{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/heim/05hakon.htm","path":"neu/heim/05hakon.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/heim/05hakon.htm","text":"HAKON THE GOOD'S SAGA.\nPRELIMINARY REMARKS.\nOf Eirik Blood-axe's five years' reign Snorre has no separate\nsaga. He appears not to have been beloved by the people and his\nqueen Gunhild seems to have had a bad influence on him.\nOther accounts of Hakon may be found in \"Fagrskinna\" (chaps.\n25-34), \"Agrip\", \"Historia\", \"Norvegiae\", and in \"Thjodrek\"\n(chap. 4).\nThe reader is also referred to \"Saxo\", \"Egla\", \"Laxdaela\",\n\"Kormaks Saga\", \"Gisle Surssons Saga\", \"Halfred's Saga\",\n\"Floamanna Saga\", \"Viga Glum's Saga\", and to \"Landnamabok\".\nSkald mentioned in this Saga are: -- Glum Geirason, Thord\nSjarekson, Guthorm Sindre, Kormak Ogmundson, and Eyvind\nSkaldaspiller. In the \"Egla\" are found many poems belonging to\nthis epoch by Egil Skallagrimson.\nIn \"Fagrskinna\" is found a poem (not given by Snorre) which\nGunhild (his wife) had made on King Eirik after his death,\ntelling how Odin welcomed him to Valhal. The author or skald who\ncomposed it is not known, but it is considered to be one of the\ngems of old Norse poetry, and we here quote it in Vigfusson's\ntranslation in his \"Corpus Poeticum\", vol. i. pp. 260, 261.\nGudbrand Vigfusson has filled up a few gaps from \"Hakonarmat\",\nthe poem at the end of this Saga. We have changed Vigfusson's\northography of names, and brought them into harmony with the\nspelling used in this work: -- Ed.\n\"Odin wakes in the morning and cries, as he opens his eyes, with\nhis dream still fresh in his mind: -- `What dreams are these? I\nthought I arose before daybreak to make Valhal ready for a host\nof slain. I woke up the host of the chosen. I bade them ride up\nto strew the benches, and to till up the beer-vats, and I bade\nvalkyries to bear the wine, as if a king were coming. I look for\nthe coming of some noble chiefs from the earth, wherefore my\nheart is glad.'\n\"Brage, Odin's counsellor, now wakes, as a great din is heard\nwithout, and calls out: -- `What is that thundering? as if a\nthousand men or some great host were tramping on -- the walls and\nthe benches are creaking withal -- as if Balder was coming back\nto the ball of Odin?'\n\"Odin answers: -- `Surely thou speakest foolishly, good Brage,\nalthough thou art very wise. It thunders for Eirik the king,\nthat is coming to the hall of Odin.'\n\"Then turning to his heroes, he cries: -- `Sigmund and Sinfjotle,\nrise in haste and go forth to meet the prince! Bid him in if it\nbe Eirik, for it is he whom I look for.'\n\"Sigmund answers: -- `Why lookest thou more for Eirik, the king,\nto Odin's hall, than for other kings?'\n\"Odin answers: -- `Because he has reddened his brand, and borne\nhis bloody sword in many a land.'\n\"Quoth Sigmund: -- `Why didst thou rob him, the chosen king of\nvictory then, seeing thou thoughtest him so brave?'\n\"Odin answered: -- `Because it is not surely to be known, when\nthe grey wolf shall come upon the seat of the god.'\nSECOND SCENE. -- Without Valhal.\nSigmund and Sinfjotle go outside the hall and meet Eirik.\n\"Quoth Sigmund: -- `Hail to thee, Eirik, be welcome here, and\ncome into the hall, thou gallant king! Now I will ask thee, what\nkings are these that follow thee from the clash of the sword\nedges?'\n\"Eirik answers: -- `They are five kings; I will tell thee all\ntheir names; I myself am the sixth (the names followed in the\nsong, whereof the rest is lost.)\n\"Fagrskinna\" says \"Hakonarmal\" was the model of this poem.\n1. HAKON CHOSEN KING.\nHakon, Athelstan's foster-son, was in England at the time (A.D.\n934) he heard of his father King Harald's death, and he\nimmediately made himself ready to depart. King Athelstan gave\nhim men, and a choice of good ships, and fitted him out for his\njourney most excellently. In harvest time he came to Norway,\nwhere he heard of the death of his brothers, and that King Eirik\nwas then in Viken. Then Hakon sailed northwards to Throndhjem,\nwhere he went to Sigurd earl of Hlader who was the ablest man in\nNorway. He gave Hakon a good reception; and they made a league\nwith each other, by which Hakon promised great power to Sigurd if\nhe was made king. They assembled then a numerous Thing, and\nSigurd the earl recommended Hakon's cause to the Thing, and\nproposed him to the bondes as king. Then Hakon himself stood up\nand spoke; and the people said to each other, two and two, as\nthey heard him, \"Herald Harfager is come again, grown and young.\"\nThe beginning of Hakon's speech was, that he offered himself to\nthe bondes as king, and desired from them the title of king, and\naid and forces to defend the kingdom. He promised, on the other\nhand, to make all the bondes udal-holders, and give every man\nudal rights to the land he lived on. This speech met such joyful\napplause, that the whole public cried and shouted that they would\ntake him to be king. And so it was that the Throndhjem people\ntook Hakon, who was then fifteen years old, for king; and he took\na court or bodyguard, and servants, and proceeded through the\ncountry. The news reached the Uplands that the people in\nThrondhjem had taken to themselves a king, who in every respect\nwas like King Harald Harfager, -- with the difference, that\nHarald had made all the people of the land vassals, and unfree;\nbut this Hakon wished well to every man, and offered the bondes\nto give them their udal rights again, which Harald had taken from\nthem. All were rejoiced at this news, and it passed from mouth\nto mouth, -- it flew, like fire in dry grass, through the whole\nland, and eastward to the land's end. Many bondes came from the\nUplands to meet King Hakon. Some sent messengers, some tokens;\nand all to the same effect -- that his men they would be: and the\nking received all thankfully.\n2. KING HAKON'S PROGRESS THROUGH THE COUNTRY.\nEarly in winter (935), the king went to the Uplands, and summoned\nthe people to a Thing; and there streamed all to him who could\ncome. He was proclaimed king at every Thing; and then he\nproceeded eastward to Viken, where his brother's sons, Trygve and\nGudrod, and many others, came unto him, and complained of the\nsorrow and evil his brother Eirik had wrought. The hatred to\nKing Eirik grew more and more, the more liking all men took to\nKing Hakon; and they got more boldness to say what they thought.\nKing Hakon gave Trygve and Gudrod the title of kings, and the\ndominions which King Harald had bestowed on their fathers.\nTrygve got Ranrike and Vingulmark, and Gudrod, Vestfold; but as\nthey were young, and in the years of childhood, he appointed able\nmen to rule the land for them. He gave them the country on the\nsame conditions as it had been given before, -- that they should\nhave half of the scat and revenues with him. Towards spring King\nHakon returned north, over the Uplands, to Throndhjem.\n3. EIRIK'S DEPARTURE FROM THE COUNTRY.\nKing Hakon, early in spring, collected a great army at\nThrondhjem, and fitted out ships. The people of Viken also had a\ngreat force on foot, and intended to join Hakon. King Eirik also\nlevied people in the middle of the country; but it went badly\nwith him to gather people, for the leading men left him, and went\nover to Hakon. As he saw himself not nearly strong enough to\noppose Hakon, he sailed (A.D. 935) out to the West sea with such\nmen as would follow him. He first sailed to Orkney, and took\nmany people with him from that country; and then went south\ntowards England, plundering in Scotland, and in the north parts\nof England, wherever he could land. Athelstan, the king of\nEngland, sent a message to Eirik, offering him dominions under\nhim in England; saying that King Harald his father was a good\nfriend of King Athelstan, and therefore he would do kindly\ntowards his sons. Messengers passed between the two kings; and\nit came to an agreement that King Eirik should take\nNorthumberland as a fief from King Athelstan, and which land he\nshould defend against the Danes or other vikings. Eirik should\nlet himself be baptized, together with his wife and children, and\nall the people who had followed him. Eirik accepted this offer,\nand was baptized, and adopted the right faith. Northumberland is\ncalled a fifth part of England. Eirik had his residence at York,\nwhere Lodbrok's sons, it was said, had formerly been, and\nNorthumberland was principally inhabited by Northmen. Since\nLodbrok's sons had taken the country, Danes and Northmen often\nplundered there, when the power of the land was out of their\nhands. Many names of places in the country are Norwegian; as\nGrimsby, Haukfliot, and many others.