{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_22093/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_22093","id":"gutenberg_22093","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22093","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Historical Novels","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Harald III Har\u00f0r\u00e1\u00f0i, King of Norway, 1015-1066","Olav I Trygveson, King of Norway, 968-1000","Sagas -- Translations into English"],"text":"Produced by Louise Hope, Charlene Taylor, Ted Garvin and\nthe Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  [Transcriber's Note:\n\n  The printed book's only clue about authorship is in the Notes. All\n  other information comes from the Norwegian edition.\n\n    Original author: Snorri Sturluson\n      (generally spelled Snorre Sturlason in Norwegian).\n    Modern (1899) Norwegian translation: Gustav Storm.\n    English translation (based on modern Norwegian, not on original):\n      Ethel Harriet Hearn.\n\n  The html version of this e-text includes illustrations, also taken\n  from the Norwegian edition.]\n\n\n\n\n  The Sagas of\n  OLAF TRYGGVASON\n  and of\n  HARALD THE TYRANT\n  (Harald Haardraade)\n\n\n\n\n  London\n  Williams and Norgate\n  MCMXI\n\n\n\n\nThe places of notes in the text are indicated thus Sec..\nThe relative matter will be found at the end\nof the book in due order\nas to page and line.\n\n  [Footnote markers shown in brackets [Sec.] were missing from the\n  printed text and have been supplied by the transcriber.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE SAGA OF OLAF TRYGGVASON, CMLXVIII-M\n\n\nNow it befell in the days of King Tryggvi Olafson that the woman he had\nwedded was Astrid & she was the daughter of Eirik Biodaskalli, a wealthy\nman who dwelt at Oprostad.\n\nWhen the downfall of Tryggvi had been accomplished, Astrid fled away\nbearing with her what chattels she might. And with her went her\nfoster-father Thorolf Louse-Beard, who never left her, whereas other\ntrusty men, loyal to her, fared hither and thither to gather tidings of\nher foes or to spy out where they might lurk. Now Astrid being great\nwith child of King Tryggvi caused herself to be transported to an islet\non a lake & there took shelter with but few of her company.\n\nIn due time she bare a man-child, and at his baptism he was called Olaf\nafter his father's father. All that summer did she abide there in\nhiding. But when the nights grew as long as they were dark and the\nweather waxed cold, she set forth once more and with her fared Thorolf\nand the others of her train. Only by night could they venture in those\nparts of the country that were inhabited being in fear lest they should\nbe seen of men or meet with them. In time, at even, came they to the\nhomestead of Eirik of Oprostad. And since they were journeying by\nstealth, Astrid sent a messenger to the goodman of the house, who bade\nthem to be led to an outhouse & there had set before them the best of\ncheer. Thence, when Astrid had abided for a while, her followers went\nunto their homes, but she remained there & with her to bear her company\nwere two women, her babe Olaf, Thorolf Louse-Beard and his son Thorgills\nwho was six winters old. They rested in that place until the winter was\ndone.\n\n\n|| After they had made an end to slaying Tryggvi Olafson, Harald\nGrey-Cloak and Gudrod his brother hied them to the homesteads that had\nbeen his. But ere they came thither Astrid had fled & of her learned\nthey no tidings save a rumour that she was with child of King Tryggvi.\n\nIn the autumn fared they to the north, as has been related beforetime,\nand when they were face to face with their mother Gunnhild, told they\nher all that had befallen them on their journey. Closely did she\nquestion them concerning Astrid, and they imparted to her what they had\nheard. But because the sons of Gunnhild were that same autumn and the\nnext winter at strife with Earl Hakon, as hath already ere now been set\nforth, made they no search for Astrid and her son.\n\n\n|| When the spring was come, Gunnhild despatched spies to the Uplands,\nand even as far as Vik, to get news of Astrid. And when the spies\nreturned it was with the tidings that she was with her father Eirik &\nthere most like was she rearing the son that she had borne to King\nTryggvi that was dead. Forthwith Gunnhild chose messengers and equipped\nthem handsomely both with weapons and wearing apparel: thirty men chose\nshe, and their leader was Hakon, a man of influence and a friend to\nherself. She bade them make their way to Oprostad to Eirik and from\nthence take the son of Tryggvi and bring him unto herself.\n\nThereupon the messengers set out on their way, but when they were come\nnigh to Oprostad learned the friends of Eirik concerning their journey\nand went one evening unto him with the tidings.\n\nStraightway when night had fallen, Eirik bade Astrid make ready to\nleave, furnished her with sure guides, & set her eastwards with her face\ntowards Sweden, to his friend Hakon the Old, who was a man in the\nexercise of potent sway. They adventured when the night was not far\nspent, & next day, towards even, were they come to a country-side called\nSkaun, and seeing there a homestead thither went they craving lodging\nfor the night. Of their names they made a secret & their garb was but\nmeanly. The yeoman who abode in the place was called Biorn Venom-Sore,\na wealthy man was he but withal churlish, and he drave them away, & they\ncame that same evening to another homestead which was called Vizkar.\n\nThorstein was the yeoman who dwelt there & he gave them shelter and good\ncheer for the night, and there they slept in good beds.\n\n\n|| Next day betimes came Hakon with the men of Gunnhild to Oprostad and\nasked for Astrid and her son, but Eirik said that she was not there,\nso Hakon and his men ransacked the homestead and bided till late even\ntoward sundown, and gat them some tidings of Astrid's road. Then rode\nthey forth the same day and came almost as night fell to the house of\nBiorn Venom-Sore in Skaun, and there took harbour.\n\nThen Hakon asked Biorn if he had aught to tell concerning Astrid; and he\nsaid that some wayfarers had come there during the day and had asked for\na night's lodging, 'I sent them away, and it is likely they sought a\nrefuge elsewhere in the neighbourhood.' Now a workman that had been of\nthe household of Thorstein, being on his way to pass out from the\nforest, that same even happened to chance on the homestead of Biorn and\nlearned that guests were tarrying, & further of what fashion was their\nerrand; and all this he forthwith sped back to tell to Thorstein the\nyeoman.\n\nSo while there was still a third of the night unspent, Thorstein aroused\nhis guests and bade them begone, urging them harshly to bestir\nthemselves. When they had passed a little way from the house then did\nThorstein open unto them that the emissaries from Gunnhild were hard by\nat the house of Biorn seeking for them.\n\nThey besought him for succour, and he set them on their way with a guide\n& some food, and their guide led them into the forest where there was a\nlake & an islet overgrown with reeds. They were able to wade out unto\nthe islet & thereon hid they themselves among the reeds.\n\nEarly on the morrow Hakon rode out from the homestead of Biorn over the\ncountryside, asking withersoever he went for Astrid. When he was come\nunto the house of Thorstein demanded he if they had thither been and\nThorstein said that certain folk had fared thither & had gone on at\ndaybreak eastwards through the forest. Then did Hakon bid Thorstein come\nwith him because he was skilled in the knowledge of the tracks and\nhiding-places: and Thorstein set forth. But when they were come to the\nforest led he them away from where Astrid was.\n\nThe whole of that day did they go seeking for them, but found them not.\nThen they came back on their road & related unto Gunnhild what had\nbefallen. Astrid & her followers went forth on their way till they were\ncome unto Sweden to the home of Hakon the Old, and there Astrid and her\nson dwelt a long while, and it was well with them.\n\n\n|| Gunnhild, she that was mother to the King, hearing that Astrid & her\nson Olaf were in Sweden, once more sent forth Hakon and a brave\nfollowing with him, this time eastward to Eirik King of Sweden, with\ngoodly gifts and fair words. The messengers were made welcome and given\ngood entertainment, and thereafter Hakon made known his errand to the\nKing, saying that Gunnhild had sent craving the King's help so that he\nmight take Olaf back with him to Norway: 'Gunnhild will foster him,'\nquoth he.\n\nThen did the King give him men to go with him, and they rode to the\nhouse of Hakon the Old, and there Hakon offered with fair words to take\nOlaf with him. Hakon the Old returned a friendly answer and said that it\nmust so happen that the mother of the child should decide about his\ngoing, but Astrid would in nowise suffer the boy to fare forth with\nthem. So the messengers went their way & brought back the answer unto\nKing Eirik and they made them ready to return home; but once more prayed\nthey the King to grant them help to bear off the boy whether Hakon the\nOld were willing or not. So the King yet again gave them a company of\nmen & the messengers returned to Hakon the Old and demanded that the boy\nbe allowed to fare forth with them, but as Hakon was unwilling that this\nshould be, resorted they to big words and threats of violence, and bore\nthemselves wrathfully. Then did a thrall spring forward whose name was\nBristle, and would have smitten Hakon but that he & they that were of\nhis company withdrew hastily so that in nowise might they be beaten of\nthe thrall: and back fared they to Norway and recounted to Gunnhild all\nthe happenings of their journey & likewise that they had seen Olaf\nTryggvason.\n\n\n|| Now Astrid had a brother, the son of Eirik Biodaskalli, whose name was\nSigurd: long had he been remote from the land, sojourning in the realm\nof Garda (western Russia) with King Valdamar,Sec. by whom was he held in\ngreat honour. Now Astrid conceived the desire that she should hie unto\nthis her brother Sigurd. Therefore Hakon the Old furnished her with\ntrusty followers & handsome equipment after the best manner. And she\njourneyed in the company of certain merchants. It was for the space of\ntwo winters she had abode with Hakon the Old, and Olaf was now three\nwinters old. It came to pass as they were heading eastwards across the\nsea some vikings fell upon them, men of Eistland (Esthonia) and took\npossession both of folk and goods, and some of the folk they killed &\nsome they shared among themselves as thralls. Thus was Olaf withdrawn\nfrom his mother and passed into the custody of one Klerkon, an\nEistlander. Together with him were committed Thorolf and Thorgills.\nKlerkon deemed Thorolf too old for a thrall, and that he would be of no\nuse, therefore slew he him, but took the boys with him and sold them to\na man, hight Klerk, for a good he-goat.\n\nA third man bought Olaf, and gave for him a good tunic or cloak. The man\nwas named Reas, his wife Rekon, & their son Rekoni. There tarried Olaf\nlong and it fared well with him, and always was he mightily beloved by\nthe churl. Six winters did Olaf sojourn thus in Eistland.\n\n\n|| Sigurd Eirikson had come unto Eistland as an emissary of Valdamar King\nof Holmgard (Novgarod) to collect the tribute belonging to the King & he\ntravelled as a man of wealth with many folk much beladen in his train.\n\nNow it chanced that in the marketplace his eye lit on a certain fine boy\nwhom he knew could not be of the country, & asking him his name gat for\nanswer that he was called Olaf and his father Tryggvi Olafson and his\nmother Astrid, the daughter of Eirik Biodaskalli. Thus did Sigurd learn\nthat Olaf was son unto his very own sister, and he asked him after what\nmanner he had come to that place: and Olaf told him all that had\nbefallen him. Sigurd bade him come with him to the peasant Reas, and\nwhen they were come to the churl paid he him what price was covenanted\nbetween them for the boys and bare them with him to Holmgard. But never\na word did he relate of the lineage of Olaf, yet held he him in high\nfavour.\n\n\n|| It was that one day in the marketplace lingered Olaf Tryggvason when\nthere was a gathering of many people. And it chanced that amongst them,\nspied he Klerkon who had slain his fosterfather Thorolf Louse-Beard. Now\nOlaf had a small axe in his hand, and he drave it into the head of\nKlerkon so that it went right down into his brain: forthwith ran he home\nto his lodging and told his kinsman Sigurd thereof. Straightway did\nSigurd take Olaf to the house of the Queen, and to her made known what\nhad befallen. Her name was Allogia, and Sigurd prayed for her grace to\nprotect the lad. The Queen beheld the boy and said that one so young and\nso well favoured must not be slain, and proclaimed her readiness to\nsummon men fully armed. Now it fell in Holmgard that so great was the\nrespect paid unto peace that it was lawful to slay any man who himself\nhad slain another who was uncondemned; and therefore in accordance with\ntheir law and custom the people made assemblage together to take into\ncustody the person of the boy.\n\nThen were they told that he was in the house of the Queen in the midst\nof an armed band; and this was also brought to the ears of the King.\n\nHe made him ready to go over to these armed men & give them his\ncommission not to fight, and forthwith did he, the King, adjudge the\ngeld-levy, the fine thereof being paid down by the Queen. Thereafter did\nOlaf abide in the house of the Queen and waxed to find much favour in\nher eyes.\n\n\n|| Now it was the law in Garda that men of royal blood should not dwell\nthere save with the consent of the King, therefore Sigurd made known\nunto the Queen from what stock Olaf was descended and in what manner he\nhad come thither, saying that because of dissensions he could not\nprudently be in his own country, and he prayed her to speak with the\nKing upon this matter. Then did she approach the King beseeching him\nthat he would help this son of a king even because so hard a fate had\nbefallen him: & the outcome of her prayers was that the King pledged her\nhis word and taking Olaf under his protection treated him with honour,\nas it was seemly the son of a king should be held in honour.\n\nOlaf was nine winters old when he came to Garda, & nine more winters\ndwelt he with King Valdamar. Olaf was exceeding fair & tall to look upon\nand of mighty stature & of great strength withal. And in prowess in\nsports, so it is told, was he the best of all the Norsemen.\n\n\n|| Earl Hakon Sigurdson abode with the Danish King, Harald Gormson,\nduring the winter after he had fled from Norway before the sons of\nGunnhild.\n\nNow Hakon had so much on his mind that winter that he took to his bed,\nand often lay wakeful, eating & drinking only so much as would maintain\nthe strength in his body. Then secretly sent he his men northwards to\nThrondhjem to his friends there, & counselled them that they should slay\nKing Erling if it might be that they could compass that deed; adding\nfurthermore that he himself would fare back to his realm in summer-time.\nThat winter they that were of Throndhjem slew Erling, as is aforewrit.\n\nBetwixt Hakon and Gold Harald was there a friendship close as that of\nbrothers that have been laid in the same cradle and Harald would lay\nbare his thoughts unto Hakon. Harald confessed he desired to settle on\nthe land and no more live on his ship of war, and he questioned Hakon if\nhe thought Harald would share his kingdom with him were he to demand the\nhalf. 'Methinks,' quoth Hakon, 'that the Danish King will not refuse\nthee justice; but thou wilt know more concerning this matter if thou\nspeakest thereon to the King; methinks thou wilt not get the realm save\nthou demandest it.' Shortly after this talk spake Gold Harald to King\nHarald when they were in company with many mighty men, good friends unto\nthem both. Gold Harald then demanded that he should halve the kingdom\nwith him, in accordance with the rights which his birth and lineage gave\nhim there in Denmark.\n\nAt this demand waxed Harald very wroth, & sware that no man had ever\nbesought his father, Gorm, that he should become King of half of what\npertained unto Denmark, nor yet of his father Horda-Knut (Hardicanute),\nnor again of Sigurd Snake-i'-the-eye, nor of Ragnar Lodbrok; & so great\nwas his fury that none dared parley with him.\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| Thence came it that his own position was now even less than before to\nthe liking of Gold Harald, for no kingdom had he any more than\naforetime; while to this was added the wrath of the King. So went he to\nhis friend Hakon and made wail of his plight unto him, and besought of\nhim good counsel, if he had such to give him, as to how he might become\npossessed of the realm; and he said he was minded to seek his kingdom by\nforce of arms. Then Hakon bade him not breathe word of this to anyone\nlest it should become known: 'It might cost thee thy life,' he said.\n\n'Bethink thee diligently what thy strength is, for he who would risk so\ngreat a venture must be high-hearted and dauntless, shirking neither the\ngood nor the evil, so that to which he hath set his hand may come to\npass. All unworthy is it to take up great issues and afterwards to lay\nthem down again with dishonour.' Then did Gold Harald answer: 'To such\npurpose will I take up this claim, that I will not even spare these my\nown hands from slaying the King himself if occasion serve, should he\nrefuse me this kingdom which is mine by right.' And therewith ended they\ntheir commune. After this came King Harald to Hakon, and they fell to\ntalking together & the King told the Earl of Gold Harald's claim to the\nkingdom, and with what answer he had rebuked him, declaring that he\nwould by no means diminish his own kingdom, 'but if Gold Harald hold\nfast to this his claim; then see I nothing for it save that I should put\nhim to the death for in him have I but little faith if he will not\nsurrender this desire.' The Earl made answer: 'Methinks Harald hath set\nout on this matter with such earnestness that he is not like to set it\naside; and that if it should come to a rising in the land, there would\nbe many that would flock unto his standard and the main of them because\nof the love they had borne to his father. It would bring thee the\ngreatest ill-chance shouldst thou slay thy kinsman, for in such case all\nmen would deem him blameless. Nor will I counsel thee to become a lesser\nking than was Gorm thy father; he also very much increased his realm,\nbut in no wise diminished it.' Then said the King: 'What then is thy\ncounsel, Hakon? Wouldst thou that I should divide my kingdom, and have\nthis unrest off my mind?' 'Our meeting will be again ere many suns set,'\nanswered Earl Hakon.\n\n'I will first ponder over this difficult matter, and thereafter give\nthee an answer.' Then did the King depart and with him all the men that\nwere of his company.\n\n\n|| Thereafter came it to pass that Earl Hakon betook himself once more to\npondering and plotting, and permitted but few of his men to be in the\nhouse with him. Some days later came Harald again to the Earl, and they\ncommuned together, and the King asked of the Earl if he had thought\ndeeply upon that matter whereon they had discoursed when they were last\nface to face. 'On that matter,' quoth the Earl, 'have I lain sleepless\nboth by night and day ever since, and I deem it the wisest counsel that\nthou shouldst hold and rule the kingdom that thy father had and that\nthou didst inherit after him, but that thou shouldst get for thy kinsman\nHarald another kingdom wherein he may have all honour.' 'What kingdom is\nthat?' inquired the King, 'that I may lightly give to Harald, keeping\nthe Danish kingdom whole the while?' The Earl made answer, 'It is\nNorway. The kings who rule there are hated by all the folk of their\nland, & every man wishes them ill, as is but meet.' Then mused the King\naloud: 'Norway is a great land, and the folk are a hardy folk; it\nbeseems me to be a land ill chosen whereon to fall with a foreign host.\nThus did it happen to us when Hakon defended the land; many men were\nslain to us but no victory did we achieve. Moreover Harald Eirikson is\nmy foster-son and hath sat on my knee.' Then saith the Earl: 'Long have\nI known that thou hast given help to the sons of Gunnhild; yet with\nnaught but ill have they requited thee. We will take Norway more easily\nthan by fighting for her with all the hosts of Denmark. Send thou to thy\nfoster-son Harald, and bid him receive from thee the lands and fiefs\nwhich they had aforetime here in Denmark.\n\nAppoint a tryst with him; then can Gold Harald in a short while win\nhimself a kingdom in Norway from King Harald Grey-cloak.' Then answered\nthe King that it would be called of foul intent to betray his\nfoster-son. 'The Danes, I trow, will account it a better deed to slay a\nNorwegian viking than one who is a brother's son and a Dane,' answereth\nthe Earl; & thereafter talked they on this matter until they were in\nfull accord.\n\n\n|| Yet again came Gold Harald to speak with Hakon, and the Earl made\nknown to him that he had so championed his cause and to such good\npurpose that there was hope that a kingdom might now be making ready for\nhim in Norway. 'Let us,' said he, 'hold fast by our compact. I shall be\nable to afford thee great support in Norway. Get thou first that\nkingdom. King Harald is now very old & hath but one son, a bastard, whom\nhe loveth but little.' To such measure did the Earl open up the matter\nto Gold Harald that the younger man was in full accord with him thereon;\nand thereafter did they all three take lengthy counsel, to wit, the\nKing, the Earl, and Gold Harald full oft. Then sent the Danish King his\nmen north into Norway even to Harald Grey-cloak, and they were right\nwell furnished for their journey, and were made welcome with much cheer\nand in all courtesy were received by King Harald. They related the\ntidings that Earl Hakon was in Denmark, and was lying sick unto death\nand well-nigh witless; and the further tidings that Harald the Danish\nKing bade Harald Grey-cloak to him to take such fiefs as he and his\nbrothers had held aforetime in Denmark, and to that purpose bade he\nHarald come to him in Jutland. Harald Grey-cloak laid the matter before\nGunnhild and other counsellors and their views were not all of one\naccord, some fearing that this journey was not without peril by reason\nof the men that were set over against them to be dealt with; but the\ngreater number were desirous that he should go by reason of the great\nfamine that was at this time in Norway whereby the kings could scarce\nfeed their men. And it was at this season that the fjord near-by which\nthe kings most oft abode gat its name of Harding.\n\nIn Denmark, as men had marked, the harvest had been at least of goodly\nmeasure, so that men thought to get thence what they required should\nKing Harald have fief & dominion there. It was agreed therefore ere the\nemissaries departed whence they had come, that when summer was at hand\nHarald should hie to the Danish King, and pronounce his adhesion to the\nconditions King Harald proffered.\n\n\n|| So in due course when the summer sun shone in the long hours of night\nfared forth Harald Grey-cloak towards Denmark in three longships, & one\nof these was steered by Arinbiorn, the 'hersir'Sec. of the Fjords.Sec. King\nHarald sailed from Vik over to Limfjord and took port at Hals, where it\nwas told him that the Danish King was expected in a brief space. Now\nwhen King Harald heard of this, hastened he to make sail thither with\nnine ships, the which had been whiles mustered and set in readiness to\ntake the sea. Earl Hakon had likewise armed his men & he also was about\nto set forth after the manner of a viking; at his word twelve ships, and\nthey large ones, set their sails. When Gold Harald had fared forth, Earl\nHakon spake to the King, saying, 'Methinks we are like to row to war and\nyet pay the war-fine[Sec.] to boot. Gold Harald will now slay Harald\nGrey-cloak and thereafter take himself a kingdom in Norway.\n\nThinkest thou that he will be loyal to thee when thou givest him so much\npower? Thus said he in my presence last winter that he would slay thee\ncould he but find occasion to do so. Now will I bring Norway under thy\nsway and slay Gold Harald, if thou wilt promise easy absolution at thy\nhands for the deed.\n\nThen will I be thine earl, and bind myself by oath that with thy might\nto be my aid I will bring Norway under subjection under thee, and\nthereafter hold lands under thy dominion & pay thee tribute. Then wilt\nthou be a greater king than thy father was, inasmuch as thou shalt hold\nsway over two great peoples.'\n\nThus was this covenanted betwixt the King and the Earl; and Hakon set\nout with his men to seek Gold Harald.\n\n\n|| Gold Harald came to Hals in Limfjord, and forthwith offered battle to\nHarald Grey-cloak; and Harald, albeit to him were fewer men, went\nashore, made him ready for battle & set his host in array. But or ever\nthe onset took place Harald Grey-cloak spoke cheering words to his men,\nbade them draw their swords, and rushing first into the fray smote on\neither side. Thus saith Glum Geirason in Grey-cloak's lay:\n\n  'Brave words spake the swordsman,\n  He that dared to dye the grass sward of battle\n  With the blood of the foe;\n  And when Harald bade his men ply the swords in the strife,\n  His manly words did them mightily encourage.'\n\n\n|| There fell Harald Grey-cloak. Thus saith Glum Geirason:\n\n  'The bearer of the shield,\n  He that clave longest to the ship,\n  In death lay stretched\n  On the broad marge of Limfjord;\n  On the sands at Hals\n  Fell the bounteous chieftain;\n  It was his glib-tongued kinsman\n  That wrought the deed.'\n\n\n|| There fell with King Harald the greater number of his men; there,\nlikewise, fell Arinbiorn the 'hersir.' Fifteen winters had passed since\nthe fall of Hakon, he that was foster-son to Adalstein, and thirteen\nsince the fall of Sigurd the Earl of Ladir. The priest Ari Thorgilson\nsaith that Earl Hakon was for thirteen winters ruler of his heritage in\nThrondhjem before the death of Harald Grey-cloak; & that during the last\nsix winters of Harald Grey-cloak's life, saith Ari, the sons of Gunnhild\nand Hakon fought against one another, & in turn fled the country.\n\n\n|| Earl Hakon and Gold Harald met not long after the fall of Harald\nGrey-cloak, & straightway Earl Hakon joined battle with Gold Harald.\nTherein Hakon gained the victory; moreover Harald was taken prisoner,\nand Hakon had him hanged upon the gallows. Thereafter fared Hakon to the\nDanish King, and easily made his peace with him for the slaying of his\nkinsman Gold Harald. King Harald then called out a host from the whole\nof his kingdom and sailed with six hundred ships, and there went with\nhim Earl Hakon and Harald the Grenlander, who was a son of King Gudrod,\nand many other great men who had fled from their free lands in Norway\nbefore the sons of Gunnhild.\n\nThe Danish King set his fleet in sail up from the south to Vik, and when\nhe was come to Tunsberg great numbers flocked to him.\n\nAnd King Harald gave the whole of the host which had come to him in\nNorway into the hands of Earl Hakon, making him ruler over Rogoland and\nHordaland, Sogn, the Fjords, South More, Raumsdal, and North More. These\nseven counties gave he to Earl Hakon to rule over, with the same rights\nas Harald Fair-hair had given to his sons; only with this difference,\nthat not only was Hakon there as well as in Throndhjem to have all the\nKing's manors and land-dues, but he was moreover to use the King's money\nand estates according to his needs should there be war in the land. To\nHarald the Grenlander gave King Harald Vingulmark, Vestfold, and Agdir\nas far as Lidandisness (the Naze) with the title of King, and gave him\ndominion thereof with all such rights as his kin had had aforetime, & as\nHarald Fair-hair had given to his sons. Harald the Grenlander was in\nthese days eighteen winters old, & became thereafter a famous man. Then\ndid Harald the Danish King hie him home with all the might of his Danish\nhost.\n\n\n|| Earl Hakon fared with his men northward along the coast, and when\nGunnhild and her sons heard these tidings gathered they together an\nhost, but found obstacles to enrolling men at arms. So they took the\nsame resolution as before, to wit to sail westward across the main with\nsuch men as would go with them, and thus fared they to the Orkneys and\ntarried there a while. Thorfinn Skull-cleaver's sons were now earls\nthere-- Hlodvir, Arnvid, Liot, and Skuli. Forthwith did Earl Hakon\nsubdue all the land and that winter abode he in Throndhjem. Of this\nspeaketh Einar Jingle-scale in the Vellekla:\n\n  'The Earl that on his noble brow\n  A silken fillet binds\n  Counties seven hath he enthralled\n  With their chattels, lands, and hinds.'\n\nNow when Earl Hakon in the summer-time fared northward along the coast,\n& the people there made their submission to him, issued he proclamation\nthat all temples and blood-offerings should be maintained throughout his\ndominions; and it was done accordingly. Thus it is said in the Vellekla:\n\n  'Seeing that he was wise\n  The folk-leader commanded that be sacred kept\n  The temple-lands of Thor and other Gods.\n  Home to glory across the billows\n  Did the shield-bearer steer the ship,\n  It was the Gods that led him.\n  'And the men-loving AEsirs gloat on the offerings\n  Whereby the shield-bearer is made of more account.\n    Bountifully doth the earth give forth her sustenance\n    When its lord builds temples for the Gods.'\n  All that is northward to Vik lies under the heel of the Earl;\n  Wide is the sway that he holds, mightily waxed by victories.'\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| That self-same first winter wherein King Hakon ruled over Norway came\nthe herring up along the coast, and before that in the autumn had the\ncorn grown wheresoever it had been sown; in the spring men gat\nthemselves seed-corn and the greater number of the peasants sowed their\nfields, and soon there was promise of a good harvest.\n\n\n|| King Ragnfrod, son unto Gunnhild, and Gudrod, he that was another son\nto her, these two were now the only sons of Eirik and Gunnhild who were\nstill alive.\n\nThus saith Glum Geirason in Grey-cloak's lay:\n\n  'Half is my hope of wealth downfallen since the strife,\n  The strife in which the life of the chief was lost,\n  The death of Harald weigheth me down,\n  Albeit his brethren twain have good things promised me,\n  And to them all men look for their welfare.'\n\n\n|| Now when Ragnfrod had abode one winter in the Orkneys made he him\nready in the spring and thence shaped a course eastward to Norway,\n& with him were a chosen company in large ships.\n\nAnd when he was come to Norway learned he tidings how Earl Hakon was in\nThrondhjem, forthwith did he steer northward round Stad & laid waste\nSouth More; and some folks submitted to him as oft befalleth when\nwarrior bands go through a country-- those that they meet with seek\nhelp, each one wheresoever it seemeth likeliest to be gotten. When it\nwas told to Earl Hakon that there was war in the south within More,\ncaused he war-arrows to be sharpened and he equipped himself in haste &\nset sail down the fjord. Moreover an easy matter was it for him to bring\nfolk around his standard. Earl Hakon and Ragnfrod sighted one another\noff the northernmost part of South More, & straightway Hakon gave\nbattle, he that had most men but withal smaller ships. Hard was the\nstruggle & therein waxed Hakon luckless; men fought from the prows and\nsterns, as the custom was in those times. Now there was a current in the\nsound, and all the ships were driven into shore, so the Earl bade his\nfolk rest on their oars, and drift to land at such place where he should\ndeem it best to land; and when the ships grounded, the Earl and all his\nhost sallied forth and haled them up on the beach, so that their foemen\nmight not drag them forth again. Then did the Earl array his men on the\nbanks, and shouted defiance to Ragnfrod to land, but they that were with\nRagnfrod lay-to farther out, and though for a while they shot at one\nanother, would Ragnfrod in no wise come ashore, and thereafter they\nparted. Ragnfrod sailed with his fleet southward to Stad, for he feared\nhim that the land hosts might assemble and flock to Earl Hakon. But that\nearl waged war no more for unto his mind the difference betwixt the\nships was over-great. In the autumn fared he north to Throndhjem, &\nthere abode during the winter. King Ragnfrod therefore held all the land\nsouth of Stad: the Fjords, Sogn, Hordaland, and Rogaland. Many men were\nat his beck throughout that winter, and when the spring-tide came called\nhe a muster and gat him many more. Moreover sent he far & wide over all\nthese counties to gather together men and ships and what other stores\nwhereof he had need.\n\n\n|| When spring was come Earl Hakon summoned men from out the very north\nof the country; many gat he from Halogaland, & Naumdal, so that right\nfrom Byrda to Stad came men to him from all the sea-boards. He reared a\nhost from all the districts of Throndhjem, and likewise from Raumsdal.\nIt was said that he had men from four counties; with him fared seven\nearls, and in their train were an exceeding large company. Thus it is\nsaid in the Vellekla:\n\n  'Thereafter, full of lust for slaughter,\n  Did the defender of the folk of More\n  Bring from the north a tale of men to Sogn.\n  From counties four called forth that warrior hosts,\n  Seeing in them sure help for all his folk.\n  To the war-gathering on the longships\n  Swiftly, to meet their warrior chieftain,\n  Hie lords of the land in number seven.\n  All Norway trembled at the warrior host;\n  Beyond the capes were borne unnumbered fallen.'\n\n\n|| Then Earl Hakon set sail with the whole of this host southward past\nStad; and when it came to his ears that King Ragnfrod with his host had\nentered into the Sognfjord thither led he his men and there encountered\nhim.\n\nThereafter having brought his ships to land chose he out a battle-field\nwhereon to fight King Ragnfrod. Thus saith the Vellekla:\n\n  'Now did the chieftain meet in second battle\n  The slayer of the Vandals, and fell slaughter followed.\n  The prows were set to land,\n  And the ships steered even to the marches of the shires\n  At the bidding of the warrior.'\n\n\n|| And it came to pass that both sides did dress their battle and fought\namazing fierce, but in men had Earl Hakon the super-abundance and the\nissue was to him. This was at Thinganes, where Sogn and Hordaland meet.\nKing Ragnfrod fled from his ships, and of his folk there fell three\nhundred men. Thus it is said in the Vellekla:\n\n  'Fierce was the strife before three hundred were pressed\n  Beneath the claws of the carrion bird\n  By the host of the warrior chief:\n  O'er the heads of the sea-dwellers,\n  Thence could the conquering chief stride--\n  Aye, and the deed was glorious.'\n\n\n|| After this battle did King Ragnfrod hie him away from Norway and Earl\nHakon brought peace to the land; he gave licence that the great host\nwhich had been with him in the summer should fare back northward, but he\nhimself abode hard by there where he gained the victory, not whiles only\nthat autumn but also throughout the winter that came after.\n\n\n|| Earl Hakon took to wife a woman named Thora, who was exceeding fair.\nThe daughter was she of Skagi Skoptison, a man possessed of much wealth.\n\nTheir sons were Svein and Heming, & their daughter was Bergliot, who\nthereafter was wedded to Einar Tamberskelfir. Earl Hakon was over much\ngiven to women, and by them had many children. One of his daughters was\ncalled Ragnhild, and he gave her in marriage to Skopti Skagason, the\nbrother of Thora. The Earl so loved Thora that her kinsmen became dearer\nto him than all other men, and Skopti his son-in-law had more influence\nwith him than any other of his kindred. To him gave the Earl large fiefs\nin More; & it was covenanted betwixt them that whensoever the fleet of\nthe Earl was at sea Skopti was to bring his ship alongside the Earl's,\nand for none other was it to be lawful to lay his ship between their\nships.\n\n\n|| Now it happened one summer when Earl Hakon was with his ships on the\nmain that Thorleif the Meek was master of one of them, & Eirik, the son\nof the Earl, he being then some ten or eleven winters old, was aboard.\nOf an evening when they were come into haven, Eirik would not have it\notherwise save that the ship whereon he was must be closest to the ship\npertaining to the person of the Earl.\n\nNow when they made sail south to More there came likewise Skopti, he\nthat was son-in-law to the Earl, with his long-ship well manned. Skopti,\nas his men were rowing towards the fleet, called out to Thorleif to\nleave the haven and let him lie-to there, but Eirik sprang up & answered\nback bidding Skopti hie him to another berth. Now Earl Hakon hearing\nthat his son deemed himself too mighty to make way for Skopti,\nstraightway called out to Thorleif bidding him leave the berth, or he\nwould make it the worse for them, to wit, that he would have them\nbeaten. So Thorleif when he heard this shouted to his men to slip their\ncables, and this they did according to his word; then did Skopti lie-to\nin the berth he was wont to have, nearest the Earl's ship. Now Skopti\nwas called Tidings Skopti, & this had come about seeing that it had been\nagreed that when they were together he was to make known to the Earl all\nthe tidings, or if it so happened that the Earl had heard them first\nthen it was he that would tell the tidings to Skopti. Now in the winter\nthat was after all that hath been before but now related, was Eirik with\nhis foster-father Thorleif, but even so soon as the earlier spring-tide\nwas he given a company of men.\n\nThorleif moreover gave him a fifteen-benched ship with all the gear,\ntilts, and victuals that were needful. Eirik thence sailed from the\nfjord, and so south to More. Now it befell that Tidings Skopti was also\nat sea between his homesteads, & he too in a fifteen-benched craft;\nEirik forthwith bore straight down on him and offered battle, and in the\nissue thereof fell Skopti, but Eirik gave quarter to such of his men who\nwere not slain. Thus saith Eyolf Dadaskald, in the Banda lay:\n\n  'Late in the day,\n  On the ski of the sea-king,\n  With combatants equal,\n  Fared the youth 'gainst the \"hersir,\"\n  Him the stout-hearted.\n  There 'neath the hand\n  That a bloody blade wielded\n  Fell Tidings Skopti.\n  (The feeder of wolves\n  Was food for the ravens.)'\n\n\n|| With that sailed Eirik south along the coast to Denmark, and\nadventured to King Harald Gormson, abiding with him the winter; but the\nspring thereafter the Danish King sent Eirik north, & bestowed on him\nthe title Earl & therewith VingulmarkSec. and Raumariki, to be beneath his\nsway even under the self-same tenure as had tribute-paying kings\naforetime been in fief and tribute.\n\n\n|| In the days that were to come after waxed Earl Eirik, and men knew him\nas a mighty chieftain. All this while abode Olaf Tryggvason in Garda,\nat the court of King Valdamar, where he had much honour & enjoyed the\nfaithful love of the Queen.\n\nKing Valdamar made him lord of the host which he sent out for the\ndefence of his country, and for him fought Olaf divers battles and\nproved himself to be an able captain, and himself maintained a large\nhost of warriors on the fiefs allotted to him by the King. Of no\nniggardly disposition, Olaf was ever openhanded to the men that were\nwith him and who for this self-same reason held him in affection; but as\noft times happens when men who are not of the country are exalted to\npower, or are so greatly honoured that they take the lead of the men of\nthe land, many there were who envied him the love he had of the King,\n& even so much the more that of the Queen.\n\nSpake many men of that matter to the King, charging him to beware lest\nhe should make Olaf over great: 'For a man of the kind might be harmful\nto thee, would he lend himself to such a deed as to make thee and thy\nrealms suffer, so crafty & beloved of men is he; nor wot we what he &\nthe Queen have thus oft whereon to commune one with the other.'\n\n\n|| Now it was in those days generally the custom among great kings for\nthe queen to possess half the court and to maintain it at her own\ncharge, and for this purpose levied she her taxes and dues, in amount as\nmuch as she stood in need therefor. In this wise was it also with King\nValdamar.\n\nThe Queen held no less splendid a court than pertained to the King, and\nvied they one with the other as to which might procure men of prowess,\neach having it at heart to possess such men for themselves. Now it\nhappened that the King gave heed unto words of this fashion, which men\nspake unto him, & he waxed silent and with countenance aloof from Olaf.\nAnd Olaf marking it well spake thereof to the Queen, and opened to her\nlikewise how that it was the desire of his heart to journey even unto\nthe north. His kin, said he, had held dominion there in days of yore,\n& therefore he thought it likeliest that he would there obtain the more\nadvancement.\n\nSo the Queen bade him farewell, saying that wheresoever he might chance\nto tarry there would all deem him a man of prowess.\n\nOlaf thereafter made him ready for his journey, went aboard his ship,\nand stood out into the Eystrasalt (the Baltic). Thence sailing west came\nhe to Borgundarholm (Bornholm) and made thereon a landing and harried\nall in the isle. The men of the land came together and did battle with\nhim, but Olaf gat the victory and much booty.\n\n\n|| Now while Olaf lay-to off Borgundarholm, there was rough weather with\na gale raging at sea, that their ships began to drag their anchors, for\nwhich reason did they set sail south to the coast of Vindland\n(Wendland)Sec. on which shore were good havens, whereon ships might ride at\npeace.\n\nThere did they tarry for long whiles.\n\nThe King of Vindland was named Burizlaf,Sec. & the three daughters to him\nwere Geira, Gunnhild, and Astrid.\n\nNow at the place where there came ashore Olaf and his men did Geira hold\nrule & dominion, and under her he that exercised most authority was one\nhight Dixin. When it became known that strange men had come to the\ncountry who behaved themselves in seemly fashion & abode there in peace,\nDixin hied to them with a message from Queen Geira bidding them sojourn\nin her land during the winter, seeing the summer was near spent, the\nweather threatening ill, & the storms waxing great. And being come\nthither Dixin saw on the instant that the captain of these men was one\nnotable both for descent and appearance.\n\nTherefore recounted he to them that the Queen invited them to her with\nmessages of friendship, & Olaf nothing loath did her bidding and went to\nQueen Geira as her guest. It came to pass that they twain thought both\nso well one of another that Olaf made ado to woo Queen Geira, and so it\nbefell that winter that Olaf took Geira to wife, & gat he the rule of\nthe realm with her. Thereof spake Halfrod the Troublous-skald in the lay\nhe made about Olaf the King:\n\n  'The chieftain at Holm let the sharp-edged swords be dyed blood-red\n  Eastward too in Garda, nor can this be in any manner concealed.'\n\n\n|| Now Hakon, he that ruled over Norway, paid no tribute, the reason\nwhereof being that the King of Denmark had made assignment to him of all\nthe taxes to which the King had a right in Norway, by reason of the\ntrouble & costs the Earl was put to in defending the land against the\nsons of Gunnhild.\n\n\n|| Now it befell in those days that the Emperor OttaSec. was in Saxland\n(North Germany), & word sent he to Harald, King of Denmark, that he and\nthe people that were his must be baptized & accept the true Faith, or\nelse, swore the Emperor that he would march upon him with an host. So\nthe King of Denmark admonished those that defended the land that they\nshould be ready at his call, DanavirkiSec. caused he to be well maintained,\nand his war ships were manned; thereafter sent the King to Earl Hakon\ncommanding him that he must come to him early in the spring-tide with\neven as many men as he might muster. So at the first song of the birds\nEarl Hakon levied an host from all parts of his dominions, and many men\nwere enrolled to him; this host bade he take ship to Denmark and with\nthem sailed he himself to meet the King of Denmark, and by him was\nreceived in right seemly fashion. With the King were there at that hour\nmany another lord proffering help, so that all told gathered he together\nan host waxing exceeding large.\n\n\n|| Now, as hath already been set forth, Olaf sojourned that winter in\nVindland, & in the months thereof went he to those districts thereof\nwhich had formerly obeyed the rule of Queen Geira, but had now ventured\nto throw off allegiance & the payment of taxes. These did Olaf harry,\nslaying many men, burning the homes of some, and taking much booty; then\nhaving rendered these realms subject unto himself turned he him back\nagain to his stronghold. So soon as the spring-tide was come, did Olaf\nmake ready his ships and put out to sea, sailing across to Skani\n(Scania) where he went ashore.\n\nThe people of those parts assembled and fought against him; but Olaf was\nvictorious and gat much plunder. Thence sailed he eastward to the island\nof Gotland, and took a merchant craft owned by men from Jamtaland who\nrendered a stout defence, but in such wise did the struggle end that\nOlaf cleared the ship, slew many men, & took possession of all the goods\nthat were on board.\n\nA third battle fought he in Gotland; there likewise the day was to his\nstrength and much spoil was to his hand. Thus saith Halfrod the\nTroublous-skald:\n\n  'The foeman of the shrines slew merchants of Jamtaland\n  And men of Vindland in battle\n  As in days of youth had been his wont.\n  To those that lived in Scotland\n  Was the lord of \"hersirs\" the bane.\n  Is it not told that the giver of gold\n  Loved to fight in Skani?'\n\n\n|| Therefore gathered the Emperor Otta a mighty host; men he had from\nSaxland (north Germany), Frankland (France), and Frisland, whiles out of\nVindland, likewise King BurizlafSec. contributed a large host. With the\narray went the King himself and his son-in-law Olaf Tryggvason.\n\nTo the Emperor was a great body of horsemen, and so much the more a\ngreater body of foot-folk.\n\nFrom Holtsetaland (Holstein) likewise came to him a large host. As it is\nsaid in the Vellekla:\n\n  'So it befell likewise that the steeds of the sea\n  Southward ran 'neath the deft riders to Denmark,\n  And the Lord of the Hordmen, becoifed with the helmet,\n  Chief of the Dofrar folk, sought the lords of the Dane-realm.\n  And the bountiful King of the dark forest lands\n  Would in winter-tide test the warrior come from the north,\n  What time that doughty fighter gat from his chief a message\n  Bidding him defend the wall against the foes of Denmark.\n  Little gladsome was it to go against their hosts;\n  Albeit the shield-bearer did cause great destruction,\n  And the sea-hero incited to battle\n  When the warriors came from Frisland with Franks and Vandals.'\n\n\n|| Now Earl Hakon set companies above all the gates of the fortification,\nbut the greater part of his host sent he along the walls to defend the\nplaces where the onslaught was hottest, and many fell of the Emperor's\nhost, but nothing did they win of the wall.\n\nSo then the Emperor turned him away, and no longer made trial there.\nThus it is said in the Vellekla:\n\n  'Spear-points were broken when in that war game\n  Shield clashed against shield and the foe gave not way;\n  The steerer of the sea-steeds turned Saxons fleeing thence,\n  And the chief 'fended the rampart 'gainst the foe.'\n\n\n|| After this battle went back Earl Hakon even unto his ships and would\nhave homeward sailed unto Norway, but that he could get no wind, so\naccordingly he lay out in Limfjord.\n\n\n|| Now turned the Emperor Otta his host so that they faced around & hied\nthem to the gulf of Sle (Sleswick), whereat gathered he together a large\nhost and took his men across to Jutland.\n\nWhen the intelligence thereof came to the ears of the King of Denmark\nfared he forth against the Emperor with his host, and a great battle was\nfought betwixt them.