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Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway

by Snorri Sturluson · English · Gutenberg #598 · 1,714,652 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway

Author: Snorri Sturluson


        
Release date: July 1, 1996 [eBook #598]
                Most recently updated: March 18, 2010

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/598

Credits: Produced by Douglas B. Killings, and David Widger


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEIMSKRINGLA; OR, THE CHRONICLE OF THE KINGS OF NORWAY ***




Produced by Douglas B. Killings





HEIMSKRINGLA

OR

THE CHRONICLE OF THE KINGS OF NORWAY

By Snorri Sturlason

(c.1179-1241)


Originally written in Old Norse, app. 1225 A.D., by the poet and
historian Snorri Sturlason.


TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:

The "Heimskringla" of Snorri Sturlason is a collection of sagas
concerning the various rulers of Norway, from about A.D. 850 to the year
A.D. 1177.

The Sagas covered in this work are the following:

  1.  Halfdan the Black Saga
  2.  Harald Harfager's Saga
  3.  Hakon the Good's Saga
  4.  Saga of King Harald Grafeld and of Earl Hakon Son of Sigurd
  5.  King Olaf Trygvason's Saga
  6.  Saga of Olaf Haraldson (St. Olaf)
  7.  Saga of Magnus the Good
  8.  Saga of Harald Hardrade
  9.  Saga of Olaf Kyrre
  10. Magnus Barefoot's Saga
  11. Saga of Sigurd the Crusader and His Brothers Eystein and Olaf
  12. Saga of Magnus the Blind and of Harald Gille
  13. Saga of Sigurd, Inge, and Eystein, the Sons of Harald
  14. Saga of Hakon Herdebreid ("Hakon the Broad-Shouldered")
  15. Magnus Erlingson's Saga

While scholars and historians continue to debate the historical accuracy
of Sturlason's work, the "Heimskringla" is still considered an important
original source for information on the Viking Age, a period which
Sturlason covers almost in its entirety.




PREFACE OF SNORRE STURLASON.

In this book I have had old stories written down, as I have heard
them told by intelligent people, concerning chiefs who have have held
dominion in the northern countries, and who spoke the Danish tongue;
and also concerning some of their family branches, according to what
has been told me. Some of this is found in ancient family registers,
in which the pedigrees of kings and other personages of high birth are
reckoned up, and part is written down after old songs and ballads which
our forefathers had for their amusement. Now, although we cannot just
say what truth there may be in these, yet we have the certainty that old
and wise men held them to be true.

Thjodolf of Hvin was the skald of Harald Harfager, and he composed a
poem for King Rognvald the Mountain-high, which is called "Ynglingatal."
This Rognvald was a son of Olaf Geirstadalf, the brother of King Halfdan
the Black. In this poem thirty of his forefathers are reckoned up, and
the death and burial-place of each are given. He begins with Fjolner, a
son of Yngvefrey, whom the Swedes, long after his time, worshipped and
sacrificed to, and from whom the race or family of the Ynglings take
their name.

Eyvind Skaldaspiller also reckoned up the ancestors of Earl Hakon the
Great in a poem called "Haleygjatal", composed about Hakon; and therein
he mentions Saeming, a son of Yngvefrey, and he likewise tells of the
death and funeral rites of each. The lives and times of the Yngling
race were written from Thjodolf's relation enlarged afterwards by the
accounts of intelligent people.

As to funeral rites, the earliest age is called the Age of Burning;
because all the dead were consumed by fire, and over their ashes were
raised standing stones. But after Frey was buried under a cairn at
Upsala, many chiefs raised cairns, as commonly as stones, to the memory
of their relatives.

The Age of Cairns began properly in Denmark after Dan Milkillate had
raised for himself a burial cairn, and ordered that he should be buried
in it on his death, with his royal ornaments and armour, his horse and
saddle-furniture, and other valuable goods; and many of his descendants
followed his example. But the burning of the dead continued, long after
that time, to be the custom of the Swedes and Northmen. Iceland was
occupied in the time that Harald Harfager was the King of Norway. There
were skalds in Harald's court whose poems the people know by heart even
at the present day, together with all the songs about the kings who have
ruled in Norway since his time; and we rest the foundations of our story
principally upon the songs which were sung in the presence of the chiefs
themselves or of their sons, and take all to be true that is found in
such poems about their feats and battles: for although it be the fashion
with skalds to praise most those in whose presence they are standing,
yet no one would dare to relete to a chief what he, and all those who
heard it, knew to be a false and imaginary, not a true account of his
deeds; because that would be mockery, not praise.

OF THE PRIEST ARE FRODE

The priest Are Frode (the learned), a son of Thorgils the son of Geller,
was the first man in this country who wrote down in the Norse language
narratives of events both old and new. In the beginning of his book he
wrote principally about the first settlements in Iceland, the laws and
government, and next of the lagmen, and how long each had administered
the law; and he reckoned the years at first, until the time when
Christianity was introduced into Iceland, and afterwards reckoned from
that to his own times. To this he added many other subjects, such as
the lives and times of kings of Norway and Denmark, and also of England;
beside accounts of great events which have taken place in this country
itself. His narratives are considered by many men of knowledge to be the
most remarkable of all; because he was a man of good understanding,
and so old that his birth was as far back as the year after Harald
Sigurdson's fall. He wrote, as he himself says, the lives and times of
the kings of Norway from the report of Od Kolson, a grandson of Hal of
Sida. Od again took his information from Thorgeir Afradskol, who was an
intelligent man, and so old that when Earl Hakon the Great was killed
he was dwelling at Nidarnes--the same place at which King Olaf Trygvason
afterwards laid the foundation of the merchant town of Nidaros (i.e.,
Throndhjem) which is now there. The priest Are came, when seven years
old, to Haukadal to Hal Thorarinson, and was there fourteen years. Hal
was a man of great knowledge and of excellent memory; and he could even
remember being baptized, when he was three years old, by the priest
Thanghrand, the year before Christianity was established by law in
Iceland. Are was twelve years of age when Bishop Isleif died, and at
his death eighty years had elapsed since the fall of Olaf Trygvason. Hal
died nine years later than Bishop Isleif, and had attained nearly the
age of ninety-four years. Hal had traded between the two countries, and
had enjoyed intercourse with King Olaf the Saint, by which he had
gained greatly in reputation, and he had become well acquainted with the
kingdom of Norway. He had fixed his residence in Haukadal when he was
thirty years of age, and he had dwelt there sixty-four years, as Are
tells us. Teit, a son of Bishop Isleif, was fostered in the house of
Hal at Haukadal, and afterwards dwelt there himself. He taught Are the
priest, and gave him information about many circumstances which Are
afterwards wrote down. Are also got many a piece of information from
Thurid, a daughter of the gode Snorre. She was wise and intelligent, and
remembered her father Snorre, who was nearly thirty-five years of age
when Christianity was introduced into Iceland, and died a year after
King Olaf the Saint's fall. So it is not wonderful that Are the priest
had good information about ancient events both here in Iceland,
and abroad, being a man anxious for information, intelligent and of
excellent memory, and having besides learned much from old intelligent
persons. But the songs seem to me most reliable if they are sung
correctly, and judiciously interpreted.




HALFDAN THE BLACK SAGA.


PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Of this saga there are other versions found in "Fagrskinna" and in
"Flateyjarbok". The "Flateyjarbok" version is to a great extent a copy
of Snorre. The story about Halfdan's dream is found both in "Fagrskinna"
and in "Flateyjarbok". The probability is that both Snorre and
the author of "Fagrskinna" must have transcribed the same original
text.--Ed.




1. HALFDAN FIGHTS WITH GANDALF AND SIGTRYG.

Halfdan was a year old when his father was killed, and his mother Asa
set off immediately with him westwards to Agder, and set herself there
in the kingdom which her father Harald had possessed. Halfdan grew up
there, and soon became stout and strong; and, by reason of his black
hair, was called Halfdan the Black. When he was eighteen years old he
took his kingdom in Agder, and went immediately to Vestfold, where he
divided that kingdom, as before related, with his brother Olaf. The same
autumn he went with an army to Vingulmark against King Gandalf. They had
many battles, and sometimes one, sometimes the other gained the victory;
but at last they agreed that Halfdan should have half of Vingulmark,
as his father Gudrod had had it before. Then King Halfdan proceeded to
Raumarike, and subdued it. King Sigtryg, son of King Eystein, who then
had his residence in Hedemark, and who had subdued Raumarike before,
having heard of this, came out with his army against King Halfdan, and
there was great battle, in which King Halfdan was victorious; and just
as King Sigtryg and his troops were turning about to fly, an arrow
struck him under the left arm, and he fell dead. Halfdan then laid the
whole of Raumarike under his power. King Eystein's second son, King
Sigtryg's brother, was also called Eystein, and was then king in
Hedemark. As soon as Halfdan had returned to Vestfold, King Eystein went
out with his army to Raumarike, and laid the whole country in subjection
to him.




2. BATTLE BETWEEN HALFDAN AND EYSTEIN.

When King Halfdan heard of these disturbances in Raumarike, he again
gathered his army together; and went out against King Eystein. A battle
took place between them, and Halfdan gained the victory, and Eystein
fled up to Hedemark, pursued by Halfdan. Another battle took place, in
which Halfdan was again victorious; and Eystein fled northwards, up
into the Dales to the herse Gudbrand. There he was strengthened with
new people, and in winter he went towards Hedemark, and met Halfdan the
Black upon a large island which lies in the Mjosen lake. There a great
battle was fought, and many people on both sides were slain, but Halfdan
won the victory. There fell Guthorm, the son of the herse Gudbrand, who
was one of the finest men in the Uplands. Then Eystein fled north up the
valley, and sent his relation Halvard Skalk to King Halfdan to beg for
peace. On consideration of their relationship, King Halfdan gave King
Eystein half of Hedemark, which he and his relations had held before;
but kept to himself Thoten, and the district called Land. He likewise
appropriated to himself Hadeland, and thus became a mighty king.




3. HALFDAN'S MARRIAGE

Halfdan the Black got a wife called Ragnhild, a daughter of Harald
Gulskeg (Goldbeard), who was a king in Sogn. They had a son, to whom
Harald gave his own name; and the boy was brought up in Sogn, by his
mother's father, King Harald. Now when this Harald had lived out his
days nearly, and was become weak, having no son, he gave his dominions
to his daughter's son Harald, and gave him his title of king; and he
died soon after. The same winter his daughter Ragnhild died; and the
following spring the young Harald fell sick and died at ten years of
age. As soon as Halfdan the Black heard of his son's death, he took the
road northwards to Sogn with a great force, and was well received. He
claimed the heritage and dominion after his son; and no opposition being
made, he took the whole kingdom. Earl Atle Mjove (the Slender), who was
a friend of King Halfdan, came to him from Gaular; and the king set
him over the Sogn district, to judge in the country according to the
country's laws, and collect scat upon the king's account. Thereafter
King Halfdan proceeded to his kingdom in the Uplands.




4. HALFDAN'S STRIFE WITH GANDALF'S SONS.

In autumn, King Halfdan proceeded to Vingulmark. One night when he was
there in guest quarters, it happened that about midnight a man came to
him who had been on the watch on horseback, and told him a war force was
come near to the house. The king instantly got up, ordered his men to
arm themselves, and went out of the house and drew them up in battle
order. At the same moment, Gandalf's sons, Hysing and Helsing, made
their appearance with a large army. There was a great battle; but
Halfdan being overpowered by the numbers of people fled to the forest,
leaving many of his men on this spot. His foster-father, Olver Spake
(the Wise), fell here. The people now came in swarms to King Halfdan,
and he advanced to seek Gandalf's sons. They met at Eid, near Lake
Oieren, and fought there. Hysing and Helsing fell, and their brother
Hake saved himself by flight. King Halfdan then took possession of the
whole of Vingulmark, and Hake fled to Alfheimar.




5. HALFDAN'S MARRIAGE WITH HJORT'S DAUGHTER.

Sigurd Hjort was the name of a king in Ringerike, who was stouter and
stronger than any other man, and his equal could not be seen for a
handsome appearance. His father was Helge Hvasse (the Sharp); and his
mother was Aslaug, a daughter of Sigurd the worm-eyed, who again was a
son of Ragnar Lodbrok. It is told of Sigurd that when he was only twelve
years old he killed in single combat the berserk Hildebrand, and eleven
others of his comrades; and many are the deeds of manhood told of him in
a long saga about his feats. Sigurd had two children, one of whom was
a daughter, called Ragnhild, then twenty years of age, and an excellent
brisk girl. Her brother Guthorm was a youth. It is related in regard
to Sigurd's death that he had a custom of riding out quite alone in the
uninhabited forest to hunt the wild beasts that are hurtful to man, and
he was always very eager at this sport. One day he rode out into the
forest as usual, and when he had ridden a long way he came out at a
piece of cleared land near to Hadeland. There the berserk Hake came
against him with thirty men, and they fought. Sigurd Hjort fell there,
after killing twelve of Hake's men; and Hake himself lost one hand, and
had three other wounds. Then Hake and his men rode to Sigurd's house,
where they took his daughter Ragnhild and her brother Guthorm, and
carried them, with much property and valuable articles, home to
Hadeland, where Hake had many great farms. He ordered a feast to be
prepared, intending to hold his wedding with Ragnhild; but the time
passed on account of his wounds, which healed slowly; and the berserk
Hake of Hadeland had to keep his bed, on account of his wounds, all the
autumn and beginning of winter. Now King Halfdan was in Hedemark at the
Yule entertainments when he heard this news; and one morning early, when
the king was dressed, he called to him Harek Gand, and told him to go
over to Hadeland, and bring him Ragnhild, Sigurd Hjort's daughter. Harek
got ready with a hundred men, and made his journey so that they came
over the lake to Hake's house in the grey of the morning, and beset all
the doors and stairs of the places where the house-servants slept. Then
they broke into the sleeping-room where Hake slept, took Ragnhild, with
her brother Guthorm, and all the goods that were there, and set fire
to the house-servants' place, and burnt all the people in it. Then they
covered over a magnificent waggon, placed Ragnhild and Guthorm in it,
and drove down upon the ice. Hake got up and went after them a while;
but when he came to the ice on the lake, he turned his sword-hilt to
the ground and let himself fall upon the point, so that the sword went
through him. He was buried under a mound on the banks of the lake. When
King Halfdan, who was very quick of sight, saw the party returning over
the frozen lake, and with a covered waggon, he knew that their errand
was accomplished according to his desire. Thereupon he ordered the
tables to be set out, and sent people all round in the neighbourhood to
invite plenty of guests; and the same day there was a good feast which
was also Halfdan's marriage-feast with Ragnhild, who became a great
queen. Ragnhild's mother was Thorny, a daughter of Klakharald king in
Jutland, and a sister of Thrye Dannebod who was married to the Danish
king, Gorm the Old, who then ruled over the Danish dominions.




6. OF RAGNHILD'S DREAM.

Ragnhild, who was wise and intelligent, dreamt great dreams. She dreamt,
for one, that she was standing out in her herb-garden, and she took a
thorn out of her shift; but while she was holding the thorn in her hand
it grew so that it became a great tree, one end of which struck itself
down into the earth, and it became firmly rooted; and the other end of
the tree raised itself so high in the air that she could scarcely see
over it, and it became also wonderfully thick. The under part of the
tree was red with blood, but the stem upwards was beautifully green and
the branches white as snow. There were many and great limbs to the tree,
some high up, others low down; and so vast were the tree's branches that
they seemed to her to cover all Norway, and even much more.




