{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/heim/09magnus.htm","path":"neu/heim/09magnus.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/heim/09magnus.htm","text":"Sacred Texts Index\u00a0\n Northern European Index\u00a0\n Heimskringla Index\u00a0\n Previous\u00a0\n Next\u00a0\n \n \n \n \n SAGA OF MAGNUS THE GOOD.\n \n \n \n PRELIMINARY REMARKS.\n \n Magnus reigned from A.D. 1035 to 1047, when he died. During the\n last year of his reign his half-brother Harald Sigurdson was his\n co-regent.\n \n The history of Magnus is treated in \"Agrip.\", ch. 28-32; in\n \"Fagrskinna\", ch. 119-146; in \"Fornmannasogur\", part vi., and in\n \"Knytlinga Saga\".\n \n The skalds quoted in this saga are: Arnor the earls' skald \n (Arnor Jarlaskald), Sigvat, Thjodulf, Bjarne Gullbrarskald,\n Thorgeir Flek, Od Kikinaskald.\n \n \n \n 1. MAGNUS OLAFSON'S JOURNEY FROM THE WEST.\n \n After Yule Magnus Olafson began his journey from the East from\n Novgorod to Ladoga, where he rigged out his ships as soon as the\n ice was loosened in spring (A.D. 1035). Arnor, the earls' skald,\n tells of this in the poem on Magnus: --\n \n \"It is no loose report that he,\n Who will command on land and sea,\n In blood will make his foeman feel\n Olaf's sword Hneiter's sharp blue steel.\n This generous youth, who scatters gold,\n Norway's brave son, but ten years old,\n Is rigging ships in Russia's lake,\n His crown, with friend's support, to take.\"\n \n In spring Magnus sailed from the East to Svithjod. So says\n Arnor: --\n \n \"The young sword-stainer called a Thing,\n Where all his men should meet their king:\n Heroes who find the eagle food\n Before their lord in arms stood.\n And now the curved plank of the bow\n Cleaves the blue sea; the ocean-plough\n By grey winds driven across the main,\n Reaches Sigtuna's grassy plain.\"\n \n Here it is related that when King Magnus and his fellow-\n travellers sailed from the East to Svithjod, they brought up at\n Sigtuna. Emund Olafson was then king in Svithjod. Queen Astrid,\n who had been married to King Olaf the Saint, was also there. She\n received very gladly and well her stepson King Magnus, and\n summoned immediately a numerous Thing of Swedes at a place called\n Hangtar. At the Thing Queen Astrid spoke these words: \"Here is\n come to us a son of Olaf the Saint, called Magnus, who intends to\n make an expedition to Norway to seek his father's heritage. It\n is my great duty to give him aid towards this expedition; for he\n is my stepson, as is well known to all, both Swedes and\n Norwegians. Neither shall he want men or money, in so far as I\n can procure them or have influence, in order that his strength\n may be as great as possible; and all the men who will support\n this cause of his shall have my fullest friendship; and I would\n have it known that I intend myself to go with him on this\n attempt, that all may see I will spare nothing that is in my\n power to help him.\" She spoke long and cleverly in this strain;\n but when she had ended many replied thus: \"The Swedes made no\n honourable progress in Norway when they followed King Olaf his\n father, and now no better success is to be expected, as this man\n is but in years of boyhood; and therefore we have little\n inclination for this expedition.\" Astrid replies, \"All men who\n wish to be thought of true courage must not be deterred by such\n considerations. If any have lost connections at the side of King\n Olaf, or been themselves wounded, now is the time to show a man's\n heart and courage, and go to Norway to take vengeance.\" Astrid\n succeeded so far with words and encouragement that many men\n determined to go with her, and follow King Magnus to Norway. \n Sigvat the skald speaks of this:--\n \n \"Now Astrtd, Olaf's widowed Queen, --\n She who so many a change had seen, --\n Took all the gifts of happier days,\n Jewels and rings, all she could raise,\n And at a Thing at Hangrar, where\n The Swedes were numerous, did declare\n What Olaf's son proposed to do,\n And brought her gifts -- their pay -- in view.\n \n \"And with the Swedes no wiser plan,\n To bring out every brave bold man,\n Could have been found, had Magnus been\n The son himself of the good queen.\n With help of Christ, she hoped to bring\n Magnus to be the land's sole king,\n As Harald was, who in his day\n Obtained o'er all the upper sway.\n \n \"And glad are we so well she sped, --\n The people's friend is now their head;\n And good King Magnus always shows\n How much be to Queen Astrid owes.\n Such stepmothers as this good queen\n In truth are very rarely seen;\n And to this noble woman's praise\n The skald with joy his song will raise.\"\n \n Thiodolf the skald also says in his song of Magnus: --\n \n \"When thy brave ship left the land,\n The bending yard could scarce withstand\n The fury of the whistling gale,\n That split thy many-coloured sail;\n And many a stout ship, tempest-tost,\n Was in that howling storm lost\n That brought them safe to Sigtuna's shore,\n Far from the sound of ocean's roar.\"\n \n \n \n 2. MAGNUS'S EXPEDITION FROM SVITHJOD.\n \n King Magnus set out on his journey from Sigtuna with a great\n force, which he had gathered in Svithjod. They proceeded through\n Svithjod on foot to Helsingjaland. So says Arnor, the earl's\n skald: --\n \n \"And many a dark-red Swedish shield\n Marched with thee from the Swedish field.\n The country people crowded in,\n To help Saint Olaf's son to win;\n And chosen men by thee were led,\n Men who have stained the wolf's tongue red.\n Each milk-white shield and polished spear\n Came to a splendid gathering there.\"\n \n Magnus Olafson went from the East through Jamtaland over the\n keel-ridge of the country and came down upon the Throndhjem\n district, where all men welcomed the king with joy. But no\n sooner did the men of King Svein, the son of Alfifa, hear that\n King Magnus Olafson was come to the country, than they fled on\n all sides and concealed themselves, so that no opposition was\n made to King Magnus; for King Svein was in the south part of the\n country. So says Arnor, the earls' skald: --\n \n \"He who the eagle's talons stains\n Rushed from the East on Throndhjem's plains;\n The terror of his plumed helm\n Drove his pale foemen from the realm.\n The lightning of thy eye so near,\n Great king! thy foemen could not bear,\n Scattered they fled -- their only care\n If thou their wretched lives wilt spare.\"\n \n \n \n 3. MAGNUS MADE KING.\n \n Magnus Olafson advanced to the town (Nidaros), where he was\n joyfully received. He then summoned the people to the Eyra-\n thing (1); and when the bondes met at the Thing, Magnus was taken\n to be king over the whole land, as far as his father Olaf had\n possessed it. Then the king selected a court, and named\n lendermen, and placed bailiffs and officers in all domains and\n offices. Immediately after harvest King Magnus ordered a levy\n through all Throndhjem land, and he collected men readily; and\n thereafter he proceeded southwards along the coast.\n \n \n ENDNOTES:\n (1) Eyra Thing, held on the ayr of the river Nid, that is, on\n the spit of sand, still called an ayr in the north of\n Scotland, dividing a lake, pond, or river-mouth from the\n sea. At the Thing held here the kings of Norway were chosen\n and proclaimed. It was held to be the proper Thing for\n settling disputes between kings in Norway. -- L.\n \n \n \n 4. KING SVEIN'S FLIGHT.\n \n King Svein Alfifason was staying in South Hordaland when he heard\n this news of war. He immediately sent out war-tokens to four\n different quarters, summoned the bondes to him, and made it known\n to all that they should join him with men and ships to defend the\n country. All the men who were in the neighbourhood of the king\n presented themselves; and the king formed a Thing, at which in a\n speech he set forth his business, and said he would advance\n against Magnus O1afson and have a battle with him, if the bondes\n would aid his cause. The king's speech was not very long, and\n was not received with much approbation by the bondes. Afterwards\n the Danish chiefs who were about the king made long and clever\n speeches; but the bondes then took up the word, and answered\n them; and although many said they would follow Svein, and fight\n on his side, some refused to do so bluntly, some were altogether\n silent, and some declared they would join King Magnus as soon as\n they had an opportunity. Then King Svein says, \"Methinks very\n few of the bondes to whom we sent a message have appeared here;\n and of those who have come, and tell us to our face that they\n will join King Magnus as soon as they can, we shall have as\n little benefit as of those who say they will sit at home quietly.\n It is the same with those who say nothing at all. But as to\n those who promise to help us, there are not more than every other\n man; and that force will avail us little against King Magnus. It\n is my counsel, therefore, that we do not trust to these bondes;\n but let us rather go to the land where all the people are sure\n and true to us, and where we will obtain forces to conquer this\n country again.