\n\nThe issue was to the Emperor, and thereon the King of Denmark fled away\nto Limfjord & took ship out to Marsey.\n\nThen did emissaries journey betwixt him and the Emperor, and a truce was\ncovenanted, also that they twain should commune face to face. In Marsey,\nthen, did the Emperor Otta and the Danish King confront one the other,\n& there a saintly bishop,Sec. Poppo by name, preached the faith before\nHarald, and to show the truth thereof bare he glowing iron in his hand,\nand Harald testified that the hand of the holy man was unscarred by the\nheated iron. Thereafter was Harald himself baptized with the whole of\nthe Danish host that were with him.\n\nEre this had Harald the King, albeit that he abode the nonce in Marsey,\nsummoned Earl Hakon to his aid, and the Earl had just come to the island\nwhen the King let himself be christened. So the King sent a message to\nthe Earl to come to him, and when the Earl was come thither compelled\nhim also that he should be baptized. After this manner was the Earl made\na Christian, and all his men with him.\n\nThereafter did the King appoint him priests and other learned men,Sec. and\ncommanded him to cause all the people of Norway to be baptized into the\nfaith and with this they parted. Thereafter Earl Hakon put out to sea to\nawait a favourable wind, and when a breeze sprang up, lo! without more\nado set he all the learned men to wade even unto the shore and upon that\nwind himself stood out to sea. The wind was from the west, and the Earl\nsailed eastward through Eyrasund (Oeresund) pillaging whatsoever lands he\nsighted, & thereafter came east unto the Skani side, plundering and\nharrying wherever he put ashore. Now as he was sailing his course off\nthe skerries of east Gautland put he ashore and offered up a great\nsacrifice, and whiles this was solemnized came two ravens flying up,\nloudly croaking, & for this reason deemed the Earl that Odin had\naccepted his sacrifice, and that good fortune would favour him in his\nbattles. Even so burned he all his ships and came ashore with every man\nof all his host, and carried war throughout the land. Against him was\narrayed Earl Ottar, he that held rule over Gautland, and they fought a\ngreat battle wherein was Earl Hakon victorious, & he slew Earl Ottar\ntogether with a great number of his host.\n\nEarl Hakon then marched hither & thither carrying war through both the\nGautlands, until he was come unto Norway, & then took he the road right\nto the north, to Throndhjem. It is of this that the Vellekla speaketh:\n\n  'The foeman of those who fled consulted the gods on the plain, and\n  Gat answer Fret[Sec.] from that the day was propitious to battle;\n  There the war-leader saw how mighty were the corse-ribs;\n  The gods of the temple would thin lives in Gautland.\n  A Sword-Thing held the Earl there where no man afore him\n  With shield on arm had durst to harry;\n  No one ere this so far inland had borne\n  That shield of gold; all Gautland had he o'errun.\n  With heaps of the fallen the warriors piled the plain\n  The kith of the AEsirs conquered, Odin took the slain;\n  Can there be doubt that the gods govern the fall of kings?\n  Ye strong powers, I pray, make great the sway of Hakon.'\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| After that he had parted in all goodly friendship from the Danish\nKing, fared Emperor Otta back to his realm of Saxland; men say that he\nheld Svein the son of Harald at the font, & that the child bore the name\nof Otta Svein. Harald, the Danish King, held by the Christian faith even\nto the day of his death. King Burizlaf, after these things, betook\nhimself back to Wendland, & together with him in his company went his\nson-in-law King Olaf Tryggvason. Of the battle aforesaid telleth\nHallfrod the Troublous-skald in Olaf's lay:\n\n  'The ruler of war ships hewed and smote asunder warriors\n  Even in Denmark to the south of Hedeby.'\n\n\n|| It was the space of three winters that Olaf Tryggvason abode in\nWendland, even until Geira his wife fell ill of a sickness, whereof she\ndied, and so great a sorrow was this to Olaf that he no longer had\npleasure in living in Wendland.\n\nTherefore getting him ships of war once more went he forth plundering\nand harrying, first in Saxland, then in Frisland, and he even fared as\nfar as Flanders. Thus saith Hallfrod the Troublous-skald:\n\n  'Oft did the son of Tryggvi smite to the death the Saxon\n  And left maimed corses food for the wolves,\n  And for their drink did that lord, beloved of his host,\n  Give the brown blood of many a Frisian.\n  Mighty sea-kings hewed\n  In Flanders corses asunder,\n  The prince to the ravens gave\n  The flesh of Walloons as supper.'\n\n\n|| Thereafter did Olaf Tryggvason sail for England, and ravaged apace &\nafar in that country; right north did he sail to Nordimbraland\n(Northumberland) and there harried; thence fared he farther to the\nnorthward even to Scotland where he plundered and pillaged far and wide.\n\nFrom thence sailed he again to the Hebrides, the where he fought more\nthan once, and afterwards sailed a course south to Man & fought there.\nFar and wide did he plunder in Ireland and then sailed he to Bretland\n(Wales) and pillaged there, & in Kumraland (Cumberland) did he likewise.\nThen he sailed to Frankland (France) where he harried the people, & from\nthence came back again, being minded to return to England, but came to\nthose Islands which are called Scilly in the western part of the English\nmain. Thus saith Hallfrod the Troublous-skald:\n\n  'The unsparing young King plundered the Englishmen,\n  The feeder of spear-showers made murder in Northumbria,\n  The war-loving feeder of wolves laid waste to Scotia,\n  The giver of gold fared with up-lifted sword in Man.\n  The bearer of the elm-bow brought death to the hosts\n  Of the Isle of Erin, for fame yearned the lord;\n  Four winters did the King smite the dwellers in Wales,\n  And Northumbrians hewed he\n      ere the greed of the chough was appeased.'\n\n\n|| Four winters did Olaf Tryggvason fare on viking cruises from the time\nof his leaving Wendland even until his coming to the Isles of Scilly.\n\n\n|| Now when Olaf Tryggvason was lying off the Isles of Scilly he heard\ntell that there was a soothsayer thereon, and that he foretold the\nfuture and spake of things not yet come to pass, and many folk believed\nthat things ofttimes happened according as this man had spoken. Now Olaf\nbeing minded to make assay of his cunning sent to him the finest and\nfairest of his men, in apparel as brave as might be, bidding him say\nthat he was the King, for Olaf had become famous in all lands in that he\nwas comelier and bolder and stronger than all other men. Since he had\nleft Garda, howsoever, he had used no more of his name than to call\nhimself Oli, and had told people that he was of the realm of Garda. Now\nwhen the messenger came to the soothsayer and said he was the King, gat\nhe for answer: 'King art thou not, but my counsel to thee is that thou\nbe loyal to thy King,' & never a word more deigned the seer to utter.\nThen went the messenger back and told Olaf this thing, and the King had\nno longer any doubt that this man was verily a soothsayer, and his wish\nto meet with him, now that he had heard such an answer, waxed greater\nthan heretofore. So Olaf went to him & communed with him, & asked him to\nprophesy about his future, whether or not he would win himself a kingdom\nor other good fortune. Then answered the prophet with saintly prophecy:\n'Thou wilt be a glorious King, & do glorious deeds, to faith &\nchristening wilt thou bring many men, and thou wilt help thereby both\nthyself & many others. But to the end that thou shalt not doubt about\nthis mine answer take this for a token: Hard by thy ships shalt thou\nmeet with guile & with foemen, & thou shalt do battle; and of thy men\nsome shall fall and thou thyself shalt be wounded. From that wound wilt\nthou be nigh unto death and be borne on a shield to thy ship; yet of thy\nhurt shalt thou be whole within a sennight and shall shortly thereafter\naccept Christianity.' Then Olaf went down to the ships, & verily did\nmeet with the warlike men who would slay him & his followers, & their\ncombat ended even as the hermit had foretold, to wit, in such manner\nthat Olaf was indeed borne out to his ship on a shield & likewise was\nwhole again after a sennight. Then Olaf felt assured in his mind that it\nwas the truth that this seer had told him, and that of a truth was he a\nwise soothsayer, whencesoever might he have his gift of prophecy.\nSo Olaf a second time went unto him and held much talk with him, and\nquestioned him closely as to whence he gat the wisdom to foretell what\nwas to come. And the hermit saith that the God of the men that were\nbaptized Himself causeth him to know all that He wisheth. Then recounted\nhe to Olaf the mighty works of God, & after these persuasions Olaf\nassented unto Christianity, & it befell that he was there baptized, &\nall the men that were with him. In that place abode he a long time and\nlearned the true Faith, and in his train bore away with him priests &\nother learned men.\n\n\n|| From the Isles of Scilly Olaf hied in the autumn to England, and there\nlay he in a certain haven & lived in peace, for England was a Christian\nland & now was he likewise a Christian man.\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| Now there went throughout the land a summons to a certain Thing, that\nall men should come to the Thing, & when there was assemblage thither\ncame to it a queen whose name was Gyda.[Sec.]\n\nShe was the sister of Olav Kvaran who was King of Dublin, which is in\nIreland, and she had been married to a powerful earl in England who was\nnow dead, but after him she yet ruled his dominion.\n\nNow there was a man in her dominions whose name was Alwin, a mighty\nchampion & 'holmgangsman.'Sec.\n\nAlwin had wooed Gyda, but she had made answer that she herself would\nmake choice whom she would have among the men of her dominion, and\nforasmuch as she would choose herself a husband was this Thing convened.\nThereto likewise came Alwin decked out in his best raiment, and many\nothers were there apparelled also in their best. Now Olaf too was come\nthither, & he was clad in his bad-weather raiment, wearing a cloak\nexceeding rough; and he stood with his followers somewhat aloof from the\nothers. Gyda walked hither & thither among the men, gazing at each one\nfavoured in her eyes; but when she was come to where Olaf held his\nground looked she searchingly up into his face and asked of what manner\nof man was he. Then did he make answer that he was Oli, and said: 'I am\nnot of the country born nor bred.' Saith Gyda: 'Wilt thou have me? Even\nupon that then will I choose thee.' 'I will not say nay to it,' quoth\nhe, and asked her name and lineage. 'I am,' said she, 'a King's daughter\nof Ireland, but I was wedded into this country, to an earl who held\ndominion here. Since the time that he died have I ruled the land; divers\nmen have wooed me, but none that I would wed, & my name is Gyda.'\n\nYouthful was she and fair, and Olaf and she communed over this matter\neven until they became of one accord, and thereafter was Olaf betrothed\nto Gyda. This was but sour in the mouth of Alwin, but there was a custom\nin England that when two contended about a matter they should meet in\nsingle combat, and Alwin therefore bade Olaf Tryggvason fight with him\non this matter.\n\nThe time and place were appointed, & on either side were there chosen\ntwelve men. Then when they were met said Olaf unto his men that they\nwere to do even as he did, and a great axe had he in his hand. Now as\nAlwin was minded to drive his sword into him Olaf struck it out of his\nhand, & at the second stroke Alwin himself so that he fell to the\nground. Then did Olaf bind him fast, & in this manner also was treatment\nmeted out to the men that were with Alwin, to wit, to be beaten and\nbound, and thereafter were taken home to Olaf's lodging. Then did he bid\nAlwin depart from out the land & nevermore therein set foot again, and\nthereafter Olaf took possession of all his lands.\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| So it came to pass that Olaf wedded Gyda & abode for the most part in\nEngland, but sometimes in Ireland. Once when Olaf was out on a foray, it\nfell that it was needful that they should foray ashore for provisions,\nand accordingly went his men to land and drove down a number of cattle\nto the shore. Then came a peasant after them & prayed Olaf give him back\nhis cows, & Olaf bade him take his cows could he find them; 'but let him\nnot delay our journey.' The peasant had with him a big cattle-dog. This\ndog sent he into the herd of neat whereof were being driven many\nhundreds, and the animal hither and thither ran among the drove,\nsingling out as many cows as the peasant said he owned, and all of them\nwere marked in the same manner.\n\nNow knowing that the dog had chosen rightly it seemed to them that this\nwas passing clever, and so Olaf asked of the peasant whether he would\ngive him the dog. 'Willingly,' answered he, and Olaf in exchange\ntherefor gave him a gold ring, and the promise of his friendship.\n\nThat dog was named Vigi, and it was the best of all dogs; Olaf had\npleasure in him for a long time thereafter.\n\n\n|| Now it came to the ears of the King of Denmark, even to him hight\nHarald Gormson, that Earl Hakon had cast aside Christianity & had\npillaged in the country pertaining to the King of Denmark who thereon\ngathered together an host, & thereafter fared to Norway.\n\nAnd when he was come to the realm over which Earl Hakon had rule harried\nhe there, laying bare all the land. Then led he his host to the islets\nwhich are called Solunder. Five homesteads alone stood unburned in\nLardal, in Sogn, and all the folk of the valley were fled to the\nmountains and forests, taking with them such of their chattels as they\nmight carry. Thereafter the Danish King was minded to take his hosts to\nIceland to avenge the mockery of the Icelanders, for it happened that\nthey had made malicious verses about him.\n\nNow a law had been made in Iceland to the end that for every soul in the\ncountry one lampoon should be made on the Danish King, and the reason\ntherefor was to this wise, to wit, that a ship pertaining to men of\nIceland had stranded on the coast of Denmark & the Danes had taken all\nthe cargo thereon, calling it flotsam.\n\nThe man who had had the chief concern in this matter was one Birger, the\nKing's steward. Jests were made both on him and on the King, and this is\none of them:\n\n  'When the fight-wonted Harald rode the sea-steed from the south\n  In the shape of Faxe,\n  The slayer of Vandals as wax became altogether as impotent.\n  Birger by guardian sprites outcast in mare's shape met him\n  As all men did behold.'\n\n\n|| Now King Harald bade a warlock betake him to Iceland in one or other\nguise, that he might bring him back tidings of the country.\n\nAnd the warlock set forth in the shape of a whale, and when he was come\nthither to Iceland he went along the north side of the coast, and he saw\nthat all the mountains and hills were full of guardian spirits, some\nlarge & others small. When he was arrived at Vapnafjord there went he up\nand was like to have gone ashore when, lo! a great dragon came down from\nthe valley, & in its company many serpents, toads, and vipers, and these\nbeasts belched venom at him. So swam he away westward all alongside the\nland even the whole way until he was come to the mouth of the Eyjafjord,\n& after he had turned up this fjord towards him there came a bird so\nlarge that its wings reached the hills on either side, and with it were\na number of other birds, both large and tiny.\n\nSo away fared he thence, & westward along by the land to Breidafjord,\nand there went he up the fjord, but a great bull came towards him\nbellowing after a fashion that was most horrible, & in its company were\na swarm of kindred spirits.\n\nThen went he away from there and swam past Reykjanes and was about to go\nup on Vikarseid, but a hill giant came towards him with a staff in his\nhand, and this giant carried his head higher than the hills, and with\nhim were many other giants.\n\nThen swam he eastward all the way along the coast: 'There is nothing,'\nquoth he, 'save sand and wilderness and great breakers outside; and so\nbroad is the sea betwixt the lands,' said he, 'that it is all unmeet for\nlong-ships.'\n\n\n|| Now in those days Brod-Helgi dwelt in Vapnafjord, Eyolf Valgerdson in\nEyjafjord, Thord Gelli in Breidafjord and Thorod the Priest in Olfus.\n\n\n|| Then put the King of Denmark his fleet about, standing south along the\ncoast, and thereafter sailed back to Denmark. Hakon the Earl caused all\nthe habitations that had been devastated to be builded up again, &\nnevermore thereafter paid he any tribute to the King of Denmark.\n\n\n|| Now it came to pass that Svein-- he who was afterwards called\nTwo-beard-- demanded a kingdom of his father King Harald, & as before so\nagain it befell that King Harald would not part Denmark in twain, nor\nlet any other man, no matter of what blood he was, have dominion\ntherein.\n\nSo Svein assembled a fleet of war & gave out that he was about to go on\na viking cruise, and when the whole of his fleet was come together, &\nPalnatoki of the Jomsborg vikings was also come to his aid, Svein made\nfor Zealand, and went into Isafjord. There King Harald his father was\nlying, likewise, with his ships, for he was preparing to sail to war,\n& Svein fell upon him, & a great battle ensued; but many men flocked to\nKing Harald and Svein had to give way before great odds and flee. There\nnevertheless did Harald receive such hurt that he died, and thereafter\nSvein was hailed as King of Denmark. In those days Jomsborg in Wendland\nwas ruled by Earl Sigvaldi; he was the son of Strut-Harald who had ruled\nSkani, and Sigvaldi's brothers were Heming and Thorkel the Tall. At that\ntime Bui the Burly of Borgundarholm & his brother Sigurd were likewise\nchiefs among the Jomsborg vikings, and with them, too, was Vagn, who was\nthe son of Aki and Thorgunna and the sister's son of Bui and Sigurd.\n\nNow Sigvaldi the Earl had made King Svein prisoner and had taken him to\nJomsborg in Wendland, and had constrained him to make peace with the\nWendish King Burizlaf.\n\nIt was to Earl Sigvaldi to settle the conditions of agreement between\nthem-- Sigvaldi had then to wife Astrid the daughter of King Burizlaf--\nand if peace were not made, said the Earl, he would deliver King Svein\ninto the hands of the Wends.\n\nThen the King knowing full well that they would torture him even to the\ndeath was content that the Earl should be peacemaker, & the Earl\nadjudged matters in such fashion that King Svein was to have the\ndaughter of King Burizlaf to wife, and King Burizlaf the sister of King\nSvein, Tyra, that was daughter to Harald.\n\nMoreover it was covenanted that the two Kings were to have each his own\ndominion, and there was to be lasting peace between the countries.\n\nThen did King Svein journey home to Denmark with his wife Gunnhild;\ntheir sons were Harald and Knut the Great (Canute).\n\nAnd in those days made the Danes great boast that they would sail with a\nhost to Norway even against Earl Hakon.\n\n\n|| Now because King Svein was going to take his succession after his\nfather Harald, made he a great funeral feast, to which were bidden all\nthe chiefs of his kingdom.\n\nNot long before this Strut-Harald of Skani had died, and also Veseti of\nBorgundarholm, who was the father of Bui & Sigurd. The King therefore\nsent word to the Jomsborg vikings bidding Earl Sigvaldi and Bui, and\ntheir brothers, to come thither and seal their inheritance by drinking\ngrave-ale in memory of their fathers at the feast which the King himself\nwas about to give. And to this feast accordingly went the Jomsborg\nvikings with all the stoutest of their folk; forty ships had they from\nWendland & twenty from Skani, & a great number of people were assembled\ntogether. On the first day of the feast, before King Svein stepped into\nhis father's high seat, he drank the cup of memory to him, vowing\ntherewith that before three months were over he would go to England with\nhis hosts & slay King Ethelred, or drive him from the country. Now all\nthose who were at the feast were obliged to drink that cup of memory,\nand for the chiefs of the Jomsborg vikings the largest horns were\nfilled, and withal with the strongest ale. When this cup of memory had\nbeen drunk to the dregs then were all men to drink to the memory of\nChrist; and ever to the Jomsborg vikings were brought the fullest horns\n& the strongest drink. The third cup was to St. Michael, and this was\ndrunk by all; and thereafter Sigvaldi drank to his father's memory, &\nmade a vow that before three winters were passed he would go to Norway\nand slay Eirik, or drive him from the land. Then did his brother Thorkel\nthe Tall swear that he would fare with Sigvaldi, and never shun battle\nas long as Sigvaldi was fighting there; and Bui the Burly said that he\ntoo would go with them to Norway, and not flee before Earl Hakon in\nbattle. Then did Vagn Eirikson swear that he also would accompany him,\n& not return before he had slain Thorkel Leira and lain abed with his\ndaughter Ingibiorg.\n\nMany other lords made vows anent sundry matters, & all men drank the\nheirship ale. When the morrow was come and the Jomsborg vikings had\nslept as long as they were minded, they deemed that they had spoken big\nwords enough & met together to take counsel as to how and when they\nshould proceed with their cruise, and then they covenanted to array\ntheir ships and men as speedily as might be. Now this matter was\nrumoured of far and wide in the lands.\n\n\n|| Earl Eirik, the son of Earl Hakon, was at that season in Raumariki, &\nhearing of these tidings straightway mustered the folk and set forth to\nthe Uplands, and then made his way northwards across the mountains to\nThrondhjem, to his father Earl Hakon. Of this speaketh Thord Kolbeinson\nin Eirik's lay:\n\n  'In good sooth from the south came fearsome tales of war,\n  Peasants even fear to fight;\n  And the captain of the ship learned that the long-ships of the Danes\n  Along their rollers were run out seawards.'\n\n\n|| Earl Hakon and Earl Eirik caused war-arrows to be sent throughout the\nwhole of the district around Throndhjem, and sent messengers to\nSouth-More, North-More, and Raumsdal; likewise sent they northward to\nNaumdal and Halogaland, and when this was accomplished had they called\nout their full muster of men and ships. Thus saith Eirik's lay:\n\n  'Many a long-ship and bark and great keel\n  (How the skald's praise grows apace)\n  The shield-bearer caused to be run into the sea\n  (Off-shore was the muster goodly)\n  So that the warrior could defend the lands of his fathers.'\n\n\n|| Earl Hakon went forthwith south to More, to reconnoitre and collect\nmen, while Earl Eirik assembled his host & took it southwards.\n\n\n|| The Jomsborg vikings brought their hosts to Limfjord and thence sailed\nout to sea; sixty ships had they, and they took them across to Agdir\nwhence without tarrying shaped they a course northward to the dominion\nof Earl Hakon. They sailed off the coast, plundering & burning\nwheresoever they went. Now there was a certain man named Geirmund who\nwas sailing in a light boat & had but few men with him, & he came to\nMore where he found Earl Hakon, & going in before the Earl as he sate at\nmeat told him that there was an host to the southward which was come\nfrom Denmark. The Earl asked if he knew this in good sooth, and\nGeirmund, holding up one of his arms from which the hand had been\nsevered, said that that was the token that a host was in the land.\n\nThen did the Earl question him closely concerning this host, & Geirmund\nsaid that it was the Jomsborg vikings, & that they had slain many men\nand plundered far & wide: 'Nevertheless they are travelling speedily and\nhard.\n\nMethinks it will not be long before they are here.'\n\nSo then the Earl rowed up all the fjords, inwards along one shore and\noutwards along the other faring night and day, and he sent scouts on to\nthe upper way across the isthmus,Sec. & south in the Fjords, & likewise\nnorth where Eirik was now with his host.\n\nIt is of this that Eirik's lay telleth:\n\n  'War-wise was the Earl who had long-ships on the main\n  Heading with lofty prows against Sigvaldi,\n  Mayhap many an oar shook,\n  But the seamen who rent the sea with strong oar-blades\n  Feared not death.'\n\n\n|| Earl Hakon took his host southwards as speedily as ever he was able.\n\n\n|| Sailing northwards with his fleet Earl Sigvaldi rounded Stad, and\nfirst put in over against Hereya. Here, although the vikings fell in\nwith the folk of the country, never could they get from them the truth\nas to the whereabouts of the Earl. Whithersoever they went the vikings\npillaged, & in the island of Hod they ran up ashore & plundered the\npeople, taking back with them to their ships both folk and cattle,\nthough all men capable of bearing arms they slew.\n\nNow as they were going down again to their ships an old man approached\nthem-- for he was walking nigh to the men of Bui-- and unto them said\nhe, 'Not as warriors go ye here, driving neat and calves down to the\nshore; better prey would it be for ye to take the bear since ye have\ncome so nigh his lair.'\n\n'What saith the carle?' they cry, 'Can ye tell us aught of Earl Hakon?'\nThe peasant made answer: 'Yesterday he sailed to Hiorundarfjord having\nwith him one or two ships, or three at most, & at that time he had not\nheard aught of ye.' Forthwith ran Bui & his men to their ships, leaving\nall their booty behind, & Bui called out saying: 'Let us make the most\nof having got this news, so that we may be the ones nighest to the\nvictory.'\n\nAnd when they had mounted up into their ships straightway rowed they out\nnorth of the isle of Hod, and then rounding that island into the fjord.\n\n\n|| Earl Hakon and his son Earl Eirik were lying in Hallsvik, with their\nhosts and one hundred and fifty ships.\n\nNow they had heard by this time that the Jomsborg vikings were lying-to\noff Hod, and the Earls accordingly rowed northward to seek them, and\nwhen they were come to the place which is called Hiorungavag met they\none with another.\n\nBoth sides then set themselves in array for battle. In the midst of his\nhost was the banner of Earl Sigvaldi and over against this Earl Hakon\ntook up his position; Earl Sigvaldi had twenty ships, and Earl Hakon\nsixty.\n\nIn Earl Hakon's following were the chiefs Thorir Hart of Halogaland, and\nStyrkar of Gimsar. As for the battle array, one wing consisted of the\ntwenty ships belonging to Bui the Burly and his brother Sigurd. Against\nthese Earl Eirik Hakonson placed sixty ships, with him being the chiefs\nGudbrand the White from the Uplands & Thorkel Leira from Vik.\n\nIn the other wing of the array was Vagn Akason with twenty ships, and\nagainst him with sixty ships was Svein Hakonson with Skeggi of Uphaug in\nYriar, and Rognvald from Ervik in Stad. In Eirik's lay it is told of\nthus:\n\n  'And the sea-ships to battle sped towards the Danish ships,\n  The sea-host sailed the coast along:\n  From before the vikings cleared the Earl away many at More\n  The ships drifted amid war-slain heaps.'\n\nAnd thus saith Eyvind in the Halogaland tale:\n\n  'Hardly was it a tryst of joy in that day's dawning\n  For the foemen of Yngvi Frey,\n  When the land-rulers guided the long-ships across the waste,\n  And the sword-elf from the south-land\n  Thrust the sea-steeds against their hosts.'\n\n\n|| Then the fleets were brought together and there ensued the grimmest of\nbattles, and many were slain on both sides, albeit the host of Hakon was\nit which fared the worst, for the Jomsborg vikings fought stoutly both\nwith boldness & dexterity, shooting clean through the shields. So great\nin number were the missiles which struck Earl Hakon that his shirt of\nmail became all rent and useless so that he threw it from him.\n\nOf this speaketh Tind Halkelson:\n\n  'The kirtle which gold bedecked women wrought for the Earl\n  (The sparks from the sword wax brighter)\n  Could no longer be borne;\n  Then the mailed hero from off him cast the King's shirt\n  (Ready were the steeds of the sea).\n  Asunder, on the sand, blown from the Earl by the wind\n  Was the ring-weaved shirt of Sorli\n  (Thereof bore he the marks).'\n\n\n|| Now the ships of the Jomsborg vikings were both larger, and higher in\nthe gunwale, than were those of Earl Hakon, but nevertheless were they\nboldly beset from both sides. Vagn Akason pressed the ships of Svein\nHakonson so hard that Svein let his men backwater & came nigh to\nfleeing, whereupon Earl Eirik came up into his place & thrust himself\ninto the battle against Vagn, and Vagn backed his ship, and the craft\nlay again as they had lain at first.\n\nThen Eirik returned to his own battle, where his men were now going\nastern, and Bui having cut himself free from his lashings was about to\nfollow the fugitives.\n\nEirik then laid his ship alongside the ship of Bui, & a sharp hand to\nhand struggle took place, and two or three of the ships of Eirik set on\nthe one ship whereon was Bui.\n\nThen a storm came on, and there fell hailstones so heavy that one stone\nalone weighed an ounce. Then did Sigvaldi cut his ship adrift & went\nabout, with the intention of fleeing; Vagn Akason cried out to him\nbidding him stay, but never a moment would Sigvaldi heed give to what he\nsaid, so Vagn sent a javelin after him, and smote the man who held the\ntiller. Earl Sigvaldi rowed out of the battle with thirty-five ships and\nleft twenty-five behind him.\n\nThen did Earl Hakon bring his ship round to the other side of that of\nBui, and short respite then had the men of Bui between the blows. Now\nthere was an anvil with a sharp end standing on the forecastle of the\nship that pertained to Bui, and the reason thereof was that some man had\nmade use thereof when welding the hilt of his sword, and Vigfus the son\nof Vigaglums, who was a man of great strength, took up the anvil &\nthrowing it with both hands, drave it into the head of Aslak Holmskalli,\nso that the snout thereof entered his brain. No weapon hitherto had\nscathed Aslak, though he had been laying about him on either side.\n\nHe was the foster-son of Bui, and his forecastle man. Yet another of the\nmen to Bui was Havard the Hewer; even stronger was he, and a man of\ngreat valour. During this struggle the men of Eirik went up aboard Bui's\nship, & made aft to the poop, towards Bui, and Thorstein Midlang struck\nhim full across the nose, cleaving asunder the nose-piece of his helmet,\nand leaving a great wound.\n\nBui then smote Thorstein in the side in such a manner that he cut the\nman right athwart his middle, and then seizing two chests of gold he\nshouted: 'Overboard all the men of Bui,' and plunged into the sea with\nthe chests, and many of his men likewise sprang overboard, though others\nfell on the ship, for little avail was it to ask for quarter. The ship\nwas now cleared from stem to stern, and the other craft were likewise\ncleared one after the other.\n\n\n|| After this Earl Eirik brought his ships alongside that of Vagn, and\nfrom the latter met with right stout resistance; in the end however the\nship was cleared, and Vagn and thirty men taken prisoners. Bound were\nthey & taken on land, and Thorkel Leira went up to them and spoke thus:\n'Vagn, thou didst vow to slay me, but me seemeth it is I who am more\nlike to slay thee.'\n\nNow it happened that Vagn and his men were all sitting on the felled\ntrunks of a mighty tree, and Thorkel had a big axe, & with it he struck\nat the man who was sitting farthest off on the trunk.\n\nVagn and his men were so bound that a rope was passed round their feet,\nbut their hands were free. Then said one of them, 'I have in my hand a\ncloak-clasp, and into the earth will I thrust it if I wot anything after\nmy head is off'-- and his head was struck off, and down fell the clasp\nfrom his hand.\n\nHard by sat a fair man with goodly hair and he swept his hair forward\nover his face, saying as he stretched forth his neck: 'Make not my hair\nbloody.' A certain man took the hair in his hand and held it fast, and\nThorkel swang the axe so as to strike, but the viking drew back his head\nsuddenly & he who was holding his hair moved forward with him, and lo,\nthe axe came down on both his hands and took them off, thereafter\ncleaving the earth. Then Earl Eirik came up and asked: 'Who is that fine\nman?' 'Sigurd the lads call me,' said he, 'and I am thought to be a son\nto Bui: not yet are all the vikings of Jomsborg dead.' 'Thou must of a\nsurety be a true son to Bui; wilt thou have quarter?' 'That dependeth\nupon who is the bidder thereof,' said Sigurd. 'He offereth it who hath\npower to give it, to wit Earl Eirik.' 'Then will I take it,' and loosed\nwas he from the rope. Then said Thorkel Leira: 'Though thou grantest\nquarter, Earl, to all these men, yet never shall Vagn Akason depart\nhence alive,' & so saying he ran forward with uplifted axe. Just then\nthe viking Skadi tripped in the rope, and dropped before Thorkel's feet,\nand Thorkel fell flat over him, and Vagn seizing the axe dealt Thorkel\nhis death-blow. Then said the Earl: 'Wilt thou have quarter?' 'Yea\nwill I,' said he, 'if we all are given quarter.' 'Loose them from the\nrope,' said the Earl, and so it was done accordingly.\n\nEighteen of these men were slain, but to twelve was quarter granted.\n\n\n|| Now Earl Hakon & many of his men with him were sitting on a log.\n\nSuddenly there twanged a bowstring from Bui's ship, but the arrow struck\nGizur of Valders, a feudatory who was sitting by the Earl & was clad in\nbrave apparel, & forthwith went sundry of Hakon's men out to the ship\nand found on it Havard the Hewer kneeling by the bulwarks, for his feet\nhad been smitten off him. A bow had he in his hand and when they were\ncome out to the ship, as aforesaid, Havard asked: 'Who fell off the\ntree-trunk?' 'One named Gizur,' they say. 'Then was my luck lesser than\nI wished.' 'Ill-luck enough,' say they, 'and more hurt shalt thou not\ndo,' & therewith they slew him. After these things the dead were\nsearched, and the booty brought together for division; five and twenty\nships belonging to the Jomsborg vikings were thus cleared of booty. Tind\nsaith as follows:\n\n  'He, feeder of ravens,\n  (Their swords did smite their thighs)\n  Against the friends of the Wends long did struggle,\n  Until he who shields destroyed had\n  Five and twenty ships laid waste.'\n\n\n|| Thereafter were the hosts dispersed.\n\nEarl Hakon betook him to Throndhjem, taking it full ill that Eirik had\ngiven Vagn Akason quarter.\n\nMen say that during this battle Earl Hakon made sacrifice of his son\nErling in order to gain the victory, and afterwards the hailstorm came,\nand that then the slaughtering changed over out of the hands of the\nJomsborgers. After the battle Earl Eirik went to the Uplands, and from\nthere east to his dominions, and with him went Vagn Akason. Thereafter\nEirik gave the daughter of Thorkel Leira-- Ingibiorg was her name-- in\nmarriage to Vagn, & a goodly long-ship to boot, well furnished in all\nthings appertaining thereto, & a crew did he get him for the ship, and\nthey parted in all friendship. Vagn thence fared southward home to\nDenmark, and became thereafter a famous man.\n\nMany men of might are descended from him.\n\n\n|| Now it hath been heretofore related how Harald the Grenlander was King\nof Vestfold, and how Asta, the daughter of Gudbrand Kula had he taken to\nwife. One summer when he was out laying waste the countries to the\neastward, came he to Sweden where Olaf the Swede was King in those days.\nOlaf was the son of Eirik the Victorious and of Sigrid the daughter of\nSkogla-Tosti.\n\nSigrid was now a widow and to her pertained many great manors in Sweden.\nWhen she heard that her foster-brother Harald the Grenlander had come\nashore not far from where at that time she was abiding, sent she\nmessengers to him, bidding him to a feast which she was making ready to\ngive. Thereat was Harald glad, and fared to Astrid with a great\nfollowing of men. And a goodly feast was it withal: the King and the\nQueen sat in the high-seat and in the evening drank both together, and\namong the men flowed the ale freely.\n\nAt night when the King went to his rest his bed had on it a costly\ncoverlet, and was hung with precious cloths; in that house there were\nbut few men. And the King having unclad him, & gotten into bed, the\nQueen came hither to him and poured out a cup, and pressed him hard to\ndrink; right kind was she to him withal. Now the King was exceeding\ndrunken, and the Queen likewise.\n\nThen fell the King asleep, and Sigrid went away to her bed. Now the\nQueen was a very wise woman, and far seeing in many things. The next\nmorning flowed the drink ever apace, but as ofttimes cometh to pass when\nmen have drunk heavily, even so the more wary of drink are most of them\non the morrow. Yet was the Queen merry, and she and Harald spake much\ntogether, and as their talk ran on, the Queen said that she deemed her\nlands & kingdom in Sweden to be of no less worth than his in Norway. Now\nat this manner of talking the King waxed moody, and found but little\npleasure in anything thereafter, and heavy at heart he made him ready\nto go; yet was the Queen exceeding merry, gave him great gifts, &\naccompanied him on his way.\n\n\n|| So back to Norway fared he that autumn, & abode at home during that\nwinter, but little enough pleasure gat he the while. The summer\nthereafter went he eastward with his host, and shaped his course for\nSweden. Word sent he to Sigrid that he desired to meet her, & she rode\ndown to him, & they talked together; then without more ado he asked her\nwhether she would have him for mate, to which Sigrid made answer that to\ndo such a thing would indeed be foolish, seeing that he is well married\nalready, and better for him might not be. Harald confessed Asta to be a\ngood wife and brave, 'but of such noble blood as mine is she not\nwithal.' Then answered Sigrid. 'Maybe thou art of higher lineage than\nshe, yet nevertheless it beseemeth to me that with her is the happiness\nof ye both.' And after that few were the words spoken between them\nbefore the Queen rode away.\n\n\n|| Then was King Harald sick at heart, & he made him ready to ride inland\nto see Queen Sigrid yet once more. Many of his men counselled him\ntherefrom, but none the less went he with a great following to the house\nof which Sigrid was lady. That same evening there came thither from the\neast, from Gardariki (western Russia), another king-- VissavaldSec. was his\nname, & he likewise came to woo Sigrid the Queen. The kings & all their\nretinue were given seats in a large & ancient chamber; & ancient also\nwere the furnishings of this room, but drink more than enough went round\nthat evening, so strong indeed that all became drunken, and both the\nhead-guard, and the outer-guard fell asleep. Then, during the night--\nand all this was caused by Queen Sigrid-- were they fallen upon with\nfire and sword; both the chamber & the men who were therein were burned,\n& of those who came out from it not one was allowed to go alive.\n\nQuoth Sigrid on this matter, that she would teach small kings from other\nlands to woo her; & thereafter she was called Sigrid the Scheming.\n\n\n|| It was the winter before these things befell that the battle with the\nJomsborg vikings was fought in Hiorungavag. Now while Harald was gone\ninland, one Hrani was left in charge of the ships and men; but when the\nnews came that Harald had been done to death, fared they thence\nforthwith, & going back to Norway recounted the tidings.\n\nAnd to Asta went Hrani & told her all things concerning their voyage, &\nlikewise the errand that had urged King Harald to Queen Sigrid. When she\nheard these tidings Asta went straightway to the Uplands to her father,\nand right welcome was she made, but exceeding wrathful were they both at\nthe base design which had been toward in Sweden, & with Harald that he\nhad been minded to leave her in loneliness. Asta, the daughter of\nGudbrand, brought forth a son even there in the summer; this boy was\ncalled Olaf at his baptism, & Hrani poured the water over him. At the\noutset was the child reared by Gudbrand & Asta his mother.\n\n\n|| Earl Hakon ruled the whole coast of Norway; sixteen counties had he\nunder his sway, and forasmuch as Harald Fairhair had prescribed that an\nearl should be over every county, and that prescription had endured for\nlong, there were under him sixteen earls. Thus it is said in the\nVellekla:\n\n  'Where else know we the government\n  (On this the hosts may ponder)\n  Of one land-ruler over the lands of sixteen earls?\n  Unto the four corners of heaven rises the rumour\n  Of the doughty deeds of the belauded chieftain.'\n\n\n|| During the rule of Earl Hakon the increase was good in the land, &\npeace was there within it among the peasantry. Well-beloved, too, was\nthe Earl among them for the greater part of his life, but as his years\nwaxed old it happened that his intercourse with women became unseemly,\nand to such a pass came this that the Earl would cause the daughters of\npowerful men to be brought unto him, when he would lie with them for a\nweek or twain, and then send them back to their homes. This manner of\nacting brought him to great enmity with the kinsmen of these women, and\nthe peasantry fell to murmuring, as is the wont of the folk of\nThrondhjem when things are not to their liking.\n\n\n|| Now there came to the ears of Earl Hakon the fame of a man overseas\nwestward who called himself Oli, & whom men held for a King; and he\nmisdoubted from the talk of certain folk that this man must be of the\nlineage of the Norwegian Kings. He was told, indeed, that Oli called\nhimself Gerdish (i.e., of Garda) by race, but the Earl had heard that\nTryggvi Olafson had had a son who had been taken eastward to Garda\n(western Russia), and had been brought up there at the Court of King\nValdamar, and that his name was Olaf.\n\nOften had the Earl sought information about this man, and he misdoubted\nthat he it was who had now come to the western countries. Now to Hakon\nthe Earl was a great friend, one Thorir Klakka, who was known far and\nwide, for he had sailed long whiles as a viking, and at others as a\nmerchant.\n\nSo west across the sea Earl Hakon now despatched this man, bidding him\nfare to Dublin as a merchant, as many were wont to fare in those days.\nIt was laid on Thorir that he should ascertain of what manner of man was\nthis Oli, and should he hear of a truth he was Olaf Tryggvason, or of\nthe lineage of the Kings of Norway, then was Thorir, if it might be,\nto ensnare him into the power of the Earl.\n\n\n|| So Thorir gat him west to Dublin, and enquiring there for tidings of\nOli learned that he was with his brother-in-law King Olaf Kvaran.Sec.\nThereafter Thorir brought it to pass that he gat speech of Oli, and when\nthey had talked often and long (for Thorir was a very smooth-tongued\nman) fell Oli to asking about the Upland kings: which of them were still\nalive and what dominions pertained to them.\n\nLikewise asked he concerning the Earl, and if he were much beloved in\nthe country. Thorir answered: 'The Earl is so mighty a man that no one\ndurst speak but as he wills, nevertheless the reason of this is that we\nhave none other to look to. Verily know I the minds of many mighty men,\n& of the people likewise, & that they would be eager & ready were a king\nof the lineage of Harald Fair-hair to come to the realm.\n\nOf this, however, is there no likelihood inasmuch as it has been well\nproven how little it availeth to contend against Earl Hakon.'\n\nAnd when they had talked much together on this matter, revealed Olaf\nunto Thorir his name & lineage, & craved counsel of him whether the\npeasantry would have him for their King should he fare over to Norway.\nWith eagerness sought Thorir to urge him on to make this journey,\npraising him and his prowess most exceedingly. Then did Olaf conceive a\ngreat desire to be gone to the realm of his kin; and sailed he\nthereafter from the west with five ships, going first to the Hebrides; &\ntogether with him went Thorir. Later sailed he to the Orkneys where Earl\nSigurd, the son of Hlodvir, was lying in Asmundarvag (Osmundwall) in\nRognvaldzey (South Ronaldsey) in a long-ship for he was about to sail\nover to Katanes (Caithness). Then did King Olaf sail his folk from the\nwest & put into haven in the island because Pettlanzfjord (Pentland\nFirth) was not navigable.\n\nWhen the King heard that the Earl was lying there summoned he him to\ntalk with him, and Earl Sigurd having come to the King not long did they\ntalk ere the King Olaf said that the Earl and all the folk of the land\nmust let themselves be baptized or they would straightway be put to\ndeath; and the King said he would carry fire & sword through the isles,\nand lay waste the land if the folk thereof did not allow themselves to\nbe christened.\n\nSo the Earl being thus beset chose to accept baptism, and was baptized\nthere and then with all his men. Thereafter swore the Earl an oath that\nhe would become the King's man, & give him his son for a hostage-- his\nname was Whelp or Hound-- and Olaf took him home with him to Norway.\n\n\n|| Olaf then sailed eastward out to sea, and when he left the main, went\nin to the Isle of Most, where he went on land in Norway for the first\ntime.\n\nHe caused a Mass to be said in his tent, & on the self-same spot was a\nchurch afterward builded. Now Thorir Klakka told the King that their\nwisest course was to keep secret his identity, and to let not the\nslightest rumour about him get abroad, and to travel as speedily as\nmight be so as to fall upon the Earl while he was still unawares.\n\nEven so did King Olaf, faring northward day and night according to the\nset of the wind, & he let not the people know of his journey, nor who\nit was that was sailing. When he was come north to Agdanes gat he\ntidings that Earl Hakon was within the fjord, & moreover that he was at\nvariance with the peasantry. Now when Thorir heard tell of this quite\notherwise was it from what he had expected, for after the battle of the\nJomsborg vikings all men in Norway were full friendly with Earl Hakon by\nreason of the victory he had won, & which had saved the land from war;\nbut now so ill had things befallen that here was the Earl at strife with\nthe peasantry, & that with a great chief come into the land.\n\n\n|| At this time Hakon the Earl was a guest at Medalhus in Gaulardal, his\nships lying off Vigg the while.\n\nNow there was a certain Orm Lyrgia, a wealthy yeoman who lived at Bynes,\nand he had to wife Gudrun the daughter of Bergthor of Lundar, & so fair\na woman was this Gudrun that she was called the 'sun of Lundar.'\n\nAnd on such an errand as this, namely to bring unto him Orm's wife, did\nEarl Hakon send his thralls.\n\nThe men coming thither to Bynes made known their errand, but Orm bade\nthem first go out & sup, & before they had well eaten there had come to\nhim many men whom he had sent for from the neighbouring homesteads. Then\nsaid Orm that he would in nowise suffer Gudrun to go with the thralls;\nand Gudrun herself bade the thralls go tell the Earl that never would\nshe go to him save he sent Thora of Rimul,Sec. a wealthy lady and one of\nthe Earl's sweethearts, to fetch her. Then the thralls said that they\nwould come once again in such a manner that both master and mistress\nwould repent them of this business, & uttering grievous threats they gat\nthem gone. Now in all four directions of the countryside did Orm send\nout war-arrows, and with them word that all men should rise against\nHakon the Earl to slay him. Moreover he let Haldor of Skerdingsted be\ntold, and forthwith Haldor also made despatch of the war-arrow.\n\nNot long before this had the Earl taken the wife of a man named\nBryniolf, and from that piece of work had arisen a great pother, and\nsomething nigh the assembling together of an host.\n\nSo after receiving the message aforesaid all the people hastened\ntogether and made their way to Medalhus, but to the Earl coming news of\ntheir motions thereon left he the house together with his men and went\nto a deep valley which is now called Jarlsdal (the Earl's valley), and\ntherein they hid themselves. The day thereafter kept the Earl watch on\nthe peasant host. The peasants had encompassed all the footways, though\nthey were mostly of a mind that the Earl had made off to his ships.