7. OF HALFDAN'S DREAM.

King Halfdan never had dreams, which appeared to him an extraordinary
circumstance; and he told it to a man called Thorleif Spake (the Wise),
and asked him what his advice was about it. Thorleif said that what he
himself did, when he wanted to have any revelation by dream, was to take
his sleep in a swine-sty, and then it never failed that he had dreams.
The king did so, and the following dream was revealed to him. He thought
he had the most beautiful hair, which was all in ringlets; some so long
as to fall upon the ground, some reaching to the middle of his legs,
some to his knees, some to his loins or the middle of his sides, some
to his neck, and some were only as knots springing from his head. These
ringlets were of various colours; but one ringlet surpassed all the
others in beauty, lustre, and size. This dream he told to Thorleif, who
interpreted it thus:--There should be a great posterity from him, and
his descendants should rule over countries with great, but not all with
equally great, honour; but one of his race should be more celebrated
than all the others. It was the opinion of people that this ringlet
betokened King Olaf the Saint.

King Halfdan was a wise man, a man of truth and uprightness--who made
laws, observed them himself, and obliged others to observe them. And
that violence should not come in place of the laws, he himself fixed
the number of criminal acts in law, and the compensations, mulcts, or
penalties, for each case, according to every one's birth and dignity
(1).

Queen Ragnhild gave birth to a son, and water was poured over him, and
the name of Harald given him, and he soon grew stout and remarkably
handsome. As he grew up he became very expert at all feats, and showed
also a good understanding. He was much beloved by his mother, but less
so by his father.


   ENDNOTES:

(1) The penalty, compensation, or manbod for every injury, due
     the party injured, or to his family and next of kin if the
     injury was the death or premeditated murder of the party,
     appears to have been fixed for every rank and condition,
     from the murder of the king down to the maiming or beating a
     man's cattle or his slave.  A man for whom no compensation
     was due was a dishonored person, or an outlaw.  It appears
     to have been optional with the injured party, or his kin if
     he had been killed, to take the mulct or compensation, or to
     refuse it, and wait for an opportunity of taking vengeance
     for the injury on the party who inflicted it, or on his kin.
     A part of each mulct or compensation was due to the king;
     and, these fines or penalties appear to have constituted a
     great proportion of the king's revenues, and to have been
     settled in the Things held in every district for
     administering the law with the lagman.--L.




8. HALFDAN'S MEAT VANISHES AT A FEAST

King Halfdan was at a Yule-feast in Hadeland, where a wonderful thing
happened one Yule evening. When the great number of guests assembled
were going to sit down to table, all the meat and all the ale
disappeared from the table. The king sat alone very confused in mind;
all the others set off, each to his home, in consternation. That the
king might come to some certainty about what had occasioned this event,
he ordered a Fin to be seized who was particularly knowing, and tried to
force him to disclose the truth; but however much he tortured the man,
he got nothing out of him. The Fin sought help particularly from Harald,
the king's son, and Harald begged for mercy for him, but in vain. Then
Harald let him escape against the king's will, and accompanied the man
himself. On their journey they came to a place where the man's chief had
a great feast, and it appears they were well received there. When they
had been there until spring, the chief said, "Thy father took it much
amiss that in winter I took some provisions from him,--now I will repay
it to thee by a joyful piece of news: thy father is dead; and now thou
shalt return home, and take possession of the whole kingdom which he
had, and with it thou shalt lay the whole kingdom of Norway under thee."




9. HALFDAN S DEATH.

Halfdan the Black was driving from a feast in Hadeland, and it so
happened that his road lay over the lake called Rand. It was in
spring, and there was a great thaw. They drove across the bight called
Rykinsvik, where in winter there had been a pond broken in the ice for
cattle to drink at, and where the dung had fallen upon the ice the thaw
had eaten it into holes. Now as the king drove over it the ice broke,
and King Halfdan and many with him perished. He was then forty years
old. He had been one of the most fortunate kings in respect of good
seasons. The people thought so much of him, that when his death was
known and his body was floated to Ringerike to bury it there, the people
of most consequence from Raumarike, Vestfold, and Hedemark came to
meet it. All desired to take the body with them to bury it in their own
district, and they thought that those who got it would have good crops
to expect. At last it was agreed to divide the body into four parts. The
head was laid in a mound at Stein in Ringerike, and each of the others
took his part home and laid it in a mound; and these have since been
called Halfdan's Mounds.




HARALD HARFAGER'S SAGA.




1. HARALD'S STRIFE WITH HAKE AND HIS FATHER GANDALF.

Harald (1) was but ten years old when he succeeded his father (Halfdan
the Black). He became a stout, strong, and comely man, and withal
prudent and manly. His mother's brother, Guthorm, was leader of the
hird, at the head of the government, and commander ('hertogi') of the
army. After Halfdan the Black's death, many chiefs coveted the dominions
he had left. Among these King Gandalf was the first; then Hogne and
Frode, sons of Eystein, king of Hedemark; and also Hogne Karuson came
from Ringerike. Hake, the son of Gandalf, began with an expedition of
300 men against Vestfold, marched by the main road through some valleys,
and expected to come suddenly upon King Harald; while his father Gandalf
sat at home with his army, and prepared to cross over the fiord into
Vestfold. When Duke Guthorm heard of this he gathered an army, and
marched up the country with King Harald against Hake. They met in
a valley, in which they fought a great battle, and King Harald was
victorious; and there fell King Hake and most of his people. The place
has since been called Hakadale. Then King Harald and Duke Guthorm turned
back, but they found King Gandalf had come to Vestfold. The two armies
marched against each other, and met, and had a great battle; and it
ended in King Gandalf flying, after leaving most of his men dead on the
spot, and in that state he came back to his kingdom. Now when the sons
of King Eystein in Hedemark heard the news, they expected the war would
come upon them, and they sent a message to Hogne Karuson and to Herse
Gudbrand, and appointed a meeting with them at Ringsaker in Hedemark.

   ENDNOTES: (1) The first twenty chapters of this saga refer to Harald's
     youth and his conquest of Norway.  This portion of the saga
     is of great importance to the Icelanders, as the settlement
     of their Isle was a result of Harald's wars.  The second
     part of the saga (chaps. 21-46) treats of the disputes
     between Harald's sons, of the jarls of Orkney, and of the
     jarls of More.  With this saga we enter the domain of
     history.--Ed.




2. KING HARALD OVERCOMES FIVE KINGS.

After the battle King Harald and Guthorm turned back, and went with all
the men they could gather through the forests towards the Uplands. They
found out where the Upland kings had appointed their meeting-place, and
came there about the time of midnight, without the watchmen observing
them until their army was before the door of the house in which Hogne
Karuson was, as well as that in which Gudbrand slept. They set fire to
both houses; but King Eystein's two sons slipped out with their men, and
fought for a while, until both Hogne and Frode fell. After the fall of
these four chiefs, King Harald, by his relation Guthorm's success and
powers, subdued Hedemark, Ringerike, Gudbrandsdal, Hadeland, Thoten,
Raumarike, and the whole northern part of Vingulmark. King Harald and
Guthorm had thereafter war with King Gandalf, and fought several battles
with him; and in the last of them King Gandalf was slain, and King
Harald took the whole of his kingdom as far south as the river Raum.




3. OF GYDA, DAUGHTER OF EIRIE.

King Harald sent his men to a girl called Gyda, daughter of King Eirik
of Hordaland, who was brought up as foster-child in the house of a great
bonde in Valdres. The king wanted her for his concubine; for she was
a remarkably handsome girl, but of high spirit withal. Now when the
messengers came there, and delivered their errand to the girl, she
answered, that she would not throw herself away even to take a king
for her husband, who had no greater kingdom to rule over than a few
districts. "And methinks," said she, "it is wonderful that no king here
in Norway will make the whole country subject to him, in the same way as
Gorm the Old did in Denmark, or Eirik at Upsala." The messengers thought
her answer was dreadfully haughty, and asked what she thought would come
of such an answer; for Harald was so mighty a man, that his invitation
was good enough for her. But although she had replied to their errand
differently from what they wished, they saw no chance, on this occasion,
of taking her with them against her will; so they prepared to return.
When they were ready, and the people followed them out, Gyda said to the
messengers, "Now tell to King Harald these my words. I will only agree
to be his lawful wife upon the condition that he shall first, for my
sake, subject to himself the whole of Norway, so that he may rule
over that kingdom as freely and fully as King Eirik over the Swedish
dominions, or King Gorm over Denmark; for only then, methinks, can he be
called the king of a people."




4. KING HARALD'S VOW.

Now came the messengers back to King Harald, bringing him the words of
the girl, and saying she was so bold and foolish that she well deserved
that the king should send a greater troop of people for her, and inflict
on her some disgrace. Then answered the king, "This girl has not spoken
or done so much amiss that she should be punished, but rather she should
be thanked for her words. She has reminded me," said he, "of something
which it appears to me wonderful I did not think of before. And now,"
added he, "I make the solemn vow, and take God to witness, who made me
and rules over all things, that never shall I clip or comb my hair
until I have subdued the whole of Norway, with scat (1), and duties, and
domains; or if not, have died in the attempt." Guthorm thanked the
king warmly for his vow; adding, that it was royal work to fulfil royal
words.

   ENDNOTES: (1) Scat was a land-tax, paid to the king in money, malt,
     meal, or flesh-meat, from all lands, and was adjudged by the Thing
     to each king upon his accession, and being proposed and
     accepted as king.




5. THE BATTLE IN ORKADAL.

After this the two relations gather together a great force, and
prepare for an expedition to the Uplands, and northwards up the valley
(Gudbrandsdal), and north over Dovrefjeld; and when the king came
down to the inhabited land he ordered all the men to be killed, and
everything wide around to be delivered to the flames. And when the
people came to know this, they fled every one where he could; some down
the country to Orkadal, some to Gaulardal, some to the forests. But some
begged for peace, and obtained it, on condition of joining the king and
becoming his men. He met no opposition until he came to Orkadal. There
a crowd of people had assembled, and he had his first battle with a
king called Gryting. Harald won the victory, and King Gryting was made
prisoner, and most of his people killed. He took service himself under
the king, and swore fidelity to him. Thereafter all the people in Orkadal
district went under King Harald, and became his men.




6. KING HARALD S LAWS FOR LAND PROPERTY.

King Harald made this law over all the lands he conquered, that all the
udal property should belong to him; and that the bondes, both great
and small, should pay him land dues for their possessions. Over every
district he set an earl to judge according to the law of the land and to
justice, and also to collect the land dues and the fines; and for this
each earl received a third part of the dues, and services, and fines,
for the support of his table and other expenses. Each earl had under him
four or more herses, each of whom had an estate of twenty marks yearly
income bestowed on him and was bound to support twenty men-at-arms, and
the earl sixty men, at their own expenses. The king had increased the
land dues and burdens so much, that each of his earls had greater power
and income than the kings had before; and when that became known at
Throndhjem, many great men joined the king and took his service.




7. BATTLE IN GAULARDAL.

It is told that Earl Hakon Grjotgardson came to King Harald from Yrjar,
and brought a great crowd of men to his service. Then King Harald went
into Gaulardal, and had a great battle, in which he slew two kings, and
conquered their dominions; and these were Gaulardal district and Strind
district. He gave Earl Hakon Strind district to rule over as earl. King
Harald then proceeded to Stjoradal, and had a third battle, in which
he gained the victory, and took that district also. There upon the
Throndhjem people assembled, and four kings met together with their
troops. The one ruled over Veradal, the second over Skaun, third over
the Sparbyggja district, and the fourth over Eyin Idre (Inderoen); and
this latter had also Eyna district. These four kings marched with their
men against King Harald, but he won the battle; and some of these kings
fell, and some fled. In all, King Harald fought at the least eight
battles, and slew eight kings, in the Throndhjem district, and laid the
whole of it under him.




8. HARALD SEIZES NAUMUDAL DISTRICT.

North in Naumudal were two brothers, kings,--Herlaug and Hrollaug; and
they had been for three summers raising a mound or tomb of stone and
lime and of wood. Just as the work was finished, the brothers got the
news that King Harald was coming upon them with his army. Then King
Herlaug had a great quantity of meat and drink brought into the mound,
and went into it himself, with eleven companions, and ordered the mound
to be covered up. King Hrollaug, on the contrary, went upon the summit
of the mound, on which the kings were wont to sit, and made a throne to
be erected, upon which he seated himself. Then he ordered feather-beds
to be laid upon the bench below, on which the earls were wont to be
seated, and threw himself down from his high seat or throne into the
earl's seat, giving himself the title of earl. Now Hrollaug went to meet
King Harald, gave up to him his whole kingdom, offered to enter into
his service, and told him his whole proceeding. Then took King Harald a
sword, fastened it to Hrollaug's belt, bound a shield to his neck,
and made him thereupon an earl, and led him to his earl's seat; and
therewith gave him the district Naumudal, and set him as earl over it
((A.D. 866)). (1)

   ENDNOTES: (1) Before writing was in general use, this symbolical way of
     performing all important legal acts appears to have entered
     into the jurisprudence of all savage nations; and according
     to Gibbon, chap. 44, "the jurisprudence of the first Romans
     exhibited the scenes of a pantomime; the words were adapted
     to the gestures, and the slightest error or neglect in the
     forms of proceeding was sufficient to annul the substance of
     the fairest claims."--Ed.




9. KING HARALD'S HOME AFFAIRS.

King Harald then returned to Throndhjem, where he dwelt during the
winter, and always afterwards called it his home. He fixed here his
head residence, which is called Lade. This winter he took to wife Asa, a
daughter of Earl Hakon Grjotgardson, who then stood in great favour and
honour with the king. In spring the king fitted out his ships. In
winter he had caused a great frigate (a dragon) to be built, and had it
fitted-out in the most splendid way, and brought his house-troops and
his berserks on board. The forecastle men were picked men, for they had
the king's banner. From the stem to the mid-hold was called rausn,
or the fore-defence; and there were the berserks. Such men only were
received into King Harald's house-troop as were remarkable for strength,
courage, and all kinds of dexterity; and they alone got place in his
ship, for he had a good choice of house-troops from the best men of
every district. King Harald had a great army, many large ships, and many
men of might followed him. Hornklofe, in his poem called "Glymdrapa",
tells of this; and also that King Harald had a battle with the people of
Orkadal, at Opdal forest, before he went upon this expedition.

     "O'er the broad heath the bowstrings twang,
     While high in air the arrows sang.
     The iron shower drives to flight
     The foeman from the bloody fight.
     The warder of great Odin's shrine,
     The fair-haired son of Odin's line,
     Raises the voice which gives the cheer,
     First in the track of wolf or bear.
     His master voice drives them along
     To Hel--a destined, trembling throng;
     And Nokve's ship, with glancing sides,
     Must fly to the wild ocean's tides.--
     Must fly before the king who leads
     Norse axe-men on their ocean steeds."




10. BATTLE AT SOLSKEL

King Harald moved out with his army from Throndhjem, and went southwards
to More. Hunthiof was the name of the king who ruled over the district
of More. Solve Klofe was the name of his son, and both were great
warriors. King Nokve, who ruled over Raumsdal, was the brother of
Solve's mother. Those chiefs gathered a great force when they heard of
King Harald, and came against him. They met at Solskel, and there was
a great battle, which was gained by King Harald (A.D. 867). Hornklofe
tells of this battle:--

     "Thus did the hero known to fame,
     The leader of the shields, whose name
     Strikes every heart with dire dismay,
     Launch forth his war-ships to the fray.
     Two kings he fought; but little strife
     Was needed to cut short their life.
     A clang of arms by the sea-shore,--
     And the shields' sound was heard no more."

The two kings were slain, but Solve escaped by flight; and King Harald
laid both districts under his power. He stayed here long in summer to
establish law and order for the country people, and set men to rule
them, and keep them faithful to him; and in autumn he prepared to
return northwards to Throndhjem. Ragnvald Earl of More, a son of Eystein
Glumra, had the summer before become one of Harald's men; and the king
set him as chief over these two districts, North More and Raumsdal;
strengthened him both with men of might and bondes, and gave him
the help of ships to defend the coast against enemies. He was called
Ragnvald the Mighty, or the Wise; and people say both names suited him
well. King Harald came back to Throndhjem about winter.




