. Harald was in Tunsberg when he heard of his brother
23355      King Sigurd's death. He called together his friends to a meeting, and it
23356      was resolved to hold the Hauga Thing (1) there in the town. At this Thing,
23357      Harald was chosen king of half the country, and it was called a forced
23358      oath which had been taken from him to renounce his paternal heritage. Then
23359      Harald formed a court, and appointed lendermen; and very soon he had as
23360      many people about him as King Magnus. Then men went between them, and
23361      matters stood in this way for seven days; but King Magnus, finding he had
23362      fewer people, was obliged to give way, and to divide the kingdom with
23363      Harald into two parts. The kingdom accordingly was so divided (October 3,
23364      1130) that each of them should have the half part of the kingdom which
23365      King Sigurd had possessed; but that King Magnus alone should inherit the
23366      fleet of ships, the table service, the valuable articles and the movable
23367      effects which had belonged to his father, King Sigurd. He was
23368      notwithstanding the least satisfied with his share. Although they were of
23369      such different dispositions, they ruled the country for some time in
23370      peace. King Harald had a son called Sigurd, by Thora, a daughter of
23371      Guthorm Grabarde. King Harald afterwards married Ingerid, a daughter of
23372      Ragnvald, who was a son of the Swedish King Inge Steinkelson. King Magnus
23373      was married to a daughter of Knut Lavard, and she was a sister of the
23374      Danish King Valdernar; but King Magnus having no affection for her, sent
23375      her back to Denmark; and from that day everything went ill with him, and
23376      he brought upon himself the enmity of her family.
23377   ENDNOTES: (1) Hauga-thing means a Thing held at the tumuli or burial
23378     mounds. -L.
23379      2. OF THE FORCES OF HARALD AND MAGNUS.
23380      When the two relations, Harald and Magnus, had been about three years
23381      kings of Norway (A.D. 1131-1133), they both passed the fourth winter (A.D.
23382      1134) in the town of Nidaros, and invited each other as guests; but their
23383      people were always ready for a fight. In spring King Magnus sailed
23384      southwards along the land with his fleet, and drew all the men he could
23385      obtain out of each district, and sounded his friends if they would
23386      strengthen him with their power to take the kingly dignity from Harald,
23387      and give him such a portion of the kingdom, as might be suitable;
23388      representing to them that King Harald had already renounced the kingdom by
23389      oath. King Magnus obtained the consent of many powerful men. The same
23390      spring Harald went to the Uplands, and by the upper roads eastwards to
23391      Viken; and when he heard what King Magnus was doing, he also drew together
23392      men on his side. Wheresoever the two parties went they killed the cattle,
23393      or even the people, upon the farms of the adverse party. King Magnus had
23394      by far the most people, for the main strength of the country lay open to
23395      him for collecting men from it. King Harald was in Viken on the east side
23396      of the fjord, and collected men, while they were doing each other damage
23397      in property and life. King Harald had with him Kristrod, his brother by
23398      his mother's side, and many other lendermen; but King Magnus had many
23399      more. King Harald was with his forces at a place called Fors in Ranrike,
23400      and went from thence towards the sea. The evening before Saint Lawrence
23401      day (August 10), they had their supper at a place called Fyrileif, while
23402      the guard kept a watch on horseback all around the house. The watchmen
23403      observed King Magnus's army hastening towards the house, and consisting of
23404      full 6000 men, while King Harald had but 1500. Now come the watchmen who
23405      had to bring the news to King Harald of what was going on and say that
23406      King Magnus's army was now very near the town.
23407      The king says, "What will my relation King Magnus Sigurdson have? He wants
23408      not surely to fight us."
23409      Thjostolf Alason replies, "You must certainly, sire, make preparation for
23410      that, both for yourself and your men. King Magnus has been drawing
23411      together an army all the summer for the purpose of giving you battle when
23412      he meets you."
23413      Then King Harald stood up, and ordered his men to take their arms. "We
23414      shall fight, if our relative King Magnus wants to fight us."
23415      Then the war-horns sounded, and all Harald's men went out from the house
23416      to an enclosed field, and set up their banners. King Harald had on two
23417      shirts of ring-mail, but his brother Kristrod had no armour on; and a
23418      gallant man he was. When King Magnus and his men saw King Harald's troop
23419      they drew up and made their array, and made their line so long that they
23420      could surround the whole of King Harald's troop. So says Haldor Skvaldre: -
23421     "King Magnus on the battle-plain
23422     From his long troop-line had great gain;
23423     The plain was drenched with warm blood,
23424     Which lay a red and reeking flood."
23425      3. BATTLE AT FYRILEIF.
23426      King Magnus had the holy cross carried before him in this battle, and the
23427      battle was great and severe. The king's brother, Kristrod, had penetrated
23428      with his troop into the middle of King Magnus's array, and cut down on
23429      each side of him, so that people gave way before him everywhere. But a
23430      powerful bonde who was in King Harald's array raised his spear with both
23431      hands, and drove it through between Kristrod's shoulders, so that it came
23432      out at his breast; and thus fell Kristrod. Many who were near asked the
23433      bonde why he had done so foul a deed.
23434      The bonde replies, "He knows the consequences now of slaughtering my
23435      cattle in summer, and taking all that was in my house, and forcing me to
23436      follow him here. I determined to give him some return when the opportunity
23437      came."
23438      After this King Harald's army took to flight, and he fled himself, with
23439      all his men. Many fell; and Ingemar Sveinson of Ask, a great chief and
23440      lenderman, got there his death-wound, and nearly sixty of King Harald's
23441      court-men also fell. Harald himself fled eastward to Viken to his ships,
23442      and went out of the country to King Eirik Eimune in Denmark, and found him
23443      in Seeland and sought aid from him. King Eirik received him well, and
23444      principally because they had sworn to each other to be as brothers (1);
23445      and gave him Halland as a fief to rule over, and gave him seven
23446      long-ships, but without equipment. Thereafter King Harald went northwards
23447      through Halland, and many Northmen came to meet him. After this battle
23448      King Magnus subdued the whole country, giving life and safety to all who
23449      were wounded, and had them taken care of equally with his own men. He then
23450      called the whole country his own, and had a choice of the best men who
23451      were in the country. When they held a council among themselves afterwards,
23452      Sigurd Sigurdson, Thorer Ingeridson, and all the men of most
23453      understanding, advised that they should keep their forces together in
23454      Viken, and remain there, in case Harald should return from the south; but
23455      King Magnus would take his own way, and went north to Bergen. There he sat
23456      all winter (A.D. 1135), and allowed his men to leave him; on which the
23457      lendermen returned home to their own houses.
23458   ENDNOTES: (1) These brotherhoods, by which one man was bound by oath to
23459     aid or avenge another, were common in the Middle Ages among
23460     all ranks.  "Sworn brothers" is still a common expression
23461     with us. -L.
23462      4. DEATH OF ASBJORN AND OF NEREID.
23463      King Harald came to Konungahella with the men who had followed him from
23464      Denmark. The lendermen and town's burgesses collected a force against him,
23465      which they drew up in a thick array above the town. King Harald landed
23466      from his ships, and sent a message to the bondes, desiring that they would
23467      not deny him his land, as he wanted no more than what of right belonged to
23468      him. Then mediators went between them; and it came to this, that the
23469      bondes dismissed their troops, and submitted to him. Thereupon he bestowed
23470      fiefs and property on the lendermen, that they might stand by him, and
23471      paid the bondes who joined him the lawful mulcts for what they had lost. A
23472      great body of men attached themselves, therefore, to King Harald; and he
23473      proceeded westwards to Viken, where he gave peace to all men, except to
23474      King Magnus's people, whom he plundered and killed wherever he found them.
23475      And when he came west to Sarpsborg he took prisoners two of King Magnus s
23476      lendermen, Asbjorn and his brother Nereid; and gave them the choice that
23477      one should be hanged, and the other thrown into the Sarpsborg waterfall,
23478      and they might choose as they pleased. Asbjorn chose to be thrown into the
23479      cataract, for he was the elder of the two, and this death appeared the
23480      most dreadful; and so it was done. Halder Skvaldre tells of this: -
23481     "Asbjorn, who opposed the king,
23482     O'er the wild cataract they fling:
23483     Nereid, who opposed the king,
23484     Must on Hagbard's high tree swing.
23485     The king given food in many a way
23486     To foul-mouthed beasts and birds of prey:
23487     The generous men who dare oppose
23488     Are treated as the worst of foes."
23489      Thereafter King Harald proceeded north to Tunsberg, where he was well
23490      received, and a large force gathered to him.
23491      5. OF THE COUNSELS PROPOSED.
23492      When King Magnus, who was in Bergen, heard these tidings, he called
23493      together all the chiefs who were in the town, and asked them their
23494      counsel, and what they should now do. Then Sigurd Sigurdson said, "Here I
23495      can give a good advice. Let a ship be manned with good men, and put me, or
23496      any other lenderman, to command it; send it to thy relation, King Harald,
23497      and offer him peace according to the conditions upright men may determine
23498      upon, and offer him the half of the kingdom. It appears to me probable
23499      that King Harald, by the words and counsel of good men, may accept this
23500      offer, and thus there may be a peace established between you."
23501      Then King Magnus replied, "This proposal I will not accept of; for of what
23502      advantage would it be, after we have gained the whole kingdom in summer to
23503      give away the half of it now? Give us some other counsel."
23504      Then Sigurd Sigurdson answered, "It appears to me, sire, that your
23505      lendermen who in autumn asked your leave to return home will now sit at
23506      home and will not come to you. At that time it was much against my advice
23507      that you dispersed so entirely the people we had collected; for I could
23508      well suppose that Harald would come back to Viken as soon as he heard that
23509      it was without a chief. Now there is still another counsel, and it is but
23510      a poor one; but it may turn out useful to us. Send out your pursuivants,
23511      and send other people with them, and let them go against the lendermen who
23512      will not join you in your necessity, and kill them; and bestow their
23513      property on others who will give you help although they may have been of
23514      small importance before. Let them drive together the people, the bad as
23515      well as the good; and go with the men you can thus assemble against King
23516      Harald, and give him battle."
23517      The king replies, "It would be unpopular to put to death people of
23518      distinction, and raise up inferior people who often break faith and law,
23519      and the country would be still worse off. I would like to hear some other
23520      counsel still."
23521      Sigurd replies, "It is difficult for me now to give advice, as you will
23522      neither make peace nor give battle. Let us go north to Throndhjem, where
23523      the main strength of the country is most inclined to our side; and on the
23524      way let us gather all the men we can. It may be that these Elfgrims will
23525      be tired of such a long stride after us."
23526      The king replies, "We must not fly from those whom we beat in summer. Give
23527      some better counsel still."
23528      Then Sigurd stood up and said, while he was preparing to go out, "I will
23529      now give you the counsel which I see you will take, and which must have
23530      its course. Sit here in Bergen until Harald comes with his troops, and
23531      then you will either suffer death or disgrace."
23532      And Sigurd remained no longer at that meeting.
23533      6. OF HARALD'S FORCE.
23534      King Harald came from the East along the coast with a great army, and this
23535      winter (A.D. 1135) is called on that account the Crowd-winter. King Harald
23536      came to Bergen on Christmas eve, and landed with his fleet at Floruvagar;
23537      but would not fight on account of the sacred time. But King Magnus
23538      prepared for defence in the town. He erected a stone-slinging machine out
23539      on the holm, and had iron chains and wooden booms laid across over the
23540      passage from the king's house to Nordnes, and to the Monks bridge. He had
23541      foot-traps made, and thrown into Saint John's field, and did not suspend
23542      these works except during the three sacred days of Christmas. The last
23543      holyday of Yule, King Harald ordered his war-horns to sound the gathering
23544      of his men for going to the town; and, during the Yule holydays, his army
23545      had been increased by about 900 men.
23546      7. KING MAGNUS TAKEN PRISONER.
23547      King Harald made a promise to King Olaf the Saint for victory, that he
23548      would build an Olaf's church in the town at his own expense. King Magnus
23549      drew up his men in the Christ church yard; but King Harald laid his
23550      vessels first at Nordnes. Now when King Magnus and his people saw that,
23551      they turned round towards the town, and to the end of the shore; but as
23552      they passed through the streets many of the burgesses ran into their
23553      houses and homes, and those who went across the fields fell into the
23554      foot-traps. Then King Magnus and his men perceived that King Harald had
23555      rowed with all his men across to Hegravik, and landed there, and had gone
23556      from thence the upper road up the hill opposite the town. Now Magnus
23557      returned back again through the streets, and then his men fled from him in
23558      all directions; some up to the mountains, some up to the neighbourhood of
23559      the convent of nuns, some to churches, or hid themselves as they best
23560      could. King Magnus fled to his ship; but there was no possibility of
23561      getting away, for the iron chains outside prevented the passage of
23562      vessels. He had also but few men with him, and therefore could do nothing.
23563      Einar Skulason tells of this in the song of Harald: -
23564     "For a whole week an iron chain
23565     Cut off all sailing to the main:
23566     Bergen's blue stable was locked fast, -
23567     Her floating wains could not get past."
23568      Soon after Harald's people came out to the ships, and then King Magnus was
23569      made prisoner. He was sitting behind in the forecastle upon the chests of
23570      the high-seat, and at his side Hakon Fauk, his mother's brother, who was
23571      very popular but was not considered very wise, and Ivar Assurson. They,
23572      and many others of King Magnus's friends, were taken, and some of them
23573      killed on the spot.
23574      8. KING MAGNUS MUTILATED.
23575      Thereafter King Harald had a meeting of his counsellors, and desired their
23576      counsel; and in this meeting the judgment was given that Magnus should be
23577      deposed from his dominions, and should no longer be called king. Then he
23578      was delivered to the king's slaves, who mutilated him, picked out both his
23579      eyes, cut off one foot, and at last castrated him. Ivar Assurson was
23580      blinded, and Hakon Fauk killed. The whole country then was reduced to
23581      obedience under King Harald. Afterwards it was diligently examined who
23582      were King Magnus's best friends, or who knew most of his concealments of
23583      treasure or valuables. The holy cross King Magnus had kept beside him
23584      since the battle of Fyrileif, but would not tell where it was deposited
23585      for preservation. Bishop Reinald of Stavanger, who was an Englishman, was
23586      considered very greedy of money. He was a great friend of King Magnus, and
23587      it was thought likely that great treasure and valuables had been given
23588      into his keeping. Men were sent for him accordingly, and he came to
23589      Bergen, where it was insisted against him that he had some knowledge of
23590      such treasure; but he denied it altogether, would not admit it, and
23591      offered to clear himself by ordeal. King Harald would not have this, but
23592      laid on the bishop a money fine of fifteen marks of gold, which he should
23593      pay to the king. The bishop declared he would not thus impoverish his
23594      bishop's see, but would rather offer his life. On this they hanged the
23595      bishop out on the holm, beside the sling machine. As he was going to the
23596      gallows he threw the sock from his foot, and said with an oath, "I know no
23597      more about King Magnus's treasure than what is in this sock;" and in it
23598      there was a gold ring. Bishop Reinald was buried at Nordnes in Michael's
23599      church, and this deed was much blamed. After this Harald Gille was sole
23600      king of Norway as long as he lived.
23601      9. WONDERFUL OMENS IN KONUNGAHELLA.
23602      Five years after King Sigurd's death remarkable occurrences took place in
23603      Konungahella (A.D. 1135). Guthorm, a son of Harald Fletter, and Saemund
23604      Husfreyja, were at that time the king's officers there. Saemund was
23605      married to Ingebjorg, a daughter of the priest Andres Brunson. Their sons
23606      were Paul Flip and Gunne Fis. Saemund's natural son was called Asmund.
23607      Andres Brunson was a very remarkable man, who carried on divine service in
23608      the Cross church. His wife (1) was called Solveig. Jon Loptson, who was
23609      then eleven years old, was in their house to be fostered and educated. The
23610      priest Lopt Saemundson, Jon's father, was also in the town at that time.
23611      The priest Andres and Solveig had a daughter by name Helga, who was
23612      Einar's wife. It happened now in Konungahella, the next Sunday night after
23613      Easter week, that there was a great noise in the streets through the whole
23614      town as if the king was going through with all his court-men. The dogs
23615      were so affected that nobody could hold them, but they slipped loose; and
23616      when they came out they ran mad, biting all that came in their way, people
23617      and cattle. All who were bitten by them till the blood came turned raging
23618      mad; and pregnant women were taken in labour prematurely, and became mad.
23619      From Easter to Ascension-day, these portentous circumstances took place
23620      almost every night. People were dreadfully alarmed at these wonders; and
23621      many made themselves ready to remove, sold their houses, and went out to
23622      the country districts, or to other towns. The most intelligent men looked
23623      upon it as something extremely remarkable; were in dread of it; and said,
23624      as it proved to be, that it was an omen of important events which had not
23625      yet taken place. And the priest Andres, on Whit Sunday, made a long and
23626      excellent speech, and turned the conclusion of it to the distressing
23627      situation of the townspeople; telling them to muster courage, and not lay
23628      waste their excellent town by deserting it, but rather to take the utmost
23629      care in all things, and use the greatest foresight against all dangers, as
23630      of fire or the enemy, and to pray to God to have mercy on them.
23631   ENDNOTES: (1) The Catholic priests appear to have had wives at that time
23632     in Norway, and celibacy to have been confined to the monks.
23633    -L.
23634      10. THE RISE OF WAR IN KONUNGAHELLA.
23635      Thirteen loaded merchant ships made ready to leave the town, intending to
23636      proceed to Bergen; but eleven of them were lost, men and goods, and all
23637      that was in them; the twelfth was lost also, but the people were saved,
23638      although the cargo went to the bottom. At that time the priest Lopt went
23639      north to Bergen, with all that belonged to him, and arrived safely. The
23640      merchant vessels were lost on Saint Lawrence eve (August 10). The Danish
23641      king Eirik and the Archbishop Assur, both sent notice to Konungahella to
23642      keep watch on their town; and said the Vindland people had a great force
23643      on foot with which they made war far around on Christian people, and
23644      usually gained the victory. But the townspeople attended very little to
23645      this warning, were indifferent, and forgot more and more the dreadful
23646      omens the longer it was since they happened. On the holy Saint Lawrence
23647      day, while the words of high mass were spoken, came to the Vindland king
23648      Rettibur to Konungahella with 550 Vindland cutters, and in each cutter
23649      were forty-four men and two horses. The king's sister's son Dunimiz, and
23650      Unibur, a chief who ruled over many people, were with him. These two
23651      chiefs rowed at once, with a part of their troops, up the east arm of the
23652      Gaut river past Hising Isle, and thus came down to the town; but a part of
23653      the fleet lay in the western arm, and came so to the town. They made fast
23654      their ships at the piles, and landed their horses, and rode over the
23655      height of Bratsas, and from thence up around the town. Einar, a relation
23656      of priest Andres, brought these tidings up to the Castle church; for there
23657      the whole inhabitants of the town were gathered to hear high mass. Einar
23658      came just as the priest Andres was holding his discourse; and he told the
23659      people that an army was sailing up against the town with a great number of
23660      ships of war, and that some people were riding over Bratsas. Many said it
23661      must be the Danish king Eirik, and from him they might expect peace. The
23662      people ran down into the town to their properties, armed themselves, and
23663      went down upon the piers, whence they immediately saw there was an enemy
23664      and an immense army. Nine East-country trading vessels belonging to the
23665      merchants were afloat in the river at the piers. The Vindland people first
23666      directed their course toward these and fought with the merchants, who
23667      armed themselves, and defended themselves long, well, and manfully. There
23668      was a hard battle, and resistance, before the merchant vessels were
23669      cleared of their men; and in this conflict the Vindland people lost 150 of
23670      their ships, with all the men on board. When the battle was sharpest the
23671      townsmen stood upon the piers, and shot at the heathens. But when the
23672      fight slackened the burgesses fled up to the town, and from thence into
23673      the castle; and the men took with them all their valuable articles, and
23674      such goods as they could carry. Solveig and her daughters, with two other
23675      women, went on shore when the Vindlanders took possession of the merchant
23676      vessels. Now the Vindlanders landed, and mustered their men, and
23677      discovered their loss. Some of them went up into the town, some on board
23678      the merchant ships, and took all the goods they pleased; and then they set
23679      fire to the town, and burnt it and the ships. They hastened then with all
23680      their army to assault the castle.
23681      11. THE SECOND BATTLE.
23682      King Rettibur made an offer to those who were in the castle that they
23683      should go out, and he would give them their lives, weapons, clothes,
23684      silver, and gold; but all exclaimed against it, and went out on the
23685      fortification; some shot, some threw stones, some sharp stakes. It was a
23686      great battle, in which many fell on both sides, but by far the most of the
23687      Vindlanders. Solveig came up to a large farm called Solbjorg, and brought
23688      the news. A message war-token was there split, and sent out to Skurbagar,
23689      where there happened to be a joint ale-drinking feast, and many men were
23690      assembled. A bonde called Olver Miklimun (Mickle Mouth) was there, who
23691      immediately sprang up, took helmet and shield, and a great axe in his
23692      hand, and said, "Stand up, brave lads, and take your weapons. Let us go
23693      help the townspeople; for it would appear shameful to every man who heard
23694      of it, if we sit here sipping our ale, while good men in the town are
23695      losing their lives by our neglect."
23696      Many made an objection, and said they would only be losing their own
23697      lives, without being of any assistance to the townspeople.
23698      Then said Olver, "Although all of you should hold back, I will go alone;
23699      and one or two heathens, at any rate, shall fall before I fall."
23700      He ran down to the town, and a few men after him to see what he would do,
23701      and also whether they could assist him in any way. When he came near the
23702      castle, and the heathens saw him, they sent out eight men fully armed
23703      against him; and when they met, the heathen men ran and surrounded him on
23704      all sides. Olver lifted his axe, and struck behind him with the extreme
23705      point of it, hitting the neck of the man who was coming up behind him, so
23706      that his throat and jawbone were cut through, and he fell dead backwards.
23707      Then he heaved his axe forwards, and struck the next man in the head, and
23708      clove him down to the shoulders. He then fought with the others, and
23709      killed two of them; but was much wounded himself. The four who remained
23710      took to flight, but Olver ran after them. There was a ditch before them,
23711      and two of the heathens jumped into it, and Olver killed them both; but he
23712      stuck fast himself in the ditch, so that two of the eight heathens
23713      escaped. The men who had followed Olver took him up, and brought him back
23714      to Skurbagar, where his wounds were bound and healed; and it was the talk
23715      of the people, that no single man had ever made such a bloody onset. Two
23716      lendermen, Sigurd Gyrdson, a brother of Philip, and Sigard, came with 600
23717      men to Skurbagar; on which Sigurd turned back with 400 men. He was but
23718      little respected afterwards, and soon died. Sigard, on the other hand,
23719      proceeded with 200 men towards the town; and they gave battle to the
23720      heathens, and were all slain. While the Vindlanders were storming the
23721      castle, their king and his chiefs were out of the battle. At one place
23722      there was a man among the Vindlanders shooting with a bow, and killing a
23723      man for every arrow; and two men stood before him, and covered him with
23724      their shields. Then Saemund Husfreyja said to his son Asmund, that they
23725      should both shoot together at this bowman. "But I will shoot at the man
23726      who holds the shield before him." He did so, and he knocked the shield
23727      down a little before the man; and in the same instant Asmund shot between
23728      the shields, and the arrow hit the bowman in the forehead, so that it came
23729      out at his neck, and he fell down dead. When the Vindlanders saw it they
23730      howled like dogs, or like wolves. Then King Rettibur called to them that
23731      he would give them safety and life, but they refused terms. The heathens
23732      again made a hard assault. One of the heathens in particular fought so
23733      bravely, and ventured so near, that he came quite up to the castle-gate,
23734      and pierced the man who stood outside the gate with his sword; and
23735      although they used both arrows and stones against him, and he had neither
23736      shield nor helmet, nothing could touch him, for he was so skilled in
23737      witchcraft that weapon could not wound him. Then priest Andres took
23738      consecrated fire; blew upon it; cut tinder in pieces, and laid it on the
23739      fire; and then laid the tinder on the arrow-point, and gave it to Asmund.
23740      He shot this arrow at the warlock; and the shaft hit so well that it did
23741      its business, and the man of witchcraft fell dead. Then the heathens
23742      crowded together as before, howling and whining dreadfully; and all
23743      gathered about their king, on which the Christians believed that they were
23744      holding a council about retreating. The interpreters, who understood the
23745      Vindland tongue, heard the chief Unibur make the following speech: "These
23746      people are brave, and it is difficult to make anything of them; and even
23747      if we took all the goods in their town, we might willingly give as much
23748      more that we had never come here, so great has been our loss of men and
23749      chiefs. Early in the day, when we began to assault the castle, they
23750      defended themselves first with arrows and spears; then they fought against
23751      us with stones; and now with sticks and staves, as against dogs. I see
23752      from this that they are in want of weapons and means of defense; so we
23753      shall make one more hard assault, and try their strength." It was as he
23754      said, that they now fought with stakes; because, in the first assault,
23755      they had imprudently used up all their missile weapons and stones; and now
23756      when the Christians saw the number of their stakes diminishing, they clave
23757      each stake in two. The heathens now made a very hot attack, and rested
23758      themselves between whiles, and on both sides they were exhausted. During a
23759      rest the Vindland king Rettibur again offered terms, and that they should
23760      retain the weapons, clothes, and silver they could carry out of the
23761      castle. Saemund Husfreyja had fallen, and the men who remained gave the
23762      counsel to deliver up the castle and themselves into the power of the
23763      heathens; but it was a foolish counsel; for the heathens did not keep
23764      their promises, but took all people, men, women, and children, and killed
23765      all of them who were wounded or young, or could not easily be carried with
23766      them. They took all the goods that were in the castle; went into the Cross
23767      church, and plundered it of all its ornaments. The priest Andres gave King
23768      Rettibur a silver-mounted gilt sceptre, and to his sister's son Dunimiz he
23769      gave a gold ring. They supposed from this that he was a man of great
23770      importance in the town, and held him in higher respect than the others.
23771      They took away with them the holy cross, and also the tables which stood
23772      before the altar, which Sigurd had got made in the Greek country, and had
23773      brought home himself. These they took, and laid flat down on the steps
23774      before the altar. Then the heathens went out of the church. Rettibur said,
23775      "This house has been adorned with great zeal for the God to whom it is
23776      dedicated; but, methinks, He has shown little regard for the town or
23777      house: so I see their God has been angry at those who defended them." King
23778      Rettibur gave the priest Andres the church, the shrine, the holy cross,
23779      the Bible, the altar-book, and four clerks (prisoners); but the heathens
23780      burnt the Castle church, and all the houses that were in the castle. As
23781      the fire they had set to the church went out twice, they hewed the church
23782      down, and then it burnt like other houses. Then the heathens went to their
23783      ships with the booty; but when they mustered their people and saw their
23784      loss, they made prisoners of all the people, and divided them among the
23785      vessels. Now priest Andres went on board the king's ship with the holy
23786      cross, and there came a great terror over the heathens on account of the
23787      portentous circumstance which took place in the king's ship; namely, it
23788      became so hot that all thought they were to be burnt up. The king ordered
23789      the interpreter to ask the priest why this happened. He replied, that the
23790      Almighty God on whom the Christians believed, sent them a proof of His
23791      anger, that they who would not believe in their Creator presumed to lay
23792      hands on the emblem of His suffering; and that there lay so much power in
23793      the cross, that such, and even clearer miracles, happened to heathen men
23794      who had taken the cross in their hands. The king had the priest put into
23795      the ship's boat, and the priest Andres carried the holy cross in his
23796      grasp. They led the boat along past the ship's bow, and then along the
23797      side of the next ship, and then shoved it with a boat-hook in beside the
23798      pier. Then Andres went with the cross by night to Solbjorg, in rain and
23799      dreadful weather; but brought it in good preservation. King Rettibur, and
23800      the men he had remaining, went home to Vindland, and many of the people
23801      who were taken at Konungahella were long afterwards in slavery in
23802      Vindland; and those who were ransomed and came back to Norway to their
23803      udal lands and properties, throve worse than before their capture. The
23804      merchant town of Konungahella has never since risen to the importance it
23805      was of before this event.