\nThese were now commanded by his son Erling, a young man of singular\npromise.\n\nWhen night fell sent the Earl his men away from him, bidding them take\nto the forest tracks out to Orkadal, 'No one will harm ye if I am\nnowhere nigh,' he said. 'Send also word to Erling to go out of the fjord\nso that we may meet in More. I shall find a means to hide me from the\npeasants.' Then the Earl departed and a thrall of his named Kark bore\nhim company.\n\nIce was there on the Gaul river, but the Earl set his horse at it & they\ncame through, with the loss of his cloak, to a cave which has since been\ncalled Jarlshellir (the Earl's cave), and therein slept they soundly.\nWhen Kark awakened recounted he unto the Earl a dream he had dreamt: how\na man black & ill to behold had come nigh the cave, and he was afeared\nwould enter it, and this man had told him that 'Ulli' was dead.\n\nThen said the Earl, 'Erling must have been slain.' For the second time\nThormod Kark slept and he cried out in his sleep, and when he awoke told\nhis dream, namely that he had seen the self-same man coming down again,\n& he had bidden Kark tell the Earl that now all the sounds were closed.\n\nAnd Kark telling Earl Hakon his dream said he thought it might betoken a\nshort life for him. Thereafter they arose and went to the homestead of\nRimul, whence sent the Earl Kark to Thora bidding her come privily to\nhim. This did she in haste, and made the Earl right welcome, and he\ncraved of her hiding were it but for a few nights even until dispersed\nshould be the peasants. 'Here is it that thou wilt be sought by them,'\nsaid she, 'and search will they make both within and without, throughout\nthe whole of this my homestead, for many there are that wot over well\nhow that I would fain help thee all that I might.\n\nHowbeit one place is there wherein would I never seek for such a man as\nthou, and that is in the swine-sty.' So thither hied they and said the\nEarl: 'Here then will we hide us, for it behoves us that first of all\nmust we give heed to our own lives.' Thereupon dug the thrall a large\nditch in the sty & carried away the earth, and afterwards placed wood\nacross it.\n\nAnd Thora brought unto the Earl tidings that Olaf Tryggvason was come up\nthe fjord, and that he had slain the Earl's son Erling.\n\nRight so went the Earl into the trench, & Kark with him, and Thora\ndragged wood athwart it, and swept earth and muck over it, and drave the\nswine thereon. Now the swine-sty was under a certain big rock.\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| With five long-ships shaped Olaf Tryggvason his course into the fjord,\n& Erling, the son of Earl Hakon with his three ships rowed him out to\nmeet him. Or ever the ships drew nigh one to another Erling and his men\nknew that this was war, and then in lieu of coming to a meeting with\nOlaf did they make head for the land. Now Olaf when he had seen the\nlong-ships rowing down the fjord towards him thought to himself that\nthis would be Earl Hakon, and thereon gave the word of command to row\nahead as hard as might be.\n\nThe men of Erling even so soon as they were come nigh unto the shore\nleapt they in haste overboard & made for land. Thither after them were\ncome the ships of Olaf and he himself saw swimming a man exceeding fair\nto look upon, and thereon seized he the tiller and threw it even unto\nthis man, and the tiller smote the head of Erling, he that was son of\nthe Earl, so that his skull was cloven, yea even to the brain.\n\nThus came it to pass that Erling lost his life.\n\nThere slew the men of Olaf many, but even so did a few make good their\nescape; others again made they prisoners, & giving them quarter gat\ntidings from them.\n\nThus learnt Olaf that the peasants had driven away Earl Hakon, that he\nwas fleeing before them, and that all the folk that were his were\nscattered.\n\nThereafter did the peasants come unto Olaf, and as all liked one another\npassing well forthwith entered they into fellowship.\n\nThe peasants hailed him for their King, and they covenanted together to\nseek Earl Hakon, & to make search up into Gaulardal where if\nperadventure he was to be found in any of the houses there, deemed they\nit likeliest would he be at Rimul since all men knew for why.\n\nThora was the dearest friend to him in that valley. So thither went\nthey, and sought the Earl both without and within but of him could they\nfind no trace; and Olaf summoned the people together out in the yard,\nand standing on the rock which was beside the swine-sty spake unto them,\nand the words that he uttered were that he would reward with riches and\nhonour the man who would work mischief to Earl Hakon.\n\nThis speech was heard both by the Earl and Kark. Now by them in the sty\nhad they a light there with them, and the Earl said: 'Why art thou so\npale, yet withal as black as earth? Is it in thy heart, Kark, that thou\nshouldst betray me?' 'Nay,' said Kark, 'we two were born on the\nself-same night, and long space will there not be twixt the hour of our\ndeaths.' Towards evening went King Olaf away, & when it was night Kark\nslept, and the Earl kept watch, but Kark was troubled in his sleep. Then\nthe Earl awakened him & asked him whereof he dreamt, and he said: 'I was\nnow even at Ladir, and Olaf Tryggvason placed a gold ornament about my\nneck.'\n\nThe Earl answered: 'A blood-red ring will it be that Olaf Tryggvason\nwill lay about thy neck, shouldst thou meet with him. Beware now, and\nbetray me not, & thou shalt be treated well by me as heretofore.' Then\nstay they both sleepless each watching the other, as it might be, but\nnigh daybreak fell the Earl asleep and was troubled at once, so troubled\nthat he drew his heels up under him & his head likewise under him, and\nmade as though he would rise up, calling aloud and in a fearsome way.\nThen grew Kark afeard & filled with horror, so it came to pass that he\ndrew a large knife from his belt and plunged it into the throat of the\nEarl cutting him from ear to ear. Thus was encompassed the death of Earl\nHakon.\n\nThen cut Kark off the head of the Earl and hasted him away with it, and\nthe day following came he with it to Ladir unto King Olaf, and there\ntold he him all that had befallen them on their flight, as hath already\nbeen set forth. Afterwards King Olaf let Kark be taken away thence, &\nhis head be sundered from his trunk.\n\n\n|| Thereafter to Nidarholm went King Olaf and likewise went many of the\npeasantry, and with them bare they the heads of Earl Hakon and Kark. In\nthose days it was the custom to use this island as a place whereon might\nbe slain thieves & criminals, and on it stood a gallows. And the King\ncaused that on this gallows should be exposed the heads of Earl Hakon\nand Kark. Then went thither the whole of the host, and shouted up at\nthem and cast stones, and said that they went to hell each in goodly\ncompany, ever one rascal with another. Thereafter did they send men up\nto Gaulardal, & after they had dragged thence the body of Earl Hakon did\nthey burn it.\n\nSo great strength was there now in the enmity that was borne against\nEarl Hakon by the folk that were of Throndhjem that no one durst breathe\nhis name save as the 'bad Earl,' and for long afterwards was he called\nafter this fashion.\n\nNevertheless it is but justice to bear testimony of Earl Hakon that he\nwas well worthy to be a chief, firstly by the lineage whereof he was\ndescended, then for his wisdom and the insight with which he used the\npower that pertained to him, his boldness in battle, and withal his\ngoodhap in gaining victories and slaying his foemen. Thus saith Thorleif\nRaudfelldarson:\n\n  'Hakon! no Earl more glorious 'neath the moon's highway:\n  In strife and battle hath the warrior honour won,\n  Chieftains mine to Odin hast thou sent,\n  (Food for ravens were their corses)\n  Therefore wide be thy rule!'\n\n\n|| The most generous of men was Earl Hakon, yet even to such a chief\nbefell so great mishap on his dying-day. And this was brought about by\nthe coming of the time when blood-offerings & the men of blood-offerings\nwere doomed, & in their stead were found the true Faith and righteous\nworship.\n\n\n|| In general Thing at Throndhjem was Olaf Tryggvason chosen to be King\nof the land, even as Harald Fair-hair had been King. Indeed the folk\nrose up, & the crowds would hear of nought else but that Olaf Tryggvason\nshould be King; and Olaf went throughout the country conquering it,\n& all men in Norway vowed allegiance to him.\n\nEven the lords of the Uplands and Vik who had before held their lands\nfrom the Danish King now became men unto Olaf and held their lands from\nhim. Then in the first winter & the summer thereafter fared he through\nthe country.\n\nEarl Eirik Hakonson, and Svein his brother, & others of their kith and\nfriendship fled from the land, & going eastward to Sweden, even unto\nKing Olaf the Swede, were by him well received. Thus saith Thord\nKolbeinson:\n\n  'Foemen of robbers! swiftly can fate cause change,\n  Brief space 'fore the treason of men did Hakon to death,\n  And to the land erewhile taken by the fighter in battle\n  Came now the son of Tryggvi, faring from the west.\n  More in his mind had Eirik against his lord and King\n  Than can now be spoken of, as might be thought of him.\n  In wrath sought the Earl counsel of the King of the Swedes\n  (Stubborn are the folk of Throndhjem, ne'er one will flee).'\n\n\n|| Now the name of a certain man from Vik was Lodin, and he possessed\nmuch wealth and was come of a goodly lineage. Often fared he as a\nmerchant, but upon occasion as a viking. Now it befell one summer that\nLodin, to whom appertained the ship, wherein was a fair cargo, did set\nsail eastward with merchandise that was his, and after making Estland\nspent he the summer there in the places where the fairs were held. Now\nthe while a fair happeneth are many kinds of goods thither brought to it\nfor sale, & likewise come many thralls, and among them as it befell in\nthis wise one day saw Lodin a woman, who when he looked on her perceived\nhe her to be Astrid, the daughter of Eirik whom King Tryggvi had had to\nwife. Now indeed was she unlike what she had been when he had aforetime\nseen her, for pale was she, and wasted, and poorly clad; but went he up\nto her & asked her about herself, and she answered: 'Sad is it to relate\nthat have I been sold for a slave, & yet again am I brought hither for\nsale.' Thereafter did they recognize one another, & Astrid knew well all\nabout him and she besought him to buy her & take her back to her kin.\n'I will make a bargain with thee on this matter,' said he, 'I will bear\nthee home with me to Norway if thou wilt wed me.'\n\nSo Astrid being in such dire straits and knowing him full well to be a\nman that was brave & had many possessions, yea and moreover goodly\nlineage, plighted she him her troth so that she might be set free. Thus\nit came to pass that Lodin bought Astrid, and bare her away home even\nunto Norway, and wedded her there with the goodwill of her kinsfolk. The\nchildren she bare to him were Thorkel Nefia, Ingirid, and Ingigerd;\nwhile the daughters of Astrid by King Tryggvi were Ingibiorg and Astrid.\n\nThe sons of Eirik Biodaskalli were Sigurd Carles-head, Jostein, and\nThorkel Dydril; all these were noble & wealthy, and to them pertained\nmanors in the east of the country.\n\nTwo brothers that dwelt in Vik, Thorgeir & Hyrning as they were named,\ntook to wife the daughters of Astrid and Lodin.\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| After the Danish King, Harald Gormson, had embraced the faith of\nChrist made he proclamation throughout his dominions that all men must\nallow themselves to be baptized, and must turn to the true Faith.\nHe himself followed hard on the bidding, making use of force and\nchastisement when naught else could prevail.\n\nHe sent to Norway with a great host two Earls that were called\nUrgutherjot and Brimiskiar;Sec. the mission to them was that they should\nproclaim Christianity throughout the land & the same also in Vik which\nhad done direct homage unto Harald himself.\n\nFolk made they submissive readily enough, and many country folk were\nthereon baptized. Howsoever it came to pass that after the death of\nHarald speedily went his son Svein Two-beard to war in Saxland,\nFrisland, and at last also in England, and then those of Norway who had\nreceived Christianity returned to sacrifices, as in the old times\naforesaid in the north country.\n\nBut Olaf Tryggvason after that he was King in Norway dwelt he for long\nin the summer at Vik, where he was made welcome with great show of\naffection; and to that place came also many of his kindred, & others who\nwere allied to him, and many that had been good friends with his father.\nThen did Olaf summon to him his uncle, & his step-father Lodin, & his\nstep-brothers Thorgeirr and Hyrning, and laying the matter before them\nbesought them most earnestly to undertake with him, and thereafter with\nall their might support the spreading of the message of Christianity,\nfor this message it was his wish to carry throughout the whole of his\ndominions.\n\nAnd, said he, that he would have it his way or die, 'I will make all of\nye great and powerful men, for it is upon ye that chiefly do I rely\ninasmuch as ye are to me kith & brethren.' So all were agreed to do what\nhe bade them and support him in that which he desired, and to have\nfellowship with all those that were of a mind to follow their counsel.\n\nThen did King Olaf proclaim that he would invite all men in his realm to\nbecome Christians, and those who had agreed this aforetime straightway\ndid his bidding, & as they were the most powerful of those present, all\nthe others did according to their example. Thereafter were all folk\nbaptized in the eastern part of Vik, & then went the King to the\nnorthern parts thereof and invited all men to receive Christianity; and\nthose who said nay chastised he severely, slaying some, and maiming\nsome, and driving away others from the land. So it came to pass that the\npeople of the whole of that kingdom whereover his father King Tryggvi\nhad ruled aforetime, and likewise that which his kinsman Harald the\nGrenlander had possessed, received Christianity according to the bidding\nof King Olaf. Wherefore in that summer and in the winter thereafter were\nthe people of the whole of Vik made Christian.\n\n\n|| Early in the spring-time was King Olaf astir, and leaving Vik went he\nnorth-west to Agdir and whithersoever he went summoned he the peasants\nto a Thing, and bade all men let themselves be baptized. And forasmuch\nas none of the peasantry durst rise up against the King, the people were\nbaptized withersoever he went, and the men embraced Christianity.\n\n\n|| Bold men and many were there in Hordaland who were come of the kin of\nHorda Kari. To him had been born four sons: firstly, Thorleif the Wise,\nsecondly, Ogmund who was the father of Thorolf Skialg, the father of\nErling of Soli; thirdly, Thord the father of Klyp the 'hersir' (he that\nslew Sigurd Sleva Gunnhildson) and fourthly, Olmod the father of Aksel\nwho was the father of Aslak Fitiar-skalli. This stock was greatest and\nbravest in Hordaland.\n\n\n|| Now when these kinsmen heard the disquieting tidings that the King was\ncoming from the east along the coast, and with him a large host who\nforced all men that they should break the old laws of the old gods, and\nimposed penalties with sore chastisements on all those who spake not to\nhis liking, agreed they to meet together to take counsel upon their\nplans for well knew they the King would soon be upon them; it was\ntherefore agreed among them that they would one & all be present at the\nGula-Thing, and there should they meet Olaf Tryggvason.\n\n\n|| Even so soon as he was come to Rogaland did Olaf summon a Thing,\n& thereto came the peasantry in great numbers and fully armed.\n\nAnd being come together made they speeches and held consultations among\nthemselves, & chose three men who were the most eloquent among them to\nanswer back the King at the Thing. Moreover were they to speak against\nhim and make it known that they would not suffer their laws to be broken\neven were it the King who ordained the same. Now when the peasants were\nassembled at the Thing & the Thing was opened, rose up King Olaf and\nspake, talking at the outset smooth and fair albeit it was manifest in\nhis talking that it was his will that they should accept Christianity.\n\nAnd after he had done with fair words he fell to vowing that those who\nspoke against him and would not do his bidding would bring upon\nthemselves his wrath & chastisement and hard entreatment howsoever he\nmight bring it about.\n\nNow when the King had made an end to speaking there stood up one of the\nyeomen who was the most eloquent & who had been chosen as the first to\nmake answer to King Olaf.\n\nBut when he was about to speak was he taken with such a coughing &\nchoking that he could not get forth a word, and down sat he again.\nSorely as it had gone with the first yet nevertheless rose another man\nto his feet to take up the answer, but when he began to talk so greatly\ndid he stammer that never a word could he get forth. Then all who were\npresent fell to laughing, so that the yeoman sat himself down again.\nThen stood the third man up with intent to speak against King Olaf, but\nso hoarse was he and husky that no man could hear what he said, so down\nhe sat likewise. There being now none of the chosen yeomen left to speak\nagainst the King, and no one else would answer him, the resistance that\nhad been projected came to naught.\n\nIn the end therefore were all agreed to do the King's bidding, and all\nthe Thing folk were christened there and then or ever the King departed\nfrom them.\n\n\n|| King Olaf proceeded to the Gula-Thing accompanied by his men, for the\npeasants had sent unto the King saying that there they would answer him\non this matter. But when both parties were come to the Thing the King\nmade known that it was his wish first to have speech with the chiefs of\nthe land, so when all were assembled there he set forth his purpose in\nbeing present, which was to impose baptism upon them.\n\nThen spake Olmod the Old and said: 'We kinsmen have taken counsel\ntogether on this matter, and of one consent are we thereon. If thou,\nKing, thinkest to force us kinsmen to such a thing as the breaking of\nour laws, and wilt bend us to thy will, then will we defy thee by all\nmeans in our power, & fate must decide whoso shall get the mastery.\n\nBut if thou, O King, wilt advance us kinsfolk somewhat then thou mayst\nbring it so well about that we shall turn to thee in hearty obedience.'\nQuoth the King, 'What is that which ye demand that shall bring about\ngood peace betwixt us?' Then said Olmod, 'Firstly is it thou shalt give\nthy sister, Astrid, in marriage to our kinsman Erling Skialgson, whom we\nnow account the likeliest young man of Norway.'\n\nThe King said that to his mind this was a fair request and that it would\nbe a good marriage seeing that Erling was of a great family, and withal\ngoodly to look upon, but nevertheless said he, must Astrid herself have\na word in the matter. Thereafter did the King speak with his sister on\nthe subject, and she answered and said, 'little it availeth me that I am\na King's daughter and a King's sister if I am to wed a man without a\nprincely name, rather will I tarry a few winters for another suitor,'\nand therewith ended their talking for the time being.\n\n\n|| Now after these things King Olaf caused the feathers to be plucked\nfrom off a hawk appertaining to Astrid his sister, and thereafter he\nsent the bird to her. Then said Astrid, 'Wrathful is my brother now,'\n& going to her brother, who bade her welcome, she spake unto him that\nhe the King should give her in marriage as it seemeth best to him.\n'Methought,' said Olaf, 'that I had power enough in this land to make\nwhatsoever man I would a man of title and dignity.'\n\nSo then the King summoned Olmod and Erling and all their kinsmen to him\nto talk with them anent this matter, and in such wise did their talking\nend that Astrid was betrothed to Erling. Thereafter the King called\ntogether a Thing, & offered the peasants Christianity, and though all\ntheir kinsfolk were with them in this matter yet were Olmod & Erling the\nmost zealous of all men in forwarding the King's cause.\n\nNo one had any longer the courage to raise his voice against the wish of\nthe King, and thereupon were the people all baptized and became\nChristian. Now the marriage of Erling Skialgson took place in the summer\nand many folks came together to be witness of it; thither likewise came\nKing Olaf. On this occasion did the King offer to give Erling an\nearldom, but Erling spake & said: '\"Hersirs\" have my kinsmen been and no\nhigher title will I have than they; but this will I take from thy hands,\nKing, namely that thou makest me to be the greatest in the land of that\nname.' So in accord with this did the King give him his promise, and\nwhen they parted bestowed on his brother-in-law Erling that land which\nis north of the Sogn-sea and lies eastward as far as Lidandisnes,Sec. on\nthe same pact as Harald Fair-hair had given land to his sons, of which\nan account has been afore writ in fair scrip.\n\n\n|| Then in the autumn after these things had come to pass, the King\ncalled together a Thing of four counties, & the meeting took place in\nthe north, at Stad on Dragseid.\n\nThither came folk from Sogn, the Firths, South-More and Raumsdal. King\nOlaf himself fared to it with a mighty following of men that he took\nwith him from the east of the country, and likewise men who had come to\nhim from Rogaland and Hordaland. Then when he was come to the Thing\noffered he to those that were gathered together Christianity even as he\nhad done at other places, and forasmuch as he had with him a very great\nhost men were afeared of him.\n\nThen did he give them for choice one of two things, either to accept\nChristianity and let themselves be baptized, or to be prepared to do\nbattle with him. So the peasants foreseeing no chance of fighting\nagainst the King save with ill-hap, accepted the first choice he had\noffered them & embraced Christianity. Then fared Olaf with his men to\nNorth-More, and that country likewise made he Christian; thereafter\nsailed he in to Ladir & caused the temple there to be pulled down & took\nall the adornments & property from the temple and from the god.\n\nA great gold ring which Earl Hakon had caused to be wrought took he\nmoreover from the door thereof, & then after he had done these things\ncaused he the temple to be burned.\n\n\n|| Now when the peasants came to hear of what the King had done sent they\nwar-arrows throughout the countryside, calling out an host & were about\nto rise against the King, but meantime sailed he out of the fjord with\nhis men, and thereafter headed northward off-shore. Now it was the\nintent of Olaf to fare north to Halogaland in order thither to bring\nChristianity; but when he was come as far north as to Biarney gat he\nnews from Halogaland that they had an host under arms, and were minded\nto defend their land against the King. The chiefs of this host were\nHarek of Tiotta, Thorir Hart of Vogar, and Eyvind Rent-cheek. So Olaf\nlearning this, even as aforesaid, turned his ships about & sailed\nsouthward off the coast. When he was come as far south as to Stad fared\nhe more slowly, but nevertheless at the beginning of winter had he\ncovered all the distance eastward to Vik.\n\n\n|| Now the Queen of Sweden, whom men called the Haughty, was at that time\nliving at one or other of her manors, and betwixt King Olaf and her\nfared there that winter emissaries who sought her hand in the name of\nthe King.\n\nQueen Sigrid received the offer in a friendly spirit, and in due time\nwas their troth plighted.\n\nKing Olaf sent Queen Sigrid the great ring of gold which he had taken\nfrom off the door of the temple at Ladir, and it was deemed a most noble\ngift.\n\nNow touching the matter of this marriage a meeting was to take place the\nfollowing spring by the Gota river, on the marches of the country.\n\nWhile this ring which King Olaf had sent to Queen Sigrid was being\npraised so exceedingly were the Queen's smiths, brothers, with her; & it\nbefell that they took the ring, and weighed it in their hands, & then\nspake a word together privily. At this the Queen summoned them to her,\nand asked of them why made they such mock of the ring, but they denied\nthat they were doing such a thing.\n\nThen said she that she insisted upon knowing what it was they had\ndiscovered; & thereupon they told her that there was falsehood in the\nring. Then did the Queen let the ring be broken asunder, and copper was\nfound to be inside it.\n\nThereon was the Queen wroth, and said that Olaf might play her false in\nmore things than this one.\n\n\n|| That same winter went King Olaf up into Ringariki and introduced\nChristianity there. Now it had befallen that Asta, the daughter of\nGudbrand, was speedily wedded after the death of Harald the Grenlander\nto a man named Sigurd Sow,Sec. who was King of Ringariki. Sigurd was the\nson of Sigurd o' the Copse who again was son to Harald Fair-hair.\nDwelling with Asta at that time was Olaf her son by Harald the\nGrenlander, for he was being reared at the house of his step-father\nSigurd Sow. When King Olaf Tryggvason went to Ringariki to introduce\nChristianity, Sigurd let himself be christened together with Asta his\nwife, & Olaf her son,Sec. & for the latter stood Olaf Tryggvason sponsor;\nthe babe was at that time three winters old.\n\nKing Olaf then fared southward again to Vik, and abode there the winter,\n& this was the third winter that he was King of Norway.\n\n\n|| Early in the spring fared King Olaf eastward to Konungahella (the\nKing's rock) to the tryst with Queen Sigrid, and when they were met,\ntalked they one with the other over the matter which had been set afoot\nin the winter, to wit, that they should wed one another.\n\nRight hopeful did the matter seem to them, until King Olaf spake & said\nthat Sigrid must accept christening and the true Faith.\n\nThen did the Queen make answer: 'Depart from the faith that I have held\naforetime, and which my kindred held before me will I never: yet will I\nnot account it against thee shouldst thou believe on whatsoever god may\nseem best to thy mind.' Then Olaf waxed exceedingly wroth and made\nanswer hastily: 'Heathen as a dog art thou-- why should I wed thee?' and\nsmote her in the face with the glove he was holding in his hand.\n\nThen stood he up on his feet & she arose likewise, and Sigrid said,\n'This might be thy undoing.' Thereafter were they parted, the King going\nnorthward to Vik, and the Queen east to Sweden.\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| Thence King Olaf fared to Tunsberg & having come thither held he a\nThing and gave out thereat that all men who were known and proven to be\ndealers in witchcraft and spellwork, or were wizards, should depart out\nof the land. Thereafter did the King cause the countryside thereabouts\nbe searched for such men, & commanded them to be brought unto him. And\nwhen they were come to him a man there was among them called Eyvind\nWell-spring, who was the grandson of Rognovald Straight-legs, the son of\nKing Harald Fair-hair.\n\nNow Eyvind was a wizard & well versed in witchcraft. King Olaf caused\nall these men to be assembled in a certain hall, which had been made\nready for them in goodly wise, and therein feasted he them & gave them\nmuch strong drink, and when they were all drunken caused he the chamber\nto be set on fire. Thus it came about that all the folk who were therein\nwere burned except Eyvind Well-spring who saved himself by climbing\nthrough the smoke-hole.\n\nEyvind having made off and sped far on his way, fell in with men who\nwere going to the King, and he bade these men tell Olaf that he, Eyvind,\nhad gotten away from out of the fire, and never again would he come into\nthe King's hands; and that moreover would he pursue his arts even as he\nhad done before.\n\nWhen these men were come to King Olaf they told of Eyvind according as\nhe had bidden them, and ill-pleased enough was the King that Eyvind was\nnot dead.\n\n\n|| When spring was come King Olaf left Vik and went the round of his\nmanors, and sent he word throughout Vik that come the summer would he\ncall out an host and with it fare northward in the land.\n\nThereafter went he north (west) to Agdir, and when Lent was drawing to\nan end sailed northward to Rogoland, and arrived on Easter EveSec. at\nOgvaldsnes in the isle of Kormt, where an Easter festival had been made\nready for him.\n\nNigh upon three hundred men had he with him. That same night Eyvind\nWell-spring came unto the isle in a long-ship fully manned, and the crew\naboard her were all wizards and other folk versed in magic. Eyvind and\nhis band went up ashore from their ship and set to work on their\nwizardry. Such thick fog & darkness did Eyvind bring about that deemed\nhe it would be impossible for the King and his folk to see them; but no\nsooner were they come nigh to the house at Ogvaldsnes than lo! it there\nbecame broad daylight. Mightily different was this from the desire that\nEyvind had conceived, for the darkness which he had wrought by magic\nenveloped him and his folk so that never a bit more could they see with\ntheir eyes than with the napes of their necks, and even round and round\nwent they in a ring.\n\nNow the King's watchmen saw the wizards as they were moving about, and\nnot knowing what kind of men they might be had the King aroused, and the\nKing & his men got up and clad themselves. When King Olaf saw Eyvind &\nhis folk, bade he his men take their arms and go out to discover what\nmanner of men might these be. Now the King's folk recognizing Eyvind\nlaid hands on him and the whole band, and brought them into the presence\nof the King.\n\nThen did Eyvind relate all that had befallen him on his journey.\n\nThe King thereafter had them all taken out to a rock which was covered\nby the sea at high-tide and there let them be bound. Thus Eyvind & the\nothers came by their end. Afterwards was that rock called Skrattasker.\n\n\n|| Now it is told that while the King was on this visit at Ogvaldsnes\nthat there came thither one evening an old man; he was one-eyed and wore\na slouch hat, but very wise was he in his speech and of all lands could\nhe tell.\n\nThis man managed to have speech of the King, & the King found much\nentertainment in his conversation and questioned him closely on many\nsubjects, & the guest made ready answer to all that he asked him,\nwherefore sat the King till late in the night conversing with him.\n\nThe King asked if he wotted who Ogvald was, whom the ness & homesteads\nwere named after, & the guest answered that Ogvald was a king and a\ngreat warrior who made sacrifice above all to a cow, and took the cow\nwith him whithersoever he went, for wholesome did he deem it to drink\never of her milk. King Ogvald fought with that King who is hight Varin,\n& fell in the combat. He was buried in a barrow not far from the house,\nand a stone was set up which is still standing. In a place not far from\nthence was the cow buried, likewise in a barrow. Such things as this\ntold he of kings; and other ancient tidings withal. Now after they had\nsat thus till late in the night, the bishop reminded the King that it\nwas time for them to rest, & the King did according as the bishop had\nsaid. But when the King was unclad and had laid him in his bed, the\nguest sat himself on the step thereof, and again talked for long with\nthe King; and ever when he had told of one matter did the King long for\nmore. Then spake the bishop to the King saying that it was time for\nsleep, and the King settled himself for sleep according as the bishop\nhad said & the guest gat him gone, but soon thereafter the King\nawakened, and asked after his guest, & bade him be called unto him, but\nnowhere was the guest to be found. On the morrow early the King summoned\nhis cook to him and he who had charge of the drink withal, and asked\nthem if any unknown man had come in to them; & they answered that as\nthey were making ready the food a man had come to them & said that they\nwere boiling but scurvy meat for the King's table, & therewith he gave\nthem two mighty fat sides of neat & these they boiled with the other\nflesh. Then commanded the King that all that food should be destroyed,\nsaying that this had not been any man but rather Odin himself, whom\nheathen men had long believed on, but, said he, never should Odin\nbeguile them.[Sec.]\n\n\n|| Now when summer was come called King Olaf together a large host from\nthe east of the country and with it sailed he northward to Throndhjem,\ngoing in first to Nidaros. Thereafter sent he round the whole of the\nfjord bidding men assemble at a Thing, and there gathered at Frosta a\nThing of eight counties.\n\nNow the peasants, be it said, had turned this Thing summons into a\nwar-arrow,[Sec.] and to the assembly came men from the whole of the\ndistrict of Throndhjem, so that when the King arrived at the Thing,\nthither likewise was come the peasant host fully armed.\n\nThe Thing being established, the King addressed the people and bade them\naccept Christianity, but when he had been speaking but a little while\nthe peasants called out to him, & bade him be silent or otherwise, said\nthey, would they rise against him and drive him away. 'Thus did we,'\nsaid they, 'with Hakon Adalstein's foster-son when he commanded a thing\nof the kind, and hold we thee in no more respect than held we him.'\n\nThen did King Olaf seeing the ire of the peasants, and moreover knowing\nfull well that they had so large an host, change his manner of address\nand made as if he were agreed with them and spake to them thus: 'It is\nmy wish that we should be friends again, in such good accord as we were\naforetime.\n\nThither will I go wheresoever ye hold your greatest blood-offering, &\nwitness your worship; then will we all take counsel together as to what\nmanner of worship we will have, and be then all of one mind thereon.'\nNow when the King spake thus mildly to the peasants, grew they softened\nin temper, and all the converse went peaceably and in seemly fashion,\nand at the end was it determined that there should be a midsummer\nsacrifice at Maerin, and that thither all the chiefs and wealthy\npeasants should go as the custom was, and that thither likewise King\nOlaf was to go.\n\n\n|| Now there was a certain wealthy yeoman whose name was Skeggi (Iron\nBeard, called they him) who dwelt at Uphaug in Yriar, and he it was who\nfirst spake up against the King at the Thing, and the cause thereof was\nbecause he was the spokesman of the peasantry against Christianity. But\nin the manner aforesaid was the Thing brought to an end, and the\npeasants went to their homes, and the King across to Ladir.\n\n\n|| At this time was King Olaf lying with his ships in the Nid (thirty\nships had he, and his folk were of great prowess) but the King himself\nwas ofttimes at Ladir, being kept company by his body-guard.\n\nNow when the time appointed for the blood-offering at Maerin was drawing\nnigh held King Olaf a mighty feast at Ladir; thither there came to it\nchieftains and other wealthy peasants from Strind & from places up in\nGauldal, in accordance with the bidding of King Olaf. When all things\nwere ready and the guests come, there was held on the first evening a\nlarge banquet, and the cups thereat were often charged & men became\ndrunk; that night slept all men there in peace. On the morrow early,\nafter the King was clad, ordered he Mass to be said, and when the Mass\nwas ended his men sounded their horns for a house-Thing, and the Thing\nbeing established rose the King to his feet and spake, saying: 'A Thing\nheld we at Frosta, and thereat I bade the peasantry let themselves be\nchristened; but they in their turn bade me attend a blood-offering with\nthem, even as the foster-son to King Hakon Adalstein had attended one.\nAnd there was accord betwixt us inasmuch as it was determined that we\nshould meet at Maerin & make a great blood-offering.\n\nBut if I am to turn to sacrificing with you, then will I cause to be\nmade the greatest sacrifice that can be, namely, the sacrifice of men.\nNor will I choose as gifts for the gods thralls and evil-doers, but the\nnoblest men, and by this token name I Orm Lygra of Medalhus, Styrkar of\nGimsar, Kar of Gryting, Asbiorn Thorbergson of Varnes, Orm of Lyxa, and\nHaldor of Skerdingsted.' Added to these named he five other men who were\nof the noblest there; all these, said he, should be sacrificed for peace\nand a good year, & he commanded that they should be seized forthwith.\n\nThen the peasants seeing that they were not numerous enough to withstand\nthe King begged for grace and gave the whole matter into his hands,\nwhereupon it was agreed that all those who were come thither should let\nthemselves be baptized, & swear an oath unto the King to hold fast the\ntrue Faith, and have naught further to do with sacrificing.\n\nAll these men kept the King at his feast until they gave their sons or\nbrothers or other near kin to be hostages.\n\n\n|| Then fared King Olaf with all his men in to Throndhjem; and when he\nwas come to Maerin found he there assembled all the chiefs that were of\nThrondhjem; those who were most zealous to withstand the Christian\nfaith. With them were all the wealthy yeomen who had hitherto upheld\nblood-offerings in this place, a right goodly gathering of men, even as\nit had been aforetime at the Frosta-Thing.\n\nThe King having required that the Thing should meet, both sides betook\nthemselves to it, and they were fully armed. Then when the Thing was\nestablished the King spake and offered the men Christianity, &\nIron-Beard answered on behalf of the peasants and said that now even as\nbefore would they not suffer the King to break their laws: 'We desire,\nKing, that thou makest sacrifice, even as other kings in the land have\ndone before thee.' Greatly was this speaking applauded by the peasants,\n& they shouted that everything must be according unto the words of\nSkeggi. Then made the King answer that he would go to the temple and\nwitness their worship when they were sacrificing, and at this were the\npeasants well pleased, and both sides betook themselves thither\naccordingly.\n\n\n|| Now with King Olaf when he entered into the temple were a certain few\nof his men & a certain few of the peasants. When the King was come unto\nthe place of the gods where sat Thor, all adorned with gold and silver,\nthen did King Olaf lift up a gold-wrought pike which he had in his hand\nand smote Thor so that he fell from off his altar, & thereupon the\nKing's men ran up & cast down all the other gods from their altars.\nWhile they were within the temple was Iron-Beard slain before the\nentrance-door thereof, and this deed was done by the men of the King.\nThen when the King came forth again to his folk, bade he the peasants\nchoose one of two conditions: and these twain conditions were either\nthat they should accept the Faith of Christ, or in default thereof do\nbattle with him. Now Iron-Beard having been slain was there no man to\nraise the banner against the King, so then was that condition accepted\nwhich meant going over unto the King & doing that which he had\ncommanded.\n\nThen caused King Olaf all the folk who were present to be baptized, and\nfrom them took hostages that they would cleave to the new faith that was\ngiven them.\n\nThereafter sent the King his men round to all the different parts of\nThrondhjem, and durst no man utter a word against the faith of Christ.\n\n\n|| Then went King Olaf with his men to Nidaros, and on the banks of the\nriver Nid caused houses to be built, and appointed that on the spot\nshould arise a merchant-town. He gave men sites on which to build them\nhouses, & his own King's-House built he above Scipa-Krok.Sec.\n\nIn the autumn caused he to be brought thither such goods as were\nnecessary for a sojourn there during the wintertide; and with him were a\ngreat company of men.\n\n\n|| After the death of Iron-Beard was his body borne out to Yriar; and he\nlies in the Skeggi barrow at Austratt.Sec.\n\nKing Olaf summoned a meeting of the kith of Iron-Beard and forasmuch as\nhis folk had slain this man offered he to pay atonement for the deed,\nbut there were many brave men to make answer on behalf of Iron-Beard.\n\nNow Iron-Beard had a daughter whose name was Gudrun, and in the end was\nit agreed betwixt those concerned that the King should wed this Gudrun.\nWhen the marriage time was come went they both of them into one bed,\nKing Olaf and Gudrun, and the first night as they were lying together no\nsooner had the King fallen asleep than Gudrun drew forth a knife, and\nwas about to thrust it into the King, when he awoke and wresting the\nknife from her cried out to his men to tell them what had befallen.\nGudrun & all the men who had accompanied her then took their apparel and\ngat them gone in haste; & never afterwards did Gudrun lie in the same\nbed with King Olaf.\n\n\n|| That same autumn King Olaf caused a great long-ship to be built on the\nsands at the mouth of the Nid; a cutter was she, and at work on the\nbuilding thereof were many smiths.\n\nAt the beginning of winter she was completed, and there were in her\nthirty holds, & the prow and stern were lofty withal, yet was she not\nbroad of beam. That ship called he the 'Crane.'\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| Now when King Olaf had been two winters in Norway there came to dwell\nwith him a Saxon priest whose name was Thangbrand; violent was he &\nmurderous, but a goodly clerk withal and an active man. So headstrong\nwas he, howsoever, that the King would not keep him with him, but sent\nhim to Iceland to make that country Christian.\n\nThangbrand was given a merchant ship, & of his voyage it may be related\nthat he fared to Iceland, and reached the eastern fjords in southern\nAlptafjord, & the winter thereafter abode with Hall at Sida. Thangbrand\npreached Christianity in the islands and Hall and his folk and many\nother chiefs let themselves be baptized according to his word; but there\nwere many others who spake against the new faith. Thorvald and Vetrlidi\nthe skald made lampoons about Thangbrand, but he slew them both.\nThangbrand abode three winters in Iceland, and was the slayer of three\nmen or ever he departed thence.\n\n\n|| A certain man was there named Sigurd & another who was called Hawk;\nthey were Halogalanders, and oft-times made voyages for the conveyance\nof merchandise.\n\nOne summer fared they to England. When they were returned to Norway\nsailed they northward along the coast, & in North More fell in with the\nfleet of King Olaf.\n\nNow when the King was told that some heathen men, skippers, from\nHalogaland were there, summoned he them to him & asked them if they\nwould allow themselves to be baptized, and thereto answered they nay.\nThereafter did the King talk to them after diverse fashions, but it\navailed nothing; then he vowed that death or maiming should be their\nlot, but they obeyed him none the more for that. Then did he cause them\nto be put in irons, and kept them in durance for a while, and in fetters\nwere they, and the King talked often with them, but naught prevailed.\n\nThen one night made they off, and no one knew anything about them, or in\nwhat manner they had gotten away; but in the autumn were they arrived\nnorth, at Harek of Tiotta's, and right welcome were they made.\n\nThere dwelt they throughout the winter & were well entertained in all\nfairness & hospitality.\n\n\n|| One fair day in spring it befell that Harek was at home on his farm\nand with him were but few men. Now the time hung heavy on his hands, and\nSigurd spake to him & asked if they should not row out a little way, and\nso pass the time, and this liked Harek well. So betook they themselves\nto the shore, and did hale down a six-oared boat, & Sigurd from the\nboat-house fetched him a sail and the gear appertaining to the boat, and\nmoreover shipped he the rudder. Sigurd and his brother were fully armed,\nas was their wont to be when they were at home with the goodman, and the\ntwain were strong men.\n\nNow or ever they gat them into the boat did they throw into it some\nboxes of butter and a basket of bread, and between them bare they a\nlarge cask of ale down to the craft. This done did they all row from\nland, & having come away from the island hoist the sail, & Harek did\nsteer, & away bore they speedily from the island.\n\nThen did the brothers go astern to where Harek was sitting. Saith Sigurd\nto Harek the yeoman: 'Choose thou now betwixt several things: one of\nthem is to let us brothers have the upper hand on this cruise, & another\nis to let us bind thee, & the third is that we can slay thee.' Then\nHarek seeing in what a plight he was, inasmuch as he could not measure\nstrength with more than one of the brothers even were he and they\nmatched as to arms, chose what seemed to him the best of a poor business\nwhich was to let them do as pleased the twain.\n\nSo swore he to them an oath and on that gave them a promise, and after\nthat Sigurd was possessed of the tiller and did steer south along the\ncoast on a fair breeze, and withal of a mighty care were the brothers\nnot to fall in with other craft. They paused not on their cruise ere\nthey came to Throndhjem and to Nidaros, and at that last place found\nthey King Olaf. Then did the King summon Harek to talk with him, and\nthereupon offered him that he should embrace the good faith of Christ,\nbut Harek would have naught of it. On this matter spake for many days\nthe King and Harek, sometimes in the presence of many men, sometimes\nalone; but never were they come of one mind.\n\nSo at the last said the King to Harek: 'Home shalt thou go, and on these\ncounts no harm will I do thee at present: firstly seeing that there is\nkinship betwixt us, and again lest thou mightest say that I had gotten\nthee by guile, but know ye of a truth that I be minded to come north in\nthe summertime, & visit distress on ye Halogalanders, and then shall ye\nwot if I can chastise those which accept not the faith which is of\nChrist.'\n\nRight pleased was Harek that he could get away from thence so speedily;\nto him gave King Olaf a good ship rowing ten or twelve oars a side, and\ncaused it to be well found with all things needful & of the best; thirty\nmen did he send forth with Harek, stout fellows & all equipped of the\nbest.\n\n\n|| Thus Harek of Tiotta sped from the town with all the haste that might\nbe, whereas Hawk and Sigurd remained with the King, and the twain were\nboth baptized.\n\nHarek continued on his way until he was come home to Tiotta, & from\nthence sent he word to his friend Eyvind Rent-cheek that Harek of Tiotta\nhad spoken with King Olaf, but had not let himself be cowed into\naccepting the new God; & moreover Harek caused Eyvind to be told that\nKing Olaf was minded to bring an host against them come summer-tide &\nthat they must act warily, and Harek bade Eyvind come to him as soon as\never might be. When this message was brought to Eyvind, quoth he that it\nbehoved them greatly to take such steps as would prevent the King from\ngetting the upper hand of them, and he hied him away with all speed in a\nlight skiff with but few men aboard it.\n\nWhen he was arrived at Tiotta Harek bade him welcome, and straightway\nwent they, Harek and Eyvind, to talk together on the other side of the\nhouse-yard, but hardly had they speech of one another than they were\nfallen on by men of King Olaf, for so it was that these men had followed\nHarek northward. Eyvind was taken captive and led to their ship, and\nthereafter fared they away with him, and no pause did they make in their\nvoyage or ever they were come to Throndhjem to find King Olaf in\nNidaros. Eyvind was then haled before the King who offered him baptism\nin like manner as he had offered other men baptism, but to this Eyvind\nanswered, 'Nay.'\n\nThen with fair words the King bade him be baptized and gave him many\ngood reasons therefor, & the Bishop spake after the same fashion as the\nKing, none the less would Eyvind in no wise suffer himself to be\npersuaded. Then did the King offer him gifts, and the dues and rights of\nbroad lands, but Eyvind put all these away from him. Then did the King\nthreaten him with torture even unto death, but never did Eyvind weaken\nhis resistance. Thereafter caused the King to be brought in a bowl\nfilled with glowing coals, and had it set on the belly of Eyvind, and\nnot long was it ere his belly burst asunder.