\n4. EIRIK'S DEATH.\nKing Eirik had many people about him, for he kept many Northmen\nwho had come with him from the East; and also many of his friends\nhad joined him from Norway. But as he had little land, he went\non a cruise every summer, and plundered in Scotland, the\nHebrides, Ireland, and Bretland, by which he gathered property.\nKing Athelstan died on a sick bed, after a reign of fourteen\nyears, eight weeds, and three days. After him his brother\nJatmund was king of England, and he was no friend to the\nNorthmen. King Eirik, also, was in no great favour with him; and\nthe word went about that King Jatmund would set another chief\nover Northumberland. Now when King Eirik heard this, he set off\non a viking cruise to the westward; and from the Orkneys took\nwith him the Earls Arnkel and Erlend, the sons of Earl Torfeinar.\nThen he sailed to the Hebrides, where there were many vikings and\ntroop-kings, who joined their men to his. With all this force he\nsteered to Ireland first, where he took with him all the men he\ncould, and then to Bretland, and plundered; and sailed thereafter\nsouth to England, and marauded there as elsewhere. The people\nfled before him wherever he appeared. As King Eirik was a bold\nwarrior, and had a great force, he trusted so much to his people\nthat he penetrated far inland in the country, following and\nplundering the fugitives. King Jatmund had set a king, who was\ncalled Olaf, to defend the land; and he gathered an innumerable\nmass of people, with whom he marched against King Eirik. A\ndreadfu1 battle ensued, in which many Englishmen fell; but for\none who fell came three in his place out of the country behind,\nand when evening came on the loss of men turned on the side of\nthe Northmen, and many people fell. Towards the end of the day,\nKing Eirik and five kings with him fell. Three of them were\nGuthorm and his two sons, Ivar and Harek: there fell, also,\nSigurd and Ragnvald; and with them Torfeinar's two sons, Arnkel\nand Erlend. Besides these, there was a great slaughter of\nNorthmen; and those who escaped went to Northumberland, and\nbrought the news to Gunhild and her sons (A.D. 941).\n5. GUNHILD AND HER SONS.\nWhen Gunhild and her sons knew for certain that King Eirik had\nfallen, after having plundered the land of the King of England,\nthey thought there was no peace to be expected for them; and they\nmade themselves ready to depart from Northumberland, with all the\nships King Eirik had left, and all the men who would go with\nthem. They took also all the loose property, and goods which\nthey had gathered partly as taxes in England, partly as booty on\ntheir expeditions. With their army they first steered northward\nto Orkney, where Thorfin Hausakljufer was earl, a son of\nTorfeinar, and took up their station there for a time. Eirik's\nsons subdued these islands and Hjaltland, took scat for\nthemselves, and staid there all the winter; but went on viking\ncruises in summer to the West, and plundered in Scotland and\nIreland. About this Glum Geirason sings: --\n\"The hero who knows well to ride\nThe sea-horse o'er the foamingtide, --\nHe who in boyhood wild rode o'er\nThe seaman's horse to Skanea's shore.\nAnd showed the Danes his galley's bow,\nRight nobly scours the ocean now.\nOn Scotland's coast he lights the brand\nOf flaming war; with conquering hand\nDrives many a Scottish warrior tall\nTo the bright seats in Odin's hall.\nThe fire-spark, by the fiend of war\nFanned to a flame, soon spreads afar.\nCrowds trembling fly, -- the southern foes\nFall thick beneath the hero's blows:\nThe hero's blade drips red with gore,\nStaining the green sward on the shore.\"\n6. BATTLE IN JUTLAND.\nWhen King Eirik had left the country, King Hakon, Athelstan's\nfoster-son, subdued the whole of Norway. The first winter (A.D.\n936) he visited the western parts, and then went north, and\nsettled in Throndhjem. But as no peace could be reasonably\nlooked for so long as King Eirik with his forces could come to\nNorway from the West sea, he set himself with his men-at-arms in\nthe middle of the country, -- in the Fjord district, or in Sogn,\nor Hordaland, or Rogaland. Hakon placed Sigurd earl of Hlader\nover the whole Throradhjem district, as he and his father had\nbefore had it under Harald Harfager. When King Hakon heard of\nhis brother Eirik's death, and also that his sons had no footing\nin England, he thought there was not much to fear from them, and\nhe went with his troops one summer eastward to Viken. At that\ntime the Danes plundered often in Viken, and wrought much evil\nthere; but when they heard that King Hakon was come with a great\narmy, they got out of the way, to Halland; and those who were\nnearest to King Hakon went out to sea, and over to Jotland\n(Jutland). When the king heard of this, he sailed after them\nwith all his army. On arriving in Jutland he plundered all\nround; and when the country people heard of it, they assembled in\na great body, and determined to defend their land, and fight.\nThere was a great battle; and King Hakon fought so boldly, that\nhe went forward before his banner without helmet or coat of mail.\nKing Hakon won the victory, and drove the fugitives far up the\ncountry. So says Guthorm Sindre, in his song of Hakon: --\n\"Furrowing the deep-blue sea with oars,\nThe king pursues to Jutland's shores.\nThey met; and in the battle storm\nOf clashing shields, full many a form\nOf goodly warrior on the plain,\nFull many a corpse by Hakon slain,\nGlutted the ravens, who from far,\nScenting the banquet-feast of war,\nCame in black flocks to Jutland's plains\nTo drink the blood-wine from the veins.\"\n7. BATTLE IN EYRARSUND (THE SOUND).\nThen Hakon steered southwards with his fleet to seek the vikings,\nand so on to Sealand. He rowed with two cutters into the\nEyrarsund, where he found eleven viking ships, and instantly\nattacked them. It ended in his gaining the victory, and clearing\nthe viking ships of all their men. So says Guthorm Sindre: --\n\"Hakon the Brave, whose skill all know\nTo bend in battle storm the bow,\nRushed o'er the waves to Sealand's tongue,\nHis two war-ships with gilt shields hung,\nAnd cleared the decks with his blue sword\nThat rules the fate of war, on board\nEleven ships of the Vindland men. --\nFamous is Hakon's name since then.\"\n8. KING HAKON'S EXPEDITION TO DENMARK.\nThereafter King Hakon carried war far and wide in Sealand;\nplundering some, slaying others, taking some prisoners of war,\ntaking ransom from others, and all without opposition. Then\nHakon proceeded along the coast of Skane, pillaging everywhere,\nlevying taxes and ransome from the country, and killing all\nvikings, both Danish and Vindish. He then went eastwards to the\ndistrict of Gautland, marauded there, and took great ransom from\nthe country. So says Guthorm Sindre: --\n\"Hakon, who midst the battle shock\nStands like a firmly-rooted oak,\nSubdued all Sealand with the sword:\nFrom Vindland vikings the sea-bord\nOf Scania swept; and, with the shield\nOf Odin clad, made Gautland yield\nA ransom of the ruddy gold,\nWhich Hakon to his war-men bold\nGave with free hand, who in his feud\nAgainst the arrow-storm had stood.