\" As soon as the king had made known this\n resolution all his men followed it, turned their ship's bows, and\n hoisted sail. King Svein sailed eastward along the land, and\n then set right over to Denmark without delay, and Hardaknut\n received his brother Svein very kindly. At their first meeting\n Hardaknut offered King Svein to divide the kingdom of Denmark\n with him, which offer King Svein accepted.\n \n \n \n 5. KING MAGNUS'S JOURNEY TO NORWAY.\n \n In autumn (A.D. 1035) King Magnus proceeded eastward to the end\n of the country, and was received as king throughout the whole\n land, and the country people were rejoiced at his arrival.\n \n \n \n 6. DEATH OF KING CANUTE THE GREAT AND HIS SON SVEIN.\n \n King Svein, Canute's son, went to Denmark, as before related, and\n took part in the government with his brother Hardaknut. In the\n same autumn King Canute the Great died in England, the 13th\n November, forty years old, and was buried at Winchester. He had\n been king of Denmark for twenty-seven years, and over Denmark and\n England together twenty-four years, and also over Norway for\n seven years. King Canute's son Harald was then made king in\n England. The same winter (A.D. 1036) King Svein, Alfifa's son,\n died in Denmark. Thiodolf the skald made these lines concerning\n King Magnus: --\n \n \"Through Sweden's dirty roads the throng\n Followed the king in spearmen strong.\n Svein doth fly, in truth afraid,\n And partly by his men betrayed;\n Flying to Denmark o'er the sea,\n He leaves the land quite clear to thee.\"\n \n Bjarne Gullbrarskald composed the following lines concerning Kalf\n Arnason: --\n \n \"By thee the kings got each his own, --\n Magnus by thee got Norway's throne;\n And Svein in Denmark got a seat,\n When out of Norway he was beat.\n Kalf! It was you who showed the way\n To our young king, the battle-lover, --\n From Russia to his father's sway\n You showed the way, and brought him over.\"\n \n King Magnus ruled over Norway this winter (A.D. 1036), and\n Hardaknut over Denmark.\n \n \n \n 7. RECONCILIATION BETWEEN HARDAKNUT AND KING MAGNUS.\n \n The following spring (A.D. 1036) the kings on both sides ordered\n out a levy, and the news was that they would have a battle at the\n Gaut river; but when the two armies approached each other, the\n lendermen in the one army sent messengers to their connections\n and friends in the other; and it came to a proposal for a\n reconciliation between the two kings, especially as, from both\n kings being but young and childish, some powerful men, who had\n been chosen in each of the countries for that purpose, had the\n rule of the country on their account. It thus was brought about\n that there was a friendly meeting between the kings, and in this\n meeting a peace was proposed; and the peace was to be a brotherly\n union under oath to keep the peace towards each other to the end\n of their lives; and if one of them should die without leaving a\n son, the longest liver should succeed to the whole land and\n people. Twelve of the principal men in each kingdom swore to the\n kings that this treaty should be observed, so long as any one of\n them was in life. Then the kings separated, and each returned\n home to his kingdom; and the treaty was kept as long as both\n lived.\n \n \n \n 8. OF QUEEN ASTRID.\n \n Queen Astrid, who had been married to King Olaf the Saint, came\n to Norway with King Magnus her stepson, as before related, and\n was held by him deservedly in great honour and esteem. Then came\n also Alfhild, King Magnus's mother, to the court, and the king\n received her with the greatest affection, and showed her great\n respect. But it went with Alfhild, as it does with many who come\n to power and honour, that pride keeps pace with promotion. She\n was ill pleased that Queen Astrid was treated with more respect,\n had a higher seat, and more attention. Alfhild wanted to have a\n seat next to the king, but Astrid called Alfhild her slave-woman,\n as indeed she had formerly been when Astrid was queen of Norway\n and King Olaf ruled the land, and therefore would on no account\n let her have a seat beside her, and they could not lodge in the\n same house.\n \n \n \n 9. OF SIGVAT THE SKALD.\n \n Sigvat the skald had gone to Rome, where he was at the time of\n the battle of Stiklestad.\n \n He was on his way back from the South when he heard tidings of\n King O1af's fall, which gave him great grief. He then sang\n these lines: --\n \n \"One morning early on a hill,\n The misty town asleep and still,\n Wandering I thought upon the fields.\n Strewed o'er with broken mail and shields,\n Where our king fell, -- our kind good king,\n Where now his happy youthful spring?\n My father too! -- for Thord was then\n One of the good king's chosen men.\"\n \n One day Sigvat went through a village, and heard a husband\n lamenting grievously over the loss of his wife, striking his\n breast, tearing his clothes, weeping bitterly, and saying he\n wanted to die; and Sigvat sang these lines: --\n \n \"This poor man mourns a much-loved wife,\n Gladly would he be quit of life.\n Must love be paid for by our grief?\n The price seems great for joy so brief.\n But the brave man who knows no fear\n Drops for his king a silent tear,\n And feels, perhaps, his loss as deep\n As those who clamour when they weep.\"\n \n Sigvat came home to Norway to the Throndhjem country, where he\n had a farm and children. He came from the South along the coast\n in a merchant vessel, and as they lay in Hillarsund they saw a\n great many ravens flying about. Then Sigvat said: --\n \n \"I see here many a croaking raven\n Flying about the well-known haven:\n When Olaf's ship was floating here,\n They knew that food for them was near;\n When Olaf's ship lay here wind-bound,\n Oft screamed the erne o'er Hillar sound,\n Impatient for the expected prey,\n And wont to follow to the fray.\"\n \n When Sigvat came north to the town of Throndhjem King Svein was\n there before him. He invited Sigvat to stay with him, as Sigvat\n had formerly been with his father King Canute the Great; but\n Sigvat said he would first go home to his farm. One day, as\n Sigvat was walking in the street, he saw the king's men at play,\n and he sang: --\n \n \"One day before I passed this way,\n When the king's guards were at their play,\n Something there was -- I need not tell --\n That made me pale, and feel unwell.\n Perhaps it was I thought, just then,\n How noble Olaf with his men,\n In former days, I oft have seen\n In manly games upon this green.\"\n \n Sigvat then went to his farm; and as he heard that many men\n upbraided him with having deserted King Olaf, he made these\n verses: --\n \n \"May Christ condemn me still to burn\n In quenchless fire, if I did turn,\n And leave King Olaf in his need, --\n My soul is free from such base deed.\n I was at Rome, as men know well\n Who saw me there, and who can tell\n That there in danger I was then:\n The truth I need not hide from men.\"\n \n Sigvat was ill at ease in his home. One day he went out and\n sang: --\n \n \"While Olaf lived, how smiled the land!\n Mountain and cliff, and pebbly strand.\n All Norway then, so fresh, so gay,\n On land or sea, where oft I lay.\n But now to me all seems so dready,\n All black and dull -- of life I'm weary;\n Cheerless to-day, cheerless to-morrow --\n Here in the North we have great sorrow.\"\n \n Early in winter Sigvat went westward over the ridge of the\n country to Jamtaland, and onwards to Helsingjaland, and came to\n Svithjod. He went immediately to Queen Astrid, and was with her\n a long time, and was a welcome guest. He was also with her\n brother King Emund, and received from him ten marks of proved\n silver, as is related in the song of Canute. Sigvat always\n inquired of the merchants who traded to Novgorod if they could\n tell him any news of Magnus Olafson. Sigvat composed these lines\n at that time: --\n \n \"I ask the merchant oft who drives\n His trade to Russia, `How he thrives,\n Our noble prince? How lives he there?\n And still good news -- his praise -- I hear.\n To little birds, which wing their way\n Between the lands, I fain would say,\n How much we long our prince to see,\n They seem to hear a wish from me.\"\n \n \n \n 10. OF KING MAGNUS'S FIRST ARRIVAL IN SVITHJOD.\n \n Immediately after Magnus Olafson came to Svithjod from Russia,\n Sigvat met him at Queen Astrid's house, and glad they all were at\n meeting. Sigvat then sang: --\n \n \"Thou art come here, prince, young and bold!\n Thou art come home! With joy behold\n Thy land and people. From this hour\n I join myself to thy young power.\n I could not o'er to Russie hie, --\n Thy mother's guardian here was I.\n It was my punishment for giving\n Magnus his name, while scarcely living.\"\n \n Afterwards Sigvat travelled with Queen Astrid, and followed\n Magnus to Norway. Sigvat sang thus: --\n \n \"To the crowds streaming to the Thing,\n To see and hear Magnus their king,\n Loudly, young king, I'll speak my mind --\n `God to His people has been kind.'