\n\nThen spake Eyvind: 'Take away the bowl from off me for I would fain\nspeak some words before I die,' and accordingly it was done.\n\nThen the King asked: 'Wilt thou now, Eyvind, believe on Christ?' 'No,'\nanswered he. 'I am not such as can be baptized, I am a spirit quickened\nin the human body by the magic of the Lapps for before that had my\nfather and mother never a child.' Then died Eyvind who was the most\nskilled of wizards.\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| In the spring which followed on these happenings did King Olaf cause\nhis ships and men to be made ready for war, taking for his own ship the\n'Crane,' and there was mustered a large and goodly host.\n\nAll things being now ready shaped he a course from out the fjord, and\nbringing his fleet north past Byrda fared northward to Halogaland.\nWheresoever he landed, summoned he a Thing, & at it offered the people\nbaptism in the true Faith. Now against this had no man the boldness to\nspeak, therefore came it to pass that whithersoever he fared were all\nthat were of those lands baptized. King Olaf visited Tiotta and was the\nguest of Harek, who was baptized at that hour together with all the folk\nthat were about him.\n\nWhen the King departed thence Harek bestowed on him great gifts and\nbecame his man, and from the King received the dignity of bailiff with\nthe dues and rights appertaining unto a lord of the land.\n\n\n|| Raud the Strong was the name of a peasant who abode at Godey in that\nfjord which is named Salpti (Salten).\n\nRaud was a man of much wealth and at his beck were many house-carles;\na powerful man was he withal, for a large company of Lapps were ready to\nfollow him to war whensoever he needed them.\n\nRaud was zealous as a maker of blood-offerings, and skilled also in\nwitchcraft; even so was he furthermore a warm friend to that man about\nwhom it has been writ before, to wit, Thorir Hart, & even like unto him\nwas he also a mighty chief.\n\nNow when it came to the ears of these men that Olaf was abroad with an\nhost northward even in Halogaland, they too their men mustered,\nlaunching out ships, and assembling an host. To Raud appertained a great\ndragon-ship with golden heads thereto, a ship of thirty benches, and\nbroad was she of beam for her length, and had likewise Thorir Hart also\na ship of good size.\n\nSouthward sailed they their fleet purposing to meet King Olaf, and when\nthey were fallen in with him gave they battle, and fierce was the fight\nthereof. Soon men began to fall plenteously, but so much the more was\nthis the case among the host of the Halogalanders; their ships were\ncleared and thereupon came fear & terror over them, & Raud rowed his\ndragon out to sea and hoisted the sail thereof. A breeze had he wherever\nhe was minded to go, and this came of his powers of magic; but to cut\nshort the tale of the cruise of Raud is briefly to relate that home\nsailed he even unto Godey. For land made Thorir Hart in all haste and\nhis folk fled their ships, but King Olaf pursued after them & put them\nto the sword. Moreover then as ever when such doings were afoot was the\nKing himself foremost among his men.\n\nHe saw whither Thorir ran (and Thorir was exceeding fleet of foot) and\nthither went the King after him, followed by his dog Vigi. And the King\ncalled out: 'Vigi, catch the hart,' and Vigi sprang ahead after Thorir\nand straightway leapt up at him.\n\nThen Thorir had perforce to stop and the King threw a javelin after him,\nbut Thorir struck the dog with his sword & wounded it sore, and at the\nsame moment the King's javelin flew under Thorir's hand and went through\nhim & out at the other side, and thus ended Thorir his life; but Vigi\nwas borne wounded to the ships.\n\nTo all those who asked it and were willing to accept baptism gave King\nOlaf quarter.\n\n\n|| Thence sailed King Olaf with his host northward along the coast,\nbaptizing all folk withersoever he went, & being come north to Salpti\nwas he minded to go up the fjord & seek Raud. Foul weather howsoever set\nin with a gale blowing fiercely down the fjord, and though the King lay\nthere nigh upon a week the same wind blew ever the while from the land,\nthough without the fjord was there a fresh and favourable breeze for to\nsail north along the coast.\n\nTherefore it came to pass that the King set sail and fared all the way\nnorthward to Amd, and there the folk became Christians.\n\nAfter that went he about, and when he was come south again to Salpti he\nfound a gale blowing down the fjord and driving spray into his\ncountenance.\n\nThere lay the King even a few more nights, but the weather waxing no\nbetter inquired he then of Bishop Sigurd whether or not he wotted of\nsome remedy against the fiendcraft.\n\n\n|| So thereupon took Bishop Sigurd all the appurtenances that belonged\nunto the Holy Mass, and walked he forward therewith even to the prow of\nthe King's ship. There was a candle lit & was incense carried forward &\nthereafter was ye Holy Rood set at the prow.\n\nThe gospel was read and also many prayers, and the Bishop sprinkled holy\nwater over the whole of the ship. Thereafter bade he the crew unship the\ntilts and row up the fjord, and the King commanded that the other ships\nshould row after them.\n\nNo sooner had the crew of the 'Crane' fallen to their oars, & she the\nship was set well up to the fjord, than felt they that there was no more\nwind against them, & in her wake was free sea and calm; but on both\nsides of her flew the spray & it drave so that no man could perceive the\nmountains on either side of the fjord. So it fared that one ship rowed\nafter the other in the calm, and thus pursued they one another the whole\nlivelong day, & throughout the night thereafter; and a little before\ndawn came they to Godey, and brought-to off the house of Raud, and there\nfound his great dragon lying off-shore.\n\nForthwith went King Olaf to the house with his men and made for the\nupper chamber wherein Raud was sleeping, and his folk burst open the\ndoor and ran in.\n\nThen was Raud taken and bound, but of the other men who were therein\nsome were killed & others taken prisoners. Thereafter the King's men\nwent to the room wherein slept the house-carles of Raud, and some of\nthem were then slain and some bound & some beaten. Then caused the King\nRaud to be led before him & offered him baptism. 'Take from thee thy\npossessions I then will not,' quoth the King, 'but will the rather be\nthy friend, an thou wilt show thyself worthy of my friendship.' Against\nthis did Raud loudly raise his voice, saying that never would he believe\non Christ, and blaspheming God.\n\nThen did the King wax wroth, and swore that Raud should suffer the worst\nof deaths, and the King commanded that he be taken and bound with his\nback to a pole and that a bit of wood be placed betwixt his teeth so\nthat his mouth might be open, and caused an adder to be taken and set in\nhis mouth, but the adder would in no wise enter therein but writhed away\nwhen Raud blew upon it. Then did the King cause the adder to be taken &\nput in a hollow stick of angelica and set in the mouth of Raud (albeit\nsome say that the King let his horn be taken & put into the mouth of\nRaud, and that the adder was placed in this and pushed down with a\nred-hot rod of iron), and then the adder slid into the mouth of Raud,\nand thereafter down his throat, and cut its way out through his side.\nAfter this manner ended the life of Raud. Then did the King take thence\nvery great wealth in gold & silver and other chattels, weapons, & divers\nkinds of valuable things. The King caused all the fellows that had been\nwith Raud to be baptized save those who, not suffering this, were slain\nor tortured. Then King Olaf took the dragon that had pertained unto Raud\nand himself was her steersman, and a much larger and finer ship was she\nthan the 'Crane': forward she was fashioned with a dragon's head and aft\nwith a crookSec. ending in like manner as the tail of a dragon, & both the\nprow & the whole of the stern were overlaid with gold. Now the King\ncalled this ship the 'Serpent,' for when the sail was hoisted aloft was\nit like unto the wings of a dragon, and this was the fairest ship in all\nNorway.\n\nThe islands whereon Raud had lived were called Gilling and Haering, but\ntogether were they styled Godey, & the Godey current (Godoestroem) lies\nover to the north, betwixt them and the mainland. All that lived around\nthis fjord did King Olaf convert unto Christianity, and then went he\nsouthward along the coast, and there happened much on that cruise which\nis set forth in many legends about a giant and evil spirits which\nattacked his men & sometimes himself, but rather will we write of facts\neven such as the conversion of Norway & of those other lands whither he\nbore Christianity. That same autumn did the King lead his host to\nThrondhjem, bringing-to at Nidaros, and there making ready for a winter\nsojourn.\n\n\n|| And now will I next write what there is to tell of the men of Iceland.\n\n\n|| That same autumn there came to Nidaros from Iceland Kiartan, the son\nof Olaf Hoskuldson and the grandson, on his mother's side, of Eigil\nSkallagrimson, who hath been called the likeliest man of those born in\nIceland.\n\nThere was also Halldor the son of Gudmund of Modruvellir, and Kolbein\nthe son of Thord Frey's-priest, the brother of Burning-Flosi, and\nfourthly Sverting the son of Runolf the Priest.\n\nThese were all heathen, as were many others: some powerful, and others\nnot so powerful.\n\nThere came also from Iceland noble men who had accepted the true Faith\nfrom Thangbrand, and one that was of these was Gizur the White, the son\nof Teit Ketilbiarnson, whose mother was Alof, the daughter of Bodvar\nViking-Karason the 'hersir.' Bodvar's brother was Sigurd the father of\nEirik Biodaskalli, the father of Astrid, who was the mother of King\nOlaf. Another Icelander was named Hialti Skeggiason, and he had to wife\nVilborg the daughter of Gizur the White; Hialti was a Christian, and\nKing Olaf received with pleasure Gizur and his son-in-law Hialti, and\nwith the King did they abide. Those of the Icelanders, however, who were\ncaptains of the ships and were heathens to boot, sought to sail away\neven so soon as the King was come to town, for it was told them that the\nKing constrained all men to embrace the faith of Christ. It so befell\nnatheless that the wind was set against them, & drave them back off\nNidarholm. The captains of the ships were hight Thorarin Nefiolfson,\nHallfrod the Skald, the son of Ottar, Brand the Bountiful and Thorleik\nBrandson. Now it being told to King Olaf that some of the Icelanders,\nand they heathens, were hard by with their ships and were about to flee\nthe town, he sent to them and forbade them to sail, but commanded them\ninstead to come and lie off the town, and this they did but unloaded not\ntheir ships.\n\n\n|| Then came the holy season of Michaelmas,Sec. and the King caused the\nfeast to be well kept and a solemn Mass was said. Thereat were the\nIcelanders witnesses and hearkened to the fair singing and the ringing\nof bells.\n\nWhen they were come back to their ships each of them said what he had\nthought of the Christian men's ways & Kiartan praised them, but most of\nthe others mocked at them, & it befell that the King heard of this, for\nas the saying goes, 'many are the King's ears.' Then forthwith that\nself-same day sent he an emissary to Kiartan, and bade him come unto\nhim, & Kiartan went unto him with but few men, and the King bade him\nwelcome. Now Kiartan was one of the biggest and fairest of men, with a\ngreat gift of speech. When they had parleyed a while did the King make\nproffer to Kiartan that he should embrace the true Faith, and Kiartan\nmade answer unto him that he would not say nay to this if he might thus\ngain the friendship of the King, whereupon swore the King to him &\npledged him his hearty friendship, & after this fashion was a compact\nstruck between them. On the morrow was Kiartan baptized, and with him\nBolli Thorleikson his kinsman, and all their fellows.\n\nKiartan and Bolli were the guests of the King as long as they went in\nwhite weeds,Sec. and the King was of kindly countenance toward them.\n\n\n|| It befell one day that King Olaf was walking in the street when some\nmen came toward him, and he who was walking foremost greeted the King.\n\nThe King asked of the man his name, and the latter said he was hight\nHallfrod.\n\nThen said the King, 'Art thou a skald?' 'I can make verses,' said he.\nThen the King answered: 'Thou wilt accept baptism as I trow and\nthereafter be my man?'\n\nQuoth Hallfrod: 'There must be a bargain on that matter if I am to\nsuffer myself to be baptized, to wit, that thou, King, holdest me\nthyself at the font, for from no man else will I take it.' 'So be it,'\nsaid the King, & so Hallfrod was baptized and the King held him himself\nat the font. Thereafter the King asked Hallfrod: 'Wilt thou be my man?'\n& Hallfrod made answer: 'I was of Earl Hakon's body-guard; and now will\nI not be the liege-man of thee or of any other chief unless thou givest\nme thy word that such a thing shall never befall as that thou shouldst\ndrive me away from thee.'\n\n'From all that is told me of thee, Hallfrod,' said the King, 'thou art\nneither so wise nor so meek but that thou mightest not do a thing which\nI could in no wise suffer.'\n\n'Slay me then,' said Hallfrod. The King said, 'Thou art a troublesome\nskald, but my man shalt thou be all the same.' Hallfrod answered: 'What\nwilt thou give me, King, as a name-gift if I am to be called\n\"Troublous-Skald\"?' Then did the King give him a sword, but it had no\nscabbard; and the King said, 'Make now a stave about the sword, & let\n\"sword\" be in every line.' Hallfrod sang:\n\n  'One sword alone of all swords\n  Hath made me now sword-wealthy;\n  For the swinger of swords\n  Will there now be swords in plenty.\n  No lack of swords will there be,\n  --Worthy of three swords am I--\n  Lord of the land were but\n  The sheath of that sword to be mine.'\n\n'There is not sword in every line,' quoth the King. Then answered\nHallfrod: 'But there are three in one line.' 'So be it,' said the King.\nThen did the King give him the scabbard. Now from that which is told in\nthe lays of Hallfrod have we much knowledge & testimony concerning King\nOlaf Tryggvason.\n\n\n|| That same autumn came back Thangbrand the priest from Iceland to King\nOlaf and related to him how that his journey had borne no fruit, 'for,'\nsaid he, 'the Icelanders made lampoons about me and some wished to slay\nme, and to my mind it cannot be expected that that country will ever be\nmade Christian.'\n\nAt these words King Olaf waxed so hasty and wrathful that he summoned to\nhim forthwith all the Icelanders in the town, and commanded that\nself-same hour that they should all be slain; but Kiartan and Gissur and\nHialti and those that were of them who had made profession of the faith\nof Christ entered into his presence & said: 'We trow, O King, that thou\nwilt not go from thy word, for thou hast said that no man may make thee\nso wrathful but shall he have thy forgiveness an he will be baptized and\nabjure heathendom. Now will all the Icelanders who are here suffer\nthemselves to be baptized, & we can well devise a means whereby\nChristianity may gain an entrance into Iceland. The sons of many mighty\nmen of Iceland are here present, & their fathers will, we trow, lend\ntheir aid in this matter. But Thangbrand there, as here, ever went about\nmasterful and manslaying, and the people there would not endure it of\nhim.' Now the King lent an ear to these speeches, and all the men of\nIceland who were there were baptized.\n\n\n|| Of all men of Norway of whom record hath come down to us was King Olaf\nin every wise the one most skilful in manly exercises; stronger was he &\nmore active than any other man, and many are the tales that have been\nwritten on this matter. One of these recounts how that he climbed the\nSmalshorn, and made fast his shield on the topmost peak; and another is\nof how he brought succour to one of his own body-guard who had climbed\naforehand up the mountain and was come into such a plight that he could\nneither get up nor down, so that the King helped him by going unto him &\nbearing him down under his arm to the level land. King Olaf would walk\nfrom oar to oar, on the outer side of the ship while his men were rowing\nthe 'Serpent', and with such ease could he play with three daggers that\none was ever in the air and always caught he it by the hilt; with either\nhand could he strike equally well, and two javelins could he throw at\none time. Of all men was King Olaf the lightest-hearted & of a very\nmerry disposition; kindly was he withal & lowly-hearted; very eager in\nall enterprises, great in his bounty, & the foremost among those who\nsurrounded him. Above all others was he brave in battle, but very grim\nwhen he was angered, and on his foes laid he heavy penalties; some he\nwith fire burned, some maimed he & caused to be cast down from high\nrocks. For these things was he beloved by his friends, but dreaded by\nhis foes; his furtherance was manifold for the reason that some did his\nwill from love and friendship, and others again from fear.\n\n\n|| Leif, the son of Eirik the Red, he that was the first to settle in\nGreenland, came even that summer over from that land unto Norway; and\nKing Olaf sought he and from him accepted Christianity, & abode even\nwith King Olaf the winter thereafter.\n\n\n|| Now it came to pass that Gudrod, he that was the son of Eirik\nBlood-axe and Gunnhild, had over in the lands to the west done\nwhatsoever he listed and broken the laws of God and of man ever since\nthat time when fled he from his own country before the face of Earl\nHakon. But in this summer, of the which somewhat has already been writ,\neven at the time when Olaf Tryggvason had held sway for four winters\nover Norway, came Gudrod to Norway with many ships of war, thither\nhaving sailed from England. When he deemed himself to be nigh to Norway,\nturned he his course southward along the coast where he bethought him\nthat he might least chance to fall in with King Olaf and thus sailed he\nto Vik.\n\nHardly was he come ashore than began he to plunder the people and bring\nthem into subjection under himself, and of them demanded that they\nshould take him as their King. And when the country-folk saw that a\nwarlike host was come upon them craved they ever for grace and peace, &\nsaid to the King that they would send the summons for a Thing throughout\nthe district, and were willing to submit to him rather than suffer at\nthe hands of this his host, & it was agreed that there should be a truce\neven for so long a space as sat the Thing. Then did the King demand of\nthem that they should provide provender for his men so long as they were\nwaiting for the meeting of the Thing; but the yeomen chose rather that\nthe King and his followers should be their guests for all the time he\nmight need to be so, & the King agreed even to this, that should he\ntravel that country through with some of the men that were with him and\nthey the guests of the yeomen, ever the while others kept guard over his\nships. But when the brothers-in-law of King Olaf, even the brothers\nHyrning & Thorgeir learned of these happenings furnished they folk &\ngathered to themselves ships and sailed northward (west) in Vik, and by\nnight were come to the place where lodged King Gudrod, & there fell they\nupon him and upon his men with fire and sword. So fell King Gudrod and\nthe greater number of his men; while of those that abode on the ships\nwere some slain but others escaped and fled far and wide. And this\nGudrod was the last of all the sons of Eirik and Gunnhild; all were now\ndead.\n\n\n|| The winter after that King Olaf was come from Halogaland, caused he to\nbe built under the cliffs at Ladir a great ship: a ship far mightier\nthan any other ship of that land, and the stocks whereon she was built\nare still to be seen.\n\nOf this ship was Thorberg the master-smith, but with him were many\nothers at work, some felling trees, some shaping them, some hammering\nnails, & some carrying timber. All the material was of the choicest, and\nthe ship was both long and broad, built with great beams, and the\nbulwarks thereof were high. Now when the outer sheathing was being put\non, some errand of necessity carried Thorberg thence unto his homestead,\nand there he tarried a great while.\n\nWhen he came back the ship was fully sheathed, and the King went in the\nevening, and Thorberg with him, even to see how all things had been\ndone; and men said never before had been seen a long-ship so big or so\nfine.\n\nThen went the King back even unto his town, but early on the morrow came\nhe once more to his ship and Thorberg accompanied him, and they found\nthat the smiths were gone forward, standing there, all of them, without\nworking. The King asked wherefore were they doing nothing, & they made\nanswer that the ship had been spoiled; that a man must have gone from\nstem to stern hacking her with an axe even the whole length of the\ngunwale.\n\nThen went the King and witnessed with his own eyes the truth thereof,\nand straightway said he, & sware thereon, that die should that man once\nthe King wot whosoever he was who from envy had spoiled the ship, 'but\nhe who can tell me this thing shall have great reward.' Then said\nThorberg, 'I can tell thee, King, who it is that hath wrought this.'\n'I cannot indeed expect of another that he should so well as thee get to\nwot of this matter & tell me thereof.' 'I will tell thee, King,' quoth\nhe, 'who hath done it: I did it.'\n\nThen answered the King, 'thou shalt make it good, so that all shall be\nas well as it was before; and thy life shall be on it.'\n\nThereafter went Thorberg to the ship and chopped the gunwale in such\nwise that all the notches were pared away, and the King said then, and\nall the others likewise, that now the ship was even so goodlier by far\non that side on which Thorberg had cut the notches. So then the King\nbade him fashion both sides alike, & gave him land even for so doing,\nand thus was Thorberg master-smith on the ship, even until she was\nfinished. A dragon-ship was she & wrought after the same fashion as the\n'Serpent' which the King had brought with him from Halogaland; but was\nthe new ship much larger in all respects, built with the greater care,\n& called he her the 'Long Serpent,' and the other the 'Short Serpent.'\nOn the 'Long Serpent' were there four-and-thirty benches of oars. Dight\nwere her head and the crook all over with gold, and the bulwarks thereof\nwere as high as on sea-faring ships. This was the ship which was ye best\nequipped, and the cost thereof was the most money of any ship that ever\nhath been built in Norway.\n\n\n|| Now after the death of Earl Hakon, did Earl Eirik Hakonson and his\nbrothers, & many others of their kinsmen depart out of the country.\n\nEarl Eirik went east to Sweden, and he and his men were well received by\nKing Olaf, the King of the Swedes, who bestowed sanctuary on the Earl\nand great grants withal, so that in the land could he well maintain\nhimself and his men. Of this speaketh Thord Kolbeinson:\n\n  'Foeman of robbers! Swiftly can fate effect change\n  Brief space ere the treason of men did Hakon to death,\n  And to the land that erewhile in fight had that warrior conquered\n  Came now the son of Tryggvi when fared he from the west.'\n\n\n|| From Norway passed many men over unto Earl Eirik, to wit, all those\nthat King Olaf had caused to flee the land; and as the outcome thereof\ndid Eirik think good to procure himself ships & to go plundering so that\nhe might get wealth for himself and for his men. First sailed Eirik to\nGotland, and lay off that island a long time in summer-tide & waylaid he\nviking craft or merchant-ships even as they were sailing to land, and\nwhen he listed went he ashore and harried far and wide in the parts\nbordering on the sea. Thus in the Banda lay it is said:\n\n  'In spear-storms many was the Earl thereafter victor:\n  And did we not learn aforetime\n  That Eirik won the land?\n  In those days when the chiefs on Gotland's shores went warring,\n  Doughty, and peace-making by their might.\n  More in his mind had Eirik against lord and King\n  Than spoken word revealed,\n  As from him might be looked for.\n  Wrathfully sought the Earl counsel of the Swedish King,\n  Stubborn were the men of Throndhjem,\n  Ne'er a one would flee.'\n\n\n|| Later sailed Earl Eirik southward to Wendland, and there chanced he to\nfall in with some viking ships off Staur, and so joined he battle with\nthem; to him was the victory and there were the vikings slain. Thus\nsaith the Banda lay:\n\n  'The steerer of the prow-steed\n  Let lie at Staur the heads of fallen warriors,\n  Thereafter joy of battle inflamed the Earl.\n  At the corses of the viking the ravens tore\n  After that dire meeting of swords\n  Nigh the sands of the shore.'\n\n\n|| Sailed thence Earl Eirik back to Sweden in the autumn and abode there\na second winter; but in the spring made he ready his host and thereafter\nsailed eastward; & when he was come to the realm of King Valdamar fell\nhe to plundering & slaying folk, burning whithersoever he went, and\nlaying bare the land. Then coming to AldeigiaborgSec. laid he siege unto it\neven until he had taken it, and then put he there many folk to the sword\nand utterly destroyed the town, and thereafter spread he war far and\nwide in Garda. Thus saith the Banda lay:\n\n  'The chieftain fared forth to devastate with fire,\n  Yea and with sword (so waxed the sword-storm),\n  The lands of Valdamar.\n  Aldeigia brok'st thou, lord, when east thou cam'st to Garda\n  Well wot we how grim was the fight twixt the hosts.'\n\n\n|| For five summers together waged Earl Eirik this warfare, and when he\nleft the realm of Garda he went fighting over the whole of Adalsysla &\nEysysla;Sec. there took he four viking boats from Danish men and slew all\nthat were on the ships. It is thus spoken of in the Banda lay:\n\n  'I heard where the swinger of the sword did battle\n  Once more in the isle-sound.\n  Eirik wins the land;\n  The bounteous lord four viking boats from Dane-folk took\n  Doughty and peacemaking.\n  There where warriors hied to town,\n      hadst thou, war-hero! strife with Goths.\n  Joy of battle filled the Earl thereafter.\n  The battle-shield he bore aloft to all the lands,\n  And gently fared he not, over the country he rules.'\n\n\n|| Then Eirik the Earl fared to Denmark when he had abode one winter in\nSweden, and coming unto the Danish King Svein Two-beard, wooed he his\ndaughter Gyda and this marriage was agreed upon. Accordingly Eirik took\nGyda to wife and one winter later a son was born to them whom they\ncalled Hakon.\n\nMainly abode Eirik the winters through in Denmark, but whiles also in\nSweden, but in the summers sailed he the seas over even as became a\nviking.\n\n\n|| Svein Two-beard, the Danish King, had Gunnhild, the daughter of the\nWendish King Burizlaf, to wife; and in the days whereof now is the\nrecord writ happed it that Queen Gunnhild fell sick and died;Sec. and a\nwhile thereafter wedded King Svein, Sigrid the Haughty, she that was\ndaughter to Skogul-Tosti and mother to Oscar the Swede.\n\nAnd from the marriage arose a friendship betwixt the brothers-in-law,\nand betwixt them and Earl Eirik Hakonson.\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| Now the Wendish King Burizlaf did make complaint to his son-in-law,\nEarl Sigvaldi, because the pact had been broken which Sigvaldi had made\nbetween King Burizlaf and King Svein: to wit, that King Burizlaf should\nhave Tyri Haraldsdottir, King Svein's sister, to wife; for this marriage\nhad never come about, inasmuch as Tyri had said shortly 'Nay' to wedding\na heathen and an old man to boot. King Burizlaf now sent word unto the\nEarl that he would demand the fulfilment of the pact, & bade the Earl go\nto Denmark & bring Queen Tyri to him.\n\nThen did Earl Sigvaldi hie him on his journey, and laid he the matter\nbefore the Danish King; and by his fair words came he even so far that\ninto his hands gave King Svein his sister Tyri. With her went certain\nwomen to bear her company & do her service, & her foster-father, whose\nname was Ozur Agason, a wealthy man; & sundry other men withal. It was\nagreed between the King & the Earl that Tyri should have the estates in\nWendland which had belonged to Queen Gunnhild, and that she should be\ngiven other great lands in dowry.\n\nTyri wept sorely and departed very much against her will; but natheless\nwhen she and the Earl were come to Wendland was she wedded, & so King\nBurizlaf had Queen Tyri to wife.\n\nBut ever so long as she was among heathens would she take neither meat\nnor drink from them, and in this wise was it for a sennight. Then right\nso one night fled away Queen Tyri and Ozur in the darkness unto the\nforests; and of this their journey it is briefest to recount that they\nattained Denmark, but there durst Tyri by no means remain inasmuch as\nher brother King Svein would, an he knew where she lay, have sent her\nback again to Wendland.\n\nSo faring ever by stealth went they to Norway, and Tyri made no stay\nuntil she was come to King Olaf, who made her welcome, and gave them\nhigh entertainment. To the King Tyri told of her troubles, and begged\ncounsel of him and sanctuary in his kingdom. Now Tyri had a smooth\ntongue in her head, and the King liked her converse well; moreover he\nsaw that she was passing fair, & it entered into his mind that this\nwould be a good marriage, and he turned the talking thereunto and asked\nher whether she would not have him to husband. But with her fortunes at\nthe pass at which they now lay seemed it a hard thing to her to judge;\nyet on the other hand plainly perceived she how good a marriage it would\nbe to wed with so famous a King, and therefore entreated she him that he\nshould make decision on the matter for her. Thereafter, when this thing\nhad been duly discussed, took King Olaf Queen Tyri in wedlock; and they\nwere abed in the autumn when King Olaf was come north from Halogaland.\n\nThat winter abode King Olaf and Queen Tyri in Nidaros.\n\nNow in the spring-time thereafter oft-times did Tyri make plaint to King\nOlaf, and cried bitterly thereover, because albeit had she such great\npossessions in Wendland yet had she none in this country, and that she\nshould have such deemed she but seemly for a Queen; & thinking that by\nfair words would she get her own prayed she him on this matter, and said\nthat so great was the friendship between King Burizlaf & Olaf that even\nso soon as they should meet would the King give Olaf all he asked for.\nBut when the friends to King Olaf came to know after what fashion was\nthe manner of talking of Tyri with one consent gave they all counsel to\nhim to refrain from such a course. One day early in the spring, so it is\nsaid, as the King was walking in the street came a man towards him from\nthe market-place bearing many sticks of angelica, which same were\nwondrous big, seeing that it was early in the spring-tide. And the King\ntook a large stick of angelica in his hand & went home therewith to the\nlodging of Queen Tyri. Now Tyri sat a-weeping in her hall even as the\nKing came in, but he said to her: 'Here is a great stalk of angelica for\nthee.' Aside thrust Tyri it with her hand, and said: 'Greater gifts gave\nHarald Gormson to me, but lesser feared he than thou dost to leave his\nland and seek his own, and the token thereof is that fared he hither to\nNorway and laid waste the greater part of this land and took to himself\nall taxes and dues; but durst thou not fare through the Danish realm for\nfear of my brother King Svein.' Then up sprang King Olaf at these words,\n& called out loudly, and swore withal: 'Never will I go in fear of thy\nbrother King Svein, and whensoever we meet shall he be the one to give\nway.'\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| Not long after these things summoned King Olaf a Thing in the town,\nand made known to all the people that in the summer would he send an\nhost out of the country, and that it was his will to levy ships & men\nfrom each county, & therewith did he make it known how many ships he\nshould require from the fjord there.\n\nThen sent he messengers inland both northwards and southwards, and along\nthe coast on the outside of the islands and inside them along the land,\nand called men to arms.\n\nThereafter did King Olaf launch the 'Long Serpent' & all his other ships\ngreat & small; and the 'Long Serpent' he himself steered, and when men\nwere taken for a crew, with so much care was choice made that on the\n'Long Serpent' was there no man older than sixty nor younger than\ntwenty. All were chosen with the utmost care for their strength and\ncourage, & the first taken were King Olaf's body-guard, for composed it\nwas of the stoutest & boldest men both from home and abroad.\n\n\n|| Wolf the Red was the name of the man who bore the banner of King Olaf,\nand his place was in the prow of the 'Serpent'; there likewise were\nKolbiorn the Marshal, Thorstein Ox-foot and Vikar of Tiundaland, the\nbrother of Arnliot Gellini. Of the forecastle in the prow were Vak\nRaumason of the River, Bersi the Strong, On the Archer of Jamtaland,\nThrond the Stout from Thelemark and Othyrmi his brother; and the\nHalogalanders Thrond Squint-eye, Ogmund Sande, Lodvir the Long, from\nSaltvik, and Harek the Keen.\n\nFrom Inner Throndhjem were there Ketil the Tall, Thorfin Eisli, and\nHavard and his brothers from Orkadal. Those manning the forehold were\nBiorn of Studla, Thorgrim Tiodolfson of Hvin, Asbiorn & Orm, Thord of\nNiardalang, Thorstein the White of Oprostad, Anor of More, Hallstein and\nHawk from the Fjords, Eyvind Snak, Bergthor Bestil, Hallkel of Fialir,\nOlaf the Boy, Arnfin of Sogn, Sigurd Bild, Einar the Hordalander and\nFin, Ketil the Rogalander, and Griotgard the Quick. In the main-hold\nwere Einar Tamberskelfir, deemed by the others less able than they for\nthen was he but eighteen winters old, Hallstein Hlifarson, Thorolf, Ivar\nSmetta, and Orm Skoganef.\n\nMany other men of valour were there on the 'Serpent' though we cannot\nname them; eight were there to a half-berth, and chosen man by man. It\nwas a common saying that the crew of the 'Serpent' was for goodliness,\nstrength, and boldness, as much above other men as the 'Serpent' herself\nwas above other ships.\n\nThorkel Nefia, own brother to the King, steered the 'Short Serpent,' and\nThorkel Dydril and Jostein, they that were uncles to him on the side of\nhis mother, commanded the 'Crane'; right well manned were these twain\nships. Moreover had King Olaf eleven great ships from Throndhjem, ships\nof twenty benches, two smaller ships and victuallers.\n\n\n|| When King Olaf had completed the equipping of his fleet at Nidaros,\nappointed he men throughout the whole of the district of Throndhjem to\nbe stewards collecting revenue, and annalists. He then sent to Iceland\nGizur the White & Hialti Skeggison to convert that country to\nChristianity, and sent he with them that priest whose name is Thormod\nand other consecrated men, but kept back with him as hostages the four\nmen of Iceland they that he deemed to be of greatest mark, to wit,\nKiartan Olafson, Halldor Gudmundson, Kolbein Thordson and Sverting\nRunolfson; and it is said of the journey of Gizur & Hialti that they\nwere come unto Iceland or ever the meeting of the Althing & were present\nat the Thing, and thereat was baptism legalized in Iceland and that\nsummer all folk were brought into the true fold.\n\n\n|| The same spring likewise sent King Olaf Leif Eirikson to Greenland to\nconvert the people, and fared he thither that summer. On the main found\nhe the crew of a ship who were lying helpless on a wreck, and thereafter\nhe discovered Vineland the Good,Sec. yet came he the same summer to\nGreenland; and with him had he a priest and teachers, and he took up his\nabode at Brattalid with his father Eirik. Thereafter did men call him\nLeif the Lucky; but Eirik, his father, said that the one thing was a\nset-off to the other: on the one hand was the saving of the ship's crew\nby Leif & on the other the bringing to Greenland of that 'juggler,' to\nwit, the priest.\n\n\n|| Then took King Olaf his host southward following the coast, and many\nof his friends flocked to him, mighty men, who were bravely furnished\nfor an expedition with the King. The first man of these was own\nbrother-in-law to himself, Erling Skialgson with his large 'skeid'Sec.\nwherein were thirty benches, and right well manned was she withal. There\ncame also to him his brothers-in-law Hyrning and Thorgeir, each steering\na large ship. Many other mighty men accompanied him, so that when he\nleft the country had he thirty long-ships. King Olaf sailed south\nthrough Eyrasund, off the coasts of Denmark, and in due course came he\nto Wendland.\n\nThere appointed he a tryst with King Burizlaf, and the Kings met and\nspake together of the possessions claimed of King Olaf, and all the talk\nbetween them went in kindly wise and the claims whereof King Olaf deemed\nhimself to have rights there were fully ordered.\n\nAbode he there a long while during the summer, and saw many of his\nfriends.\n\n\n|| As hath been related ere this, King Svein Two-beard had wedded Sigrid\nthe Haughty, & Sigrid was King Olaf's greatest foe, the reason therefor\nbeing how King Olaf had broken his troth with her, as has been afore set\nin fair script, and how he had smote her on the face.\n\nSigrid incited King Svein to do battle with King Olaf Tryggvason, saying\npretext enough was it that he had wedded the own sister to Svein, she\nTyri, without his leave: 'And never would thy forefathers have suffered\nsuch a thing.' Such words as these had Queen Sigrid ever on her lips,\nand so far went she with her persuasions that King Svein was full\nwilling to do battle with Olaf. So early in spring-tide sent King Svein\nmen east to Sweden, to Olaf the Swedish King, he that was his step-son,\n& to Earl Eirik, to tell them that Olaf King of Norway had his fleet\nabroad, and thought of faring to Wendland come summer; another message\ntook they likewise, namely that the Swedish King and the Earl should\ncall out their hosts and go to meet King Svein, and that then altogether\nthey should get their battle over against King Olaf. Now the King of\nSweden and Eirik the Earl were ready and eager for this venture, so\nmustered they a large fleet in Sweden, and with the ships thereof went\nsouth to Denmark and came thither at the time when King Olaf had already\nsailed east. Of this speaketh Halldor in the song he made about Earl\nEirik:\n\n  'Crusher of Kings who battles loved,\n  From out of Sweden called,\n  To southern battle fared he forth,\n  Even with great hosts of men,\n  The wound-bird on the sea gat food while waiting,\n  Each and every warrior was fain to follow Eirik.'\n\n\n|| So the King of the Swedes and Earl Eirik shaped a course to meet the\nDanish King, and when all the fleets were come together was there a host\ngreater than one man could number.\n\n\n|| When King Svein sent for that fleet, sent he moreover Earl Sigvaldi to\nWendland to spy on the expedition of King Olaf, and to lay such a lure\nthat King Svein and the others might assuredly fall in with King Olaf.\n\nSo Earl Sigvaldi set forth and went to Wendland and Jomsborg, and met\nKing Olaf Tryggvason. Now had they much friendly conversation one with\nthe other, and the Earl came greatly to love the King, mainly on account\nof their former kinship, for Astrid, she that was wife unto the Earl,\neven the daughter of King Burizlaf, was very friendly with King Olaf,\nfor the reason that the latter had had her sister Geira to wife.\n\nNow Sigvaldi was a wise man, & one ready at expedients, & when he and\nKing Olaf took counsel together, found he many and divers pretexts for\ndelaying the journey of the King to the westward; but the men of King\nOlaf murmured thereat and were loudly displeased, and longed much to get\nthem hence home, for, said they, 'clear are we to sail & fair is the\nwind.' Learned Sigvaldi now privily from Denmark that the King of the\nDanes and the King of the Swedes & Eirik the Earl were met together, and\nwere even about to set sail to the eastward off the coast of Wendland;\nlikewise that it had been convened betwixt them that they in wait for\nKing Olaf should lie off that isle which is called Svold;Sec. & that\nmoreover he, the Earl, was after some fashion to contrive that King Olaf\nbe found of them.\n\n\n|| And now went about a rumour in Wendland that Svein, the King of the\nDanes, also had an host abroad, & soon tongues wagged to the tune that\nwell would it like Svein, the King of the Danes, to meet with King Olaf;\nbut said Earl Sigvaldi unto the King: 'No plan is it of King Svein to\nattack thee with the Danish host alone, seeing how great an host of\nthine own thou hast; but if ye suspect that war may be at hand then will\nI and my men go with thee, and aforetime was it deemed good help when\nthe Jomsborg vikings bore a chief company: I will go with thee even with\neleven ships well-found.'\n\nTo this did the King answer yea, and because at that time was there\nblowing a gentle breeze but favourable, commanded he that the fleet\nshould get under way, & that the horns be blown for their departing.\nThen the men hoisted sail; and the small ships were those that made the\nbetter way, & out to sea sailed they. Now kept the Earl close by the\nKing's ship, shouting to those on board, and bidding the King follow\nhim: 'Well wot I,' he said, 'which sounds are deepest betwixt the isles,\n& this be fraught with care seeing how big are thy ships.' So sailed the\nEarl first with his ships, eleven ships had he, & sailed the King after\nhim with his large ships, eleven likewise had he, but sailed all the\nrest of the fleet ahead and out to sea. Now it came to pass as Earl\nSigvaldi was making Vold came rowing off a skiff, and those therein told\nunto the Earl how that the fleet of the King of the Danes lay in the\nhaven even right over ahead of their way.\n\nSo the Earl ordered sails to be lowered, and rowed they in under that\nisland. Thus saith Halldor the Unchristened:\n\n  'With ships one more than seventy\n  Came the lord of Eynafylki from the south;\n  His sword he dyed in warfare\n  When the Earl the ships of Skani called out to battle.\n  Quickly then the peace was broken 'twixt the men.'\n\n\n|| Now it will be marked that, according unto the bard, were the ships of\nKing Olaf & Earl Sigvaldi seventy-one in number what time sailed they\nfrom the south.\n\n\n|| Now lying there were Svein, the King of the Danes, Olaf the King of\nthe Swedes, and Earl Eirik, with all the might of their fleet, and fair\nweather was with them with bright sunshine. Went up to the islet all the\nchieftains with a large company of men, and spied they thence that a\nmany ships were sailing together out at sea.\n\nAnd they beheld a large ship and brave sailing, and said both the Kings:\n'There goes a great ship, passing fair, none other can this be save only\nthe \"Long Serpent.\"'\n\nThen made Earl Eirik answer, saying: 'That is not the \"Long Serpent.\"'\n\nAnd it was as he opined, for this ship belonged to Eindrid of Gimsar.\nA while later saw they yet another ship sailing, much greater than the\nfirst, and then spake King Svein: 'Afeard is Olaf Tryggvason, for he\ndareth not sail with the head upon his ship.' Then said Earl Eirik:\n'That is not the King's ship; that ship and the sail thereof know I, for\nthe sail is a striped one; Erling Skialgson it is who hath command\nthereof.\n\nLet them sail on! Better is it for us that this ship should be lacking\nfrom Olaf's fleet, so well appointed is it.' A while later saw they and\nrecognized the ships of Sigvaldi the Earl, and one of them also was\ngreat.\n\nThen spake King Svein and bade them go to their ships; for, said he,\nthere sails the 'Long Serpent'; but Earl Eirik called out, 'Many more\nships and fine ones have they besides the 'Long Serpent,' let us bide a\nwhile.'\n\nThen many of the men fell to talking, & they said: 'Eirik the Earl will\nnot fight to avenge his father. Shame, shame is it, & throughout all the\nland will it be heard, if we lie here with so great a fleet & let King\nOlaf sail out to sea on our very flank.' But after they had been talking\nthus a while saw they that four more ships came sailing by, and one of\nthese was a dragon, large indeed, and bedecked with gold. Then rose up\nKing Svein and said: 'High shall the \"Serpent\" carry me this eve; and I\nwill steer her.' Many of the men called out that the 'Serpent' was a\nmighty great ship and beautiful to look upon, and a glorious work had it\nbeen to build such a craft.\n\nThen Earl Eirik said so loud that sundry heard him: 'E'en had King Olaf\nno larger ship than this, King Svein would with the Danish host alone\nnever wrest it from him.' Then went the men to their ships and took the\ntilts from off them; whilst the chiefs were talking among themselves of\nthat which is writ above saw they sailing along three very large ships,\nand a fourth ship last of all, and that was the 'Long Serpent.' Now of\nthose large ships which had sailed past before, and had been deemed by\nthe men to be the 'Long Serpent,' the first was the 'Crane' and the last\nthe 'Short Serpent.' But when they beheld the 'Long Serpent,' and none\ngainsaid this, then wotted all that now indeed was Olaf Tryggvason\nsailing by. Then went they to their ships, and made ready to row to the\nonset. Now a compact had been struck between the chiefs, King Svein,\nKing Olaf, and Earl Eirik, that to each one of them should be given a\nthird part of Norway if it befell that King Olaf was slain; moreover he\nwho first boarded the 'Long Serpent' was for his own to have all the\nbooty taken therefrom, and each of them was to have what ships he\nhimself cleared.\n\nEarl Eirik had a very large long-ship which he was wont to use on his\nviking cruises; a beard was there on the higher part of both prow and\nstern, and thick plates of iron going from thence all the breadth of the\nbeard right down to the water-line.\n\n\n|| Now when Earl Sigvaldi & his men headed in towards the islet, observed\nclosely Thorkel Dydril of the 'Crane' and the captains of the other\nships sailing with him, what he was doing, and they too lowered sail,\nand rowing after him, called out to him to know why thus he was faring.\n\nThe Earl answered that he was going to bide the coming of King Olaf, for\nmost like did it seem that war was at hand.\n\nSo then they likewise let their ships lie-to until such time as Thorkel\nLeira with the 'Short Serpent' was come up and with him too the three\nother ships which were following him, and the same tidings were told\nunto them; then they also lowered sail, laid-to and bided the coming of\nKing Olaf.\n\nBut when the King sailed out towards the isle, then rowed out into the\nsound the whole of the hostile fleet even for to meet him; and his men\nwitnessing this same prayed the King sail his way, and not engage in\nbattle with so large an host.\n\nBut King Olaf stood up on the poop, and shouted with a loud voice: 'Let\nno men of mine lower sail or think of fleeing; never have I fled in\nbattle. May God look to my life, for never will I turn to flight.' And\nit was done even as the King said. Thus saith Hallfrod:\n\n  'Fain would I name those words,\n  Which Olaf's warriors tell us\n  The lord deed-mighty spake there,\n  To his men before the battle.\n  The warlike King forbade\n  His champions to think of flight,\n  And how they live, the words the loved one of the people spoke.'\n\n\n|| So were sounded the horns for the assembling of the ships; and the\nKing's ship was in the midst of the fleet, with the 'Short Serpent' on\none side and the 'Crane' on the other. Now when they were about to lash\ntogether the prow of the 'Long Serpent' and stern of the 'Short\nSerpent,' the King observed what was being done, and he cried out\nbidding them lay the big ship more forward, & not let her be astern of\nall the ships in the fleet. Thereon answered Ulf the Red: 'If we are to\nlay the \"Serpent\" as much longer ahead as she is longer than other ships\nhard will the day's work be behind the gunwales.' Said the King: 'I knew\nnot that I had a forecastle man who was both red and afraid,' Ulf made\nanswer back, 'Turn not thou thy back there on the poop more than I turn\nmine when I guard the prow.'