23806      12. OF MAGNUS THE BLIND.
23807      King Magnus, after he was deprived of sight, went north to Nidaros, where
23808      he went into the cloister on the holm, and assumed the monk's dress. The
23809      cloister received the farm of Great Hernes in Frosta for his support. King
23810      Harald alone ruled the country the following winter, gave all men peace
23811      and pardon who desired it, and took many of the men into his court-service
23812      who had been with King Magnus. Einar Skulason says that King Harald had
23813      two battles in Denmark; the one at Hvedn Isle, and the other at Hlesey
23814      Isle: -
23815     "Unwearied champion! who wast bred
23816     To stain thy blue-edged weapons red!
23817     Beneath high Hvedn's rocky shore,
23818     The faithless felt thy steel once more."
23819      And again, thus: -
23820     "On Hlesey's plain the foe must quail
23821     'Fore him who dyes their shirts of mail.
23822     His storm-stretched banner o'er his head
23823     Flies straight, and fills the foe with dread."
23824      13. OF KING HARALD GILLE AND BISHOP MAGNUS.
23825      King Harald Gille was a very generous man. It is told that in his time
23826      Magnus Einarson came from Iceland to be consecrated a bishop, and the king
23827      received him well, and showed him much respect. When the bishop was ready
23828      to sail for Iceland again, and the ship was rigged out for sea, he went to
23829      the hall where the king was drinking, saluted him politely and warmly, and
23830      the king received him joyfully. The queen was sitting beside the king.
23831      Then said the king, "Are you ready, bishop, for your voyage?"
23832      He replied that he was.
23833      The king said, "You come to us just now at a bad time; for the tables are
23834      just removed, and there is nothing at hand suitable to present to you.
23835      What is there to give the bishop?"
23836      The treasurer replies, "Sire, as far as I know, all articles of any value
23837      are given away."
23838      The king: "Here is a drinking goblet remaining; take this, bishop; it is
23839      not without value."
23840      The bishop expressed his thanks for the honour shown him.
23841      Then said the queen, "Farewell, bishop! and a happy voyage."
23842      The king said to her, "When did you ever hear a noble lady say so to a
23843      bishop without giving him something?"
23844      She replies, "Sire, what have I to give him?"
23845      The king: "Thou hast the cushion under thee."
23846      Thereupon this, which was covered with costly cloth, and was a valuable
23847      article, was given to the bishop. When the bishop was going away the king
23848      took the cushion from under himself and gave it him, saying, "They have
23849      long been together." When the bishop arrived in Iceland to his bishop's
23850      see, it was talked over what should be done with the goblet that would be
23851      serviceable for the king; and when the bishop asked the opinion of other
23852      people, many thought it should be sold, and the value-bestowed on the
23853      poor. Then said the bishop, "I will take another plan. I will have a
23854      chalice made of it for this church, and consecrate it, so that all the
23855      saints of whom there are relics in this church shall let the king have
23856      some good for his gift every time a mass is sung over it." This chalice
23857      has since belonged to the bishopric of Skalholt; and of the costly cloth
23858      with which the cushions given him by the king were covered, were made the
23859      choristers' cloaks which are now in Skalholt. From this the generous
23860      spirit of King Harald may be seen, as well as from many other things, of
23861      which but a few are set down here.
23862      14. BEGINNING OF SIGURD SLEMBIDJAKN.
23863      There was a man, by name Sigurd, who was brought up in Norway, and was
23864      called priest Adalbrikt's son. Sigurd's mother was Thora, a daughter of
23865      Saxe of Vik, a sister of Sigrid, who was mother of King Olaf Magnuson, and
23866      of Kare, the king's brother who married Borghild, a daughter of Dag
23867      Eilifson. Their sons were Sigurd of Austrat and Dag. Sigurd of Austrat's
23868      sons were Jon of Austrat, Thorstein, and Andres the Deaf. Jon was married
23869      to Sigrid, a sister of King Inge and of Duke Skule. This Sigurd, in his
23870      childhood, was kept at his book, became a clerk, and was consecrated a
23871      deacon; but as he ripened in years and strength he became a very clever
23872      man, stout, strong, distinguished for all perfections and exercises beyond
23873      any of his years, -indeed, beyond any man in Norway. Sigurd showed
23874      early traces of a haughty ungovernable spirit, and was therefore called
23875      Slembidjakn. He was as handsome a man as could be seen, with rather thin
23876      but beautiful hair. When it came to Sigurd's ears that his mother said
23877      King Magnus was his father, he laid aside all clerkship; and as soon as he
23878      was old enough to be his own master, he left the country. He was a long
23879      time on his travels, went to Palestine; was at the Jordan river; and
23880      visited many holy places, as pilgrims usually do. When he came back, he
23881      applied himself to trading expeditions. One winter he was in Orkney with
23882      Earl Harald, and was with him when Thorkel Fostre Summarlidason was
23883      killed. Sigurd was also in Scotland with the Scottish king David, and was
23884      held in great esteem by him. Thereafter Sigurd went to Denmark; and
23885      according to the account of himself and his men, he there submitted to the
23886      iron ordeal to confirm his paternal descent, and proved by it, in the
23887      presence of five bishops, that he was a son of King Magnus Barefoot. So
23888      says Ivar Ingemundson, in Sigurd's song: -
23889     "The holiest five
23890     Of men alive, -
23891     Bishops were they, -
23892     Solemnly say,
23893     The iron glowing
23894     Red hot, yet showing
23895     No scaith on skin,
23896     Proves cause and kin."
23897      King Harald Gille's friends, however, said this was only a lie, and deceit
23898      of the Danes.
23899      15. SIGURD IN ICELAND.
23900      It is told before of Sigurd that he passed some years in merchant voyages,
23901      and he came thus to Iceland one winter, and took up his lodging with
23902      Thorgils Odson in Saurby; but very few knew where he was. In autumn, when
23903      the sheep were being driven into a fold to be slaughtered, a sheep that
23904      was to be caught ran to Sigurd; and as Sigurd thought the sheep ran to him
23905      for protection, he stretched out his hands to it and lifted it over the
23906      fold dyke, and let it run to the hills, saying, "There are not many who
23907      seek help from me, so I may well help this one." It happened the same
23908      winter that a woman had committed a theft, and Thorgils, who was angry at
23909      her for it, was going to punish her; but she ran to Sigurd to ask his
23910      help, and he set her upon the bench by his side. Thorgils told him to give
23911      her up, and told him what she had committed; but Sigurd begged forgiveness
23912      for her since she had come to him for protection, and that Thorgils would
23913      dismiss the complaint against her, but Thorgils insisted that she should
23914      receive her punishment. When Sigurd saw that Thorgils would not listen to
23915      his entreaty, he started up, drew his sword, and bade him take her if he
23916      dared; and Thorgils seeing that Sigurd would defend the woman by force of
23917      arms, and observing his commanding mien, guessed who he must be, desisted
23918      from pursuing the woman, and pardoned her. There were many foreign men
23919      there, and Sigurd made the least appearance among them. One day Sigurd
23920      came into the sitting-room, and a Northman who was splendidly clothed was
23921      playing chess with one of Thorads house-servants. The Northman called
23922      Sigurd, and asked him his advice how to play; but when Sigurd looked at
23923      the board, he saw the game was lost. The man who was playing against the
23924      Northman had a sore foot, so that one toe was bruised, and matter was
23925      coming out of it. Sigurd, who was sitting on the bench, takes a straw, and
23926      draws it along the floor, so that some young kittens ran after it. He drew
23927      the straw always before them, until they came near the house-servant's
23928      foot, who jumping up with a scream, threw the chessmen in disorder on the
23929      board; and thus it was a dispute how the game had stood. This is given as
23930      a proof of Sigurd's cunning. People did not know that he was a learned
23931      clerk until the Saturday before Easter, when he consecrated the holy water
23932      with chant; and the longer he stayed there the more he was esteemed. The
23933      summer after, Sigurd told Thorgils before they parted, that he might with
23934      all confidence address his friends to Sigurd Slembidjakn. Thorgils asked
23935      how nearly he was related to him, on which he replies, "I am Sigurd
23936      Slembidjakn, a son of King Magnus Barefoot." He then left Iceland.
23937      16. OF SIGURD SLEMBE.
23938      When Harald Gille had been six years (A.D. 1136), king of Norway, Sigurd
23939      came to the country and went to his brother King Harald, and found him in
23940      Bergen. He placed himself entirely in the king's hands, disclosed who his
23941      father was, and asked him to acknowledge their relationship. The king gave
23942      him no hasty or distinct reply; but laid the matter before his friends in
23943      a conference at a specially appointed meeting. After this conference it
23944      became known that the king laid an accusation against Sigurd, because he
23945      had been at the killing of Thorkel Fostre in the West. Thorkel had
23946      accompanied Harald to Norway when he first came to the country, and had
23947      been one of Harald's best friends. This case was followed up so severely,
23948      that a capital accusation against Sigurd was made, and, by the advice of
23949      the lendermen, was carried so far, that some of the king's pursuivants
23950      went one evening late to Sigurd, and called him to them. They then took a
23951      boat and rowed away with Sigurd from the town south to Nordnes. Sigurd sat
23952      on a chest in the stern of the boat, and had his suspicions that foul play
23953      was intended. He was clothed in blue trousers, and over his shirt he had a
23954      hood tied with ribands, which served him for a cloak. He sat looking down,
23955      and holding his hood-strings; and sometimes moved them over his head,
23956      sometimes let them fall again before him. Now when they had passed the
23957      ness, they were drunk, and merry, were rowing so eagerly that they were
23958      not taking notice of anything. Sigurd stood up, and went on the boat's
23959      deck; but the two men who were placed to guard him stood up also, and
23960      followed him to the side of the vessel, holding by his cloak, as is the
23961      custom in guarding people of distinction. As he was afraid that they would
23962      catch hold of more of his clothes, he seized them both, and leaped
23963      overboard with them. The boat, in the meantime, had gone on a long way,
23964      and it was a long time before those on board could turn the vessel, and
23965      long before they could get their own men taken on board again; and Sigurd
23966      dived under water, and swam so far away that he reached the land before
23967      they could get the boat turned to pursue him. Sigurd, who was very swift
23968      of foot, hied up to the mountains, and the king's men travelled about the
23969      whole night seeking him without finding him. He lay down in a cleft of the
23970      rocks; and as he was very cold he took off his trousers, cut a hole in the
23971      seat of them, and stuck his head through it, and put his arms in the legs
23972      of them. He escaped with life this time; and the king's men returned, and
23973      could not conceal their unsuccessful adventure.
23974      17. TREACHERY TOWARDS KING HARALD.
23975      Sigurd thought now that it would be of no use to seek any help from King
23976      Harald again; and he kept himself concealed all the autumn and the
23977      beginning of the winter. He lay hid in Bergen, in the house of a priest.
23978      King Harald was also in the town, and many great people with him. Now
23979      Sigurd considered how, with his friends' help, he might take the king by
23980      surprise, and make an end of him. Many men took part in this design; and
23981      among them some who were King Harald's court-men and chamberlains, but who
23982      had formerly been King Magnus's court-men. They stood in great favour with
23983      the king, and some of them sat constantly at the king's table. On Saint
23984      Lucia's day (December 13), in the evening when they proposed to execute
23985      this treason, two men sat at the king's table talking together; and one of
23986      them said to the king, "Sire, we two table-companions submit our dispute
23987      to your judgment, having made a wager of a basket of honey to him who
23988      guesses right. I say that you will sleep this night with your Queen
23989      Ingerid; and he says that you will sleep with Thora, Guthorm's daughter."
23990      The king answered laughing, and without suspecting in the least that there
23991      lay treachery under the question, that he who had asked had lost his bet.
23992      They knew thus where he was to be found that night; but the main guard was
23993      without the house in which most people thought the king would sleep, viz.,
23994      that which the queen was in.
23995      18. MURDER OF KING HARALD.
23996      Sigurd Slembe, and some men who were in his design, came in the night to
23997      the lodging in which King Harald was sleeping; killed the watchman first;
23998      then broke open the door, and went in with drawn swords. Ivar Kolbeinson
23999      made the first attack on King Harald; and as the king had been drunk when
24000      he went to bed he slept sound, and awoke only when the men were striking
24001      at him. Then he said in his sleep, "Thou art treating me hardly, Thora."
24002      She sprang up, saying, "They are treating thee hardly who love thee less
24003      than I do." Harald was deprived of life. Then Sigurd went out with his
24004      helpers, and ordered the men to be called to him who had promised him
24005      their support if he should get King Harald taken out of the way. Sigurd
24006      and his men then went on, and took a boat, set themselves to the oars, and
24007      rowed out in front of the king's house; and then it was just beginning to
24008      be daylight. Then Sigurd stood up, spoke to those who were standing on the
24009      king's pier, made known to them the murder of King Harald by his hand, and
24010      desired that they would take him, and choose him as chief according to his
24011      birth. Now came many swarming down to the pier from the king's house; and
24012      all with one voice replied, that they would never give obedience or
24013      service to a man who had murdered his own brother. "And if thou are not
24014      his brother, thou hast no claim from descent to be king." They clashed
24015      their weapons together, and adjudged all murderers to be banished and
24016      outlawed men. Now the king's horn sounded, and all lendermen and courtmen
24017      were called together. Sigurd and his companions saw it was best for them
24018      to get way; and he went northward to North Hordaland, where he held a
24019      Thing with the bondes, who submitted to him, and gave him the title of
24020      king. From thence he went to Sogn, and held a Thing there with the bondes
24021      and was proclaimed king. Then he went north across the fjords, and most
24022      people supported his cause. So says Ivar Ingemundson: -
24023     "On Harald's fall
24024     The bondes all,
24025     In Hord and Sogn,
24026     Took Magnus' son.
24027     The Things swore too
24028     They would be true
24029     To this new head
24030     In Harald's stead."
24031      King Harald was buried in the old Christ church.
24032      SAGA OF SIGURD, INGE, AND EYSTEIN, THE SONS OF HARALD
24033      PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
24034      Sigurd died A.D. 1155, Eystein 1157, and Inge 1161.
24035      Other literature is "Morkinskinna" and "Fagrskinna."
24036      Sigurd Slembe is the subject of a drama by Bjornstjerne Bjornson,
24037      translated into English by William Morton Payne, and published by
24038      Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, 1888.
24039      Skalds quoted are: Kolle, Einar Skulason, and Thorbjorn Skakkaskald.
24040      1. HISTORY OF KINGS SIGURD AND INGE.
24041      Queen Ingerid, and with her the lendermen and the court which had been
24042      with King Harald, resolved to send a fast-sailing vessel to Throndhjem to
24043      make known King Harald's death, and also to desire the Throndhjem people
24044      to take King Harald's son Sigurd for king. He was then in the north, and
24045      was fostered by Sadagyrd Bardson. Queen Ingerid herself proceeded eastward
24046      immediately to Viken. Inge was the name of her son by King Harald, and he
24047      was then fostered by Amunde Gyrdson, a grandson of Logberse. When they
24048      came to Viken a Borgar-thing was immediately called together, at which
24049      Inge, who was in the second year of his age, was chosen king. This
24050      resolution was supported by Amunde and Thjostolf Alason, together with
24051      many other great chiefs. Now when the tidings came north to Throndhjem
24052      that King Harald was murdered, the Throndhjem people took Sigurd, King
24053      Harald's son, to be the king; and this resolution was supported by Ottar
24054      Birting, Peter Saudaulfson, the brothers Guthorm of Reine, and Ottar
24055      Balle, sons of Asolf and many other great chiefs. Afterwards the whole
24056      nation almost submitted to the brothers, and principally because their
24057      father was considered holy; and the country took the oath to them, that
24058      the kingly power should not go to any other man as long as any of King
24059      Harald's sons were alive.
24060      2. OF SIGURD SLEMBIDJAKN.
24061      Sigurd Slembe sailed north around Stad; and when he came to North More, he
24062      found that letters and full powers had arrived before him from the leaders
24063      who had given in their allegiance to Harald's sons; so that there he got
24064      no welcome or help. As Sigurd himself had but few people with him, he
24065      resolved to go with them to Throndhjem, and seek out Magnus the Blind; for
24066      he had already sent a message before him to Magnus's friends. Now when
24067      they came to the town, they rowed up the river Nid to meet King Magnus,
24068      and fastened their land-ropes on the shore at the king's house; but were
24069      obliged to set off immediately, for all the people rose against them. They
24070      then landed at Monkholm, and took Magnus the Blind out of the cloister
24071      against the will of the monks; for he had been consecrated a monk. It is
24072      said by some that Magnus willingly went with them; although it was
24073      differently reported, in order to make his cause appear better. Sigurd,
24074      immediately after Yule (January, A.D. 1137), went forth with his suite,
24075      expecting aid from his relations and Magnus's friends, and which they also
24076      got. Sigurd sailed with his men out of the fjord, and was joined
24077      afterwards by Bjorn Egilson, Gunnar of Gimsar, Haldor Sigurdson, Aslak
24078      Hakonson, the brothers Bendikt and Eirik, and also the court which had
24079      before been with King Magnus, and many others. With this troop they went
24080      south to More, and down to the mouth of Raumsdal fjord. Here Sigurd and
24081      Magnus divided their forces, and Sigurd went immediately westwards across
24082      the sea. King Magnus again proceeded to the Uplands, where he expected
24083      much help and strength, and which he obtained. He remained there the
24084      winter and all the summer (A.D. 1137), and had many people with him; but
24085      King Inge proceeded against him with all his forces, and they met at a
24086      place called Mynne. There was a great battle, at which King Magnus had the
24087      most people. It is related that Thjostolf Alason carried King Inge in his
24088      belt as long as the battle lasted, and stood under the banner; but
24089      Thjostolf was hard pressed by fatigue and fighting; and it is commonly
24090      said that King Inge got his ill health there, and which he retained as
24091      long as he lived, so that his back was knotted into a hump, and the one
24092      foot was shorter than the other; and he was besides so infirm that he
24093      could scarcely walk as long as he lived. The defeat began to turn upon
24094      Magnus and his men; and in the front rank of his array fell Haldor
24095      Sigurdson, Bjorn Egilson, Gunnar of Gimsar, and a great number of his men,
24096      before he himself would take to his horse and fly. So says Kolle: -
24097     "Thy arrow-storm on Mynne's banks
24098     Fast thinn'd the foemen's strongest ranks;
24099     Thy good sword hewed the raven's feast
24100     On Mynne's banks up in the East.
24101     Shield clashed on shield, and bucklers broke
24102     Under thy battle-axe's stroke;
24103     While thou, uncovered, urged the fray,
24104     Thy shield and mail-coat thrown away."
24105      And also this: -
24106     "The king to heaven belonging fled,
24107     When thou, in war's quick death-game bred,
24108     Unpanzered, shieldless on the plain
24109     His heavy steel-clad guards hadst slain.
24110     The painted shield, and steel-plate mail,
24111     Before thy fierce attack soon fail,
24112     To Magnus who belongs to heaven,
24113
24114     Was no such fame in battle given."
24115      Magnus fled eastward to Gautland, and then to Denmark. At that time there
24116      was in Gautland an earl, Karl Sonason, who was a great and ambitious man.
24117      Magnus the Blind and his men said, wherever they happened to meet with
24118      chiefs, that Norway lay quite open to any great chieftain who would attack
24119      it; for it might well be said there was no king in the country, and the
24120      kingdom was only ruled by lendermen, and, among those who had most sway,
24121      there was, from mutual jealousy, most discord. Now Karl, being ambitious
24122      of power, listens willingly to such speeches; collects men, and rides west
24123      to Viken, where many people, out of fear, submit to him. When Thjostolf
24124      Alason and Amunde heard of this, they went with the men they could get
24125      together, and took King Inge with them. They met Earl Karl and the
24126      Gautland army eastward in Krokaskog, where there was a great battle and a
24127      great defeat, King Inge gaining the victory. Munan Ogmundson, Earl Karl's
24128      mother's brother, fell there. Ogmund, the father of Munan, was a son of
24129      Earl Orm Eilifson, and Sigrid, a daughter of Earl Fin Arnason. Astrid,
24130      Ogrnund's daughter, was the mother of Earl Karl. Many others of the
24131      Gautland people fell at Krokaskog; and the earl fled eastward through the
24132      forest. King Inge pursued them all the way out of the kingdom; and this
24133      expedition turned out a great disgrace to them. So says Kolle: -
24134     "I must proclaim how our great lord
24135     Coloured deep red his ice-cold sword;
24136     And ravens played with Gautland bones,
24137     And wolves heard Gautlanders' last groans.
24138     Their silly jests were well repaid, -
24139     In Krokaskog their laugh was laid:
24140     Thy battle power was then well tried,
24141     And they who won may now deride."
24142      3. KING EIRIK'S EXPEDITION TO NORWAY.
24143      Magnus the Blind then went to Denmark to King Eirik Eimune, where he was
24144      well received. He offered the king to follow him if he would invade Norway
24145      with a Danish army, and subdue the country; saying, that if he came to
24146      Norway with his army, no man in Norway would venture to throw a spear
24147      against him. The king allowed himself to be moved by Magnus's persuasions,
24148      ordered a levy, and went north to Norway with 200 ships; and Magnus and
24149      his men were with him on this expedition. When they came to Viken, they
24150      proceeded peacefully and gently on the east side of the fjord; but when
24151      the fleet came westward to Tunsberg, a great number of King Inge's
24152      lendermen came against them. Their leader was Vatnorm Dagson, a brother of
24153      Gregorius. The Danes could not land to get water without many of them
24154      being killed; and therefore they went in through the fjord to Oslo, where
24155      Thjostolf Alason opposed them. It is told that some people wanted to carry
24156      the holy Halvard's coffin out of the town in the evening when the fleet
24157      was first observed, and as many as could took hold of it; but the coffin
24158      became so heavy that they could not carry it over the church floor. The
24159      morning after, however, when they saw the fleet sailing in past the Hofud
24160      Isle, four men carried the coffin out of the town, and Thjostolf and all
24161      the townspeople followed it.
24162      4. THE TOWN OF OSLO BURNT.
24163      King Eirik and his army advanced against the town; and some of his men
24164      hastened after Thjostolf and his troop. Thjostolf threw a spear at a man
24165      named Askel, which hit him under the throat, so that the spear point went
24166      through his neck; and Thjostolf thought he had never made a better
24167      spear-cast, for, except the place he hit, there was nothing bare to be
24168      seen. The shrine of St. Halvard, was taken up to Raumarike, where it
24169      remained for three months. Thjostolf went up to Raumarike, and collected
24170      men during the night, with whom he returned towards the town in the
24171      morning. In the meantime King Eirik set fire to Halvard's church, and to
24172      the town, which was entirely burnt. Thjostolf came soon after to the town
24173      with the men he had assembled, and Eirik sailed off with his fleet; but
24174      could not land anywhere on that side of the fjord, on account of the
24175      troops of the lendermen who came down against them; and wherever they
24176      attempted a landing, they left five or six men or more upon the strand.
24177      King Inge lay with a great number of people into Hornborusund, but when he
24178      learned this, he turned about southwards to Denmark again. King Inge
24179      pursued him, and took from him all the ships he could get hold of; and it
24180      was a common observation among people, that never was so poor an
24181      expedition made with so great an armament in another king's dominions.
24182      King Eirik was ill pleased at it, and thought King Magnus and his men had
24183      been making a fool of him by encouraging him to undertake this expedition,
24184      and he declared he would never again besuch friends with them as before.
24185      5. OF SIGURD SLEMBIDJAKN.
24186      Sigurd Slembidjakn came that summer from the West sea to Norway, where he
24187      heard of his relation King Magnus's unlucky expedition; so he expected no
24188      welcome in Norway, but sailed south, outside the rocks, past the land, and
24189      set over to Denmark, and went into the Sound. He fell in with some
24190      Vindland cutters south of the islands, gave them battle, and gained the
24191      victory. He cleared eight ships, killing many of the men, and he hanged
24192      the others.
24193      He also had a battle off the Island Mon with the Vindland men, and gained
24194      a victory. He then sailed from the south and came to the eastern arm of
24195      the Gaut river, and took three ships of the fleet of Thorer Hvinantorde,
24196      and Olaf, the son of Harald Kesia, who was Sigurd's own sister's son; for
24197      Ragnhild, the mother of Olaf, was a daughter of King Magnus Barefoot. He
24198      drove Olaf up the country.
24199      Thjostolf was at this time in Konungahella, and had collected people to
24200      defend the country, and Sigurd steered thither with his fleet. They shot
24201      at each other, but he could not effect a landing; and, on both sides, many
24202      were killed and many wounded. Ulfhedin Saxolfson, Sigurd's forecastle man,
24203      fell there. He was an Icelander, from the north quarter. Sigurd continued
24204      his course northwards to Viken and plundered far and wide around. Now when
24205      Sigurd lay in a harbour called Portyrja on Limgard's coast, and watched
24206      the ships going to or coming from Viken to plunder them, the Tunsberg men
24207      collected an armed force against him, and came unexpectedly upon them
24208      while Sigurd and his men were on shore dividing their booty. Some of the
24209      men came down from the land, but some of the other party laid themselves
24210      with their ships right across the harbour outside of them. Sigurd ran up
24211      into his ship, and rowed out against them. Vatnorm's ship was the nearest,
24212      and he let his ship fall behind the line, and Sigurd rowed clear past, and
24213      thus escaped with one ship and the loss of many men. This verse was made
24214      upon Vatnorm (1): -
24215     "The water serpent, people say,
24216     From Portyrja slipped away."
24217   ENDNOTES: (1) Vatnorm, the name of this man, means the water-serpent,
24218     and appears to have been a favourite name for war-ships also;
24219     hence the pun in the lines upon Vatnorm. -L.
24220      6. THE MURDER OF BEINTEIN.
24221      Sigurd Slembidjakn sailed from thence to Denmark; and at that time a man
24222      was lost in his ship, whose name was Kolbein Thorliotson of Batald. He was
24223      sitting in a boat which was made fast to the vessel, and upset because she
24224      was sailing quickly. When they came south to Denmark, Sigurd's ship itself
24225      was cast away; but he got to Alaborg, and was there in winter. The summer
24226      after (A.D. 1138) Magnus and Sigurd sailed together from the south with
24227      seven ships, and came unexpectedly in the night to Lister, where they laid
24228      their ships on the land. Beintein Kolbeinson, a court-man of King Inge,
24229      and a very brave man, was there. Sigurd and his men jumped on shore at
24230      daylight, came unexpectedly on the people, surrounded the house, and were
24231      setting fire to the buildings; but Beintein came out of a store-house with
24232      his weapons, well armed, and stood within the door with drawn sword, his
24233      shield before him, helmet on, and ready to defend himself. The door was
24234      somewhat low. Sigurd asked which of his lads had most desire to go in
24235      against Beintein, which he called brave man's work; but none was very
24236      hurried to make ready for it. While they were discussing this matter
24237      Sigurd rushed into the house, past Beintein. Beintein struck at him, but
24238      missed him. Sigurd turned instantly on Beintein; and after exchanging
24239      blows, Sigurd gave him his death-stroke, and came out presently bearing
24240      his head in his hands.