\n If He, to whom be all the praise,\n Give us a son in all his ways\n Like to his sire, no folk on earth\n Will bless so much a royal birth.\"\n \n Now when Magnus became king of Norway Sigvat attended him, and\n was his dearest friend. Once it happened that Queen Astrid and\n Alfhild the king's mother had exchanged some sharp words with\n each other, and Sigvat said: --\n \n \"Alfhild! though it was God's will\n To raise thee -- yet remember still\n The queen-born Astrid should not be\n Kept out of due respect by thee.\"\n \n \n \n 11. KING OLAF'S SHRINE.\n \n King Magnus had a shrine made and mounted with gold and silver,\n and studded with jewels. This shrine was made so that in shape\n and size it was like a coffin. Under it was an arched way, and\n above was a raised roof, with a head and a roof-ridge. Behind\n were plaited hangings; and before were gratings with padlocks,\n which could be locked with a key. In this shrine King Magnus had\n the holy remains of King Olaf deposited, and many were the\n miracles there wrought. Of this Sigvat speaks: --\n \n \"For him a golden shrine is made,\n For him whose heart was ne'er afraid\n Of mortal man -- the holy king,\n Whom the Lord God to heaven did bring.\n Here many a man shall feel his way,\n Stone-blind, unconscious of the day,\n And at the shrine where Olaf lies\n Give songs of praise for opened eyes.\"\n \n It was also appointed by law that King Olaf's holy day should be\n held sacred over all Norway, and that day has been kept ever\n afterwards as the greatest of Church days. Sigvat speaks of it:\n --\n \n \"To Olaf, Magnus' father, raise,\n Within my house, the song of praise!\n With joy, yet grief, we'll keep the day\n Olaf to heaven was called away. \n Well may I keep within my breast\n A day for him in holy rest, --\n My upraised hands a golden ring\n On every branch (1) bear from that king.\"\n \n \n ENDNOTES:\n (1) The fingers, the branches of the hand, bore golden fruits\n from the generosity of the king. -- L.\n \n \n \n 12. OF THORER HUND.\n \n Thorer Hund left the country immediately after King Olaf's fall. \n He went all the way to Jerusalem, and many people say he never\n came back. Thorer Hund had a son called Sigurd, father of\n Ranveig who was married to Joan, a son of Arne Arnason. Their\n children were Vidkun of Bjarkey, Sigurd Hund, Erling, and\n Jardthrud.\n \n \n \n 13. OF THE MURDER OF HAREK OF THJOTTA.\n \n Harek of Thjotta sat at home on his farm, till King Magnus\n Olafson came to the country and was made king. Then Harek went\n south to Throndhjem to King Magnus. At that time Asmund\n Grankelson was in the king's house. When Harek came to Nidaros,\n and landed out of the ship, Asmund was standing with the king in\n the gallery outside the loft, and both the king and Asmund knew\n Harek when they saw him. \"Now,\" says Asmund to the king, \"I will\n pay Harek for my father's murder.\" He had in his hand a little\n thin hatchet. The king looked at him, and said, \"Rather take\n this axe of mine.\" It was thick, and made like a club. \"Thou\n must know, Asmund,\" added he, \"that there are hard bones in the\n old fellow.\" Asmund took the axe, went down, and through the\n house, and when he came down to the cross-road Harek and his men\n coming up met him. Asmund struck Harek on the head, so that the\n axe penetrated to the brains; and that was Harek's death-wound.\n Asmund turned back directly to the king's house, and the whole\n edge of the axe was turned with the blow. Then said the king,\n \"What would thy axe have done, for even this one, I think, is\n spoilt?\" King Magnus afterwards gave him a fief and office in\n Halogaland, and many are the tales about the strife between\n Asmund and Harek's sons.\n \n \n \n 14. OF THORGEIR FLEK.\n \n Kalf Arnason had at first, for some time, the greatest share of\n the government of the country under King Magnus; but afterwards\n there were people who reminded the king of the part Kalf had\n taken at Stiklestad, and then it became difficult for Kalf to\n give the king satisfaction in anything. Once it happened there\n were many men with the king bringing their affairs before him;\n and Thorgeir Flek from Sula in Veradal, of whom mention is made\n before in the history of King Olaf the Saint, came to him about\n some needful business. The king paid no attention to his words,\n but was listening to people who stood near him. Then Thorgeir\n said to the king, so loud that all who were around him could\n hear: --\n \n \"Listen, my lord, to my plain word.\n I too was there, and had to bear\n A bloody head from Stiklestad:\n For I was then with Olaf's men.\n Listen to me: well did I see\n The men you're trusting the dead corpse thrusting\n Out of their way, as dead it lay;\n And striking o'er your father's gore.\"\n \n There was instantly a great uproar, and some told Thorgeir to go\n out; but the king called him, and not only despatched his\n business to his satisfaction, but promised him favour and\n friendship.\n \n \n \n 115. KALF ARNASON FLIES THE COUNTRY\n \n Soon after this the king was at a feast at the farm of Haug in\n Veradel, and at the dinner-table Kalf Arnason sat upon one side\n of him, and Einar Tambaskelfer on the other. It was already come\n so far that the king took little notice of Kalf, but paid most\n attention to Einar. The king said to Einar, \"Let us ride to-day\n to Stiklestad. I should like to see the memorials of the things\n which took place there.\" Einar replies, \"I can tell thee nothing\n about it; but take thy foster-father Kalf with thee; he can give\n thee information about all that took place.\" When the tables\n were removed, the king made himself ready, and said to Kalf,\n \"Thou must go with me to Stiklestad.\"\n \n Kalf replied, \"That is really not my duty.\"\n \n Then the king stood up in a passion, and said, \"Go thou shalt,\n Kalf!\" and thereupon he went out.\n \n Kalf put on his riding clothes in all haste, and said to his\n foot-boy, \"Thou must ride directly to Eggja, and order my house-\n servants to ship all my property on board my ship before sunset.\"\n \n King Magnus now rides to Stiklestad, and Kalf with him. They\n alighted from horseback, and went to the place where the battle\n had been. Then said the king to Kalf, \"Where is the spot at\n which the king fell?\"\n \n Kalf stretched out his spear-shaft, and said, \"There he lay when\n he fell.\"\n \n The king: \"And where wast thou, Kalf?\"\n \n Kalf: \"Here where I am now standing.\"\n \n The king turned red as blood in the face, and said, \"Then thy axe\n could well have reached him.\"\n \n Kalf replied, \"My axe did not come near him;\" and immediately\n went to his horse, sprang on horseback, and rode away with all\n his men; and the king rode back to Haug. Kalf did not stop until\n he got home in the evening to Eggja. There his ship lay ready at\n the shore side, and all his effects were on board, and the vessel\n manned with his house-servants. They set off immediately by\n night down the fjord, and afterwards proceeded day and night,\n when the wind suited. He sailed out into the West sea, and was\n there a long time plundering in Ireland, Scotland, and the\n Hebudes. Bjarne Gullbrarskald tells of this in the song about\n Kalf: --\n \n \"Brother of Thorberg, who still stood\n Well with the king! in angry mood\n He is the first to break with thee,\n Who well deserves esteemed to be;\n He is the first who friendship broke,\n For envious men the falsehood spoke;\n And he will he the first to rue\n The breach of friendship 'twixt you two.\"\n \n \n \n 16. OF THE THREATS OF THE BONDES.\n \n King Magnus added to his property Veggia, which Hrut had been\n owner of, and Kviststad, which had belonged to Thorgeir, and also\n Eggja, with all the goods which Kalf had left behind him; and\n thus he confiscated to the king's estate many great farms, which\n had belonged to those of the bonde-army who had fallen at\n Stiklestad. In like manner, he laid heavy fined upon many of\n those who made the greatest opposition to King Olaf. He drove\n some out of the country, took large sums of money from others,\n and had the cattle of others slaughtered for his use. Then the\n bondes began to murmur, and to say among themselves, \"Will he go\n on in the same way as his father and other chiefs, whom we made\n an end of when their pride and lawless proceedings became\n insupportable?\" This discontent spread widely through the\n country. The people of Sogn gathered men, and, it was said, were\n determined to give battle to King Magnus, if he came into the\n Fjord district. King Magnus was then in Hordaland, where he had\n remained a long time with a numerous retinue, and was now come to\n the resolution to proceed north to Sogn. When the king's friends\n observed this, twelve men had a meeting, and resolved to\n determine by casting lots which of them should inform the king of\n the discontent of the people; and it so happened that the lot\n fell upon Sigvat.