\n\nNow the King had a bow in his hand, and placing an arrow on the string\nthereof he turned him towards Ulf; then cried Ulf, 'Shoot another way,\nKing, thither where it is needed more greatly; what I do, I do for\nthee.'\n\n\n|| King Olaf towered high on the poop of the 'Serpent,' and easy was it\nto know him from other men.\n\nA golden shield had he, and a gold-wrought helmet, & a short red kirtle\nover his shirt of mail.\n\nNow when King Olaf saw that the fleets were dividing and banners were\nbeing set up before the chiefs, asked he: 'Who is the captain of that\nhost which is right over against us?' It was told him that it was King\nSvein Two-beard with the host of the Danes. Then answered he: 'Afraid\nare we not of those blenchers, no heart is there in the Danes. But what\nchief is behind those banners yonder on our right?' It was told him that\nthere was King Olaf, with the Swedish host. 'Better were it for the\nSwedes to stay at home and lick the blood from their bowls than to board\nthe \"Serpent\" under thy weapons.' 'But whose are the ships lying out\nyonder on the larboard of the Danes?' 'They pertain,' came the answer,\n'to Eirik Hakonson.' Then answered King Olaf, 'Good reason, methinketh,\nhath he to meet us, and from that fleet may we await the fiercest of\nfights, seeing that they too are of Norway even as we ourselves.'\n\n\n|| Thereafter separated the Kings one from another for the onset. King\nSvein laid his ship against the 'Long Serpent'; and King Olaf the Swede\nlay-to farther out & grappled from the prow the outermost ship of King\nOlaf Tryggvason; and over against the other side lay Earl Eirik. And\neven so there ensued a dire and strenuous conflict. Albeit did Sigvaldi,\nthe Earl, let his ships fall astern and took he no part in the battle.\nThus saith Skuli Thorsteinnson, he that himself was with Earl Eirik that\nday:\n\n  'The Frisian wolf I followed\n  (And in my youth gat honour)\n  With Sigvaldi, there where the spears whistled\n  (Now wax I old);\n  When bloody swords we bore\n  There off the mouth of the Svold\n  In the south, in the battle-storm,\n  And met the hero of wars.'\n\nAnd Hallfrod too saith of these tidings:\n\n  'Methinks full much was missed\n  (Many to flight did turn them),\n  That chief who spurred the fight\n  Was among the men of Throndhjem.\n  The valiant King alone\n  'Gainst the two Kings did fight,\n  (Glorious to tell it now)\n  And for a third too the Earl.'\n\n\n|| The battle to them all waxed very fierce & bloody; the forecastle men\nof the 'Long Serpent' & the 'Short Serpent' and the 'Crane' threw\nanchors and grapplers on to the ships of King Svein, and thus could they\nattack them from above so that they cleared every ship unto which they\ncould cling and thereto hold fast. King Svein and those of his company\nwho could escape made what way they could to other of his ships and\nthereon drew thence out of bow-shot, and so it came to pass that it\nfared with this fleet even as King Olaf Tryggvason had foretold.\n\nThen Olaf, he that was King of the Swedes, brought his ships up into the\nself-same places left by those of Svein, but natheless hardly was he\ncome nigh to the big ships than it went with him the same as with the\nothers; even so that lost he many men and some of his ships, and\nthereafter he too drew back. But Earl Eirik laid his bearded ship\nalongside the outermost ship of King Olaf & with fierceness cleared it,\nand straightway cut it adrift from its lashings; then went he alongside\nthe one that was next, and with it fought until that too was cleared.\nThen fell the crews to escaping from the lesser ships on to those that\nwere larger; but cut the Earl every ship from its lashings even as soon\nas it was cleared, & thereon came up once more from all sides Danes and\nSwedes into the battle over against the ships of King Olaf. Eirik the\nEarl lay ever alongside one or other ship fighting thus in hand to hand\nfight, and as the men fell on his ship, Danes and Swedes, other true men\ntook their place. Thus saith Halldor:\n\n  'Of sharp swords the brunt\n  O'er the \"Long Serpent\" went;\n  There golden spears did clash\n  And the men fought long,\n  In battle of foemen\n  Went forth to the south\n  Men of Sweden against him,\n  And Danish swordsmen doughty.'\n\n\n|| Then waxed the battle very fierce, and men fell thick and fast, and so\nat the end befell it that all the ships that pertained unto King Olaf\nwere cleared save and except the 'Long Serpent,' & by that time all\nthose of his folk who were still able to bear arms were come aboard of\nher.\n\nThen did Earl Eirik bring his bearded ship alongside the 'Serpent' and\nthereon ensued a fight with man at sword's length from man.\n\nThus saith Halldor:\n\n  'Into so hard a trap fell now the \"Long Serpent\"\n  (The shields were cut asunder, together clashed the swords),\n  And when the axe-bearer laid his bearded ship\n      high bulwarked beside the \"Serpent,\"\n  The Earl did victory win at Holm.'\n\n\n|| Earl Eirik took his stand in the forehold of his ship encompassed by a\nwall of shields, & his men fought both with trenchant arms, and by the\nthrusting of spears, and by the throwing of everything that could be\nused as a weapon, though some shot with the bow or threw javelins with\nthe hand. From all sides had the war-ships been brought up around the\n'Serpent,' and so great was the shower of weapons which fell on her, and\nso thickly flew the arrows and javelins from all sides, that men could\nbut hardly ward off the missiles with their shields. The men that were\nwith King Olaf had ere now waxed so furious that they had climbed up on\nto the bulwarks to the end that they might reach their foemen with their\nswords and slay them; but many of their foes would not come so nigh\nalongside the 'Serpent' that they could be beguiled into close combat,\nwhereas a many of the folk of Olaf being unmindful that they were not\nfighting on a level field themselves fell overboard and so sank down\ntogether with their weapons. Thus saith Hallfrod:\n\n  'From the \"Serpent\" sank they down, wounded in the fight;\n  Give way or flee they would not, resisting to the last.\n  Though glorious the King may be who steers the \"Serpent\"\n  Such men as these will long be lacking where'er she strideth.'\n\n\n|| It happened that in the narrow-hold of the \"Serpent,\" shooting with\nhis bow and arrow more fiercely than any other man that was on the ship,\nstood Einar Tambarskelfir. Now it was against Earl Eirik that Einar had\nhis direct venture, and struck he the top of the tiller-head, over above\nthe head of the Earl, sending in his arrow with such force that it\npenetrated to the very binding of the shaft.\n\nThe Earl looked at it, and asked if it was known who was shooting thus;\nthen on the instant Einar shot another arrow which went so nigh unto the\nEarl that it passed betwixt his side and his arm, and so far through the\nstaying-board that the barb stood out on the other side thereof.\n\nThen spake the Earl to that man whose name some say was Fin, but as\nothers have it was of FinnishSec. kith and kin.\n\nExceeding apt was he as an archer, so spake Eirik unto him saying:\n'Shoot thou yonder big man in the narrow-hold,' & even as he said the\nwords did the arrow of Fin strike the bow of Einar just as he was\ndrawing it for the third time. Then was the bow broken in twain, & Olaf\nsaid, 'What brake there so loudly?' & Einar made answer: 'Norway from\nthy hand, O King.' 'So great a breaking asunder hath not happened yet,\nI trow,' quoth the King; 'take my bow and shoot therewith,' and saying\nso threw he him his own bow, and Einar taking it strained it even beyond\nthe arrow-head. 'Too weak,' said he, 'too weak is the prince's bow,' and\nthrowing it back again to the King took he his shield and sword, and\nfell to hand-fighting.\n\n\n|| King Olaf being himself on the poop of the 'Serpent,' full oft that\nday shot with his bow, but upon occasion made he use of javelins, and\never threw two at once. Then as time wore on saw he, as his glance sped\nalong the ship, that albeit his men swung ever their swords and smote\nfull fast, yet nevertheless their swords were cutting but ill, and he\ncried out loudly to them: 'Are ye wielding your swords carelessly since,\nas I see, they do not cut?' One of the men made answer: 'Our swords are\nblunt and very much notched.' Then went the King down into the\nfore-hold, and setting up the lid of the high-seat took from out of the\nchest beneath many sharp swords and gave them out to his men, and when\nhe thrust down his right arm into the chest it was seen that blood was\nrunning from under his mail-shirt, and no man at that hour wot in what\npart he had been wounded.\n\n\n|| Even the stoutest defence on the 'Long Serpent,' and that the most\ndeadly, was put up by those stout men that were in the fore-hold and in\nthe prow and stern, for truly were they picked men, and the bulwarks in\nthose places were higher than in other parts of the ship. Even so soon\nas ever the men amidships began to fall, and only a few of those about\nthe mast were left standing on their feet, made Eirik an attempt to\nboard the 'Serpent,' and up came he on to her, himself the fifteenth\nman.\n\nThen was it that Hyrning, he that was own brother-in-law of Olaf, set\nover against Eirik with a band of followers and the mightiest fight of\nall waged they then, and the end thereof was of such a fashion that had\nthe Earl himself to draw back even unto his own ship; and of the men\nthat adventured with him on to the 'Serpent' were some wounded and most\nothers slain.\n\n\n|| And thereafter was there yet again a hard struggle, & many men fell on\nboard the 'Serpent'; & as the crew who held the defence of her began to\nthin tried Earl Eirik to board her for the second time, but again met he\nwith valiant opposition. When the fore-castle men on the 'Serpent' saw\nthis went they aft and safeguarded the ship over against the Earl, &\nmade a stubborn defence. But so many were the men who were fallen on the\n'Serpent' that were the bulwarks perforce in many places empty, and the\nmen of the Earl now came aboard her on every side; then were those men\nwho were still standing to arms and having the guardianship of the ship\nforced to fall back aft, even unto the place where the King was\nstanding. Thus saith Halldor the Unchristened, telling how Earl Eirik\ncheered on his men:\n\n  'Astern across the thwarts shrank the men of Olaf\n  Valiant the lord cheers on his hot-headed followers,\n  When the warriors had closed all issue to the doughty King\n  The clash of weapons turned towards the Wend-slayer.'\n\n\n|| Now it came to pass that Kolbiorn the Marshal went up on to the poop\neven to the King, and greatly did they resemble one another in apparel\nand weapons; and Kolbiorn was also a right big and comely man.\n\nYet once again ensued there a fight full fierce in the fore-hold, but\nbecause that there were now come up on to the 'Serpent' even as many men\nof the Earl as the ship would hold, and seeing that his ships were lying\non all sides around the 'Serpent,' & moreover few folk left on her for\ndefence against so strong a host, fell the main of the men of Olaf very\nshortly thereafter, albeit were they men both strong and stout of heart.\nThen did King Olaf himself, and Kolbiorn, leap over-board each on his\nown side. Now the men of the Earl had put out small boats & were busy\nslaying those that took to the sea, and when the King leapt overboard\nwould they have taken him captive and brought him before Earl Eirik, had\nnot King Olaf held up his shield above him and dived headlong into the\ndeep. Kolbiorn, on the other part, thrust his shield under him and thus\nprotected himself against the javelins which were being thrown up from\nthe boats beneath, but he fell into the sea in such wise that his shield\nwas beneath him & therefore could he in no wise dive so swiftly, & so\nwas he taken & haled up into a boat. Then the foe deeming him to be the\nKing brought him before the Earl, but when the Earl discovered that it\nwas not King Olaf but Kolbiorn, gave he the latter quarter. At this\nmoment did all they of the King's folk who were still alive leap\noverboard from the 'Serpent'; and Hallfrod saith that Thorkel Nefia,\nhe that was brother to the King, leapt last of all overboard:\n\n  'Stroke-doughty Thorkel saw the \"Crane,\"\n  Yea, and the \"Serpents\" twain floating deserted;\n  Boldly had he fought e'er the wearer of the arm-rings,\n  Stout-hearted in combat, into the sea plunged,\n  And by swimming saved his life.'\n\n\n|| Now hath it been afore fair written that Earl Sigvaldi joined forces\nwith King Olaf in Wendland; ten ships had the Earl and withal an\neleventh whereon Astrid, she that was daughter to the King and wife to\nSigvaldi, had her men.\n\nWhen King Olaf leapt overboard all the hosts shouted cries of victory,\nand then did the Earl and his men unship their oars & row to the fight.\nOf this speaketh Halldor the Unchristened:\n\n  'From far and near the Wendmen's craft\n  To battle hastened;\n  The lean sword-clashers\n  Clanged with iron mouths;\n  Din of swords at sea was there\n  (Wolves' fare the eagle tore),\n  The lads' dear leader strove\n  Ere many from him fled.'\n\n\n|| Now rowed away the Wendland cutter, whereon were Astrid's men, back to\nWendland, and straightway did many men say that King Olaf must have\ndrawn off his shirt of mail in the water, dived down away from the\nlong-ship, and thereafter swum even to the Wendland cutter and so been\nbrought to shore by the folk of Astrid.\n\nAnd many are the tales which have been told by certain men of the\njourneyings of King Olaf; nevertheless in this wise speaketh Hallfrod:\n\n  'I wot not whether he who stilled the raven's hunger\n  Should of me be praised as of the living or the dead,\n  Since of a truth his men tell either tale\n  (Bootless of himself to question) though wounded was he surely.'\n\nBut howsoever this may have been, never more returned King Olaf\nTryggvason to his realm of Norway; yet in this wise speaketh Hallfrod\nthe Troublous-skald:\n\n  'He who the tidings told that the lord was living\n  Had long for Tryggvi's trusted son a fighter been.\n  'Tis said the King from out the steel-storm came;\n  Alas, 'tis worse than this, methinks,\n      for of truth all facts are lacking.'\n\nAnd this again:\n\n  'When the land-host with men in numbers towards the Holder's\n  War-wont King did fare, it scarce could be (so heard I)\n  That the King beloved could with life escape\n  (Folk seemed not truth to tell) from out the battle.\n  Some men e'en tell this skald that wounded is the King,\n  Though from the spear-storm saved and eastwards gone.\n  But tidings from the south now tell the slaying of the King\n  In the great fight (endure no more can I the wavering talk of men).'\n\n\n|| With the victory that he encompassed did Earl Eirik Hakonson gain even\nthe 'Long Serpent' and much booty, and steered he the 'Serpent' far out\nof the battle. Thus said Halldor:\n\n  'Thither the \"Serpent\" had borne him,\n  The helmeted chieftain, to the great sword-play,\n  (Then were the ships dight).\n  But south, in the din of the battle,\n      gladly the Earl took the \"Serpent\"\n  (Heming's high-born brother in blood did dye the swords).'\n\n\n|| Now Svein the son of Earl Hakon even at this time was betrothed to\nHolmfrid the daughter of Olaf King of Sweden. When Olaf the Swedish\nKing, Svein the Danish King and Earl Eirik divided the realm of Norway\nbetween them, then had Olaf the Swedish King four counties, to wit,\nThrondhjem, the two Mores & Raumsdal; and eastward to him pertained\nRaumariki from the Gaut (Goeta) river to Svinasund.\n\nThis dominion did King Olaf make over to Earl Svein on the self-same\nconditions as the tribute paying kings or earls had held their lands\naforetime from superior kings. Earl Eirik gat five counties in\nThrondhjem, also Halogaland and Naumdalen, the Fjords & Fialir, Sogn and\nHardaland & Rogaland, and Agdir from the north right to Lidandesnes (the\nNaze).\n\nThus saith Thord Kolbeinson:\n\n  'I wist that save for Erling (bounteous chief whom I praise)\n  Erewhile the \"hersirs\" mostly were friends unto the earls;\n  The battle ended the land all southward from Agdir\n  To Veiga, or farther north, was subject made to Eirik.\n  Under the lord the land prospered; & this 'twas good should be.\n  His duty he thought it to hold o'er the northmen his hand.\n  Now hath died Svein the king south of us, so the tale goes\n  (The strength of most doth fail,\n      and waste are his manors for grief).'\n\n\n|| Svein the King of the Danes was now once more the possessor of Vik,\nwhich had been his aforetime; to Earl Eirik he gave Raumariki and\nHedemark, to be held as a fief. Svein Hakonson, he that was the finest\nman that men have ever looked on, received earldom from Olaf the Swede.\nEirik and Earl Svein were alike baptized into and made profession of the\ntrue Faith, but even so long as they ruled over Norway gave they licence\nto every man that he should please himself about what creed he would\ncleave to, & moreover maintained they the old laws honourably and\nlikewise all the customs of the land; therefore were they justly men who\nwere well-beloved and good rulers. Now in all matters having concern in\nthe ruling of the realm of the twain brothers was Earl Eirik ever the\nmore prominent.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SAGA OF HARALD THE TYRANT, MXXX-MLXVI\n\n\n\n\nIt befell in the days of the fall of King Olaf that Harald, the son of\nSigurd Sow, the stepbrother of King Olaf the Saint, bore his share in\nthe great battle of Stiklastad.\n\nEven there it befell Harald that he was smote down, but he gained the\nlife of his body by flight with others that bore him company. Thus saith\nThiodolf:\n\n  'Nigh the hill, a battle-storm\n  I heard drive toward the King,\n  But the burner of the BulgarsSec.\n  His brother well supported.\n  Unwillingly from fallen Olaf\n  Was the prince sundered,\n  And his head he hid;\n  Then was he twelve winters\n  With added three thereto in age.'\n\n\n|| It was Rognvald Brusason who bare Harald out of the battle, and\nbrought him to a certain peasant who lived in the forest, and that in a\nglade far from the haunts of man; and here was Harald leeched until he\nwas whole of his wound.\n\nThereafter fared forth the son of that peasant eastward with him across\nthe Kjol (Kiolen), & as far as they were able to do so followed they\nforest tracks in lieu of the common way.\n\nNow in no wise wist the son of the peasant with what manner of man he\nwas faring, & as they were riding through the wastes of the forest sang\nHarald thus wise:\n\n  'From forest now to forest\n  Wend I my way with honour scant;\n  Who wists but in the future\n  Wide fame may not be mine?'\n\n\n|| And thus fared he eastward through Jamtaland & Helsingland, and in due\ncourse was he come even to Sweden; there did he link his fortune with\nthat of Rognvald Brusason and many others of the men of King Olaf that\nwere yet alive after the mighty battle.\n\n\n|| Now in the spring thereafter gat they ships for themselves and in the\nsummer fared eastward to Garda, where abode they the winter through with\nKing Jarizleif.\n\nThus saith Bolverk:\n\n  'The sword's blade, King, thou dried'st\n  When thou fared'st from the strife.\n  To the raven gav'st thou to eat;\n  The wolf howled on the wooded heights.\n  But the year thereafter and thou wert\n  East in Gard, O doughty fighter,\n  Ne'er have I heard of a leader of hosts\n  More famed than thou wert.'\n\nKing Jarizleif made Harald & his men welcome right kindly, and even so\nbecame Harald captain of the land defence of the King & with him was\njoined Eilif, the son of Earl Rognvald. Thus saith Thiodolf:\n\n  'Where Eilif was,\n  Alike they acted,\n  Those chieftains twain\n  In wedge-like phalanx.\n  Chased were the East Wends\n  Into a corner narrow,\n  Not easy for the LaesirsSec.\n  Was the law of the host.'\n\n\n|| Some winters abode Harald in the realm of Garda, & fared forth for the\nmost part eastward; then went he a journey to Greece, and in his company\nwas a mighty following, and at that time likewise went he to Miklagard\n(Constantinople). Saith Bolverk:\n\n  'The chilly shower drave forward\n  The ship's swart prows;\n  And barks all bravely armoured\n  Their sails bore by the coast-side.\n  The metal towers of Miklagard\n  The prince saw from the prows;\n  Fair-bosomed ships were borne\n  To the walls of the city.'\n\nAt that time there ruled over Greece Queen Zoe the Wealthy and with her\nMichael Katalaktus.\n\nWhen Harald was come even unto Miklagard in the hardiness that was of\nhis blood enterprised he service of the Queen, and even so did the men\nthat were with him.\n\nForthwith that same autumn took he ship on certain galleys with warriors\nwho were adventuring on to the Greek sea.\n\nIn those days was one named GyrgirSec. chief of the hosts, and he was also\na kinsman to the Queen. Now it came to pass that Harald had not abode\nlongtime with the host ere the VaeringsSec. became much drawn to him, so\nthat he and they adventured all together in a body whensoever there was\nfighting, and the end thereof was that Harald was chosen captain of all\nthe Vaerings. Gyrgir and his hosts coasted in all directions among the\nGreek islands, and greatly plundered the corsairs.\n\n\n|| Once it befell when they were faring overland, and were of a mind to\npass the night in the woods, that the Vaerings were the first to come to\nthe place where it was intended they should lie, and chose they for\ntheir tents even such position as was best and lay highest, for the\ncountry thereabout was boggy, and no sooner came the rain than was it\nill living there over against where the land was low. Then came Gyrgir,\n& when he saw where the Vaerings had pitched their tents bade he them\nbegone and pitch them in another place, since saith he, that he himself\nwould have his tent even there. But thus spake Harald: 'When ye are the\nfirst to come to the place for the camp then shall ye make choice of\nyour place for the night, and it will behove us to pitch our tents\nelsewhere, even in whatever spot is open to us. So do ye now likewise;\npitch ye your tents where ye will in any other spot that pertaineth.\nMethought was it the right of the Vaerings here in Greece to be masters\nof their own matter & free in all things before all men, and that was it\nto the King and Queen only they owed obedience.'\n\nOn this bandied they words with so great heat that both sides fell to\narming themselves, & right nigh came they to fighting, but ere that were\nthe wisest men came up and they parted them.\n\nThey said it was more in reason that these men should be of one mind on\nthe matter, and a just decision made thereon betwixt them, so that never\nmore might strife arise out of this cause.\n\nSo then was agreed a meeting between them, & the best and wisest men\nwere present thereat; and at that meeting was it counselled in such\nmanner that all were of one mind, to wit, that lots should be borne in a\ncloth and cast between Greek and Vaering as to who should be the first\nto ride or row, or berth them in haven, or choose a spot for their\ntents; both of them henceforth to rest content with whatever the lot\ndecreed. Thereafter was this done, and the lots were marked; then said\nHarald to Gyrgir; 'Let me now see how thou markest thy lot, to the\nintent that we may not both mark them in the same fashion.'\n\nSo Harald looked and thereafter marked his lot and threw it into the\ncloth, and Gyrgir did likewise; but the man who was to draw the lot took\nup one between his fingers, and lifting his hand said: 'These shall\nfirst ride and row and berth them in haven and choose them tent-places.'\nThen did Harald seize the lot with his hand and throw it out into the\nsea, and when he had so done he said: 'That was our lot.'\n\nGyrgir said: 'Why didst thou not let more men see it?' 'Look you,'\nanswered Harald, 'on that lot which is left, & I wot well thereon will\nyou know your own mark.'\n\nThen looked they at the lot, and all knew the mark to be that of Gyrgir.\n\nSo was it adjudged that the Vaerings should have the choice in all those\nmatters about which there had been strife. Sundry things befell likewise\non which saw they not eye to eye, but ever it ended in such a fashion\nthat Harald had his way.\n\n\n|| Plundering & pillaging whithersoever they went fared together both\nhosts during the summer, but when a battle was imminent would Harald\ncause his men to hold aloof therefrom, or at least over against that\npart where was the fight most open.\n\nEver said he that he would take good care that he did not lose those\nthat were of his company; but when a fight chanced and he with his men\nonly were opposed to an enemy so fierce was he in battle that either\nmust he win the day or die. For this reason oft-times it befell that\nwhen Harald was captain of the men the victory fell to him, whereas\nGyrgir won naught.\n\nNow when the warriors saw how oft did this come to pass, said they one\nto the other that their cause would have better advancement an Harald\nwere alone captain of the host; and blamed they the leader of the band,\nsaying that he and his men were but bootless. To this Gyrgir made answer\nthat the Vaerings would not yield him support, & bade them begone,\nwhiles he fared with the rest of the host to be successful as far as in\nthem lay. Even so, thereon went Harald from the host, and with him\nlikewise the Vaerings and the Latin men, but Gyrgir kept the host of the\nGreeks. Then came to pass that which all had awaited, to wit, that\nHarald ever gained the victory & the plunder. Thereupon fared the Greeks\nhome to Miklagard save only the young men who desired to win riches for\nthemselves, and they gathered round Harald and took him for their\nleader.\n\nThen went he with his host westward to northern Africa, which the\nVaerings called Serkland,Sec. and there he gained addition to his host.\n\nIn Serkland won he eighty walled towns, some thereof surrendered to him,\nwhereas others took he by might.\n\nThereafter went he to Sikiley (Sicily). Thus saith Thiodolf:\n\n  'Towns ten times eight in Serkland,\n  Say I, then were taken,\n  The young hater of red-glowing gold\n  Rushed into the peril.\n  Before the fighter went to rouse\n  With clashing shields the Hilds,\n  Were they long the Serk-men's foe,\n  On the plains of Sicily.'\n\nThus saith Illugi, the skald from Bryn:\n\n  'Harald under Michael strove\n  For south-lands with his sword\n  The son of Budli, as 'twas said\n  Showed friendship by his fellowship.'[Sec.]\n\n\n|| Now it came to pass that at this season was Michael King of Greece.\n\nMany winters abode he in Africa, and to himself acquired goods and\nchattels in plenty, gold likewise and all manner of precious things; but\nall the wealth which he took and thereof had not need for his\nmaintenance sent he by his trusty men to Holmgard (Novgarod), to be\nbestowed into the hands and care of King Jarizleif.\n\nExceeding wealth did he collect together there, as was like to be,\nforasmuch as he was pillaging in that part of the world the which is\nrichest in gold and costly things. And so much did he accomplish withal\nthat, as has been writ before, took he as many as eighty towns.\n\n\n|| And being come to Sikiley did Harald lay waste on that isle, and set\nhe his host over against a large town in which were many people.\n\nSo strong were the walls thereof that he feared it were doubtful an he\ncould brake them down. Now the townsfolk had enough of victuals and\nother commodities which were required to withstand a siege, so hit\nHarald on the craft of bidding his fowlers to catch small birds, which\nhad nests in the town & flew out during the day to seek food. On the\nbacks of these birds caused he to be tied shavings of red pine-wood on\nwhich had he poured melted wax and brimstone; fire thereto was set, and\nthe birds even so soon as they were loose, flew with one accord at once\nto the town with the intent to seek their young and to hie them to their\nown nests which were under the roofs.\n\nAnd these roofs were thatched with reeds or straw.\n\nThen the fire from the birds spread to the eaves, and though each bird\nbore but a little burden of fire nevertheless in a brief space was\nkindled a great fire, for many birds bore fire to the roofs that were of\nthe town. Thereafter there burned one house after the other until the\ntown itself was all aflame, and all the people came out therefrom and\nbegged for grace.\n\nYea was this that same folk that for many a day had talked proudly and\nwith mocking despite of the Greek host and the chief thereof. Harald\ngave quarter to all men who craved it, and thereafter held authority\nover this town.\n\n\n|| Another town was there to which Harald went with his host, & right\nwell peopled was it and strong withal, so much so indeed that it could\nnot be thought that he would be able to make assault thereon. Flat land\nand hard lay round about the walls thereof, so Harald set his men to dig\na trench from the place whence a brook flowed, & that in a deep gulley\nwherein men from the town could not spy.\n\nThe earth of the trench threw they out into the water and let the stream\nbear it away; and in this work they continued even both by night and by\nday with fresh shifts after a spell.\n\nAfter this fashion did the host advance on the town day by day; and the\ntownsmen flocked to the battlements & both sides shot at one another,\nbut by night did all betake themselves to sleep.\n\nNow when Harald wot that this hole that was in the earth was so long\nthat it must have come under and past the walls of the town bade he his\nmen arm themselves, & towards dawn went they into the trench, and when\nthey came to the end thereof dug they up above their heads until they\ncame to stones set in lime; and this was the floor of a stone hall. Anon\nthey brake up the floor and ascended into the hall, and there sat many\nof the townsmen eating and drinking, and great was the mischance of\nthese good men for they were taken unawares. The Vaerings went about\nwith drawn swords, and straightway killed some of them though others\nfled, to wit, those who could get out.\n\nSome of the Vaerings sought after these townsmen while others went to\nthe gates to set them open, and by this way in marched the host that\npertained unto Harald.\n\nThen did the townsfolk flee, though many prayed for mercy, and mercy did\nall receive who gave themselves up.\n\nIn this way was it that Harald was possessed of the town, and therewith\nacquired exceeding wealth.\n\n\n|| The third town to which they came was the one that of all of the\nisland had waxed largest and strongest, and to it pertained most\nimportance both by reason of the wealth and the number within its walls.\n\nEven about this town lay great ditches, and the Vaerings marked that\nthey could not win it by craft after such fashion as they had possessed\nthemselves of the other towns aforesaid. And so it came to pass that\nlong lay they before the town yet did they accomplish nothing, and the\ntownsfolk seeing this waxed even bolder, and set up their array on the\nwalls, & anon opened the gates of the town and called to the Vaerings,\negging them on & bidding them enter; and they mocked at them for lack of\nboldness, averring that for fighting were they no better than so many\nhens. Harald bade his men behave themselves as though they wist not\nafter what fashion were such things said: 'Nought shall we accomplish,'\nsaid he, 'even if we storm the town; they will fling their weapons down\nunder their feet upon us; and albeit an entrance we perchance effect\nwith sundry of our folk, yet is the foe strong enough to shut them in,\nand shut the others out at their pleasure for they have put watches at\nall the gates of the town.\n\nNo less mock will we make of them, however, and we will flaunt in their\nfaces that we have no fear of them. Our men shall go forth on the plain\nas near the town as may be, having care nevertheless lest they come\nwithin bowshot, and weaponless must they go & hold sports one with\nanother so that the townsfolk may wot that we care naught for their\narray.'\n\nAfter this fashion did they behave themselves for sundry days.\n\n\n|| Now of the Icelanders that were with Harald at this time is it\nrecorded that Halldor the son of Snorri the Priest-- he it was who took\nthis chronicle back to his own land-- and in the second place Ulf the\nson of Uspak, the son of Usvif the Wise, were the twain of them very\nstrong & valiant men and much cherished of Harald.\n\nThe pair were alike foremost in the sports on the plain. When things had\nthus happened for these sundry days, were the townsfolk minded to show\neven greater arrogance, & discarding their weapons mounted they up on to\nthe walls and defiantly set open the gates of the town. Now the Vaerings\nseeing this betook themselves one day to their sports in such fashion\nthat the swords that pertained to them were concealed beneath their\ncloaks and their helms beneath their hats. And after they had vied with\none another awhile saw they that the townsfolk in no fashion entertained\nsuspicion, thereon drawing their swords ran they forward to the gates.\nWhen the townsmen saw this advanced they bravely to meet them, standing\nfully armed, and thereon ensued a dire fight within the gates.\n\nTo the Vaering folk pertained neither shield nor buckler, & in default\nthereof wrapped they their cloaks round their left arm; some were\nwounded, some killed, & all were hard pressed.\n\nHarald & the men with him who were in the camp hastened to their\nsuccour, but by then were the townsfolk come up on to the walls from\nwhence they shot at & stoned those coming thitherwards. Yet more fierce\ngrew the fight, & those within the gates bethought them help came at a\nslower gait than they could desire. Scarce was Harald come to the gates\nere was slain his banner-bearer; then said he: 'Halldor, do thou take up\nthe banner!' Halldor picked up the banner-staff, but he spoke unwisely:\n'Who will bear thy banner for thee when thou followest it so\nfaint-heartedly as thou hast done now this while past?' These were words\nmore of anger than of truth, for Harald stood the stoutest among men.\nThen hied they them into the gate, and great were the strokes given; but\nthe outcome thereof was such wise that the victory was to Harald and he\nstormed the gates. Sore smote was Halldor, a deep wound gat he in the\ncountenance, and to him was it a blemish all the days of his life.Sec.\n\n\n|| The fourth town whereunto Harald was come together with his host was\nthe stoutest of all those whereof we have yet told. So strong was it\nthat they wist there was no hope that it could be taken by assault, and\nthereon beset they the town even by getting a ring around it so that no\nvictuals could be taken therein.\n\nNow it chanced when Harald had been before it a while, fell he sick and\nbetook himself to his bed; & he caused his tent be placed away from\nother tents so that he might have the ease that he should not hear the\nnoise and disquiet of the host. Backwards & forwards to him oft fared\nhis men, craving his counsel, and this was noted of the townsfolk who\nargued rightly that something had befallen the Vaerings, and thereon set\nthey spies to discover what it might be. When the spies were come back\neven into the town brought they intelligence that the chief of the\nVaerings lay sick, & for that cause had they not advanced on the town.\nAs time waxed big grew the strength of Harald small, and his men became\nsorrowful and were heavy of heart.\n\nNow of all this had the townsfolk full knowledge.\n\nTo such a pass came it that the sickness pressed Harald hard and his\ndeath was told throughout the whole host. Then went the Vaerings to\nspeak with the townsmen, telling them of the death of their chief,\n& praying the priests to grant him a tomb in the town.\n\nNow when the townsfolk heard these tidings many were there, rulers of\nmonasteries or of other big churches in the town, who wished much, each\none of them, to have the body for his church, for well wotted each that\nit would bring them great offerings; so the whole multitude of the\npriests clad themselves in their vestments and walked forth out of the\ntown in procession well favoured and solemn, bearing shrines and holy\nrelics.\n\nBut made the Vaerings also a mighty funeral train; covered with a costly\npall was the coffin borne aloft, and above this again were held many\nbanners, & after the coffin in this wise had been borne in through the\ntown-gates was it set down right athwart them in front of the opening\nthereof. Then did the Vaerings blow a war-blast from all their trumpets,\n& drew their swords, and the whole host of the Vaerings rushed out of\ntheir tents fully armed, and ran towards the town shouting and crying.\nThe monks & other priests who had been walking in this funeral train\nvying with one another to be the foremost to go out and receive the\noffering, now vied twofold as speedily to be the farthest off, for the\nVaerings slew every one who was nearest to them be he clerk or layman.\nAfter this fashion did they go about the whole of the town, putting the\nmen to the sword and pillaging the churches, whence snatched they\nexceeding great wealth.\n\n\n|| Many summers fared Harald in warfare after this fashion alike in\nSerkland and Sikiley.\n\nThereafter led he his host back to Miklagard, and abode there a short\nspace ere set he again forth on a journey to Jorsalaheim (Palestine).Sec.\nThere he left behind him all the gold he had gotten as payment from the\nGreek King, & the same did all the Vaerings who went on the journey with\nhim.\n\nIt is told that altogether Harald fought eighteen battles on these\njourneys. Thus saith Thiodolf:\n\n  'All men know that Harald\n  Eighteen battles grim hath fought,\n  Oft hath the peace of the chieftain been broken;\n  The gray eagle's sharp claws\n  In blood didst thou dye, King,\n  Ever was the wolf filled ere thou fared'st homeward.'\n\n\n|| Harald with his men had now betaken themselves to Jorsalaland\n(Palestine) and thence to Jorsalaborg (Jerusalem), and whithersoever he\nwent in Jorsalaland were all the towns and castles surrendered unto him;\nthus saith Stuf, who had himself heard the King recount these things:\n\n  'The blade-bold smiting warrior\n  To subjection brought Jerusalem.\n  The smiling land was captive to him and the Greeks,\n  And by their might, unburned withal,\n  Came the country under the warrior's dictate.'\n\n\n|| Here it is recounted that this land came unburned and unscathed into\nHarald's power. Thereafter fared he to the Jordan and bathed himself\ntherein, as is the way with other pilgrims. On the Sepulchre of the\nLord, the Holy Cross, and other holy relics in Jorsalaland bestowed\nHarald great benefactions. Then did he make safe all the road to the\nJordan, slaying robbers and other disturbers of the peace. Thus saith\nStuf:\n\n  'By counsel and wrathful words the King of the Agdir folk\n  Withstood on the banks of the Jordan the treason of men,\n  But for true trespass had folk to pay dearly;\n  Ill from the Prince suffered they.\n  (In Christ's eternal house).'\n\n\n|| After these things fared he back to Miklagard.\n\n\n|| Now when Harald was returned to Miklagard from Jorsalaland was he\nminded to go to the north, even unto his own heritage; for it had come\nto his ears that the son of his brother, to wit, Magnus Olafson, was now\nKing of Norway and of Denmark, and therefor gave he warning to quit his\nservice with the King of Greece; but when Queen Zoe came to hear thereof\nwaxed she very wrath & made dire complaint against Harald, averring that\nhe had gone dishonestly to work with the wealth of the Greek King which\nhad been taken in warfare what time Harald had been chief of the host.\nNow there was a damsel both young and fair, whose name was Maria, and\nshe was the daughter of the brother to Queen Zoe.[Sec.] Afore had Harald\nsought the hand of this maid in marriage, and by the Queen had his suit\nbeen refused. It has been told here in the north by Vaerings, who were\nthen serving in Miklagard, that among those who should wot well of the\naffair was it averred that Queen Zoe desired to have Harald for her own\nhusband, & therein lay the cause of all that which befell when Harald\ndesired to leave Miklagard, though mayhap otherwise was given out before\nall folk. At that time was Constantine Monomachus King of the Greeks,\nand together with Queen Zoe ruled he the kingdom. Wherefore was it on\nthese counts that the King of the Greeks caused Harald to be seized and\ncast into prison.\n\n\n|| But as Harald was drawing nigh unto the prison there appeared unto him\nthe holy King Olaf and bade him be of good cheer for that he would come\nto his aid; & there in the street was afterwards builded a chapel, and\nwas it consecrated to King Olaf, & that chapel has stood there unto this\nvery day.Sec. Now after such fashion was the prison builded that it had a\nhigh tower, & this was open at the top. Into the prison thereof was\nHarald thrown, and together with him were Halldor and Ulf. The night\nthereafter came a wealthy woman to the uppermost part of the prison,\nwhither she had ascended by means of ladders, and with her were two\nserving-men and to either let they down a rope by which they drew the\nprisoners up. This woman had one time been healed by the holy King Olaf,\nand now had he appeared to her and laid upon her the injunction that she\nshould release his brother from out of prison.Thereon hied Harald him to\nthe Vaerings who with one accord rose to their feet when they beheld\nhim, and acclaimed him welcome.\n\nThereafter fell the whole of the host to arms and betook themselves to\nthe place where the King was sleeping, and taking him captive thrust\nthey out both his eyes. Thus saith Thorarin Skeggison in his lay:\n\n  'The bold prince gold obtained,\n  But the throned King of Greece gat blindness,\n  And thereafter went with scars most grievous.'\n\nThus likewise saith Thiodolf the Skald:\n\n  'The waster of wolves' sorrow\n  Let the eyes twain of the throned King be put out;\n  The prince of the Agdir folk on the Eastern King\n  Laid a grisly mark whereby was he horribly blinded.'\n\nIn the twain of these lays concerning Harald, & also in many other\nsongs, recorded is it how that he himself put out the eyes of the Greek\nKing; but in lieu of thus singing, had they known it to be truer, full\nwell might they have named a duke or count or some other nobleman. But\nHarald himself and the other men that were with him themselves boasted\nof this deed.Sec.\n\n\n|| That same night went Harald and his men to the chamber wherein Maria\nlay sleeping, & by force bare her away. Then betaking themselves to\nwhere their galleys rode took they twain of them and anon rowed into\nSiavidarsund,Sec. but when they were come thither found they that the iron\nchain was stretched right athwart the inlet, and so Harald commanded his\nmen to fall to their oars on both the galleys, & those who were not\nrowing were all to run aft, and each one to have in his hand his own\nbaggage-bag.\n\nIn this fashion they ran the galleys on to the chain, and as soon as\nthey were fast and the speed was stayed commanded he all his men to run\nforward. Then that galley whereon was Harald plunged forward, and after\nit had swayed on the chain slid from off it; but the other brake as it\nrode the chain, and many were drowned, albeit some were taken up out of\nthe water. After this fashion did Harald escape from Miklagard, & thence\nfared he forth into the Black Sea. But ere he sailed from land he set\nthe maid ashore, & gave her trusty followers to take her back to\nMiklagard; and he bade her ask her kinswoman Zoe how much power she had\nover him, or if her power had been able to hinder him from getting the\nmaiden. Thereafter sailed Harald northward to EllipaltaSec. and thence\nfared all over the East-realm.Sec. On this journey made Harald certain\nmerry verses which together number sixteen, & all have the same refrain:\nthis is one of them:\n\n  'Past Sicily, far out, forged the ship;\n  Proudly she strode and ably 'neath our feet\n  Never before had Norseman come so far amain,\n  Yet saith the Maid of the gold-rings in Garda that she scorns me.'\n\n\n|| By this, allusion made he to Ellisif, the daughter of King Jarizleif\nof Holmgard.\n\n\n|| When Harald was come to Holmgard did King Jarizleif receive him with\nexceeding great kindness, and there abode he the winter through; at that\ntime, moreover, took he into his own keeping all the gold and various\nother precious goods which he had sent thither out of Miklagard. So much\nwealth was indeed collected together, that no one there in the north had\nseen so great an amount before in the ownership of one man. On three\noccasions[Sec.] the while he was in Miklagard had Harald ta'en his share in\nthe spoiling of palaces, for it was a law that every time a Greek King\ndied the Vaerings should have palace-spoil; at that hour might they go\nthrough all the palaces of the King, wherein his hoards of wealth were\ngarnered, and take at will as much as ever they could lay hands on.\n\n\n|| That winter gave King Jarizleif to Harald his daughter in wedlock, her\nname was Elizabeth but Norwegians called her Ellisif. To this Stuf the\nBlind is witness in the following:\n\n  'The alliance that he wished\n  Gat the prince of the Agdirs;\n  Gold amain won the friend of the men,\n  And to boot the King's daughter.'\n\n\n|| So it came to pass that ere long there arose some discord betwixt\nMagnus and Harald, and then were many men so evil-minded that they\nwrought bad blood betwixt the Kings.\n\n\n|| Now after the departure of Harald in the manner aforesaid, Svein\nUlfson went on sleeping. Later made he close inquiry anent the journey\nof Harald; and when he came to know that Harald and Magnus had entered\ninto covenant, and had now an host one with the other, steered he a\ncourse eastward alongside the coast of Skani and abode there with his\nhost, until it came to his ears in wintertime that Magnus and Harald had\nfared northward even to Norway with their hosts. Thereupon shaped Svein\na course southward (west) to Denmark, and that winter took he possession\nby force of all the dues of the King.\n\n\n|| So soon as the spring was come King Magnus and King Harald called out\na muster from all Norway.\n\nNow it befell once upon a time that both the Kings were lying in the\nself-same haven, and the day thereafter Harald being the first to be\nready sailed forthwith, and in the evening hove he to in the haven\nwherein he and Magnus had covenanted to lie that night; and brought he\nhis ship into the King's berth, and hoisted his tilts.\n\nKing Magnus, he that had later in the day sailed forth, found also that\nhaven, but when he was come perceived he that the men of Harald had by\nthen gotten their tilts up; & saw he furthermore that Harald was lying\nin the berth of the King and that there was he minded to lie. Even so\nsoon as his men had struck sail said King Magnus unto them: 'Now shall\nmy men take their places by the bulwarks and fall to their oars, and the\nothers shall undo their weapons and arm themselves, and if Harald and\nhis men gainsay us and will not make way, then will we fight them.' When\nKing Harald saw that King Magnus was minded to give battle spake he to\nhis men and said: 'Cut the hawsers and let us put off; wroth is now\nkinsman Magnus.' So said so done; and the ships of Harald were hove out\nof berth, and King Magnus put his ships into their place.\n\nWhen this had been accomplished went King Harald with sundry of his men\nup on to the ship of King Magnus, & the King greeted him well and bade\nhim welcome. Then said King Harald: 'I thought that we were come among\nfriends; but just now I misdoubted that thou wouldst let this be the\ncase; but true it is that children are petulent & I will not account it\notherwise than that this was a childish deed.' Then said King Magnus:\n'It was a kin-deed, not a child's-deed; I can in good sooth remember\nwhat I gave and what I refused, but an it were allowed that this little\nmatter were now done in our despite another would soon arise. In all\nthings will we keep the covenant that we made, but thou on thy part must\nfulfil that which was agreed upon.' Then said King Harald: 'There is\nalso an old custom which hath it that the wisest giveth way,' &\ntherewith went he back even to his own ship. In such like dealings\nbetwixt the Kings was it difficult to hold the balance; the men to King\nMagnus swore even that he was in the right, but those who were dullards\ndeemed that Harald had been slighted.