24241      They took all the goods that were in the farm-house, carried the booty to
24242      their ships, and sailed away. When King Inge and his friends, and also
24243      Kolbein's sons, Sigurd and Gyrd, the brothers of Beintein, heard of
24244      Beintein's murder, the king sent a great force against Sigurd Slembe and
24245      his followers; and also travelled himself, and took a ship from Hakon
24246      Paulson Pungelta, who was a daughter's son of Aslak, a son of Erling
24247      Skjalgson of Sole, and cousin of Hakon Mage. King Inge drove Hakon and his
24248      followers up the country, and took all their gear. Sigurd Stork, a son of
24249      Eindride of Gautdal, and his brother, Eirik Hael, and Andres Kelduskit,
24250      son of Grim of Vist, all fled away into the fjords. But Sigurd Slembe,
24251      Magnus the Blind and Thorieif Skiappa sailed outside the isles with three
24252      ships north to Halogaland; and Magnus was in winter (A.D. 1139) north in
24253      Bjarkey Isle with Vidkun Jonson. But Sigurd had the stem and stern-post of
24254      his ship cut out, made a hole in her, and sank her in the inner part of
24255      Egisfjord, and thereafter he passed the winter at Tialdasund by
24256      Gljufrafjord in Hin. Far up the fjord there is a cave in the rock; in that
24257      place Sigurd sat with his followers, who were above twenty men, secretly,
24258      and hung a grey cloth before the mouth of the hole, so that no person
24259      could see them from the strand. Thorleif Skiappa, and Einar, son of Ogmund
24260      of Sand, and of Gudrun, daughter of Einar Arason of Reikiaholar, procured
24261      food for Sigurd during the winter. It is said that Sigurd made the
24262      Laplanders construct two boats for him during the winter up in the fjord;
24263      and they were fastened together with deer sinews, without nails, and with
24264      twigs of willow instead of knees, and each boat could carry twelve men.
24265      Sigurd was with the Laplanders while they were making the boats; and the
24266      Laplanders had good ale, with which they entertained Sigurd. Sigurd made
24267      these lines on it: -
24268          "In the Lapland tent
24269          Brave days we spent.
24270     Under the grey birch tree;
24271          In bed or on bank
24272          We knew no rank,
24273     And a merry crew were we.
24274
24275          "Good ale went round
24276          As we sat on the ground,
24277     Under the grey birch tree;
24278          And up with the smoke
24279          Flew laugh and joke,
24280     And a merry crew were we."
24281      These boats were so light that no ship could overtake them in the water,
24282      according to what was sung at the time: -
24283     "Our skin-sewed Fin-boats lightly swim,
24284     Over the sea like wind they skim.
24285     Our ships are built without a nail;
24286     Few ships like ours can row or sail."
24287      In spring Sigurd and Magnus went south along the coast with the two boats
24288      which the Laplanders had made; and when they came to Vagar they killed
24289      Svein the priest and his two sons.
24290      7. OF SIGURD'S SLEMBE'S CAMPAIGN.
24291      Thereafter Sigurd came south to Vikar, and seized King Sigurd's lendermen,
24292      William Skinnare and Thorald Kept, and killed them both. Then Sigurd
24293      turned south-wards along the coast, and met Styrkar Glaesirofa south of
24294      Byrda, as he was coming from the south from the town of Nidaros, and
24295      killed him. Now when Sigurd came south to Valsnes, he met Svinagrim
24296      outside of the ness, and cut off his right hand. From thence he went south
24297      to More, past the mouth of the Throndhjem fjord, where they took Hedin
24298      Hirdmage and Kalf Kringluauge. They let Hedin escape, but killed Kalf.
24299      When King Sigurd, and his foster-father, Sadagyrd, heard of Sigurd
24300      Slembidjakn's proceedings, and what he was doing, they sent people to
24301      search for him; and their leader was Jon Kauda, a son of Kalf Range.
24302      Bishop Ivar's brother, and besides the priest Jon Smyril. They went on
24303      board the ship the Reindeer, which had twenty-two rowing benches, and was
24304      one of the swiftest sailing vessels, to seek Sigurd; but as they could not
24305      find him, they returned north-wards with little glory; for people said
24306      that they had got sight of Sigurd and his people, and durst not attack
24307      them. Afterwards Sigurd proceeded southwards to Hordaland, and came to
24308      Herdla, where Einar, a son of Laxapaul, had a farm; and went into Hamar's
24309      fjord, to the Gangdaga-thing. They took all the goods that were at the
24310      farm, and a long-ship of twenty-two benches which belonged to Einar; and
24311      also his son, four years old, who was living with one of his labouring
24312      people. Some wanted to kill the boy, but others took him and carried him
24313      with them. The labouring man said, "It will not be lucky for you to kill
24314      the child; and it will be of no use to you to carry him away, for it is my
24315      son, and not Einar's." And on his word they let the boy remain, and went
24316      away. When Einar came home he gave the labourer money to the value of two
24317      ore of gold, and thanked him for his clever invention, and promised him
24318      his constant friendship. So says Eirik Odson, who first wrote down this
24319      relation; and he heard himself Einar Paulson telling these circumstances
24320      in Bergen. Sigurd then went southward along the coast all the way east to
24321      Viken, and met Fin Saudaulfson east at Kvildar, as he was engaged in
24322      drawing in King Inge's rents and duties, and hanged him. Then they sailed
24323      south to Denmark.
24324      8. OF KING INGE'S LETTER TO KING SIGURD.
24325      The people of Viken and of Bergen complained that it was wrong for King
24326      Sigurd and his friends to be sitting quietly north in the town of Nidaros,
24327      while his father's murderer was cruising about in the ordinary passage at
24328      the mouth of the Throndhjem fjord; and King Inge and his people, on the
24329      other hand, were in Viken in the midst of the danger, defending the
24330      country and holding many battles. Then King Inge sent a letter north to
24331      the merchant-town Nidaros, in which were these words: "King Inge Haraldson
24332      sends his brother King Sigurd, as also Sadagyrd, Ogmund Svipte, Ottar
24333      Birting, and all lendermen, court-men, house-people, and all the public,
24334      rich and poor, young and old, his own and God's salutation. The misfortune
24335      is known to all men that on account of our childhoods -thou being
24336      five, and I but three years of age -we can undertake nothing without
24337      the counsel of our friends and other good men. Now I and my men think that
24338      we stand nearer to the danger and necessity common to us both, than thou
24339      and thy friends; therefore make it so that thou, as soon as possible, come
24340      to me, and as strong in troops as possible, that we may be assembled to
24341      meet whatever may come. He will be our best friend who does all he can
24342      that we may be united, and may take an equal part in all things. But if
24343      thou refuse, and wilt not come after this message which I send thee in
24344      need, as thou hast done before, then thou must expect that I will come
24345      against thee with an armament; and let God decide between us; for we are
24346      not in a condition to sit here at so great an expense, and with so
24347      numerous a body of troops as are necessary here on account of the enemy,
24348      and besides many other pressing charges, whilst thou hast half of all the
24349      land-tax and other revenues of Norway. Live in the peace of God!"
24350      9. OTTAR BIRTING'S SPEECH.
24351      Then Ottar Birting stood up in the Thing, and first of all answered thus:
24352      "This is King Sigurd's reply to his brother King Inge -that God will
24353      reward him for his good salutation, and likewise for the trouble and
24354      burden which he and his friends have in this kingdom, and in matters of
24355      necessity which effect them both. Although now some think there is
24356      something sharp in King Inge's message to his brother Sigurd, yet he has
24357      in many respects sufficient cause for it. Now I will make known to you my
24358      opinion, and we will hear if King Sigurd and the other people of power
24359      will agree to it; and it is, that thou, King Sigurd, make thyself ready,
24360      with all the people who will follow thee, to defend thy country; and go as
24361      strong in men as possible to thy brother King Inge as soon as thou art
24362      prepared, in order to assist each other in all things that are for the
24363      common good; and may God Almighty strengthen and assist you both! Now,
24364      king, we will have thy words."
24365      Peter, a son of Saudaulf, who was afterwards called Peter Byrdarsvein,
24366      bore King Sigurd to the Thing. Then the king said, "Ye must know that, if
24367      I am to advise, I will go as soon as possible to my brother King Inge."
24368      Then others spoke, one after the other; but although each began his speech
24369      in his own way, he ended with agreeing to what Ottar Birting had proposed;
24370      and it was determined to call together the war-forces, and go to the east
24371      part of the country. King Sigurd accordingly went with great armament east
24372      to Viken, and there he met his brother King Inge.
24373      10. FALL OF MAGNUS THE BLIND.
24374      The same autumn (A.D. 1139) Sigurd Slembe and Magnus the Blind came from
24375      Denmark with thirty ships, manned both with Danes and Northmen. It was
24376      near to winter. When the kings heard of this, they set out with their
24377      people eastwards to meet them. They met at Hvalar, near Holm the Grey, the
24378      day after Martinmas, which was a Sunday. King Inge and King Sigurd had
24379      twenty ships, which were all large. There was a great battle; but, after
24380      the first assault, the Danes fled home to Denmark with eighteen ships. On
24381      this Sigurd's and Magnus's ships were cleared; and as the last was almost
24382      entirely bare of men, and Magnus was lying in his bed, Hreidar
24383      Griotgardson, who had long followed him, and been his courtman, took King
24384      Magnus in his arms, and tried to run with him on board some other ship.
24385      But Hreidar was struck by a spear, which went between his shoulders; and
24386      people say King Magnus was killed by the same spear. Hreidar fell
24387      backwards upon the deck, and Magnus upon him; and every man spoke of how
24388      honourably he had followed his master and rightful sovereign. Happy are
24389      they who have such praise! There fell, on King Magnus's ship, Lodin
24390      Saupprud of Linustadar, Bruse Thormodson; and the forecastle-men to Sigurd
24391      Slembidjakn, Ivar Kolbeinson and Halyard Faeger, who had been in Sigurd
24392      Slembe's fore-hold. This Ivar had been the first who had gone in, in the
24393      night, to King Harald, and had laid hands on him. There fell a great
24394      number of the men of King Magnus and Sigurd Slembe, for Inge's men let not
24395      a single one escape if they got hold of him; but only a few are named
24396      here. They killed upon a holm more than forty men, among whom were two
24397      Icelanders -the priest Sigurd Bergthorson, a grandson of Mas; the
24398      other Clemet, a son of Are Einarson. But three Icelanders obtained their
24399      lives: namely, Ivar Skrauthanke, a son of Kalf Range, and who afterwards
24400      was bishop of Throndhjem, and was father of the archbishop Eirik. Ivar had
24401      always followed King Magnus, and he escaped into his brother Jon Kauda's
24402      ship. Jon was married to Cecilia, a daughter of Gyrd Bardson, and was then
24403      in King Inge's and Sigurd's armament. There were three in all who escaped
24404      on board of Jon's ship. The second was Arnbjorn Ambe, who afterwards
24405      married Thorstein's daughter in Audsholt; the third was Ivar Dynta, a son
24406      of Stare, but on the mother's side of a Throndhjem family, -a very
24407      agreeable man. When the troops came to know that these three were on board
24408      his ship, they took their weapons and assaulted the vessel, and some blows
24409      were exchanged, and the whole fleet had nearly come to a fight among
24410      themselves; but it came to an agreement, so that Jon ransomed his brothers
24411      Ivar and Arnbjorn for a fixed sum in ransom, which, however, was
24412      afterwards remitted. But Ivar Dynta was taken to the shore, and beheaded;
24413      for Sigurd and Gyrd, the sons of Kolbein, would not take any mulct for
24414      him, as they knew he had been at their brother Beintein's murder. Ivar the
24415      bishop said, that never was there anything that touched him so nearly, as
24416      Ivar's going to the shore under the axe, and turning to the others with
24417      the wish that they might meet in joy here-after. Gudrid Birger's daughter,
24418      a sister of Archbishop Jon, told Eirik Odson that she heard Bishop Ivar
24419      say this.
24420      11. SIGURD SLEMBE TAKEN PRISONER.
24421      A man called Thrand Gialdkere was the steersman of King Inge's ship. It
24422      was come so far, that Inge's men were rowing in small boats between the
24423      ships after those who were swimming in the water, and killed those they
24424      could get hold of. Sigurd Slembe threw himself overboard after his ship
24425      had lost her crew, stripped off his armour under the water, and then swam
24426      with his shield over him. Some men from Thrand's vessel took prisoner a
24427      man who was swimming, and were about to kill him; but he begged his life,
24428      and offered to tell them where Sigurd Slembe was, and they agreed to it.
24429      Shields and spears, dead men, weapons, and clothes, were floating all
24430      around on the sea about the ships, "Ye can see," said he, "a red shield
24431      floating on the water; he is under it." They rowed to it immediately, took
24432      him, and brought him on board of Thrand's ship. Thrand then sent a message
24433      to Thjostolf, Ottar, and Amunde. Sigurd Slembe had a tinder box on him;
24434      and the tinder was in a walnut-shell, around which there was wax. This is
24435      related, because it seems an ingenious way of preserving it from ever
24436      getting wet. He swam with a shield over him, because nobody could know one
24437      shield from another where so many were floating about; and they would
24438      never have hit upon him, if they had not been told where he was. When
24439      Thrand came to the land with Sigurd, and it was told to the troops that he
24440      was taken, the army set up a shout of joy. When Sigurd heard it he said,
24441      "Many a bad man will rejoice over my head this day." Then Thjostolf Alason
24442      went to where Sigurd was sitting, struck from his head a silk hat with
24443      silver fringes, and said. "Why wert thou so impudent, thou son of a slave!
24444      to dare to call thyself King Magnus Barefoot's son?"
24445      Sigurd replied, "Presume not to compare my father to a slave; for thy
24446      father was of little worth compared to mine."
24447      Hal, a son of the doctor Thorgeir Steinson, King Inge's court-man, was
24448      present at this circumstance, and told it to Eirik Odson, who afterwards
24449      wrote these relations in a book, which he called "Hryggjarstykke". In this
24450      book is told all concerning Harald Gille and his sons, and Magnus the
24451      Blind, and Sigurd Slembidjakn, until their deaths. Eirik was a sensible
24452      man, who was long in Norway about that time. Some of his narratives he
24453      wrote down from Hakon Mage's account; some were from lendermen of Harald's
24454      sons, who along with his sons were in all this feud, and in all the
24455      councils. Eirik names, moreover, several men of understanding and
24456      veracity, who told him these accounts, and were so near that they saw or
24457      heard all that happened. Something he wrote from what he himself had heard
24458      or seen.
24459      12. TORTURE OF SIGURD SLEMBE.
24460      Hal says that the chiefs wished to have Sigurd killed instantly; but the
24461      men who were the most cruel, and thought they had injuries to avenge,
24462      advised torturing him; and for this they named Beintein's brothers, Sigurd
24463      and Gyrd, the sons of Kolbein. Peter Byrdarsvein would also avenge his
24464      brother Fin. But the chiefs and the greater part of the people went away.
24465      They broke his shin-bones and arms with an axe-hammer. Then they stripped
24466      him, and would flay him alive; but when they tried to take off the skin,
24467      they could not do it for the gush of blood. They took leather whips and
24468      flogged him so long, that the skin was as much taken off as if he had been
24469      flayed. Then they stuck a piece of wood in his back until it broke,
24470      dragged him to a tree and hanged him; and then cut off his head, and
24471      brought the body and head to a heap of stones and buried them there. All
24472      acknowledge, both enemies and friends, that no man in Norway, within
24473      memory of the living, was more gifted with all perfections, or more
24474      experienced, than Sigurd, but in some respects he was an unlucky man. Hal
24475      says that he spoke little, and answered only a few, and in single words,
24476      under his tortures, although they spoke to him. Hal says further, that he
24477      never moved when they tortured him, more than if they were striking a
24478      stock or a stone. This Hal alleged as proof that he was a brave hero, who
24479      had courage to endure tortures; for he still held his tongue, and never
24480      moved from the spot. And farther he says, that he never altered his voice
24481      in the least, but spoke with as much ease as if he was sitting at the
24482      ale-table; neither speaking higher nor lower, nor in a more tremulous
24483      voice than he was used to do. He spoke until he gave up the ghost, and
24484      sang between whiles parts of the Psalm-book, and which Hal considered
24485      beyond the powers and strength of ordinary men. And the priest who had the
24486      church in the neighbourhood let Sigurd's body be transported thither to
24487      the church. This priest was a friend of Harald's sons: but when they heard
24488      it they were angry at him, had the body carried back to where it had been,
24489      and made the priest pay a fine. Sigurd's friends afterwards came from
24490      Denmark with a ship for his body, carried it to Alaborg, and interred it
24491      in Mary church in that town. So said Dean Ketil, who officiated as priest
24492      at Mary church, to Eirik; and that Sigurd was buried there. Thjostolf
24493      Alason transported Magnus the Blind's body to Oslo, and buried it in
24494      Halvard's church, beside King Sigurd his father. Lodin Saupprud was
24495      transported to Tunsberg; but the others of the slain were buried on the
24496      spot.
24497      13. EYSTEIN HARALDSON COMES TO NORWAY.
24498      When the kings Sigurd and Inge had ruled over Norway about six years,
24499      Eystein, who was a son of Harald Gille, came in spring from Scotland (A.D.
24500      1142). Arne Sturla, Thorleif Brynjolfson, and Kolbein Hruga had sailed
24501      westward over the sea after Eystein, accompanied him to Norway, and sailed
24502      immediately with him to Throndhjem. The Throndhjem people received him
24503      well; and at the Eyra-thing of Ascension-day he was chosen king, so that
24504      he should have the third part of Norway with his brothers Sigurd and Inge.
24505      They were at this time in the east part of the country; and men went
24506      between the kings who brought about a peace, and that Eystein should have
24507      a third part of the kingdom. People believed what he said of his paternal
24508      descent, because King Harald himself had testified to it, and he did not
24509      resort to the ordeal of iron. King Eystein's mother was called Bjadok, and
24510      she followed him to Norway. Magnus was the name of King Harald Gille's
24511      fourth son, who was fostered by Kyrpingaorm. He also was chosen king, and
24512      got a fourth part of the country; but Magnus was deformed in his feet,
24513      lived but a short time, and died in his bed. Einar Skulason speaks of
24514      them: -
24515     "The generous Eystein money gave;
24516     Sigurd in fight was quick and brave;
24517     Inge loved well the war-alarm;
24518     Magnus to save his land from harm.
24519     No country boasts a nobler race
24520     The battle-field, or Thing, to grace.
24521     Four brothers of such high pretence
24522     The sun ne'er shone upon at once."
24523      14. MURDER OF OTTAR BIRTING.
24524      After King Harald Gille's death Queen Ingerid married Ottar Birting, who
24525      was a lendermen and a great chief, and of a Throndhjem family, who
24526      strengthened King Inge's government much while he was in his childhood.
24527      King Sigurd was not very friendly to Ottar; because, as he thought, Ottar
24528      always took King Inge's side. Ottar Birting was killed north in the
24529      merchant town (Nidaros), in an assault upon him in the twilight as he was
24530      going to the evening song. When he heard the whistling of the blow he held
24531      up his cloak with his hands against it; thinking, no doubt, it was a
24532      snowball thrown at him, as young boys do in the streets. Ottar fell by the
24533      stroke; but his son, Alf Hrode, who just at the same moment was coming
24534      into the churchyard, saw his father's fall, and saw that the man who had
24535      killed him ran east about the church. Alf ran after him, and killed him at
24536      the corner of the choir; and people said that he had good luck in avenging
24537      his father, and afterwards was much more respected than he had been
24538      before.
24539      15. BEGINNING OF KING EYSTEIN.
24540      King Eystein Haraldson was in the interior of the Throndhjem district when
24541      he heard of Ottar's murder, and summoned to him the bonde-army, with which
24542      he proceeded to the town; and he had many men. Ottar's relations and other
24543      friends accused King Sigurd, who was in the town, of having instigated
24544      this deed; and the bondes were much enraged against him. But the king
24545      offered to clear himself by the ordeal of iron, and thereby to establish
24546      the truth of his denial; and accordingly a peace was made. King Sigurd
24547      went to the south end of the country, and the ordeal was never afterwards
24548      heard of.
24549      16. BEGINNING OF ORM THE KING-BROTHER.
24550      Queen Ingerid had a son to Ivar Sneis, and he was called Orm, and got the
24551      surname of King-brother. He was a handsome man in appearance, and became a
24552      great chief, as shall be told hereafter. Ingerid afterwards married Arne
24553      of Stodreim, who was from this called King's-mate; and their children were
24554      Inge, Nikolas, Philip of Herdla, and Margaret, who was first married to
24555      Bjorn Buk, and afterwards to Simon Karason.
24556      17. JOURNEY OF ERLING SKAKKE AND EARL RAGNVALD.
24557      Kyrpingaorm and Ragnhild, a daughter of Sveinke Steinarson, had a son
24558      called Erling. Kyrpingaorm was a son of Svein Sveinson, who was a son of
24559      Erling of Gerd. Otto's mother was Ragna, a daughter of Earl Orm Eilifson
24560      and Sigrid, a daughter of Earl Fin Arnason. The mother of Earl Orm was
24561      Ragnhild, a daughter of Earl Hakon the Great. Erling was a man of
24562      understanding, and a great friend of King Inge, by whose assistance and
24563      counsel Erling obtained in marriage Christina, a daughter of King Sigurd
24564      the Crusader and Queen Malmfrid. Erling possessed a farm at Studla in
24565      South Hordaland. Erling left the country; and with him went Eindride Unge
24566      and several lendermen, who had chosen men with them. They intended to make
24567      a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and went across the West sea to Orkney. There
24568      Earl Ragnvald and Bishop William joined them; and they had in all fifteen
24569      ships from Orkney, with which they first sailed to the South Hebrides,
24570      from thence west to Valland, and then the same way King Sigurd the
24571      Crusader had sailed to Norvasund; and they plundered all around in the
24572      heathen part of Spain. Soon after they had sailed through the Norvasund,
24573      Eindride Unge and his followers, with six ships, separated from them; and
24574      then each was for himself. Earl Ragnvald and Erling Skakke fell in with a
24575      large ship of burden at sea called a dromund, and gave battle to it with
24576      nine ships. At last they laid their cutters close under the dromund; but
24577      the heathens threw both weapons and stones, and pots full of pitch and
24578      boiling oil. Erling laid his ship so close under the dromund, that the
24579      missiles of the heathens fell without his ship. Then Erling and his men
24580      cut a hole in the dromund, some working below and some above the
24581      water-mark; and so they boarded the vessel through it. So says Thorbjorn
24582      Skakkaskald, in his poem on Erling: -
24583     "The axes of the Northmen bold
24584     A door into the huge ships' hold
24585     Hewed through her high and curved side,
24586     As snug beneath her bulge they ride.
24587     Their spears bring down the astonished foe,
24588     Who cannot see from whence the blow.
24589     The eagle's prey, they, man by man,
24590     Fall by the Northmen's daring plan."
24591      Audunraude, Erling's forecastle-man, was the first man who got into the
24592      dromund. Then they carried her, killing an immense number of people;
24593      making an extraordinarily valuable booty, and gaining a famous victory.
24594      Earl Ragnvald and Erling Skakke came to Palestine in the course of their
24595      expedition, and all the way to the river Jordan. From thence they went
24596      first to Constantinople, where they left their ships, travelled northwards
24597      by land, and arrived in safety in Norway, where their journey was highly
24598      praised. Erling Skakke appeared now a much greater man than before, both
24599      on account of his journey and of his marriage; besides he was a prudent
24600      sensible man, rich, of great family, eloquent, and devoted to King Inge by
24601      the strictest friendship more than to the other royal brothers.
24602      18. BIRTH OF HAKON HERDEBREID.
24603      King Sigurd went to a feast east in Viken along with his court, and rode
24604      past a house belonging to a great bonde called Simon. While the king was
24605      riding past the house, he heard within such beautiful singing that he was
24606      quite enchanted with it, and rode up to the house, and saw a lovely girl
24607      standing at the handmill and grinding. The king got off his horse, and
24608      went to the girl and courted her. When the king went away, the bonde Simon
24609      came to know what the object of the king's visit had been. The girl was
24610      called Thora, and she was Simon the bonde's servant-girl. Simon took good
24611      care of her afterwards, and the girl brought forth a male child (A.D.
24612      1047), who was called Hakon, and was considered King Sigurd's son. Hakon
24613      was brought up by Simon Thorbergson and his wife Gunhild. Their own sons
24614      also, Onund and Andreas, were brought up with Hakon, and were so dear to
24615      him that death only could have parted them.
24616      19. EYSTEIN AND THE PEASANTS OF HISING ISLE.
24617      While King Eystein Haraldson was in Viken, he fell into disputes with the
24618      bondes of Reine and the inhabitants of Hising Isle, who assembled to
24619      oppose him; but he gave them battle at a place called Leikberg, and
24620      afterwards burnt and destroyed all around in Hising; so that the bondes
24621      submitted to his will, paid great fines to the king, and he took hostages
24622      from them. So says Einar Skulason: -
24623     "The Viken men
24624     Won't strive again,
24625     With words or blows,
24626     The king to oppose.
24627     None safety found
24628     On Viken's ground,
24629     Till all, afraid,
24630     Pledge and scat paid."
24631      And further: -
24632     "The king came near;
24633     He who is dear
24634     To all good men
24635     Came down the glen,
24636     By Leikberg hill.
24637     They who do ill,
24638     The Reine folk, fly
24639     Or quarter cry."
24640      20. WAR EXPEDITION OF KING HARALDSON.
24641      Soon after King Eystein began his journey out of the country over sea to
24642      the West (A.D. 1153), and sailed first to Caithness. Here he heard that
24643      Earl Harald Maddad's son was in Thursa, to which he sailed directly in
24644      three small boats. The earl had a ship of thirty banks of oars, and nearly
24645      eighty men in her. But they were not prepared to make resistance, so that
24646      King Eystein was able to board the ship with his men; and he took the earl
24647      prisoner, and carried him to his own ship, but the earl ransomed himself
24648      with three marks of gold: and thus they parted. Einar Skulason tells of it
24649      thus: -
24650     "Earl Harald in his stout ship lay
24651     On the bright sand in Thursa bay;
24652     With fourscore men he had no fear,
24653     Nor thought the Norse king was so near,
24654     He who provides the eagle's meals
24655     In three small boats along-shore steals;
24656     And Maddad's son must ransom pay
24657     For his bad outlook that fair day."
24658      From thence King Eystein sailed south along the east side of Scotland, and
24659      brought up at a merchant-town in Scotland called Aberdeen, where he killed
24660      many people, and plundered the town. So says Einar Skulason: -
24661     "At Aberdeen, too, I am told,
24662     Fell many by our Norsemen bold;
24663     Peace was disturbed, and blue swords broke
24664     With many a hard and bloody stroke."
24665      The next battle was at Hartlepool in the south, with a party of horsemen.
24666      The king put them to flight, and seized some ships there. So says Einar: -
24667     "At Hartlepool, in rank and row,
24668     The king's court-men attack the foe.
24669     The king's sharp sword in blood was red,
24670     Blood dropped from every Norse spear-head.
24671     Ravens rejoice o'er the warm food
24672     Of English slain, each where he stood;
24673     And in the ships their thirst was quenched:
24674     The decks were in the foe's blood drenched."
24675      Then he went southwards to England, and had his third battle at Whitby,
24676      and gained the victory, and burnt the town. So says Einar: -
24677     "The ring of swords, the clash of shields,
24678     Were loud in Whitby's peaceful fields;
24679     For here the king stirred up the strife. -
24680     Man against man, for death or life.
24681     O'er roof and tower, rose on high
24682     The red wrath-fire in the sky;
24683     House after house the red fiend burns;
24684     By blackened walls the poor man mourns."
24685      Thereafter he plundered wide around in England, where Stephen was then the
24686      king. After this King Eystein fought with some cavalry at Skarpasker. So
24687      says Einar: -
24688     "At Skarpasker the English horse
24689     Retire before the Norse king's force:
24690     The arrow-shower like snow-drift flew,
24691     And the shield-covered foemen slew."
24692      He fought next at Pilavik, and gained the victory. So says Einar: -
24693     "At Pilavik the wild wolf feeds,
24694     Well furnished by the king's brave deeds
24695     He poured upon the grass-green plain
24696     A red shower from the Perthmen slain.
24697     On westwards in the sea he urges,
24698     With fire and sword the country purges:
24699     Langtown he burns; the country rang,
24700     For sword on shield incessant clang."
24701      Here they burnt Langatun, a large village; and people say that the town
24702      has never since risen to its former condition. After this King Eystein
24703      left England in autumn, and returned to Norway. People spoke in various
24704      ways about this expedition.