\n \n \n \n 17. OF THE FREE-SPEAKING SONG (\"BERSOGLISVISUR\").\n \n Sigvat accordingly composed a poem, which he called the \"Free-\n speaking Song\", which begins with saying the king had delayed too\n long to pacify the people, who were threatening to rise in tumult\n against him. He said: --\n \n \"Here in the south, from Sogn is spread\n The news that strife draws to a head:\n The bondes will the king oppose --\n Kings and their folk should ne'er be foes.\n Let us take arms, and briskly go\n To battle, if it must be so;\n Defend our king -- but still deplore\n His land plunged in such strife once more.\"\n \n In this song are also these verses: --\n \n \"Hakon. who at Fitiar died, --\n Hakon the Good, could not abide\n The viking rule. or robber train,\n And all men's love he thus did gain.\n The people since have still in mind\n The laws of Hakon, just and kind;\n And men will never see the day\n When Hakon's laws have passed away.\n \n \"The bondes ask but what is fair;\n The Olafs and the Earls, when there\n Where Magnus sits, confirmed to all\n Their lands and gear -- to great and small,\n Bold Trygve's son, and Harald's heir,\n The Olafs, while on earth they were,\n Observed the laws themselves had made,\n And none was for his own afraid.\n \n \"Let not thy counsellors stir thy wrath\n Against the man who speaks the truth;\n Thy honour lies in thy good sword,\n But still more in thy royal word;\n And, if the people do not lie,\n The new laws turn out not nigh\n So Just and mild, as the laws given\n At Ulfasund in face of heaven.\n \n \"Dread king! who urges thee to break\n Thy pledged word, and back to take\n Thy promise given? Thou warrior bold;\n With thy own people word to hold,\n Thy promise fully to maintain,\n Is to thyself the greatest gain:\n The battle-storm raiser he\n Must by his own men trusted be.\n \n \"Who urges thee, who seek'st renown,\n The bondes' cattle to cut down?\n No king before e'er took in hand\n Such viking-work in his own land.\n Such rapine men will not long bear,\n And the king's counsellors will but share\n In their ill-will: when once inflamed,\n The king himself for all is blamed.\n \n \"Do cautious, with this news of treason\n Flying about -- give them no reason.\n We hange the thief, but then we use\n Consideration of the excuse.\n I think, great king (who wilt rejoice\n Eagle and wolf with battle voice),\n It would be wise not to oppose\n Thy bondes, and make them thy foes.\n \n \"A dangerous sign it is, I fear,\n That old grey-bearded men appear\n In corners whispering at the Thing,\n As if they had bad news to bring.\n The young sit still, -- no laugh, or shout, --\n More looks than words passing shout;\n And groups of whispering heads are seen,\n On buttoned breasts, with lowering mien.\n \n \"Among the udalmen, they say\n The king, if he could have his way,\n Would seize the bondes' udal land,\n And free-born men must this withstand.\n In truth the man whose udal field,\n By any doom that law can yield\n From him adjudged the king would take,\n Could the king's throne and power shake.\"\n \n This verse is the last: --\n \n \"A holy bond between us still\n Makes me wish speedy end to ill:\n The sluggard waits till afternoon, --\n At once great Magnus! grant our boon.\n Then we will serve with heart and hand,\n With thee we'll fight by sea or land:\n With Olaf's sword take Olaf's mind, \n And to thy bondes be more kind.\"\n \n In this song the king was exhorted to observe the laws which his\n father had established. This exhortation had a good effect on\n the king, for many others held the same language to him. So at\n last the king consulted the most prudent men, who ordered all\n affairs according to law. Thereafter King Magnus had the law-\n book composed in writing which is still in use in Throndhjem\n district, and is called \"The Grey Goose\" (1). King Magnus\n afterwards became very popular, and was beloved by all the\n country people, and therefore he was called Magnus the Good.\n \n \n ENDNOTES:\n (1) \"The Grey Goose\", so called probably from the colour of the\n parchment on which it is written, is one of the most curious\n relics of the Middle Ages, and give us an unexpected view of\n the social condition of the Northmen in the eleventh\n century. Law appears to have been so far advanced among\n them that the forms were not merely established, but the\n slightest breach of the legal forms of proceeding involved\n the loss of the case. The \"Grey Goose\" embraces subjects\n not dealt with probably by any other code in Europe at that\n period. The provision for the poor, the equality of\n weights and measures, police of markets and of sea havens,\n provision for illegitimate children of the poor, inns for\n travellers, wages of servants and support of them in\n sickness, protection of pregnant women and even of domestic\n animals from injury, roads, bridges, vagrants, beggars, are\n subjects treated of in this code. -- \"Schlegel.\" -- L.\n \n \n \n 18. OF THE ENGLISH KINGS.\n \n The king of the English, King Harald, died (A.D. 1040) five years\n after his father King Canute, and was buried beside his father at\n Winchester. After his death his brother Hardaknut, the second\n son of the old King Canute, was king of England, and was thus\n king both of Denmark and England. He ruled these kingdoms two\n years, and then died of sickness in England, leaving no children.\n He was buried at Winchester beside his father. After his death\n Edward the Good, a son of the English king Ethelred (and Emma, a\n daughter of Richard earl of Rouen), was chosen king in England.\n King Edward the Good was, on his mother's side, a brother of\n Harald and Hardaknut, the sons of Canute the Great; and the\n daughter of Canute and Queen Emma was Gunhild, who was married to\n the Emperor Henry of Germany, who was called Henry the Mild.\n Gunhild had been three years in Germamy when she fell sick, and\n she died five years after the death of her father King Canute the\n Great.\n \n \n \n 19. OF KING MAGNUS OLAFSON.\n \n When King Magnus Olafson heard of Hardaknut's death, he\n immediately sent people south to Denmark, with a message to the\n men who had bound themselves by oath to the peace and agreement\n which was made between King Magnus and Hardaknut, and reminded\n them of their pledge. He added, as a conclusion, that in summer\n (A.D. 1042.) he would come with his army to Denmark to take\n possession of his Danish dominions, in terms of the agreement, or\n to fall in the field with his army. So says Arnor, the earls'\n skald: --\n \n \"Wise were the words, exceeding wise,\n Of him who stills the hungriest cries\n Of beasts of prey -- the earl's lord;\n And soon fulfilled will be his word:\n `With his good sword he'll Denmark gain,\n Or fall upon a bloody plain;\n And rather than give up his cause,\n Will leave his corpse to raven's claws.'\"\n \n \n \n 20. KING MAGNUS'S ARMAMENT.\n \n Thereafter King Magnus gathered together a great army, and\n summoned to him all lendermen and powerful bondes, and collected\n war-ships. When the army was assembled it was very handsome, and\n well fitted out. He had seventy large vessels when he sailed\n from Norway. So says Thiodolf the skald: --\n \n \"Brave king! the terror of the foe,\n With thee will many a long-ship go.\n Full seventy sail are gathered here,\n Eastward with their great king to steer.\n And southward now the bright keel glides;\n O'er the white waves the Bison rides.\n Sails swell, yards crack, the highest mast\n O'er the wide sea scarce seen at last.\"\n \n Here it related that King Magnus had the great Bison, which his\n father King Olaf had built. It had more than thirty banks of\n rowers; and forward on the bow was a great buffalo head, and aft\n on the stern-post was its tail. Both the head and the tail, and\n both sides of the ship, were gilded over. Of this speaks Arnor,\n the earls' skald: --\n \n \"The white foam lashing o'er the deck\n Oft made the glided head to shake;\n The helm down, the vessel's heel\n Oft showed her stem's bright-glacing steel.\n Around Stavanger-point careering,\n Through the wild sea's white flames steering,\n Tackle loud singing to the strain,\n The storm-horse flies to Denmark's plain.\"\n \n King Magnus set out to sea from Agder, and sailed over to\n Jutland. So says Arnor: --\n \n \"I can relate how through the gale\n The gallant Bison carried sail.\n With her lee gunwale in the wave,\n The king on board, Magnus the brave!\n The iron-clad Thingmen's chief to see\n On Jutland's coast right glad were we, --\n Right glad our men to see a king\n Who in the fight his sword could swing.\"\n \n \n \n 21. KING MAGNUS COMES TO DENMARK.