\n\nThe men that were of King Harald's following said it were well and right\nthat Magnus should have the berth had the two Kings come thither at the\nsame time, but that King Harald could not be called upon to leave the\nberth wherein he were lying afore; and they declared that Harald had\nacted well and wisely, but those who wished to make the worst of things\nsaid that King Magnus desired to break the covenant, and that he had\ndone King Harald wrong and injustice.\n\nSoon unwise men were talking so much about quarrels of this kind that\ndiscord arose between the Kings, and many things befell which the Kings\ntook each after his own fashion albeit thereof is but little set down in\nwriting.\n\n\n|| So King Magnus & King Harald brought their fleet down to Denmark, and\nwhen Svein heard thereof fled he away to Skani. The two Kings abode long\nin Denmark that summer, and brought the land into subjection; the autumn\nto them was in Jutland. There one night, when King Magnus lay abed,\ndreamt he that he himself stood there where his father King Olaf the\nSaint abode, & thought he that his father spake with him: 'Which wilt\nthou choose, my son, to fare with me, or become of all kings the\nmightiest & live long, but to commit sin so great that thou wilt\nscarcely or never be able to atone for it?' And he bethought that he\nanswered, 'I desire that thou choosest for me.'\n\nThen the King seemed to answer: 'Thou shalt fare even with me.' King\nMagnus told his men of this dream. A little while later fell he ill of a\nsickness, and lay at a place called Sudatorp,Sec. and when he was nigh unto\ndeath sent he his brotherSec. Thorir to Svein Ulfson bidding the latter\nafford Thorir what help he might need, and with this message King Magnus\nalso made it known that when his days should be ended it was his wish to\nhave Svein to have dominion over the realm of Denmark, saying that it\nwas meet that Harald should rule over Norway and Svein over Denmark.\nThereafter died King Magnus the Good, & all folk mourned his death. Thus\nsaith Od Kikina-Skald:\n\n  'Full many a tear did men shed\n  When the mild King was borne to the grave.\n  Heavy the burden for those that he had benefited with gold,\n  Sore were the hearts of the house carles,\n  Their tears held they not back,\n  And oft-times in sorrow now are his people down-cast.'\n\n\n|| When he heard these tidings summoned King Harald his host to a Thing,\nand opened unto them a scheme whereof the purport was to fare forth to\nthe Vebiorg Thing, and cause himself there to be acclaimed King of\nDenmark.\n\nThence would he conquer his country, for he accounted Denmark his own\nheritage in succession to his kinsman Magnus in like manner as with the\nkingdom of Norway.\n\nAnd for this purpose bade he his men give him their assistance, for\nthen, said he, the Norwegians would be masters of the Danes for all\ntime. Then up and spake Einar Thamberskelfir, and said, rather was it\nhis duty to convey his foster-son King Magnus to the grave and to the\nlatter's father King Olaf, than to fight in a foreign land, or to covet\nye might and dominion of another King; therefore concluded he his\nspeaking by saying that better he deemed it to follow King Magnus dead\nthan any other king living. Afterwards caused he the corpse to be ta'en\nand laid out in solemn state so that all might see it arrayed on board\nthe King's own ship. Thereafter all the men of Throndhjem and the\nNorwegians made them ready to return home with the body of King Magnus &\nthe war-host was disbanded. Then did King Harald perceive that by so\nmuch was it his wisest policy to fare back even unto Norway and first of\nall things to make that country his own, and thereafter wax in power. So\nHarald hied him thither with the whole of his host thus unto Norway, and\neven so soon as he was come thither held he a Thing of the men of the\nland, and caused himself to be acknowledged King over the whole country;\nhe fared right from the east, from Vik, and was acclaimed King by every\nfolkland in Norway.\n\n\n|| Einar Thamberskelfir journeyed to Norway with the corpse of King\nMagnus; with him fared all the host of the Throndhjem folk; & they took\nthe body to Nidaros where it was buried in the chapel of Saint Clement\nwherein was then the shrine of the sainted King Olaf.\n\nKing Magnus had been of middle height, with a countenance ruddy and\nfrank, fair-haired was he, and eloquent; quick to think, strong to\ndecide, bounteous to give; withal a mighty man of war and very valiant\nto boot; of all Kings was he the most beloved, & praised was he alike by\nfriend and foe.\n\n\n|| That autumn also was Svein Ulfson in Skani & was minded to fare\neastward to the realm of Sweden; moreover thought he that he would lay\ndown the title of King which he had taken to himself in Denmark.\nPeradventure as he was mounting his horse rode certain men up to him &\ntold unto him the tidings that King Magnus was dead, and how that all\nthe host of Norway had quitted clean from Denmark.\n\nTo this made Svein hasty answer & said: 'I call God to witness that\nnever hereafter will I flee the realm of Denmark even so long as I\nlive.' Therewithal mounted he his horse & rode southwards in Skani, & to\nhim were forthwith many folk gathered. That winter conquered he the\nwhole of Denmark, & all the Danes took him for their King. Thorir, the\nbrother of King Magnus, came to Svein with the message of King Magnus,\nas has been afore writ, & Svein received Thorir with good countenance;\ntarried he long with Svein and it was well with him.\n\n\n|| After the death of King Magnus Olafson, had King Harald Sigurdson\npossession of the whole realm of Norway.\n\nAnd when he had ruled over Norway for one winter, & the spring was again\nincomen mustered he men from out of all the land, one half of the\ngeneral host in men & ships, & thence sailed south to Jutland where he\nharried & burned even very widely; that same summer hove he to in\nGodnarfjord. At that time made King Harald this verse:\n\n  'While the linen-white woman\n  Her song chants to her goodman,\n  The anchor of the oaken ship\n  We drop in Godnarfjord.'\n\nThen spake he to Thiodolf, and bade him add thereunto; and he sang:\n\n  'Next summer (foretell I)\n  The anchor more southward\n  Shall hold the ship with its fluke;\n  Deeper shall we cast it.'\n\nAnd Bolverk in his lay mentions that Harald fared to Denmark the summer\nfollowing on King Magnus's death:\n\n  'From that fair land the year thereafter\n  A muster called'st thou out;\n  When thou ploughed'st the seas\n  With sea-steeds full splendid.\n  On darksome billow lay\n  The dragons precious, and uneasy\n  The host thereof saw off land\n      laden were the war-ships of the Danes.'\n\n\n|| It was at that time that they burned the homestead of Thorkel Geyser.\nHe was a great chief, natheless were his daughters led bounden to the\nships: the winter before had they shown themselves very scornful of\nHarald & had made mock of his war cruise to Denmark, & from cheese had\nthey cut out anchors and said that most like these would well suffice to\nhold the ships of the King of Norway. Then was this chanted:\n\n  'Now from their whey cheeses cut\n  The maids of Denmark rings for anchors,\n  And this gibe annoyance gave the King.\n  Now see I maidens many in the morn\n  Reach the King's ships in fetters heavy:\n  Fewer laugh now.'\n\n\n|| It is related that the look-out man who had observed the fleet of King\nHarald's cried out to the daughters of Thorkel Geyser, 'Ye Geyser\ndaughters said that Harald would never come to Denmark.' Quoth one of\nthem, 'That was yesterday.'\n\n\n|| At a very high price did Thorkel ransom his daughters. Thus saith\nGrani:\n\n  'Of tears her eyes\n  Were never dry;\n  This wrong-headed woman\n  In the thick Horn-woods.\n  The lord of Norway the fleeing\n  Foe to the shore drave;\n  For his daughters wealth amain\n  Had to pay their father.'\n\n\n|| The whole of the summer did King Harald harry in the realm of the\nDanes & gat to himself much plunder, natheless did he not there abide\nbut fared he back to Norway in the autumn, and there tarried the winter\nthrough.\n\n\n|| That same winter, which was even that one after the death of King\nMagnus, did King Harald take to wife Thora, the daughter of Thorberg\nArnason. To them were born two sons, the elder of whom was Magnus, the\nyounger Olaf.\n\nKing Harald and Queen Ellisif had two daughters; one of these was named\nMaria, and the other Ingigerd. When that following spring was come, and\nof that spring have we writ afore, did King Harald muster his host and\nagain fared forth to Denmark in the summer & harried there, & the same\ndid he now one summer after the other. Thus saith Stuf the Skald:\n\n  'Falster was wasted, and to its folk\n  Mischance befell (so I heard).\n  The raven his fill ate,\n  But rapine feared the Danes each year.'\n\n\n|| Ever since the death of King Magnus had King Svein ruled the whole of\nthe Danish realm; remained he at peace during the winters, but by summer\nwent he out with his host & did threaten to journey north with the\nDanish host, and there do no less harm than Harald had done in Denmark.\nIn the winter King Svein offered to meet King Harald in the River, and\nthere fight together to the last, or else come to agreement; and\nthereafter, during that winter, were both one and other of them busied\narming their ships, so that in the summer to come might one half of the\ngeneral host be abroad.\n\nIt was in that summer that there came from Iceland Thorleik Svein\nUlfson; he had heard to wit, when he was north in Norway, that King\nHarald had fared south to the River against King Svein. Then did\nThorleik chant this:\n\n  ''Tis awaited that in spear-storm\n  On the sea-king's path\n  The doughty men of inner Throndhjem\n  Will meet the hardy King.\n  God only can bring it to pass\n  That one of them there taketh\n  Life or land of the other;\n  Little wots Svein of concord.'\n\nAnd furthermore he chanted this:\n\n  'Harald the harsh who beareth\n  Oft a red shield off the land,\n  Is guiding on Budli's waysSec.\n  The broad long-ships from the north.\n  But southward o'er the seas,\n  Doth come the warlike Svein\n  In animals gold-mouthed, masted,\n  And painted in colours fair.'\n\n\n|| To the appointed trysting-place came King Harald with his host, and\nthere heard that King Svein was to the south and lying off Zealand with\nhis fleet. Then did King Harald part his host, sending the greater\nnumber of the peasant-host back, but retaining to himself his body-guard\n& friends and feudatories, also that part of the peasant-host which had\nbeen mustered nighest to the Danes.\n\nThey fared south (west) to Jutland, southward of Vendilskagi,\n& thereafter still south past Thioda, & went everywhere with the\nwar-shield aloft. Thus saith Stuf the Skald:\n\n  'Fled Thioda folk from meeting with the King,\n  Bold was he the stately dealer of blows.\n  Harald's soul in Heaven.'Sec.\n\n\n|| They fared southward all the way to Heidaby, and when they were come\nthither seized they that town and burned it. Then a man that was thrall\nto King Harald wrought this:\n\n  'Burnt from one end to another\n  Was the whole of Heidaby;\n  Ruthless treatment this, methinks;\n  Our work, I trow, arouses grief in Svein.\n  In the town spent I last night:\n  Ere the eighth hour the flames shot up from the houses.'\n\n\n|| Likewise Thorleik telleth in his poem that he heard that no battle\nbefell at the River:\n\n  'Among the King's followers\n  Each asks who doth not wot it\n  How 'twas that the prince avenger\n  To Heidaby did hie him,\n  When Harald from the east with ships\n  Sped early, without reason,\n  To the royal town. In sooth\n  Destruction ne'er should have been done.'\n\n\n|| After this fared Harald northward and with him had he sixty ships, the\ngreater number were large & well laden with what plunder had been taken\nin the summer. But as they were faring northward and past Thioda came\ndown King Svein from the land with a large host; & he proffered King\nHarald to come ashore & do battle. Now King Harald had less than half as\nmany men as Svein and so he bade Svein fight with him at sea. Thus saith\nThorleik the Fair:\n\n  'Svein, even he who was born to success in Midgard,\n  Called on the mighty King in fight on land to meet him;\n  But Harald shy of failing would liefer fight, quoth he,\n  Aboardship, since the bold King held the land.'\n\n\n|| Thereafter sailed Harald northward past Vendilskagi; but the wind was\nagainst them & they brought-to under Lesey where they remained the\nnight. Then were the ships encompassed with a thick sea-fog, but when it\nwas morning, & the sun rose, beheld they on the other side of the sea\nwhat seemed to them like burning fires. And King Harald being informed\nthereof gazed thereat, & said straightway: 'Strike the ships' tilts, and\nlet the men fall to their oars. The Danish host hath come after us. The\ndarkness hath lifted, I ween, there where they are, and the sun is\nshining on their dragon-heads the which are overlaid with gold.' And it\nwas even as Harald said for behold there was come Svein, the Danish\nKing, with a mighty host.\n\nBoth the fleets now rowed with all speed, but the Danish ships were\nlighter under oars, the Norwegian ships being both water-logged and\nheavy laden. So the Danes drew on apace.\n\nThen did Harald perceive that this would never serve his purpose. Now\nhis dragon was faring astern of all his other ships, and he commanded\nthat some timber should be thrown overboard and apparel with other wares\nbe placed thereon, and as the water was calm these things drifted with\nthe current.\n\nWhen the Danes saw these goods drifting along on the sea those who were\nrowing ahead swerved aside after them, for they deemed it easier to take\nthe goods as they were floating loose on the water than to seek them on\nboard the Norwegian ships, and in this manner did their ships linger.\nWhen King Svein overtook them in his ship bade he them proceed, and said\nshame was it that with an host as large as his they could not take the\nNorwegians, to whom was but few men, and get the fellows into their\npower.\n\nThen began the Danes to row the harder again, and when King Harald saw\nthat they were making way bade he his men lighten their ships by\nthrowing overboard malt and wheat and swine-flesh, even to chopping open\ntheir kegs of drink, and for a while these aids availed them well. Then\ndid King Harald command that the war-hurdles should be taken, also\ncasks, and empty barrels, and be cast overboard and on them and in them\nwere placed prisoners of war.\n\nNow when King Svein saw all of these floating together on the sea he\nordered that the men should be rescued, and accordingly was this done.\nWhile his men were occupied in this their task, grew greater the\ndistance between the fleets, and when the Danes were again about the\nchase had the Norwegians already made good their escape. Thus saith\nThorleik the Fair:\n\n  'I heard tell in what manner Svein\n  The eastmen put to flight at sea,\n  How the other King quick-minded gat him gone;\n  All the plunder of the Thrond-folk's King\n  On the Jutland sea was floating;\n  And sundry ships lost he withal.'\n\n\n|| Under Lesey, did King Svein withdraw his fleet, and there found he\nseven Norwegian ships, but aboard them were only peasants and men who\nhad been mustered for war.\n\nWhen King Svein took them begged they for quarter and offered money in\nransom. Thus saith Thorleik the Fair:\n\n  'For grace did Harald's friends stout-hearted\n  Pray the King, and they few laid down their arms;\n  The peasants ready-witted refused to fight thereafter,\n  Speaking because their lives out they wished to live.'\n\n\n|| Anent King Harald be it said that he was masterful and a strong ruler\nin his own land, a very sage man withal, & it be common talk that there\nwas never a chief in the Northlands so wise or ready in resource as he.\n\nA great warrior also, and very valiant, stronger, & defter with weapons\nthan any other man; but all this have we recorded before.\n\nNevertheless the greater number of his doughty deeds go unrecorded, and\nthis in part by reason of our lack of knowledge thereof, & in part by\nreason that we will not put in books tales for which there is no\nwitness, even though in our hearing have such things been told. It\nbeseemeth us better that something may be added hereafter than that much\nshould need to be taken herefrom. About King Harald are many tales set\nforth in lays which the Icelandic men made to him or to his sons, & for\nthis reason was he a firm friend to them. A firm friend also was he to\nall our countrymen, and once when there was a great famine in Iceland\npermitted King Harald four of his ships to carry meal to that island,\nand decreed that six bushels thereof should not cost more than a hundred\nells of homespun; furthermore allowed he those that were stricken by\npoverty to leave if so be that they could find themselves in victuals\nthe voyage thro' over to the main, and by these means was the land saved\nand the harvest thereof bettered.\n\nKing Harald set up a bell for the church which was builded with timber\nsent hither by the sainted King Olaf, and raised on a site nigh by where\nthe Althing takes place. Such memories have we here of King Harald & of\nmany other great gifts which he granted to men that sought them.\n\nHalldor Snorrason and Ulf Uspakson, whereof we have afore wrote, hied\nthem to Norway even into the service of King Harald.\n\nIn manifold parts were they opposite one from the other. Halldor was\nvery big & strong and handsome, and King Harald bore witness regarding\nhim that he was among those of his men who altered least in unawaited\ncircumstances: whether such might be peril or tidings of joy, or through\nthings that might occur when danger was toward; never was he more\npleased nor less pleased, never did he sleep more nor less; nor took\nmeat & drink otherwise than as was his wont. Halldor was a silent man &\nharsh, speaking bluntly, also was he stubborn and unmeek; and this was\nnot to the liking of the King since he had many other bold and willing\nmen.\n\nHalldor abode with the King but a short time and then fared back to\nIceland, and made to himself a home at Hiardarholt, abiding there till\nhe was aged and become an old man.\n\n\n|| In great love dwelt Ulf Uspakson with King Harald; a very wise man was\nhe, eloquent, strong, large-hearted, & resourceful. King Harald created\nhim his marshal and gave him in wedlock Jorun the daughter of Thorberg\nwhose daughter, to wit Thora, was wife to King Harald. The children of\nUlf and Jorun were Joan the Strong of Rasvold, & Brigida, the mother of\nSheep-Wolf, who was the father of Peter Burden-SwainSec. who again was the\nfather of Ulf Fly and of the other brothers and sisters of this latter.\nThe son of Joan the Strong was Erling, he that was the father of\nArchbishop Eystein and his brothers.\n\nKing Harald gave Ulf the Marshal the rights of a feudatory and a grant\nof twelve marks with more than half a folkland in Throndhjem; this\naccording to Stein Herdison in the lay of Ulf.\n\n\n|| Now it came to pass that King Magnus Olafson had caused the church of\nSaint OlafSec. to be builded in Nidaros on the self-same spot whereon his\nfather's body had rested for a night, and this spot was then above the\ntown; there too builded he the King's-House.\n\nThe church was not finished when the King died. Harald completed that\nwhich was lacking to the church, and in the yard thereof laid he the\nfoundation of a stone hall, but this was not ready before he set to work\nto build the church of Saint Mary up on the sand-bank, nigh the spot\nwhere the holy body of the King lay buried that first winter after his\ndeath.\n\nIt was a great minster and so firmly was it builded with lime that it\nscarce could be broken when Archbishop Eystein had it pulled down.\n\nIn the church of Saint Olaf were preserved ye relics of King OlafSec.\nwhiles the church of St. Mary was abuilding.\n\nKing Harald builded a King's-House below the church of Mary, by the\nriver, where it now stands; & the hall which he had builded before,\ndedicated he to the church of Saint Gregory.Sec.\n\n\n|| A certain man there was named Ivar the White, who was a bold\nfeudatory; his seat lay in the Uplands, and himself was a grandson of\nEarl Hakon the Great. In appearance was Ivar exceeding comely. The son\nof Ivar was named Hakon, and it hath been said of him that he surpassed\nall the men in Norway at that time for strength and courage & ability;\nhe was much in warfare in his youth & made great advancement for\nhimself, and later was he a very famous man.\n\n\n|| Einar Thamberskelfir was the most powerful of the feudatories in\nThrondhjem; little friendship throve there betwixt himself & Harald,\nnatheless retained he the land-dues which had pertained to him during\nthe lifetime of Magnus.\n\nEinar was an exceedingly wealthy man; he was wedded to Bergliot daughter\nof Earl Hakon, as hath been writ before. Eindrid, their son, was now\nfull-grown, and had to wife Sigrid the daughter of Ketil Calf and of\nGunhild, the niece of King Harald through her mother.\n\nEindrid inherited fairness and beauty from the kindred of his mother, to\nwit, Earl Hakon and his sons; and from his father, Einar, gat he height\nand strength and the craft which Einar had above all other men; a very\nhearty man was Eindrid withal.\n\n\n|| Orm was the name of a certain Earl in the Uplands, and his mother was\nRagnhild the daughter of Earl Hakon the Great. This Orm was a very\nexcellent man.\n\nIn those days Aslak Erlingson lived eastward at Soli in Jadar; he had to\nwife Sigrid the daughter of Earl Svein Hakonson.\n\nGunhild, another daughter to Earl Svein, was wedded to the Danish King\nSvein Ulfson. This anent the offspring in Norway of Earl Hakon at that\ntime, and moreover anent many other bold men; all of the line of Earl\nHakon were more comely than other folk and the most of them were very\nable men, but all were brave.\n\n\n|| King Harald loved power, & this grew according as he took root in the\nland; to so great an extent did it wax that in the case of most men it\nbootless was to speak against him, or to bring forward other matters\nthan those which were to his mind. Thus saith Thiodolf the Skald:\n\n  'The men of the war-wont chieftain\n  All humble have to sit or stand\n  There in such place as the stern king desireth;\n  Before the filler of ravens bend many men,\n  And few there are indeed who will not do in all things\n  Whate'er the King may bid.'\n\n\n|| Ever was Einar Thamberskelfir the chief leader of the Throndhjem\npeasantry, and their spokesman at the Thing when the King proceeded\nagainst them. Well acquainted was he with the laws; nor, with all the\npeasantry at his back, was he lacking in boldness to carry through his\ncause at the Things, even though the King himself might be present.\n\nNow this made the King exceeding wroth, and at last were matters at such\na pass that they disputed together with contentious words, Einar\nswearing that the peasants would not brook the lawlessness of the King\nif he should break the common law of the land. After this fashion did\nthey fall out on sundry occasions. Then Einar started to have many men\nround him when he was at home, and many more when he came to town and\nthe King was present. On one occasion when he fared in to town had he\nwith him many folk, eight or nine long-ships, and nigh upon five hundred\nmen;Sec. and coming to town he went ashore with this fellowship, and King\nHarald who by hap was in the outer gallery of his house, stood and\nlooked on as the men to Einar flocked up from their ships, and it is\nsaid that Harald thereupon chanted this:\n\n  'Here see I speeding up\n  With his great following\n  Einar Thamberskelfir;\n  Yea, he who cleaveth the waves.\n  That lord full strong is minded\n  A princely throne to fill;\n  At the heels of an earl\n  House-carles but few will follow.\n  He who the sword makes red\n  Will beguile us of our land\n  If Einar kisseth not\n  The thin mouth of the axe.'\n\n\n|| Some days that while tarried Einar in the town.\n\nNow it came to pass that one day a folk-mote was held, for it had\nbefallen that a thief had been taken in the town, and it was at this\nmote that he was to be brought to trial, & the King himself was present.\n\nAforetime had the man been in the service of Einar who had favoured him\nmore than a little. Now of this matter was Einar told, and deemed he\nthat the King would not be the more prone to liberate the man because\nhe, Einar, set store by him, so accordingly bade he his men arm\nthemselves and in force to proceed to the mote, and then took Einar the\nman away by dint of sheer strength.\n\nThereafter mediated the friends of either in the matter, & the end\nthereof came that it was agreed that a tryst should be appointed and\nthat the King & Einar should meet one another. There was a\ncouncil-chamber in the King's-House down by the river,Sec. and into this\nchamber entered the King and with him therein were but few men; the\nothers left he standing without in the courtyard. Now the King had had a\nshutter placed over the smoke-hole, & there was but a little opening.\nThen did Einar come into the courtyard with his men, and said he to his\nson Eindrid: 'Remain thou out here with the men, and then will there be\nno danger for me.'\n\nWherefore did Eindrid take up his station without the door of the\ncouncil-chamber.\n\nNow when Einar was entered into this room said he: 'Dark is it in the\nKing's council-chamber,' and even at that moment fell men upon him and\nsome stabbed him & some hewed at him, and when Eindrid heard the tumult\ndrew he his sword and rushed into the chamber whereon forthwith was he\nfelled beside his father.\n\nThen did the King's men run towards the chamber and before the door\nthereof, but the peasants were all at a loss because now to them\npertained no leader; yet did they urge one another on saying that it\nwere shame not to avenge their chief, but for all that did they naught,\n& made no essay to fight. Then went the King out to his men, set them in\narray, & caused his banner to be unfurled, but made he no onset &\nthereafter bade he all his men go out to his ship, then rowed they down\nthe river and so out on the fjord.\n\nNow apace was brought the intelligence of the death of Eindrid to\nBergliot his wife for she was in the lodging that she and Einar\ninhabited in the town. Thence went she up unto the King's-House where\nwas gathered the peasant host and them incited she to fight inasmuch as\nin her lay, but at that same moment rowed the King down the river, then\nquoth Bergliot: 'Now lack we my kinsman Hakon Ivarson; ne'er would the\nmurderers of Eindrid be rowing there adown the river were Hakon on its\nbanks.'\n\nThereafter caused Bergliot the bodies of Einar & Eindrid be laid out,\nand they were buried in the church of Saint Olaf hard by the tomb of\nKing Magnus Olafson.\n\nAfter the fall of Einar became King Harald so greatly hated for his\nshare in that foul deed, that the feudatories and peasants only held\nback from fighting with him because to them pertained no leader to raise\nthe banner for them.\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| Now dwelling at Austrat in Iriar was Fin Arnison, feudatory of King\nHarald.\n\nFin was married with Bergliot, the daughter of Halfdan the son of Sigurd\nSow, & Halfdan was the brother of King Olaf and King Harald.\n\nThora, wife to King Harald, was the daughter of the brother of Fin\nArnison; sworn friends to the King were Fin and his brethren. Certain\nsummers had Fin been in viking warfare westward and on those quests he &\nGuthorm GunhildsonSec. & Hakon Ivarson had sailed in company. So fared King\nHarald down the Throndhjem fjord and out to Austrat, where he was well\nreceived, and thereafter communed they together, Fin and he, & took\ncounsel one with the other as to the outcome concerning what had but\nthen befallen, to wit the slaying of Einar and his son, and then of that\nmurmuring and turmoil the which the Throndhjem folk were raising over\nagainst the King.\n\nFin answered hastily: 'Wrong art thou on every count; whatsoever thou\ndoest thou doest ill & thereafter art thou so afeared that thou knowest\nno whither to turn.'\n\nThe King rejoined laughing: 'Kinsman-in-law, I will send thee in to town\n& thou shalt make it up betwixt the peasants and me; & if that business\ncometh to naught then shalt thou fare to the Uplands, & good feeling\nagain cause with Ivar Hakonson & so bring it about that he goeth not to\nwar against me.' Fin answered: 'What will be my reward an I go on this\nfool's errand, for alike Throndhjem folk and Upland folk are so hostile\nto thee that no messenger of thine could fare to them save at his own\nrisk.'\n\nThe King answered: 'Go thou on this errand, kinsman-in-law, for well wot\nI an any man could bring us to a reconciliation it would be thee, & ask\nthyself of us what boon thou wilt have therefor.'\n\n'Keep thou thy word, and I will choose the boon; I choose peace for my\nbrother Calf and removal of his outlawry, and the restoring unto him of\nall his possessions; and furthermore I ask that he shall have all his\nappointments and all the power that he had or ever he left the land.'\n\nAnd the King said yea to all whatever Fin asked of him, & they twain\nbefore witnesses took one another by the hand thereon. Thereafter said\nFin: 'But what am I to proffer Hakon so that he may promise thee peace,\nfor he it is who hath the upper hand of those kinsmen'? The King said:\n'First shalt thou find out what Hakon is like to demand so that\nreconciliation may be brought about, and thereafter must thou forward my\ncause as best thou canst; but should the worst come to the worst, then\ndeny him nothing save & except the kingship itself.'\n\n\n|| Then went King Harald southward to More where mustered he men, and a\ngreat number was gathered unto him.\n\n\n|| So Fin Arnison fared into the town & took with him his house-carles to\nthe number of some eighty men, and being come to the town held he a\nThing with the townsmen. Now Fin spoke long and wisely at this Thing,\nbidding townsman and peasant take any other course rather than live in\nhatred with his King or drive him away; & he reminded them how much ill\nthey had been brought to suffer when they had acted in this wise\naforetime, towards the sainted King Olaf.\n\nHe said, moreover, that the King would atone for these murders in such\nmanner as the best & wisest men might adjudge; and the outcome of the\nspeech of Fin was that the men gave their word to let the matter rest\nuntil the return of the messengers despatched by Bergliot to Hakon\nIvarson in the Uplands. Thereafter fared Fin out to Orkadal with the men\nwho had accompanied him to town, and further up to the Dofrafjal and\neastward (south) across those mountains; and firstly went he to see his\nkinsman-in-law Earl Orm (the Earl was wedded to Sigrid the daughter to\nFin) & to him disclosed his errand.\n\n\n|| When this was done, appointed they a tryst with Hakon Ivarson, & when\nthey were met did Fin before Hakon lay his errand in accordance with the\nbehest of King Harald. But on the instant was it seen from the speech of\nHakon that he deemed himself bound to avenge the slaying of his kinsman\nEindrid; and said he, moreover, that he had received word from\nThrondhjem that there would come to him forces sufficient for an\nuprising against the King.\n\n\n|| Then did Fin open unto Hakon what a difference would lie, and how much\nthe more to his own vantage, were he, in lieu of risking battle against\na King to whom he was already bounden by service, to accept from that\nKing honour as great as he himself might demand. Fin said that Hakon\nmight be unvictorious; 'and then wouldst thou have forfeited both wealth\nand peace; and if thou wert victorious over the King then wouldst thou\nbe dubbed a traitor.'\n\nThe Earl also supported this speaking of Fin.\n\nWhen Hakon had given the matter thought, made he known to them what was\nin his mind, & said: 'I will accept reconciliation from King Harald if\nhe will give me in wedlock his kinswoman Ragnhild, the daughter of\nMagnus Olafson, with such a dowry as is seemly for her, and as she\nherself may desire.'\n\nThen Fin answered that he would promise the fulfilment of this request\non behalf of King Harald, & therewith was the matter ratified between\nthem. Thereafter fared Fin back north to Throndhjem, and all the\ndisquiet and turmoil was set at rest; and so in the end kept the King\nhis kingdom in peace within the land, for now the whole of that league\ncame to naught which the kinsfolk of Eindrid had set against King\nHarald.\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| Now when the time was come that Hakon was to demand the fulfilment of\nthe contract, fared he to see King Harald; and when they began talking\nof the matter together, said the King to him that he on his side would\nkeep to everything that had been covenanted twixt Hakon and Fin: 'Thou\nshalt speak with Ragnhild herself, Hakon,' said the King, 'and ask her\nconsent to this match, but I would not advise thee, or any other, to wed\nRagnhild save with her consent.'\n\nThereafter went Hakon unto Ragnhild and asked her hand, and she\nanswered: 'Indeed feel I that my father, King Hakon, is dead, since I am\nto be given to a peasant, fine man though thou art and of mighty\nprowess. Were King Magnus alive would he never yoke me with any mate\nless than a king, nor can it be awaited now that I will wed a man\nwithout princely rank.' Now after this went Hakon to King Harald &\nopened unto him of the colour of the speech of Ragnhild, & withal to his\nmemory again commended the agreement betwixt himself and Fin; and Fin\nwas there present, & sundry others who could also bear witness to what\nwas pledged betwixt him and Fin. Then of them all demanded Hakon to bear\nhim out in regard to the agreement that the King should give Ragnhild\nsuch dowry as was to her mind: 'Since she will not wed an unprincely man\nthen canst thou give me an earldom; lineage have I, and according to\nwhat folk say certain other qualities therewith that may well give me\ntitle to be an earl.' Then said the King: 'When King Olaf, my brother,\n& King Magnus, his son, ruled the kingdom, one earl did they allow to be\nin the country at a time; this likewise hath been my plan since I have\nbeen King, & therefore will I not take away from Orm the dignity which I\nhave already given him.' Then saw Hakon that his cause had not been\nforwarded and he liked it but ill, and Fin was likewise exceeding wrath\nthat the King had not kept his word, and thereafter they parted. Hakon\nfared straightway from the country in a well-found long-ship, and\nsouthward steered a course for Denmark where he betook him to his\nkinsman-in-law, King Svein. The King received him with great pleasure &\ngave him large grants in Denmark and made he Hakon also captain of his\ncoast defences, which were against vikings, who oft-times harried in the\nDanish realm, and Wends, and Courlanders, and other folk coming from the\neast. Therefore at sea, on his ships, dwelt Hakon in winter as well as\nin summer.\n\n\n|| Asmund was the name of a certain man who was said to be nephewSec. &\nfoster-son to King Svein, a very able man was he, and well-beloved by\nthe King.\n\nBut when Asmund grew to man's estate soon showed he himself of an unruly\ncomplexion & a manslayer; and the King being ill-pleased thereat sent\nhim away, but gave him a company of men and a goodly feof whereof could\nhe full well find support.\n\nNow no sooner had Asmund accepted the money of the King than gathered he\nmany men to him, and thereafter, since the money the King had granted\nhim sufficed in no sort for his charges, seized he many possessions of\nthe King.\n\nFor this ill conduct, when the King heard thereof, summoned he Asmund to\nhim, and when they met told him that obeyed would he be, that he must\nenter his body-guard & no longer have his own company of men. When\nAsmund had been a time with the King, became he ill-content, & one night\nran he away and rejoined his company, and thereafter wrought even more\nevil than aforetime.\n\nThen it befell once upon a time when the King was riding in his\ndominions, that he came nigh unto the place where then abode Asmund and\nhe despatched men to take him by force, and that done the King had him\nput in irons and kept him thus for a while to see if he would not grow\nmeeker. But when Asmund was let loose from his irons forthwith ran he\nthe more away, & raised men and war-ships, and fell to harrying both at\nhome and abroad, & much war-work did he, slaying many folk, and\npillaging far and wide. Those men that were the sufferers from his raids\nwent to the King and made plaint before him, and he rejoined: 'Why say\nye this to me, why do ye not fare to Hakon Ivarson? He is now the warden\nof my coasts, and is put there to punish vikings and keep the peace for\nye peasants. It was told me that Hakon was a bold man and brave, but\nmethinks that now is he never to be found where he deemeth danger to be\ntoward.'\n\nThese words from the King, and many added to them, came to the ears of\nHakon, & thereon went Hakon & his men in search of Asmund, & they were\nmet on their ships, wherefore Hakon forthwith gave battle. A hard &\ngreat struggle was it; Hakon boarded Asmund's ship and cleared it, and\nat the last he and Asmund themselves dealt blows one at another with\ntheir weapons & thus fell Asmund. Thereafter Hakon smote off his head,\n& then betook him with all speed to King Svein whom he found sitting at\ntable.\n\nHakon advanced before the table and laid the head thereon, in front of\nthe King, and asked of him whether he recognized it.\n\nNever a word did the King answer, but he was blood-red to behold.\n\nThereafter went Hakon away. A little later sent the King men to him, to\nbid him leave his service, & he said: 'No hurt will I do him, but it is\nnot for us to be the keeper of all our kinsmen.'\n\n\n|| Then when all these things were accomplished did Hakon quit Denmark &\nthence fared forth to the north of Norway, to his demesne.\n\nBy that time was his kinsman, Earl Orm, dead.\n\nThe friends and kindred to Hakon were rejoiced over his coming, and many\na bold man set to work to make peace betwixt him & the King, & in the\nend were they reconciled, to wit, both King Harald and Hakon; and Hakon\nwas given Ragnhild, the King's daughter, in marriage, & King Harald gave\nhim Orm's earldom and such rule as had been Orm's aforetime. Hakon swore\nfealty to the King, and likewise to afford him such service as he was\nbounden to give him.\n\n\n|| Since he had fared from Norway had Calf Arnison been living after the\nfashion of a viking westward, but the winters through oft-times abode he\nin Orkneyja (the Orkneys) with his kinsman-in-law, Earl Thorfin. Fin\nArnison sent to his brother Calf to tell him concerning the covenant\nwhich he and King Harald had encompassed, the purport whereof being ye\noutlawry of Calf himself, to wit, that it should be once more lawful to\nhim to dwell in his own land, and possess his estates, and such land\ndues as he had held aforetime from King Magnus. When Calf received this\nmessage, forthwith made he him ready to quit, and sailed he east to\nNorway, and firstly sought he his brother Fin.\n\nThereafter Fin craved a truce for Calf, and then were they confronted,\nthe King and Calf, & entered into a covenant like unto the agreement to\nwhich the King & Fin had arrived on this matter. Thereon gave Calf his\nhand, and bound himself on the same terms as he had bound himself to\nKing Magnus aforetime, that he would do all such works as King Harald\ndesired or deemed would be for the strengthening of his kingdom.\n\nThen was Calf re-endowed with all his possessions, and the land-dues\nwhich had been his in former days.\n\n\n|| Next summer called out King Harald an host and fared to Denmark where\nhe harried during the summer.\n\nBut when he was come south to Fion (Funen) found he a large host\nassembled against him, so bade the King his men leave their ships and\narm themselves in order to make a landing; and parted he his host and\ngave to Calf Arnison command over one company thereof, and bade them go\nthe first ashore and told them where to take up their station; himself,\nsaid he, would go up after them, and come to their assistance.\n\nCalf and his men went ashore, and anon a band of men set upon them, and\nCalf forthwith gave battle. Not long was the combat, for Calf was\noverborne by odds and fled with his folk. The Danes pursued them,\nslaying many of the Norwegians, and likewise Calf Arnison.\n\nWhen King Harald with his company were come ashore soon found they the\nslain, more especially the corse of Calf, and this was borne down to the\nships, but the King pursued his march inland where he harried and slew\nmany men. Thus saith Arnor:\n\n  'The edge so sharp in Fion\n  He reddened, and the fire\n  Rushed o'er the dwelling;\n  Fewer folk were there thereafter in Fion.'\n\n\n|| After this conceived Fin Arnison enmity against Harald for the slaying\nof his brother Calf, for said he that the King had purposely compassed\nthe death of Calf; and furthermore that it was befooling of him himself,\nto wit, this luring of Calf west across the seas into the power of King\nHarald, and into putting faith in him. When these words were spread\nabroad spake many men their mind that Fin had been simple when he had\ndeemed that Calf could trust in the good faith of King Harald, for it\nwas known that the King bore malice for deeds of smaller consequence\nthan those Calf had committed against his person.\n\nNow let the King every man talk on this matter as he listed: he made\nneither confirmation nor yet contradiction of whatsoever they said, and\nit was in his own words alone that men did discover satisfaction at what\nhad happened. King Harald chanted this song:\n\n  'Now of men eleven and two have I the bane been,\n  We incite to battle and full many a slaying I remember.\n  That mind which is with treason fraught\n  Seeks to tame men by falseness;\n  Men say 'tis little that it takes such a balance to disturb.'\n\n\n|| So much to heart did Fin Arnison take the death of his brother that he\nquitted the land and came south to Denmark, and going unto King Svein\nwas well received by him. The King & he spake long together privily,\n& at the end thereof was it known how Fin was minded then and there to\ntake service with King Svein and become his man. To him gave Svein the\ntitle or Earl and therewith Halland to govern, and there Fin tarried to\nsafeguard the coast against the Norwegians.\n\n\n|| Now Ketil Calf & Gunhild had a son whose name was Guthorm of Ringanes.\nOn his mother's side was he the nephew of King Olaf and King Harald,\nable was he withal & early come to manhood. Guthorm was oft with King\nHarald who to him was of very friendly countenance, and over Harald had\nGuthorm much influence for he was a wise man & well-beloved of all.\nGuthorm sailed often on viking cruises to the lands in the west, and had\ndisposition over many men.\n\nHis peace-land & place of abode in winter was Dublin in Ireland, where\nhe was a sworn friend of King Margad.Sec.\n\n\n|| The summer thereafter King Margad and Guthorm with him fared to\nBretland (Wales) in order to harry there, and thence took they much\nwealth which they had pillaged. After having done thus, lay they to in\nAnglesey Sound so that they might part their plunder, but when all the\nsilver, and great was the quantity, was carried before the King and he\nbeheld it, then desired he to keep all for himself, and seemed now to\nset scant store by his friendship with Guthorm.\n\nGuthorm liked ill enough that he and his men should be scotched of their\nshare of the booty; & still less pleased was he when the King said he\nmight choose betwixt two things; 'Either to submit to our will, or do\nbattle with us, and he who gets the victory to have the money; and thou\nmoreover shalt depart from thy ships and I will take them.' Now on\neither hand the task seemed severe; Guthorm deemed it unseemly that he\nshould without rime or reason give up his ships & money, but natheless\nwas it ill fighting over against a King to whom was an host so large as\nthat which followed Margad. Grave also was the disparity betwixt the\ncrews thereof, inasmuch as to the King were sixteen long-ships & to\nGuthorm only five. So Guthorm prayed the King grant him three nights'\ntruce in the which to confer with his men on this matter, for thought he\nthat he could soften the King within this time, and aided by the\npleading of his men could set the matter on a better footing with the\nKing, but never a bit did he get what he asked for. This was on the eve\nof St. Olafmas.Sec. So Guthorm chose to die, the stout fellow he was, or\nwin the day, rather than suffer the shame and disgrace and mockery of\nhaving lost so vast a deal.\n\nAnd called he upon God and the sainted King Olaf, his kinsman, praying\nfor their help and support, and vowing to bestow on that holy man's\nhouse a tithe of all the plunder which would fall to them an they gained\nthe victory. Thereafter did he array his host, and rank it against the\ngreater host, and he advanced on them and fought with them, and by God's\nhelp and that of the holy King Olaf did he gain the victory. There fell\nKing Margad, and every man who was with him, young & old. After this\nglorious victory Guthorm returned home joyfully with all the wealth he\nhad gotten from the strife; & from the silver which had changed hands\nevery tenth penny was set aside for the sainted King Olaf even as\nGuthorm had vowed. A vast deal of money was there so that from the\nsilver caused Guthorm to be made a rood of his own stature, or of that\nof the captain of his ship, and that holy symbol is seven ells in\nheight.\n\nThis cross did Guthorm give to the church of the holy St. Olaf, & thereSec.\nhas it remained ever since in testimony of ye victory of Guthorm and the\nmiracle of ye sainted King Olaf.\n\n\n|| Now there was in Denmark a Count who was evil & envious, and he had a\nNorwegian serving-woman and the stock of her was from Throndhjem. She\nworshipped the holy King Olaf, and put staunch faith in his sanctity;\nbut the Count misdoubted all that had been told him of the miracles of\nthat holy man, & affirmed that naught were they but rumour and talk, and\nlaughed to scorn all the praise and worship which the folk of the land\naccorded the good King.\n\nBut now was drawing nigh the day whereon the gentle King laid down his\nlife, a day which all Norwegians kept, but which this unwise count\nrefused to hallow; & he bade his serving-woman fire the oven and bake on\nthat day.\n\nAnd deeming from the mood of the Count that he would soon avenge himself\non her an she did not obey him in all that he had bidden her do, went\nshe all unwillingly and laid fire under the oven, and made much plaint\nwhile she worked, & called on King Olaf, saying that she would never\nbelieve more on him if he did not by some token or other avenge this\nunseemliness. And now shall ye hear of a meet chastisement & true\nmiracle: it befell forthwith, in the self-same moment, that the Count\nbecame blind in both eyes and that the bread which she had baked was\nturned into stone.\n\nSome of the stones have been brought to the church of the holy King\nOlaf, and also to many other places. St. Olafmas has ever been kept holy\nin Denmark since that happening.\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n|| Westward in Valland (France) was there a man who was so malformed that\nhe was a cripple, and crawled he ever on his knees and knuckles. One day\nwhen he was abroad, on a road, he fell asleep & dreamt that a man all\nglorious without came to him and asked whither was he bound, and the\ncripple answered with the name of a certain town.\n\nThen the man all glorious said: 'Fare thee rather to St. Olaf's Church\nin London, and there wilt thou be healed.' Thereafter awakened the\ncripple and straightway fared in search of St. Olaf's Church, and after\na while was come to London Bridge & there asked of the townsmen whether\nthey could direct him to St. Olaf's Church; but for answer gat he that\nthere were too many churches for them to know to what man each of them\nwas dedicated. A while later came up a man & asked him whither was he\nbound, and he told him whither he was bound, and that man said\nafterwards: 'We will both go to St. Olaf's Church, for I know the way\nthither.'