\"\nKing Hakon returned back in autumn with his army and an immense\nbooty; and remained all the winter (A.D. 946) in Viken to defend\nit against the Danes and Gautlanders, if they should attack it.\n9. OF KING TRYGVE.\nIn the same winter King Trygve Olafson returned from a viking\ncruise in the West sea, having before ravaged in Ireland and\nScotland. In spring (A.D. 946) King Hakon went north, and set\nhis brother's son, King Trygve, over Viken to defend that country\nagainst enemies. He gave him also in property all that he could\nreconquer of the country in Denmark, which the summer before\nKing Hakon had subjected to payment of scat to him. So says\nGuthorm: --\n\"King Hakon, whose sharp sword dyes red\nThe bright steel cap on many a head,\nHas set a warrior brave and stout\nThe foreign foeman to keep out, --\nTo keep that green land safe from war\nWhich black Night bore to dwarf Annar (1).\nFor many a carle whose trade's to wield\nThe battle-axe, and swing the shield,\nOn the swan's ocean-skates has come,\nIn white-winged ships, across the foam, --\nAcross the sea, from far Ireland,\nTo war against the Norseman's land.\"\nENDNOTES:\n(1) The dwarf Annar was the husband of Night, and Earth was\ntheir daughter. -- L.\n10. OF GUNHILD S SONS.\nKing Harald Gormson ruled over Denmark at that time. He took it\nmuch amiss that King Hakon had made war in his dominions, and the\nreport went that he would take revenge; but this did not take\nplace so soon. When Gunhild and her sons heard there was enmity\nbetween Denmark and Norway, they began to turn their course from\nthe West. They married King Eirik's daughter, Ragnhild, to\nArnfin, a son of Thorfin Hausakljufer; and as soon as Eirik's\nsons went away, Thorfin took the earldom again over the Orkney\nIslands. Gamle Eirikson was somewhat older than the other\nbrothers, but still he was not a grown man. When Gunhild and her\nsons came from the westward to Denmark, they were well received\nby King Harald. He gave them great fiefs in his kingdom, so that\nthey could maintain themselves and their men very well. He also\ntook Harald Eirikson to be his foster-son, set him on his knee,\nand thereafter he was brought up at the Danish king's court.\nSome of Eirik's sons went out on viking expeditions as soon as\nthey were old enough, and gathered property, ravaging all around\nin the East sea. They grew up quickly to be handsome men, and\nfar beyond their years in strength and perfection. Glum Geirason\ntells of one of them in the Grafeld song: --\n\"I've heard that, on the Eastland coast,\nGreat victories were won and lost.\nThe king, whose hand is ever graced\nWith gift to skald, his banner placed\nOn, and still on; while, midst the play\nOf swords, sung sharp his good sword's sway\nAs strong in arm as free of gold,\nHe thinn'd the ranks of warriors bold.\"\nThen Eirik's sons turned northwards with their troops to Viken\nand marauded there; but King Trygve kept troops on foot with\nwhich he met them, and they had many a battle, in which the\nvictory was sometimes on one side, and sometimes on the other.\nSometimes Eirik's sons plundered in Viken, and sometimes Trygve\nin Sealand and Halland.\n11. KING HAKON AS A LAW-GIVER.\nAs long as Hakon was king in Norway, there was good peace between\nthe bondes and merchants; so that none did harm either to the\nlife or goods of the other. Good seasons also there were, both\nby sea and land. King Hakon was of a remarkably cheerful\ndisposition, clever in words, and very condescending. He was a\nman of great understanding also, and bestowed attention on law-\ngiving. He gave out the Gula-thing's laws on the advice of\nThorleif Spake (the Wise); also the Frosta-thing's laws on the\nadvice of Earl Sigurd, and of other Throndhjem men of wisdom.\nEidsiva-thing laws were first established in the country by\nHalfdan the Black, as has before been written.\n12. THE BIRTH OF EARL HAKON THE GREAT.\nKing Hakon kept Yule at Throndhjem, and Earl Sigurd had made a\nfeast for him at Hlader. The night of the first day of Yule the\nearl's wife, Bergljot, was brought to bed of a boy-child, which\nafterwards King Hakon poured water over, and gave him his own\nname. The boy grew up, and became in his day a mighty and able\nman, and was earl after his father, who was King Hakon's dearest\nfriend.\n13. OF EYSTEIN THE BAD.\nEystein, a king of the Uplands, whom some called the Great, and\nsome the Bad, once on a time made war in Throndhjem, and subdued\nEyna district and Sparbyggia district, and set his own son Onund\nover them; but the Throndhjem people killed him. Then King\nEystein made another inroad into Throndhjem, and ravaged the land\nfar and wide, and subdued it. He then offered the people either\nhis slave, who was called Thorer Faxe, or his dog, whose name was\nSaur, to be their king. They preferred the dog, as they thought\nthey would sooner get rid of him. Now the dog was, by\nwitchcraft, gifted with three men's wisdom; and when he barked,\nhe spoke one word and barked two. A collar and chain of gold and\nsilver were made for him, and his courtiers carried him on their\nshoulders when the weather or ways were foul. A throne was\nerected for him, and he sat upon a high place, as kings are used\nto sit. He dwelt on Eyin Idre (Idre Isle), and had his mansion\nin a place now called Saurshaug. It is told that the occasion of\nhis death was that the wolves one day broke into his fold, and\nhis courtiers stirred him up to defend his cattle; but when he\nran down from his mound, and attacked the wolves, they tore him\ninto pieces. Many other extraordinary things were done by this\nKing Eystein against the Throndhjem people, and in consequence of\nthis persecution and trouble, many chiefs and people fled and\nleft their udal properties.\n14. JAMTALAND AND HELSINGJALAND.\nKetil Jamte, a son of Earl Onund of Sparabu, went eastward across\nthe mountain ridge, and with him a great multitude, who took all\ntheir farm-stock and goods with them. They cleared the woods,\nand established large farms, and settled the country afterwards\ncalled Jamtaland. Thorer Helsing, Ketil's grandson, on account\nof a murder, ran away from Jamtaland and fled eastward through\nthe forest, and settled there. Many people followed, and that\ncountry, which extends eastward down to the seacoast, was called\nHelsingjaland; and its eastern parts are inhabited by Swedes.\nNow when Harald Harfager took possession of the whole country\nmany people fled before him, both people of Throndhjem and of\nNaumudal districts; and thus new settlers came to Jamtaland, and\nsome all the way to Helsingjaland. The Helsingjaland people\ntravelled into Svithiod for their merchandise, and thus became\naltogether subjects of that country. The Jamtaland people,\nagain, were in a manner between the two countries; and nobody\ncared about them, until Hakon entered into friendly intercourse\nwith Jamtaland, and made friends of the more powerful people.\nThen they resorted to him, and promised him obedience and payment\nof taxes, and became his subjects; for they saw nothing but what\nwas good in him, and being of Norwegian race they would rather\nstand under his royal authority than under the king of Sweden:\nand he gave them laws, and rights to their land. All the people\nof Helsingjaland did the same, -- that is, all who were of\nNorwegian race, from the other side of the great mountain ridge.\n15. HAKON SPREADS CHRISTIANITY.