24705      21. OF HARALD'S SONS.
24706      There was good peace maintained in Norway in the first years of the
24707      government of Harald's sons; and as long as their old counsellors were
24708      alive, there was some kind of unanimity among them. While Inge and Sigurd
24709      were in their childhood, they had a court together; but Eystein, who was
24710      come to age of discretion, had a court for himself. But when Inge's and
24711      Sigurd's counsellors were dead, -namely, Sadagyrd Bardson, Ottar
24712      Birting, Amunde Gyrdson, Thjostolf Alason, Ogmund Svipter, and Ogmund
24713      Denger, a brother of Erling Skakke (Erling was not much looked up to while
24714      Ogmund lived), -the two kings, Inge and Sigurd divided their courts.
24715      King Inge then got great assistance from Gregorius Dagson, a son of Dag
24716      Eilifson by Ragnhild a daughter of Skapte Ogmundson. Gregorius had much
24717      property, and was himself a thriving, sagacious man. He presided in the
24718      governing the country under King Inge, and the king allowed him to manage
24719      his property for him according to his own judgment.
24720      22. HABITS AND MANNERS OF HARALD'S SONS.
24721      When King Sigurd grew up he was a very ungovernable, restless man in every
24722      way; and so was King Eystein, but Eystein was the more reasonable of the
24723      two. King Sigurd was a stout and strong man, of a brisk appearance; he had
24724      light brown hair, an ugly mouth; but otherwise a well-shaped countenance.
24725      He was polite in his conversation beyond any man, and was expert in all
24726      exercises. Einar Skulason speaks of this: -
24727     "Sigurd, expert in every way
24728     To wield the sword in bloody fray,
24729     Showed well that to the bold and brave
24730     God always luck and victory gave.
24731     In speech, as well as bloody deeds,
24732     The king all other men exceeds;
24733     And when he speaks we think that none
24734     Has said a word but he alone."
24735      King Eystein was dark and dingy in complexion, of middle height, and a
24736      prudent able man; but what deprived him of consideration and popularity
24737      with those under him were his avarice and narrowness. He was married to
24738      Ragna, a daughter of Nicolas Mase. King Inge was the handsomest among them
24739      in countenance. He had yellow but rather thin hair, which was much curled.
24740      His stature was small; and he had difficulty in walking alone, because he
24741      had one foot withered, and he had a hump both on his back and his breast.
24742      He was of cheerful conversation, and friendly towards his friends; was
24743      generous, and allowed other chiefs to give him counsel in governing the
24744      country. He was popular, therefore, with the public; and all this brought
24745      the kingdom and the mass of the people on his side. King Harald Gille's
24746      daughter Brigida was first married to the Swedish king Inge Halsteinson,
24747      and afterwards to Earl Karl Sonason, and then to the Swedish king Magnus.
24748      She and King Inge Haraldson were cousins by the mother's side. At last
24749      Brigida married Earl Birger Brose, and they had four sons, namely, Earl
24750      Philip, Earl Knut, Folke, and Magnus. Their daughters were Ingegerd, who
24751      was married to the Swedish king Sorkver, and their son was King Jon; a
24752      second daughter was called Kristin, and a third Margaret. Harald Gille's
24753      second daughter was called Maria, who was married to Simon Skalp, a son of
24754      Halkel Huk; and their son was called Nikolas. King Harald Gille's third
24755      daughter was called Margaret, who was married to Jon Halkelson, a brother
24756      of Simon. Now many things occurred between the brothers which occasioned
24757      differences and disputes; but I will only relate what appears to me to
24758      have produced the more important events.
24759      23. CARDINAL NIKOLAS COMES TO THE COUNTRY.
24760      In the days of Harald's sons Cardinal Nikolas came from Rome to Norway,
24761      being sent there by the pope. The cardinal had taken offence at the
24762      brothers Sigurd and Eystein, and they were obliged to come to a
24763      reconciliation with him; but, on the other hand, he stood on the most
24764      affectionate terms with King Inge, whom he called his son. Now when they
24765      were all reconciled with him, he moved them to let Jon Birgerson be
24766      consecrated archbishop of Throndhjem and gave him a vestment which is
24767      called a pallium; and settled moreover that the archbishop's seat should
24768      be in Nidaros, in Christ church, where King Olaf the Saint reposes. Before
24769      that time there had only been common bishops in Norway. The cardinal
24770      introduced also the law, that no man should go unpunished who appeared
24771      with arms in the merchant-town, excepting the twelve men who were in
24772      attendancce on the king. He improved many of the customs of the Northmen
24773      while he was in the country. There never came a foreigner to Norway whom
24774      all men respected so highly, or who could govern the people so well as he
24775      did. After some time he returned to the South with many friendly presents,
24776      and declared ever afterwards that he was the greatest friend of the people
24777      of Norway. When he came south to Rome the former pope died suddenly, and
24778      all the people of Rome would have Cardinal Nikolas for pope, and he was
24779      consecrated under the name of Adrian; and according to the report of men
24780      who went to Rome in his days, he had never any business, however
24781      important, to settle with other people, but he would break it off to speak
24782      with the Northmen who desired to see him. He was not long pope, and is now
24783      considered a saint.
24784      24. MIRACLE OF KING OLAF.
24785      In the time of Harald Gille's sons, it happened that a man called Haldor
24786      fell into the hands of the Vindland people, who took him and mutilated
24787      him, cut open his neck, took out the tongue through the opening, and cut
24788      out his tongue root. He afterwards sought out the holy King Olaf, fixed
24789      his mind entirely on the holy man, and weeping besought King Olaf to
24790      restore his speech and health. Thereupon he immediately recovered his
24791      speech by the good king's compassion, went immediately into his service
24792      for all his life, and became an excellent trustworthy man. This miracle
24793      took place a fortnight before the last Olafsmas, upon the day that
24794      Cardinal Nikolas set foot on the land of Norway.
24795      25. MIRACLES OF KING OLAF ON RICHARD.
24796      In the Uplands were two brothers, men of great family, and men of fortune,
24797      Einar and Andres, sons of Guthorm Grabard, and brothers of King Sigurd
24798      Haraldson's mother; and they had great properties and udal estates in that
24799      quarter. They had a sister who was very handsome, but did not pay
24800      sufficient regard to the scandal of evil persons, as it afterwards
24801      appeared. She was on a friendly footing with an English priest called
24802      Richard, who had a welcome to the house of her brothers, and on account of
24803      their friendship for him she did many things to please him, and often to
24804      his advantage; but the end of all this was, that an ugly report flew about
24805      concerning this girl. When this came into the mouth of the public all men
24806      threw the blame on the priest. Her brothers did the same, and expressed
24807      publicly, as soon as they observed it, that they laid the blame most on
24808      him. The great friendship that was between the earl and the priest proved
24809      a great misfortune to both, which might have been expected, as the
24810      brothers were silent about their secret determination, and let nothing be
24811      observed. But one day they called the priest to them, who went, expecting
24812      nothing but good from them; enticed him from home with them, saying that
24813      they intended to go to another district, where they had some needful
24814      business, and inviting him to go with them. They had with them a
24815      farm-servant who knew their purpose. They went in a boat along the shore
24816      of a lake which is called Rands lake, and landed at a ness called
24817      Skiptisand, where they went on shore and amused themselves awhile. Then
24818      they went to a retired place, and commanded their servant-man to strike
24819      the priest with an axe-hammer. He struck the priest so hard that he
24820      swooned; but when he recovered he said, "Why are ye playing so roughly
24821      with me?" They replied, "Although nobody has told thee of it before, thou
24822      shalt now find the consequence of what thou hast done." They then
24823      upbraided him; but he denied their accusations, and besought God and the
24824      holy King Olaf to judge between them. Then they broke his leg-bones, and
24825      dragged him bound to the forest with them; and then they put a string
24826      around his head, and put a board under his head and shoulders, and made a
24827      knot on the string, and bound his head fast to the board. Then the elder
24828      brother, Einar, took a wedge, and put it on the priest's eye, and the
24829      servant who stood beside him struck upon it with an axe, so that the eye
24830      flew out, and fell upon the board. Then he set the pin upon the other eye,
24831      and said to the servant, "Strike now more softly." He did so, and the
24832      wedge sprang from the eye-stone, and tore the eyelid loose. Then Einar
24833      took up the eyelid in his hand, and saw that the eye-stone was still in
24834      its place; and he set the wedge on the cheek, and when the servant struck
24835      it the eye-stone sprang out upon the cheek-bone. Thereafter they opened
24836      his mouth, took his tongue and cut it off, and then untied his hands and
24837      his head. As soon as he came to himself, he thought of laying the
24838      eye-stones in their place under the eyelids, and pressing then with both
24839      hands as much as he could. Then they carried him on board, and went to a
24840      farm called Saeheimrud, where they landed. They sent up to the farm to say
24841      that a priest was lying in the boat at the shore. While the message was
24842      going to the farm, they asked the priest if he could talk; and he made a
24843      noise and attempted to speak. Then said Einar to his brother, "If he
24844      recover and the stump of his tongue grow, I am afraid he will get his
24845      speech again." Thereupon they seized the stump with a pair of tongs, drew
24846      it out, cut it twice, and the third time to the very roots, and left him
24847      lying half dead. The housewife in the farm was poor; but she hastened to
24848      the place with her daughter, and they carried the priest home to their
24849      farm in their cloaks. They then brought a priest, and when he arrived he
24850      bound all his wounds; and they attended to his comfort as much as they
24851      were able. And thus lay the wounded priest grievously handled, but
24852      trusting always to God's grace, and never doubting; and although he was
24853      speechless, he prayed to God in thought with a sorrowful mind, but with
24854      the more confidence the worse he was. He turned his thoughts also to the
24855      mild King Olaf the Saint, God's dear favourite, of whose excellent deeds
24856      he had heard so much told, and trusted so much more zealously on him with
24857      all his heart for help in his necessity. As he lay there lame, and
24858      deprived of all strength, he wept bitterly, moaned, and prayed with a sore
24859      heart that the dear King Olaf would help him. Now when this wounded priest
24860      was sleeping after midnight, he thought he saw a gallant man coming to
24861      him, who spoke these words, "Thou art ill off, friend Richard, and thy
24862      strength is little." He thought he replied to this assentingly. Then the
24863      man accosted him again, "Thou requirest compassion?" The priest replies,
24864      "I need the compassion of Almighty God and the holy King Olaf." He
24865      answered, "Thou shalt get it." Thereupon he pulled the tongue-stump so
24866      hard that it gave the priest pain; then he stroked with his hands his
24867      eyes, and legs, and other wounded members. Then the priest asked who he
24868      was. He looked at him, and said, "Olaf, come here from Throndhjem;" and
24869      then disappeared. But the priest awoke altogether sound, and thus he
24870      spoke: "Happy am I, and thanks be to the Almighty God and the holy King
24871      Olaf, who have restored me!" Dreadfully mishandled as he had been, yet so
24872      quickly was he restored from his misfortune that he scarcely thought he
24873      had been wounded or sick. His tongue was entire; both his eyes were in
24874      their places, and were clear-sighted; his broken legs and every other
24875      wound were healed, or were free from pain; and, in short, he had got
24876      perfect health. But as a proof that his eyes had been punched out, there
24877      remained a white scar on each eyelid, in order that this dear king's
24878      excellence might be manifest on the man who had been so dreadfully
24879      misused.
24880      26. KING INGE AND SIGURD HOLD A THING.
24881      King Eystein and King Sigurd had quarrelled, because King Sigurd had
24882      killed King Eystein's court-man Harald, the Viken man, who owned a house
24883      in Bergen, and also the priest Jon Tapard, a son of Bjarne Sigurdson. On
24884      account of this affair, a conference to settle it was appointed in winter
24885      in the Uplands. The two sat together in the conference for a long time,
24886      and so much was known of their conference that all three brothers were to
24887      meet the following summer in Bergen. It was added, that their conference
24888      was to the effect that King Inge should have two or three farms, and as
24889      much income as would keep thirty men beside him, as he had not health to
24890      be a king. When King Inge and Gregorius heard this report, they came to
24891      Bergen with many followers. King Sigurd arrived there a little later, and
24892      was not nearly so strong in men. Sigurd and Inge had then been nineteen
24893      years kings of Norway (A.D. 1155). King Eystein came later still from the
24894      south than the other two from the north. Then King Inge ordered the Thing
24895      to be called together on the holm by the sound of trumpet; and Sigurd and
24896      Inge came to it with a great many people. Gregorius had two long-ships,
24897      and at the least ninety men, whom he kept in provisions. He kept his
24898      house-men better than other lendermen; for he never took part in any
24899      entertainment where each guest brings his liquor, without having all his
24900      house-men to drink with him. He went now to the Thing in a gold-mounted
24901      helmet, and all his men had helmets on. Then King Inge stood up, and told
24902      the assembly what he had heard; how his brothers were going to use him,
24903      and depose him from his kingdom; and asked for their assistance. The
24904      assembled people made a good return to his speech, and declared they would
24905      follow him.
24906      27. OF GREGORIUS DAGSON.
24907      Then King Sigurd stood up and said it was a false accusation that King
24908      Inge had made against him and his brother, and insisted that Gregorius had
24909      invented it; and insinuated that it would not be long, if he had his will,
24910      before they should meet so that the golden helmet should be doffed; and
24911      ended his speech by hinting that they could not both live. Gregorius
24912      replied, that Sigurd need not long so much for this, as he was ready now,
24913      if it must be so. A few days after, one of Gregorius's house-men was
24914      killed out upon the street, and it was Sigurd's house-men who killed him.
24915      Gregorius would then have fallen upon King Sigurd and his people; but King
24916      Inge, and many others, kept him back. But one evening, just as Queen
24917      Ingerid, King Inge's mother, was coming from vespers, she came past where
24918      Sigurd Skrudhyrna, a courtman of King Inge, lay murdered. He was then an
24919      old man, and had served many kings. King Sigurd's courtmen, Halyard
24920      Gunnarson, and Sigurd, a son of Eystein Trafale, had killed him; and
24921      people suspected it was done by order of King Sigurd. She went immediately
24922      to King Inge, and told him he would be a little king if he took no
24923      concern, but allowed his court-men to be killed, the one after the other,
24924      like swine. The king was angry at her speech; and while they were scolding
24925      about it, came Gregorius in helmet and armour, and told the king not to be
24926      angry, for she was only saying the truth. "And I am now," says he, "come
24927      to thy assistance, if thou wilt attack King Sigurd; and here we are, above
24928      100 men in helmets and armour, and with them we will attack where others
24929      think the attack may be worst." But the most dissuaded from this course,
24930      thinking that Sigurd would pay the mulct for the slaughter done. Now when
24931      Gregorius saw that there would be no assault, he accosted King Inge thus:
24932      "Thou wilt frighten thy men from thee in this way; for first they lately
24933      killed my house-man, and now thy court-man, and afterwards they will chase
24934      me, or some other of thy lendermen whom thou wouldst feel the loss of,
24935      when they see that thou art indifferent about such things; and at last,
24936      after thy friends are killed, they will take the royal dignity from thee.
24937      Whatever thy other lendermen may do, I will not stay here longer to be
24938      slaughtered like an ox; but Sigurd the king and I have a business to
24939      settle with each other to-night, in whatever way it may turn out. It is
24940      true that there is but little help in thee on account of thy ill health,
24941      but I should think thy will should not be less to hold thy hand over thy
24942      friends, and I am now quite ready to go from hence to meet Sigurd, and my
24943      banner is flying in the yard."
24944      Then King Inge stood up, and called for his arms, and ordered every man
24945      who wished to follow him to get ready, declaring it was of no use to try
24946      to dissuade him; for he had long enough avoided this, but now steel must
24947      determine between them.
24948      28. OF KING SIGURD'S FALL.
24949      King Sigurd sat and drank in Sigrid Saeta's house ready for battle,
24950      although people thought it would not come to an assault at all. Then came
24951      King Inge with his men down the road from the smithy shops, against the
24952      house. Arne, the king's brother-in-law, came out from the Sand-bridge,
24953      Aslak Erlendson from his own house, and Gregorius from the street where
24954      all thought the assault would be worst. King Sigurd and his men made many
24955      shots from the holes in the loft, broke down the fireplaces, and threw
24956      stones on them. Gregorius and his men cut down the gates of the yard; and
24957      there in the port fell Einar, a son of Laxapaul, who was of Sigurd's
24958      people, together with Halvard Gunnarson, who was shot in a loft, and
24959      nobody lamented his death. They hewed down the houses, and many of King
24960      Sigurd's men left him, and surrendered for quarter. Then King Sigurd went
24961      up into a loft, and desired to be heard. He had a gilt shield, by which
24962      they knew him, but they would not listen to him, and shot arrows at him as
24963      thick as snow in a snow-shower, so that he could not stay there. As his
24964      men had now left him, and the houses were being hewn down, he went out
24965      from thence, and with him his court-man Thord Husfreyja from Viken. They
24966      wanted to come where King Inge was to be found, and Sigurd called to his
24967      brother King Inge, and begged him to grant him life and safety; but both
24968      Thord and Sigurd were instantly killed, and Thord fell with great glory.
24969      King Sigurd was interred in the old Christ church out on the holm. King
24970      Inge gave Gregorius the ship King Sigurd had owned. There fell many of
24971      King Sigurd's and King Inge's men, although I only name a few; but of
24972      Gregorius's men there fell four; and also some who belonged to no party,
24973      but were shot on the piers, or out in the ships. It was fought on a
24974      Friday, and fourteen days before Saint John the Baptist's day (June 10,
24975      1155). Two or three days after King Eystein came from the eastward with
24976      thirty ships, and had along with him his brother's son Hakon, a son of
24977      King Sigurd. Eystein did not come up to the town, but lay in Floruvagar,
24978      and good men went between to get a reconciliation made. But Gregorius
24979      wanted that they should go out against him, thinking there never would be
24980      a better opportunity; and offered to be himself the leader. "For thou,
24981      king, shalt not go, for we have no want of men." But many dissuaded from
24982      this course, and it came to nothing. King Eystein returned back to Viken,
24983      and King Inge to Throndhjem, and they were in a sort reconciled; but they
24984      did not meet each other.
24985      29. OF GREGORIUS DAGSON.
24986      Somewhat later than King Eystein, Gregorius Dagson also set out to the
24987      eastward and came to his farm Bratsberg in Hofund; but King Eystein was up
24988      in the fjord at Oslo, and had his ships drawn above two miles over the
24989      frozen sea, for there was much ice at that time in Viken. King Eystein
24990      went up to Hofund to take Gregorius; but he got news of what was on foot,
24991      and escaped to Thelemark with ninety men, from thence over the mountains,
24992      and came down in Hardanger; and at last to Studla in Etne, to Erling
24993      Skakke's farm. Erling himself had gone north to Bergen; but his wife
24994      Kristin, a daughter of King Sigurd, was at home, and offered Gregorius all
24995      the assistance he wanted; and he was hospitably received. He got a
24996      long-ship there which belonged to Erling, and everything else he required.
24997      Gregorius thanked her kindly, and allowed that she had behaved nobly, and
24998      as might have been expected of her. Gregorius then proceeded to Bergen,
24999      where he met Erling, who thought also that his wife had done well.
25000      30. RECONCILIATION OF EYSTEIN AND INGE.
25001      Then Gregorius went north to Throndhjem, and came there before Yule. King
25002      Inge was rejoiced at his safety, and told him to use his property as
25003      freely as his own, King Eystein having burnt Gregorius's house, and
25004      slaughtered his stock of cattle. The ship-docks which King Eystein the
25005      Elder had constructed in the merchant town of Nidaros, and which had been
25006      exceedingly expensive, were also burnt this winter, together with some
25007      good vessels belonging to King Inge. This deed was ascribed to King
25008      Eystein and Philip Gyrdson, King Sigurd's foster-brother, and occasioned
25009      much displeasure and hatred. The following summer King Inge went south
25010      with a very numerous body of men; and King Eystein came northwards,
25011      gathering men also. They met in the east (A.D. 1156) at the Seleys, near
25012      to the Naze; but King Inge was by far the strongest in men. It was nearly
25013      coming to a battle; but at last they were reconciled on these conditions,
25014      that King Eystein should be bound to pay forty-five marks of gold, of
25015      which King Inge should have thirty marks, because King Eystein had
25016      occasioned the burning of the docks and ships; and, besides, that Philip,
25017      and all who had been accomplices in the deed, should be outlawed. Also
25018      that the men should be banished the country, against whom it could be
25019      proved that they gave blow or wound to King Sigurd; for King Eystein
25020      accused King Inge of protecting these men; and that Gregorius should have
25021      fifteen marks of gold for the value of his property burnt by King Eystein.
25022      King Eystein was ill pleased with these terms, and looked upon the treaty
25023      as one forced upon him. From that meeting King Inge went eastward to
25024      Viken, and King Eystein north to Throndhjem; and they had no intercourse
25025      with each other, nor were the messages which passed between them very
25026      friendly, and on both sides they killed each other's friends. King
25027      Eystein, besides, did not pay the money; and the one accused the other of
25028      not fulfilling what was promised. King Inge and Gregorius enticed many
25029      people from King Eystein; among others, Bard Standale Brynjolfson, Simon
25030      Skalp, a son of Halkel Huk, Halder Brynjolfson, Jon Halkelson, and many
25031      other lendermen.
25032      31. OF EYSTEIN AND INGE.
25033      Two years after King Sigurd's fall (A.D. 1157) both kings assembled
25034      armaments; namely, King Inge in the east of the country, where he
25035      collected eighty ships; and King Eystein in the north, where he had
25036      forty-five, and among these the Great Dragon, which King Eystein Magnuson
25037      had built after the Long Serpent; and they had on both sides many and
25038      excellent troops. King Inge lay with his ships south at Moster Isle, and
25039      King Eystein a little to the north in Graeningasund. King Eystein sent the
25040      young Aslak Jonson, and Arne Sturla, a son of Snaebjorn, with one ship to
25041      meet King Inge; but when the king's men knew them, they assaulted them,
25042      killed many of their people, and took all that was in the ship belonging
25043      to them. Aslak and Arne and a few more escaped to the land, went to King
25044      Eystein, and told him how King Inge had received them. Thereupon King
25045      Eystein held a House-thing, and told his followers how ill King Inge had
25046      treated his men, and desired the troops to follow him. "I have," said he,
25047      "so many, and such excellent men, that I have no intention to fly, if ye
25048      will follow me." But this speech was not received with much favour. Halkel
25049      Huk was there; but both his sons, Simon and Jon, were with King Inge.
25050      Halkel replied, so loud that many heard him, "Let thy chests of gold
25051      follow thee, and let them defend thy land."
25052      32. KING EYSTEIN'S DEATH.
25053      In the night many of King Eystein's ships rowed secretly away, some of
25054      them joining King Inge, some going to Bergen, or up into the fjords; so
25055      that when it was daylight in the morning the king was lying behind with
25056      only ten ships. Then he left the Great Dragon, which was heavy to row, and
25057      several other vessels behind; and cut and destroyed the Dragon, started
25058      out the ale, and destroyed all that they could not take with them. King
25059      Eystein went on board of the ship of Eindride, a son of Jon Morner, sailed
25060      north into Sogn, and then took the land-road eastwards to Viken. King Inge
25061      took the vessels, and sailed with them outside of the isles to Viken. King
25062      Eystein had then got east as far as Fold, and had with him 1200 men; but
25063      when they saw King Inge's force, they did not think themselves
25064      sufficiently strong to oppose him, and they retired to the forest. Every
25065      one fled his own way, so that the king was left with but one man. King
25066      Inge and his men observed King Eystein's flight, and also that he had but
25067      few people with him, and they went immediately to search for him. Simon
25068      Skalp met the king just as he was coming out of a willow bush. Simon
25069      saluted him. "God save you, sire," said he.
25070      The king replied, "I do not know if thou are not sire here."
25071      Simon replied, "That is as it may happen."
25072      The king begged him to conceal him, and said it was proper to do so. "For
25073      there was long friendship between us, although it has now gone
25074      differently."
25075      Simon replied, it could not be.
25076      Then the king begged that he might hear mass before he died, which
25077      accordingly took place. Then Eystein laid himself down on his face on the
25078      grass, stretched out his hands on each side, and told them to cut the sign
25079      of the cross between his shoulders, and see whether he could not bear
25080      steel as King Inge's followers had asserted of him. Simon told the man who
25081      had to put the king to death to do so immediately, for the king had been
25082      creeping about upon the grass long enough. He was accordingly slain, and
25083      he appears to have suffered manfully. His body was carried to Fors, and
25084      lay all night under the hill at the south side of the church. King Eystein
25085      was buried in Fors church, and his grave is in the middle of the
25086      church-floor, where a fringed canopy is spread over it, and he is
25087      considered a saint. Where he was executed, and his blood ran upon the
25088      ground, sprang up a fountain, and another under the hill where his body
25089      lay all night. From both these waters many think they have received a cure
25090      of sickness and pain. It is reported by the Viken people that many
25091      miracles were wrought at King Eystein's grave, until his enemies poured
25092      upon it soup made of boiled dog's flesh. Simon Skalp was much hated for
25093      this deed, which was generally ascribed to him; but some said that when
25094      King Eystein was taken Simon sent a message to King Inge, and the king
25095      commanded that King Eystein should not come before his face. So King
25096      Sverre has caused it to be written; but Einar Skulason tells of it thus: -
25097     "Simon Skalp, the traitor bold,
25098     For deeds of murder known of old,
25099     His king betrayed; and ne'er will he
25100     God's blessed face hereafter see."
25101      SAGA OF HAKON HERDEBREID (HAKON THE BROAD-SHOULDERED) (1)
25102      PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
25103      This saga describes the feud between Hakon Sigurdson and his uncle Inge.
25104      The only skald quoted is Einar Skulason.
25105   ENDNOTES: (1) The period is from A.D. 1157 to 1161. -L.
25106      1. BEGINNING OF HAKON HERDEBREID.
25107      Hakon, King Sigurd's son, was chosen chief of the troop which had followed
25108      King Eystein, and his adherents gave him the title of king. He was ten
25109      years old. At that time he had with him Sigurd, a son of Halvard Hauld of
25110      Reyr, and Andreas and Onund, the sons of Simon, his foster-brothers, and
25111      many chiefs, friends of King Sigurd and King Eystein; and they went first
25112      up to Gautland. King Inge took possession of all the estates they had left
25113      behind, and declared them banished. Thereafter King Inge went to Viken,
25114      and was sometimes also in the north of the country. Gregorius Dagson was
25115      in Konungahella, where the danger was greatest, and had beside him a
25116      strong and handsome body of men, with which he defended the country.
25117      2. OF GREGORIUS DAGSON.