11. FALL OF KINGS ARNVID AND AUDBJORN.

The following spring (A.D. 868) King Harald raised a great force in
Throndhjem, and gave out that he would proceed to South More. Solve
Klofe had passed the winter in his ships of war, plundering in North
More, and had killed many of King Harald's men; pillaging some places,
burning others, and making great ravage; but sometimes he had been,
during the winter, with his friend King Arnvid in South More. Now when
he heard that King Harald was come with ships and a great army, he
gathered people, and was strong in men-at-arms; for many thought they
had to take vengeance of King Harald. Solve Klofe went southwards to
Firdafylke (the Fjord district), which King Audbjorn ruled over, to ask
him to help, and join his force to King Arnvid's and his own. "For,"
said he, "it is now clear that we all have but one course to take;
and that is to rise, all as one man, against King Harald, for we have
strength enough, and fate must decide the victory; for as to the other
condition of becoming his servants, that is no condition for us, who
are not less noble than Harald. My father thought it better to fall in
battle for his kingdom, than to go willingly into King Harald's service,
or not to abide the chance of weapons like the Naumudal kings." King
Solve's speech was such that King Audbjorn promised his help, and
gathered a great force together and went with it to King Arnvid, and
they had a great army. Now, they got news that King Harald was come from
the north, and they met within Solskel. And it was the custom to lash
the ships together, stem to stem; so it was done now. King Harald laid
his ship against King Arnvid's, and there was the sharpest fight, and
many men fell on both sides. At last King Harald was raging with anger,
and went forward to the fore-deck, and slew so dreadfully that all the
forecastle men of Arnvid's ship were driven aft of the mast, and some
fell. Thereupon Harald boarded the ship, and King Arnvid's men tried to
save themselves by flight, and he himself was slain in his ship. King
Audbjorn also fell; but Solve fled. So says Hornklofe:--

     "Against the hero's shield in vain
     The arrow-storm fierce pours its rain.
     The king stands on the blood-stained deck,
     Trampling on many a stout foe's neck;
     And high above the dinning stound
     Of helm and axe, and ringing sound
     Of blade and shield, and raven's cry,
     Is heard his shout of 'Victory!'"

Of King Harald's men, fell his earls Asgaut and Asbjorn, together with
his brothers-in-law, Grjotgard and Herlaug, the sons of Earl Hakon of
Lade. Solve became afterwards a great sea-king, and often did great
damage in King Harald's dominions.




12. KING VEMUND BURNT TO DEATH.

After this battle (A.D. 868) King Harald subdued South More; but Vemund,
King Audbjorn's brother, still had Firdafylke. It was now late in
harvest, and King Harald's men gave him the counsel not to proceed
south-wards round Stad. Then King Harald set Earl Ragnvald over South
and North More and also Raumsdal, and he had many people about him. King
Harald returned to Throndhjem. The same winter (A.D. 869) Ragnvald went
over Eid, and southwards to the Fjord district. There he heard news of
King Vemund, and came by night to a place called Naustdal, where King
Vemund was living in guest-quarters. Earl Ragnvald surrounded the house
in which they were quartered, and burnt the king in it, together with
ninety men. The came Berdlukare to Earl Ragnvald with a complete armed
long-ship, and they both returned to More. The earl took all the ships
Vemund had, and all the goods he could get hold of. Berdlukare proceeded
north to Throndhjem to King Harald, and became his man; and dreadful
berserk he was.




13. DEATH OF EARLS HAKON, AND ATLE MJOVE.

The following spring (A.D. 869) King Harald went southwards with his
fleet along the coast, and subdued Firdafylke. Then he sailed eastward
along the land until he came to Vik; but he left Earl Hakon Grjotgardson
behind, and set him over the Fjord district. Earl Hakon sent word to
Earl Atle Mjove that he should leave Sogn district, and be earl over
Gaular district, as he had been before, alleging that King Harald had
given Sogn district to him. Earl Atle sent word that he would keep both
Sogn district and Gaular district, until he met King Harald. The two
earls quarreled about this so long, that both gathered troops. They met
at Fialar, in Stavanger fiord, and had a great battle, in which Earl
Hakon fell, and Earl Atle got a mortal wound, and his men carried him to
the island of Atley, where he died. So says Eyvind Skaldaspiller:--

     "He who stood a rooted oak,
     Unshaken by the swordsman's stroke,
     Amidst the whiz of arrows slain,
     Has fallen upon Fjalar's plain.
     There, by the ocean's rocky shore,
     The waves are stained with the red gore
     Of stout Earl Hakon Grjotgard's son,
     And of brave warriors many a one."




14. HARALD AND THE SWEDISH KING EIRIK.

King Harald came with his fleet eastward to Viken and landed at
Tunsberg, which was then a trading town. He had then been four years in
Throndhjem, and in all that time had not been in Viken. Here he heard
the news that Eirik Eymundson, king of Sweden, had laid under him
Vermaland, and was taking scat or land-tax from all the forest settlers;
and also that he called the whole country north to Svinasund, and west
along the sea, West Gautland; and which altogether he reckoned to his
kingdom, and took land-tax from it. Over this country he had set an
earl, by name Hrane Gauzke, who had the earldom between Svinasund and
the Gaut river, and was a mighty earl. And it was told to King Harald
that the Swedish king said he would not rest until he had as great
a kingdom in Viken as Sigurd Hring, or his son Ragnar Lodbrok, had
possessed; and that was Raumarike and Vestfold, all the way to the isle
Grenmar, and also Vingulmark, and all that lay south of it. In all these
districts many chiefs, and many other people, had given obedience to
the Swedish king. King Harald was very angry at this, and summoned the
bondes to a Thing at Fold, where he laid an accusation against them
for treason towards him. Some bondes defended themselves from the
accusation, some paid fines, some were punished. He went thus through
the whole district during the summer, and in harvest he did the same in
Raumarike, and laid the two districts under his power. Towards winter
he heard that Eirik king of Sweden was, with his court, going about in
Vermaland in guest-quarters.




15. HARALD AT A FEAST OF THE PEASANT AKE.

King Harald takes his way across the Eid forest eastward, and comes out
in Vermaland, where he also orders feasts to be prepared for himself.
There was a man by name Ake, who was the greatest of the bondes of
Vermaland, very rich, and at that time very aged. He sent men to King
Harald, and invited him to a feast, and the king promised to come on the
day appointed. Ake invited also King Eirik to a feast, and appointed the
same day. Ake had a great feasting hall, but it was old; and he made a
new hall, not less than the old one, and had it ornamented in the most
splendid way. The new hall he had hung with new hangings, but the old
had only its old ornaments. Now when the kings came to the feast, King
Eirik with his court was taken into the old hall; but Harald with
his followers into the new. The same difference was in all the table
furniture, and King Eirik and his men had the old-fashioned vessels and
horns, but all gilded and splendid; while King Harald and his men
had entirely new vessels and horns adorned with gold, all with carved
figures, and shining like glass; and both companies had the best of
liquor. Ake the bonde had formerly been King Halfdan the Black s man.
Now when daylight came, and the feast was quite ended, and the kings
made themselves ready for their journey, and the horses were saddled,
came Ake before King Harald, leading in his hand his son Ubbe, a boy of
twelve years of age, and said, "If the goodwill I have shown to thee,
sire, in my feast, be worth thy friendship, show it hereafter to my son.
I give him to thee now for thy service." The king thanked him with many
agreeable words for his friendly entertainment, and promised him his
full friendship in return. Then Ake brought out great presents, which he
gave to the king, and they gave each other thereafter the parting kiss.
Ake went next to the Swedish king, who was dressed and ready for the
road, but not in the best humour. Ake gave to him also good and valuable
gifts; but the king answered only with few words, and mounted his horse.
Ake followed the king on the road and talked with him. The road led
through a wood which was near to the house; and when Ake came to
the wood, the king said to him, "How was it that thou madest such
a difference between me and King Harald as to give him the best of
everything, although thou knowest thou art my man?" "I think" answered
Ake, "that there failed in it nothing, king, either to you or to your
attendants, in friendly entertainment at this feast. But that all the
utensils for your drinking were old, was because you are now old; but
King Harald is in the bloom of youth, and therefore I gave him the new
things. And as to my being thy man, thou art just as much my man." On
this the king out with his sword, and gave Ake his deathwound. King
Harald was ready now also to mount his horse, and desired that Ake
should be called. The people went to seek him; and some ran up the road
that King Eirik had taken, and found Ake there dead. They came back, and
told the news to King Harald, and he bids his men to be up, and avenge
Ake the bonde. And away rode he and his men the way King Eirik had
taken, until they came in sight of each other. Each for himself rode as
hard as he could, until Eirik came into the wood which divides Gautland
and Vermaland. There King Harald wheels about, and returns to Vermaland,
and lays the country under him, and kills King Eirik's men wheresoever
he can find them. In winter King Harald returned to Raumarike, and dwelt
there a while.




16. HARALD'S JOURNEY TO TUNSBERG.

King Harald went out in winter to his ships at Tunsberg, rigged them,
and sailed away eastward over the fiord, and subjected all Vingulmark
to his dominion. All winter he was out with his ships, and marauded in
Ranrike; so says Thorbjorn Hornklofe:--

     "The Norseman's king is on the sea,
     Tho' bitter wintry cold it be.--
     On the wild waves his Yule keeps he.
     When our brisk king can get his way,
     He'll no more by the fireside stay
     Than the young sun; he makes us play
     The game of the bright sun-god Frey.
     But the soft Swede loves well the fire
     The well-stuffed couch, the doway glove,
     And from the hearth-seat will not move."

The Gautlanders gathered people together all over the country.




17. THE BATTLE IN GAUTLAND.

In spring, when the ice was breaking up, the Gautlanders drove stakes
into the Gaut river to hinder King Harald with his ships from coming
to the land. But King Harald laid his ships alongside the stakes, and
plundered the country, and burnt all around; so says Horn klofe:--

     "The king who finds a dainty feast,
     For battle-bird and prowling beast,
     Has won in war the southern land
     That lies along the ocean's strand.
     The leader of the helmets, he
     Who leads his ships o'er the dark sea,
     Harald, whose high-rigged masts appear
     Like antlered fronts of the wild deer,
     Has laid his ships close alongside
     Of the foe's piles with daring pride."

Afterwards the Gautlanders came down to the strand with a great army,
and gave battle to King Harald, and great was the fall of men. But it
was King Harald who gained the day. Thus says Hornklofe:--

     "Whistles the battle-axe in its swing
     O'er head the whizzing javelins sing,
     Helmet and shield and hauberk ring;
     The air-song of the lance is loud,
     The arrows pipe in darkening cloud;
     Through helm and mail the foemen feel
     The blue edge of our king's good steel
     Who can withstand our gallant king?
     The Gautland men their flight must wing."




18. HRANE GAUZKE'S DEATH.

King Harald went far and wide through Gautland, and many were the
battles he fought there on both sides of the river, and in general he
was victorious. In one of these battles fell Hrane Gauzke; and then the
king took his whole land north of the river and west of the Veneren, and
also Vermaland. And after he turned back there-from, he set Duke Guthorm
as chief to defend the country, and left a great force with him. King
Harald himself went first to the Uplands, where he remained a while, and
then proceeded northwards over the Dovrefjeld to Throndhjem, where he
dwelt for a long time. Harald began to have children. By Asa he had four
sons. The eldest was Guthorm. Halfdan the Black and Halfdan the
White were twins. Sigfrod was the fourth. They were all brought up in
Throndhjem with all honour.




19. BATTLE IN HAFERSFJORD.

News came in from the south land that the people of Hordaland and
Rogaland, Agder and Thelemark, were gathering, and bringing together
ships and weapons, and a great body of men. The leaders of this were
Eirik king of Hordaland; Sulke king of Rogaland, and his brother Earl
Sote: Kjotve the Rich, king of Agder, and his son Thor Haklang; and from
Thelemark two brothers, Hroald Hryg and Had the Hard. Now when Harald
got certain news of this, he assembled his forces, set his ships on the
water, made himself ready with his men, and set out southwards along the
coast, gathering many people from every district. King Eirik heard of
this when he same south of Stad; and having assembled all the men he
could expect, he proceeded southwards to meet the force which he knew
was coming to his help from the east. The whole met together north of
Jadar, and went into Hafersfjord, where King Harald was waiting with his
forces. A great battle began, which was both hard and long; but at last
King Harald gained the day. There King Eirik fell, and King Sulke, with
his brother Earl Sote. Thor Haklang, who was a great berserk, had
laid his ship against King Harald's, and there was above all measure
a desperate attack, until Thor Haklang fell, and his whole ship was
cleared of men. Then King Kjotve fled to a little isle outside, on which
there was a good place of strength. Thereafter all his men fled, some to
their ships, some up to the land; and the latter ran southwards over the
country of Jadar. So says Hornklofe, viz.:--

     "Has the news reached you?--have you heard
     Of the great fight at Hafersfjord,
     Between our noble king brave Harald
     And King Kjotve rich in gold?
     The foeman came from out the East,
     Keen for the fray as for a feast.
     A gallant sight it was to see
     Their fleet sweep o'er the dark-blue sea:
     Each war-ship, with its threatening throat
     Of dragon fierce or ravenous brute (1)
     Grim gaping from the prow; its wales
     Glittering with burnished shields, (2) like scales
     Its crew of udal men of war,
     Whose snow-white targets shone from far
     And many a mailed spearman stout
     From the West countries round about,
     English and Scotch, a foreign host,
     And swordamen from the far French coast.
     And as the foemen's ships drew near,
     The dreadful din you well might hear
     Savage berserks roaring mad,
     And champions fierce in wolf-skins clad, (3)
     Howling like wolves; and clanking jar
     Of many a mail-clad man of war.
     Thus the foe came; but our brave king
     Taught them to fly as fast again.
     For when he saw their force come o'er,
     He launched his war-ships from the shore.
     On the deep sea he launched his fleet
     And boldly rowed the foe to meet.
     Fierce was the shock, and loud the clang
     Of shields, until the fierce Haklang,
     The foeman's famous berserk, fell.
     Then from our men burst forth the yell
     Of victory, and the King of Gold
     Could not withstand our Harald bold,
     But fled before his flaky locks
     For shelter to the island rocks.
     All in the bottom of the ships
     The wounded lay, in ghastly heaps;
     Backs up and faces down they lay
     Under the row-seats stowed away;
     And many a warrior's shield, I ween
     Might on the warrior's back be seen,
     To shield him as he fled amain
     From the fierce stone-storm's pelting rain.
     The mountain-folk, as I've heard say,
     Ne'er stopped as they ran from the fray,
     Till they had crossed the Jadar sea,
     And reached their homes--so keen each soul
     To drown his fright in the mead bowl."


   ENDNOTES: (1) The war-ships were called dragons, from being decorated
     with the head of a dragon, serpent, or other wild animal; and the
     word "draco" was adopted in the Latin of the Middle Ages to
     denote a ship of war of the larger class.  The snekke was
     the cutter or smaller war-ship.--L.
(2) The shields were hung over the side-rails of the ships.--L.
(3) The wolf-skin pelts were nearly as good as armour against
     the sword.