\nKing Hakon was a good Christian when he came to Norway; but as\nthe whole country was heathen, with much heathenish sacrifice,\nand as many great people, as well as the favour of the common\npeople, were to be conciliated, he resolved to practice his\nChristianity in private. But he kept Sundays, and the Friday\nfasts, and some token of the greatest holy-days. He made a law\nthat the festival of Yule should begin at the same time as\nChristian people held it, and that every man, under penalty,\nshould brew a meal of malt into ale, and therewith keep the Yule\nholy as long as it lasted. Before him, the beginning of Yule, or\nthe slaughter night, was the night of mid-winter (Dec. 14), and\nYule was kept for three days thereafter. It was his intent, as\nsoon as he had set himself fast in the land, and had subjected\nthe whole to his power, to introduce Christianity. He went to\nwork first by enticing to Christianity the men who were dearest\nto him; and many, out of friendship to him, allowed themselves to\nbe baptized, and some laid aside sacrifices. He dwelt long in\nthe Throndhjem district, for the strength of the country lay\nthere; and when he thought that, by the support of some powerful\npeople there, he could set up Christianity he sent a message to\nEngland for a bishop and other teachers; and when they arrived in\nNorway, Hakon made it known that he would proclaim Christianity\nover all the land. The people of More and Raumsdal referred the\nmatter to the people of Throndhjem. King Hakon then had several\nchurches consecrated, and put priests into them; and when he came\nto Throndhjem he summoned the bondes to a Thing, and invited them\nto accept Christianity. They gave an answer to the effect that\nthey would defer the matter until the Frosta-thing, at which\nthere would be men from every district of the Throndhjem country,\nand then they would give their determination upon this difficult\nmatter.\n16. ABOUT SACRIFICES.\nSigurd, earl of Hlader, was one of the greatest men for\nsacrifices, and so had Hakon his father been; and Sigurd always\npresided on account of the king at all the festivals of sacrifice\nin the Throndhjem country. It was an old custom, that when there\nwas to be sacrifice all the bondes should come to the spot where\nthe temple stood and bring with them all that they required while\nthe festival of the sacrifice lasted. To this festival all the\nmen brought ale with them; and all kinds of cattle, as well as\nhorses, were slaughtered, and all the blood that came from them\nwas called \"hlaut\", and the vessels in which it was collected\nwere called hlaut-vessels. Hlaut-staves were made, like\nsprinkling brushes, with which the whole of the altars and the\ntemple walls, both outside and inside, were sprinkled over, and\nalso the people were sprinkled with the blood; but the flesh was\nboiled into savoury meat for those present. The fire was in the\nmiddle of the floor of the temple, and over it hung the kettles,\nand the full goblets were handed across the fire; and he who made\nthe feast, and was a chief, blessed the full goblets, and all the\nmeat of the sacrifice. And first Odin's goblet was emptied for\nvictory and power to his king; thereafter, Niord's and Freyja's\ngoblets for peace and a good season. Then it was the custom of\nmany to empty the brage-goblet (1); and then the guests emptied a\ngoblet to the memory of departed friends, called the remembrance\ngoblet. Sigurd the earl was an open-handed man, who did what was\nvery much celebrated; namely, he made a great sacrifice festival\nat Hlader of which he paid all the expenses. Kormak Ogmundson\nsings of it in his ballad of Sigurd: --\n\"Of cup or platter need has none\nThe guest who seeks the generous one, --\nSigurd the Generous, who can trace\nHis lineage from the giant race;\nFor Sigurd's hand is bounteous, free, --\nThe guardian of the temples he.\nHe loves the gods, his liberal hand\nScatters his sword's gains o'er the land-\"\nENDNOTES:\n(1) The brage-goblet, over which vows were made. -- L.\n17. THE FROSTA-THING.\nKing Hakon came to the Frosta-thing, at which a vast multitude of\npeople were assembled. And when the Thing was seated, the king\nspoke to the people, and began his speech with saying, -- it was\nhis message and entreaty to the bondes and householding men, both\ngreat and small, and to the whole public in general, young and\nold, rich and poor, women as well as men, that they should all\nallow themselves to be baptized, and should believe in one God,\nand in Christ the son of Mary and refrain from all sacrifices and\nheathen gods; and should keep holy the seventh day, and abstain\nfrom all work on it, and keep a fast on the seventh day. As soon\nas the king had proposed this to the bondes, great was the murmur\nand noise among the crowd. They complained that the king wanted\nto take their labour and their old faith from them, and the land\ncould not be cultivated in that way. The labouring men and\nslaves thought that they could not work if they did not get meat;\nand they said it was the character of King Hakon, and his father,\nand all the family, to be generous enough with their money, but\nsparing with their diet. Asbjorn of Medalhus in the Gaulardal\nstood up, and answered thus to the king's proposal: --\n\"We bondes, King Hakon, when we elected thee to be our king, and\ngot back our udal rights at the Thing held in Throndhjem, thought\nwe had got into heaven; but now we don't know whether we have\nreally got back our freedom, or whether thou wishest to make\nvassa1s of us again by this extraordinary proposal that we should\nabandon the ancient faith which our fathers and forefathers have\nheld from the oldest times, in the times when the dead were\nburnt, as well as since that they are laid under mounds, and\nwhich, although they were braver than the people of our days, has\nserved us as a faith to the present time. We have also held thee\nso dear, that we have allowed thee to rule and give law and right\nto all the country. And even now we bondes will unanimously hold\nby the law which thou givest us here in the Frosta-thing, and to\nwhich we have also given our assent; and we will follow thee, and\nhave thee for our king, as long as there is a living man among us\nbondes here in this Thing assembled. But thou, king, must use\nsome moderation towards us, and only require from us such things\nas we can obey thee in, and are not impossible for us. If,\nhowever, thou wilt take up this matter with a high hand, and wilt\ntry thy power and strength against us, we bondes have resolved\namong ourselves to part with thee, and to take to ourselves some\nother chief, who will so conduct himself towards us that we can\nfreely and safely enjoy that faith that suits our own\ninclinations. Now, king, thou must choose one or other of these\nconditions before the Thing is ended.\"\nThe bondes gave loud applause to this speech, and said it\nexpressed their will, and they would stand or fall by what had\nbeen spoken. When silence was again restored, Earl Sigurd said,\n\"It is King Hakon's will to give way to you, the bondes, and\nnever to separate himself from your friendship.\" The bondes\nreplied, that it was their desire that the king should offer a\nsacrifice for peace and a good year, as his father was want to\ndo; and thereupon the noise and tumult ceased, and the Thing was\nconcluded. Earl Sigurd spoke to the king afterwards, and advised\nhim not to refuse altogether to do as the people desired, saying\nthere was nothing else for it but to give way to the will of the\nbondes; \"for it is, as thou hast heard thyself, the will and\nearnest desire of the head-people, as well as of the multitude.\nHereafter we may find a good way to manage it.\" And in this\nresolution the king and earl agreed (A.D. 950).\n18. KING HAKON OFFERS SACRIFICES.\nThe harvest thereafter, towards the winter season, there was a\nfestival of sacrifice at Hlader, and the king came to it. It had\nalways been his custom before, when he was present at a place\nwhere there was sacrifice, to take his meals in a little house by\nhimself, or with some few of his men; but the bondes grumbled\nthat he did not seat himself in his high-seat at these the most\njoyous of the meetings of the people. The earl said that the\nking should do so this time. The king accordingly sat upon his\nhigh-seat. Now when the first full goblet was filled, Earl\nSigurd spoke some words over it, blessed it in Odin's name, and\ndrank to the king out of the horn; and the king then took it, and\nmade the sign of the cross over it. Then said Kar of Gryting,\n\"What does the king mean by doing so? Will he not sacrifice?