25118      The summer after (A.D. 1158) Hakon came with his men, and proceeded to
25119      Konungahella with a numerous and handsome troop. Gregorius was then in the
25120      town, and summoned the bondes and townspeople to a great Thing, at which
25121      he desired their aid; but he thought the people did not hear him with much
25122      favour, so he did not much trust them. Gregorius set off with two ships to
25123      Viken, and was very much cast down. He expected to meet King Inge there,
25124      having heard he was coming with a great army to Viken. Now when Gregorius
25125      had come but a short way north he met Simon Skalp, Haldor Brynjolfson, and
25126      Gyrd Amundason, King Inge's foster-brothers. Gregorius was much delighted
25127      at this meeting, and turned back with them, being all in one body, with
25128      eleven ships. As they were rowing up to Konungahella, Hakon, with his
25129      followers, was holding a Thing without the town, and saw their approach;
25130      and Sigurd of Reyr said, "Gregorius must be fey to be throwing himself
25131      with so few men into our hands." Gregorius landed opposite the town to
25132      wait for King Inge, for he was expected, but he did not come. King Hakon
25133      put himself in order in the town, and appointed Thorliot Skaufaskalle, who
25134      was a viking and a robber, to be captain of the men in the merchant ships
25135      that were afloat in the river; and King Hakon and Sigurd were within the
25136      town, and drew up the men on the piers, for all the townspeople had
25137      submitted to King Hakon.
25138      3. KING HAKON'S FLIGHT.
25139      Gregorius rowed up the river, and let the ship drive down with the stream
25140      against Thorliot. They shot at each other a while, until Thorliot and his
25141      comrades jumped overboard; and some of them were killed, some escaped to
25142      the land. Then Gregorius rowed to the piers, and let a gangway be cast on
25143      shore at the very feet of Hakon's men. There the man who carried his
25144      banner was slain, just as he was going to step on shore. Gregorius ordered
25145      Hal, a son of Audun Halson, to take up the banner, which he did, and bore
25146      the banner up to the pier. Gregorius followed close after him, held his
25147      shield over his head, and protected him as well as himself. As soon as
25148      Gregorius came upon the pier, and Hakon's men knew him, they gave way, and
25149      made room for him on every side. Afterwards more people landed from the
25150      ships, and then Gregorius made a severe assault with his men; and Hakon's
25151      men first moved back, and then ran up into the town. Gregorius pursued
25152      them eagerly, drove them twice from the town, and killed many of them. By
25153      the report of all men, never was there so glorious an affair as this of
25154      Gregorius; for Hakon had more than 4000 men, and Gregorius not full 400.
25155      After the battle, Gregorius said to Hal Audunson, "Many men, in my
25156      opinion, are more agile in battle than ye Icelanders are, for ye are not
25157      so exercised as we Norwegians; but none, I think, are so bold under arms
25158      as ye are." King Inge came up soon after, and killed many of the men who
25159      had taken part with Hakon; made some pay heavy fines, burnt the houses of
25160      some, and some he drove out of the country, or treated otherwise very ill.
25161      Hakon fled at first up to Gautland with all his men; but the winter after
25162      (A.D. 1159), he proceeded by the upper road to Throndhjem, and came there
25163      before Easter. The Throndhjem people received him well, for they had
25164      always served under that shield. It is said that the Throndhjem people
25165      took Hakon as king, on the terms that he should have from Inge the third
25166      part of Norway as his paternal heritage. King Inge and Gregorius were in
25167      Viken, and Gregorius wanted to make an expedition against the party in the
25168      north; but it came to nothing that winter, as many dissuaded from it.
25169      4. FALL OF GYRD AND HAVARD.
25170      King Hakon left Throndhjem in spring with thirty ships nearly; and some of
25171      his men sailed before the rest with seven ships, and plundered in North
25172      and South More. No man could remember that there ever before had been
25173      plundering between the two towns (Bergen and Nidaros). Jon the son of
25174      Halkel Huk collected the bondes in arms, and proceeded against them; took
25175      Kolbein Ode prisoner, killed every woman's son of them in his ship. Then
25176      they searched for the others, found them all assembled in seven ships, and
25177      fought with them; but his father Halkel not coming to his assistance as he
25178      had promised, many good bondes were killed, and Jon himself was wounded.
25179      Hakon proceeded south to Bergen with his forces; but when he came to
25180      Stiornvelta, he heard that King Inge and Gregorius had arrived a few
25181      nights before from the east at Bergen, and therefore he did not venture to
25182      steer thither. They sailed the outer course southwards past Bergen, and
25183      met three ships of King Inge's fleet, which had been outsailed on the
25184      voyage from the east. On board of them were Gyrd Amundason, King Inge's
25185      foster-brother, who was married to Gyrid a sister of Gregorius, and also
25186      lagman Gyrd Gunhildson, and Havard Klining. King Hakon had Gyrd Amundason
25187      and Havard Klining put to death; but took lagman Gyrd southwards, and then
25188      proceeded east to Viken.
25189      5. OF THE CONSULTATIONS OF KING INGE.
25190      When King Inge heard of this he sailed east after them, and they met east
25191      in the Gaut river. King Inge went up the north arm of the river, and sent
25192      out spies to get news of Hakon and his fleet; but he himself landed at
25193      Hising, and waited for his spies. Now when the spies came back they went
25194      to the king, and said that they had seen King Hakon's forces, and all his
25195      ships which lay at the stakes in the river, and Hakon's men had bound the
25196      stems of their vessels to them. They had two great East-country trading
25197      vessels, which they had laid outside of the fleet, and on both these were
25198      built high wooded stages (castles). When King Inge heard the preparations
25199      they had made, he ordered a trumpet to call a House-thing of all the men;
25200      and when the Thing was seated he asked his men for counsel, and applied
25201      particularly to Gregorius Dagson, his brother-in-law Erling Skakke, and
25202      other lendermen and ship-commanders, to whom he related the preparations
25203      of Hakon and his men.
25204      Then Gregorius Dagson replied first, and made known his mind in the
25205      following words: -"Sometimes we and Hakon have met, and generally
25206      they had the most people; but, notwithstanding, they fell short in battle
25207      against us. Now, on the other hand, we have by far the greatest force; and
25208      it will appear probable to the men who a short time ago lost gallant
25209      relations by them, that this will be a good occasion to get vengeance, for
25210      they have fled before us the greater part of the summer; and we have often
25211      said that if they waited for us, as appears now to be the case, we would
25212      have a brush with them. Now I will tell my opinion, which is, that I will
25213      engage them, if it be agreeable to the king's pleasure; for I think it
25214      will go now as formerly, that they must give way before us if we attack
25215      them bravely; and I shall always attack where others may think it most
25216      difficult."
25217      The speech was received with much applause, and all declared they were
25218      ready to engage in battle against Hakon. Then they rowed with all the
25219      ships up the river, until they came in sight of each other, and then King
25220      Inge turned off from the river current under the island. Now the king
25221      addressed the lendermen again, and told them to get ready for battle. He
25222      turned himself especially to Erling Skakke, and said, what was true, that
25223      no man in the army had more understanding and knowledge in fighting
25224      battles, although some were more hot. The king then addressed himself to
25225      several of the lendermen, speaking to them by name; and ended by desiring
25226      that each man should make his attack where he thought it would be of
25227      advantage, and thereafter all would act together.
25228      6. ERLING'S SPEECH.
25229      Erling Skakke replied thus to the king's speech: "It is my duty, sire, not
25230      to be silent; and I shall give my advice, since it is desired. The
25231      resolution now adopted is contrary to my judgment; for I call it foolhardy
25232      to fight under these circumstances, although we have so many and such fine
25233      men. Supposing we make an attack on them, and row up against this
25234      river-current; then one of the three men who are in each half room must be
25235      employed in rowing only, and another must be covering with the shield the
25236      man who rows; and what have we then to fight with but one third of our
25237      men? It appears to me that they can be of little use in the battle who are
25238      sitting at their oars with their backs turned to the enemy. Give me now
25239      some time for consideration, and I promise you that before three days are
25240      over I shall fall upon some plan by which we can come into battle with
25241      advantage."
25242      It was evident from Erling's speech that he dissuaded from an attack; but,
25243      notwithstanding, it was urged by many who thought that Hakon would now, as
25244      before, take to the land. "And then," said they, "we cannot get hold of
25245      him; but now they have but few men, and we have their fate in our own
25246      hands."
25247      Gregorius said but little; but thought that Erling rather dissuaded from
25248      an attack that Gregorius's advice should have no effect, than that he had
25249      any better advice to give.
25250      7. OF HAKON'S FLEET.
25251      Then said King Inge to Erling, "Now we will follow thy advice, brother,
25252      with regard to the manner of attacking; but seeing how eager our
25253      counsellors are for it, we shall make the attack this day."
25254      Erling replied, "All the boats and light vessels we have should row
25255      outside the island, and up the east arm of the river, and then down with
25256      the stream upon them, and try if they cannot cut them loose from the
25257      piles. Then we, with the large ships, shall row from below here against
25258      them; and I cannot tell until it be tried, if those who are now so
25259      furiously warm will be much brisker at the attack than I am."
25260      This counsel was approved by all. There was a ness stretched out between
25261      their fleet and Hakon's, so that they could not see each other. Now when
25262      Hakon and his men, who had taken counsel with each other in a meeting, saw
25263      the boat-squadron rowing down the river, some thought King Inge intended
25264      to give them battle; but many believed they did not dare, for it looked as
25265      if the attack was given up; and they, besides, were very confident, both
25266      in their preparations and men. There were many great people with Hakon:
25267      there were Sigurd of Reyr, and Simon's sons; Nikolas Skialdvarson;
25268      Eindride, a son of Jon Mornef, who was the most gallant and popular man in
25269      the Throndhjem country; and many other lendermen and warriors. Now when
25270      they saw that King Inge's men with many ships were rowing out of the
25271      river, Hakon and his men believed they were going to fly; and therefore
25272      they cut their land-ropes with which they lay fast at the piles, seized
25273      their oars, and rowed after them in pursuit. The ships ran fast down with
25274      the stream; but when they came further down the river, abreast of the
25275      ness, they saw King Inge's main strength lying quiet at the island Hising.
25276      King Inge's people saw Hakon's ships under way, and believed they were
25277      coming to attack them; and now there was great bustle and clash of arms,
25278      and they encouraged each other by a great war-shout. Hakon with his fleet
25279      turned northwards a little to the land, where there was a turn in the
25280      bight of the river, and where there was no current. They made ready for
25281      battle, carried land-ropes to the shore, turned the stems of their ships
25282      outwards, and bound them all together. They laid the large East-country
25283      traders without the other vessels, the one above, the other below, and
25284      bound them to the long-ships. In the middle of the fleet lay the king's
25285      ship, and next to it Sigurd's; and on the other side of the king's ship
25286      lay Nikolas, and next to him Endride Jonson. All the smaller ships lay
25287      farther off, and they were all nearly loaded with weapons and stones.
25288      8. SIGURD OF REYR'S SPEECH.
25289      Then Sigurd of Reyr made the following speech: "Now there is hope that the
25290      time is come which has been promised us all the summer, that we shall meet
25291      King Inge in battle. We have long prepared ourselves for this; and many of
25292      our comrades have boasted that they would never fly from or submit to King
25293      Inge and Gregorius, and now let them remember their words. But we who have
25294      sometimes got the toothache in our conflicts with them, speak less
25295      confidently; for it has happened, as all have heard, that we very often
25296      have come off without glory. But, nevertheless, it is now necessary to
25297      fight manfully, and stand to it with steadiness; for the only escape for
25298      us is in victory. Although we have somewhat fewer men than they, yet luck
25299      determines which side shall have the advantage, and God knows that the
25300      right is on our side. Inge has killed two of his brothers; and it is
25301      obvious to all men that the mulct he intends to pay King Hakon for his
25302      father's murder is to murder him also, as well as his other relations,
25303      which will be seen this day to be his intent. King Hakon desired from the
25304      beginning no more of Norway than the third part, which his father had
25305      possessed, and which was denied him; and yet, in my opinion, King Hakon
25306      has a better right to inherit after his father's brother, King Eystein,
25307      than Inge or Simon Skalp, or the other men who killed King Eystein. Many
25308      of them who would save their souls, and yet have defiled their hands with
25309      such bloody deeds as Inge has done, must think it a presumption before God
25310      that he takes the name of king; and I wonder God suffers such monstrous
25311      wickedness as his; but it may be God's will that we shall now put him
25312      down. Let us fight then manfully, and God will give us victory; and, if we
25313      fall, will repay us with joys unspeakable for now allowing the might of
25314      the wicked to prevail over us. Go forth then in confidence, and be not
25315      afraid when the battle begins. Let each watch over his own and his
25316      comrade's safety, and God protect us all." There went a good report abroad
25317      of this speech of Sigurd, and all promised fairly, and to do their duty.
25318      King Hakon went on board of the great East-country ship, and a
25319      shield-bulwark was made around him; but his standard remained on the
25320      long-ship in which it had been before.
25321      9. OF KING INGE'S MEN.
25322      Now must we tell about King Inge and his men. When they saw that King
25323      Hakon and his people were ready for battle, and the river only was between
25324      them, they sent a light vessel to recall the rest of the fleet which had
25325      rowed away; and in the meantime the king waited for them, and arranged the
25326      troops for the attack. Then the chiefs consulted in presence of the army,
25327      and told their opinions; first, which ships should lie nearest to the
25328      enemy; and then where each should attack.
25329      Gregorius spoke thus: "We have many and fine men; and it is my advice,
25330      King Inge, that you do not go to the assault with us, for everything is
25331      preserved if you are safe. And no man knows where an arrow may hit, even
25332      from the hands of a bad bowman; and they have prepared themselves so, that
25333      missiles and stones can be thrown from the high stages upon the merchant
25334      ships, so that there is less danger for those who are farthest from them.
25335      They have not more men than we lendermen can very well engage with. I
25336      shall lay my ship alongside their largest ship, and I expect the conflict
25337      between us will be but short; for it has often been so in our former
25338      meetings, although there has been a much greater want of men with us than
25339      now." All thought well of the advice that the king himself should not take
25340      part in the battle.
25341      Then Erling Skakke said, "I agree also to the counsel that you, sire,
25342      should not go into the battle. It appears to me that their preparations
25343      are such, that we require all our precaution not to suffer a great defeat
25344      from them; and whole limbs are the easiest cured. In the council we held
25345      before to-day many opposed what I said, and ye said then that I did not
25346      want to fight; but now I think the business has altered its appearance,
25347      and greatly to our advantage, since they have hauled off from the piles,
25348      and now it stands so that I do not dissuade from giving battle; for I see,
25349      what all are sensible of, how necessary it is to put an end to this robber
25350      band who have gone over the whole country with pillage and destruction, in
25351      order that people may cultivate the land in peace, and serve a king so
25352      good and just as King Inge who has long had trouble and anxiety from the
25353      haughty unquiet spirit of his relations, although he has been a shield of
25354      defence for the whole people, and has been exposed to manifold perils for
25355      the peace of the country." Erling spoke well and long, and many other
25356      chiefs also; and all to the same purpose -all urging to battle. In
25357      the meantime they waited until all the fleet should be assembled. King
25358      Inge had the ship Baekisudin; and, at the entreaty of his friends, he did
25359      not join the battle, but lay still at the island.
25360      10. BEGINNING OF THE BATTLE.
25361      When the army was ready they rowed briskly against the enemy, and both
25362      sides raised a war-shout. Inge's men did not bind their ships together,
25363      but let them be loose; for they rowed right across the current, by which
25364      the large ships were much swayed. Erling Skakke laid his ship beside King
25365      Hakon's ship, and ran the stem between his and Sigurd's ship, by which the
25366      battle began. But Gregorius's ship swung upon the ground, and heeled very
25367      much over, so that at first she could not come into the battle; and when
25368      Hakon's men saw this they laid themselves against her, and attacked
25369      Gregorius's ship on all sides. Ivar, Hakon Mage's son, laid his ship so
25370      that the stems struck together; and he got a boat-hook fastened on
25371      Gregorius, on that part of his body where the waist is smallest, and
25372      dragged him to him, by which Gregorius stumbled against the ship's rails;
25373      but the hook slipped to one side, or Gregorius would have been dragged
25374      over-board. Gregorius, however, was but little wounded, for he had on a
25375      plate coat of armour. Ivar called out to him, that he had a "thick bark."
25376      Gregorius replied, that if Ivar went on so he would "require it all, and
25377      not have too much." It was very near then that Gregorius and his men had
25378      sprung overboard; but Aslak Unge threw an anchor into their ship, and
25379      dragged them off the ground. Then Gregorius laid himself against Ivar's
25380      ship, and they fought a long while; but Gregorius's ship being both higher
25381      sided and more strongly manned, many people fell in Ivar's ship, and some
25382      jumped overboard. Ivar was so severely wounded that he could not take part
25383      in the fight. When his ship was cleared of the men, Gregorius let Ivar be
25384      carried to the shore, so that he might escape; and from that time they
25385      were constant friends.
25386      11. KING HAKON'S FLIGHT.
25387      When King Inge and his men saw that Gregorius was aground, he encouraged
25388      his crew to row to his assistance. "It was," he said, "the most imprudent
25389      advice that we should remain lying here, while our friends are in battle;
25390      for we have the largest and best ship in all the fleet. But now I see that
25391      Gregorius, the man to whom I owe the most, is in need of help; so we must
25392      hasten to the fight where it is sharpest. It is also most proper that I
25393      should be in the battle; for the victory, if we win it, will belong to me.
25394      And if I even knew beforehand that our men were not to gain the battle,
25395      yet our place is where our friends are; for I can do nothing if I lose the
25396      men who are justly called the defence of the country, who are the bravest,
25397      and have long ruled for me and my kingdom." Thereupon he ordered his
25398      banner to be set up, which was done; and they rowed across the river. Then
25399      the battle raged, and the king could not get room to attack, so close lay
25400      the ships before him. First he lay under the East-country trading ship,
25401      and from it they threw down upon his vessel spears, iron-shod stakes, and
25402      such large stones that it was impossible to hold out longer there, and he
25403      had to haul off. Now when the king's people saw that he was come they made
25404      place for him, and then he laid alongside of Eindride Jonson's ship. Now
25405      King Hakon's men abandoned the small ships, and went on board the large
25406      merchant vessels; but some of them sprang on shore. Erling Skakke and his
25407      men had a severe conflict. Erling himself was on the forecastle, and
25408      called his forecastlemen, and ordered them to board the king's ship; but
25409      they answered, this was no easy matter, for there were beams above with an
25410      iron comb on them. Then Erling himself went to the bow, and stayed there a
25411      while, until they succeeded in getting on board the king's ship: and then
25412      the ship was cleared of men on the bows, and the whole army gave way. Many
25413      sprang into the water, many fell, but the greater number got to the land.
25414      So says Einar Skulason: -
25415     "Men fall upon the slippery deck -
25416     Men roll off from the blood-drenched wreck;
25417     Dead bodies float down with the stream,
25418     And from the shores witch-ravens scream.
25419     The cold blue river now runs red
25420     With the warm blood of warriors dead,
25421     And stains the waves in Karmt Sound
25422     With the last drops of the death-wound.
25423
25424     "All down the stream, with unmann'd prow,
25425     Floats many an empty long-ship now,
25426     Ship after ship, shout after shout,
25427     Tell that Kign Hakon can't hold out.
25428     The bowmen ply their bows of elm,
25429     The red swords flash o'er broken helm:
25430     King Hakon's men rush to the strand,
25431     Out of their ships, up through the land."
25432      Einar composed a song about Gregorius Dagson, which is called the
25433      River-song. King Inge granted life and peace to Nikolas Skialdvarson when
25434      his ship was deserted, and thereupon he went into King Inge's service, and
25435      remained in it as long as the king lived. Eindride Jonson leaped on board
25436      of King Inge's ship when his own was cleared of men, and begged for his
25437      life. King Inge wished to grant it; but Havard Klining's son ran up, and
25438      gave him a mortal wound, which was much blamed; but he said Eindride had
25439      been the cause of his father's death. There was much lamentation at
25440      Eindride's death, but principally in the Throndhjem district. Many of
25441      Hakon's people fell here, but not many chiefs. Few of King Inge's people
25442      fell, but many were wounded. King Hakon fled up the country, and King Inge
25443      went north to Viken with his troops; and he, as well as Gregorius,
25444      remained in Viken all winter (A.D. 1160). When King Inge's men, Bergliot
25445      and his brothers, sons of Ivar of Elda, came from the battle to Bergen,
25446      they slew Nickolas Skeg, who had been Hakon's treasurer, and then went
25447      north to Throndhjem.
25448      King Hakon came north before Yule, and Sigurd was sometimes home at Reyr;
25449      for Gregorius, who was nearly related to Sigurd, had obtained for him life
25450      and safety from King Inge, so that he retained all his estates. King Hakon
25451      was in the merchant-town of Nidaros in Yule; and one evening in the
25452      beginning of Yule his men fought in the room of the court, and in this
25453      affray eight men were killed, and many were wounded. The eighth day of
25454      Yule, King Hakon's man Alf Rode, son of Ottar Birting, with about eighty
25455      men, went to Elda, and came in the night unexpectedly on the people, who
25456      were very drunk, and set fire to the room; but they went out, and defended
25457      themselves bravely. There fell Bergliot, Ivar's son, and Ogmund, his
25458      brother, and many more. They had been nearly thirty altogether in number.
25459      In winter died, north in the merchant-town, Andres Simonson, King Hakon's
25460      foster-brother; and his death was much deplored. Erling Skakke and Inge's
25461      men, who were in Bergen, threatened that in winter they would proceed
25462      against Hakon and his men; but it came to nothing. Gregorius sent word
25463      from the east, from Konungahella, that if he were so near as Erling and
25464      his men, he would not sit quietly in Bergen while Hakon was killing King
25465      Inge's friends and their comrades in war north in the Throndhjem country.
25466      12. THE CONFLICT UPON THE PIERS.
25467      King Inge and Gregorius left the east in spring, and came to Bergen; but
25468      as soon as Hakon and Sigurd heard that Inge had left Viken, they went
25469      there by land. When King Inge and his people came to Bergen, a quarrel
25470      arose between Haldor Brynjolfson and Bjorn Nikolason. Bjorn's house-man
25471      asked Haldor's when they met at the pier, why he looked so pale.
25472      He replied, because he had been bled.
25473      "I could not look so pale if I tried, at merely being bled."
25474      "I again think," retorted the other, "that thou wouldst have borne it
25475      worse, and less manfully." And no other beginning was there for their
25476      quarrel than this. Afterwards one word followed another, till from
25477      brawling they came to fighting. It was told to Haldor Brynjolfson, who was
25478      in the house drinking, that his house-man was wounded down on the pier and
25479      he went there immediately. But Bjorn's house-men had come there before,
25480      and as Haldor thought his house-man had been badly treated, he went up to
25481      them and beat them; and it was told to Bjorn Buk that the people of Viken
25482      were beating his house-men on the pier. Then Bjorn and his house-men took
25483      their weapons, hurried down to the pier, and would avenge their men; and a
25484      bloody strife began. It was told Gregorius that his relation Haldor
25485      required assistance, and that his house-men were being cut down in the
25486      street; on which Gregorius and his men ran to the place in their armour.
25487      Now it was told Erling Skakke that his sister's son Bjorn was fighting
25488      with Gregorius and Haldor down on the piers, and that he needed help. Then
25489      he proceeded thither with a great force, and exhorted the people to stand
25490      by him; saying it would be a great disgrace never to be wiped out, if the
25491      Viken people should trample upon them in their own native place. There
25492      fell thirteen men, of whom nine were killed on the spot, and four died of
25493      their wounds, and many were wounded. When the word came to King Inge that
25494      Gregorius and Erling were fighting down on the piers, he hastened there,
25495      and tried to separate them; but could do nothing, so mad were they on both
25496      sides. Then Gregorius called to Inge, and told him to go away; for it was
25497      in vain to attempt coming between them, as matters now stood. He said it
25498      would be the greatest misfortune if the king mixed himself up with it; for
25499      he could not be certain that there were not people in the fray who would
25500      commit some great misdeed if they had opportunity. Then King Inge retired;
25501      and when the greatest tumult was over, Gregorius and his men went to
25502      Nikolas church, and Erling behind them, calling to each other. Then King
25503      Inge came a second time, and pacified them; and both agreed that he should
25504      mediate between them.
25505      When King Inge and Gregorius heard that King Hakon was in Viken, they went
25506      east with many ships; but when they came King Hakon fled from them, and
25507      there was no battle. Then King Inge went to Oslo, and Gregorius was in
25508      Konungahella.
25509      13. MUNAN'S DEATH.
25510      Soon after Gregorius heard that Hakon and his men were at a farm called
25511      Saurby, which lies up beside the forest. Gregorius hastened there; came in
25512      the night; and supposing that King Hakon and Sigurd would be in the
25513      largest of the houses, set fire to the buildings there. But Hakon and his
25514      men were in the smaller house, and came forth, seeing the fire, to help
25515      their people. There Munan fell, a son of Ale Uskeynd, a brother of King
25516      Sigurd Hakon's father. Gregorius and his men killed him, because he was
25517      helping those whom they were burning within the house. Some escaped, but
25518      many were killed. Asbjorn Jalda, who had been a very great viking, escaped
25519      from the house, but was grievously wounded. A bonde met him, and he
25520      offered the man money to let him get away; but the bonde replied, he would
25521      do what he liked best; and, adding that he had often been in fear of his
25522      life for him, he slew him. King Hakon and Sigurd escaped, but many of
25523      their people were killed. Thereafter Gregorius returned home to
25524      Konungahella. Soon after King Hakon and Sigurd went to Haldor
25525      Brynjolfson's farm of Vettaland, set fire to the house, and burnt it.
25526      Haldor went out, and was cut down instantly with his house-men; and in all
25527      there were about twenty men killed. Sigrid, Haldor's wife, was a sister of
25528      Gregorius, and they allowed her to escape into the forest in her
25529      night-shift only; but they took with them Amunde, who was a son of Gyrd
25530      Amundason and of Gyrid Dag's daughter, and a sister's son of Gregorius,
25531      and who was then a boy about five years old.
25532      14. OF THE FALL OF GREGORIUS DAGSON.
25533      When Gregorius heard the news he took it much to heart, and inquired
25534      carefully where they were. Gregorius set out from Konungahella late in
25535      Yule, and came to Fors the thirteenth day of Yule, where he remained a
25536      night, and heard vespers the last day of Yule, which was a Saturday, and
25537      the holy Evangel was read before him. When Gregorius and his followers saw
25538      the men of King Hakon and Sigurd, the king's force appeared to them
25539      smaller than their own. There was a river called Befia between them, where
25540      they met; and there was unsound ice on the river, for there went a stream
25541      under the ice from it. King Hakon and his men had cut a rent in the ice,
25542      and laid snow over it, so that nobody could see it. When Gregorius came to
25543      the ice on the river the ice appeared to him unsound, he said; and he
25544      advised the people to go to the bridge, which was close by, to cross the
25545      river. The bonde-troops replied, that they did not know why he should be
25546      afraid to go across the ice to attack so few people as Hakon had, and the
25547      ice was good enough. Gregorius said it was seldom necessary to encourage
25548      him to show bravery, and it should not be so now. Then he ordered them to
25549      follow him, and not to be standing on the land while he was on the ice,
25550      and he said it was their council to go out upon the dangerous ice, but he
25551      had no wish to do so, or to be led by them. Then he ordered the banner to
25552      be advanced, and immediately went out on the ice with the men. As soon as
25553      the bondes found that the ice was unsound they turned back. Gregorius fell
25554      through the ice, but not very deep, and he told his men to take care.