\n \n When King Magnus came to Denmark he was joyfully received. He\n appointed a Thing without delay, to which he summoned the people\n of the country, and desired they would take him as king,\n according to the agreement which had been entered into. As the\n highest of the chiefs of the country were bound by oath to King\n Magnus, and were desirous of keeping their word and oath, they\n endeavoured zealously to promote the cause with the people. It\n contributed also that King Canute the Great, and all his\n descendants, were dead; and a third assistance was, that his\n father King Olaf's sanctity and miracles were become celebrated\n in all countries.\n \n \n \n 22. KING MAGNUS CHOSEN KING OF DENMARK.\n \n King Magnus afterwards ordered the people to be summoned to\n Viborg to a Thing. Both in older and later times, the Danes\n elected their kings at the Viborg Thing. At this Thing the Danes\n chose Magnus Olafson to be king of all the Danish dorninions.\n King Magnus remained long in Denmark during the summer (A.D.\n 1042); and wherever he came the people received him joyfully, and\n obeyed him willingly. He divided the country into baronies and\n districts, and gave fiefs to men of power in the land. Late in\n autumn he returned with his fleet to Norway, but lay for some\n time at the Gaut river.\n \n \n \n 23. OF SVEIN ULFSON.\n \n There was a man, by name Svein, a son of Earl Ulf, and grandson\n of Thorgils Sprakaleg. Svein's mother was Astrid, a daughter of\n King Svein Forkbeard. She was a sister of Canute the Great by\n the father's side, and of the Swedish King Olaf Eirikson by the\n mother's side; for her mother was Queen Sigrid the Haughty, a\n daughter of Skoglar Toste. Svein Ulfson had been a long time\n living with his relation the Swedish king, ever since King Canute\n had ordered his father Ulf to be killed, as is related in the\n saga of old King Canute, that he had his brother-in-law, Earl\n Ulf, murdered in Roskilde; and on which account Svein had not\n since been in Denmark. Svein Ulfson was one of the handsomest\n men that could be seen; he was very stout and strong, and very\n expert in all exercises, and a well-spoken man withal. Every one\n who knew him said he had every quality which became a good chief.\n Svein Ulfson waited upon King Magnus while he lay in the Gaut\n river, as before mentioned, and the king received him kindly, as\n he was by many advised to do; for Svein was a particularly\n popular man. He could also speak for himself to the king well\n and cleverly; so that it came at lasf to Svein's entering into\n King Magnus's service, and becoming his man. They often talked\n together afterwards in private concerning many affairs.\n \n \n \n 24. SVEIN ULFSON CREATED AN EARL.\n \n One day, as King Magnus sat in his high-seat and many people were\n around him, Svein Ulfson sat upon a footstool before the king. \n The king then made a speech: \"Be it known to you, chiefs, and the\n people in general, that I have taken the following resolution.\n Here is a distinguished man, both for family and for his own\n merits, Svein Ulfson, who has entered into my service, and given\n me promise of fidelity. Now, as ye know, the Danes have this\n summer become my men, so that when I am absent from the country\n it is without a head; and it is not unknown to you how it is\n ravaged by the people of Vindland, Kurland, and others from the\n Baltic, as well as by Saxons. Therefore I promised them a chief\n who could defend and rule their land; and I know no man better\n fitted, in all respects, for this than Svein Ulfson, who is of\n birth to be chief of the country. I will therefore make him my\n earl, and give him the government of my Danish dominions while I\n am in Norway; just as King Canute the Great set his father, Earl\n Ulf, over Denmark while he was in England.\"\n \n Then Einar Tambaskelfer said, \"Too great an earl -- too great an\n earl, my foster-son!\"\n \n The king replied in a passion, \"Ye have a poor opinion of my\n judgment, I think. Some consider that ye are too great earls,\n and others that ye are fit for nothing.\"\n \n Then the king stood up, took a sword, and girt it on the earl's\n loins, and took a shield and fastened it on his shoulders, put a\n helmet upon his head, and gave him the title of earl, with the\n same fiefs in Denmark which his father Earl Ulf had formerly\n held. Afterwards a shrine was brought forth containing holy\n relics, and Svein laid his hand hereon, and swore the oath of\n fidelity to King Magnus; upon which the king led the earl to the\n highseat by his side. So says Thiodolf: --\n \n \"Twas at the Gaut river's shore,\n With hand on shrine Svein Ulfson swore.\n King Magnus first said o'er the oath,\n With which Svein Ulfson pledged his troth.\n The vows by Svein solemnly given,\n On holy bones of saints in heaven,\n To Magnus seemed both fair and fast;\n He found they were too fair to last.\"\n \n Earl Svein went thereafter to Denmark, and the whole nation\n received him well. He established a court about him, and soon\n became a great man. In winter (A.D. 1043), he went much about\n the country, and made friends among the powerful chiefs; and,\n indeed, he was beloved by all the people of the land.\n \n \n \n 25. KING MAGNUS'S FORAY.\n \n King Magnus proceeded northward to Norway with his fleet, and\n wintered there; but when the spring set in (A.D. 1048) he\n gathered a large force, with which he sailed south to Demnark,\n having heard the news from Vindland that the Vindland people in\n Jomsborg had withdrawn from their submission to him. The Danish\n kings had formerly had a very large earldom there, and they first\n founded Jomsborg; and now the place was become a very strong\n fortress. When King Magnus heard of this, he ordered a large\n fleet and army to be levied in Denmark, and sailed in summer to\n Vindland with all his forces, which made a very large army\n altogether. Arnor, the earls' skald, tells of it thus: --\n \n \"Now in this strophe, royal youth!\n I tell no more than the plain truth.\n Thy armed outfit from the strand\n Left many a keel-trace on the sand,\n And never did a king before\n SO many ships to any shore\n Lead on, as thou to Vindland's isle:\n The Vindland men in fright recoil.\"\n \n Now when King Magnus came to Vindland he attacked Jomsborg, and\n soon took the fortress, killing' many people, burning and\n destroying both in the town and in the courttry all around, and\n making the greatest havoc. So says Arnor, the earl's skald: --\n \n \"The robbers, hemmed 'twixt death and fire,\n Knew not how to escape thy ire;\n O'er Jomsborg castle's highest towers\n Thy wrath the whirlwind-fire pours.\n The heathen on his false gods calls,\n And trembles even in their halls;\n And by the light from its own flame\n The king this viking-hold o'ercame.\"\n \n Many people in Vindland submitted to King Magnus, but many more\n got out of the way and fled. King Magnus returned to Denmark,\n and prepared to take his winter abode there, and sent away the\n Danish, and also a great many of the Norwegian people he had\n brought with him.\n \n \n \n 26. SVEIN RECEIVES THE TITLE OF KING.\n \n The same winter (A.D. 1043), in which Svein Ulfson was raised to\n the government of the whole Danish dominions, and had made\n friends of a great number of the principal chiefs in Denmark, and\n obtained the affections of the people, he assumed by the advice\n of many of the chiefs the title of king. But when in the spring\n thereafter he heard that King Magnus had come from the north with\n a great army, Svein went over to Scania, from thence up to\n Gautland, and so on to Svithjod to his relation, King Emund,\n where he remained all summer, and sent spies out to Denmark, to\n inquire about the king's proceedings and the number of his men.\n Now when Svein heard that King Magnus had let a great part of his\n army go away, and also that he was south in Jutland, he rode from\n Svithjod with a great body of peopie which the Swedish king had\n given him. When Svein came to Scania the people of that country\n received him well, treated him as their king, and men joined him\n in crowds. He then went on to Seeland, where he was also well\n received, and the whole country joined him. He then went to\n Fyen, and laid all the islands under his power; and as the people\n also joined him, he collected a great army and many ships of war.\n \n \n \n 27. OF KING MAGNUS'S MILITARY FORCE.\n \n King Magnus heard this news, and at the same time that the people\n of Vindland had a large force on foot. He summoned people\n therefore to come to him, and drew together a great army in\n Jutland. Otto, also, the Duke of Brunsvik, who had married\n Ulfhild, King Olaf the Saint's daughter, and the sister of King\n Magnus, came to him with a great troop. The Danish chiefs\n pressed King Magnus to advance against the Vindland army, and not\n allow pagans to march over and lay waste the country; so it was\n resolved that the king with his army should proceed south to\n Heidaby. While King Magnus lay at Skotborg river, on Hlyrskog\n Heath, he got intelligence concerning the Vindland army, and that\n it was so numerous it could not be counted; whereas King Magnus\n had so few, that there seemed no chance for him but to fly. The\n king, however, determined on fighting, if there was any\n possibility of gaining the victory; but the most dissuaded him\n from venturing on an engagement, and all, as one man, said that\n the Vindland people had undoubtedly a prodigious force. Duke\n Otto, however, pressed much to go to battle. Then the king\n ordered the whole army to be gathered by the war trumpets into\n battle array, and ordered all the men to arm, and to lie down for\n the night under their shields; for he was told the enemy's army\n had come to the neighbourhood. The king was very thoughtful; for\n he was vexed that he should be obliged to fly, which fate he had\n never experienced before. He slept but little all night, and\n chanted his prayers.