\"\nEarl Sigurd replies, \"The king is doing what all of you do, who\ntrust to your power and strength. He is blessing the full goblet\nin the name of Thor, by making the sign of his hammer over it\nbefore he drinks it.\" On this there was quietness for the\nevening. The next day, when the people sat down to table, the\nbondes pressed the king strongly to eat of horse-flesh (1); and\nas he would on no account do so, they wanted him to drink of the\nsoup; and as he would not do this, they insisted he should at\nleast taste the gravy; and on his refusal they were going to lay\nhands on him. Earl Sigurd came and made peace among them, by\nasking the king to hold his mouth over the handle of the kettle,\nupon which the fat smoke of the boiled horse-flesh had settled\nitself; and the king first laid a linen cloth over the handle,\nand then gaped over it, and returned to the high-seat; but\nneither party was satisfied with this.\nENDNOTES:\n(1) This eating of horse-flesh at these religious festivals was\nconsidered the most direct proof of paganism in the\nfollowing times, and was punished by death or mutilation by\nSaint Olaf. It was a ceremony apparently commemorative of\ntheir Asiatic origin and ancestors.\n19. FEAST OF THE SACRIFICE AT MORE.\nThe winter thereafter the king prepared a Yule feast in More, and\neight chiefs resolved with each other to meet at it. Four of\nthem were from without the Throndhjem district -- namely, Kar of\nGryting, Asbjorn of Medalhus, Thorberg of Varnes, and Orm from\nLjoxa; and from the Throndhjem district, Botolf of Olvishaug,\nNarfe of Staf in Veradal, Thrand Hak from Egg, and Thorer Skeg\nfrom Husaby in Eyin Idre. These eight men bound themselves, the\nfour first to root out Christianity in Norway, and the four\nothers to oblige the king to offer sacrifice to the gods. The\nfour first went in four ships southwards to More, and killed\nthree priests, and burnt three churches, and then they returned.\nNow, when King Hakon and Earl Sigurd came to More with their\ncourt, the bondes assembled in great numbers; and immediately, on\nthe first day of the feast, the bondes insisted hard with the\nking that he should offer sacrifice, and threatened him with\nviolence if he refused. Earl Sigurd tried to make peace between\nthem, and brought it so far that the king took some bits of\nhorse-liver, and emptied all the goblets the bondes filled for\nhim without the sign of the cross; but as soon as the feast was\nover, the king and the earl returned to Hlader. The king was\nvery ill pleased, and made himself ready to leave Throndhjem\nforthwith with all his people; saying that the next time he came\nto Throndhjem, he would come with such strength of men-at-arms\nthat he would repay the bondes for their enmity towards him.\nEarl Sigurd entreated the king not to take it amiss of the\nbondes; adding, that it was not wise to threaten them, or to make\nwar upon the people within the country, and especially in the\nThrondhjem district, where the strength of the land lay; but the\nking was so enraged that he would not listen to a word from\nanybody. He went out from Throndhjem, and proceeded south to\nMore, where he remained the rest of the winter, and on to the\nspring season (A.D. 950); and when summer came he assembled men,\nand the report was that he intended with this army to attack the\nThrondhjem people.\n20. BATTLE AT OGVALDSNES.\nBut just as the king had embarked with a great force of troops,\nthe news was brought him from the south of the country, that\nKing Eirik's sons had come from Denmark to Viken and had driven\nKing Trygve Olafson from his ships at Sotanes, and then had\nplundered far and wide around in Viken, and that many had\nsubmitted to them. Now when King Hakon heard this news, he\nthought that help was needed; and he sent word to Earl Sigurd,\nand to the other chiefs from whom he could expect help, to hasten\nto his assistance. Sigurd the earl came accordingly with a great\nbody of men, among whom were all the Throndhjem people who had\nset upon him the hardest to offer sacrifice; and all made their\npeace with the king, by the earl's persuasion. Now King Hakon\nsailed south along the coast; and when he came south as far as\nStad, he heard that Eirik's sons were come to North Agder. Then\nthey advanced against each other, and met at Kormt. Both parties\nleft their ships there, and gave battle at Ogvaldsnes. Both\nparties had a great force, and it was a great battle. King Hakon\nwent forward bravely, and King Guthorm Eirikson met him with his\ntroop, and they exchanged blows with each other. Guthorm fell,\nand his standard was cut down. Many people fell around him. The\narmy of Eirik's sons then took flight to their ships and rowed\naway with the loss of many a man. So says Guthorm Sindre: --\n\"The king's voice waked the silent host\nWho slept beside the wild sea-coast,\nAnd bade the song of spear and sword\nOver the battle plain be heard.\nWhere heroes' shields the loudest rang,\nWhere loudest was the sword-blade's clang,\nBy the sea-shore at Kormt Sound,\nHakon felled Guthorm to the ground.\"\nNow King Hakon returned to his ships, and pursued Gunhild's sons.\nAnd both parties sailed all they could sail, until they came to\nEast Adger, from whence Eirik's sons set out to sea, and\nsouthwards for Jutland (A.D. 950). Guthorm Sindre speaks of it\nin his song: --\n\"And Guthorm's brothers too, who know\nSo skilfully to bend the bow,\nThe conquering hand must also feel\nOf Hakon, god of the bright steel, --\nThe sun-god, whose bright rays, that dart\nFlame-like, are swords that pierce the heart.\nWell I remember how the King\nHakon, the battle's life and spring,\nO'er the wide ocean cleared away\nEirik's brave sons. They durst not stay,\nBut round their ships' sides hung their shields\nAnd fled across the blue sea-fields.\"\nKing Hakon returned then northwards to Norway, but Eirik's sons\nremained a long time in Denmark.\n21. KING HAKON'S LAWS.\nKing Hakon after this battle made a law, that all inhabited land\nover the whole country along the sea-coast, and as far back from\nit as the salmon swims up in the rivers, should be divided into\nship-raths according to the districts; and it was fixed by law\nhow many ships there should be from each district, and how great\neach should be, when the whole people were called out on service.\nFor this outfit the whole inhabitants should be bound whenever a\nforeign army came to the country. With this came also the order\nthat beacons should be erected upon the hills, so that every man\ncould see from the one to the other; and it is told that a\nwar-signal could thus be given in seven days, from the most\nsoutherly beacon to the most northerly Thing-seat in Halogaland\n22. CONCERNING EIRIK'S SONS.\nEirik's sons plundered much on the Baltic coasts and sometimes,\nas before related, in Norway; but so long as Hakon ruled over\nNorway there was in general good peace, and good seasons, and he\nwas the most beloved of kings. When Hakon had reigned about\ntwenty years in Norway (A.D. 954), Eirik's sons came from Denmark\nwith a powerful army, of which a great part consisted of the\npeople who had followed them on their expeditions; but a still\ngreater army of Danes had been placed at their disposal by King\nHarald Gormson. They sailed with a fair wind from Vendil, and\ncame to Agder; and then sailed northwards, night and day, along\nthe coast. But the beacons were not fired, because it had been\nusual to look for them lighted from the east onwards, and nobody\nhad observed them from the east coast; and besides King Hakon had\nset heavy penalties for giving false alarm, by lighting the\nbeacons without occasion. The reason of this was, that ships of\nwar and vikings cruised about and plundered among the outlying\nislands, and the country people took them for Eirik's sons, and\nlighted the beacons, and set the whole country in trouble and\ndread of war. Sometimes, no doubt, the sons of Eirik were there;\nbut having only their own troops, and no Danish army with them,\nthey returned to Denmark; and sometimes these were other vikings.