20. HARALD SUPREME SOVEREIGN IN NORWAY.

After this battle King Harald met no opposition in Norway, for all his
opponents and greatest enemies were cut off. But some, and they were a
great multitude, fled out of the country, and thereby great districts
were peopled. Jemtaland and Helsingjaland were peopled then, although
some Norwegians had already set up their habitation there. In the
discontent that King Harald seized on the lands of Norway, the
out-countries of Iceland and the Farey Isles were discovered and
peopled. The Northmen had also a great resort to Hjaltland (Shetland
Isles) and many men left Norway, flying the country on account of King
Harald, and went on viking cruises into the West sea. In winter they
were in the Orkney Islands and Hebrides; but marauded in summer in
Norway, and did great damage. Many, however, were the mighty men who
took service under King Harald, and became his men, and dwelt in the
land with him.




21. HARALD'S MARRIAGE AND HIS CHILDREN.

When King Harald had now become sole king over all Norway, he remembered
what that proud girl had said to him; so he sent men to her, and had her
brought to him, and took her to his bed. And these were their children:
Alof--she was the eldest; then was their son Hrorek; then Sigtryg,
Frode, and Thorgils. King Harald had many wives and many children. Among
them he had one wife, who was called Ragnhild the Mighty, a daughter of
King Eirik, from Jutland; and by her he had a son, Eirik Blood-axe. He
was also married to Svanhild, a daughter of Earl Eystein; and their sons
were Olaf Geirstadaalf, Bjorn and Ragnar Rykkil. Lastly, King Harald
married Ashild, a daughter of Hring Dagson, up in Ringerike; and their
children were, Dag, Hring, Gudrod Skiria, and Ingigerd. It is told that
King Harald put away nine wives when he married Ragnhild the Mighty. So
says Hornklofe:--

     "Harald, of noblest race the head,
     A Danish wife took to his bed;
     And out of doors nine wives he thrust,--
     The mothers of the princes first.
     Who 'mong Holmrygians hold command,
     And those who rule in Hordaland.
     And then he packed from out the place
     The children born of Holge's race."

King Harald's children were all fostered and brought up by their
relations on the mother's side. Guthorm the Duke had poured water over
King Harald's eldest son and had given him his own name. He set the
child upon his knee, and was his foster-father, and took him with
himself eastward to Viken, and there he was brought up in the house of
Guthorm. Guthorm ruled the whole land in Viken and the Uplands, when
King Harald was absent.




22. KING HARALD'S VOYAGE TO THE WEST.

King Harald heard that the vikings, who were in the West sea in winter,
plundered far and wide in the middle part of Norway; and therefore every
summer he made an expedition to search the isles and out-skerries (1) on
the coast. Wheresoever the vikings heard of him they all took to flight,
and most of them out into the open ocean. At last the king grew weary of
this work, and therefore one summer he sailed with his fleet right out
into the West sea. First he came to Hjaltland (Shetland), and he slew
all the vikings who could not save themselves by flight. Then King
Harald sailed southwards, to the Orkney Islands, and cleared them all
of vikings. Thereafter he proceeded to the Sudreys (Hebrides), plundered
there, and slew many vikings who formerly had had men-at-arms under
them. Many a battle was fought, and King Harald was always victorious.
He then plundered far and wide in Scotland itself, and had a battle
there. When he was come westward as far as the Isle of Man, the report
of his exploits on the land had gone before him; for all the inhabitants
had fled over to Scotland, and the island was left entirely bare both
of people and goods, so that King Harald and his men made no booty when
they landed. So says Hornklofe:--

     "The wise, the noble king, great
     Whose hand so freely scatters gold,
     Led many a northern shield to war
     Against the town upon the shore.
     The wolves soon gathered on the sand
     Of that sea-shore; for Harald's hand
     The Scottish army drove away,
     And on the coast left wolves a prey."

In this war fell Ivar, a son of Ragnvald, Earl of More; and King Harald
gave Ragnvald, as a compensation for the loss, the Orkney and Shetland
isles, when he sailed from the West; but Ragnvald immediately gave both
these countries to his brother Sigurd, who remained behind them; and
King Harald, before sailing eastward, gave Sigurd the earldom of them.
Thorstein the Red, a son of Olaf the White and of Aud the Wealthy,
entered into partnership with him; and after plundering in Scotland,
they subdued Caithness and Sutherland, as far as Ekkjalsbakke. Earl
Sigurd killed Melbridge Tooth, a Scotch earl, and hung his head to his
stirrup-leather; but the calf of his leg were scratched by the teeth,
which were sticking out from the head, and the wound caused inflammation
in his leg, of which the earl died, and he was laid in a mound at
Ekkjalsbakke. His son Guthorm ruled over these countries for about a
year thereafter, and died without children. Many vikings, both Danes and
Northmen, set themselves down then in those countries.


   ENDNOTES: (1) Skerries are the uninhabited dry or halt-tide rocks of a
     coast.--L.




23. HARALD HAS HIS HAIR CLIPPED.

After King Harald had subdued the whole land, he was one day at a feast
in More, given by Earl Ragnvald. Then King Harald went into a bath, and
had his hair dressed. Earl Ragnvald now cut his hair, which had been
uncut and uncombed for ten years; and therefore the king had been called
Lufa (i.e., with rough matted hair). But then Earl Ragnvald gave him the
distinguishing name--Harald Harfager (i.e., fair hair); and all who saw
him agreed that there was the greatest truth in the surname, for he had
the most beautiful and abundant head of hair.




24. ROLF GANGER DRIVEN INTO BANISHMENT.

Earl Ragnvald was King Harald's dearest friend, and the king had the
greatest regard for him. He was married to Hild, a daughter of Rolf
Nefia, and their sons were Rolf and Thorer. Earl Ragnvald had also three
sons by concubines,--the one called Hallad, the second Einar, the third
Hrollaug; and all three were grown men when their brothers born in
marriage were still children Rolf became a great viking, and was of so
stout a growth that no horse could carry him, and wheresoever he went he
must go on foot; and therefore he was called Rolf Ganger. He plundered
much in the East sea. One summer, as he was coming from the eastward on
a viking's expedition to the coast of Viken, he landed there and made
a cattle foray. As King Harald happened, just at that time, to be in
Viken, he heard of it, and was in a great rage; for he had forbid,
by the greatest punishment, the plundering within the bounds of the
country. The king assembled a Thing, and had Rolf declared an outlaw
over all Norway. When Rolf's mother, Hild heard of it she hastened to
the king, and entreated peace for Rolf; but the king was so enraged that
here entreaty was of no avail. Then Hild spake these lines:--

     "Think'st thou, King Harald, in thy anger,
     To drive away my brave Rolf Ganger
     Like a mad wolf, from out the land?
     Why, Harald, raise thy mighty hand?
     Why banish Nefia's gallant name-son,
     The brother of brave udal-men?
     Why is thy cruelty so fell?
     Bethink thee, monarch, it is ill
     With such a wolf at wolf to play,
     Who, driven to the wild woods away
     May make the king's best deer his prey."

Rolf Ganger went afterwards over sea to the West to the Hebrides, or
Sudreys; and at last farther west to Valland, where he plundered and
subdued for himself a great earldom, which he peopled with Northmen,
from which that land is called Normandy. Rolf Ganger's son was William,
father to Richard, and grandfather to another Richard, who was the
father of Robert Longspear, and grandfather of William the Bastard, from
whom all the following English kings are descended. From Rolf Ganger
also are descended the earls in Normandy. Queen Ragnhild the Mighty
lived three years after she came to Norway; and, after her death, her
son and King Harald's was taken to the herse Thorer Hroaldson, and Eirik
was fostered by him.




25. OF THE FIN SVASE AND KING HARALD.

King Harald, one winter, went about in guest-quarters in the Uplands,
and had ordered a Christmas feast to be prepared for him at the farm
Thoptar. On Christmas eve came Svase to the door, just as the king went
to table, and sent a message to the king to ask if he would go out with
him. The king was angry at such a message, and the man who had brought
it in took out with him a reply of the king's displeasure. But Svase,
notwithstanding, desired that his message should be delivered a second
time; adding to it, that he was the Fin whose hut the king had promised
to visit, and which stood on the other side of the ridge. Now the king
went out, and promised to go with him, and went over the ridge to his
hut, although some of his men dissuaded him. There stood Snaefrid, the
daughter of Svase, a most beautiful girl; and she filled a cup of
mead for the king. But he took hold both of the cup and of her hand.
Immediately it was as if a hot fire went through his body; and he wanted
that very night to take her to his bed. But Svase said that should not
be unless by main force, if he did not first make her his lawful
wife. Now King Harald made Snaefrid his lawful wife, and loved her so
passionately that he forgot his kingdom, and all that belonged to his
high dignity. They had four sons: the one was Sigurd Hrise; the others
Halfdan Haleg, Gudrod Ljome and Ragnvald Rettilbeine. Thereafter
Snaefrid died; but her corpse never changed, but was as fresh and red
as when she lived. The king sat always beside her, and thought she
would come to life again. And so it went on for three years that he
was sorrowing over her death, and the people over his delusion. At
last Thorleif the Wise succeeded, by his prudence, in curing him of his
delusion by accosting him thus:--"It is nowise wonderful, king, that
thou grievest over so beautiful and noble a wife, and bestowest costly
coverlets and beds of down on her corpse, as she desired; but these
honours fall short of what is due, as she still lies in the same
clothes. It would be more suitable to raise her, and change her dress."
As soon as the body was raised in the bed all sorts of corruption and
foul smells came from it, and it was necessary in all haste to gather a
pile of wood and burn it; but before this could be done the body turned
blue, and worms, toads, newts, paddocks, and all sorts of ugly reptiles
came out of it, and it sank into ashes. Now the king came to his
understanding again, threw the madness out of his mind, and after that
day ruled his kingdom as before. He was strengthened and made joyful by
his subjects, and his subjects by him and the country by both.




26. OF THJODOLF OF HVIN, THE SKALD.

After King Harald had experienced the cunning of the Fin woman, he was
so angry that he drove from him the sons he had with her, and would not
suffer them before his eyes. But one of them, Gudrod Ljome, went to his
foster-father Thjodolf of Hvin, and asked him to go to the king, who was
then in the Uplands; for Thjodolf was a great friend of the king. And
so they went, and came to the king's house late in the evening, and sat
down together unnoticed near the door. The king walked up and down
the floor casting his eye along the benches; for he had a feast in the
house, and the mead was just mixed. The king then murmured out these
lines:--

     "Tell me, ye aged gray-haired heroes,
     Who have come here to seek repose,
     Wherefore must I so many keep
     Of such a set, who, one and all,
     Right dearly love their souls to steep,
     From morn till night, in the mead-bowl?"

Then Thjodolf replies:--

     "A certain wealthy chief, I think,
     Would gladly have had more to drink
     With him, upon one bloody day,
     When crowns were cracked in our sword-play."

Thjodolf then took off his hat, and the king recognised him, and gave
him a friendly reception. Thjodolf then begged the king not to cast off
his sons; "for they would with great pleasure have taken a better family
descent upon the mother's side, if the king had given it to them." The
king assented, and told him to take Gudrod with him as formerly; and he
sent Halfdan and Sigurd to Ringerike, and Ragnvald to Hadaland, and all
was done as the king ordered. They grew up to be very clever men, very
expert in all exercises. In these times King Harald sat in peace in the
land, and the land enjoyed quietness and good crops.




27. OF EARL TORFEINAR'S OBTAINING ORKNEY.

When Earl Ragnvald in More heard of the death of his brother Earl
Sigurd, and that the vikings were in possession of the country, he sent
his son Hallad westward, who took the title of earl to begin with, and
had many men-at-arms with him. When he arrived at the Orkney Islands,
he established himself in the country; but both in harvest, winter, and
spring, the vikings cruised about the isles plundering the headlands,
and committing depredations on the coast. Then Earl Hallad grew tired
of the business, resigned his earldom, took up again his rights as an
allodial owner, and afterwards returned eastward into Norway. When Earl
Ragnvald heard of this he was ill pleased with Hallad, and said his son
were very unlike their ancestors. Then said Einar, "I have enjoyed but
little honour among you, and have little affection here to lose: now
if you will give me force enough, I will go west to the islands, and
promise you what at any rate will please you--that you shall never see
me again." Earl Ragnvald replied, that he would be glad if he never came
back; "For there is little hope," said he, "that thou will ever be an
honour to thy friends, as all thy kin on thy mother's side are born
slaves." Earl Ragnvald gave Einar a vessel completely equipped, and he
sailed with it into the West sea in harvest. When he came to the Orkney
Isles, two vikings, Thorer Treskeg and Kalf Skurfa, were in his way with
two vessels. He attacked them instantly, gained the battle, and slew the
two vikings. Then this was sung:--

     "Then gave he Treskeg to the trolls,
     Torfeinar slew Skurfa."

He was called Torfeinar, because he cut peat for fuel, there being no
firewood, as in Orkney there are no woods. He afterwards was earl over
the islands, and was a mighty man. He was ugly, and blind of an eye, yet
very sharp-sighted withal.




28. KING EIRIK EYMUNDSON'S DEATH.

Duke Guthorm dwelt principally at Tunsberg, and governed the whole of
Viken when the king was not there. He defended the land, which, at that
time, was much plundered by the vikings. There were disturbances also up
in Gautland as long as King Eirik Eymundson lived; but he died when King
Harald Harfager had been ten years king of all Norway.




29. GUTHORM'S DEATH IN TUNSBERG.

After Eirik, his son Bjorn was king of Svithjod for fifty years. He was
father of Eirik the Victorious, and of Olaf the father of Styrbjorn.
Guthorm died on a bed of sickness at Tunsberg, and King Harald gave his
son Guthorm the government of that part of his dominions and made him
chief of it.




30. EARL RAGNVALD BURNT IN HIS HOUSE.

When King Harald was forty years of age many of his sons were well
advanced, and indeed they all came early to strength and manhood. And
now they began to take it ill that the king would not give them any
part of the kingdom, but put earls into every district; for they thought
earls were of inferior birth to them. Then Halfdan Haleg and Gudrod
Ljome set off one spring with a great force, and came suddenly upon Earl
Ragnvald, earl of More, and surrounded the house in which he was, and
burnt him and sixty men in it. Thereafter Halfdan took three long-ships,
and fitted them out, and sailed into the West sea; but Gudrod set
himself down in the land which Ragnvald formerly had. Now when King
Harald heard this he set out with a great force against Gudrod, who
had no other way left but to surrender, and he was sent to Agder. King
Harald then set Earl Ragnvald's son Thorer over More, and gave him
his daughter Alof, called Arbot, in marriage. Earl Thorer, called the
Silent, got the same territory his father Earl Ragnvald had possessed.




31. HALFDAN HALEG'S DEATH.

Halfdan Haleg came very unexpectedly to Orkney, and Earl Einar
immediately fled; but came back soon after about harvest time, unnoticed
by Halfdan. They met and after a short battle Halfdan fled the same
night. Einar and his men lay all night without tents, and when it was
light in the morning they searched the whole island and killed every
man they could lay hold of. Then Einar said "What is that I see upon the
isle of Rinansey? Is it a man or a bird? Sometimes it raises itself
up, and sometimes lies down again." They went to it, and found it was
Halfdan Haleg, and took him prisoner.

Earl Einar sang the following song the evening before he went into this
battle:--

     "Where is the spear of Hrollaug?  where
     Is stout Rolf Ganger's bloody spear!
     I see them not; yet never fear,
     For Einar will not vengeance spare
     Against his father's murderers, though
     Hrollaug and Rolf are somewhat slow,
     And silent Thorer sits add dreams
     At home, beside the mead-bowl's streams."

Thereafter Earl Einar went up to Halfdan, and cut a spread eagle
upon his back, by striking his sword through his back into his belly,
dividing his ribs from the backbone down to his loins, and tearing out
his lungs; and so Halfdan was killed. Einar then sang:--

     "For Ragnvald's death my sword is red:
     Of vengeance it cannot be said
     That Einar's share is left unsped.
     So now, brave boys, let's raise a mound,--
     Heap stones and gravel on the ground
     O'er Halfdan's corpse: this is the way
     We Norsemen our scat duties pay."