25555      There were not more than twenty men with him, the others having turned
25556      back. A man of King Hakon's troop shot an arrow at Gregorius, which hit
25557      him under the throat, and thus ended his life. Gregorius fell, and ten men
25558      with him. It is the talk of all men that he had been the most gallant
25559      lenderman in Norway that any man then living could remember; and also he
25560      behaved the best towards us Icelanders of any chief since King Eystein the
25561      Elder's death. Gregorius's body was carried to Hofund, and interred at
25562      Gimsey Isle, in a nunnery which is there, of which Gregorius's sister,
25563      Baugeid, was then the abbess.
25564      15. KING INGE HEARS OF GREGORIUS'S FALL.
25565      Two bailiffs went to Oslo to bring the tidings to King Inge. When they
25566      arrived they desired to speak to the king: and he asked, what news they
25567      brought.
25568      "Gregorius Dagson's death," said they.
25569      "How came that misfortune?" asked the king.
25570      When they had told him how it happened, he said, "They gave advice who
25571      understood the least."
25572      It is said he took it so much to heart that he cried like a child. When he
25573      recovered himself he said, "I wanted to go to Gregorius as soon as I heard
25574      of Haldor's murder; for I thought that Gregorius would not sit long before
25575      thinking of revenge. But the people here would think nothing so important
25576      as their Yule feasts, and nothing could move them away; and I am confident
25577      that if I had been there, he would either have proceeded more cautiously,
25578      or I and Gregorius would now have shared one lodging. Now he is gone, the
25579      man who has been my best friend, and more than any other has kept the
25580      kingdom in my hands; and I think it will be but a short space between us.
25581      Now I make an oath to go forth against Hakon, and one of two things shall
25582      happen: I shall either come to my death, or shall walk over Hakon and his
25583      people; and such a man as Gregorius is not avenged, even if all were to
25584      pay the penalty of their lives for him."
25585      There was a man present who replied, "Ye need not seek after them, for
25586      they intend to seek you."
25587      Kristin, King Sigurd's daughter and King Inge's cousin, was then in Oslo.
25588      The king heard that she intended going away. He sent a message to her to
25589      inquire why she wished to leave the town.
25590      She thought it was dangerous and unsafe for a female to be there. The king
25591      would not let her go. "For if it go well with me, as I hope, you will be
25592      well here; and if I fall, my friends may not get leave to dress my body;
25593      but you can ask permission, and it will not be denied you, and you will
25594      thereby best requite what I have done for you."
25595      16. OF KING INGE.
25596      On Saint Blasius' day (February 3, 1161), in the evening, King Inge's
25597      spies brought him the news that King Hakon was coming towards the town.
25598      Then King Inge ordered the war-horns to call together all the troops up
25599      from the town; and when he drew them up he could reckon them to be nearly
25600      4000 men. The king let the array be long, but not more than five men deep.
25601      Then some said that the king should not be himself in the battle, as they
25602      thought the risk too great; but that his brother Orm should be the leader
25603      of the army. The king replied, "I think if Gregorius were alive and here
25604      now, and I had fallen and was to be avenged, he would not lie concealed,
25605      but would be in the battle. Now, although I, on account of my ill health,
25606      am not fit for the combat as he was, yet will I show as good will as he
25607      would have had; and it is not to be thought of that I should not be in the
25608      battle."
25609      People say that Gunhild, who was married to Simon, King Hakon's
25610      foster-brother, had a witch employed to sit out all night and procure the
25611      victory for Hakon; and that the answer was obtained, that they should
25612      fight King Inge by night, and never by day, and then the result would be
25613      favourable. The witch who, as people say, sat out was called Thordis
25614      Skeggia; but what truth there may be in the report I know not.
25615      Simon Skalp had gone to the town, and was gone to sleep, when the
25616      war-shouts awoke him. When the night was well advanced, King Inge's spies
25617      came to him, and told him that King Hakon and his army were coming over
25618      the ice; for the ice lay the whole way from the town to Hofud Isle.
25619      17. KING INGE'S SPEECH.
25620      Thereupon King Inge went with his army out on the ice, and he drew it up
25621      in order of battle in front of the town. Simon Skalp was in that wing of
25622      the array which was towards Thraelaberg; and on the other wing, which was
25623      towards the Nunnery, was Gudrod, the king of the South Hebudes, a son of
25624      Olaf Klining, and Jon, a son of Svein Bergthor Buk. When King Hakon and
25625      his army came near to King Inge's array, both sides raised a war-shout.
25626      Gudrod and Jon gave King Hakon and his men a sign, and let them know where
25627      they were in the line; and as soon as Hakon's men in consequence turned
25628      thither, Gudrod immediately fled with 1500 men; and Jon, and a great body
25629      of men with him, ran over to King Hakon's army, and assisted them in the
25630      fight. When this news was told to King Inge, he said, "Such is the
25631      difference between my friends. Never would Gregorius have done so in his
25632      life!" There were some who advised King Inge to get on horseback, and ride
25633      from the battle up to Raumarike; "where," said they, "you would get help
25634      enough, even this very day." The king replied, he had no inclination to do
25635      so. "I have heard you often say, and I think truly, that it was of little
25636      use to my brother, King Eystein, that he took to flight; and yet he was a
25637      man distinguished for many qualities which adorn a king. Now I, who labour
25638      under so great decrepitude, can see how bad my fate would be, if I betook
25639      myself to what proved so unfortunate for him; with so great a difference
25640      as there is between our activity, health, and strength. I was in the
25641      second year of my age when I was chosen king of Norway, and I am now
25642      twenty-five; and I think I have had misfortune and sorrow under my kingly
25643      dignity, rather than pleasure and peaceful days. I have had many battles,
25644      sometimes with more, sometimes with fewer people; and it is my greatest
25645      luck that I have never fled. God will dispose of my life, and of how long
25646      it shall be; but I shall never betake myself to flight."
25647      18. KING INGE'S FALL.
25648      Now as Jon and his troop had broken the one wing of King Inge's array,
25649      many of those who were nearest to him fled, by which the whole array was
25650      dispersed, and fell into disorder. But Hakon and his men went briskly
25651      forwards; and now it was near daybreak. An assault was made against King
25652      Inge's banner, and in this conflict King Inge fell; but his brother Orm
25653      continued the battle, while many of the army fled up into the town. Twice
25654      Orm went to the town after the king's fall to encourage the people, and
25655      both times returned, and went out again upon the ice to continue the
25656      battle. Hakon's men attacked the wing of the array which Simon Skalp led;
25657      and in that assault fell of King Inge's men his brother-in-law, Gudbrand
25658      Skafhogson. Simon Skalp and Halvard Hikre went against each other with
25659      their troops, and fought while they drew aside past Thraelaberg; and in
25660      this conflict both Simon and Halvard fell. Orm, the king's brother, gained
25661      great reputation in this battle; but he at last fled. Orm the winter
25662      before had been contracted with Ragna, a daughter of Nikolas Mase, who had
25663      been married before to King Eystein Haraldson; and the wedding was fixed
25664      for the Sunday after Saint Blasius's mass, which was on a Friday. Orm fled
25665      east to Svithjod, where his brother Magnus was then king; and their
25666      brother Ragnvald was an earl there at that time. They were the sons of
25667      Queen Ingerid and Henrik Halte, who was a son of the Danish king Svein
25668      Sveinson. The princess Kristin took care of King Inge's body, which was
25669      laid on the stone wall of Halvard's church, on the south side without the
25670      choir. He had then been king for twenty-three years (A.D. 1137-1161). In
25671      this battle many fell on both sides, but principally of King Inge's men.
25672      Of King Hakon's people fell Arne Frirekson. Hakon's men took all the feast
25673      and victuals prepared for the wedding, and a great booty besides.
25674      19. OF KING HAKON AND QUEEN KRISTIN.
25675      Then King Hakon took possession of the whole country, and distributed all
25676      the offices among his own friends, both in the towns and in the country.
25677      King Hakon and his men had a meeting in Halvard's church, where they had a
25678      private conference concerning the management of the country. Kristin the
25679      princess gave the priest who kept the church keys a large sum of money to
25680      conceal one of her men in the church, so that she might know what Hakon
25681      and his counsellors intended. When she learnt what they had said, she sent
25682      a man to Bergen to her husband Erling Skakke, with the message that he
25683      should never trust Hakon or his men.
25684      20. OF OLAF'S MIRACLE.
25685      It happened at the battle of Stiklestad, as before related, that King Olaf
25686      threw from him the sword called Hneiter when he received his wound. A
25687      Swedish man, who had broken his own sword, took it up, and fought with it.
25688      When this man escaped with the other fugitives he came to Svithjod, and
25689      went home to his house. From that time he kept the sword all his days, and
25690      afterwards his son, and so relation after relation; and when the sword
25691      shifted its owner, the one told to the other the name of the sword and
25692      where it came from. A long time after, in the days of Kirjalax the emperor
25693      of Constantinople, when there was a great body of Varings in the town, it
25694      happened in the summer that the emperor was on a campaign, and lay in the
25695      camp with his army. The Varings who had the guard, and watched over the
25696      emperor, lay on the open plain without the camp. They changed the watch
25697      with each other in the night, and those who had been before on watch lay
25698      down and slept; but all completely armed. It was their custom, when they
25699      went to sleep, that each should have his helmet on his head, his shield
25700      over him, sword under the head, and the right hand on the sword-handle.
25701      One of these comrades, whose lot it was to watch the latter part of the
25702      night, found, on awakening towards morning, that his sword was gone. He
25703      looked after it, and saw it lying on the flat plain at a distance from
25704      him. He got up and took the sword, thinking that his comrades who had been
25705      on watch had taken the sword from him in a joke; but they all denied it.
25706      The same thing happened three nights. Then he wondered at it, as well as
25707      they who saw or heard of it; and people began to ask him how it could have
25708      happened. He said that his sword was called Hneiter, and had belonged to
25709      King Olaf the Saint, who had himself carried it in the battle of
25710      Stiklestad; and he also related how the sword since that time had gone
25711      from one to another. This was told to the emperor, who called the man
25712      before him to whom the sword belonged, and gave him three times as much
25713      gold as the sword was worth; and the sword itself he had laid in Saint
25714      Olaf's church, which the Varings supported, where it has been ever since
25715      over the altar. There was a lenderman of Norway while Harald Gille's sons,
25716      Eystein, Inge, and Sigurd lived, who was called Eindride Unge; and he was
25717      in Constantinople when these events took place. He told these
25718      circumstances in Norway, according to what Einar Skulason says in his song
25719      about King Olaf the Saint, in which these events are sung.
25720      21. OLAF'S MIRACLE IN FAVOUR OF THE VARINGS.
25721      It happened once in the Greek country, when Kirjalax was emperor there,
25722      that he made an expedition against Blokumannaland. When he came to the
25723      Pezina plains, a heathen king came against him with an innumerable host.
25724      He brought with him many horsemen, and many large waggons, in which were
25725      large loop-holes for shooting through. When they prepared for their night
25726      quarters they drew up their waggons, one by the side of the other, without
25727      their tents, and dug a great ditch without; and all which made a defence
25728      as strong as a castle. The heathen king was blind. Now when the Greek king
25729      came, the heathens drew up their array on the plains before their
25730      waggon-fortification. The Greeks drew up their array opposite, and they
25731      rode on both sides to fight with each other; but it went on so ill and so
25732      unfortunately, that the Greeks were compelled to fly after suffering a
25733      great defeat, and the heathens gained a victory. Then the king drew up an
25734      array of Franks and Flemings, who rode against the heathens, and fought
25735      with them; but it went with them as with the others, that many were
25736      killed, and all who escaped took to flight. Then the Greek king was
25737      greatly incensed at his men-at-arms; and they replied, that he should now
25738      take his wine-bags, the Varings. The king says that he would not throw
25739      away his jewels, and allow so few men, however bold they might be, to
25740      attack so vast an army. Then Thorer Helsifig, who at that time was leader
25741      of the Varings replied to the king's words, "If there was burning fire in
25742      the way, I and my people would run into it, if I knew the king's advantage
25743      required it." Then the king replied, "Call upon your holy King Olaf for
25744      help and strength." The Varings, who were 450 men, made a vow with hand
25745      and word to build a church in Constantinople, at their own expense and
25746      with the aid of other good men, and have the church consecrated to the
25747      honour and glory of the holy King Olaf; and thereupon the Varings rushed
25748      into the plain. When the heathens saw them, they told their king that
25749      there was another troop of the Greek king's army come out upon the plain;
25750      but they were only a handful of people. The king says, "Who is that
25751      venerable man riding on a white horse at the head of the troop?" They
25752      replied, "We do not see him." There was so great a difference of numbers,
25753      that there were sixty heathens for every Christian man; but
25754      notwithstanding the Varings went boldly to the attack. As soon as they met
25755      terror and alarm seized the army of the heathens, and they instantly began
25756      to fly; but the Varings pursued, and soon killed a great number of them.
25757      When the Greeks and Franks who before had fled from the heathens saw this,
25758      they hastened to take part, and pursue the enemy with the others. Then the
25759      Varings had reached the waggon-fortification, where the greatest defeat
25760      was given to the enemy. The heathen king was taken in the flight of his
25761      people, and the Varings brought him along with them; after which the
25762      Christians took the camp of the heathens, and their waggon-fortification.
25763      MAGNUS ERLINGSON'S SAGA.
25764      PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
25765      With this saga, which describes a series of conflicts, Snorre's
25766      "Heimskringla" ends. King Eystein died in 1177, but Magnus Erlingson
25767      continued to reign until his death in 1184. The conflicts continued until
25768      the opposition party was led to victory by King Sverre.
25769      The only skald quoted is Thorbjorn Skakkaskald.
25770      1. OF MAGNUS ERLINGSON'S BEGINNING.
25771      When Erling got certain intelligence of the determinations of Hakon and
25772      his counsellors, he sent a message to all the chiefs who he knew had been
25773      steady friends of King Inge, and also to his court-men and his retinue,
25774      who had saved themselves by flight, and also to all Gregorius's house-men,
25775      and called them together to a meeting. When they met, and conversed with
25776      each other, they resolved to keep their men together; and which resolution
25777      they confirmed by oath and hand-shake to each other. Then they considered
25778      whom they should take to be king. Erling Skakke first spoke, and inquired
25779      if it was the opinion of the chiefs and other men of power that Simon
25780      Skalp's son, the son of the daughter of King Harald Gille, should be
25781      chosen king, and Jon Halkelson be taken to lead the army; but Jon refused
25782      it. Then it was inquired if Nikolas Skialdvarson, a sister's son of King
25783      Magnus Barefoot, would place himself at the head of the army; but he
25784      answered thus: -It was his opinion that some one should be chosen
25785      king who was of the royal race; and, for leader of the troops, some one
25786      from whom help and understanding were to be looked for; and then it would
25787      be easier to gather an army. It was now tried whether Arne would let any
25788      of his sons, King Inge's brothers, be proclaimed king. Arne replies, that
25789      Kristin's son, she was the daughter of King Sigurd the Crusader, was
25790      nearest by propinquity of descent to the crown of Norway. "And here is
25791      also a man to be his adviser, and whose duty it is to take care of him and
25792      of the kingdom; and that man is his father Erling, who is both prudent,
25793      brave, experienced in war, and an able man in governing the kingdom; he
25794      wants no capability of bringing this counsel into effect, if luck be with
25795      him." Many thought well of this advice.
25796      Erling replied to it, "As far as I can see or hear in this meeting, the
25797      most will rather be excused from taking upon themselves such a difficult
25798      business. Now it appears to me altogether uncertain, provided we begin
25799      this work, whether he who puts himself at the head of it will gain any
25800      honour; or whether matters will go as they have done before when any one
25801      undertakes such great things, that he loses all his property and possibly
25802      his life. But if this counsel be adopted, there may be men who will
25803      undertake to carry it through; but he who comes under such an obligation
25804      must seek, in every way, to prevent any opposition or enmity from those
25805      who are now in this council."
25806      All gave assurance that they would enter into this confederacy with
25807      perfect fidelity. Then said Erling, "I can say for myself that it would
25808      almost be my death to serve King Hakon; and however dangerous it may be, I
25809      will rather venture to adopt your advice, and take upon me to lead this
25810      force, if that be the will, counsel, and desire of you all, and if you
25811      will all bind yourselves to this agreement by oath."
25812      To this they all agreed; and in this meeting it was determined to take
25813      Erling's son Magnus to be king. They afterwards held a Thing in the town;
25814      and at this Thing Magnus Erlingson, then five years old, was elected king
25815      of the whole country. All who had been servants of King Inge went into his
25816      service, and each of them retained the office and dignity he had held
25817      under King Inge (A.D. 1161).
25818      2. KING MAGNUS GOES TO DENMARK.
25819      Erling Skakke made himself ready to travel, fitted out ships, and had with
25820      him King Magnus, together with the household-men who were on the spot. In
25821      this expedition were the king's relatives, -Arne; Ingerid, King
25822      Inge's mother, with her two sons; besides Jon Kutiza, a son of Sigurd
25823      Stork, and Erling's house-men, as well as those who had been Gregorius's
25824      house-men; and they had in all ten ships. They went south to Denmark to
25825      King Valdemar and Buriz Heinrekson, King Inge's brother. King Valdemar was
25826      King Magnus's blood-relation; for Ingebjorg, mother of King Valdemar, and
25827      Malmfrid, mother of Kristin, King Magnus's mother, were cousins. The
25828      Danish king received them hospitably, and he and Erling had private
25829      meetings and consultations: and so much was known of their counsels, that
25830      King Valdemar was to aid King Magnus with such help as might be required
25831      from his kingdom to win and retain Norway. On the other hand, King
25832      Valdemar should get that domain in Norway which his ancestors Harald
25833      Gormson and Svein Forked-beard had possessed; namely, the whole of Viken
25834      as far north as Rygiarbit. This agreement was confirmed by oath and a
25835      fixed treaty. Then Erling and King Magnus made themselves ready to leave
25836      Denmark, and they sailed out of Vendilskage.
25837      3. BATTLE OF TUNSBERG.
25838      King Hakon went in spring, after the Easter week, north to Throndhjem, and
25839      had with him the whole fleet that had belonged to King Inge. He held a
25840      Thing there in the merchant-town, and was chosen king of the whole
25841      country. Then he made Sigurd of Reyr an earl, and gave him an earldom, and
25842      afterwards proceeded southwards with his followers all the way to Viken.
25843      The king went to Tunsberg; but sent Earl Sigurd east to Konungahella, to
25844      defend the country with a part of the forces in case Erling should come
25845      from the south. Erling and his fleet came to Agder, and went straight
25846      north to Bergen, where they killed Arne Brigdarskalle, King Hakon's
25847      officer, and came back immediately against King Hakon. Earl Sigurd, who
25848      had not observed the journey of Erling and his followers from the south,
25849      was at that time east in the Gaut river, and King Hakon was in Tunsberg.
25850      Erling brought up at Hrossanes, and lay there some nights. In the meantime
25851      King Hakon made preparations in the town. When Erling and his fleet were
25852      coming up to the town, they took a merchant vessel, filled it with wood
25853      and straw, and set fire to it; and the wind blowing right towards the
25854      town, drove the vessel against the piers. Erling had two cables brought on
25855      board the vessel, and made fast to two boats, and made them row along as
25856      the vessel drove. Now when the fire was come almost abreast of the town,
25857      those who were in the boats held back the vessel by the ropes, so that the
25858      town could not be set on fire; but so thick a smoke spread from it over
25859      the town, that one could not see from the piers where the king's array
25860      was. Then Erling drew the whole fleet in where the wind carried the fire,
25861      and shot at the enemy. When the townspeople saw that the fire was
25862      approaching their houses, and many were wounded by the bowmen, they
25863      resolved to send the priest Hroald, the long-winded speaker, to Erling, to
25864      beg him to spare them and the town; and they dissolved the array in favour
25865      of Hakon, as soon as Hroald told them their prayer was granted. Now when
25866      the array of towns-people had dispersed, the men on the piers were much
25867      thinned: however, some urged Hakon's men to make resistance: but Onund
25868      Simonson, who had most influence over the army, said, "I will not fight
25869      for Earl Sigurd's earldom, since he is not here himself." Then Onund fled,
25870      and was followed by all the people, and by the king himself; and they
25871      hastened up the country. King Hakon lost many men here; and these verses
25872      were made about it: -
25873     "Onund declares he will not go
25874     In battle 'gainst Earl Sigurd's foe,
25875     If Earl Sigurd does not come,
25876     But with his house-men sits at home.
25877     King Magnus' men rush up the street,
25878     Eager with Hakon's troop to meet;
25879     But Hakon's war-hawks, somewhat shy,
25880     Turn quick about, and off they fly."
25881      Thorbjorn Skakkaskald also said: -
25882     "The Tunsberg men would not be slow
25883     In thy good cause to risk a blow;
25884     And well they knew the chief could stain
25885     The wolves' mouths on a battle-plain.
25886     But the town champion rather fears
25887     The sharp bright glance of levelled spears;
25888     Their steel-clad warrior loves no fight
25889     Where bowstring twangs, or fire flies bright."
25890      King Hakon then took the land-road northwards to Throndhjem. When Earl
25891      Sigurd heard of this, he proceeded with all the ships he could get the
25892      seaway north-wards, to meet King Hakon there.
25893      4. OF ERLING AND HAKON.
25894      Erling Skakke took all the ships in Tunsberg belonging to King Hakon, and
25895      there he also took the Baekisudin which had belonged to King Inge. Then
25896      Erling proceeded, and reduced the whole of Viken in obedience to King
25897      Magnus, and also the whole country north wheresoever he appeared up to
25898      Bergen, where he remained all winter. There Erling killed Ingebjorn Sipil,
25899      King Hakon's lenderman of the north part of the Fjord district. In winter
25900      (A.D. 1162) King Hakon was in Throndhjem; but in the following spring he
25901      ordered a levy, and prepared to go against Erling. He had with him Earl
25902      Sigurd, Jon Sveinson, Eindride Unge, Onund Simonson, Philip Peterson,
25903      Philip Gyrdson, Ragnvald Kunta, Sigurd Kapa, Sigurd Hiupa, Frirek Keina,
25904      Asbjorn of Forland, Thorbjorn, a son of Gunnar the treasurer, and
25905      Stradbjarne.
25906      5. OF ERLING'S PEOPLE.
25907      Erling was in Bergen with a great armament, and resolved to lay a sailing
25908      prohibition on all the merchant vessels which were going north to Nidaros;
25909      for he knew that King Hakon would soon get tidings of him, if ships were
25910      sailing between the towns. Besides, he gave out that it was better for
25911      Bergen to get the goods, even if the owners were obliged to sell them
25912      cheaper than they wished than that they should fall into the hands of
25913      enemies and thereby strengthen them. And now a great many vessels were
25914      assembled at Bergen, for many arrived every day, and none were allowed to
25915      go away. Then Erling let some of the lightest of his vessels be laid
25916      ashore, and spread the report that he would wait for Hakon, and, with the
25917      help of his friends and relations, oppose the enemy there. He then one day
25918      called a meeting of the ship-masters, and gave them and all the merchant
25919      ships and their steersmen leave to go where they pleased. When the men who
25920      had charge of the cargoes, and were all ready to sail away with their
25921      goods, some for trade, others on various business, had got leave from
25922      Erling Skakke to depart, there was a soft and favourable wind for sailing
25923      north along the coast. Before the evening all who were ready had set sail,
25924      and hastened on as fast as they could, according to the speed of their
25925      vessels, the one vying with the other. When this fleet came north to More,
25926      Hakon's fleet had arrived there before them: and he himself was there
25927      fully engaged in collecting people, and summoning to him the lendermen,
25928      and all liable to serve in the levy, without having for a long time heard
25929      any news from Bergen. Now, however, they heard, as the latest news, that
25930      Erling Skakke had laid his ships up in Bergen, and there they would find
25931      him; and also that he had a large force with him. King Hakon sailed from
25932      thence to Veey, and sent away Earl Sigurd and Onund Simonson to gather
25933      people, and sent men also to both the More districts. After King Hakon had
25934      remained a few days at the town he sailed farther, and proceeded to the
25935      South, thinking that it would both promote his journey and enable new
25936      levies to join him sooner.
25937      Erling Skakke had given leave on Sunday to all the merchant vessels to
25938      leave Bergen; and on Tuesday, as soon as the early mass was over, he
25939      ordered the warhorns to sound, summoned to him the men-at-arms and the
25940      townsmen, and let the ships which were laid up on shore be drawn down into
25941      the water. Then Erling held a House-Thing with his men and the people of
25942      the levy; told them his intentions; named ship commanders; and had the
25943      names called over of the men who were to be on board of the king's ship.
25944      This Thing ended with Erling's order to every man to make himself ready in
25945      his berth wherever a place was appointed him; and declared that he who
25946      remained in the town after the Baekisudin was hauled out, should be
25947      punished by loss of life or limb. Orm, the king's brother, laid his ships
25948      out in the harbour immediately that evening, and many others, and the
25949      greater number were afloat before.
25950      6. OF ERLING SKAKKE.
25951      On Wednesday, before mass was sung in the town, Erling sailed from Bergen
25952      with all his fleet, consisting of twenty-one ships; and there was a fresh
25953      breeze for sailing northwards along the coast. Erling had his son King
25954      Magnus with him, and there were many lendermen accompanied by the finest
25955      men. When Erling came north, abreast of the Fjord district, he sent a boat
25956      on shore to Jon Halkelson's farm, and took Nikolas, a son of Simon Skalp
25957      and of Maria, Harald Gille's daughter, and brought him out to the fleet,
25958      and put him on board the king's ship. On Friday, immediately after matins,
25959      they sailed to Steinavag, and King Hakon, with thirteen ships, was lying
25960      in the harbour in the neighbourhood. He himself and his men were up at
25961      play upon the island, and the lendermen were sitting on the hill, when
25962      they saw a boat rowing from the south with two men in it, who were bending
25963      back deep towards the keel, and taking hasty strokes with their oars. When
25964      they came to the shore they did not belay the boat, but both ran from it.
25965      The great men seeing this, said to each other, "These men must have some
25966      news to tell;" and got up to meet them. When they met, Onund Simonson
25967      asked, "Have ye any news of Erling Skakke, that ye are running so fast?"
25968      They answered, as soon as they could get out the words, for they had lost
25969      their breath, "Here comes Erling against you, sailing from the south, with
25970      twenty-one ships, or thereabouts, of which many are great enough; and now
25971      ye will soon see their sails."
25972      Then said Eindride Unge, "Too near to the nose, said the peasant, when his
25973      eye was knocked out."
25974      They went in haste now to where the games were playing, and immediately
25975      the war-horns resounded, and with the battle-call all the people were
25976      gathered down to the ships in the greatest haste. It was just the time of
25977      day when their meat was nearly cooked. All the men rushed to the ships,
25978      and each ran on board the vessel that was nearest to him, so that the
25979      ships were unequally manned. Some took to the oars; some raised the masts,
25980      turned the heads of the vessels to the north, and steered for Veey, where
25981      they expected much assistance from the towns.
25982      7. FALL OF KING HAKON.