\nKing Hakon was very angry at this, because it cost both trouble\nand money to no purpose. The bondes also suffered by these false\nalarms when they were given uselessly; and thus it happened that\nno news of this expedition of Eirik's sons circulated through the\nland until they had come as far north as Ulfasund, where they lay\nfor seven days. Then spies set off across Eid and northwards to\nMore. King Hakon was at that time in the island Frede, in North\nMore, at a place called Birkistrand, where he had a dwelling-\nhouse, and had no troops with him, only his bodyguard or court,\nand the neighbouring bondes he had invited to his house.\n23. OF EGIL ULSERK.\nThe spies came to King Hakon, and told him that Eirik's sons,\nwith a great army, lay just to the south of Stad. Then he called\ntogether the most understanding of the men about him, and asked\ntheir opinion, whether he should fight with Eirik's sons,\nalthough they had such a great multitude with them, or should set\noff northwards to gather together more men. Now there was a\nbonde there, by name Egil Ulserk, who was a very old man, but in\nformer days had been strong and stout beyond most men, and a\nhardy man-at-arms withal, having long carried King Harald\nHarfager's banner. Egil answered thus to the king's speech, --\n\"I was in several battles with thy father Harald the king, and he\ngave battle sometimes with many, sometimes with few people; but\nhe always came off with victory. Never did I hear him ask\ncounsel of his friends whether he should fly -- and neither shalt\nthou get any such counsel from us, king; but as we know we have a\nbrave leader, thou shalt get a trusty following from us.\" Many\nothers agreed with this speech, and the king himself declared he\nwas most inclined to fight with such strength as they could\ngather. It was so determined. The king split up a war-arrow,\nwhich he sent off in all directions, and by that token a number\nof men was collected in all haste. Then said Egil Ulserk, -- \"At\none time the peace had lasted so long I was afraid I might come\nto die the death of old age (1), within doors upon a bed of\nstraw, although I would rather fall in battle following my chief.\nAnd now it may so turn out in the end as I wished it to be.\"\nENDNOTES:\n(1) In all the sagas of this pagan time, the dying on a bed of\nsickness is mentioned as a kind of derogatory end of a man\nof any celebrity. -- L.\n24. BATTLE AT FREDARBERG.\nEirik's sons sailed northwards around Stad; as soon as the wind\nsuited; and when they had passed it, and heard where King Hakon\nwas, they sailed to meet him. King Hakon had nine ships, with\nwhich he lay under Fredarberg in Feeysund; and Eirik's sons had\ntwenty ships, with which they brought up on the south side of the\nsame cape, in Feeysund. King Hakon sent them a message, asking\nthem to go upon the land; and telling them that he had hedged in\nwith hazel boughs a place of combat at Rastarkalf, where there is\na flat large field, at the foot of a long and rather low ridge.\nThen Eirik's sons left their ships, and went northwards over the\nneck of land within Fredarberg, and onward to Rastarkalf. Then\nEgil asked King Hakon to give him ten men with ten banners, and\nthe king did so. Then Egil went with his men under the ridge;\nbut King Hakon went out upon the open field with his army, and\nset up his banner, and drew up his army, saying, \"Let us draw up\nin a long line, that they may not surround us, as they have the\nmost men.\" And so it was done; and there was a severe battle,\nand a very sharp attack. Then Egil Ulserk set up the ten banners\nhe had with him, and placed the men who carried them so that they\nshould go as near the summit of the ridge as possible, and\nleaving a space between each of them. They went so near the\nsummit that the banners could be seen over it, and moved on as if\nthey were coming behind the army of Eirik's sons. Now when the\nmen who stood uppermost in the line of the troops of Eirik's sons\nsaw so many flying banners advancing high over the edge of the\nridge, they supposed a great force must be following, who would\ncome behind their army, and between them and their ships. They\nmade each other acquainted with what was going on in a loud\nshout, and the whole took to flight; and when the king saw it,\nthey fled with the rest. King Hakon now pushes on briskly with\nhis people, pursuing the flying, and killing many.\n5. OF KING GAMLE.\nWhen Gamle Eirikson came up the ridge of the hill he turned\nround, and he observed that not more people were following than\nhis men had been engaged with already, and he saw it was but a\nstratagem of war; so he ordered the war-horns to be blown, his\nbanner to be set up, and he put his men in battle order. On\nthis, all his Northmen stood, and turned with him, but the Danes\nfled to the ships; and when King Hakon and his men came thither,\nthere was again sharp conflict; but now Hakon had most people.\nAt last the Eirik's sons' force fled, and took the road south\nabout the hill; but a part of their army retreated upon the hill\nsouthwards, followed by King Hakon. There is a flat field east\nof the ridge which runs westward along the range of hills, and is\nbounded on its west side by a steep ridge. Gamle's men retreated\ntowards this ground; but Hakon followed so closely that he killed\nsome, and others ran west over the ridge, and were killed on that\nside of it. King Hakon did not part with them till the last man\nof them was killed.\n26. KING GAMLE AND ULSERK FALL.\nGamle Eirikson fled from the ridge down upon the plain to the\nsouth of the hill. There he turned himself again, and waited\nuntil more people gathered to him. All his brothers, and many\ntroops of their men, assembled there. Egil Ulserk was in front,\nand in advance of Hakon's men, and made a stout attack. He and\nKing Gamle exchanged blows with each other, and King Gamle got a\ngrievous wound; but Egil fell, and many people with him. Then\ncame Hakon the king with the troops which had followed him, and a\nnew battle began. King Hakon pushed on, cutting down men on both\nsides of him, and killing the one upon the top of the other. So\nsings Guthorm Sindre: --\n\"Scared by the sharp sword's singing sound,\nBrandished in air, the foe gave ground.\nThe boldest warrior cannot stand\nBefore King Hakon's conqueringhand;\nAnd the king's banner ever dies\nWhere the spear-forests thickest rise.\nAltho' the king had gained of old\nEnough of Freyja's tears of gold (1),\nHe spared himself no more than tho'\nHe'd had no well-filled purse to show.\"\nWhen Eirik's sons saw their men falling all round, they turned\nand fled to their ships; but those who had sought the ships\nbefore had pushed off some of them from the land, while some of\nthem were still hauled up and on the strand. Now the sons of\nEirik and their men plunged into the sea, and betook themselves\nto swimming. Gamle Eirikson was drowned; but the other sons of\nEirik reached their ships, and set sail with what men remained.\nThey steered southwards to Denmark, where they stopped a while,\nvery ill satisfied with their expedition.\nENDNOTES:\n(1) Freyja's husband was Od; and her tears, when she wept at the\nlong absence of her husband, were tears of gold. Od's\nwife's tears is the skald's expression here for gold --\nunderstood, no doubt, as readily as any allusion to Plutus\nwould convey the equivalent meaning in modern poetry. -- L.\n27. EGIL ULSERK'S BURIAL-GROUND.\nKing Hakon took all the ships of the sons of Eirik that had been\nleft upon the strand, and had them drawn quite up, and brought on\nthe land. Then he ordered that Egil Ulserk, and all the men of\nhis army who had fallen, should be laid in the ships, and covered\nentirely over with earth and stones. King Hakon made many of the\nships to be drawn up to the field of battle, and the hillocks\nover them are to be seen to the present day a little to the south\nof Fredarberg. At the time when King Hakon was killed, when Glum\nGeirason, in his song, boasted of King Hakon's fall, Eyvind\nSkaldaspiller composed these verses on this battle: --\n\"Our dauntless king with Gamle's gore\nSprinkled his bright sword o'er and o'er:\nSprinkled the gag that holds the mouth\nOf the fell demon Fenriswolf (1).