Then Earl Einar took possession of the Orkney Isles as before. Now when
these tidings came to Norway, Halfdan's brothers took it much to heart,
and thought that his death demanded vengeance; and many were of the same
opinion. When Einar heard this, he sang:--

     "Many a stout udal-man, I know,
     Has cause to wish my head laid low;
     And many an angry udal knife
     Would gladly drink of Eina's life.
     But ere they lay Earl Einar low,--
     Ere this stout heart betrays its cause,
     Full many a heart will writhe, we know,
     In the wolf's fangs, or eagle's claws."




32. HARALD AND EINAR RECONCILED.

King Harald now ordered a levy, and gathered a great force, with which
he proceeded westward to Orkney; and when Earl Einar heard that King
Harald was come, he fled over to Caithness. He made the following verses
on this occasion:--

     "Many a bearded man must roam,
     An exile from his house and home,
     For cow or horse; but Halfdan's gore
     Is red on Rinansey's wild shore.
     A nobler deed--on Harald's shield
     The arm of one who ne'er will yield
     Has left a scar.  Let peasants dread
     The vengeance of the Norsemen's head:
     I reck not of his wrath, but sing,
     'Do thy worst!--I defy thee, king!--'"

Men and messages, however, passed between the king and the earl, and at
last it came to a conference; and when they met the earl submitted the
case altogether to the king's decision, and the king condemned the earl
Einar and the Orkney people to pay a fine of sixty marks of gold. As the
bondes thought this was too heavy for them to pay, the earl offered to
pay the whole if they would surrender their udal lands to him. This they
all agreed to do: the poor because they had but little pieces of land;
the rich because they could redeem their udal rights again when they
liked. Thus the earl paid the whole fine to the king, who returned in
harvest to Norway. The earls for a long time afterwards possessed all
the udal lands in Orkney, until Sigurd son of Hlodver gave back the udal
rights.




33. DEATH OF GUTHORM AND HALFDAN THE WHITE.

While King Harald's son Guthorm had the defence of Viken, he sailed
outside of the islands on the coast, and came in by one of the mouths
of the tributaries of the Gaut river. When he lay there Solve Klofe came
upon him, and immediately gave him battle, and Guthorm fell. Halfdan the
White and Halfdan the Black went out on an expedition, and plundered
in the East sea, and had a battle in Eistland, where Halfdan the White
fell.




34. MARRIAGE OF EIRIK.

Eirik, Harald's son, was fostered in the house of the herse Thorer, son
of Hroald, in the Fjord district. He was the most beloved and honoured
by King Harald of all his sons. When Eirik was twelve years old,
King Harald gave him five long-ships, with which he went on an
expedition,--first in the Baltic; then southwards to Denmark, Friesland,
and Saxland; on which expedition he passed four years. He then sailed
out into the West sea and plundered in Scotland, Bretland, Ireland, and
Valland, and passed four years more in this way. Then he sailed north to
Finmark, and all the way to Bjarmaland, where he had many a battle, and
won many a victory. When he came back to Finmark, his men found a girl
in a Lapland hut, whose equal for beauty they never had seen. She said
her name was Gunhild, and that her father dwelt in Halogaland, and was
called Ozur Tote. "I am here," she said, "to learn sorcery from two of
the most knowing Fins in all Finmark, who are now out hunting. They both
want me in marriage. They are so skilful that they can hunt out traces
either upon the frozen or the thawed earth, like dogs; and they can run
so swiftly on skees that neither man nor beast can come near them in
speed. They hit whatever they take aim at, and thus kill every man
who comes near them. When they are angry the very earth turns away in
terror, and whatever living thing they look upon then falls dead. Now ye
must not come in their way; but I will hide you here in the hut, and ye
must try to get them killed." They agreed to it, and she hid them, and
then took a leather bag, in which they thought there were ashes which
she took in her hand, and strewed both outside and inside of the hut.
Shortly after the Fins came home, and asked who had been there; and she
answered, "Nobody has been here." "That is wonderful," said they, "we
followed the traces close to the hut, and can find none after that."
Then they kindled a fire, and made ready their meat, and Gunhild
prepared her bed. It had so happened that Gunhild had slept the three
nights before, but the Fins had watched the one upon the other, being
jealous of each other. "Now," she said to the Fins, "come here, and lie
down one on each side of me." On which they were very glad to do so. She
laid an arm round the neck of each and they went to sleep directly. She
roused them up; but they fell to sleep again instantly, and so soundly
the she scarcely could waken them. She even raised them up in the bed,
and still they slept. Thereupon she too two great seal-skin bags, and
put their heads in them, and tied them fast under their arms; and then
she gave a wink to the king's men. They run forth with their weapons,
kill the two Fins, and drag them out of the hut. That same night came
such a dreadful thunder-storm that the could not stir. Next morning they
came to the ship, taking Gunhild with them, and presented her to Eirik.
Eirik and his followers then sailed southwards to Halogaland and he sent
word to Ozur Tote, the girl's father, to meet him. Eirik said he would
take his daughter in marriage, to which Ozur Tote consented, and Eirik
took Gunhild and went southwards with her (A.D. 922).




35. HARALD DIVIDES HIS KINGDOM.

When King Harald was fifty years of age many of his sons were grown up,
and some were dead. Many of them committed acts of great violence in the
country, and were in discord among themselves. They drove some of the
king's earls out of their properties, and even killed some of them.
Then the king called together a numerous Thing in the south part of the
country, and summoned to it all the people of the Uplands. At this
Thing he gave to all his sons the title of king, and made a law that his
descendants in the male line should each succeed to the kingly title and
dignity; but his descendants by the female side only to that of earl.
And he divided the country among them thus:--Vingulmark, Raumarike,
Vestfold and Thelamark, he bestowed on Olaf, Bjorn, Sigtryg, Frode, and
Thorgils. Hedemark and Gudbrandsdal he gave to Dag, Hring, and Ragnar.
To Snaefrid's sons he gave Ringerike, Hadeland, Thoten, and the lands
thereto belonging. His son Guthorm, as before mentioned, he had set over
the country from Glommen to Svinasund and Ranrike. He had set him to
defend the country to the East, as before has been written. King Harald
himself generally dwelt in the middle of the country, and Hrorek and
Gudrod were generally with his court, and had great estates in Hordaland
and in Sogn. King Eirik was also with his father King Harald; and the
king loved and regarded him the most of all his sons, and gave him
Halogaland and North More, and Raumsdal. North in Throndhjem he gave
Halfdan the Black, Halfdan the White, and Sigrod land to rule over. In
each of these districts he gave his sons the one half of his revenues,
together with the right to sit on a high-seat,--a step higher than
earls, but a step lower than his own high-seat. His king's seat each of
his sons wanted for himself after his death, but he himself destined it
for Eirik. The Throndhjem people wanted Halfdan the Black to succeed to
it. The people of Viken, and the Uplands, wanted those under whom they
lived. And thereupon new quarrels arose among the brothers; and because
they thought their dominions too little, they drove about in piratical
expeditions. In this way, as before related, Guthorm fell at the mouth
of the Gaut river, slain by Solve Klofe; upon which Olaf took the
kingdom he had possessed. Halfdan the White fell in Eistland, Halfdan
Haleg in Orkney. King Harald gave ships of war to Thorgils and Frode,
with which they went westward on a viking cruise, and plundered in
Scotland, Ireland, and Bretland. They were the first of the Northmen
who took Dublin. It is said that Frode got poisoned drink there; but
Thorgils was a long time king over Dublin, until he fell into a snare of
the Irish, and was killed.




36. DEATH OF RAGNVALD RETTILBEINE.

Eirik Blood-axe expected to be head king over all his brothers and
King Harald intended he should be so; and the father and son lived long
together. Ragnvald Rettilbeine governed Hadaland, and allowed himself to
be instructed in the arts of witchcraft, and became an area warlock.
Now King Harald was a hater of all witchcraft. There was a warlock in
Hordaland called Vitgeir; and when the king sent a message to him that
he should give up his art of witchcraft, he replied in this verse:--

     "The danger surely is not great
     From wizards born of mean estate,
     When Harald's son in Hadeland,
     King Ragnvald, to the art lays hand."

But when King Harald heard this, King Eirik Blood-axe went by his orders
to the Uplands, and came to Hadeland and burned his brother Ragnvald in
a house, along with eighty other warlocks; which work was much praised.




37. DEATH OF GUDROD LJOME.

Gudrod Ljome was in winter on a friendly visit to his foster-father
Thjodolf in Hvin, and had a well-manned ship, with which he wanted to go
north to Rogaland. It was blowing a heavy storm at the time; but Gudrod
was bent on sailing, and would not consent to wait. Thjodolf sang
thus:--

     "Wait, Gudrod, till the storm is past,--
     Loose not thy long-ship while the blast
     Howls over-head so furiously,--
     Trust not thy long-ship to the sea,--
     Loose not thy long-ship from the shore;
     Hark to the ocean's angry roar!
     See how the very stones are tost
     By raging waves high on the coast!
     Stay, Gudrod, till the tempest's o'er--
     Deep runs the sea off the Jadar's shore."

Gudrod set off in spite of what Thjodolf could say: and when they came
off the Jadar the vessel sunk with them, and all on board were lost.




38. KING BJORN KAUPMAN'S DEATH.

King Harald's son, Bjorn, ruled over Vestfold at that time, and
generally lived at Tunsberg, and went but little on war expeditions.
Tunsberg at that time was much frequented by merchant vessels, both from
Viken and the north country, and also from the south, from Denmark, and
Saxland. King Bjorn had also merchant ships on voyages to other lands,
by which he procured for himself costly articles, and such things as
he thought needful; and therefore his brothers called him Farman
(the Seaman), and Kaupman (the Chapman). Bjorn was a man of sense and
understanding, and promised to become a good ruler. He made a good and
suitable marriage, and had a son by his wife, who was named Gudrod.
Eirik Blood-axe came from his Baltic cruise with ships of war, and
a great force, and required his brother Bjorn to deliver to him King
Harald's share of the scat and incomes of Vestfold. But it had always
been the custom before, that Bjorn himself either delivered the money
into the king's hands, or sent men of his own with it; and therefore
he would continue with the old custom, and would not deliver the
money. Eirik again wanted provisions, tents, and liquor. The brothers
quarrelled about this; but Eirik got nothing and left the town. Bjorn
went also out of the town towards evening up to Saeheim. In the night
Eirik came back after Bjorn, and came to Saeheim just as Bjorn and his
men were seated at table drinking. Eirik surrounded the house in which
they were; but Bjorn with his men went out and fought. Bjorn, and many
men with him, fell. Eirik, on the other hand, got a great booty, and
proceeded northwards. But this work was taken very ill by the people of
Viken, and Eirik was much disliked for it; and the report went that King
Olaf would avenge his brother Bjorn, whenever opportunity offered. King
Bjorn lies in the mound of Farmanshaug at Saeheim.




39. RECONCILIATION OF THE KINGS.

King Eirik went in winter northwards to More, and was at a feast in
Solve, within the point Agdanes; and when Halfdan the Black heard of it
he set out with his men, and surrounded the house in which they were.
Eirik slept in a room which stood detached by itself, and he escaped
into the forest with four others; but Halfdan and his men burnt the main
house, with all the people who were in it. With this news Eirik came
to King Harald, who was very wroth at it, and assembled a great force
against the Throndhjem people. When Halfdan the Black heard this he
levied ships and men, so that he had a great force, and proceeded
with it to Stad, within Thorsbjerg. King Harald lay with his men at
Reinsletta. Now people went between them, and among others a clever man
called Guthorm Sindre, who was then in Halfdan the Black's army, but had
been formerly in the service of King Harald, and was a great friend of
both. Guthorm was a great skald, and had once composed a song both about
the father and the son, for which they had offered him a reward. But he
would take nothing; but only asked that, some day or other, they should
grant him any request he should make, which they promised to do. Now he
presented himself to King Harald, brought words of peace between them,
and made the request to them both that they should be reconciled. So
highly did the king esteem him, that in consequence of his request they
were reconciled. Many other able men promoted this business as well as
he; and it was so settled that Halfdan should retain the whole of his
kingdom as he had it before, and should let his brother Eirik sit in
peace. After this event Jorun, the skald-maid, composed some verses in
"Sendibit" ("The Biting Message"):--

     "I know that Harald Fairhair
     Knew the dark deed of Halfdan.
     To Harald Halfdan seemed
     Angry and cruel."




40. BIRTH OF HAKON THE GOOD.

Earl Hakon Grjotgardson of Hlader had the whole rule over Throndhjem
when King Harald was anywhere away in the country; and Hakon stood
higher with the king than any in the country of Throndhjem. After
Hakon's death his son Sigurd succeeded to his power in Throndhjem, and
was the earl, and had his mansion at Hlader. King Harald's sons, Halfdan
the Black and Sigrod, who had been before in the house of his father
Earl Hakon, continued to be brought up in his house. The sons of Harald
and Sigurd were about the same age. Earl Sigurd was one of the wisest
men of his time, and married Bergljot, a daughter of Earl Thorer the
Silent; and her mother was Alof Arbot, a daughter of Harald Harfager.
When King Harald began to grow old he generally dwelt on some of his
great farms in Hordaland; namely, Alreksstader or Saeheim, Fitjar,
Utstein, or Ogvaldsnes in the island Kormt. When Harald was seventy
years of age he begat a son with a girl called Thora Mosterstang,
because her family came from Moster. She was descended from good people,
being connected with Kare (Aslakson) of Hordaland; and was moreover
a very stout and remarkably handsome girl. She was called the king's
servant-girl; for at that time many were subject to service to the king
who were of good birth, both men and women. Then it was the custom, with
people of consideration, to choose with great care the man who should
pour water over their children, and give them a name. Now when the time
came that Thora, who was then at Moster, expected her confinement,
she would to King Harald, who was then living at Saeheim; and she went
northwards in a ship belonging to Earl Sigurd. They lay at night close
to the land; and there Thora brought forth a child upon the land, up
among the rocks, close to the ship's gangway, and it was a man child.
Earl Sigurd poured water over him, and called him Hakon, after his own
father, Hakon earl of Hlader. The boy soon grew handsome, large in size,
and very like his father King Harald. King Harald let him follow his
mother, and they were both in the king's house as long as he was an
infant.




41. KING ATHELSTAN'S MESSAGE

At this time a king called Aethelstan had taken the Kingdom of England.
He was called victorious and faithful. He sent men to Norway to King
Harald, with the errand that the messengers should present him with a
sword, with the hilt and handle gilt, and also the whole sheath adorned
with gold and silver, and set with precious jewels. The ambassador
presented the sword-hilt to the king, saying, "Here is a sword which
King Athelstan sends thee, with the request that thou wilt accept it."
The king took the sword by the handle; whereupon the ambassador said,
"Now thou hast taken the sword according to our king's desire, and
therefore art thou his subject as thou hast taken his sword." King
Harald saw now that this was an insult, for he would be subject to no
man. But he remembered it was his rule, whenever anything raised his
anger, to collect himself, and let his passion run off, and then take
the matter into consideration coolly. Now he did so, and consulted his
friends, who all gave him the advice to let the ambassadors, in the
first place, go home in safety.