25983      Soon after they saw the sails of Erling's fleet, and both fleets came in
25984      sight of each other. Eindride Unge had a ship called Draglaun, which was a
25985      large buss-like long-ship, but which had but a small crew; for those who
25986      belonged to her had run on board of other ships, and she was therefore the
25987      hindmost of Hakon's fleet. When Eindride came abreast of the island Sek,
25988      the Baekisudin, which Erling Skakke himself commanded, came up with her;
25989      and these two ships were bound fast together. King Hakon and his followers
25990      had arrived close to Veey; but when they heard the war-horn they turned
25991      again to assist Eindride. Now they began the battle on both sides, as the
25992      vessels came up. Many of the sails lay midships across the vessels; and
25993      the ships were not made fast to each other, but they lay side by side. The
25994      conflict was not long before there came disorder in Hakon's ship; and some
25995      fell, and others sprang overboard. Hakon threw over him a grey cloak, and
25996      jumped on board another ship; but when he had been there a short time he
25997      thought he had got among his enemies; and when he looked about him he saw
25998      none of his men nor of his ships near him. Then he went into the
25999      Baekisudin to the forecastle-men, and begged his life. They took him in
26000      their keeping, and gave him quarter. In this conflict there was a great
26001      loss of people, but principally of Hakon's men. In the Baekisudin fell
26002      Nikolas, Simon Skalp's son; and Erling's men are accused of having killed
26003      him themselves. Then there was a pause in the battle, and the vessels
26004      separated. It was now told to Erling that Hakon was on board of his ship;
26005      that the forecastle-men had taken him, and threatened that they would
26006      defend him with arms. Erling sent men forwards in the ship to bring the
26007      forecastle-men his orders to guard Hakon well, so that he should not get
26008      away. He at the same time let it be understood that he had no objection to
26009      giving the king life and safety, if the other chiefs were willing, and a
26010      peace could be established. All the forecastle-men gave their chief great
26011      credit and honour for these words. Then Erling ordered anew a blast of the
26012      war-horns, and that the ships should be attacked which had not lost their
26013      men; saying that they would never have such another opportunity of
26014      avenging King Inge. Thereupon they all raised a war-shout, encouraged each
26015      other, and rushed to the assault. In this tumult King Hakon received his
26016      death-wound. When his men knew he had fallen they rowed with all their
26017      might against the enemy, threw away their shields, slashed with both
26018      hands, and cared not for life. This heat and recklessness, however, proved
26019      soon a great loss to them; for Erling's men saw the unprotected parts of
26020      their bodies, and where their blows would have effect. The greater part of
26021      Hakon's men who remained fell here; and it was principally owing to the
26022      want of numbers, as they were not enough to defend themselves. They could
26023      not get quarter, also excepting those whom the chiefs took under their
26024      protection and bound themselves to pay ransom for. The following of
26025      Hakon's people fell: Sigurd Kapa, Sigurd Hiupa, and Ragnvald Kunta; but
26026      some ships crews got away, rowed into the fjords, and thus saved their
26027      lives. Hakon's body was carried to Raumsdal, and buried there; but
26028      afterwards his brother, King Sverre, had the body transported north to the
26029      merchant town Nidaros, and laid in the stone wall of Christ church south
26030      of the choir.
26031      8. FLIGHT OF THE CHIEFS OF HAKON'S MEN.
26032      Earl Sigurd, Eindride Unge, Onund Simonson, Frirek Keina, and other chiefs
26033      kept the troop together, left the ships in Raumsdal, and went up to the
26034      Uplands. King Magnus and his father Erling sailed with their troops north
26035      to Nidaros in Throndhjem, and subdued the country as they went along.
26036      Erling called together an Eyra-thing, at which King Magnus was proclaimed
26037      king of all Norway. Erling, however, remained there but a short time; for
26038      he thought the Throndhjem people were not well affected towards him and
26039      his son. King Magnus was then called king of the whole country.
26040      King Hakon had been a handsome man in appearance, well grown, tall and
26041      thin; but rather broad-shouldered, on which account his men called him
26042      Herdebreid. As he was young in years, his lendermen ruled for him. He was
26043      cheerful and friendly in conversation, playful and youthful in his ways,
26044      and was much liked by the people.
26045      9. OF KING SIGURD'S BEGINNING.
26046      There was an Upland man called Markus of Skog, who was a relation of Earl
26047      Sigurd. Markus brought up a son of King Sigurd Mun, who was also called
26048      Sigurd. This Sigurd was chosen king (A.D. 1162) by the Upland people, by
26049      the advice of Earl Sigurd and the other chiefs who had followed King
26050      Hakon. They had now a great army, and the troops were divided in two
26051      bodies; so that Markus and the king were less exposed where there was
26052      anything to do, and Earl Sigurd and his troop, along with the lendermen,
26053      were most in the way of danger. They went with their troops mostly through
26054      the Uplands, and sometimes eastwards to Viken. Erling Skakke had his son
26055      King Magnus always with him, and he had also the whole fleet and the land
26056      defence under him. He was a while in Bergen in autumn; but went from
26057      thence eastward to Viken, where he settled in Tunsberg for his winter
26058      quarters (A.D. 1163), and collected in Viken all the taxes and revenues
26059      that belonged to Magnus as king; and he had many and very fine troops. As
26060      Earl Sigurd had but a small part of the country, and kept many men on
26061      foot, he soon was in want of money; and where there was no chief in the
26062      neighbourhood he had to seek money by unlawful ways, -sometimes by
26063      unfounded accusations and fines, sometimes by open robbery.
26064      10. EARL SIGURD'S CONDEMNATION.
26065      At that time the realm of Norway was in great prosperity. The bondes were
26066      rich and powerful, unaccustomed to hostilities or violence, and the
26067      oppression of roving troops; so that there was soon a great noise and
26068      scandal when they were despoiled and robbed. The people of Viken were very
26069      friendly to Erling and King Magnus, principally from the popularity of the
26070      late King Inge Haraldson; for the Viken people had always served under his
26071      banner. Erling kept a guard in the town, and twelve men were on watch
26072      every night. Erling had Things regularly with the bondes, at which the
26073      misdeeds of Sigurd's people were often talked over; and by the
26074      representations of Erling and his adherents, the bondes were brought
26075      unanimously to consider that it would be a great good fortune if these
26076      bands should be rooted out. Arne, the king's relation, spoke well and long
26077      on this subject, and at last severely; and required that all who were at
26078      the Thing, -men-at-arms, bondes, towns-men, and merchants, -should
26079      come to the resolution to sentence according to law Earl Sigurd and all
26080      his troop, and deliver them to Satan, both living and dead. From the
26081      animosity and hatred of the people, this was agreed to by all; and thus
26082      the unheard-of deed was adopted and confirmed by oath, as if a judgment in
26083      the case was delivered there by the Thing according to law. The priest
26084      Hroald the Long-winded, who was a very eloquent man, spoke in the case;
26085      but his speech was to the same purpose as that of others who had spoken
26086      before. Erling gave a feast at Yule in Tunsberg, and paid the wages of the
26087      men-at-arms at Candlemas.
26088      11. OF ERLING.
26089      Earl Sigurd went with his best troops down to Viken, where many people
26090      were obliged to submit to his superior force, and many had to pay money.
26091      He drove about thus widely higher up the country, penetrating into
26092      different districts. But there were some in his troop who desired
26093      privately to make peace with Erling; but they got back the answer, that
26094      all who asked for their lives should obtain quarter, but they only should
26095      get leave to remain in the country who had not been guilty of any great
26096      offenses against Erling. And when Sigurd's adherents heard that they would
26097      not get leave to remain in the country, they held together in one body;
26098      for there were many among them who knew for certain that Erling would look
26099      upon them as guilty of offences against him. Philip Gyrdson made terms
26100      with Erling, got his property back, and went home to his farm; but soon
26101      after Sigurd's men came there, and killed him. They committed many crimes
26102      against each other, and many men were slain in their mutual persecution;
26103      but here what was committed by the chiefs only is written down.
26104      12. ERLING GETS NEWS OF EARL SIGURD.
26105      It was in the beginning of Lent that news came to Erling that Earl Sigurd
26106      intended to come upon him; and news of him came here and there, sometimes
26107      nearer, sometimes farther off. Erling sent out spies in all quarters
26108      around to discover where they were. Every evening he assembled all the
26109      men-at-arms by the war-horn out of the town; and for a long time in the
26110      winter they lay under arms all night, ready to be drawn up in array. At
26111      last Erling got intelligence that Sigurd and his followers were not far
26112      distant, up at the farm Re. Erling then began his expedition out of the
26113      town, and took with him all the towns-people who were able to carry arms
26114      and had arms, and likewise all the merchants; and left only twelve men
26115      behind to keep watch in the town. Erling went out of the town on Thursday
26116      afternoon, in the second week of Lent (February 19); and every man had two
26117      days' provisions with him. They marched by night, and it was late before
26118      they got out of the town with the men. Two men were with each shield and
26119      each horse; and the people, when mustered, were about 1200 men. When they
26120      met their spies, they were informed that Sigurd was at Re, in a house
26121      called Rafnnes, and had 500 men. Then Erling called together his people;
26122      told them the news he had received, and all were eager to hasten their
26123      march, fall on them in the houses, or engage them by night.
26124      Erling replied to them thus: -"It is probable that we and Earl Sigurd
26125      shall soon meet. There are also many men in this band whose handy-work
26126      remains in our memories; such as cutting down King Inge, and so many more
26127      of our friends, that it would take long to reckon them up. These deeds
26128      they did by the power of Satan, by witchcraft, and by villainy; for it
26129      stands in our laws and country rights, that however highly a man may have
26130      been guilty, it shall be called villainy and cowardly murder to kill him
26131      in the night. This band has had its luck hitherto by following the counsel
26132      of men acquainted with witchcraft and fighting by night, and not in the
26133      light of day; and by this proceeding have they been victorious hitherto
26134      over the chiefs whose heads they have laid low on the earth. Now we have
26135      often seen, and proved, how unsuitable and improper it is to go into
26136      battle in the nighttime; therefore let us rather have before our eyes the
26137      example of chiefs better known to us, and who deserve better to be
26138      imitated, and fight by open day in regular battle array, and not steal
26139      upon sleeping men in the night. We have people enough against them, so few
26140      as they are. Let us, therefore, wait for day and daylight, and keep
26141      together in our array in case they attack us."
26142      Thereafter the whole army sat down. Some opened up bundles of hay, and
26143      made a bed of it for themselves; some sat upon their shields, and thus
26144      waited the daydawn. The weather was raw, and there was a wet snowdrift.
26145      13. OF EARL SIGURD'S BATTLE ARRAY.
26146      Earl Sigurd got the first intelligence of Erling's army, when it was
26147      already near to the house. His men got up, and armed themselves; but not
26148      knowing how many men Erling had with him, some were inclined to fly, but
26149      the most determined to stand. Earl Sigurd was a man of understanding, and
26150      could talk well, but certainly was not considered brave enough to take a
26151      strong resolution; and indeed the earl showed a great inclination to fly,
26152      for which he got many stinging words from his men-at-arms. As day dawned,
26153      they began on both sides to draw up their battle array. Earl Sigurd placed
26154      his men on the edge of a ridge between the river and the house, at a place
26155      at which a little stream runs into the river. Erling and his people placed
26156      their array on the other side of the river; but at the back of his array
26157      were men on horseback well armed, who had the king with them. When Earl
26158      Sigurd's men saw that there was so great a want of men on their side, they
26159      held a council, and were for taking to the forest. But Earl Sigurd said,
26160      "Ye alleged that I had no courage, but it will now be proved; and let each
26161      of you take care not to fail, or fly, before I do so. We have a good
26162      battle-field. Let them cross the bridge; but as soon as the banner comes
26163      over it let us then rush down the hill upon them, and none desert his
26164      neighbour."
26165      Earl Sigurd had on a red-brown kirtle, and a red cloak, of which the
26166      corners were tied and turned back; shoes on his feet; and a shield and
26167      sword called Bastard. The earl said, "God knows that I would rather get at
26168      Erling Skakke with a stroke of Bastard, than receive much gold."
26169      14. EARL SIGURD'S FALL.
26170      Erling Skakke's army wished to go on to the bridge; but Erling told them
26171      to go up along the river, which was small, and not difficult to cross, as
26172      its banks were flat; and they did so. Earl Sigurd's array proceeded up
26173      along the ridge right opposite to them; but as the ridge ended, and the
26174      ground was good and level over the river, Erling told his men to sing a
26175      Paternoster, and beg God to give them the victory who best deserved it.
26176      Then they all sang aloud "Kyrie Eleison", and struck with their weapons on
26177      their shields. But with this singing 300 men of Erling's people slipped
26178      away and fled. Then Erling and his people went across the river, and the
26179      earl's men raised the war-shout; but there was no assault from the ridge
26180      down upon Erling's array, but the battle began upon the hill itself. They
26181      first used spears then edge weapons; and the earl's banner soon retired so
26182      far back, that Erling and his men scaled the ridge. The battle lasted but
26183      a short time before the earl's men fled to the forest, which they had
26184      close behind them. This was told Earl Sigurd, and his men bade him fly;
26185      but he replied, "Let us on while we can." And his men went bravely on, and
26186      cut down on all sides. In this tumult fell Earl Sigurd and Jon Sveinson,
26187      and nearly sixty men. Erling lost few men, and pursued the fugitives to
26188      the forest. There Erling halted his troops, and turned back. He came just
26189      as the king's slaves were about stripping the clothes off Earl Sigurd, who
26190      was not quite lifeless. He had put his sword in the sheath, and it lay by
26191      his side. Erling took it, struck the slaves with it, and drove them away.
26192      Then Erling, with his troops, returned, and sat down in Tunsberg. Seven
26193      days after Earl Sigurd's fall Erling's men took Eindride Unge prisoner,
26194      and killed him, with all his ship's crew.
26195      15. MARKUS OF SKOG, AND SIGURD SIGURDSON.
26196      Markus of Skog, and King Sigurd, his foster-son, rode down to Viken
26197      towards spring, and there got a ship; but when Erling heard it he went
26198      eastwards against them, and they met at Konungahella. Markus fled with his
26199      followers to the island Hising; and there the country people of Hising
26200      came down in swarms, and placed themselves in Markus's and Sigurd's array.
26201      Erling and his men rowed to the shore; but Markus's men shot at them. Then
26202      Erling said to his people, "Let us take their ships, but not go up to
26203      fight with a land force. The Hisingers are a bad set to quarrel with, -hard,
26204      and without understanding. They will keep this troop but a little while
26205      among them, for Hising is but a small spot." This was done: they took the
26206      ships, and brought them over to Konungahella. Markus and his men went up
26207      to the forest district, from which they intended to make assaults, and
26208      they had spies out on both sides. Erling had many men-at-arms with him,
26209      whom he brought from other districts, and they made attacks on each other
26210      in turn.
26211      16. BEGINNING OF ARCHBISHOP EYSTEIN.
26212      Eystein, a son of Erlend Himaide, was selected to be archbishop, after
26213      Archbishop Jon's death; and he was consecrated the same year King Inge was
26214      killed. Now when Archbishop Eystein came to his see, he made himself
26215      beloved by all the country, as an excellent active man of high birth. The
26216      Throndhjem people, in particular, received him with pleasure; for most of
26217      the great people in the Throndhjem district were connected with the
26218      archbishop by relationship or other connection, and all were his friends.
26219      The archbishop brought forward a request to the bondes in a speech, in
26220      which he set forth the great want of money for the see, and also how much
26221      greater improvement of the revenues would be necessary to maintain it
26222      suitably, as it was now of much more importance than formerly when the
26223      bishop's see was first established. He requested of the bondes that they
26224      should give him, for determining law-suits, an ore of silver value,
26225      instead of what they had before paid, which was an ore of judgment money,
26226      of that kind which was paid to the king in judging cases; and the
26227      difference between the two kinds of ore was, that the ore he desired was a
26228      half greater than the other. By help of the archbishop's relations and
26229      friends, and his own activity, this was carried; and it was fixed by law
26230      in all the Throndhjem district, and in all the districts belonging to his
26231      archbishopric.
26232      17. OF MARKUS AND KING SIGURD.
26233      When Sigurd and Markus lost their ships in the Gaut river, and saw they
26234      could get no hold on Erling, they went to the Uplands, and proceeded by
26235      land north to Throndhjem. Sigurd was received there joyfully, and chosen
26236      king at an Eyra-thing; and many gallant men, with their sons, attached
26237      themselves to his party. They fitted out ships, rigged them for a voyage,
26238      and proceeded when summer came southwards to More, and took up all the
26239      royal revenues wheresoever they came. At this time the following lendermen
26240      were appointed in Bergen for the defence of the country: -Nikolas
26241      Sigurdson, Nokve Palson, and several military leaders; as Thorolf Dryl,
26242      Thorbjorn Gjaldkere, and many others. As Markus and Sigurd sailed south,
26243      they heard that Erling's men were numerous in Bergen; and therefore they
26244      sailed outside the coast-rocks, and southwards past Bergen. It was
26245      generally remarked, that Markus's men always got a fair wind, wherever
26246      they wished to sail to.
26247      18. MARKUS AND KING SIGURD KILLED.
26248      As soon as Erling Skakke heard that Sigurd and Markus had sailed
26249      southwards, he hastened to Viken, and drew together an armed force; and he
26250      soon had a great many men, and many stout ships. But when he came farther
26251      in Viken, he met with a strong contrary wind, which kept him there in port
26252      the whole summer. Now when Sigurd and Markus came east to Lister, they
26253      heard that Erling had a great force in Viken; so they turned to the north
26254      again. But when they reached Hordaland, with the intention of sailing to
26255      Bergen, and came opposite the town, Nikolas and his men rowed out against
26256      them, with more men and larger ships than they had. Sigurd and Markus saw
26257      no other way of escaping but to row away southwards. Some of them went out
26258      to sea, others got south to the sound, and some got into the Fjords.
26259      Markus, and some people with him, sprang upon an isle called Skarpa.
26260      Nikolas and his men took their ships, gave Jon Halkelson and a few others
26261      quarter, but killed the most of them they could get hold of. Some days
26262      after Eindride Heidafylja found Sigurd and Markus, and they were brought
26263      to Bergen. Sigurd was beheaded outside of Grafdal, and Markus and another
26264      man were hanged at Hvarfsnes. This took place on Michaelmas day (September
26265      29, 1163), and the band which had followed them was dispersed.
26266      19. ERLING AND THE PEOPLE OF HISING ISLE.
26267      Frirek Keina and Bjarne the Bad, Onund Simonson and Ornolf Skorpa had
26268      rowed out to sea with some ships, and sailed outside along the land to the
26269      east. Wheresoever they came to the land they plundered, and killed
26270      Erling's friends. Now when Erling heard that Sigurd and Markus were
26271      killed, he gave leave to the lendermen and people of the levy to return
26272      home; but he himself, with his men, set his course eastward across the
26273      Folden fjord, for he heard of Markus's men there. Erling sailed to
26274      Konungahella, where he remained the autumn; and in the first week of
26275      winter Erling went out to the island Hising with his men, and called the
26276      bondes to a Thing. When the Hising people came to the Thing, Erling laid
26277      his law-suit against them for having joined the bands of Sigurd and
26278      Markus, and having raised men against him. Assur was the name of one of
26279      the greatest of the bondes on the island, and he answered Erling on
26280      account of the others. The Thing was long assembled; but at the close the
26281      bondes gave the case into Erling's own power, and he appointed a meeting
26282      in the town within one week, and named fifteen bondes who should appear
26283      there. When they came, he condemned them to pay a penalty of 300 head of
26284      cattle; and the bondes returned home ill pleased at this sentence. Soon
26285      after the Gaut river was frozen, and Erling's ships were fast in the ice;
26286      and the bondes kept back the mulct, and lay assembled for some time.
26287      Erling made a Yule feast in the town; but the Hising people had
26288      joint-feasts with each other, and kept under arms during Yule. The night
26289      after the fifth day of Yule Erling went up to Hising, surrounded Assur's
26290      house, and burnt him in it. He killed one hundred men in all, burnt three
26291      houses, and then returned to Konungahella. The bondes came then, according
26292      to agreement, to pay the mulct.
26293      20. DEATH OF FRIREK KEINA AND BJARNE.
26294      Erling Skakke made ready to sail in spring as soon as he could get his
26295      ships afloat for ice, and sailed from Konungahella; for he heard that
26296      those who had formerly been Markus's friends were marauding in the north
26297      of Viken. Erling sent out spies to learn their doings, searched for them,
26298      and found them lying in a harbour. Onund Simonson and Ornolf Skorpa
26299      escaped, but Frirek Keina and Bjarne the Bad were taken, and many of their
26300      followers were killed. Erling had Frirek bound to an anchor and thrown
26301      overboard; and for that deed Erling was much detested in the Throndhjem
26302      country, for the most powerful men there were relatives of Frirek. Erling
26303      ordered Bjarne the Bad to be hanged; and he uttered, according to his
26304      custom, many dreadful imprecations during his execution. Thorbjorn
26305      Skakkaskald tells of this business: -
26306     "East of the Fjord beyond the land,
26307     Unnoticed by the pirate band,
26308     Erling stole on them ere they knew,
26309     And seized and killed all Keina's crew.
26310     Keina, fast to an anchor bound,
26311     Was thrown into the deep-blue Sound;
26312     And Bjarne swung high on gallows-tree,
26313     A sight all good men loved to see."
26314      Onund and Ornolf, with the band that had escaped, fled to Denmark; but
26315      were sometimes in Gautland, or in Viken.
26316      21. CONFERENCE BETWEEN ERLING AND EYSTEIN.
26317      Erling Skakke sailed after this to Tunsberg, and remained there very long
26318      in spring (A.D. 1164); but when summer came he proceeded north to Bergen,
26319      where at that time a great many people were assembled. There was the
26320      legate from Rome, Stephanus; the Archbishop Eystein, and other bishops of
26321      the country. There was also Bishop Brand, who was consecrated bishop of
26322      Iceland, and Jon Loptson, a daughter's son of King Magnus Barefoot; and on
26323      this occasion King Magnus and Jon's other relations acknowledged the
26324      relationship with him.
26325      Archbishop Eystein and Erling Skakke often conversed together in private;
26326      and, among other things, Erling asked one day, "Is it true, sir, what
26327      people tell me, that you have raised the value of the ore upon the people
26328      north in Throndhjem, in the law cases in which money-fees are paid you?"
26329      "It is so," said the archbishop, "that the bondes have allowed me an
26330      advance on the ore of law casualties; but they did it willingly, and
26331      without any kind of compulsion, and have thereby added to their honour for
26332      God and the income of the bishopric."
26333      Erling replies, "Is this according to the law of the holy Olaf? or have
26334      you gone to work more arbitrarily in this than is written down in the
26335      lawbook?"
26336      The archbishop replies, "King Olaf the Holy fixed the laws, to which he
26337      received the consent and affirmative of the people; but it will not be
26338      found in his laws that it is forbidden to increase God's right."
26339      Erling: "If you augment your right, you must assist us to augment as much
26340      the king's right."
26341      The archbishop: "Thou hast already augmented enough thy son's power and
26342      dominion; and if I have exceeded the law in taking an increase of the ore
26343      from the Throndhjem people, it is, I think, a much greater breach of the
26344      law that one is king over the country who is not a king's son, and which
26345      has neither any support in the law, nor in any precedent here in the
26346      country."
26347      Erling: "When Magnus was chosen king, it was done with your knowledge and
26348      consent, and also of all the other bishops here in the country."
26349      Archbishop: "You promised then, Erling, that provided we gave our consent
26350      to electing Magnus king, you would, on all occasions, and with all your
26351      power, strengthen God's rights."
26352      Erling: "I may well admit that I have promised to preserve and strengthen
26353      God's commands and the laws of the land with all my power, and with the
26354      king's strength; and now I consider it to be much more advisable, instead
26355      of accusing each other of a breach of our promises, to hold firmly by the
26356      agreement entered into between us. Do you strengthen Magnus in his
26357      dominion, according to what you have promised; and I will, on my part,
26358      strengthen your power in all that can be of advantage or honour."
26359      The conversation now took a more friendly turn; and Erling said, "Although
26360      Magnus was not chosen king according to what has been the old custom of
26361      this country, yet can you with your power give him consecration as king,
26362      as God's law prescribes, by anointing the king to sovereignty; and
26363      although I be neither a king, nor of kingly race, yet most of the kings,
26364      within my recollection, have not known the laws or the constitution of the
26365      country so well as I do. Besides, the mother of King Magnus is the
26366      daughter of a king and queen born in lawful wedlock, and Magnus is son of
26367      a queen and a lawfully married wife. Now if you will give him royal
26368      consecration, no man can take royalty from him. William Bastard was not a
26369      king's son; but he was consecrated and crowned king of England, and the
26370      royalty in England has ever since remained with his race, and all have
26371      been crowned. Svein Ulfson was not a king's son in Denmark, and still he
26372      was a crowned king, and his sons likewise, and all his descendants have
26373      been crowned kings. Now we have here in Norway an archiepiscopal seat, to
26374      the glory and honour of the country; let us also have a crowned king, as
26375      well as the Danes and Englishmen."
26376      Erling and the archbishop afterwards talked often of this matter, and they
26377      were quite agreed. Then the archbishop brought the business before the
26378      legate, and got him easily persuaded to give his consent. Thereafter the
26379      archbishop called together the bishops, and other learned men, and
26380      explained the subject to them. They all replied in the same terms, that
26381      they would follow the counsels of the archbishop, and all were eager to
26382      promote the consecration as soon as the archbishop pleased.
26383      22. KING MAGNUS'S CONSECRATION.
26384      Erling Skakke then had a great feast prepared in the king's house. The
26385      large hall was covered with costly cloth and tapestry, and adorned with
26386      great expense. The court-men and all the attendants were there
26387      entertained, and there were numerous guests, and many chiefs. Then King
26388      Magnus received the royal consecration from the Archbishop Eystein; and at
26389      the consecration there were five other bishops and the legate, besides a
26390      number of other clergy. Erling Skakke, and with him twelve other
26391      lendermen, administered to the king the oath of the law; and the day of
26392      the consecration the king and Erling had the legate, the archbishop, and
26393      all the other bishops as guests; and the feast was exceedingly
26394      magnificent, and the father and son distributed many great presents. King
26395      Magnus was then eight years of age, and had been king for three years.
26396      23. KING VALDEMAR'S EMBASSY.
26397      When the Danish king Valdemar heard the news from Norway that Magnus was
26398      become king of the whole country, and all the other parties in the country
26399      were rooted out, he sent his men with a letter to King Magnus and Erling,
26400      and reminded them of the agreement which Erling had entered into, under
26401      oath, with King Valdemar, of which we have spoken before; namely, that
26402      Viken from the east to Rygiarbit should be ceded to King Valdemar, if
26403      Magnus became the sole king of Norway. When the ambassadors came forward
26404      and showed Erling the letter of the Danish king, and he heard the Danish
26405      king's demand upon Norway, he laid it before the other chiefs by whose
26406      counsels he usually covered his acts. All, as one man, replied that the
26407      Danes should never hold the slightest portion of Norway; for never had
26408      things been worse in the land than when the Danes had power in it. The
26409      ambassadors of the Danish king were urgent with Erling for an answer, and
26410      desired to have it decided; but Erling begged them to proceed with him
26411      east to Viken, and said he would give his final answer when he had met
26412      with the men of most understanding and influence in Viken. The past world
26413      is craters. Get it? past...world. Okay, not very funny.
26414      24. ERLING AND THE PEOPLE OF VIKEN.
26415      Erling Skakke proceeded in autumn to Viken, and stayed in Tunsberg, from
26416      whence he sent people to Sarpsborg to summon a Thing (1) of four
26417      districts; and then Erling went there with his people.
26418      When the Thing was seated Erling made a speech in which he explained the
26419      resolutions which had been settled upon between him and the Danish king,
26420      the first time he collected troops against his enemies. "I will," said
26421      Erling, "keep faithfully the agreement which we then entered into with the
26422      king, if it be your will and consent, bondes, rather to serve the Danish
26423      king than the king who is now consecrated and crowned king of this
26424      country."