\n\nSo then crossed they the bridge, and went to the street which led to\nSt. Olaf's Church. When they were come to the gates of the churchyard\nthe man stepped over the threshold which is between the gates, but the\ncripple rolled over it, and lo, straightway rose he up a whole man. When\nhe looked round his comrade was gone.\n\n\n|| King Harald founded a merchant town eastward in Oslo,Sec. and often\ntarried there for it had broad countrysides round about, and was a place\nsuited for the ingathering of victuals; likewise was it well situated\nfor the defence of the land against the Danes, & also for onsets on\nDenmark which Harald was wont to make even at such times when he had a\nlarge host at his beck.\n\nOne summer fared King Harald with some light ships and but few men and\nset he sail south for Viken; but on a fair wind springing up, crossed he\nthe sea to Jutland where he began to harry.\n\nThe men of the land, however, collected themselves together & defended\ntheir country, so then sailed King Harald on to Limfjord and went up\nthat fjord.\n\nNow Limfjord is so fashioned in shape that going up it is like entering\ninto a narrow river-groove, but as thou goest on up the fjord it\nbecometh like a great sea.\n\nHarald harried there on both shores, but beheld the Danes everywhere\nassembled in numbers. King Harald brought-to his ships alongside an\nisland which was small & thereon were no buildings; and when they went\nin search of water they found none, and told it unto the King.\n\nThen he did send men to see if no adder could be found on the isle, &\nwhen one had been found they brought it to the King and he had the adder\ntaken to the fire so that it might be warmed and teased thereby, and\nbecome right thirsty. Thereafter a twine was bound to its tail and the\nadder was let loose, and it crawled away and the twine was unwound from\nthe ball, and they followed after the adder until it struck into the\nearth.\n\nThen the King bade them dig for water, and they dug for it, and there\nfound water in abundance.\n\n\n|| From his spies learned King Harald the intelligence that King Svein\nwas come with a large fleet of ships to the mouth of the fjord, and that\nhe was making way but slowly, for his ships could only pass in one at a\ntime. King Harald took his ships up Limfjord, and over against where it\nis broadest it is called Lusbreid. Now from the creek within is there a\nnarrow neck of land westward (north) leading to the sea, and thither did\nthe men to Harald row in the evening; after nightfall, when it was dark,\nthey cleared the ships & haled them right over this isthmus, and before\ndaylight all was accomplished and the ships once more ready for sea.\nThen shaped he the course northward past Jutland, and they sang:\n\n  'From Danish grip\n  Did Harald slip.'\n\n\n|| At that time said the King that he would come to Denmark once again,\n& would bring with him more men & larger ships. After these things fared\nthey northward to Throndhjem.\n\n\n|| That winter abode King Harald in Nidaros, & at this time caused he a\nship to be builded out on the islands, and it was a bussa-shipSec. made\nafter the model of the Long Serpent and wrought every way as carefully\nas might be.\n\nAt her bows was a dragon-head and at her stern a crook, and the ......Sec.\nwere all overlaid with gold. On her were thirty-five benches, and broad\nwas she of beam in comparison therewith.\n\nVery fair to behold was she. The King caused all the appurtenances of\nthe ship to be chosen with exceeding great care, both the sail, the\nrunning tackle, the anchor and the cables.\n\nThat winter King Harald sent word southward to Denmark to King Svein,\nbidding him come in spring from the south to the River, to a meeting\nwith him, & saying that they would then fight to the end that one or\nother of their countries should change hands, & the victor become master\nof both kingdoms.\n\n\n|| That winter called out King Harald a host, a general host, from all\nNorway, and by spring-tide had been assembled together a mighty array of\nmen.\n\nThen launched the King his great ship on the river Nid, and after that\nwas accomplished caused he the dragon-head be placed thereon.\n\nThen sang Thiodolf the Skald:\n\n  'Fair maid, forward is the ship guided, from river to main.\n  Mark where off the land there lieth the long hull of the dragon.\n  The mane of the serpent yellow-green glints on the deck,\n  The prows were burnt-gold as from off the slip she glided.'\n\n\n|| Thereafter fitted King Harald out the ship and his men for a cruise,\nand all being made ready, stood he down the river, and right well\nanswered she to the oars. Thus saith Thiodolf:\n\n  'Saturday the prince casts off the long land tilts,\n  There where the widows proud the serpent watch,\n  As she glideth from the town.\n  West from the Nid thereafter the King doth steer,\n  Into the sea drop the oars of his men.\n  Move can they, the King's lads, the straight oars in the water.\n  The widows stand and wonder at the oar-strokes so swift,\n  The thole knows hurt when seventy oars do move her\n  I' the water ere the war-folk on the sea their oars do strain.\n  Northmen the serpent row (nailed is she)\n      out on the billow-stream icy;\n  'Tis eagles' wings that we behold.'\n\n\n|| Southward sailed King Harald with his host alongside the land, so that\nhe might call out a general muster of men and ships. But when they were\ncome eastward, and were off Vik, arose a strong contrary wind wherefore\nwas the fleet obliged to stand in for harbour, making such havens as\nwere to be found in the skerries as well as those in the fjords.\n\nQuoth Thiodolf:\n\n  'Lee have the shaven hulls of the ships under the woods,\n  The King's war-host towards land doth lean with its prow beams.\n  The land-folk in the skerries, within the creeks, do lie;\n  The ships white-mailed hide under the land-necks.'\n\n\n|| Now in the tempest which fell upon them the great ship had need of\ngood anchor tackle, and thus saith Thiodolf:\n\n  'Prow foremost the prince cleft\n  High fences of the sea;\n  The ropes of the King's ship\n  Are strained to the utmost;\n  The wind is unfriendly\n  Against the anchor-iron out-hollowed,\n  Grit and wind-squalls ugly\n  Chafe at the anchor flukes.'\n\n\n|| As soon as there was come to him a fair wind, took King Harald the\nhost east to the River, and thither came towards nightfall. Thus saith\nThiodolf:\n\n  'Now drave King Harald hotly the war-ships towards the River,\n  At nightfall Norway's King anigh the marches is.\n  A Thing the King now holds at Thumla, there where Svein\n  Will meet to war if so be the Danes shirk not the tryst.'\n\n\n|| When the Danes learned that the hosts of the Norwegians were come, all\nthose that were able to do so fled away.\n\nThe Norwegians likewise learnt that the Danish King had his host out,\nand was lying south off Funen and the small-isles; but when King Harald\nsaw that King Svein would not come to meet him as had been agreed, nor\ndo battle with him, then did he after the same fashion as before & let\nthe peasant host return to Norway; but manned he one hundred and fiftySec.\nships, & with these steered a course alongside Halland. There he\nplundered widely; and he put in also to Lofufjord with his host, and\ngoing up onto the land harried there likewise. Somewhile later came King\nSvein to the encounter with the Danish host, and to him was a tale of\nthree hundredSec. ships. When the Norwegians saw this fleet bade King\nHarald a blast be blown to summon his host together, & many spake saying\nthat they ought to flee, & that it was unavailing for them to fight, but\nthe King answered thus: 'We will fall one atop of the other rather than\nflee!' Thus saith Stein Herdason:\n\n  'Said the chief high-minded, what now he awaited.\n  Here (said the King) he had all hope of peace lost.\n  Rather than yield, cried the King,\n      should each man fall one on the top of the other.\n  Their arms then took the men.'\n\n\n|| Then let King Harald his ships be cleared for action, and brought his\ngreat dragon forward into the very midst of the host. Thus saith\nThiodolf:\n\n  'The giver of kindly gifts\n  Who oft to the wolf gave food,\n  His dragon-ship put forward\n  Midmost in the war-host.'\n\n\n|| This ship was well fitted out, and had a large crew.\n\nAnd again saith Thiodolf:\n\n  'The peace wishing King his ranks bade\n  Bind fast the war-shields on the ships' sides;\n  The prince's friends well ordered stand methinks.\n      The leader of manly deeds,\n  The doughty dragon closed,\n  Outside the Niz, with shields, and one o'erlapped the other.'\n\n\n|| Ulf the Marshal brought his ship up alongside the royal ship, & bade\nher men place her well forward. Stein Herdason was on Ulf's ship, and he\nchanted thus:\n\n  'Ulf, the Marshal of the King,\n  Cheered us all on to battle;\n  The spears trembled when\n  The ships were rowed to the fight.\n  And, no doubt, the wise King's\n  Valiant friend did bid his men\n  His ship advance beside\n  The prince's; the lads obeyed.'\n\n\n|| Stationed farthest out on one of the arms was Ivar Hakonson; under him\nhad he many and the men to him were well equipped. Farthest out on the\nother arm were the chiefs of Throndhjem, and to them likewise was a\nlarge and goodly host.\n\n\n|| And King Svein likewise ranged his host, and his ship laid he over\nagainst ye ship of Harald, in the midst of the host, and nighest to him\nwas Earl Fin, and next to him again the Danes ranked all of their host\nthat was bravest and best equipped. Thereafter either side lashed their\nships together in the midmost part of the fleet, but the hosts being so\nlarge it befell that there was a great number of ships faring loose, and\nso each captain placed his ship as far forward as he had courage for;\nbut that was exceeding varied. Now though the odds were so great yet\nnevertheless had either side a vast host, and in his to King Svein\npertained as many as seven earls. Thus saith Stein Herdason:\n\n  'The \"hersirs'\" valiant lord a risk did take him,\n  With ships fifty and a hundred he waited for the Danes.\n  Next was it that the ruler dear who dwells in LeidraSec.\n  The sea cleft thither with three hundred sea-steeds.'\n\n\n|| Even so soon as he had made ready his ships, commanded King Harald the\nwar-blast to be sounded, and after this was done, rowed his men ahead.\nStein Herdason saith:\n\n  'Before the river's mouth, damage did Harald Svein.\n  Hard withstanding made he; Harald asked not for peace.\n  The King's sword-swinging lads forward off Halland rowed,\n  And yonder on the sea caused wounds with blood to stream.'\n\n\n|| Then did either side join combat, and the struggle waxed very fierce.\nEither King lustily cheered on his men, as saith Stein Herdason:\n\n  'Eager for war the good shield-bearers bade their lads\n  To shoot and hew (but short the space was 'twixt the hosts).\n  Both stones & arrows streamed when the sword shook from it,\n  The light blood, depriving of life the men of either host.'\n\n\n|| It was late in the day when battle was joined and the combatants\nfought the whole night; King Harald himself shot for long with his bow.\nThiodolf saith thus:\n\n  'Elm-bow did the Upland\n  King draw all the night;\n  Shrewd ruler of the land sent\n  Arrows 'gainst the white shields;\n  Barbs bloody harmed the peasants,\n  And the King's arrows\n  Fast in the shields did lodge\n  (The spear-shots grew apace).'\n\n\n|| Earl Hakon & the men of his company did not lash their ships together,\nbut rowed against the Danish keels that were faring loose, and every\nship that they grappled did they clear. When the Danes noted this same\ndid every man move his ship away from the spot whither the Earl was\nfaring, but went he after them even as they withdrew, and wellnigh to\nfleeing were they.\n\nBut then came a boat rowing towards the Earl's ship, and those in it\nshouted & said that the other arm of ye battle array of King Harald had\ngiven way, and that many of their men had fallen there, so then rowed\nthe Earl away thither and fierce was his onset, so that the Danes again\ncaused their ships to fall astern. Thus did the Earl fare the whole of\nthat night, rowing round outside the combatants, and laying about him\nwheresoever it was required; & whithersoever he went he was in no\nfashion to be withstood.\n\nDuring the waning part of the night was there a general fight among the\nDanes; this was after King Harald & his band had boarded the own ship to\nKing Svein, and so utterly cleared it that all his men were slain save\nand except those that leapt into the sea. Thus saith Arnor Earl's-skald:\n\n  'Svein courageous went not from off his ship\n  Without good cause (that is my mind);\n  Hard was the fight for the helmets wasted,\n  And empty did his craft float ere the eloquent friend of the Jutes\n  Fled from his dead chosen fighters.'\n\n\n|| After the banner of King Svein had fallen & the ships to him had been\ncleared, fled away all his men save those who were slain, & they that\nfled sprang into the deep from those ships that were lashed together or\nclimbed on to other ships that were faring loose, but all of the men of\nKing Svein who were able to do so rowed off. Full many men fell there.\nAnd there, where the Kings themselves had fought & the greater number of\nthe ships had been lashed one to another, lay over seventy of the ships\nof that King; thus saith Thiodolf:\n\n  'Bold King of the Sogn-folk,\n  (So 'tis sung) ships seven\n  Times ten of men and arms\n  From Svein's fleet cleared away.'\n\n\n|| King Harald after the Danes rowed hard and put them to rout, but no\neasy task was it, for so little sea-room was there betwixt the keels\nthat motion was well-nigh not possible. Earl Fin would in no wise\nconsent to flee and was taken captive; he could not see well. This is\nwhat Thiodolf saith:\n\n  'To six Danish earls a guerdon hast thou to give\n  For one single victory,\n  (They whet the heat of battle).\n  In the midst of the ranks\n  Fin Arnason was taken\n  Battle-strong, stout-hearted;\n  Ne'er would he think to flee.'\n\n\n|| Earl Hakon tarried behind with his ship, while the King and the rest\nwere pursuing after the fugitives, for the Earl could not get his ship\naway from the spot where she was lying. Just at that time rowed up a man\nin a boat to the ship and brought-to at the poop; a big man was he with\na broad-brimmed hat; 'Where is the Earl?' quoth he up to the ship. 'In\nthe forehold,' answered they him back, 'binding the wound of a man who\nis bleeding.' The Earl viewed the man with the hat and asked what might\nhis name be, to which he made answer: 'VandradSec. is here, speak to me,\nEarl.' Then looked the Earl over the gunwale at him.\n\nThen said the boatman: 'I will receive my life of thee if thou wilt give\nit me.' Then the Earl rose up and called to two of his men, either of\nwhom was dear to him, and said: 'Get into the boat and set Vandrad\nashore; go with him to my friend Karl the Peasant, and tell him for a\ntoken to give Vandrad the horse which I gave to him yesterday, and to\ngive him his own saddle, and his son for a guide.' Then stepped they\ninto the boat & took the oars, & Vandrad steered.\n\nThis was hard nigh to the dawn of day, and there was much movement among\nthe ships, craft both large and small, some rowing to land, others to\nsea.\n\nVandrad steered there where thought he there was most sea-room betwixt\nthe craft, & whensoever any of the Norwegian ships rowed nigh them said\nthe Earl's men who they were, & then all let them go as they listed.\nVandrad steered along the shore & did not put to land ere they had come\npast the place where there was a great throng of ships.\n\n\n|| Thereafter walked they to the homestead of Karl at about the hour when\nthe light began to wax, and so went they into the living-room, and\nbeheld Karl but now clad. To him told the men from the Earl on what\nmission had they come, and Karl said that first must they eat, & caused\nfood to be set before them, & himself fetched them water for\nhand-washing. Then came the housewife into the chamber and straightway\nsaid she: 'Wondrous is it that we gat no sleep nor rest all night\nthrough, for the tumult and noise.' Karl answered: 'Knowest thou not\nthat the Kings fought together yesternight?' She asked: 'Who won?' Karl\nanswered: 'The Norwegians won.' 'Belike our King hath fled again,' said\nshe. Karl replied: 'In a bad way are we with our King for he is both\nhalt & craven.' Then spake Vandrad: 'The King is not craven, but neither\nhe is victorious.' Now Vandrad was the last to wash his hands, and when\nhe took the towel he dried himself in the midst thereof; but the\nhousewife seized it and pulled it from him, saying: 'Little good canst\nthou do; 'tis the way of common folk to wet all the towel at once.'\nVandrad answered: 'I shall yet come thither where I may dry myself\nmidmost in the towel.' Then sat they at meat for a while but afterwards\nwent out, and there was the horse standing ready, and that son of Karl\nwho was to bear Vandrad company sat another horse, and together rode\nthey forth to the forest. But the men from the Earl went back to their\nboat, & rowed out again to their ship.\n\n\n|| Harald and his men pursued the fugitives a short way, and thereafter\nreturned to those ships which had been deserted. And then searched they\nthe slain, finding in the King's ship a number of dead men; yet not\namong them was the body of King Svein; natheless was it deemed certain\nthat he must have fallen. King Harald let the corses of his men be laid\nout, or the wounds bound up of them that required it. Then caused he the\nbodies of the men of Svein to be borne ashore, & sent word to the\npeasants that they should bury them; thereafter caused he the plunder to\nbe divided, and abode for a while there at that spot. And there learnt\nhe the tidings that King Svein was come to Zealand, and that all of his\nhost which had not been routed in battle had rejoined him, and to him\nlikewise were come many other men, and that to him therefore was\nassembled a mighty large host.\n\n\n|| Now as ye have heard tell afore, was Earl Fin Arnason captured in the\nbattle, and before the King was he led. King Harald was then exceeding\njoyful, and said he, 'Here meet we twain, Fin, though lastwhiles in\nNorway; scarce hath the Danish court stood by thee! An ill piece of work\nwill the Norwegians have to drag thee, blind man, after them, and keep\nthee alive.'\n\nThen answered back the Earl: 'Many ill things have the Norwegians now to\ndo, & the worst of these is thy bidding.'\n\nThen said King Harald: 'Wilt thou have grace, though grace deservest\nthou not?' The Earl answered: 'Not from thee, hound!' The King said:\n'Dost desire that thy kinsman Magnus should give thee grace?' Magnus,\nthe son of King Harald, was captain of a ship at that time. Then said\nthe Earl: 'What hath that whelp to do with the meting out of grace?'\nThereat laughed the King, for he deemed it good sport to bait him, and\nsaid he: 'Wilt thou accept thy life from the hand of Thora, thy\nkinswoman?'\n\nThen the Earl said: 'Is she here?' 'She is here,' said the King.\n\nThen did Fin utter the scurvy words which were remembered long\nthereafter, and all were witness of how wroth he was since he could not\nstill his words: 'It is not to be wondered at that thou hast bitten well\nsince the mare is with thee.'\n\nTo Earl Fin was given quarter, and King Harald kept him with him for a\ntime, but Fin was somewhat unjoyful, and unmeek in his words. Then King\nHarald said: 'I see thou wilt not be friends with me nor with my\nkindred, so I will give thee leave to fare to Svein, thy King.' The Earl\nanswered: 'That will I accept, and the sooner I fare hence the more\ngrateful I shall be.' Thereafter the King let Fin be taken even to the\nland, where was he made welcome by the Hallanders.\n\nThence sailed King Harald north with his host to Norway, faring first to\nOslo, and in that place gave leave to all his men who desired it to go\neven to their own homes.\n\n\n|| It is said that King Svein abode that winter in Denmark, and held his\nstate as before.\n\nAnd in the winter sent he men northward to Halland to fetch Karl the\nPeasant to him, and likewise Karl's wife; and when they were come and he\nhad summoned Karl unto him he asked him if he had seen him before. Karl\nanswered: 'I know thee now, King, and I knew thee then even so soon as I\nsaw thee, and it is under God that the little help which I was able to\nafford thee was of use.' The King answered: 'For all the days I have yet\nto live I have to reward thee. Now firstly will I give thee whatever\nhomestead in Zealand thou art minded to have, and I will furthermore\nmake thee a great man an thou wottest how to act.'\n\nKarl thanked the King well for his words, and said that there was still\na favour he would pray of him. And the King asked what that might be.\nKarl said: 'I would ask this thing, King, that thou lettest me take my\nwife with me.' The King answered: 'I will not promise thee this thing,\nfor I will get thee a much better & wiser wife; but thy wife may keep\nthe small homestead ye have already; on that she can live.'\n\nAnd the King gave Karl a large & noble stead & gat him a good marriage.\nThis was known and told far and wide, yea even as far north as Norway.\n\n\n|| The winter following on the battle of the Niz King Harald spent in\nOslo. And when the host came up from the south in autumn many tales and\nlegends went abroad of the autumn outside the Niz river, & everyone who\nhad been there deemed he had something to tell. Once it happened that\nsome men were sitting drinking in a small chamber, & full of talk were\nthey, talking of the battle of the Niz, and of whom might have derived\nthe greatest renown therefrom. All were agreed on one issue, however,\nand that was that no other had been such a man there as Earl Hakon: he\nit was who had shown greatest prowess, who was the boldest under arms,\nand the ablest, and the most fortunate, and whatsoever he did was that\nwhich availed most, & to him was accounted the victory. Now Harald was\nwithout, in the courtyard, speaking with some of his men, and thereafter\nwent he before the doorway of the chamber and said: 'Every man now would\nlike to be named Hakon,' and therewith went his way.\n\n\n|| Earl Hakon fared to the Uplands in autumn, even to his dominions, and\nthere tarried throughout the winter.\n\nRight well beloved was he of the Upland folk. Now once it befell, when\nspring was drawing nigh, that some men were sitting drinking, & their\ntalk was yet again of the battle of the Niz; and men lauded greatly Earl\nHakon, but a few praised others no less.\n\nWhen they had been talking thus a while a man answered: 'Mayhap other\nmen besides Earl Hakon fought boldly outside the Niz, yet nevertheless\nmethinks no one can have had the luck he had.'\n\nThey said it was no doubt his greatest luck that he had routed many of\nthe Danes. The same man answered: 'Luckiest for him was it that he gave\nKing Svein his life.' Another answered him: 'Thou wottest not what thou\nart saying.' He answered: 'Yea, I wot full well, for he who set the King\nashore told me himself.' Thus it befell, as oft is said, that 'many are\nthe King's ears.' These things were told to the King straightway, and\nthe King had many horses taken and rode forthwith away in the night with\ntwo hundred men,Sec. and rode he the whole of that night and the following\nday. Then there came towards them on horseback certain men who were\nmaking for the town with meal and malt. Now faring with the King was one\nGamal, & he rode up to one of the peasants who was a friend of his and\nspoke privily with him.\n\nGamal said: 'Money will I give thee, an thou wilt ride furiously by\nhidden ways such as thou wottest to be shortest to Earl Hakon: tell him\nthat the King will slay him, for the King wotteth that the Earl helped\nKing Svein to land outside the Niz.'\n\nAnd the matter being covenanted between them rode the peasant hard, and\ncame even to the Earl who was sitting drinking and had not gone to his\nrest. But when the peasant made known his errand, rose the Earl\nforthwith and all his folk; and the Earl caused his chattels to be\nremoved from the house during the night. When the King arrived thither\ntarried he there the night, but Hakon the Earl had ridden his way. And\nin time came he east to the realm of Sweden, to King Steinkel, and abode\nwith him the summer. King Harald then turned him back to town. In the\nsummer the King fared north to Throndhjem and abode there, but in the\nautumn fared eastward again to Vik.\n\n\n|| Earl Hakon went back in the summer to the Uplands, so soon as he\nlearned that the King had fared northward, and there dwelt he until such\ntime as the King came south again. Thereafter fared the Earl eastward to\nVermaland and tarried there long in the winter; and King Steinkel gave\nthe Earl rule and dominion over that part of the land.\n\nWhen winter was wearing to an end, fared he westward to Kaumariki, and\ntook with him many men whom the Gauts and Vermalanders had given him.\nAnd he took thence his land-dues and the taxes which he had a right to\ndemand, & thereafter fared he back east to Gautland and dwelt there the\nspring.\n\nKing Harald abode the winter in Oslo, and sent his men to the Uplands to\ngather taxes and land-dues and the King's fines; but the Uplanders said\nthat they would not pay to him all dues which it behoved them to pay\ninto the hands of Earl Hakon even so long as he was alive and had not\nforfeited life or dominions; & no land-dues did the King therefrom\nobtain that winter.\n\n\n|| Now betwixt Norway and Denmark there were sent that winter messengers\nand messages, for both Norwegians and Danes alike desired to make peace\nand agreement either with other, and they prayed their Kings to do the\nsame. The sending of these messages appeared prone to bring about\nconcord, for in the end a peace-meeting was agreed upon in the River\nbetwixt King Harald and King Svein. When spring-tide was come both Kings\ncalled out many men and ships for this journey. Saith a skald in a poem:\n\n  'Leader of armed men, he who the ground engirdles\n  From Eyrasund northward shuts with his long-ship's prows\n  The land (the haven spurned he).\n  Gleaming with gold the stems cut the waves keenly;\n  Onward of Halland west, with host aboard, and the keels thrilling.\n  Harald firm-oathed!\n      oft hast thou the earth engirdled with thy ships;\n  Svein, too, through the sound sailed the King to meet.\n  Praise-dight filler of ravens, who every bay doth close,\n  Hath out a teeming host of Danes, from the south all.'\n\n\n|| It is said here that these Kings kept to their agreement, to wit, that\nthere should be a meeting betwixt them; and that both came to the\nmarches. It is set forth thus below:\n\n  'Shrewd leader of armed men\n  To trysting south once more\n  Thou sailst as all Danes wished\n  (No lesser was thy purpose).\n  Svein now to the northward fares\n  The land-marches nigh,\n  The tryst to keep with Harald--\n  Windy was the weather off the land.'\n\n\n|| When the Kings were come face to face the one with other forthwith\nbetwixt them was broached ye matter of peace; and no sooner was this\nopened than many men made plaint of the harm they had suffered through\nwar-fare, rapine, and the slaying of men. And long talked they about\nthis, as is said hereafter:\n\n  'The yeomen shrewd\n  Such words do say aloud\n  That when the men meet,\n  An' angered are mostly\n  The others. Far seemeth\n  Concord to lie from men\n  Who on all things quarrel\n  (The chiefs' arrogance waxeth).\n  With danger fraught will be\n  Wrath of the princes be\n  If peace be agreed on,\n  Those who are peace-makers\n  In scales must weigh all things.\n  Seemly for Kings to say\n  What e'er the host liketh;\n  Bad will would it cause\n  Were the yeomen's state worsened.'\n\n\n|| Then the best men and the wisest conferred together, and peace was\nmade betwixt the Kings, in such wise that King Harald was to have Norway\n& King Svein Denmark as far as the marches which had aforetime divided\nthe kingdoms; neither was to make redress to other; there where the land\nhad been pillaged the matter was to be passed over; and he who had taken\nplunder was to keep it.\n\nThis peace was to ensue even so long as the twain were Kings; the\ncovenant was bounden with oaths, & thereafter gave the Kings one another\nhostages; even as is said hereafter:\n\n  'Thus have I heard it said\n  That Svein and Harald both\n  (God works it) gladly gave\n  Hostages one to other.\n  Let them so keep their vows\n  (All ended was with witness)\n  And the whole peace so fully\n  That the folk break it not.'\n\n\n|| King Harald tarried in Vik during the summer, and sent men to the\nUplands to collect the dues & taxes he had there; but the peasants in\nplain words said that they would bide the coming of Earl Hakon, until\nsuch time as he should come to them. Earl Hakon was then up in Gautland\nwith a large host. When summer was wearing to a close sailed King Harald\nsouth to Konungahella (King's Rock), and he took all the light craft\nwhereon he could lay hands & went up the River, and at the falls thereof\nhad the boats haled across land and so put onto Lake Wenern. Thereafter\nrowed he east across the lake where he asked tidings of Earl Hakon.\n\nNow when the Earl gat news of the journey of the King, came he down from\nthe country and made endeavour to prevent the King from harrying, for to\nEarl Hakon was a large host which the Gauts had given him. King Harald\nlaid his boats up the mouth of a river, and thereafter made a landing,\nbut left some of his men behind to watch the craft. And the King himself\nand some of his men rode on horseback, but many more went afoot. Their\nway led them through a wood, & thereafter a bog lay before them on which\nwere small bushes, then after that a copse, and when they were come up\nto the copse sighted they the host of the Earl; and a bog there was\nbetwixt them and it.\n\nThen both hosts arrayed themselves, & King Harald commanded his men to\nsit up on the hillside: 'Let us first tempt them to make an onset; Hakon\nhath no mind to wait,' said he.\n\nThe weather was frosty with some driving snow, and the men to Harald sat\nunder their shields.\n\nNow the Gauts had taken little apparel on them and were starved with the\ncold, but the Earl bade them bide until the King should make an onset\nand they could all stand alike in height. Earl Hakon had the banner\nwhich had been that of King Magnus Olafson. Now the head-man to the\nGauts was one hight Thorvid, and he was mounted on a horse the reins of\nwhich were tied to a stake standing in the bog. He spake & said: 'God\nknows we have a large host here and many stout men; let not King\nSteinkell hear that we are not helping this good Earl well. I wist that\nif the Norwegians make onset against us we shall stand firm, but if the\nyoung men falter & bide not, then do not let us run farther than thither\nto the brook, and if the young men again falter, which I wot will not\nbefall, then do not let us run farther than thither to the hill.'\n\nAt that moment ran up the host of the Norwegians shouting their war-cry\nand beating their shields, & then the host of the Gauts likewise began\nto shout, and the horse to the head-man pulled so hard at its rein,\nbeing afrighted at the host-cry, that the stake came up & flew past the\nhead of the chief, wherefore he shouted: 'Such a mischance as thou\nshootest, Northmen,' and therewith galloped away. King Harald had ere\nthis said to his men: 'Though we make din and shouting about us, yet let\nus not go down the hill or ever they come hither to us,' and they did\naccording as he had said.\n\nAs soon as the war-cry was heard, caused the Earl his banner to be borne\nforward, and when they were come under the hill rushed the King's men\ndown upon them, and some of the men to the Earl fell forthwith and some\nfled; but the Norwegians drave not them that fled very far, for it was\nlate in the day. There took they the banner of Earl Hakon, and as much\nof weapons and apparel as they could lay hands on. And the King let both\nthe banners be borne in front of him when he fared down the hill; and\nhis men spake one with another as to whether or no Earl Hakon might be\nfallen. Now when it came to faring through the wood they had to ride in\nsingle train, and behold a certain man rode straight across their way,\nand thrust a spear through him that bore the banner to the King, and\nseizing the stave thereof rode he off another way in the wood with the\nbanner. When the King was told of this cried he: 'The Earl lives! Give\nme my mail-shirt!' And rode he in the night to his ships. Now said many\nmen that the Earl had avenged himself. Then chanted Thiodolf:\n\n  'Steinkell's host who to the\n  Warlike Earl should help yield\n  (That brought the King to pass)\n  To hell, I ween, have fared.\n  But those who would better\n  The matter say,\n  Hakon fled because the hope of help\n  Therefrom but ill had proven.'\n\n\n|| King Harald spent what was left of the night on his ship. In the morn,\nwhen it was light saw men that ice had formed round the ships so thick\nthat it was feasible to walk round about them.\n\nThen bade the King his men hew the ice and release his ships into the\nlake, and so went the men and set to work to hew the ice. King Harald's\nson Magnus steered the ship which lay lowest in the river-mouth and\nnighest out to the lake.\n\nNow when the men had almost chopped the ice away a certain man ran out\non it to the place where they were about to hew, and thereafter fell to\nchopping as if he were mad and raving. Then said a man: 'Now is it again\nas often before, no one is so good at giving a helping hand as Hall\nKodransbane; behold now, how he is hewing the ice.'\n\nBut the man of Magnus's ship who was hight Thormod Eindridison, when he\nheard the name of 'Kodransbane,' ran to Hall and gave him his\ndeath-blow.\n\nKodran was the son of Gudmund Elyolfson, and Valgerd that was sister to\nGudmund was the mother of Jurunn, Thormod's mother.\n\nThormod was a winter old when Kodran was slain, and never had he set\neyes on Hall Utryggson before this time.\n\nBy this, then, the ice was broken away even so far as the lake and\nMagnus brought his ship out, & got under way forthwith, and sailed west\nacross the lake; but the King's ship which was the uppermost in the\nchannel came out the last. Now Hall had been of the fellowship of the\nKing and was very dear to him, and the King was exceeding wroth, so that\nwhen he came latest into haven he found that Magnus had already helped\nthe murderer to the forest, though he offered atonement for him, would\nhe have gone against Magnus and his folk, had not the friends of both\nbrought about their appeasement.\n\n\n|| King Harald fared up to Raumariki this winter, and to him was a large\nhost.\n\nAnd he bore cases against the peasants for the keeping back from him of\ndues and taxes, and for inciting his enemies to strife against him.\n\nAnd some of the peasants caused he to be taken, and some he maimed and\nothers killed and others he deprived of all their possessions.\n\nThose who could get away fled, but the King burned the countrysides wide\nabout and laid them waste. Thus saith Thiodolf:\n\n  'Waster of isle-dwellers\n  Hard hands laid on Raumfolk,\n  Steadily on the ranks\n  Of Harald went, as I trow.\n  Fire did requite them;\n  But the chief commanded,\n  And high flames poor peasants\n  To obedience led.'\n\n\n|| After this fared King Harald up to Heidmark and there burned, and did\nno less war-work than has been writ afore. From thence fared he to\nRingariki, there burned, and went everywhere with the war-shield aloft.\nThus saith Thiodolf:\n\n  'Burned were the fell folk's steads,\n  Roofwards the red fire flamed.\n  Hit did the lord of chiefs\n  The Heiners with hard stones.\n  For their lives the sufferers craved;\n  So great a hurt the flames\n  The men of Ringariki wrought\n  Or ever the fire was stayed.'\n\n\n|| After this gave the peasants the whole matter into the hands of the\nKing.\n\n\n|| After the death of King Magnus were spent fifteen winters ere the\nbattle of the Niz, and after that two winters or ever Harald and Svein\nmade peace. Thus saith Thiodolf:\n\n  'The prince of the Hords\n  (Brought peace the third year was made)\n  The strife to an end; on\n  The strand steel hit the shields.'\n\n\n|| After this peace-making endured the war of the King with the Uplanders\nthree half-years. Thus saith Thiodolf:\n\n  'Hard of the King's work 'tis\n  In seemly wise to speak\n  When to have idle ploughs\n  The upland men he taught.\n  The chieftain wise hath honour won\n  These three half-years\n  Which ever will be minded.'\n\n\n|| Edward, the son of Ethelred, was King of England after his brother\nHordaknut; he was hight Edward 'the Good' and right good he was.\n\nThe mother to King Edward was Queen Emma, the daughter of Richard, the\nRouen-Earl; and her brother was Earl Robert, the mother of William the\nBastard, who was at that time duke of Rouen in Normandy. King Edward was\nwedded to Queen Gyda,Sec. the daughter of Earl Godwin & he was the son of\nWolfnoth. The brothers to Gyda were: the eldest Earl Tosti, the second\nEarl Morcar, the third Earl Walthiof, the fourth Earl Svein, and fifthly\nHarald. Now Harald was the youngest and was brought up at the court of\nKing Edward and was his foster-son, and the King loved him very greatly\nand eyed him ever as his own son, for the King was childless.\n\n\n|| It befell one summer that Harald the son of Godwin had to go a journey\nto Bretland (Wales) and fared he on a ship, but after they had set sail\nsprang up a contrary wind & they were driven out to sea.[Sec.]\n\nThey made land westward in Normandy after undergoing a perilous storm.\n\nAnd putting into the town of Rouen found they there Earl William, who\nreceived Harald and his travelling companions joyfully, and Harald\ntarried there in good cheer for long during the autumn, for the tempests\ncontinued to blow and it was not weather for sailing out at sea. As\nwinter was approaching spoke the Earl and Harald together concerning the\ndwelling of Harald there throughout the winter. Now Harald sat in the\nhigh-seat on one side of the Earl and on the other side of him sat the\nEarl's wife, and fairer was she than any other woman whom men had seen.\n\nHarald and she would hold converse together all the time that the cups\nwere going round, and when the Earl retired to rest, as he did betimes,\nHarald would sit long talking with the wife to the Earl, and so fared\nthings for a long time during the winter.\n\nOnce when they were talking together said she: 'Now hath the Earl spoken\nwith me hereon, and asked what it is we twain ever talk about, and now\nis he wroth.' Harald answered: 'We will forthwith let him know all our\nconversations.'\n\nThe day thereafter Harald called the Earl to speak with him, & went they\nto the council-chamber where were also the Earl's wife and their\ncouncillors.\n\nThen Harald spoke the first and said: 'This must I inform thee, Earl,\nthat there is more in my coming hither than I have revealed to thee:\nI desire to ask the hand of thy daughter, and have oft-times spoken of\nthis my wish to her mother, and she hath given me her word to support me\nin this matter with thee.'\n\nWhen Harald had made known his desire, all those who were present\nreceived the news with gladness and supported it with the Earl, and this\nmatter was brought to end by the maid being betrothed to Harald; but\nsince she was young some winters' delay were agreed upon before the time\nof bridal.\n\n\n|| When spring came, equipped Harald his ship and sailed away, and he and\nthe Earl parted in full friendship.\n\nAnd Harald fared to England, to King Edward, and returned no more to\nValland to claim the marriage. King Edward ruled over England for\ntwenty-four winters, & died a straw death in London, None Janurii (5th\nJanuary); he was interred in St. Paul's ChurchSec. and the English call him\nsainted.\n\nThe sons of Earl Godwin in those days were the most powerful men in\nEngland. Tosti had been made captain over the host of the King, and\nwarden of the land when the King began to wax old; and he had been\nplaced over all other Earls.\n\nHis brother Harald was ever within the court the next man to the King in\nall service, & his duty had been to guard the treasure of the King.Sec. It\nis recorded by men that as the King was approaching to his end was\nHarald near by, and few other men, and Harald leant over the King and\nsaid: 'I call all of ye to witness that the King gave me but now the\nkingdom, and all might in England.' Then was the King borne dead from\nout his bed. That same day there was a meeting of lords and the taking\nof a King was discussed, and Harald then let his witnesses testify that\nKing Edward on his death-day had given him the kingdom.\n\nThis meeting ended in such fashion that Harald was hailed as King &\nconsecrated with royal consecration in St. Paul's Church on the 13th\nday;Sec. when all lords and folk swore fealty to him.\n\nBut when his brother, Earl Tosti, heard what had befallen, liked he it\nno whit, for thought he himself to be equally near the King.\n\n'I desire,' quoth he, 'that the lords of the land choose him for King\nwhom they deem best fitted therefor.' And such like words went between\nthe brothers.\n\nKing Harald declared that he would not give up the kingdom for he had\nbeen throned in that city which had been the King's, and had been\nthereafter anointed and consecrated with royal consecration; with him\nalso sided the multitude, and he had moreover all the treasure of the\ndead King.\n\n\n|| Now when King Harald became aware that his brother Tosti desired to\noust him from the kingdom believed he but ill in him, for Tosti was a\nvery wise man and a great warrior, and was full friendly, to boot, with\nthe lords of the land.\n\nSo Harald deprived him from command of the host, and of all the power he\nhad had aforetime more than other earlsSec. there in the land. And Earl\nTosti, who by no means would suffer himself to be the serving-man to his\nbrother, fared away with his men, and so south to Flanders across the\nsea, and tarried there a while before faring to Friesland & thence to\nDenmark, to his kinsman King Svein. Earl Ulf the father to King Svein\nand Gyda that was mother to Tosti, were brother and sister. The Earl\ncraved the aid of King Svein and men for his assistance, and King Svein\nbade him come to him & told him that he should have an earl's realm in\nDenmark, such as would make him a seemly chief in that country. The Earl\nanswered thus: 'My desire is to fare back to England, to my heritage;\nbut if I am given no assistance for that purpose from thee, King, then\nwould I liefer make a pact to afford thee all the support I can procure\nin England, an thou wilt take the Danish hosts thither and conquer the\nland, even as thy mother's brother Knut (Canute) conquered it.'\n\nThe King answered: 'So much less a man am I than my kinsman King Knut\nthat I have hard work to hold the Danish realm against the Norwegians.\n\nKnut the Old gat his Danish kingdom by inheritance but won England by\nwarfare and strife, yet nevertheless at one time seemed he like to lose\nhis life thereby. Norway gat he without battle.\n\nNow would I liefer keep within compass according to my smaller\nconditions than assay to rival the success of my kinsman Knut.' Then\nsaid Tosti the Earl: 'Lesser is my errand hither than I had thought for;\nI deemed not that thou, a bold man, wouldst let me go in need. It may be\nthat I am seeking friendship where it is not meet to seek it. But\nnatheless it may hap that I find a chief who is less afeared of great\nventures than thou art, King.' Thereafter they parted, the King and the\nEarl, and were not very well of one accord.\n\n\n|| Tosti the Earl now turned him another way: he fared onward to Norway,\nto King Harald who was in Vik, and when they met the Earl made he known\nhis mission to the King, recounting to him all concerning his journey\nsince he had left England. And he craved help of the King so that he\nmight regain his dominions in England.\n\nBut the King said as followeth: that the Norwegians had no wish to fare\nto England and harry with an English chief over them; 'folk deem,' said\nhe, 'that the English are not full trustworthy.' The Earl answered:\n'I wonder if it is sooth, that which I have heard men say in England,\nto wit, that thy kinsman King Magnus despatched men to King Edward, with\nthe message that he, Magnus, owned England with no less right than\nDenmark, that he inherited it from Hordaknut (Hardicanute) and that the\npact was ratified by their oaths?' The King answered: 'Why did he not\nhave it if he owned it?' The Earl said: 'Why hast thou not Denmark even\nas King Magnus had it before thee?' The King answered: 'Little have the\nDanes to plume themselves on above us Norwegians, for many a hole have\nwe burnt in those kinsmen of thine.'\n\nThen said the Earl: 'Though thou wilt not tell me yet can I,\nnevertheless, tell thee how it was King Magnus took possession of\nDenmark, to wit, was it because the lords of the land there helped him,\nbut thou gat it not because all the people of the land were against\nthee. King Magnus fought not to gain England because all the people\ndesired to have Edward for their King. If thou wishest to conquer\nEngland then can I bring it about that many of the lords there will be\nthy friends and supporters, for nothing lack I against my brother Harald\nsave the name of King. All men know that there has never been born in\nthe northlands a warrior such as thou art.\n\nAstonished am I that thou who foughtest fifteen winters for Denmark will\nnot take England which is lying at thy hand.' King Harald pondered with\ncare over what the Earl had said to him, and well wot he that in great\nmeasure had he said sooth; and added thereto conceived he the wish to\nconquer that kingdom.\n\nThereafter the King and the Earl talked long & oft together, & in the\nend covenanted they an agreement that come the summer they would fare to\nEngland and conquer the country. King Harald sent round the whole of\nNorway calling out a levy, one half of the general war-muster.\n\nNow all this was much spoken of by men, and many were the guesses as to\nhow things would go on the faring. Some reckoned & counted up all deeds\nof valour, swearing how naught would be impossible of King Harald, but\nsaid others that England would be difficult to conquer inasmuch as the\npeople were exceeding numerous, & those warriors who were called the\nThingmanna-hostSec. so doughty that one of them was better than two of\nHarald's best men.\n\nThus answered Ulf the Marshal:\n\n  'Never would the marshals\n  Of the King (uncompelling\n  Ever gat I riches)\n  Turn them to the King's stern-hold\n  Noble woman, an twain should be pressed back by\n  One Thingman (other than\n  That when young I learned me).'\n\n\n|| That spring Ulf the Marshal died, & Harald when he stood by his grave\nsaid ere he quitted it: 'Here lies he that was ever the most faithful &\nthe most dutiful to his lord.' To Flanders also sailed Earl Tosti in\nspringtide so that he should meet the men the which had followed him\nfrom England, with those others also who were to join him from England\nand likewise from Flanders.\n\n\n|| The host to King Harald was gathered together in SolundirSec. and when\nall things were made ready and he was about to set sail from Nidaros\nwent he to the shrine of King Olaf, and thrusting his hands into the\nsanctuary cut he off the hair and the nails pertaining to the saint, and\nthereafter turned he the key once of the shrine and then threw that same\nkey into the Nid; and since that time forsooth hath the shrine of the\nholy King Olaf never been opened.\n\nFive and thirty winters had been encompassed since his fall, and five\nand thirty years had he lived in the world.\n\nThen King Harald and the men that were with him gat them a course\nsouthward to meet his host; or ever that time it was a mighty force that\nmet together, and it is told among men that to King Harald were nigh\nupon two hundredSec. keels, besides victualling ships and smaller craft.\nWhen they were lying off Solundir a certain man named Gyrd, who was on\nthe own ship to the King, dreamed a dream, and to him it seemed as\nthough he stood on that same ship and beheld up on the isle a great\ntroll-woman, & in one hand held she a short sword and in the other a\ntrough. And to him also did it appear that he was looking at all the\nother ships, and on the prow to each was perched a fowl of the air, and\nall of those same fowl were either eagles or ravens.