\n \n \n \n 28. OF KING OLAF'S MIRACLE.\n \n The following day was Michaelmas eve. Towards dawn the king\n slumbered, and dreamt that his father, King Olaf the Saint,\n appeared to him, and said, \"Art thou so melancholy and afraid,\n because the Vindland people come against thee with a great army?\n Be not afraid of heathens, although they be many; for I shall be\n with thee in the battle. Prepare, therefore, to give battle to\n the Vindlanders, when thou hearest my trumpet.\" When the king\n awoke he told his dream to his men, and the day was then dawning.\n At that moment all the people heard a ringing of bells in the\n air; and those among King Magnus's men who had been in Nidaros\n thought that it was the ringing of the bell called Glod, which\n King Olaf had presented to the church of Saint Clement in the\n town of Nidaros.\n \n \n \n 29. BATTLE OF HLYRSKOG HEATH.\n \n Then King Magnus stood up, and ordered the war trumpets to sound,\n and at that moment the Vindland army advanced from the south\n across the river against him; on which the whole of the king's\n army stood up, and advanced against the heathens. King Magnus\n threw off from him his coat of ring-mail, and had a red silk\n shirt outside over his clothes, and had in his hands the battle-\n axe called Hel (1), which had belonged to King Olaf. King Magnus\n ran on before all his men to the enemy's army, and instantly\n hewed down with both hands every man who came against him. So\n says Arnor, the earls' skald: --\n \n \"His armour on the ground he flung\n His broad axe round his head he swung;\n And Norway's king strode on in might,\n Through ringing swords, to the wild fight.\n His broad axe Hel with both hands wielding,\n Shields, helms, and skulls before it yielding,\n He seemed with Fate the world to share,\n And life or death to deal out there.\"\n \n This battle was not very long; for the king's men were very\n fiery, and where they came the Vindland men fell as thick as\n tangles heaped up by the waves on the strand. They who stood\n behind betook themselves to flight, and were hewed down like\n cattle at a slaughter. The king himself drove the fugitives\n eastward over the heath, and people fell all over the moor. So\n says Thiodolf: --\n \n \"And foremost he pursued,\n And the flying foe down hewed;\n An eagle's feast each stroke,\n As the Vindland helms he broke.\n He drove them o'er the hearth,\n And they fly from bloody death;\n But the moor, a mile or more,\n With the dead was studded o'er.\"\n \n It is a common saying, that there never was so great a slaughter\n of men in the northern lands, since the time of Christianity, as\n took place among the Vindland people on Hlyrskog's Heath. On the\n other side, not many of King Magnus's people were killed,\n although many were wounded. After the battle the king ordered\n the wounds of his men to be bound; but there were not so many\n doctors in the army as were necessary, so the king himself went\n round, and felt the hands of those he thought best suited for the\n business; and when he had thus stroked their palms, he named\n twelve men, who, he thought, had the softest hands, and told them\n to bind the wounds of the people; and although none of them had\n ever tried it before, they all became afterwards the best of\n doctors. There were two Iceland men among them; the one was\n Thorkil, a son of Geire, from Lyngar; the other was Atle, father\n of Bard Svarte of Selardal, from whom many good doctors are\n descended. After this battle, the report of the miracle which\n King Olaf the Saint had worked was spread widely through the\n country; and it was the common saying of the people, that no man\n could venture to fight against King Magnus Olafson, for his\n father Saint Olaf stood so near to him that his enemies, on that\n account. never could do him harm.\n \n \n ENDNOTES:\n (1) Hel -- Death: the goddess of Death. -- L.\n \n \n \n 30. BATTLE AT RE.\n \n King Magnus immediately turned round with his army against Svein,\n whom he called his earl, although the Danes called him their\n king; and he collected ships, and a great force, and on both\n sides a great strength was assembled. In Svein's army were many\n chiefs from Scania, Halland, Seeland, and Fyen; while King\n Magnus, on the other hand, had mostly Norway and Jutland men, and\n with that war-force he hastened to meet Svein. They met at Re,\n near Vestland; and there was a great battle, which ended in King\n Magnus gaining the victory, and Svein taking flight. After\n losing many people, Svein fled back to Scania, and from thence to\n Gautland, which was a safe refuge if he needed it, and stood open\n to him. King Magnus returned to Jutland, where he remained all\n winter (A.D. 1044) with many people, and had a guard to watch his\n ships. Arnor, the earls' skald, speaks of this: --\n \n \"At Re our battle-loving lord\n In bloody meeting stained his sword, --\n At Re upon the western shore,\n In Vestland warrior's blood once more.\"\n \n \n \n 31. BATTLE AT AROS.\n \n Svein Ulfson went directly to his ships as soon as he heard that\n King Magnus had left his fleet. He drew to him all the men he\n could, and went round in winter among the islands, Seeland, Fyen,\n and others. Towards Yule he sailed to Jutland, and went into\n Limfjord, where many people submitted to him. He imposed scat\n upon some, but some joined King Magnus. Now when King Magnus\n heard what Svein was doing, he betook himself to his ships with\n all the Northmen then in Denmark, and a part of the Danish\n troops, and steered south along the land. Svein was then in Aros\n with a great force; and when he heard of King Magnus he laid his\n vessels without the town, and prepared for battle. When King\n Magnus heard for certain where Svein was, and that the distance\n between them was but short, he held a House-thing, and addressed\n his people thus: \"It is reported to me that the earl and his\n fleet are lying not far from us, and that he has many people. \n Now I would let you know that I intend to go out against the earl\n and fight for it, although, we have fewer people. We will, as\n formerly, put our trust in God, and Saint Olaf, my father, who\n has given us victory sometimes when we fought, even though we had\n fewer men than the enemy. Now I would have you get ready to seek\n out the enemy, and give battle the moment we find him by rowing\n all to attack, and being all ready for battle.\" Thereupon the\n men put on their weapons, each man making himself and his place\n ready; and then they stretched themselves to their oars. When\n they saw the earl's ships they rowed towards them, and made ready\n to attack. When Svein's men saw the forces they armed\n themselves, bound their ships together, and then began one of the\n sharpest of battles. So says Thiodolf, the skald: --\n \n \"Shield against shield, the earl and king\n Made shields and swords together ring.\n The gold-decked heroes made a play\n Which Hild's iron-shirt men say\n They never saw before or since\n On battle-deck; the brave might wince,\n As spear and arrow whistling flew,\n Point blank, death-bringing, quick and true.\"\n \n They fought at the bows, so that the men only on the bows could\n strike; the men on the forecastle thrust with spears: and all who\n were farther off shot with light spears or javelins, or war-\n arrows. Some fought with stones or short stakes; and those who\n were aft of the mast shot with the bow. So Says Thiodolf: --\n \n \"Steel-pointed spear, and sharpened stake,\n Made the broad shield on arm shake:\n The eagle, hovering in the air,\n Screamed o'er the prey preparing there.\n And stones and arrows quickly flew,\n And many a warrior bold they slew.\n The bowman never twanged his bow\n And drew his shaft so oft as now;\n And Throndhjem's bowmen on that day\n Were not the first tired of this play:\n Arrows and darts so quickly fly,\n You could not follow with the eye.\"\n \n Here it appears how hot the battle was with casting weapons. \n King Magnus stood in the beginning of the battle within a shield-\n rampart; but as it appeared to him that matters were going on too\n slowly, he leaped over the shields, and rushed forward in the\n ship, encouraging his men with a loud cheer, and springing to the\n bows, where the battle was going on hand to hand. When his men\n saw this they urged each other on with mutual cheering, and there\n was one great hurrah through all the ships. So says Thiodolf: --\n \n \"`On with our ships! on to the foe!'