\nProud swelled our warriors' hearts when he\nDrove Eirik's sons out to the sea,\nWith all their Guatland host: but now\nOur warriors weep -- Hakon lies low!\"\nHigh standing stones mark Egil Uslerk s grave.\nENDNOTES:\n(1) The Fenriswolf. one of the children of Loke. begotten with a\ngiantess, was chained to a rock, and gagged by a sword\nplaced in his mouth, to prevent him devouring mankind.\nFenriswolf's gag is a skaldic expression for a sword. -- L.\n28. NEWS OF WAR COMES TO KING HAKON.\nWhen King Hakon, Athelstan's foster-son, had been king for\ntwenty-six years after his brother Eirik had left the country, it\nhappened (A.D. 960) that he was at a feast in Hordaland in the\nhouse at Fitjar on the island Stord, and he had with him at the\nfeast his court and many of the peasants. And just as the king\nwas seated at the supper-table, his watchmen who were outside\nobserved many ships coming sailing along from the south, and not\nvery far from the island. Now, said the one to the other, they\nshould inform the king that they thought an armed force was\ncoming against them; but none thought it advisable to be the\nbearer of an alarm of war to the king, as he had set heavy\npenalties on those who raised such alarms falsely, yet they\nthought it unsuitable that the king should remain in ignorance of\nwhat they saw. Then one of them went into the room and asked\nEyvind Finson to come out as fast as possible, for it was very\nneedful. Eyvind immediately came out and went to where he could\nsee the ships, and saw directly that a great army was on the way;\nand he returned in all haste into the room, and, placing himself\nbefore the kind, said, \"Short is the hour for acting, and long\nthe hour for feasting.\" The king cast his eyes upon him, and\nsaid, \"What now is in the way?\" Eyvind said --\n\"Up king! the avengers are at hand!\nEirik's bold sons approach the land!\nThe Judgment of the sword they crave\nAgainst their foe. Thy wrath I brave;\nTho' well I know 'tis no light thing\nTo bring war-tidings to the king\nAnd tell him 'tis no time to rest.\nUp! gird your armour to your breast:\nThy honour's dearer than my life;\nTherefore I say, up to the strife!\"\nThen said the king, \"Thou art too brave a fellow, Eyvind, to\nbring us any false alarm of war.\" The others all said it was a\ntrue report. The king ordered the tables to be removed, and then\nhe went out to look at the ships; and when it could be clearly\nseen that these were ships of war, the king asked his men what\nresolution they should take -- whether to give battle with the\nmen they had, or go on board ship and sail away northwards along\nthe land. \"For it is easy to see,\" said he, \"that we must now\nfight against a much greater force than we ever had against us\nbefore; although we thought just the same the last time we fought\nagainst Gunhild's sons.\" No one was in a hurry to give an answer\nto the king; but at last Eyvind replied to the king's speech: --\n\"Thou who in the battle-plain\nHast often poured the sharp spear-rain!\nIll it beseems our warriors brave\nTo fly upon the ocean wave:\nTo fly upon the blue wave north,\nWhen Harald from the south comes forth,\nWith many a ship riding in pride\nUpon the foaming ocean-tide;\nWith many a ship and southern viking, --\nLet us take shield in hand, brave king!\"\nThe king replied, \"Thy counsel, Eyvind, is manly, and after my\nown heart; but I will hear the opinion of others upon this\nmatter.\" Now as the king's men thought they discerned what way\nthe king was inclined to take, they answered that they would\nrather fall bravely and like men, than fly before the Danes;\nadding, that they had often gained the victory against greater\nodds of numbers. The king thanked them for their resolution, and\nbade them arm themselves; and all the men did so. The king put\non his armour, and girded on his sword Kvernbit, and put a gilt\nhelmet upon his head, and took a spear (Kesja) in his hand, and a\nshield by his side. He then drew up his courtmen and the bondes\nin one body, and set up his banner.\n29. THE ARMAMENT OF EIRIK'S SONS.\nAfter Gamle's death King Harald, Eirik's son, was the chief of\nthe brothers, and he had a great army with him from Denmark. In\ntheir army were also their mother's brothers, -- Eyvind Skreyja,\nand Alf Askman, both strong and able men, and great man slayers.\nThe sons of Eirik brought up with their ships off the island, and\nit is said that their force was not less than six to one, -- so\nmuch stronger in men were Eirik's sons.\n30. KING HAKON'S BATTLE ARRAY.\nWhen King Hakon had drawn up his men, it is told of him that he\nthrew off his armour before the battle began. So sings Eyvind\nSkaldaspiller, in Hakmarmal: --\n\"They found Blorn's brother bold\nUnder his banner as of old,\nReady for battle. Foes advance, --\nThe front rank raise the shining lance:\nAnd now begins the bloody fray!\nNow! now begins Hild's wild play!\nOur noble king, whose name strikes fear\nInto each Danish heart, -- whose spear\nHas single-handed spilt the blood\nOf many a Danish noble, -- stood\nBeneath his helmet's eagle wing\nAmidst his guards; but the brave king\nScorned to wear armour, while his men\nBared naked breasts against the rain\nOf spear and arrow, his breast-plate rung\nAgainst the stones; and, blithe and gay,\nHe rushed into the thickest fray.\nWith golden helm, and naked breast,\nBrave Hakon played at slaughter's feast.\"\nKing Hakon selected willingly such men for his guard or court-men\nas were distinguished for their strength and bravery, as his\nfather King Harald also used to do; and among these was Thoralf\nSkolmson the Strong, who went on one side of the king. He had\nhelmet and shield, spear and sword; and his sword was called by\nthe name of Footbreadth. It was said that Thoralf and King Hakon\nwere equal in strength. Thord Sjarekson speaks of it in the poem\nhe composed concerning Thoralf: --\n\"The king's men went with merry words\nTo the sharp clash of shields and flame swords,\nWhen these wild rovers of the sea\nAt Fitlar fought. Stout Thoralf he\nNext to the Northmen's hero came,\nScattering wide round the battle flame\nFor in the storm of shields not one\nVentured like him with brave Hakon.\"\nWhen both lines met there was a hard combat, and much bloodshed.\nThe combatants threw their spears and then drew their swords.\nThen King Hakon, and Thoralf with him, went in advance of the\nbanner, cutting down on both sides of them. So says Eyvind\nSkaldaspiller: --\n\"The body-coats of naked steel,\nThe woven iron coats of mail,\nLike water fly before the swing\nOf Hakon's sword -- the champion-king.\nAbout each Gotland war-man's head\nHelm splits, like ice beneath the tread,\nCloven by the axe or sharp swordblade,\nThe brave king, foremost in the fight,\nDyes crimson-red the spotless white\nOf his bright shield with foemen's gore. --\nAmidst the battle's wild uproar,\nWild pealing round from shore to shore.\"\n31. FALL OF SKREYJA AND ASKMAN.\nKing Hakon was very conspicuous among other men, and also when\nthe sun shone his helmet glanced, and thereby many weapons were\ndirected at him. Then Eyvind Finson took a hat and put it over\nthe king's helmet. Now Eyvind Skreyja called out, \"Does the king\nof the Norsemen hide himself, or has he fled? Where is now the\ngolden helmet?\" Then Eyvind, and his brother Alf with him,\npushed on like fools or madmen. King Hakon shouted to Eyvind,\n\"Come on as thou art coming, and thou shalt find the king of the\nNorsemen.