42. HAUK'S JOURNEY TO ENGLAND.

The following summer King Harald sent a ship westward to England, and
gave the command of it to Hauk Habrok. He was a great warrior, and very
dear to the king. Into his hands he gave his son Hakon. Hank proceeded
westward in England, and found King Athelstan in London, where there was
just at the time a great feast and entertainment. When they came to the
hall, Hauk told his men how they should conduct themselves; namely, that
he who went first in should go last out, and all should stand in a row
at the table, at equal distance from each other; and each should have
his sword at his left side, but should fasten his cloak so that his
sword should not be seen. Then they went into the hall, thirty in
number. Hauk went up to the king and saluted him, and the king bade him
welcome. Then Hauk took the child Hakon, and set it on the king's knee.
The king looks at the boy, and asks Hauk what the meaning of this is.
Hauk replies, "Herald the king bids thee foster his servant-girl's
child." The king was in great anger, and seized a sword which lay beside
him, and drew it, as if he was going to kill the child. Hauk says, "Thou
hast borne him on thy knee, and thou canst murder him if thou wilt; but
thou wilt not make an end of all King Harald's sons by so doing." On
that Hauk went out with all his men, and took the way direct to his
ship, and put to sea,--for they were ready,--and came back to King
Harald. The king was highly pleased with this; for it is the common
observation of all people, that the man who fosters another's children
is of less consideration than the other. From these transactions between
the two kings, it appears that each wanted to be held greater than the
other; but in truth there was no injury, to the dignity of either, for
each was the upper king in his own kingdom till his dying day.




43. HAKON, THE FOSTER-SON OF ATHELSTAN, IS BAPTIZED.

King Athelstan had Hakon baptized, and brought up in the right faith,
and in good habits, and all sorts of good manners, and he loved Hakon
above all his relations; and Hakon was beloved by all men. He was
henceforth called Athelstan's foster-son. He was an accomplished skald,
and he was larger, stronger and more beautiful than other men; he was
a man of understanding and eloquence, and also a good Christian. King
Athelstan gave Hakon a sword, of which the hilt and handle were gold,
and the blade still better; for with it Hakon cut down a mill-stone to
the centre eye, and the sword thereafter was called the Quernbite (1).
Better sword never came into Norway, and Hakon carried it to his dying
day.


   ENDNOTES:
     (1) Quern is the name of the small hand mill-stones still
     found.
     in use among the cottars in Orkney, Shetland, and the
     Hebrides.  This sword is mentioned in the Younger Edda.
     There were many excellent swords in the olden time, and many
     of them had proper names.




44. EIRIK BROUGHT TO THE SOVEREIGNTY.

When King Harald was eighty years of age (A.D. 930) he became very
heavy, and unable to travel through the country, or do the business of
a king. Then he brought his son Eirik to his high-seat, and gave him the
power and command over the whole land. Now when King Harald's other sons
heard this, King Halfdan the Black also took a king's high-seat, and
took all Throndhjem land, with the consent of all the people, under his
rule as upper king. After the death of Bjorn the Chapman, his brother
Olaf took the command over Vestfold, and took Bjorn's son, Gudrod,
as his foster-child. Olaf's son was called Trygve; and the two
foster-brothers were about the same age, and were hopeful and clever.
Trygve, especially, was remarkable as a stout and strong man. Now when
the people of Viken heard that those of Hordaland had taken Eirik as
upper king, they did the same, and made Olaf the upper king in Viken,
which kingdom he retained. Eirik did not like this at all. Two years
after this, Halfdan the Black died suddenly at a feast in Throndhjem
and the general report was that Gunhild had bribed a witch to give him
a death-drink. Thereafter the Throndhjem people took Sigrod to be their
king.




45. KING HARALD'S DEATH.

King Harald lived three years after he gave Eirik the supreme authority
over his kingdom, and lived mostly on his great farms which he
possessed, some in Rogaland, and some in Hordaland. Eirik and Gunhild
had a son on whom King Harald poured water, and gave him his own name,
and the promise that he should be king after his father Eirik. King
Harald married most of his daughters within the country to his earls,
and from them many great families are descended. Harald died on a bed of
sickness in Hogaland (A.D. 933), and was buried under a mound at Haugar
in Karmtsund. In Haugesund is a church, now standing; and not far from
the churchyard, at the north-west side, is King Harald Harfager's mound;
but his grave-stone stands west of the church, and is thirteen feet and
a half high, and two ells broad. One stone was set at head and one at
the feet; on the top lay the slab, and below on both sides were laid
small stones. The grave, mound, and stone, are there to the present day.
Harald Harfager was, according to the report of men of knowledge, or
remarkably handsome appearance, great and strong, and very generous
and affable to his men. He was a great warrior in his youth; and people
think that this was foretold by his mother's dream before his birth,
as the lowest part of the tree she dreamt of was red as blood. The stem
again was green and beautiful, which betokened his flourishing kingdom;
and that the tree was white at the top showed that he should reach a
grey-haired old age. The branches and twigs showed forth his posterity,
spread over the whole land; for of his race, ever since. Norway has
always had kings.




46. THE DEATH OF OLAF AND OF SIGROD.

King Eirik took all the revenues (A.D. 934), which the king had in the
middle of the country, the next winter after King Harald's decease. But
Olaf took all the revenues eastward in Viken, and their brother Sigrod
all that of the Throndhjem country. Eirik was very ill pleased with
this; and the report went that he would attempt with force to get the
sole sovereignty over the country, in the same way as his father had
given it to him. Now when Olaf and Sigrod heard this, messengers passed
between them; and after appointing a meeting place, Sigrod went eastward
in spring to Viken, and he and his brother Olaf met at Tunsberg, and
remained there a while. The same spring (A.D. 934), King Eirik levied a
great force, and ships and steered towards Viken. He got such a strong
steady gale that he sailed night and day, and came faster than the news
of him. When he came to Tunsberg, Olaf and Sigrod, with their forces,
went out of the town a little eastward to a ridge, where they drew up
their men in battle order; but as Eirik had many more men he won the
battle. Both brothers, Olaf and Sigrod, fell there; and both their
grave-mounds are upon the ridge where they fell. Then King Eirik went
through Viken, and subdued it, and remained far into summer. Gudrod and
Trygve fled to the Uplands. Eirik was a stout handsome man, strong, and
very manly,--a great and fortunate man of war; but bad-minded, gruff,
unfriendly, and silent. Gunhild, his wife, was the most beautiful
of women,--clever, with much knowledge, and lively; but a very false
person, and very cruel in disposition. The children of King Eirik
and Gunhild were, Gamle, the oldest; then Guthorm, Harald, Ragnfrod,
Ragnhild, Erling, Gudrod, and Sigurd Sleva. All were handsome, and of
manly appearance (1).


   ENDNOTES: (1) Of Eirik, his wife, and children, see the following sagas.




HAKON THE GOOD'S SAGA.


PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Of Eirik Blood-axe's five years' reign Snorre has no separate saga. He
appears not to have been beloved by the people and his queen Gunhild
seems to have had a bad influence on him.

Other accounts of Hakon may be found in "Fagrskinna" (chaps. 25-34),
"Agrip", "Historia", "Norvegiae", and in "Thjodrek" (chap. 4).

The reader is also referred to "Saxo", "Egla", "Laxdaela", "Kormaks
Saga", "Gisle Surssons Saga", "Halfred's Saga", "Floamanna Saga", "Viga
Glum's Saga", and to "Landnamabok".

Skald mentioned in this Saga are:--Glum Geirason, Thord Sjarekson,
Guthorm Sindre, Kormak Ogmundson, and Eyvind Skaldaspiller. In
the "Egla" are found many poems belonging to this epoch by Egil
Skallagrimson.

In "Fagrskinna" is found a poem (not given by Snorre) which Gunhild (his
wife) had made on King Eirik after his death, telling how Odin welcomed
him to Valhal. The author or skald who composed it is not known, but
it is considered to be one of the gems of old Norse poetry, and we here
quote it in Vigfusson's translation in his "Corpus Poeticum", vol.
i. pp. 260, 261. Gudbrand Vigfusson has filled up a few gaps from
"Hakonarmat", the poem at the end of this Saga. We have changed
Vigfusson's orthography of names, and brought them into harmony with the
spelling used in this work:--Ed.

"Odin wakes in the morning and cries, as he opens his eyes, with his
dream still fresh in his mind:--'What dreams are these? I thought I
arose before daybreak to make Valhal ready for a host of slain. I woke
up the host of the chosen. I bade them ride up to strew the benches, and
to till up the beer-vats, and I bade valkyries to bear the wine, as if
a king were coming. I look for the coming of some noble chiefs from the
earth, wherefore my heart is glad.'

"Brage, Odin's counsellor, now wakes, as a great din is heard without,
and calls out:--'What is that thundering? as if a thousand men or some
great host were tramping on--the walls and the benches are creaking
withal--as if Balder was coming back to the ball of Odin?'

"Odin answers:--'Surely thou speakest foolishly, good Brage, although
thou art very wise. It thunders for Eirik the king, that is coming to
the hall of Odin.'

"Then turning to his heroes, he cries:--'Sigmund and Sinfjotle, rise in
haste and go forth to meet the prince! Bid him in if it be Eirik, for it
is he whom I look for.'

"Sigmund answers:--'Why lookest thou more for Eirik, the king, to Odin's
hall, than for other kings?'

"Odin answers:--'Because he has reddened his brand, and borne his bloody
sword in many a land.'

"Quoth Sigmund:--'Why didst thou rob him, the chosen king of victory
then, seeing thou thoughtest him so brave?'

"Odin answered:--'Because it is not surely to be known, when the grey
wolf shall come upon the seat of the god.'

SECOND SCENE.--Without Valhal. Sigmund and Sinfjotle go outside the hall
and meet Eirik.

"Quoth Sigmund:--'Hail to thee, Eirik, be welcome here, and come into
the hall, thou gallant king! Now I will ask thee, what kings are these
that follow thee from the clash of the sword edges?'

"Eirik answers:--'They are five kings; I will tell thee all their names;
I myself am the sixth (the names followed in the song, whereof the rest
is lost.)

"Fagrskinna" says "Hakonarmal" was the model of this poem.




1. HAKON CHOSEN KING.

Hakon, Athelstan's foster-son, was in England at the time (A.D. 934) he
heard of his father King Harald's death, and he immediately made himself
ready to depart. King Athelstan gave him men, and a choice of good
ships, and fitted him out for his journey most excellently. In harvest
time he came to Norway, where he heard of the death of his brothers,
and that King Eirik was then in Viken. Then Hakon sailed northwards to
Throndhjem, where he went to Sigurd earl of Hlader who was the ablest
man in Norway. He gave Hakon a good reception; and they made a league
with each other, by which Hakon promised great power to Sigurd if he
was made king. They assembled then a numerous Thing, and Sigurd the earl
recommended Hakon's cause to the Thing, and proposed him to the bondes
as king. Then Hakon himself stood up and spoke; and the people said to
each other, two and two, as they heard him, "Herald Harfager is come
again, grown and young." The beginning of Hakon's speech was, that he
offered himself to the bondes as king, and desired from them the title
of king, and aid and forces to defend the kingdom. He promised, on the
other hand, to make all the bondes udal-holders, and give every man udal
rights to the land he lived on. This speech met such joyful applause,
that the whole public cried and shouted that they would take him to be
king. And so it was that the Throndhjem people took Hakon, who was
then fifteen years old, for king; and he took a court or bodyguard,
and servants, and proceeded through the country. The news reached the
Uplands that the people in Throndhjem had taken to themselves a
king, who in every respect was like King Harald Harfager,--with the
difference, that Harald had made all the people of the land vassals, and
unfree; but this Hakon wished well to every man, and offered the bondes
to give them their udal rights again, which Harald had taken from them.
All were rejoiced at this news, and it passed from mouth to mouth,--it
flew, like fire in dry grass, through the whole land, and eastward to
the land's end. Many bondes came from the Uplands to meet King Hakon.
Some sent messengers, some tokens; and all to the same effect--that his
men they would be: and the king received all thankfully.




2. KING HAKON'S PROGRESS THROUGH THE COUNTRY.

Early in winter (935), the king went to the Uplands, and summoned the
people to a Thing; and there streamed all to him who could come. He was
proclaimed king at every Thing; and then he proceeded eastward to Viken,
where his brother's sons, Trygve and Gudrod, and many others, came
unto him, and complained of the sorrow and evil his brother Eirik had
wrought. The hatred to King Eirik grew more and more, the more liking
all men took to King Hakon; and they got more boldness to say what they
thought. King Hakon gave Trygve and Gudrod the title of kings, and the
dominions which King Harald had bestowed on their fathers. Trygve got
Ranrike and Vingulmark, and Gudrod, Vestfold; but as they were young,
and in the years of childhood, he appointed able men to rule the land
for them. He gave them the country on the same conditions as it had been
given before,--that they should have half of the scat and revenues with
him. Towards spring King Hakon returned north, over the Uplands, to
Throndhjem.




3. EIRIK'S DEPARTURE FROM THE COUNTRY.

King Hakon, early in spring, collected a great army at Throndhjem, and
fitted out ships. The people of Viken also had a great force on foot,
and intended to join Hakon. King Eirik also levied people in the middle
of the country; but it went badly with him to gather people, for the
leading men left him, and went over to Hakon. As he saw himself not
nearly strong enough to oppose Hakon, he sailed (A.D. 935) out to the
West sea with such men as would follow him. He first sailed to Orkney,
and took many people with him from that country; and then went south
towards England, plundering in Scotland, and in the north parts of
England, wherever he could land. Athelstan, the king of England, sent
a message to Eirik, offering him dominions under him in England; saying
that King Harald his father was a good friend of King Athelstan, and
therefore he would do kindly towards his sons. Messengers passed between
the two kings; and it came to an agreement that King Eirik should take
Northumberland as a fief from King Athelstan, and which land he should
defend against the Danes or other vikings. Eirik should let himself be
baptized, together with his wife and children, and all the people who
had followed him. Eirik accepted this offer, and was baptized, and
adopted the right faith. Northumberland is called a fifth part of
England. Eirik had his residence at York, where Lodbrok's sons, it was
said, had formerly been, and Northumberland was principally inhabited by
Northmen. Since Lodbrok's sons had taken the country, Danes and Northmen
often plundered there, when the power of the land was out of their
hands. Many names of places in the country are Norwegian; as Grimsby,
Haukfliot, and many others.




4. EIRIK'S DEATH.

King Eirik had many people about him, for he kept many Northmen who had
come with him from the East; and also many of his friends had joined
him from Norway. But as he had little land, he went on a cruise every
summer, and plundered in Scotland, the Hebrides, Ireland, and Bretland,
by which he gathered property. King Athelstan died on a sick bed, after
a reign of fourteen years, eight weeds, and three days. After him
his brother Jatmund was king of England, and he was no friend to the
Northmen. King Eirik, also, was in no great favour with him; and
the word went about that King Jatmund would set another chief over
Northumberland. Now when King Eirik heard this, he set off on a viking
cruise to the westward; and from the Orkneys took with him the Earls
Arnkel and Erlend, the sons of Earl Torfeinar. Then he sailed to the
Hebrides, where there were many vikings and troop-kings, who joined
their men to his. With all this force he steered to Ireland first,
where he took with him all the men he could, and then to Bretland, and
plundered; and sailed thereafter south to England, and marauded there
as elsewhere. The people fled before him wherever he appeared. As King
Eirik was a bold warrior, and had a great force, he trusted so much to
his people that he penetrated far inland in the country, following and
plundering the fugitives. King Jatmund had set a king, who was called
Olaf, to defend the land; and he gathered an innumerable mass of people,
with whom he marched against King Eirik. A dreadful battle ensued, in
which many Englishmen fell; but for one who fell came three in his place
out of the country behind, and when evening came on the loss of men
turned on the side of the Northmen, and many people fell. Towards the
end of the day, King Eirik and five kings with him fell. Three of them
were Guthorm and his two sons, Ivar and Harek: there fell, also, Sigurd
and Ragnvald; and with them Torfeinar's two sons, Arnkel and Erlend.
Besides these, there was a great slaughter of Northmen; and those who
escaped went to Northumberland, and brought the news to Gunhild and her
sons (A.D. 941).