\n Cry Magnus' men -- on, on they go.\n Spears against shields in fury rattle, --\n Was never seen so fierce a battle.\"\n \n And now the battle was exceedingly sharp; and in the assault\n Svein's ship was cleared of all her forecastle men, upon and on\n both sides of the forecastle. Then Magnus boarded Svein's ship,\n followed by his men; and one after the other came up, and made so\n stout an assault that Svein's men gave way, and King Magnus first\n cleared that ship, and then the rest, one after the other. Svein\n fled, with a great part of his people; but many fell, and many\n got life and peace. Thiodolf tells of this: --\n \n \"Brave Magnus, from the stern springing\n On to the stem, where swords were ringing\n From his sea-raven's beak of gold\n Deals death around -- the brave! the bold!\n The earl's housemen now begin\n To shrink and fall: their ranks grow thin --\n The king's luck thrives -- their decks are cleared,\n Of fighting men no more appeared.\n The earl's ships are driven to flight,\n Before the king would stop the fight:\n The gold-distributor first then\n Gave quarters to the vanquished men.\"\n \n This battle was fought on the last Sunday before Yule. So says\n Thiodolf: --\n \n \"'Twas on a Sunday morning bright,\n Fell out this great and bloody fight,\n When men were arming, fighting, dying,\n Or on the red decks wounded lying.\n And many a mabn, foredoomed to die,\n To save his life o'erboard did fly,\n But sank; for swimming could not save,\n And dead men rolled in every wave.\"\n \n Magnus took seven ships from Svein's people. So says Thiodolf:\n --\n \n \"Thick Olaf's son seven vessels cleared,\n And with his fleet the prizes steered.\n The Norway girls will not be sad\n To hear such news -- each from her lad.\"\n \n He also sings: --\n \n \"The captured men will grieve the most\n Svein and their comrades to have lost;\n For it went ill with those who fled,\n Their wounded had no easy bed.\n A heavy storm that very night\n O'ertook them flying from the fight;\n And skulls and bones are tumbling round,\n Under the sea, on sandy ground.\"\n \n Svein fled immediately by night to Seeland, with the men who had\n escaped and were inclined to follow him; but King Magnus brought\n his ships to the shore, and sent his men up the country in the\n night-time, and early in the morning they came flown to the\n strand with a great booty in cattle. Thiodolf tells about it: --\n \n \"But yesterday with heavy stones\n We crushed their skulls, and broke their bones,\n And thinned their ranks; and now to-day\n Up through their land we've ta'en our way,\n And driven their cattle to the shore,\n And filled out ships with food in store.\n To save his land from our quick swords,\n Svein will need something more than words.\"\n \n \n \n 32. SVEIN'S FLIGHT.\n \n King Magnus sailed with his fleet from the south after Svein to\n Seeland; but as soon as the king came there Svein fled up the\n country with his men, and Magnus followed them, and pursued the\n fugitives, killing all that were laid hold of. So says Thiodolf:\n --\n \n \"The Seeland girl asks with fear,\n `Whose blood-bespattered shield and spear --\n The earl's or king's -- up from the shore\n Moved on with many a warrior more?'\n We scoured through all their muddy lanes,\n Woodlands, and fields, and miry plains.\n Their hasty footmarks in the clay\n Showed that to Ringsted led their way.\n \n \"Spattered with mud from heel to head,\n Our gallant lord his true men led.\n Will Lund's earl halt his hasty flight,\n And try on land another fight?\n His banner yesterday was seen,\n The sand-bills and green trees between,\n Through moss and mire to the strand,\n In arrow flight, leaving the land.\"\n \n Then Svein fled over to Fyen Island, and King Magnus carried fire\n and sword through Seeland, and burnt all round, because their men\n had joined Svein's troop in harvest. So says Thiodolf: --\n \n \"As Svein in winter had destroyed\n The royal house, the king employed\n No little force to guard the land,\n And the earl's forays to withstand.\n An armed band one morn he found,\n And so beset them round and round,\n That Canute's nephew quickly fled, \n Or he would have been captive led.\n \n \"Our Throndhjem king in his just ire\n Laid waste the land with sword and fire,\n Burst every house, and over all\n Struck terror into great and small.\n To the earl's friends he well repaid\n Their deadly hate -- such wild work made\n On them and theirs, that from his fury,\n Flying for life, away they hurry.\"\n \n \n \n 33. BURNING IN FYEN.\n \n As soon as King Magnus heard that Svein with his troops had gone\n across to Fyen, he sailed after them; and when Svein heard this\n news he went on board ship and sailed to Scania, and from thence\n to Gautland, and at last to the Swedish King. King Magnus landed\n in Fyen, and plundered and burned over all; and all of Svein's\n men who came there fled far enough. Thiodolf speaks of it thus:\n --\n \n \"Fiona isle, once green and fair,\n Lies black and reeking through the air:\n The red fog rises, thick and hot,\n From burning farm and smouldering cot.\n The gaping thralls in terror gaze\n On the broad upward-spiring blaze,\n From thatched roofs and oak-built walls,\n Their murdered masters' stately halls.\n \n \"Svein's men, my girl, will not forget\n That thrice they have the Norsemen met,\n By sea, by land, with steel, with fire,\n Thrice have they felt the Norse king's ire.\n Fiona's maids are slim and fair,\n The lovely prizes, lads, we'll share:\n Some stand to arms in rank and row,\n Some seize, bring off, and fend with blow.\"\n \n After this the people of Denmark submitted to King Magnus, and\n during the rest of the winter, there was peace. King Magnus then\n appointed some of his men to govern Denmark; and when spring was\n advanced he sailed northwards with his fleet to Norway, where he\n remained a great part of the summer.\n \n \n \n 34. BATTLE AT HELGANES\n \n Now, when Svein heard that King Magnus had gone to Norway he rode\n straight down, and had many people out of Svithjod with him. The\n people of Scania received him well, and he again collected an\n army, with which he first crossed over into Seeland and seized\n upon it and Fyen, and all the other isles. When King Magnus\n heard of this he gathered together men and ships, and sailed to\n Denmark; and as soon as he knew where Svein was lying with his\n ships King Magnus sailed to meet him. They met at a place called\n Helganes, and the battle began about the fall of day. King\n Magnus had fewer men, but larger and better equipt vessels. So\n says Arnor, the earls' skald: --\n \n \"At Helganes -- so goes the tale --\n The brave wolf-feeder, under sail,\n Made many an ocean-elk (1) his prey,\n Seized many a ship ere break of day.\n When twilight fell he urged the fight,\n Close combat -- man to man all night;\n Through a long harvest night's dark hours,\n Down poured the battle's iron showers.\"\n \n The battle was very hot, and as night advanced the fall of men\n was great. King Magnus, during the whole night, threw hand-\n spears. Thiodolf speaks of this: --\n \n \"And there at Helganes sunk down,\n Sore wounded, men of great renown;\n And Svein's retainers lost all heart,\n Ducking before the flying dart.\n The Norsemen's king let fly his spears,\n His death-wounds adding to their fears;\n For each spear-blade was wet all o'er,\n Up to the shaft in their life-gore.\"\n \n To make a short tale, King Magnus won the victory in this battle,\n and Svein fled. His ship was cleared of men from stem to stern;\n and it went so on board many others of his ships. So says\n Thiodolf: --\n \n \"Earl Svein fled from the empty deck,\n His lonely ship an unmann'd wreck;\n Magnus the Good, the people's friend,\n Pressed to the death on the false Svein.\n Hneiter (2), the sword his father bore,\n Was edge and point, stained red with gore;\n Swords sprinkle blood o'er armour bright,\n \n When kings for land and power fight.\"\n \n And Arnor says :-\n \n \"The cutters of Bjorn's own brother\n Soon changed their owner for another;\n The king took them and all their gear;\n The crews, however, got off clear.\"\n \n A great number of Svein's men fell, and King Magnus and his men\n had a vast booty to divide. So says Thiodolf: --\n \n \"Where the Norsemen the Danish slew,\n A Gautland shield and breast-plate true\n Fell to my share of spoil by lot;\n And something more i' the south I got:\n (There all the summer swords were ringing)\n A helm, gay arms, and gear worth bringing,\n Home to my quiet lovely one\n I sent -- with news how we had won.\"\n \n Svein fled up to Scania with all the men who escaped with him;\n and King Magnus and his people drove the fugitives up through the\n country without meeting any opposition either from Svein's men or\n the bondes. So says Thiodolf: --\n \n \"Olaf's brave son then gave command,\n All his ships' crews should quickly land:\n King Magnus, marching at their head,\n A noble band of warriors led.