\" So says Eyvind Skaldaspiller: --\n\"The raiser of the storm of shields,\nThe conqueror in battle fields, --\nHakon the brave, the warrior's friend,\nWho scatters gold with liberal hand,\nHeard Skreyja's taunt, and saw him rush,\nAmidst the sharp spears' thickest push,\nAnd loudly shouted in reply --\n`If thou wilt for the victory try,\nThe Norseman's king thou soon shall find!\nHold onwards, friend! Hast thou a mind!\"\nIt was also but a short space of time before Eyvind did come up\nswinging his sword, and made a cut at the king; but Thoralf\nthrust his shield so hard against Eyvind that he tottered with\nthe shock. Now the king takes his sword Kvernbit with both\nhands, and hewed Eyvind through helm and head, and clove him down\nto the shoulders. Thoralf also slew Alf Askman. So says Eyvind\nSkaldaspiller: --\n\"With both his hands the gallant king\nSwung round his sword, and to the chin\nClove Eyvind down: his faithless mail\nAgainst it could no more avail,\nThan the thin plank against the shock\nWhen the ship's side beats on the rock.\nBy his bright sword with golden haft\nThro' helm, and head, and hair, was cleft\nThe Danish champion; and amain,\nWith terror smitten, fled his men.\"\nAfter this fall of the two brothers, King Hakon pressed on so\nhard that all men gave way before his assault. Now fear came\nover the army of Eirik's sons, and the men began to fly; and King\nHakon, who was at the head of his men, pressed on the flying, and\nhewed down oft and hard. Then flew an arrow, one of the kind\ncalled \"flein\", into Hakon's arm, into the muscles below the\nshoulder; and it is said by many people that Gunhild's shoe-boy,\nwhose name was Kisping, ran out and forwards amidst the confusion\nof arms, called out \"Make room for the king-killer,\" and shot\nKing Hakon with the flein. Others again say that nobody could\ntell who shot the king, which is indeed the most likely; for\nspears, arrows, and all kinds of missiles flew as thick as a\nsnow-drift. Many of the people of Eirik's sons were killed, both\non the field of battle and on the way to the ships, and also on\nthe strand, and many threw themselves into the water. Many also,\namong whom were Eirik's sons, got on board their ships, and rowed\naway as fast as they could, and Hakon's men after them. So says\nThord Sjarekson: --\n\"The wolf. the murderer, and the thief,\nFled from before the people's chief:\nFew breakers of the peace grew old\nUnder the Northmen's king so bold.\nWhen gallant Hakon lost his life\nBlack was the day, and dire the strife.\nIt was bad work for Gunhild's sons,\nLeading their pack of Hungry Danes\nFrom out the south, to have to fly,\nAnd many a bonde leave to die,\nLeaning his heavy wounded head\nOn the oar-bench for feather-bed.\nThoralf was nearest to the side\nOf gallant Hakon in the tide\nOf battle; his the sword that best\nCarved out the raven's bloody feast:\nAmidst the heaps of foemen slain\nHe was named bravest on the plain.\"\n32. HAKON'S DEATH.\nWhen King Hakon came out to his ship he had his wound bound up;\nbut the blood ran from it so much and so constantly, that it\ncould not be stopped; and when the day was drawing to an end his\nstrength began to leave him. Then he told his men that he wanted\nto go northwards to his house at Alreksstader; but when he came\nnorth, as far as Hakonarhella Hill, they put in towards the land,\nfor by this time the king was almost lifeless. Then he called\nhis friends around him, and told them what he wished to be done\nwith regard to his kingdom. He had only one child, a daughter,\ncalled Thora, and had no son. Now he told them to send a message\nto Eirik's sons, that they should be kings over the country; but\nasked them to hold his friends in respect and honour. \"And if\nfate,\" added he, \"should prolong my life, I will, at any rate,\nleave the country, and go to a Christian land, and do penance for\nwhat I have done against God; but should I die in heathen land,\ngive me any burial you think fit.\" Shortly afterwards Hakon\nexpired, at the little hill on the shore-side at which he was\nborn. So great was the sorrow over Hakon's death, that he was\nlamented both by friends and enemies; and they said that never\nagain would Norway see such a king. His friends removed his body\nto Saeheim, in North Hordaland, and made a great mound, in which\nthey laid the king in full armour and in his best clothes, but\nwith no other goods. They spoke over his grave, as heathen\npeople are used to do, and wished him in Valhal. Eyvind\nSkaldaspiller composed a poem on the death of King Hakon, and on\nhow well he was received in Valhal. The poem is called\n\"Hakonarmal\": --\n\"In Odin's hall an empty place\nStands for a king of Yngve's race;\n`Go, my valkyries,' Odin said,\n`Go forth, my angels of the dead,\nGondul and Skogul, to the plain\nDrenched with the battle's bloody rain,\nAnd to the dying Hakon tell,\nHere in Valhal shall he dwell.'\n\"At Stord, so late a lonely shore,\nWas heard the battle's wild uproar;\nThe lightning of the flashing sword\nBurned fiercely at the shore of Stord.\nFrom levelled halberd and spearhead\nLife-blood was dropping fast and red;\nAnd the keen arrows' biting sleet\nUpon the shore at Stord fast beat.\n\"Upon the thundering cloud of shield\nFlashed bright the sword-storm o'er the field;\nAnd on the plate-mail rattled loud\nThe arrow-shower's rushing cloud,\nIn Odin's tempest-weather, there\nSwift whistling through the angry air;\nAnd the spear-torrents swept away\nRanks of brave men from light of day.\n\"With batter'd shield, and blood-smear'd sword\nSlits one beside the shore of Stord,\nWith armour crushed and gashed sits he,\nA grim and ghastly sight to see;\nAnd round about in sorrow stand\nThe warriors of his gallant band:\nBecause the king of Dags' old race\nIn Odin's hall must fill a place.\n\"Then up spake Gondul, standing near\nResting upon her long ash spear, --\n`Hakon! the gods' cause prospers well,\nAnd thou in Odin's halls shalt dwell!'\nThe king beside the shore of Stord\nThe speech of the valkyrie heard,\nWho sat there on his coal-black steed,\nWith shield on arm and helm on head.\n\"Thoughtful, said Hakon, `Tell me why\nRuler of battles, victory\nIs so dealt out on Stord's red plain?\nHave we not well deserved to gain?'\n`And is it not as well dealt out?'\nSaid Gondul. `Hearest thou not the shout?\nThe field is cleared -- the foemen run --\nThe day is ours -- the battle won!'\n\"Then Skogul said, `My coal-black steed,\nHome to the gods I now must speed,\nTo their green home, to tell the tiding\nThat Hakon's self is thither riding.'\nTo Hermod and to Brage then\nSaid Odin, `Here, the first of men,\nBrave Hakon comes, the Norsemen's king, --\nGo forth, my welcome to him bring.'\n\"Fresh from the battle-field came in,\nDripping with blood, the Norsemen'a king.\n`Methinks,' said he, great Odin's will\nIs harsh, and bodes me further ill;\nThy son from off the field to-day\nFrom victory to snatch away!'\nBut Odin said, `Be thine the joy\nValhal gives, my own brave boy!'\n\"And Brage said, `Eight brothers here\nWelcome thee to Valhal's cheer,\nTo drain the cup, or fights repeat\nWhere Hakon Eirik's earls beat.'\nQuoth the stout king, 'And shall my gear,\nHelm, sword, and mail-coat, axe and spear,\nBe still at hand! 'Tis good to hold\nFast by our trusty friends of old.'\n\"Well was it seen that Hakon still\nHad saved the temples from all ill (1);\nFor the whole council of the gods\nWelcomed the king to their abodes.\nHappy the day when men are born\nLike Hakon, who all base things scorn. --\nWin from the brave and honoured name,\nAnd die amidst an endless fame.\n\"Sooner shall Fenriswolf devour\nThe race of man from shore to shore,\nThan such a grace to kingly crown\nAs gallant Hakon want renown.\nLife, land, friends, riches, all will fly,\nAnd we in slavery shall sigh.\nBut Hakon in the blessed abodes\nFor ever lives with the bright gods.\"\nENDNOTES:\n(1) Hakon, although a Christian, appears to have favoured the\nold religion, and spared the temples of Odin, and therefore\na place in Valhal is assigned him. -- L.","title":"HAKON THE GOOD'S SAGA","type":"page"}