5. GUNHILD AND HER SONS.

When Gunhild and her sons knew for certain that King Eirik had fallen,
after having plundered the land of the King of England, they thought
there was no peace to be expected for them; and they made themselves
ready to depart from Northumberland, with all the ships King Eirik had
left, and all the men who would go with them. They took also all the
loose property, and goods which they had gathered partly as taxes in
England, partly as booty on their expeditions. With their army they
first steered northward to Orkney, where Thorfin Hausakljufer was earl,
a son of Torfeinar, and took up their station there for a time. Eirik's
sons subdued these islands and Hjaltland, took scat for themselves, and
staid there all the winter; but went on viking cruises in summer to the
West, and plundered in Scotland and Ireland. About this Glum Geirason
sings:--

     "The hero who knows well to ride
     The sea-horse o'er the foamingtide,--
     He who in boyhood wild rode o'er
     The seaman's horse to Skanea's shore.
     And showed the Danes his galley's bow,
     Right nobly scours the ocean now.
     On Scotland's coast he lights the brand
     Of flaming war; with conquering hand
     Drives many a Scottish warrior tall
     To the bright seats in Odin's hall.
     The fire-spark, by the fiend of war
     Fanned to a flame, soon spreads afar.
     Crowds trembling fly,--the southern foes
     Fall thick beneath the hero's blows:
     The hero's blade drips red with gore,
     Staining the green sward on the shore."




6. BATTLE IN JUTLAND.

When King Eirik had left the country, King Hakon, Athelstan's
foster-son, subdued the whole of Norway. The first winter (A.D. 936)
he visited the western parts, and then went north, and settled in
Throndhjem. But as no peace could be reasonably looked for so long as
King Eirik with his forces could come to Norway from the West sea, he
set himself with his men-at-arms in the middle of the country,--in the
Fjord district, or in Sogn, or Hordaland, or Rogaland. Hakon placed
Sigurd earl of Hlader over the whole Throradhjem district, as he and his
father had before had it under Harald Harfager. When King Hakon heard
of his brother Eirik's death, and also that his sons had no footing in
England, he thought there was not much to fear from them, and he went
with his troops one summer eastward to Viken. At that time the Danes
plundered often in Viken, and wrought much evil there; but when they
heard that King Hakon was come with a great army, they got out of the
way, to Halland; and those who were nearest to King Hakon went out to
sea, and over to Jotland (Jutland). When the king heard of this, he
sailed after them with all his army. On arriving in Jutland he plundered
all round; and when the country people heard of it, they assembled in a
great body, and determined to defend their land, and fight. There was
a great battle; and King Hakon fought so boldly, that he went forward
before his banner without helmet or coat of mail. King Hakon won the
victory, and drove the fugitives far up the country. So says Guthorm
Sindre, in his song of Hakon:--

     "Furrowing the deep-blue sea with oars,
     The king pursues to Jutland's shores.
     They met; and in the battle storm
     Of clashing shields, full many a form
     Of goodly warrior on the plain,
     Full many a corpse by Hakon slain,
     Glutted the ravens, who from far,
     Scenting the banquet-feast of war,
     Came in black flocks to Jutland's plains
     To drink the blood-wine from the veins."




7. BATTLE IN EYRARSUND (THE SOUND).

Then Hakon steered southwards with his fleet to seek the vikings, and
so on to Sealand. He rowed with two cutters into the Eyrarsund, where he
found eleven viking ships, and instantly attacked them. It ended in his
gaining the victory, and clearing the viking ships of all their men. So
says Guthorm Sindre:--

     "Hakon the Brave, whose skill all know
     To bend in battle storm the bow,
     Rushed o'er the waves to Sealand's tongue,
     His two war-ships with gilt shields hung,
     And cleared the decks with his blue sword
     That rules the fate of war, on board
     Eleven ships of the Vindland men.--
     Famous is Hakon's name since then."




8. KING HAKON'S EXPEDITION TO DENMARK.

Thereafter King Hakon carried war far and wide in Sealand; plundering
some, slaying others, taking some prisoners of war, taking ransom from
others, and all without opposition. Then Hakon proceeded along the
coast of Skane, pillaging everywhere, levying taxes and ransome from the
country, and killing all vikings, both Danish and Vindish. He then went
eastwards to the district of Gautland, marauded there, and took great
ransom from the country. So says Guthorm Sindre:--

     "Hakon, who midst the battle shock
     Stands like a firmly-rooted oak,
     Subdued all Sealand with the sword:
     From Vindland vikings the sea-bord
     Of Scania swept; and, with the shield
     Of Odin clad, made Gautland yield
     A ransom of the ruddy gold,
     Which Hakon to his war-men bold
     Gave with free hand, who in his feud
     Against the arrow-storm had stood."

King Hakon returned back in autumn with his army and an immense booty;
and remained all the winter (A.D. 946) in Viken to defend it against the
Danes and Gautlanders, if they should attack it.




9. OF KING TRYGVE.

In the same winter King Trygve Olafson returned from a viking cruise in
the West sea, having before ravaged in Ireland and Scotland. In spring
(A.D. 946) King Hakon went north, and set his brother's son, King
Trygve, over Viken to defend that country against enemies. He gave him
also in property all that he could reconquer of the country in Denmark,
which the summer before King Hakon had subjected to payment of scat to
him. So says Guthorm:--

     "King Hakon, whose sharp sword dyes red
     The bright steel cap on many a head,
     Has set a warrior brave and stout
     The foreign foeman to keep out,--
     To keep that green land safe from war
     Which black Night bore to dwarf Annar (1).
     For many a carle whose trade's to wield
     The battle-axe, and swing the shield,
     On the swan's ocean-skates has come,
     In white-winged ships, across the foam,--
     Across the sea, from far Ireland,
     To war against the Norseman's land."


   ENDNOTES: (1) The dwarf Annar was the husband of Night, and Earth was
     their daughter.--L.




10. OF GUNHILD S SONS.

King Harald Gormson ruled over Denmark at that time. He took it much
amiss that King Hakon had made war in his dominions, and the report went
that he would take revenge; but this did not take place so soon. When
Gunhild and her sons heard there was enmity between Denmark and Norway,
they began to turn their course from the West. They married King Eirik's
daughter, Ragnhild, to Arnfin, a son of Thorfin Hausakljufer; and as
soon as Eirik's sons went away, Thorfin took the earldom again over
the Orkney Islands. Gamle Eirikson was somewhat older than the other
brothers, but still he was not a grown man. When Gunhild and her sons
came from the westward to Denmark, they were well received by King
Harald. He gave them great fiefs in his kingdom, so that they could
maintain themselves and their men very well. He also took Harald
Eirikson to be his foster-son, set him on his knee, and thereafter he
was brought up at the Danish king's court. Some of Eirik's sons went
out on viking expeditions as soon as they were old enough, and gathered
property, ravaging all around in the East sea. They grew up quickly to
be handsome men, and far beyond their years in strength and perfection.
Glum Geirason tells of one of them in the Grafeld song:--

     "I've heard that, on the Eastland coast,
     Great victories were won and lost.
     The king, whose hand is ever graced
     With gift to skald, his banner placed
     On, and still on; while, midst the play
     Of swords, sung sharp his good sword's sway
     As strong in arm as free of gold,
     He thinn'd the ranks of warriors bold."

Then Eirik's sons turned northwards with their troops to Viken and
marauded there; but King Trygve kept troops on foot with which he met
them, and they had many a battle, in which the victory was sometimes on
one side, and sometimes on the other. Sometimes Eirik's sons plundered
in Viken, and sometimes Trygve in Sealand and Halland.




11. KING HAKON AS A LAW-GIVER.

As long as Hakon was king in Norway, there was good peace between the
bondes and merchants; so that none did harm either to the life or goods
of the other. Good seasons also there were, both by sea and land. King
Hakon was of a remarkably cheerful disposition, clever in words, and
very condescending. He was a man of great understanding also, and
bestowed attention on law-giving. He gave out the Gula-thing's laws on
the advice of Thorleif Spake (the Wise); also the Frosta-thing's laws
on the advice of Earl Sigurd, and of other Throndhjem men of wisdom.
Eidsiva-thing laws were first established in the country by Halfdan the
Black, as has before been written.




12. THE BIRTH OF EARL HAKON THE GREAT.

King Hakon kept Yule at Throndhjem, and Earl Sigurd had made a feast
for him at Hlader. The night of the first day of Yule the earl's wife,
Bergljot, was brought to bed of a boy-child, which afterwards King
Hakon poured water over, and gave him his own name. The boy grew up, and
became in his day a mighty and able man, and was earl after his father,
who was King Hakon's dearest friend.




13. OF EYSTEIN THE BAD.

Eystein, a king of the Uplands, whom some called the Great, and some the
Bad, once on a time made war in Throndhjem, and subdued Eyna district
and Sparbyggia district, and set his own son Onund over them; but the
Throndhjem people killed him. Then King Eystein made another inroad into
Throndhjem, and ravaged the land far and wide, and subdued it. He then
offered the people either his slave, who was called Thorer Faxe, or his
dog, whose name was Saur, to be their king. They preferred the dog,
as they thought they would sooner get rid of him. Now the dog was, by
witchcraft, gifted with three men's wisdom; and when he barked, he spoke
one word and barked two. A collar and chain of gold and silver were
made for him, and his courtiers carried him on their shoulders when the
weather or ways were foul. A throne was erected for him, and he sat
upon a high place, as kings are used to sit. He dwelt on Eyin Idre (Idre
Isle), and had his mansion in a place now called Saurshaug. It is told
that the occasion of his death was that the wolves one day broke into
his fold, and his courtiers stirred him up to defend his cattle; but
when he ran down from his mound, and attacked the wolves, they tore
him into pieces. Many other extraordinary things were done by this
King Eystein against the Throndhjem people, and in consequence of this
persecution and trouble, many chiefs and people fled and left their udal
properties.




14. JAMTALAND AND HELSINGJALAND.

Ketil Jamte, a son of Earl Onund of Sparabu, went eastward across the
mountain ridge, and with him a great multitude, who took all their
farm-stock and goods with them. They cleared the woods, and established
large farms, and settled the country afterwards called Jamtaland.
Thorer Helsing, Ketil's grandson, on account of a murder, ran away from
Jamtaland and fled eastward through the forest, and settled there. Many
people followed, and that country, which extends eastward down to the
seacoast, was called Helsingjaland; and its eastern parts are inhabited
by Swedes. Now when Harald Harfager took possession of the whole country
many people fled before him, both people of Throndhjem and of Naumudal
districts; and thus new settlers came to Jamtaland, and some all the way
to Helsingjaland. The Helsingjaland people travelled into Svithiod for
their merchandise, and thus became altogether subjects of that country.
The Jamtaland people, again, were in a manner between the two countries;
and nobody cared about them, until Hakon entered into friendly
intercourse with Jamtaland, and made friends of the more powerful
people. Then they resorted to him, and promised him obedience and
payment of taxes, and became his subjects; for they saw nothing but what
was good in him, and being of Norwegian race they would rather stand
under his royal authority than under the king of Sweden: and he gave
them laws, and rights to their land. All the people of Helsingjaland did
the same,--that is, all who were of Norwegian race, from the other side
of the great mountain ridge.





15. HAKON SPREADS CHRISTIANITY.

King Hakon was a good Christian when he came to Norway; but as the whole
country was heathen, with much heathenish sacrifice, and as many
great people, as well as the favour of the common people, were to be
conciliated, he resolved to practice his Christianity in private. But
he kept Sundays, and the Friday fasts, and some token of the greatest
holy-days. He made a law that the festival of Yule should begin at
the same time as Christian people held it, and that every man, under
penalty, should brew a meal of malt into ale, and therewith keep the
Yule holy as long as it lasted. Before him, the beginning of Yule, or
the slaughter night, was the night of mid-winter (Dec. 14), and Yule was
kept for three days thereafter. It was his intent, as soon as he had set
himself fast in the land, and had subjected the whole to his power,
to introduce Christianity. He went to work first by enticing to
Christianity the men who were dearest to him; and many, out of
friendship to him, allowed themselves to be baptized, and some laid
aside sacrifices. He dwelt long in the Throndhjem district, for the
strength of the country lay there; and when he thought that, by the
support of some powerful people there, he could set up Christianity he
sent a message to England for a bishop and other teachers; and when
they arrived in Norway, Hakon made it known that he would proclaim
Christianity over all the land. The people of More and Raumsdal referred
the matter to the people of Throndhjem. King Hakon then had several
churches consecrated, and put priests into them; and when he came to
Throndhjem he summoned the bondes to a Thing, and invited them to accept
Christianity. They gave an answer to the effect that they would defer
the matter until the Frosta-thing, at which there would be men from
every district of the Throndhjem country, and then they would give their
determination upon this difficult matter.




16. ABOUT SACRIFICES.

Sigurd, earl of Hlader, was one of the greatest men for sacrifices, and
so had Hakon his father been; and Sigurd always presided on account of
the king at all the festivals of sacrifice in the Throndhjem country.
It was an old custom, that when there was to be sacrifice all the bondes
should come to the spot where the temple stood and bring with them all
that they required while the festival of the sacrifice lasted. To this
festival all the men brought ale with them; and all kinds of cattle, as
well as horses, were slaughtered, and all the blood that came from
them was called "hlaut", and the vessels in which it was collected were
called hlaut-vessels. Hlaut-staves were made, like sprinkling brushes,
with which the whole of the altars and the temple walls, both outside
and inside, were sprinkled over, and also the people were sprinkled with
the blood; but the flesh was boiled into savoury meat for those present.
The fire was in the middle of the floor of the temple, and over it hung
the kettles, and the full goblets were handed across the fire; and he
who made the feast, and was a chief, blessed the full goblets, and
all the meat of the sacrifice. And first Odin's goblet was emptied for
victory and power to his king; thereafter, Niord's and Freyja's goblets
for peace and a good season. Then it was the custom of many to empty the
brage-goblet (1); and then the guests emptied a goblet to the memory of
departed friends, called the remembrance goblet. Sigurd the earl was an
open-handed man, who did what was very much celebrated; namely, he made
a great sacrifice festival at Hlader of which he paid all the expenses.
Kormak Ogmundson sings of it in his ballad of Sigurd:--

     "Of cup or platter need has none
     The guest who seeks the generous one,--
     Sigurd the Generous, who can trace
     His lineage from the giant race;
     For Sigurd's hand is bounteous, free,--
     The guardian of the temples he.
     He loves the gods, his liberal hand
     Scatters his sword's gains o'er the land--"


   ENDNOTES: (1) The brage-goblet, over which vows were made.--L.




17. THE FROSTA-THING.

King Hakon came to the Frosta-thing, at which a vast multitude of people
were assembled. And when the Thing was seated, the king spoke to the
people, and began his speech with saying,--it was his message and
entreaty to the bondes and householding men, both great and small, and
to the whole public in general, young and old, rich and poor, women as
well as men, that they should all allow themselves to be baptized, and
should believe in one God, and in Christ the son of Mary and refrain
from all sacrifices and heathen gods; and should keep holy the seventh
day, and abstain from all work on it, and keep a fast on the seventh
day. As soon as the king had proposed this to the bondes, great was the
murmur and noise among the crowd. They complained that the king wanted
to take their labour and their old faith from them, and the land could
not be cultivated in that way. The labouring men and slaves thought that
they could not work if they did not get meat; and they said it was
the character of King Hakon, and his father, and all the family, to be
generous enough with their money, but sparing with their diet. Asbjorn
of Medalhus in the Gaulardal stood up, and answered thus to the king's
proposal:--

"We bondes, King Hakon, when we elected thee to be our king, and got
back our udal rights at the Thing held in Throndhjem, thought we had got
into heaven; but now we don't know whether we have really got back our
freedom, or whether thou wishest to make vassals of us again by this
extraordinary proposal that we should abandon the ancient faith which
our fathers and forefathers have held from the oldest times, in the
times when the dead were burnt, as well as since that they are laid
under mounds, and which, although they were braver than the people of
our days, has served us as a faith to the present time. We have also
held thee so dear, that we have allowed thee to rule and give law and
right to all the country. And even now we bondes will unanimously hold
by the law which thou givest us here in the Frosta-thing, and to which
we have also given our assent; and we will follow thee, and have thee
for our king, as long as there is a living man among us bondes here in
this Thing assembled. But thou, king, must use some moderation towards
us, and only require from us such things as we can obey thee in, and are
not impossible for us. If, however, thou wilt take up this matter with
a high hand, and wilt try thy power and strength against us, we
bondes have resolved among ourselves to part with thee, and to take to
ourselves some other chief, who will so conduct himself towards us
that we can freely and safely enjoy that faith that suits our own
inclinations. Now, king, thou must choose one or other of these
conditions before the Thing is ended."