\n A foray through the land he makes;\n Denmark in every quarter shakes.\n Up hill and down the horses scour,\n Carrying the Danes from Norsemen's power.\"\n \n King Magnus drove with fire and sword through the land. So says\n Thiodolf: --\n \n \"And now the Norsemen storm along,\n Following their banner in a throng:\n King Magnus' banner flames on high,\n A star to guide our roaming by.\n To Lund, o'er Scania's peaceful field,\n My shoulder bore my useless shield;\n A fairer land, a better road,\n As friend or foe, I never trod.\"\n \n They began to burn the habitations all around, and the people\n fled on every side. So says Thiodolf: --\n \n \"Our ice-cold iron in great store,\n Our arms, beside the king we bore:\n The Scanian rogues fly at the view\n Of men and steel all sharp and true.\n Their timbered houses flame on high,\n Red flashing over half the sky;\n The blazing town flings forth its light,\n Lighting the cowards on their flight.\"\n \n And he also sang: --\n \n \"The king o'er all the Danish land\n Roams, with his fire-bringing band:\n The house, the hut, the farm, the town,\n All where men dwelt is burned down.\n O'er Denmark's plains and corn-fields,\n Meadows and moors, are seen our shields:\n Victorious over all, we chase \n Svein's wounded men from place to place.\n \n \"Across Fiona's moor again,\n The paths late trodden by our men\n We tread once more, until quite near,\n Through morning mist, the foes appear.\n Then up our numerous banners flare\n In the cold early morning air;\n And they from Magnus' power who fly\n Cannot this quick war-work deny.\"\n \n Then Svein fled eastwards along Scania, and King Magnus returned\n to his ships, and steered eastwards also along the Scanian coast,\n having got ready with the greatest haste to sail. Thiodolf sings\n thus about it: --\n \n \"No drink but the salt sea\n On board our ships had we,\n When, following our king,\n On board our ships we spring.\n Hard work on the salt sea,\n Off Scania's coast, had we;\n But we laboured for the king,\n To his foemen death to bring.\"\n \n Svein fled to Gautland, and then sought refuge with the Swedish\n king, with whom he remained all winter (A.D. 1046), and was\n treated with great respect.\n \n \n ENDNOTES:\n (1) Ship. -- L.\n (2) This was the name of Saint Olaf's sword, which Magnus had\n recovered. -- L.\n \n \n \n 35. OF KING MAGNUS'S CAMPAIGN.\n \n When King Magnus had subdued Scania he turned about, and first\n went to Falster, where he landed, plundered, and killed many\n people who had before submitted to Svein. Arnor speaks of this:\n --\n \n \"A bloody vengeance for their guile\n King Magnus takes on Falster Isle;\n The treacherous Danes his fury feel,\n And fall before his purpled steel.\n The battle-field is covered o'er,\n With eagle's prey from shore to shore;\n And the king's courtmen were the first\n To quench with blood the raven's thirst.\"\n \n Thereafter Magnus with his fleet proceeded to the isle of Fyen,\n went on land, plundered, and made great devastation. So says\n Arnor, the earls' skald: --\n \n \"To fair Fiona's grassy shore\n His banner now again he bore:\n He who the mail-shirt's linked chains\n Severs, and all its lustre stains, --\n He will be long remembered there,\n The warrior in his twentieth year,\n Whom their black ravens from afar\n Saluted as he went to war.\"\n \n \n \n 36.---OF KING MAGNUS~S BATTLES.\n \n King Magnus remained in Denmark all that winter (A.D. 1046), and\n sat in peace. He had held many battles, and had gained the\n victory in all. So says Od Kikinaskald: --\n \n \"'Fore Michaelmas was struck the blow,\n That laid the Vindland vikings low;\n And people learned with joy to hear\n The clang of arms, and leaders' cheer.\n Short before Yule fell out the day,\n Southward of Aros, where the fray,\n Though not enough the foe to quell,\n Was of the bloodiest men can tell.\"\n \n And Arnor says: --\n \n \"Olaf's avenger who can sing?\n The skald cannot o'ertake the king,\n Who makes the war-bird daily drain\n The corpse-blood of his foemen slain.\n Four battles won within a year, --\n Breaker of shields! with swords and spear,\n And hand to hand, exalt thy fame\n Above the kings of greatest name.\"\n \n King Magnus had three battles with Svein Ulfson. So says\n Thiodolf: --\n \n \"To our brave Throndhjem sovereign's praise\n The skald may all his skaldcraft raise;\n For fortune, and for daring deed,\n His song will not the truth exceed.\n After three battles to regain\n What was his own, unjustly ta'en,\n Unjustly kept, and dues denied,\n He levied dues in red-blood dyed.\"\n \n \n \n 37. OF KING MAGNUS, AND THORFIN AND RAGNVALD, EARLS OF ORKNEY.\n \n While King Magnus the Good, a son of King Olaf the Saint, ruled\n over Norway, as before related, the Earl Ragnvald Brusason lived\n with him. Earl Thorfin Sigurdson, the uncle of Ragnvald, ruled\n then over Orkney. King Magnus sent Ragnvald west to Orkney, and\n ordered that Thorfin should let him have his father's heritage.\n Thorfin let Ragnvald have a third part of the land along with\n him; for so had Erase, the father of Ragnvald, had it at his\n dying day. Earl Thorfin was married to Ingebjorg, the earl-\n mother, who was a daughter of Fin Arnason. Earl Ragnvald thought\n he should have two-thirds of the land, as Olaf the Saint had\n promised to his father Bruse, and as Bruse had enjoyed as long as\n Olaf lived. This was the origin of a great strife between these\n relations, concerning which we have a long saga. They had a\n great battle in Pentland Firth, in which Kalf Arnason was with\n Earl Thorfin. So says Bjarne Gullbrarskald: --\n \n \"Thy cutters, dashing through the tide,\n Brought aid to Earl Thorfin's side,\n Fin's son-in-law, and people say\n Thy aid made Bruse's son give way.\n Kalf, thou art fond of warlike toil,\n Gay in the strife and bloody broil;\n But here 'twas hate made thee contend\n Against Earl Ragnvald, the king's friend.\"\n \n \n \n 38. OF KING MAGNUS'S LETTER TO ENGLAND.\n \n King Magnus ruled then both over Denmark and Norway; and when he\n had got possession of the Danish dominions he sent ambassadors\n over to England to King Edward, who brought to him King Magnus's\n letter and seal. And in this letter there stood, along with a\n salutation from King Magnus, these words: -- \"Ye must have heard\n of the agreement which I and Hardaknut made, -- that he of us two\n who survived the other should have all the land and people which\n the deceased had possessed. Now it has so turned out, as ye have\n no doubt heard, that I have taken the Danish dominions as my\n heritage after Hardaknut. But before he departed this life he\n had England as well as Denmark; therefore I consider myself now,\n in consequence of my rights by this agreement, to own England\n also. Now I will therefore that thou deliver to me the kingdom;\n otherwise I will seek to take it by arms, both from Denmark and\n Norway; and let him rule the land to whom fate gives the\n victory.\"\n \n \n \n 39. KING EDWARD'S ANSWER TO KING MAGNUS'S LETTER.\n \n Now when King Edward had read this letter, he replied thus: \"It\n is known to all men in this country that King Ethelred, my\n father, was udal-born to this kingdom, both after the old and\n new law of inheritance. We were four sons after him; and when he\n by death left the throne my brother Edmund took the government\n and kingdom; for he was the oldest of us brothers, and I was well\n satisfied that it was so. And after him my stepfather, Canute\n the Great, took the kingdom, and as long as he lived there was no\n access to it. After him my brother Harald was king as long as he\n lived; and after him my brother Hardaknut took the kingdoms both\n of Denmark and England; for he thought that a just brotherly\n division that he should have both England and Denmark, and that I\n should have no kingdom at all. Now he died, and then it was the\n resolution of all the people of the country to take me for king\n here in England. So long as I had no kingly title I served only\n superiors in all respects, like those who had no claims by birth\n to land or kingdom. Now, however, I have received the kingly\n title, and am consecrated king. I have established my royal\n dignity and authority, as my father before me; and while I live I\n will not renounce my title. If King Magnus come here with an\n army, I will gather no army against him; but he shall only get\n the opportunity of taking England when he has taken my life. \n Tell him these words of mine.\" The ambassadors went back to King\n Magnus, and told him the answer to their message. King Magnus\n reflected a while, and answered thus: \"I think it wisest, and\n will succeed best, to let King Edward have his kingdom in peace\n for me, and that I keep the kingdoms God has put into my hands.\"","title":"SAGA OF MAGNUS THE GOOD","type":"page"}