26425      The bondes replied thus to Erling's speech: "Never will we become the
26426      Danish king's men, as long as one of us Viken men is in life." And the
26427      whole assembly, with shouts and cries, called on Erling to keep the oath
26428      he had taken to defend his son's dominions, "should we even all follow
26429      thee to battle." And so the Thing was dissolved.
26430      The ambassadors of the Danish king then returned home, and told the issue
26431      of their errand. The Danes abused Erling, and all Northmen, and declared
26432      that evil only proceeded from them; and the report was spread, that in
26433      Spring the Danish king would send out an army and lay waste Norway. Erling
26434      returned in autumn north to Bergen, stayed there all winter, and gave
26435      their pay to his people.
26436   ENDNOTES: (1) This reference to a Thing of the people in the affairs of
26437     the country is a striking example of the right of the Things
26438     being recognised, in theory at least, as fully as the right
26439     of our parliaments in later times. -L.
26440      25. LETTERS OF THE THRONDHJEM PEOPLE.
26441      The same winter (A.D. 1165) some Danish people came by land through the
26442      Uplands, saying they were to go, as was then the general practice, to the
26443      holy King Olaf's festival. But when they came to the Throndhjem country,
26444      they went to many men of influence, and told their business; which was,
26445      that the Danish king had sent them to desire their friendship, and
26446      consent, if he came to the country, promising them both power and money.
26447      With this verbal message came also the Danish king's letter and seal, and
26448      a message to the Throndhjem people that they should send back their
26449      letters and seals to him. They did so, and the most of them received well
26450      the Danish king's message; whereupon the messengers returned back towards
26451      Lent. Erling was in Bergen; and towards spring Erling's friends told him
26452      the loose reports they had heard by some merchant vessels that had arrived
26453      from Throndhjem, that the Throndhjem people were in hostility openly
26454      against him; and had declared that if Erling came to Throndhjem, he should
26455      never pass Agdanes in life. Erling said this was mere folly and idle talk.
26456      Erling now made it known that he would go to Unarheim to the
26457      Gangdag-thing; and ordered a cutter of twenty rowing benches to be fitted
26458      out, a boat of fifteen benches, and a provision-ship. When the vessels
26459      were ready, there came a strong southerly gale. On the Thursday of the
26460      Ascension week, Erling called his people by sound of trumpet to their
26461      departure; but the men were loath to leave the town, and were ill inclined
26462      to row against the wind. Erling brought his vessels to Biskupshafn.
26463      "Well," said Erling, "since ye are so unwilling to row against the wind,
26464      raise the mast, hoist the sails, and let the ship go north." They did so,
26465      and sailed northwards both day and night. On Wednesday, in the evening,
26466      they sailed in past Agdanes, where they found a fleet assembled of many
26467      merchant vessels, rowing craft, and boats, all going towards the town to
26468      the celebration of the festival, -some before them, some behind them -so
26469      that the townspeople paid no attention to the long-ships coming.
26470      26. ERLING AND THE PEOPLE OF THRONDHJEM.
26471      Erling came to the town just as vespers was being sung in Christ church.
26472      He and his men ran into the town, to where it was told them that the
26473      lenderman, Alf Rode, a son of Ottar Birting, was still sitting at table,
26474      and drinking with his men. Erling fell upon them; and Alf was killed, with
26475      almost all his men. Few other men were killed; for they had almost all
26476      gone to church, as this was the night before Christ's Ascension-day. In
26477      the morning early, Erling called all the people by sound of trumpet to a
26478      Thing out upon Evrar. At the Thing Erling laid a charge against the
26479      Throndhjem people, accusing them of intending to betray the country, and
26480      take it from the king; and named Bard Standale, Pal Andreason, and
26481      Razabard, who then presided over the town's affairs, and many others.
26482      They, in their defence, denied the accusation; but Erling's writer stood
26483      up, produced many letters with seals, and asked if they acknowledged their
26484      seals which they had sent to the Danish king; and thereupon the letters
26485      were read. There was also a Danish man with Erling who had gone with the
26486      letters in winter, and whom Erling for that purpose had taken into his
26487      service. He told to these men the very words which each of them had used.
26488      "And you, Razabard, spoke, striking your breast; and the very words you
26489      used were, 'Out of this breast are all these counsels produced.'" Bard
26490      replied, "I was wrong in the head, sirs, when I spoke so." There was now
26491      nothing to be done but to submit the case entirely to the sentence Erling
26492      might give upon it. He took great sums of money from many as fines, and
26493      condemned all those who had been killed as lawless, and their deeds as
26494      lawless; making their deaths thereby not subject to mulct. Then Erling
26495      returned south to Bergen.
26496      27. KING VALDEMAR'S EXPEDITION TO NORWAY.
26497      The Danish king Valdemar assembled in spring (A.D. 1165) a great army, and
26498      proceeded with it north to Viken. As soon as he reached the dominions of
26499      the king of Norway, the bondes assembled in a great multitude. The king
26500      advanced peacefully; but when they came to the mainland, the people shot
26501      at them even when there were only two or three together, from which the
26502      ill-will of the country people towards them was evident. When they came to
26503      Tunsberg, King Valdemar summoned a Hauga-thing; but nobody attended it
26504      from the country parts. Then Valdemar spoke thus to his troops: "It is
26505      evident that all the country-people are against us; and now we have two
26506      things to choose: the one to go through the country, sword in hand,
26507      sparing neither man nor beast; the other is to go back without effecting
26508      our object. And it is more my inclination to go with the army to the East
26509      against the heathens, of whom we have enough before us in the East
26510      country, than to kill Christian people here, although they have well
26511      deserved it." All the others had a greater desire for a foray; but the
26512      king ruled, and they all returned back to Denmark without effecting their
26513      purpose. They pillaged, however, all around in the distant islands, or
26514      where the king was not in the neighbourhood. They then returned south to
26515      Denmark without doing anything.
26516      28. ERLING'S EXPEDITION TO JUTLAND.
26517      As soon as Erling heard that a Danish force had come to Viken, he ordered
26518      a levy through all the land, both of men and ships, so that there was a
26519      great assemblage of men in arms; and with this force he proceeded eastward
26520      along the coast. But when he came to Lidandisnes, he heard that the Danish
26521      army had returned south to Denmark, after plundering all around them in
26522      Viken. Then Erling gave all the people of the levy permission to return
26523      home; but he himself and some lendermen, with many vessels, sailed to
26524      Jutland after the Danes. When they came to a place called Dyrsa, the Danes
26525      who had returned from the expedition lay there with many ships. Erling
26526      gave them battle, and there was a fight, in which the Danes soon fled with
26527      the loss of many people; and Erling and his men plundered the ships and
26528      the town, and made a great booty, with which they returned to Norway.
26529      Thereafter, for a time, there was hostility between Norway and Denmark.
26530      29. ERLING'S EXPEDITION TO DENMARK.
26531      The princess Krisfin went south in autumn (A.D. 1165) to Denmark, to visit
26532      her relation King Valdemar, who was her cousin. The king received her
26533      kindly, and gave her fiefs in his kingdom, so that she could support her
26534      household well. She often conversed with the king, who was remarkably kind
26535      towards her. In the spring following (A.D. 1166) Kristin sent to Erling,
26536      and begged him to pay a visit to the Danish king, and enter into a peace
26537      with him. In summer Erling was in Viken, where he fitted out a long-ship,
26538      manned it with his finest lads, and sailed (a single ship) over to
26539      Jutland. When he heard that the Danish king Valdemar was in Randaros,
26540      Erling sailed thither, and came to the town just as the king sat at the
26541      dinner-table, and most of the people were taking their meal. When his
26542      people had made themselves ready according to Erling's orders, set up the
26543      ship-tents, and made fast the ship, Erling landed with twelve men, all in
26544      armour, with hats over their helmets, and swords under their cloaks. They
26545      went to the king's lodging, where the doors stood open, and the dishes
26546      were being carried in. Erling and his people went in immediately, and drew
26547      up in front of the high-seat. Erling said, "Peace and safe conduct we
26548      desire, king, both here and to return home."
26549      The king looked at him, and said, "Art thou here, Erling?"
26550      He replies, "Here is Erling; and tell us, at once, if we shall have peace
26551      and safe conduct."
26552      There were eighty of the king's men in the room, but all unarmed. The king
26553      replies, "Peace ye shall have, Erling, according to thy desire; for I will
26554      not use force or villainy against a man who comes to visit me."
26555      Erling then kissed the king's hand, went out, and down to his ship. Erling
26556      stayed at Randaros some time with the king, and they talked about terms of
26557      peace between them and between the countries. They agreed that Erling
26558      should remain as hostage with the Danish king; and that Asbjorn Snara,
26559      Bishop Absalon's brother, should go to Norway as hostage on the other
26560      part.
26561      30. KING VALDEMAR AND ERLING.
26562      In a conference which King Valdemar and Erling once had together. Erling
26563      said, "Sire, it appears to me likely that it might lead to a peace between
26564      the countries if you got that part of Norway which was promised you in our
26565      agreement; but if it should be so, what chief would you place over it?
26566      Would he be a Dane?"
26567      "No," replied the king; "no Danish chief would go to Norway, where he
26568      would have to manage an obstinate hard people, when he has it so easy here
26569      with me."
26570      Erling: "It was on that very consideration that I came here; for I would
26571      not on any account in the world deprive myself of the advantage of your
26572      friendship. In days of old other men, Hakon Ivarson and Fin Arnason, came
26573      also from Norway to Denmark, and your predecessor, King Svein, made them
26574      both earls. Now I am not a man of less power in Norway than they were
26575      then, and my influence is not less than theirs; and the king gave them the
26576      province of Halland to rule over, which he himself had and owned before.
26577      Now it appears to me, sire, that you, if I become your man and vassal, can
26578      allow me to hold of you the fief which my son Magnus will not deny me, by
26579      which I will be bound in duty, and ready, to undertake all the service
26580      belonging to that title."
26581      Erling spoke such things, and much more in the same strain, until it came
26582      at last to this, that Erling became Valdemar's man and vassal; and the
26583      king led Erling to the earl's seat one day, and gave him the title of
26584      earl, and Viken as a fief under his rule. Earl Erling went thereafter to
26585      Norway, and was earl afterwards as long as he lived; and also the peace
26586      with the Danish king was afterwards always preserved. Earl Erling had four
26587      sons by his concubines. The one was called Hreidar, the next Ogmund; and
26588      these by two different mothers: the third was called Fin; the fourth
26589      Sigurd: these were younger, and their mother was Asa the Fair. The
26590      princess Kristin and Earl Erling had a daughter called Ragnhild, who was
26591      married to Jon Thorbergson of Randaberg. Kristin went away from the
26592      country with a man called Grim Rusle; and they went to Constantinople,
26593      where they were for a time, and had some children.
26594      31. BEGINNING OF OLAF.
26595      Olaf, a son of Gudbrand Skafhaug, and Maria, a daughter of King Eystein
26596      Magnuson, were brought up in the house of Sigurd Agnhot in the Uplands.
26597      While Earl Erling was in Denmark (A.D. 1166), Olaf and his foster-father
26598      gathered a troop together, and many Upland people joined them; and Olaf
26599      was chosen king by them. They went with their bands through the Uplands,
26600      and sometimes down to Viken, and sometimes east to the forest settlements;
26601      but never came on board of ships. Now when, Earl Erling got news of this
26602      troop, he hastened to Viken with his forces; and was there in summer in
26603      his ships, and in Oslo in autumn (A.D. 1167) and kept Yule there. He had
26604      spies up the country after this troop, and went himself, along with Orm,
26605      the King-brother, up the country to follow them. Now when they came to a
26606      lake called.... .... (1) they took all the vessels that were upon the
26607      lake.
26608   ENDNOTES: (1) The name of the lake not given.
26609      32. OF ERLING.
26610      The priest who performed divine service at a place called Rydiokul, close
26611      by the lake, invited the earl to a feast at Candlemas. The earl promised
26612      to come; and thinking it would be good to hear mass there, he rowed with
26613      his attendants over the lake the night before Candlemas day. But the
26614      priest had another plan on hand. He sent men to bring Olaf news of Earl
26615      Erling's arrival. The priest gave Erling strong drink in the evening, and
26616      let him have an excessive quantity of it. When the earl wished to lie down
26617      and sleep, the beds were made ready in the drinking-room; but when they
26618      had slept a short time the earl awoke, and asked if it was not the hour
26619      for matins. The priest replied, that only a small part of the night was
26620      gone, and told him to sleep in peace. The earl replied, "I dream of many
26621      things to-night, and I sleep ill." He slumbered again, but awoke soon, and
26622      told the priest to get up and sing mass. The priest told the earl to
26623      sleep, and said it was but midnight. Then the earl again lay down, slept a
26624      little while, and, springing out of bed, ordered his men to put on their
26625      clothes. They did so; took their weapons, went to the church, and laid
26626      their arms outside while the priest was singing matins. 
26627      33. BATTLE AT RYDIOKUL.
26628      As Olaf got the message in the evening, they travelled in the night six
26629      miles, which people considered an extraordinarily long march. They arrived
26630      at Rydiokul while the priest was still singing mass, and it was
26631      pitch-dark. Olaf and his men went into the room, raised a war-shout, and
26632      killed some of the earl's men who had not gone to the early mass. Now when
26633      Erling and his men heard the war-shout, they ran to their weapons, and
26634      hastened down to their ships. Olaf and his men met them at a fence, at
26635      which there was a sharp conflict. Erling and his men retreated along the
26636      fence, which protected them. Erling had far fewer men, and many of them
26637      had fallen, and still more were wounded. What helped Earl Erling and his
26638      men the most was, that Olaf's men could not distinguish them, it was so
26639      dark; and the earl's men were always drawing down to their ships. Are
26640      Thorgeirson, father of Bishop Gudmund fell there, and many other of
26641      Erling's court-men. Erling himself was wounded in the left side; but some
26642      say he did it himself in drawing his sword. Orm the King-brother was also
26643      severely wounded; and with great difficulty they escaped to their ships,
26644      and instantly pushed off from land. It was generally considered as a most
26645      unlucky meeting for Olaf's people, as Earl Erling was in a manner sold
26646      into their hands, if they had proceeded with common prudence. He was
26647      afterwards called Olaf the Unlucky; but others called his people Hat-lads.
26648      They went with their bands through the Uplands as before. Erling again
26649      went down to Viken to his ships, and remained there all summer. Olaf was
26650      in the Uplands, and sometimes east in the forest districts, where he and
26651      his troop remained all the next winter (A.D. 1168).
26652      34. BATTLE AT STANGAR.
26653      The following spring the Hat-lads went down to Viken, and raised the
26654      king's taxes all around, and remained there long in summer. When Earl
26655      Erling heard this, he hastened with his troops to meet them in Viken, and
26656      fell in with them east of the Fjord, at a place called Stangar; where they
26657      had a great battle, in which Erling was victorious. Sigurd Agnhot, and
26658      many others of Olaf's men, fell there; but Olaf escaped by flight, went
26659      south to Denmark, and was all winter (A.D. 1169) in Alaborg in Jutland.
26660      The following spring Olaf fell into an illness which ended in death, and
26661      he was buried in the Maria church; and the Danes call him a saint.
26662      35. HARALD'S DEATH.
26663      King Magnus had a lenderman called Nikolas Kufung, who was a son of Pal
26664      Skaptason. He took Harald prisoner, who called himself a son of King
26665      Sigurd Haraldson and the princess Kristin, and a brother of King Magnus by
26666      the mother's side. Nikolas brought Harald to Bergen, and delivered him
26667      into Earl Erling's hands. It was Erling's custom when his enemies came
26668      before him, that he either said nothing to them, or very little, and that
26669      in all gentleness, when he had determined to put them to death; or rose
26670      with furious words against them, when he intended to spare their lives.
26671      Erling spoke but little to Harald, and many, therefore, suspected his
26672      intentions; and some begged King Magnus to put in a good word for Harald
26673      with the earl; and the king did so. The earl replies, "Thy friends advise
26674      thee badly. Thou wouldst govern this kingdom but a short time in peace and
26675      safety, if thou wert to follow the counsels of the heart only." Earl
26676      Erling ordered Harald to be taken to Nordnes, where he was beheaded.
26677      36. EYSTEIN EYSTEINSON AND THE BIRKEBEINS.
26678      There was a man called Eystein, who gave himself out for a son of King
26679      Eystein Haraldson. He was at this time young, and not full grown. It is
26680      told of him that he one summer appeared in Svithjod, and went to Earl
26681      Birger Brosa, who was then married to Brigida, Eystein's aunt, a daughter
26682      of King Harald Gille. Eystein explained his business to him, and asked
26683      their assistance. Both Earl Birger and his wife listened to him in a
26684      friendly way, and promised him their confidence, and he stayed with them a
26685      while. Earl Birger gave him some assistance of men, and a good sum for
26686      travelling expenses; and both promised him their friendship on his taking
26687      leave. Thereafter Eystein proceeded north into Norway (A.D. 1174), and
26688      when he came down to Viken people flocked to him in crowds; and Eystein
26689      was there proclaimed king, and he remained in Viken in winter. As they
26690      were very poor in money, they robbed all around, wherefore the lendermen
26691      and bondes raised men against them; and being thus overpowered by numbers,
26692      they fled away to the forests and deserted hill grounds, where they lived
26693      for a long time. Their clothes being worn out, they wound the bark of the
26694      birch-tree about their legs, and thus were called by the bondes
26695      Birkebeins. They often rushed down upon the settled districts, pushed on
26696      here or there, and made an assault where they did not find many people to
26697      oppose them. They had several battles with the bondes with various
26698      success; and the Birkebeins held three battles in regular array, and
26699      gained the victory in them all. At Krokaskog they had nearly made an
26700      unlucky expedition, for a great number of bondes and men-at-arms were
26701      assembled there against them; but the Birkebeins felled brushwood across
26702      the roads, and retired into the forest. They were two years (A.D.
26703      1175-1176) in Viken before they showed themselves in the northern parts of
26704      the country.
26705      37. BIRKEBEINS, KING EYSTEIN, AND SKAKKE.
26706      Magnus had been king for thirteen years when the Birkebeins first made
26707      their appearance. They got themselves ships in the third summer (A.D.
26708      1176), with which they sailed along the coast gathering goods and men.
26709      They were first in Viken; but when summer advanced they proceeded
26710      northwards, and so rapidly that no news preceded them until they came to
26711      Throndhjem. The Birkebeins' troop consisted principally of hill-men and
26712      Elfgrims, and many were from Thelemark; and all were well armed. Their
26713      king, Eystein, was a handsome man, and with a little but good countenance;
26714      and he was not of great stature, for his men called him Eystein Meyla.
26715      King Magnus and Earl Erling were in Bergen when the Birkebeins sailed past
26716      it to the north; but they did not hear of them.
26717      Earl Erling was a man of great understanding and power, an excellent
26718      leader in war, and an able and prudent ruler of the country; but he had
26719      the character of being cruel and severe. The cause of this was principally
26720      that he never allowed his enemies to remain in the country, even when they
26721      prayed to him for mercy; and therefore many joined the bands which were
26722      collected against him. Erling was a tall strong-made man, somewhat
26723      short-necked and high-shouldered; had a long and sharp countenance of a
26724      light complexion, and his hair became very grey. He bore his head a little
26725      on one side; was free and agreeable in his manners. He wore the old
26726      fashion of clothes, -long body-pieces and long arms to his coats,
26727      foreign cloak, and high shoes. He made the king wear the same kind of
26728      dress in his youth; but when he grew up, and acted for himself, he dressed
26729      very sumptuously.
26730      King Magnus was of a light turn of mind, full of jokes; a great lover of
26731      mirth, and not less of women.
26732      38. OF NIKOLAS.
26733      Nikolas was a son of Sigurd Hranason and of Skialdvor, a daughter of
26734      Brynjolf Ulfalde, and a sister of Haldor Brynjolfson by the father's side,
26735      and of King Magnus Barefoot by the mother's side. Nikolas was a
26736      distinguished chief, who had a farm at Ongul in Halogaland, which was
26737      called Steig. Nikolas had also a house in Nidaros, below Saint Jon's
26738      church, where Thorgeir the scribe lately dwelt. Nikolas was often in the
26739      town, and was president of the townspeople. Skialdvor, Nikolas's daughter,
26740      was married to Eirik Arnason, who was also a lenderman.
26741      39. OF EIRIK AND NIKOLAS.
26742      As the people of the town were coming from matins the last day of Marymas
26743      (September 8th), Eirik came up to Nikolas, and said, "Here are some
26744      fishermen come from the sea, who report that some long-ships are sailing
26745      into the fjord; and people conjecture that these may be the Birkebeins. It
26746      would be advisable to call the townspeople together with the war-horns, to
26747      meet under arms out on Eyrar."
26748      Nikolas replies, "I don't go after fishermen's reports; but I shall send
26749      out spies to the fjord, and in the meantime hold a Thing to-day."
26750      Eirik went home; but when they were ringing to high mass, and Nikolas was
26751      going to church, Eirik came to hint again, and said, "I believe the news
26752      to be true; for here are men who say they saw them under sail; and I think
26753      it would be most advisable to ride out of town, and gather men with arms;
26754      for it appears to me the townspeople will be too few."
26755      Nikolas replies, "Thou art mixing everything together; let us first hear
26756      mass, and then take our resolution."
26757      Nikolas then went into the church. When the mass was over Eirik went to
26758      Nikolas, and said, "My horses are saddled; I will ride away."
26759      Nikolas replies, "Farewell, then: we will hold a Thing to-day on the
26760      Eyrar, and examine what force of men there may be in the town."
26761      Eirik rode away, and Nikolas went to his house, and then to dinner.
26762      40. THE FALL OF NIKOLAS.
26763      The meat was scarcely put on the table, when a man came into the house to
26764      tell Nikolas that the Birkebeins were roving up the river. Then Nikolas
26765      called to his men to take their weapons. When they were armed Nikolas
26766      ordered them to go up into the loft. But that was a most imprudent step;
26767      for if they had remained in the yard, the townspeople might have come to
26768      their assistance; but now the Birkebeins filled the whole yard, and from
26769      thence scrambled from all sides up to the loft. They called to Nikolas,
26770      and offered him quarter, but he refused it. Then they attacked the loft.
26771      Nikolas and his men defended themselves with bow-shot, hand-shot, and
26772      stones of the chimney; but the Birkebeins hewed down the houses, broke up
26773      the loft, and returned shot for shot from bow or hand. Nikolas had a red
26774      shield in which were gilt nails, and about it was a border of stars. The
26775      Birkebeins shot so that the arrows went in up to the arrow feather. Then
26776      said Nikolas, "My shield deceives me." Nikolas and a number of his people
26777      fell, and his death was greatly lamented. The Birkebeins gave all the
26778      towns-people their lives.
26779      41. EYSTEIN PROCLAIMED KING.
26780      Eystein was then proclaimed king, and all the people submitted to him. He
26781      stayed a while in the town, and then went into the interior of the
26782      Throndhjem land, where many joined him, and among them Thorfin Svarte of
26783      Snos with a troop of people. When the Birkebeins, in the beginning of
26784      winter (A.D. 1177), came again into the town, the sons of Gudrun from
26785      Saltnes, Jon Ketling, Sigurd, and William, joined them; and when they
26786      proceeded afterwards from Nidaros up Orkadal, they could number nearly
26787      2000 men. They afterwards went to the Uplands, and on to Thoten and
26788      Hadaland, and from thence to Ringerike, and subdued the country wheresover
26789      they came.
26790      42. THE FALL OF KING EYSTEIN.
26791      King Magnus went eastward to Viken in autumn with a part of his men and
26792      with him Orm, the king's brother; but Earl Erling remained behind in
26793      Bergen to meet the Berkebeins in case they took the sea route. King Magnus
26794      went to Tunsberg, where he and Orm held their Yule (A.D. 1177). When King
26795      Magnus heard that the Birkebeins were up in Re, the king and Orm proceeded
26796      thither with their men. There was much snow, and it was dreadfully cold.
26797      When they came to the farm they left the beaten track on the road, and
26798      drew up their array outside of the fence, and trod a path through the snow
26799      with their men, who were not quite 1500 in number. The Birkebeins were
26800      dispersed here and there in other farms, a few men in each house. When
26801      they perceived King Magnus's army they assembled, and drew up in regular
26802      order; and as they thought their force was larger than his, which it
26803      actually was, they resolved to fight; but when they hurried forward to the
26804      road only a few could advance at a time, which broke their array, and the
26805      men fell who first advanced upon the beaten way. Then the Birkebeins'
26806      banner was cut down; those who were nearest gave way and some took to
26807      flight. King Magnus's men pursued them, and killed one after the other as
26808      they came up with them. Thus the Birkebeins could never form themselves in
26809      array; and being exposed to the weapons of the enemy singly, many of them
26810      fell, and many fled. It happened here, as it often does, that although men
26811      be brave and gallant, if they have once been defeated and driven to
26812      flight, they will not easily be brought to turn round. Now the main body
26813      of the Birkebeins began to fly, and many fell; because Magnus's men killed
26814      all they could lay hold of, and not one of them got quarter. The whole
26815      body became scattered far and wide. Eystein in his flight ran into a
26816      house, and begged for his life, and that the bonde would conceal him; but
26817      the bonde killed him, and then went to King Magnus, whom he found at
26818      Rafnnes, where the king was in a room warming himself by the fire along
26819      with many people. Some went for the corpse, and bore it into the room,
26820      where the king told the people to come and inspect the body. A man was
26821      sitting on a bench in the corner, and he was a Birkebein, but nobody had
26822      observed him; and when he saw and recognised his chief's body he sprang up
26823      suddenly and actively, rushed out upon the floor, and with an axe he had
26824      in his hands made a blow at King Magnus's neck between the shoulders. A
26825      man saw the axe swinging, and pulled the king to a side, by which the axe
26826      struck lower in the shoulder, and made a large wound. He then raised the
26827      axe again, and made a blow at Orm, the King-brother, who was lying on a
26828      bench, and the blow was directed at both legs; but Orm seeing the man
26829      about to kill him, drew in his feet instantly, threw them over his head,
26830      and the blow fell on the bench, in which the axe stuck fast; and then the
26831      blows at the Birkebein came so thick that he could scarcely fall to the
26832      ground. It was discovered that he had dragged his entrails after him over
26833      the floor; and this man's bravery was highly praised. King Magnus's men
26834      followed the fugitives, and killed so many that they were tired of it.
26835      Thorfin of Snos, and a very great number of Throndhjem people, fell there.
26836      43. OF THE BIRKEBEINS.
26837      The faction which called itself the Birkebeins had gathered together in
26838      great numbers. They were a hardy people, and the boldest of men under
26839      arms; but wild, and going forward madly when they had a strong force. They
26840      had few men in their faction who were good counsellors, or accustomed to
26841      rule a country by law, or to head an army; and if there were such men
26842      among them who had more knowledge, yet the many would only allow of those
26843      measures which they liked, trusting always to their numbers and courage.
26844      Of the men who escaped many were wounded, and had lost both their clothes
26845      and their arms, and were altogether destitute of money. Some went east to
26846      the borders, some went all the way east to Svithjod; but the most of them
26847      went to Thelemark, where they had their families. All took flight, as they
26848      had no hope of getting their lives from King Magnus or Earl Erling.
26849      44. OF KING MAGNUS ERLINGSON.
26850      King Magnus then returned to Tunsberg, and got great renown by this
26851      victory; for it had been an expression in the mouths of all, that Earl
26852      Erling was the shield and support of his son and himself. But after
26853      gaining a victory over so strong and numerous a force with fewer troops,
26854      King Magnus was considered by all as surpassing other leaders, and that he
26855      would become a warrior as much greater than his father, Earl Erling, as he
26856      was younger.