\n\nThe troll-woman sang:\n\n  'King from the east in sooth\n  To battle inciteth\n  Many a warrior westward,\n  (Joyful am I therefor);\n  There may the raven find\n  For itself food on the ships\n  (It knows enow there is);\n  With thee will I ever fare.'\n\n\n|| Now a certain man hight Thord abode on one of the ships nigh to the\nown ship of the King, and on a night dreamed he that he saw the fleet to\nKing Harald faring landward, and he seemed to wot that to England were\nthey coming.\n\nThen he saw on the land a vast host of men & both hosts were making them\nready for battle, and for each were many banners held on high. Before\nthe host of the men of the land rode a swarth troll-woman, sitting on a\nwolf, and the wolf had the body of a man in its mouth, & blood flowed\nfrom the corners thereof. And when it had eaten the man she threw yet\nanother into its mouth, and thereafter threw she one man after another,\nbut notwithstanding made it scant ado at swallowing them all. And so she\nsang:\n\n  'The troll makes the red shield gleam when war comes nigh.\n  Bride of the giant-brood mishap to the King foretells.\n  The quean with the jaws flings flesh of fallen warriors;\n  Raging the wolf's mouth she dyes red with blood.'\n\n\n|| Furthermore it befell that King Harald dreamed one night and in his\nvision lo he was in Nidaros, and there met he his brother, King Olaf,\nwho chanted a verse to him:\n\n  'The burly King in many fights with honour conquered.\n  I gat (because at home I stayed) a holy fall to earth.\n  Still of this I fear me that death is nigh thee, King;\n  The greedy wolves thou fill'st;\n  Ne'er was this caused by God.'\n\n\n|| Men spake low of many other dreams and omens of divers kinds, and the\nbulk of them were of ill import. Or ever King Harald left Throndhjem\ncaused he his son Magnus to be accepted as King, and made he him ruler\nover the kingdom of Norway.\n\nThora, the daughter of Thorberg, also remained behind, but Queen Ellisif\nfared forth with King Harald and with them likewise her daughters Mary\nand Ingigerd; Olaf the son to King Harald also fared with him from the\nland.\n\n\n|| When King Harald was ready, and a favourable wind had sprung up,\nsailed he out to sea & came to land at the Shetlands, but some of his\nships went on to the Orkneys. King Harald lay at these isles a while or\never set he sail for the Orkneys, & from these latter took he with him\nmany men & the Earls Paal and Erling, twain sons to Thorfin the Earl,\nbut behind him left he there Queen Ellisif & their daughters Mary &\nIngigerd. Thereafter sailed he southward alongside Scotland, & then\nalongside England, and went ashore there where it is called Cleveland.\n\nAnd being come on land forthwith harried he the countryside, bringing it\ninto subjection under him, & withal encountering no resistance.\nThereafter went King Harald into Scarborough, & fought there with the\nmen of the town, and he went up on to the cliff there and ordered a vast\nbonfire to be made and a light thereto put, and when it was ablaze, his\nmen took large forks and with them rolled it down into the town, and\nthen one house after the other began to burn, so that there was naught\nfor the townsmen to do save to surrender. There slew the Norwegians many\nmen, and took all the goods whereon they could lay hands. No choice had\nthen the Englishmen, an they wished to keep their lives, save to make\nsubmission to King Harald.\n\nWheresoever he fared brought he the land into subjection, and he\ncontinued on his way southward off the coast with the whole of his host,\nbringing-to at Holderness, and there a band came against him, and King\nHarald did battle with them and gained the day.\n\n\n|| Now having come thus far on his journey King Harald fared south to the\nHumber and went up that river and lay in it beside the banks.\n\nAt that time there were up in Jerirk (York) Earl Morcar and his brother\nEarl Walthiof and with them was a vast host. King Harald was lying in\nthe Ouse when the host of the Earls swooped down against him.\n\nAnd King Harald went ashore and set to arraying his host, and one arm of\nthe array was ranked on the banks of the river, whereas the other\nstretched up inland over towards a certain dyke, and a deep marsh was\nthere, both broad, and full of water.\n\nThe Earls bade the whole multitude of their array slink down alongside\nthe river.\n\nNow the banner to the King was nigh unto the river and there the ranks\nwere serried, but near the dyke were they more scattered, and the men\nthereof also the least trustworthy.\n\nThe Earls then came down along by the dyke, and that arm of the\nbattle-array of the Norwegians which faced the dyke gave way, and\nthereon the English pushed forward after them and deemed that the\nNorwegians would flee. Therefore did the banner of Morcar fare forward.\n\n\n|| But when King Harald saw that the array of the English had descended\nalongside the dyke and was coming right toward them, then commanded he\nthe war-blast to be sounded, and eagerly encouraged his men, and let the\nbanner 'Land-waster' be carried forward; and even so fierce was their\nadvance on the English, that all were repulsed and there fell a many men\nin the host of the Earls.\n\nThis host was even soon routed, and some fled up beside the river and\nsome down, but the most of the folk ran right out into the dyke, and\nthere the fallen lay so thick that the Norwegians could walk dry-shod\nacross the marsh.\n\nThere too fell Earl Morcar.Sec. Thus saith Stein Herdason:\n\n  'Many in the river sank\n  (The sunken men were drowned);\n  All round about young Morcar of yore lay many a lad.\n  To flight the chieftain put them;\n  The host to swiftest running\n  Olaf the Mighty is.'Sec.\n\n\n|| The song that followeth was wrought by Stein Herdason about Olaf ye\nson to King Harald, and he saith, the which also we wot of that Olaf was\nin the battle with his father. This is told likewise in 'Haraldsstikka:'\n\n  'There the dead lay\n  Down in the marsh\n  Walthiof's fighters\n  Weapon-bitten,\n  So that they might\n  The war-wonted horsemen\n  There wend their way\n  On corses only.'\n\n\n|| Earl Walthiof and those men that contrived to make their escape from\nout the battle fled even up to the town of York, and there it was that\nthe greatest slaughter took place. This battle was on the WednesdaySec. or\never St. Matthew's Day.\n\n\n|| Earl Tosti had come west (south) from Flanders to King Harald, and\nbeing even come to England joined himself with the Earl so that he had\nhis part in all three battles. And now things came to pass even as he\nhad told Harald at their meeting they would come to pass, to wit, that a\nnumber of men would flock to them in England, and these were both\nkinsmen and friends to Tosti; and their company added greatly to the\nstrength of the King.\n\nAfter the battle whereof we have but now heard related, all the men of\nthe countryside hailed King Harald, albeit some few fled. And now set\nKing Harald forth to take the city, and placed he his host by Stanford\nBridge,Sec. but for the reason that the King had won so fair a victory over\ngreat lords and overwhelming odds were the people dismayed & deemed it\nhopeless to withstand him. Then took the citizens council together, &\nthey were of one mind to send word to the King giving themselves and\nlikewise the town into his power. This same was proffered even at such\ntime that on the Sunday[Sec.] fared King Harald and his men to the city,\nand there they held a council of war without the walls, and the citizens\ncame out and were present at the council.\n\nThen did all the folk promise obedience to King Harald; and gave him as\nhostages the sons of great men even according as Tosti chose, for the\nEarl knew all men in this town; and in the evening fared the King to his\nships elated with the victory he had won and withal was very joyful.\n\nIt was furthermore covenanted there should be held a Thing in the citySec.\nearly on that Monday when would King Harald appoint governors and grant\nfiefs and rights. Now that self-same evening, after the sun had gone\ndown, approached King Harald Godwinson with a vast host the city from\nthe south, and rode he into the city by the will and consent of all the\ncitizens.\n\nThen were men posted at all the gates, and at all the roads, so that to\nthe Norwegians there might get no tidings of what had befallen, and this\nhost passed the night within the walls.\n\n\n|| On the Monday,[Sec.] when Harald Sigurdson had eaten his fill at dinner,\nordered he a blast to be sounded for a landing. And thereon made he\nready his host and parted them, some to fare and some to tarry; and of\neach company he let two men go up for every one left behind.\n\nAnd Tosti the Earl prepared him to go up with his company, but to guard\nhis ship there tarried behind Olaf own son to the King, Paal and Erling\nthe Orkney Earls, and Eystein Blackcock, the son of Thorberg Arnason,\nwho was in those days the man of most renown and withal dearest to the\nKing of all feudatories, & King Harald had at that time promised him the\nhand of his daughter Maria. Very fine was the weather with warm\nsunshine, and wherefore because of this left the men their shirts of\nmail behind them and went with their shields and helms and spears, with\ntheir swords girded on; and many had likewise bows and arrows, and\nwithal were they very merry. But as they advanced on the city, behold a\ngreat host rode out towards them and they saw the smoke of horses, and\nhere and there fair shields and white coats of mail. Then halted the\nKing his host and summoned Earl Tosti to him, and asked what manner of\nhost this was like to be.\n\nAnd the Earl answered and said that he deemed it might be strife, yet\nnevertheless it might be that they were some of his kinsmen who were\nseeking for protection & friendship, & would promise the King their\nsupport and fealty in return. Then the King said that they would first\nof all keep quiet and learn more particulars anent this host. So they\ndid this, & the host waxed greater the nearer it came, and everywhere\nwas it like a sheet of ice to behold, so white was the gleaming of the\nweapons.\n\n\n|| Then King Harald Sigurdson spake and said: 'Let us now take goodly &\nwise counsel together, for it cannot be hidden that this forebodes\nstrife, and most like it is the King himself.' To which the Earl\nanswered: 'Our first course is to turn back and go our swiftest to the\nships that we may fetch folk and weapons, and thereafter offer what\nresistance we can; or even might we also let the ships protect us and\nthen no power would the horsemen have over us.' Then said King Harald:\n'Another counsel will I choose, namely to send three bold fellows on our\nswiftest horses and let them ride hotly a'pace and impart to our men\nwhat hath befallen; then will they the sooner come to our aid, and a\nright sharp combat shall the Englishmen fight or ever we suffer defeat.'\nThe Earl answered and said that the King should decide in this matter as\nin all else: 'no manner of desire had he either to flee.' Then caused\nthe King his banner 'Land-waster' to be borne aloft, and Fridrek was the\nman hight who bore the banner.\n\n\n|| After these things arrayed King Harald his host.\n\nAnd he let the muster be long and not dense, and then after doing this\ndoubled he both the arms thereof backward so that they reached together\nand made a wide ring thick and even on all sides without, shield by\nshield, and the same within likewise; and the King's company was without\nthe ring and there too was his banner.\n\nIn another spot was Earl Tosti with his company, and another banner had\nhe, and the men to him were all picked men. Now the array was made in\nthis fashion because the King wist that the horsemenSec. were wont to ride\nforward in a mass & thereupon fall back. Now said the King that his\ncompany should advance whithersoever it were most needed, 'but our\narchers shall also be with us, and those who stand farthest forward will\nset their spear handles in the earth and point their spears at the\nbreasts of the riders if they should ride us down, and those who stand\nin the next row will thrust their spears into the chests of the horses.'\n\n\n|| It was with an exceeding vast host that King Harald Godwinson had come\nthither, a host of both horse and foot-folk. Around his array rode King\nHarald Sigurdson having a wary eye to see how it had been ranked, and he\nbestrode a black piebald horse.\n\nNow the horse fell under him but the King arose in haste & said:\n'Falling when faring betokens fortune.' Then said Harald, the King of\nthe English, to those Norwegians who were with him: 'Knowest thou the\nbig man yonder who fell from his horse, the man with the blue kirtle and\nthe fair helme?' 'That is the King,' said they.\n\n'A big man and of masterful appearance, yet belike his luck is over,'\nanswered the English King.\n\n\n|| Twenty horsemen rode forward from the Thingmanna host before the\nbattle-array of the Norwegians; and they were wholly clad in chain-mail\nand their horses like unto them. Then said one horseman: 'Is Earl Tosti\nin the host?' to which was made answer: 'There is no hiding it, ye can\nfind him there.'\n\nThen said the horseman: 'Harald, thy brother, sent thee a greeting, and\nword therewith that thou shouldst have grace & the whole of\nNorthumberland; and rather than thou shouldst not go over to him will he\ngive thee a third share of the whole of his kingdom.' Then answered the\nEarl: 'That is a very different message from the strife and scorn of the\nwinter: had it been offered then many a man would still be alive who is\nnow dead, & more firmly too would the kingdom stand in England. Now if I\nshould accept these terms, what would he offer King Harald Sigurdson for\nhis pains?' 'He hath said something of what he would grant him in\nEngland, Seven feet of room or as much longer as he is taller than other\nmen,' made answer that rider. 'Fare thee now to King Harald and bid him\nmake ready for battle,' said the Earl, 'other shall be said among\nNorwegians than that Earl Tosti quitteth King Harald Sigurdson for the\nfellowship of his foemen when he hath to fight in England. Nay, let us\nall rather be of one mind: to die with honour or to win England by\nconquest.' Then did the horseman ride away, and King Harald Sigurdson\nasked of the Earl, 'who was that long-tongued man, yonder?' 'That was\nKing Harald Godwinson,' said the Earl. 'Too long was this kept from us,'\nsaid King Harald Sigurdson, 'they were come so nigh unto our host, that\nnought would this Harald have known how to tell of the death of our\nmen.' 'True it is,' said the Earl, 'that such a chief went right\nunwarily, and that it might have been as thou sayest; I saw that he\nwished to offer me grace and much dominion, but that I should be his\nslayer an I said who he was. Rather would I that he should be my slayer\nthan I his.' Then said King Harald Sigurdson: 'A little man was he, but\nfirm in his stirrups.'\n\nIt is said that King Harald chanted this verse:\n\n  'Forward go we in folk array\n  Without our mail\n  Under blue blades;\n  The helmets shine,\n  No mail have I;\n  On the ships yonder\n  Our garb doth lie.'\n\n\n|| Now the mail-shirt to Harald was hight 'Emma,' and it was so long that\nit reached down even unto the midst of his foot, and so strong that no\nweapon had ever lodged fast in it. Then said King Harald Sigurdson:\n'That was ill wrought; I must make another, a better verse in its\nplace,' and then he chanted this:\n\n  'Ne'er do we in battle\n  Creep behind our shields,\n  The clash of weapons fearing\n  (E'en so the word-fast woman bade me).\n  Of yore the necklet-wearer bade me\n  Carry high my head in battle,\n  Where sword and shield do meet.'\n\nAnd Thiodolf likewise sang thus:\n\n  'Never, if e'en the prince himself to earth should fall,\n  (As God wills so goeth it)\n  Will I flee from the heirs of the chief.\n  The sun shines not better on these than these twain shine.\n  Avengers of Harald are resourceful hawks full grown.'\n\n\n|| And now they fall to battle, and the English ride onward toward the\nNorwegians, but the resistance is stubborn, and because of the shots it\nis not easy for the English to ride against the Norwegians, and so they\nride round about them in a ring. At first the battle is altogether even,\nthat is so long as the Norwegians hold their array, but the English\ncharge them & then if they have done no hurt ride aback, and when the\nNorwegians see this, namely that the English seem to ride on them\nwithout spirit, set they themselves upon them and would have pursued\nthem, but behold no sooner is the wall of shields broken than the\nEnglish ride towards them from all directions bringing spears and shots\nto bear on them. And King Harald Sigurdson seeing this goeth forth into\nthe brunt of the battle, even there where the hardest struggle is taking\nplace, and many men falling from both hosts.\n\nKing Harald Sigurdson waxeth so fierce that he runneth forward right out\nfrom the array, & heweth with both hands, & hath neither helme, nor\nshield holden before him.\n\nAll those who are nighest to him draw aback, and far are the English\nfrom fleeing. Thus saith Arnor Earl's-skald:\n\n  'In battle swift the chief's heart ne'er did quake,\n  And the strong King the greatest courage showed\n      'mid the helmes' thunder,\n  There, where in the hersirs' chief the hosts saw this,\n  That by his bloody sword the men to death were wounded.'\n\n\n|| Now it happened that King Harald Sigurdson was wounded by an arrow in\nthe throat, and this was his death-wound. He fell with the whole of that\ncompany which was advancing with him, save those that drew back; and\nthese held stoutly to the banner.\n\nYet a conflict full as hard was foughten after Tosti the Earl had taken\nhis place under the King's banner. Then both the hosts fell to arraying\nthemselves for the second time, and an exceeding long truce was there in\nthe battle. Thereof sang Thiodolf:\n\n  'Mishap hath fallen on us,\n  (in peril is now the host);\n  In vain hath Harald brought us\n  This journey from the east.\n  The chieftain shrewd's life-passage\n  So hath ended that we now\n  (the King bepraised his life lost)\n  Row in peril of our lives.'\n\n\n|| But ere the combatants again joined issue offered Harald Godwinson his\nbrother Tosti grace, and he likewise offered grace to the other men\nsurviving from the Norwegian host; but the Norwegians shouted out that\nthey would rather fall one above the other, than accept quarter from the\nEnglish. And thereon shouted they their war-cry, & then the battle began\nfor the second time.\n\nThus saith Arnor Earl's-skald:\n\n  'In an hour of misfortune\n  The King austere gat death;\n  The arrows gold-inwoven\n  Spared not the robbers' foe.\n  Gentle and bounteous King--\n  His friends choose all to fall\n  Round their host-wonted chief\n  Rather than quarter seek.'\n\n\n|| Now it befell that Eystein Blackcock came up just at that moment from\nthe ships with his company, and they were in full armour, and Eystein\ngat him hold of the King's banner 'Land-waster,' and for the third time\nthe men fell to battle; exceeding sharp was it and the English lost men\nfull heavily and were on the point of fleeing. That fray was called\n'Blackcock's Brunt.' Eystein's men had hastened so furiously from the\nships that at first, or ever they were come to the combat, they were\nweary and scarce fit for battle, but afterwards so raging were they that\nthey defended themselves as long as they could stand upright. At the\nlast cast they from off them their mail-shirts, and then was it easy for\nthe English to find a vulnerable spot on them; but some who were\nunwounded yet died from their haste and fury.\n\nNearly all the great men among the Norwegians fell at that time.\n\nThis befell late in the day.\n\nAs was to be looked for not all men fared alike in fortune, many fled &\nmany who thus made their escape met differing fates. Mirk was it in the\nevening ere the slaughtering was brought to an end.\n\n\n|| Among those who escaped was Styrkar, the marshal of King Harald\nSigurdson, & this befell from his getting him a horse and thereon riding\naway. Now a wind sprang up in the evening and the weather waxed somewhat\ncold, and Styrkar had no other apparel than his shirt, a helme on his\nhead, and a naked sword in his hand.\n\nAnd he waxed cold as his weariness wore off. Then a certain waincarle\ncame driving towards him, and this man had a lined coat. Styrkar said\nunto him: 'Wilt thou sell thy jacket, peasant?' 'Not to thee,' quoth he,\n'thou art a Norwegian, as I wist by thy tongue.'\n\n'An I am a Norwegian what wilt thou do then?' said Styrkar. 'I would\nslay thee; but alack I have no weapon to do it with,' the peasant\nreplied. 'If thou canst not slay me, peasant, I will make trial if I\ncannot slay thee,' and therewith Styrkar swung his sword and brought it\ndown on the man's neck so that his head was cut off; and then took he\nthe fur coat and springing on to his horse rode down to the shore.\n\n\n|| Now tidings were borne to the Rouen Earl, William the Bastard, of the\ndeath of King Edward his kinsman, & furthermore was it told how Harald\nGodwinson had been acclaimed as King of England and had been consecrated\nthereto. Now William deemed he had a better right to that kingdom than\nHarald, to wit by reason of the kinship betwixt him & King Edward, and\nwithal furthermore inasmuch as he deemed it but fair to avenge himself\non Harald for the slight of that broken betrothal with his own daughter.\n\nFor all these self-same reasons, then, assembled William an host\ntogether in Normandy, and a multitude of men were mustered, with a\ngoodly sufficiency of ships. And on the day that he rode from the city\nunto his ships, when he had mounted up on to his horse, his wife went to\nhim & would have spoken with him, but when he saw this he thrust at her\nwith his heel, setting his spur in her breast so that it penetrated deep\ntherein, and she fell and straightway died.Sec. But the Earl rode to his\nships and fared with his host over to England. At that time was his\nbrother Otta with him.\n\nWhen the Earl came to England plundered he there, & brought the land\ninto subjection under him wheresoever he went.\n\nEarl William was bigger and stronger than other men, a good horseman,\nthe greatest of warriors, and very cruel; a very wise man was he withal,\nbut accounted in no wise trustworthy.\n\n\n|| King Harald Godwinson gave Olaf, the son of King Harald Sigurdson,\npermission to fare his way, and in like fashion treated he those men of\nthe host who had been with the King and had not fallen. King Harald then\nturned southward with his host, for he had learned that William Bastard\nwas faring northward through England, & was conquering the country.\nThere were with Harald Godwinson at that time his brethren Svein,Sec. Gyrd,\nand Walthiof. King Harald and Earl William met in the south of England\nat Hastings and a great battle befell there.\n\nIn it were slain King Harald and his brother Earl Gyrd, & a great part\nof their host. Nineteen nights was it after the fall of King Harald\nSigurdson,Sec. Earl Walthiof, own brother to Harald, made good his escape\nby flight, and at even fell in with a band of William's men; whereupon\nEarl Walthiof set fire to the forest and burned them all up. Thus saith\nThorkel Skallson in Walthiof's lay:\n\n  'An hundred King's own court-men\n  The warrior had burned\n  In hottest fire (to the men\n  An eve of singeing was it).\n  'Tis said that the men\n  'Neath the wolf's claw must lie;\n  Gray steed of the troll-quean\n  Gave victuals to the swords.'\n\n\n|| Thereon caused William himself to be proclaimed King of England, and\nthereafter sent he to Earl Walthiof proffering him peace & appointing a\ntruce so that a meeting might take place betwixt them. The Earl fared to\nit with but few men, and when he was come on the heath north of the\ncastle bridge two of the King's bailiffs advanced upon him with a band\nof men, and when they had taken him they put him in chains; thereafter\nhe was beheaded.Sec. The English call him sainted. Thus saith Thorkel:\n\n  ''Tis doubtless that manly Walthiof\n  By William (he who from the south\n  Across the chill main came)\n  Is bewrayed in his trusting.\n  Sooth is that long 'twill be\n  Ere ends the slaying of men\n  In England (swift was my master.\n  No prince like him doth live).'\n\n\n|| Afterwards lived William as King of England for one and twenty\nwinters, and ever since have his descendants ruled as Kings of England.\n\n\n|| Now Olaf the son to King Harald Sigurdson took his men and fared away\nfrom England, sailing forth from Ravenseer whence they came in autumn to\nthe Orkneys, & there learned they the tidings that Maria the daughter of\nKing Harald Sigurdson had died of a sudden death on the self-same day\nand in that same hour as her father King Harald had perished. Olaf\ntarried in the Orkneys the winter through but the summer thereafter\nfared he east to Norway, and was made King there together with his\nbrother Magnus.\n\nQueen Ellisif journeyed eastward with her step-son Olaf and her daughter\nIngigerd.\n\nSkuli also, he who was afterwards called King's-fosterer, & his brother\nKetil Crook, likewise fared overseas with Olaf. The twain of them were\ndoughty men, and noble in England, and both were very sage and\nwell-beloved by the King. Ketil Crook fared northward to Halogaland and\nKing Olaf gat him a good marriage, and from him are descended many great\nmen. Skuli, King's-fosterer, was a wise and strong man, very fair to\nbehold; he became captain of King Olaf's body-guard, lent his counsel at\nthe Things, and ruled with the King in all governances of the land. King\nOlaf desired to give Skuli a province in Norway, whichever he was minded\nto have, with all the incomes and dues that the King held disposition\nover, but Skuli thanked him for this offer and said that he would liefer\nask for other things because should there be a change of kings perchance\nthe gift would be taken back: 'I will,' said he, 'accept certain domains\nwhich lie nigh to the towns, where ye, Sire, are wont to be, and where\nthe Yule feasts are held.' So King Olaf gave him his word thereon, and\nmade over to him lands in the east at Konungahella, and at Oslo, at\nTunsberg, at Borg, at Bergen, and in the north at Nidaros. They were\nnigh upon the best estates at each place, and they have ever since been\nthe possessions of men of the lineage of Skuli.\n\nKing Olaf married Skuli to his kinswoman Gudrun Nefsteinsdotir, whose\nmother was Ingirid the daughter of King Sigurd Sow and his wife Asta.\nAsta was own sister of King Olaf the Saint & of King Harald. The son of\nSkuli and Gudrun was Asolf of Reini who was wedded to Thora the daughter\nof Skopti Ogmundson. The son of Asolf and Thora was Guthorm of Reini,\nthe father of Bard, the father of King Ingi and Duke Skuli.\n\n\n|| On a winter after the fall of King Harald was his body transported\nfrom England to Nidaros and interred there in the Church of St. Mary,\nthat selfsame church the which he himself had caused to be builded.\n\nIt was allowed by all that King Harald had exceeded other men in wisdom\n& resourcefulness, both when he had been fain to act swiftly or had\ndebated long, either for himself or others. The most valiant of all men\nwas he, and victorious withal, even as hath been set forth this while:\n\n  'The waster of Zealand's dwellers\n  In boldness ne'er was lacking;\n  Mind ruleth half of victory,\n  And soothly Harald proveth it.'\n\n\n|| King Harald was stately and goodly to behold, fair hair and a fair\nbeard had he, and a long moustache; of his eyebrows the one was somewhat\nhigher than the other, & he had large hands and feet, but either\nshapely. Five ells was he in stature. Towards his foes was he cruel, and\nwhen withstood revengeful. Thus saith Thiodolf:\n\n  'Sage Harald doth arrogance\n  In his thanes chastise;\n  Methinks the King's men bear\n  But that which they mete out.\n  Such burdens bear they\n  As for themselves they care to have\n  (The law is used for each against the other);\n  Thus doth Harald change revenge.'\n\n\n|| King Harald vastly loved power & all worldly advantages, but towards\nhis friends, even to those whom he liked well, was he very bountiful.\nThiodolf telleth us as followeth:\n\n  'Of ships'-battle the awakener\n  For my work a mark bestowed;\n  To praise vouchsafeth he\n  Each one who proveth him thereof worthy.'\n\n\n|| King Harald was fifty years of age when he fell. We have no tales of\ncount regarding his up-growing, or ever he was fifteen winters old and\nwas at Stiklastad, in the battle, with his brother King Olaf. Thereafter\nlived he for five and thirty years, and during all that time had ever\nturmoil and strife. King Harald never fled from any battle, but\noft-times sought he expedients when the odds of war were against him.\n\nAll men who followed him in battle or warfare avowed that when he found\nhimself hard pressed or was obliged to make a swift resolution, he chose\nthat course which afterwards all men saw to be the likeliest to avail.\n\n\n|| Halldor, the son of Bryniolf the Camel, hight likewise the Old, was a\nwise man and a great lord, and thus spake he when he heard the\nconversation of men in respect to the very different natures of King\nOlaf the Saint and his brother King Harald.\n\n'I was with both brothers,' said he, 'and high in favour, and I wotted\nthe natures of both: never did I find two men so alike at heart. Both\nwere very wise and valiant men, loving possessions and power, masterful,\nnot lowly-hearted, overbearing, haughty, and quick to chastise. King\nOlaf constrained the people of the land to Christianity and the true\nFaith, but punished harshly those who turned a deaf ear to his commands.\n\nThe chiefs of the land who would not suffer his even-handed dispensation\nof justice rose up against him and slew him in his own land, and it is\nfor that reason he is called saintly.\n\nBut King Harald harried for renown and dominion, bringing under his yoke\nall people that he could bring under it, and he fell in the land of\nother kings.\n\nBoth these brothers in normal life were men of religion and had regard\nfor their honour; they were likewise travelled & vigorous in mind, & it\nis from such-like qualities that they waxed so far-famed.'\n\n\n|| King Magnus Haraldson ruled Norway the first winter after the fall of\nKing Harald, but thereafter ruled he the land for two winters together\nwith his brother King Olaf, and there were then two kings together,\nMagnus having dominion in the northern half of the land & Olaf in the\neastern half. King Magnus had a son who was hight Hakon & his\nfoster-father was Steig-Thorir; a youth of promise was he.\n\n\n|| After the death of King Harald Sigurdson, Svein, the Danish King, gave\nout that peace was at an end betwixt Norwegians and Danes, for the pact\nwas made to endure only as long as both kings lived. So then were men\nmustered in both realms; King Harald's sons called out a general-host\nand ships from Norway, and King Svein fared northward with the host of\nthe Danes.\n\nAnd so it was that messengers were thereafter despatched betwixt the\nkings with offers of peace, and the Norwegians said that they would\neither keep to the covenant which had been made aforetime or fight. For\nthat reason the following verse was sung:\n\n  'With threats and words of peace\n  Olaf his land defended,\n  So that no one from the King\n  Durst claim a right thereto.'\n\nAnd thus saith Stein Herdason in the lay of Olaf:\n\n  'His heritage 'gainst Svein\n  The warlike King defended\n  In that merchant town where resteth\n  (Great is he) the saintly King.'\n\n\n|| But a compact was come to betwixt the kings at the time of this\nmustering, & peace ensued in the lands. King Magnus was afterwards\nstricken with a sickness, the rift-worm sickness, and when he had lain\nabed for some time died he at Nidaros, and there was buried. He was a\nKing right well-beloved of all the people.\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\nThese notes, with few exceptions, are taken from Professor Gustav\nStorm's Norwegian version of the Heimskringla, from which this\ntranslation of the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason and of Harald Hardrad\n(Harald the Tyrant) is made.\n\n    ETHEL H. HEARN.\n\n  [Transcriber's Note:\n\n  For this e-text, the word or phrase referenced in the note is shown\n  in {braces} before the page-and-line citation. Moved markers are\n  individually noted.\n\n  \"Translator\" refers to the English translation (the present text).]\n\n\n{King Valdamar} Page 12, line 11. Vladimir the Great of Russia\n(980-1015) became Grand Duke of Novgorod in 970.\n  [Marker printed after \"high favour\" on following page.]\n\n{'hersir'} Page 19, line 25. The head of a 'her,' _i.e._, a hundred\nfamilies. The territory inhabited by them was called a 'herath.' The\n'hersir' seems to have combined the offices of commander in time of war,\nand religious head of his tribe. --Translator.\n\n{the Fjords} _Ibid._ Nordfiord and Soendfiord.\n\n{war-fine} Page 20, line 1. Those who absented themselves when the ships\nwere called out for war, or who came to a wrong place of meeting, or at\na wrong time, were compelled to pay a war-fine.\n\n{Vingulmark} Page 28, line 31. This is not in accord with page 22,\nline 2, in which Vingulmark is mentioned as being given to Harald the\nGrenlander. Perhaps the error is on the page aforesaid, as on page 53,\nline 30, Harald is described as King of Vestfold only.\n\n{Vindland (Wendland)} Page 30, line 14. The present North Germany, from\neastern Holstein to eastern Prussia.\n  [Marker printed after \"good havens\" on next line.]\n\n{Burizlaf} Page 30, line 17. _I.e._, Boleslaw. By 'Burislav,' as\nmentioned here, must not be understood Boleslaw I of Poland (992-1025),\nbut his father Miesco or Mieczyslaw (964-992).\n\n{Emperor Otta} Page 31, line 12. The Emperor Otta is the Emperor Otho II\n(973-983). His march on Denmark did not take place in 988 as Snorri\ncalculates, but late in the autumn of 974. Nor was the Emperor's object\nthe conversion of King Harald, for the latter had accepted Christianity\nabout 960-- but to bring Denmark under his own vassalage.\n\n{Danavirki} Page 31, line 18. The Danavirki, or Danish wall, began in\nthe east at the head of the Slefjord, and extended to the west only as\nfar as the Traeaa, the tributary river of the isthmus, and not to the\nsea.\n  [Marker printed after \"his call\" earlier in sentence.]\n\n{likewise King Burizlaf} Page 32, line 24. It is not historical that\nBurislaw (or Miesco) accompanied the Emperor to the Danish wall; nor was\nOlaf Tryggvason, who was not full grown in 974, with him.\n\n{saintly bishop} Page 33, line 33. As early as 968 Vidkund of Corvey, in\nhis chronicle of that year, mentions Poppo's miracle and its effect in\ncausing Harald to embrace Christianity. The incident must be ascribed to\nabout the year 906.\n\n{other learned men} Page 34, line 12. 'Learned men' means men trained in\nthe learning of the Church, that is to say, belonging to the priesthood.\n\n{Gat answer Fret} Page 35, line 3. 'Go to Fret' (?) means to consult the\ngods by means of the so-called 'blotspaan,' or sacrificial shavings.\nThese, and pieces of wood (perhaps inscribed with runes) were disposed\nin a particular manner, for the purpose of gaining information from the\ngods as to the future.\n\n{Gyda} Page 39, line 6. Gyda was the daughter of Olaf Kvaran, and not\nhis sister. Olaf Kvaran died an old man in 980.\n  [Correct line reference is 7.]\n\n{holmgangsman} Page 40, line 3. 'Holmgang' so called in Norway because\nthe two combatants retired alone to a holm or uninhabited islet to\nfight. --Translator.\n\n{across the isthmus} Page 48, line 1. Mandseidet in Stadland.\n\n{Vissavald} Page 55, line 15. The Russian name Wsevolod.\n\n{King Olaf Kvaran} Page 57, line 22. According to English sources Olaf\nwas lying with his fleet off Southampton during the winter of 994-995.\nHe received instruction there in Christianity from English bishops, and\nwas confirmed in the spring of 995, on which occasion King Ethelred was\nhis sponsor. He returned home to his country early in the summer.\n\n{Rimul} Page 59, line 28. Rimul now the farm of Romol (Guldalen) on the\nwest side of the Gula river, opposite Melhus.\n\n{Urgutherjot and Brimiskiar, Page 66 bottom.}\n  _Note missing._\n\n{eastward as far as Lidandisnes} Page 72, line 6. The 'Sogn-sea' formed\nthe boundary between Sogn and Hordaland so that the territory given to\nErling was Hordaland, Rogaland, and the western part of Agder, as far as\nthe Naze.\n\n{Sigurd Sow} Page 74, line 4. So-called because he 'rooted in the soil,'\n_i.e._, practised agriculture.\n\n{Olaf her son} Page 74, line 11. This is not historical. Olaf the Saint\nwas not christened until he was full grown. According to the oldest\nsources he was baptized in Rouen by Archbishop Robert, the brother of\nDuke Richard.\n\n{Easter Eve} Page 76, line 21. April 16, 998.\n\n{never should Odin beguile them} Page 78, line 20. Olaf, like all\nChristians at that time, thought Odin to be an evil spirit.\n\n{war-arrow} Page 78, line 27. A war-arrow was furnished with a cord or\ntwist of withy at one end, and was intended to summon all men armed to a\nThing.\n\n{Scipa-Krok} Page 82, line 8. 'Ship-corner,' a little creek of the river\nNid, at the end of the present Strand Gade in Trondhjem.\n\n{the Skeggi barrow at Austratt} Page 82, line 13. This barrow,\nSkjeggehaugen, existed at the beginning of the nineteenth century;\nit was situated to the south of the farm of 'Oestraat' (Austrat).\n\n{aft with a crook} Page 91, line 33. _Svirar_: what these were is not\nknown; they must have been at the stern of the ship.\n\n{Michaelmas} Page 93, line 16. September 29, 999.\n\n{white weeds} Page 94, line 3. _I.e._, in christening raiment, which was\nworn for a week after baptism.\n\n{Aldeigiaborg} Page 100, line 31. The town of Ladoga; it was situated at\nthat time on the river Volkhov which debouches into the lake of Ladoga.\n\n{Adalsysla & Eysysla} Page 101, line 8. The island of Oesel was named in\nOld-Norse Ey-Sysla (island district) and the mainland opposite\nAdal-Sysla (chief district), and the whole of Estland (or Esthonia)\ntogether Sysla.\n\n{Queen Gunnhild fell sick and died} Page 101, line 32. This is\nincorrect. Gunnhild was put away by King Svein and sent home to\nWendland; after the death of Svein in 1014 her sons had her brought back\nto Denmark.\n\n{Vineland the Good} Page 107, line 29. North America, probably Nova\nScotia.\n\n{skeid} Page 108, line 7. A particular kind of long-ship without a\n'head' at the prow.\n\n{Svold} Page 110, line 7. Svold is not an island as Snorri thought, but\na haven or creek in the mouth of a river somewhat west of Ruegen.\n\n{Finnish} Page 118, line 1. _I.e._, Lappish. --Translator.\n\n{the burner of the Bulgars} Page 126, line 10. Harald Hardrad, or Harald\nthe Tyrant was in the service of the Greek Emperor in the year 1041, and\ntook part in the pillaging of the rebellious Bulgarians. The account of\nthis was not known to Snorri who lived so much later, but Thiodolf had\nheard of it.\n\n{Laesirs} Page 127, line 23. An unknown people, perhaps 'Lechers,'\n_i.e._, Poles.\n\n{Gyrgir} Page 128, line 10. Georgios Maniakes, the brave commander of\nthe Greeks in the valley of the Euphrates 1033-1035, and in Sicily in\n1038-1040.\n\n{Vaerings} Page 128, line 13. Mercenaries, chiefly the northern\ninhabitants of Russia and of Greece.\n\n{Serkland} Page 130, line 26. Snorri here confuses 'Serkland' in Asia\nwith Africa. Harald was taking part in the wars in Syria and Armenia in\nthe years 1035-1037, before going in 1038 with the Greek army to Sicily.\n\n{The son of Budli, as 'twas said / Showed friendship by his fellowship}\nPage 131, lines 8 and 9. These two lines refer to Atli the King of the\nHuns, who according to the legend invited his brothers-in-law (Gunnar\nand Hogn) to a feast in order to betray them.\n\n{all the days of his life} Page 135, line 7. Snorri Sturlason was\ndescended from Halldor in the fifth degree.\n\n{Jorsalaheim (Palestine)} Page 136, line 24. The Greek Emperor concluded\na peace with the Calif of Egypt in 1036 which enabled the Emperor to\nbuild churches near the Holy Sepulchre. Craftsmen were despatched\nthither for this purpose by the Emperor, and among the troops sent to\nprotect them was Harald Hardrad, or Harald the Tyrant.\n\n{the daughter of the brother to Queen Zoe} Page 138, line 1. Zoe never\nhad a brother, so the relationship, at all events, is inaccurate.\n\n{that chapel has stood there unto this very day} Page 138, line 18.\nNo such chapel has ever been known to exist in Constantinople.\n\n{this deed} Page 139, line 15. It is a fact that Harald was one of those\nwho blinded the 'Greek King' Michael Kalafates. The latter was accepted\nas the son of Zoe and became Emperor together with her in 1041. After\ndeposing her (April 21, 1042) he was himself deposed, and was blinded in\nthe street by his body-guard, in which Harald was serving as\n'spatharokandidat' (colonel). Michael is in this case confused with his\nsuccessor Constantine.\n\n{Siavidarsund} Page 139, line 19. Siavidarsund (_i.e._, 'the sound with\nthe sea-wood') is the present Golden Horn; the heavy iron chain, which\nwas stretched across its extremity, in times of dispute rested on wooden\nfloats.\n\n{Ellipalta} Page 140, line 3. The mouth of the Dnieper in the Black Sea.\n\n{East-realm} Page 140, line 4. East-realm, _i.e._, Russia, or its\neastern provinces.\n\n{three occasions} Page 140, line 21. If this is correct Harald must have\ngone to Constantinople before 1034, as there was a change of monarch in\n1034, 1041, and 1042.\n\n{Sudatorp} Page 143, line 13. In south Jutland, west of Aabenraa. Magnus\ndied in Zealand. His successor Svein (who was also named Magnus) died at\nSudatorp.\n\n{brother} Page 143, line 14. _I.e._, half-brother (Alfhild's son, not\nOlaf's).\n\n{Budli's ways} Page 148, line 10. Budli's, or the sea-king's way-- the\nsea.\n\n{Harald's soul in Heaven} Page 148, line 28. This line with line 23 on\npage 137 and one omitted from the foregoing verse form together a kind\nof refrain which runs as follows: \"May it dwell where it listeth-- In\nChrist's eternal House-- Harald's soul in Heaven.\"\n\n{Peter Burden-Swain} Page 152, line 33. So named because upon a certain\noccasion he carried King Sigurd Slembe at a Thing.\n\n{the church of Saint Olaf} Page 153, line 7. Ruins of the church of\nSaint Olaf are to be found under the present Town Hall on the northern\nside of Kongens Gade, in Trondhjem.\n\n{relics of King Olaf} Page 153, line 20. They were moved thither from\nSt. Clement's church.\n  [Marker printed at end of sentence.]\n\n{church of Saint Gregory} Page 153, line 23. This church was west of the\nchurch of Saint Olaf, on the north side of the present Kongens Gade,\nwhere the Savings Bank now stands.\n\n{eight or nine long-ships, and nigh upon five hundred men} Page 155,\nline 13. That is to say, 600.\n\n{the King's-House down by the river} Page 156, line 10. 'The\nKing's-House down by the river' was the new King's-House which Harald\nhad built east of the church of Saint Mary.\n\n{Guthorm Gunhildson} Page 158, line 11. The son of Ketil Calf and\nGunnhild (mentioned on page 154).\n\n{said to be nephew} Page 162, line 32. Asmund's father was Biorn Ulfson,\nthe brother of Harald (died 1049).\n\n{King Margad} Page 166, line 35. Margad (in Irish Eachmargach)\nRognvaldson was the King of Dublin in 1035-1038 and 1046-1052.\n\n{St. Olafmas} Page 167, line 26. July 28, 1052.\n\n{there} Page 168, line 11. _I.e._ in the Cathedral.\n\n{Oslo} Page 170, line 20. On the site of part of the present city of\nChristiania.\n\n{bussa-ship} Page 171, line 34. A '_Bussa_' was a particular kind of\nlarge ship, broad in the beam, especially a war-ship.\n\n{......} Page 172, line 2. _Svirar_, see note on page 91, line 33.\n\n{one hundred and fifty} Page 174, line 8. That is to say, 180.\n\n{three hundred} Page 174, line 13. 360 ships.\n\n{Leidra} Page 176, line 1. Later Leire, near Roskilde in Zealand.\n\n{Vandrad} Page 178, line 21. _I.e._, one who is in distress.\n\n{two hundred men} Page 182, line 34. That is to say, 240.\n\n{Queen Gyda} Page 190, line 29. Her name was Eadgitha; Gyda was her\nmother's name. The sons of Earl Godwin were Harald, Tosti, Svein (died\n1052), and Gyrd. Harald was the _eldest_ son. Morcar, or Morkere, and\nWalthiof were not Earl Godwin's sons; Morcar was the son of AElfrik of\nMercia, and from 1065 was Earl of Northumberland; Walthiof was the son\nof the Danish Earl Siward of Northumberland (died 1055).\n\n{driven out to sea} Page 191, line 6. At Ponthieu, where the Count took\nhim prisoner. William released him and had him brought to Rouen. It is\nnot historical that Harald held undue intercourse with William's wife.\nWilliam made use of Harald's compulsory sojourn to make him swear\nallegiance to him, and affiance him to his daughter.\n\n{St. Paul's Church} Page 192, line 11. Unhistorical. The church referred\nto is St. Paul's in London, but Edward died and was buried at\nWinchester, where Harald was likewise crowned.\n\n{to guard the treasure of the King} Page 192, line 18. This is\nunhistorical. Tosti had been Earl of Northumberland since 1055, but was\ndriven away by the Northumbrians in October 1065 and fled to Flanders,\nso that he was not in England at the time of Edward's death. Harald was\nEarl of Wessex and the most powerful man in the land.\n\n{the 13th day} Page 192, line 28. _I.e._, the thirteenth day of\nChristmas, January 6.\n\n{more than other earls} Page 193, line 11. Not historical, see page 192,\nline 18.\n\n{Thingmanna-host} Page 195, line 20. The name of King Canute's Danish\nguard, instituted 1018.\n\n{Solundir} Page 196, line 3. The Sulen Islands outside Sognefjord.\n\n{two hundred} Page 196, line 16. That is to say, 240.\n\n{Earl Morcar} Page 199, line 20. Unhistorical. Morkere, or Morcar,\nescaped later and joined Harald the son of (Earl) Godwin.\n\n{Olaf the Mighty is} Page 199, line 27. Part of the refrain which runs\nas follows: 'Olaf the Mighty is-- the very greatest chief-- born under\nthe sun.'\n\n{the Wednesday} Page 200, line 9. September 20 (1066).\n\n{Stanford Bridge} Page 200, line 21. Now Stamford Bridge across the\nDerwent. Snorri thought that Stamford was situated nearer York than it\nreally is.\n\n{the Sunday} Page 200, line 27. September 24.\n\n{a Thing in the city} Page 201, line 2. This is incorrect. The Thing was\nto be held at Stamford Bridge and Harald was to be given there hostages\nfrom the whole of Yorkshire. It was for this reason that the battle\noccurred there.\n\n{the Monday} Page 201, line 11. September 25 (1066).\n\n{the horsemen} Page 202, line 32. Legends referring to the battle of\nHastings (October 14, 1066) are incorporated in this and the following\nnarrative. It was the Norwegians who fought on horseback, and who used\nthe expedient of pretended flight against the English, and not the\nreverse: the latter had no horse.\n\n{she fell and straightway died} Page 208, line 19. Quite unhistorical.\n\n{Svein} Page 208, line 34. Svein was killed in 1052.\n\n{the fall of King Harald Sigurdson} Page 209, line 4. October 14, 1066.\n\n{thereafter he was beheaded} Page 209, line 24. Walthiof submitted to\nWilliam immediately after the battle, and became in 1070 Earl of\nNorthumberland. In 1074 he took part in a plot against William and,\nalthough he made a timely confession of it, was beheaded outside\nWinchester in 1075.\n  [Marker printed after following sentence.]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n           *       *       *       *\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nErrors and Anomalies\n\n  \"whithersoever\"\n    _occasionally printed \"withersoever\"_\n\n  ye relics of King Olaf\n    _text unchanged_\n  no power would the horsemen have over us\n    _text reads \"Norsemen\"_\n\n  Hyphenated Words:\n  To the war-gathering on the longships\n    _hyphen missing in original; normal form is \"long-ships\"_\n  When the fore-castle men on the 'Serpent' saw this\n  leap over-board each on his own side\n    _hyphens in original; normal forms are \"forecastle\" and \"overboard\"_\n\n  Punctuation:\n  Thorstein the White of Oprostad,\n    _text has period (full stop) for comma_\n  After the death of King Harald Sigurdson,\n    _text has hyphen for comma_\n  and choose them tent-places.'\n    _close quote missing_","title":"The sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and of Harald the Tyrant (Harald Haardraade)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":71153}