The bondes gave loud applause to this speech, and said it expressed
their will, and they would stand or fall by what had been spoken. When
silence was again restored, Earl Sigurd said, "It is King Hakon's will
to give way to you, the bondes, and never to separate himself from your
friendship." The bondes replied, that it was their desire that the king
should offer a sacrifice for peace and a good year, as his father was
want to do; and thereupon the noise and tumult ceased, and the Thing was
concluded. Earl Sigurd spoke to the king afterwards, and advised him
not to refuse altogether to do as the people desired, saying there was
nothing else for it but to give way to the will of the bondes; "for
it is, as thou hast heard thyself, the will and earnest desire of the
head-people, as well as of the multitude. Hereafter we may find a good
way to manage it." And in this resolution the king and earl agreed (A.D.
950).




18. KING HAKON OFFERS SACRIFICES.

The harvest thereafter, towards the winter season, there was a festival
of sacrifice at Hlader, and the king came to it. It had always been his
custom before, when he was present at a place where there was sacrifice,
to take his meals in a little house by himself, or with some few of
his men; but the bondes grumbled that he did not seat himself in his
high-seat at these the most joyous of the meetings of the people. The
earl said that the king should do so this time. The king accordingly
sat upon his high-seat. Now when the first full goblet was filled, Earl
Sigurd spoke some words over it, blessed it in Odin's name, and drank to
the king out of the horn; and the king then took it, and made the sign
of the cross over it. Then said Kar of Gryting, "What does the king mean
by doing so? Will he not sacrifice?" Earl Sigurd replies, "The king is
doing what all of you do, who trust to your power and strength. He is
blessing the full goblet in the name of Thor, by making the sign of his
hammer over it before he drinks it." On this there was quietness for
the evening. The next day, when the people sat down to table, the bondes
pressed the king strongly to eat of horse-flesh (1); and as he would on
no account do so, they wanted him to drink of the soup; and as he would
not do this, they insisted he should at least taste the gravy; and on
his refusal they were going to lay hands on him. Earl Sigurd came and
made peace among them, by asking the king to hold his mouth over the
handle of the kettle, upon which the fat smoke of the boiled horse-flesh
had settled itself; and the king first laid a linen cloth over the
handle, and then gaped over it, and returned to the high-seat; but
neither party was satisfied with this.


   ENDNOTES: (1) This eating of horse-flesh at these religious festivals
     was considered the most direct proof of paganism in the
     following times, and was punished by death or mutilation by
     Saint Olaf.  It was a ceremony apparently commemorative of
     their Asiatic origin and ancestors.




19. FEAST OF THE SACRIFICE AT MORE.

The winter thereafter the king prepared a Yule feast in More, and eight
chiefs resolved with each other to meet at it. Four of them were from
without the Throndhjem district--namely, Kar of Gryting, Asbjorn
of Medalhus, Thorberg of Varnes, and Orm from Ljoxa; and from the
Throndhjem district, Botolf of Olvishaug, Narfe of Staf in Veradal,
Thrand Hak from Egg, and Thorer Skeg from Husaby in Eyin Idre. These
eight men bound themselves, the four first to root out Christianity in
Norway, and the four others to oblige the king to offer sacrifice to the
gods. The four first went in four ships southwards to More, and killed
three priests, and burnt three churches, and then they returned. Now,
when King Hakon and Earl Sigurd came to More with their court, the
bondes assembled in great numbers; and immediately, on the first day of
the feast, the bondes insisted hard with the king that he should offer
sacrifice, and threatened him with violence if he refused. Earl Sigurd
tried to make peace between them, and brought it so far that the king
took some bits of horse-liver, and emptied all the goblets the bondes
filled for him without the sign of the cross; but as soon as the feast
was over, the king and the earl returned to Hlader. The king was very
ill pleased, and made himself ready to leave Throndhjem forthwith with
all his people; saying that the next time he came to Throndhjem, he
would come with such strength of men-at-arms that he would repay the
bondes for their enmity towards him. Earl Sigurd entreated the king not
to take it amiss of the bondes; adding, that it was not wise to threaten
them, or to make war upon the people within the country, and especially
in the Throndhjem district, where the strength of the land lay; but the
king was so enraged that he would not listen to a word from anybody. He
went out from Throndhjem, and proceeded south to More, where he remained
the rest of the winter, and on to the spring season (A.D. 950); and when
summer came he assembled men, and the report was that he intended with
this army to attack the Throndhjem people.




20. BATTLE AT OGVALDSNES.

But just as the king had embarked with a great force of troops, the news
was brought him from the south of the country, that King Eirik's sons
had come from Denmark to Viken and had driven King Trygve Olafson from
his ships at Sotanes, and then had plundered far and wide around in
Viken, and that many had submitted to them. Now when King Hakon heard
this news, he thought that help was needed; and he sent word to Earl
Sigurd, and to the other chiefs from whom he could expect help, to
hasten to his assistance. Sigurd the earl came accordingly with a great
body of men, among whom were all the Throndhjem people who had set upon
him the hardest to offer sacrifice; and all made their peace with the
king, by the earl's persuasion. Now King Hakon sailed south along the
coast; and when he came south as far as Stad, he heard that Eirik's sons
were come to North Agder. Then they advanced against each other, and
met at Kormt. Both parties left their ships there, and gave battle at
Ogvaldsnes. Both parties had a great force, and it was a great battle.
King Hakon went forward bravely, and King Guthorm Eirikson met him with
his troop, and they exchanged blows with each other. Guthorm fell, and
his standard was cut down. Many people fell around him. The army of
Eirik's sons then took flight to their ships and rowed away with the
loss of many a man. So says Guthorm Sindre:--


     "The king's voice waked the silent host
     Who slept beside the wild sea-coast,
     And bade the song of spear and sword
     Over the battle plain be heard.
     Where heroes' shields the loudest rang,
     Where loudest was the sword-blade's clang,
     By the sea-shore at Kormt Sound,
     Hakon felled Guthorm to the ground."

Now King Hakon returned to his ships, and pursued Gunhild's sons. And
both parties sailed all they could sail, until they came to East Adger,
from whence Eirik's sons set out to sea, and southwards for Jutland
(A.D. 950). Guthorm Sindre speaks of it in his song:--

     "And Guthorm's brothers too, who know
     So skilfully to bend the bow,
     The conquering hand must also feel
     Of Hakon, god of the bright steel,--
     The sun-god, whose bright rays, that dart
     Flame-like, are swords that pierce the heart.
     Well I remember how the King
     Hakon, the battle's life and spring,
     O'er the wide ocean cleared away
     Eirik's brave sons.  They durst not stay,
     But round their ships' sides hung their shields
     And fled across the blue sea-fields."

King Hakon returned then northwards to Norway, but Eirik's sons remained
a long time in Denmark.




21. KING HAKON'S LAWS.

King Hakon after this battle made a law, that all inhabited land over
the whole country along the sea-coast, and as far back from it as
the salmon swims up in the rivers, should be divided into ship-raths
according to the districts; and it was fixed by law how many ships there
should be from each district, and how great each should be, when the
whole people were called out on service. For this outfit the whole
inhabitants should be bound whenever a foreign army came to the country.
With this came also the order that beacons should be erected upon the
hills, so that every man could see from the one to the other; and it is
told that a war-signal could thus be given in seven days, from the most
southerly beacon to the most northerly Thing-seat in Halogaland




22. CONCERNING EIRIK'S SONS.

Eirik's sons plundered much on the Baltic coasts and sometimes, as
before related, in Norway; but so long as Hakon ruled over Norway there
was in general good peace, and good seasons, and he was the most beloved
of kings. When Hakon had reigned about twenty years in Norway (A.D.
954), Eirik's sons came from Denmark with a powerful army, of which
a great part consisted of the people who had followed them on their
expeditions; but a still greater army of Danes had been placed at their
disposal by King Harald Gormson. They sailed with a fair wind from
Vendil, and came to Agder; and then sailed northwards, night and day,
along the coast. But the beacons were not fired, because it had been
usual to look for them lighted from the east onwards, and nobody had
observed them from the east coast; and besides King Hakon had set
heavy penalties for giving false alarm, by lighting the beacons without
occasion. The reason of this was, that ships of war and vikings cruised
about and plundered among the outlying islands, and the country people
took them for Eirik's sons, and lighted the beacons, and set the whole
country in trouble and dread of war. Sometimes, no doubt, the sons of
Eirik were there; but having only their own troops, and no Danish army
with them, they returned to Denmark; and sometimes these were other
vikings. King Hakon was very angry at this, because it cost both trouble
and money to no purpose. The bondes also suffered by these false alarms
when they were given uselessly; and thus it happened that no news of
this expedition of Eirik's sons circulated through the land until they
had come as far north as Ulfasund, where they lay for seven days. Then
spies set off across Eid and northwards to More. King Hakon was at that
time in the island Frede, in North More, at a place called Birkistrand,
where he had a dwelling-house, and had no troops with him, only his
bodyguard or court, and the neighbouring bondes he had invited to his
house.




23. OF EGIL ULSERK.

The spies came to King Hakon, and told him that Eirik's sons, with a
great army, lay just to the south of Stad. Then he called together
the most understanding of the men about him, and asked their opinion,
whether he should fight with Eirik's sons, although they had such
a great multitude with them, or should set off northwards to gather
together more men. Now there was a bonde there, by name Egil Ulserk, who
was a very old man, but in former days had been strong and stout beyond
most men, and a hardy man-at-arms withal, having long carried King
Harald Harfager's banner. Egil answered thus to the king's speech,--"I
was in several battles with thy father Harald the king, and he gave
battle sometimes with many, sometimes with few people; but he always
came off with victory. Never did I hear him ask counsel of his friends
whether he should fly--and neither shalt thou get any such counsel from
us, king; but as we know we have a brave leader, thou shalt get a trusty
following from us." Many others agreed with this speech, and the king
himself declared he was most inclined to fight with such strength as
they could gather. It was so determined. The king split up a war-arrow,
which he sent off in all directions, and by that token a number of men
was collected in all haste. Then said Egil Ulserk,--"At one time the
peace had lasted so long I was afraid I might come to die the death of
old age (1), within doors upon a bed of straw, although I would rather
fall in battle following my chief. And now it may so turn out in the end
as I wished it to be."


   ENDNOTES: (1) In all the sagas of this pagan time, the dying on a bed of
     sickness is mentioned as a kind of derogatory end of a man
     of any celebrity.--L.




24. BATTLE AT FREDARBERG.

Eirik's sons sailed northwards around Stad; as soon as the wind suited;
and when they had passed it, and heard where King Hakon was, they
sailed to meet him. King Hakon had nine ships, with which he lay under
Fredarberg in Feeysund; and Eirik's sons had twenty ships, with which
they brought up on the south side of the same cape, in Feeysund. King
Hakon sent them a message, asking them to go upon the land; and telling
them that he had hedged in with hazel boughs a place of combat at
Rastarkalf, where there is a flat large field, at the foot of a long
and rather low ridge. Then Eirik's sons left their ships, and went
northwards over the neck of land within Fredarberg, and onward to
Rastarkalf. Then Egil asked King Hakon to give him ten men with ten
banners, and the king did so. Then Egil went with his men under the
ridge; but King Hakon went out upon the open field with his army, and
set up his banner, and drew up his army, saying, "Let us draw up in a
long line, that they may not surround us, as they have the most men."
And so it was done; and there was a severe battle, and a very sharp
attack. Then Egil Ulserk set up the ten banners he had with him, and
placed the men who carried them so that they should go as near the
summit of the ridge as possible, and leaving a space between each of
them. They went so near the summit that the banners could be seen over
it, and moved on as if they were coming behind the army of Eirik's
sons. Now when the men who stood uppermost in the line of the troops of
Eirik's sons saw so many flying banners advancing high over the edge of
the ridge, they supposed a great force must be following, who would
come behind their army, and between them and their ships. They made each
other acquainted with what was going on in a loud shout, and the whole
took to flight; and when the king saw it, they fled with the rest. King
Hakon now pushes on briskly with his people, pursuing the flying, and
killing many.




25. OF KING GAMLE.

When Gamle Eirikson came up the ridge of the hill he turned round, and
he observed that not more people were following than his men had been
engaged with already, and he saw it was but a stratagem of war; so he
ordered the war-horns to be blown, his banner to be set up, and he put
his men in battle order. On this, all his Northmen stood, and turned
with him, but the Danes fled to the ships; and when King Hakon and his
men came thither, there was again sharp conflict; but now Hakon had most
people. At last the Eirik's sons' force fled, and took the road south
about the hill; but a part of their army retreated upon the hill
southwards, followed by King Hakon. There is a flat field east of the
ridge which runs westward along the range of hills, and is bounded
on its west side by a steep ridge. Gamle's men retreated towards this
ground; but Hakon followed so closely that he killed some, and others
ran west over the ridge, and were killed on that side of it. King Hakon
did not part with them till the last man of them was killed.




26. KING GAMLE AND ULSERK FALL.

Gamle Eirikson fled from the ridge down upon the plain to the south of
the hill. There he turned himself again, and waited until more people
gathered to him. All his brothers, and many troops of their men,
assembled there. Egil Ulserk was in front, and in advance of Hakon's
men, and made a stout attack. He and King Gamle exchanged blows with
each other, and King Gamle got a grievous wound; but Egil fell, and
many people with him. Then came Hakon the king with the troops which had
followed him, and a new battle began. King Hakon pushed on, cutting down
men on both sides of him, and killing the one upon the top of the other.
So sings Guthorm Sindre:--

     "Scared by the sharp sword's singing sound,
     Brandished in air, the foe gave ground.
     The boldest warrior cannot stand
     Before King Hakon's conquering hand;
     And the king's banner ever dies
     Where the spear-forests thickest rise.
     Altho' the king had gained of old
     Enough of Freyja's tears of gold (1),
     He spared himself no more than tho'
     He'd had no well-filled purse to show."

When Eirik's sons saw their men falling all round, they turned and fled
to their ships; but those who had sought the ships before had pushed off
some of them from the land, while some of them were still hauled up and
on the strand. Now the sons of Eirik and their men plunged into the sea,
and betook themselves to swimming. Gamle Eirikson was drowned; but the
other sons of Eirik reached their ships, and set sail with what men
remained. They steered southwards to Denmark, where they stopped a
while, very ill satisfied with their expedition.


   ENDNOTES: (1) Freyja's husband was Od; and her tears, when she wept at
     the long absence of her husband, were tears of gold.  Od's
     wife's tears is the skald's expression here for gold--
     understood, no doubt, as readily as any allusion to Plutus
     would convey the equivalent meaning in modern poetry.--L.




27. EGIL ULSERK'S BURIAL-GROUND.

King Hakon took all the ships of the sons of Eirik that had been left
upon the strand, and had them drawn quite up, and brought on the land.
Then he ordered that Egil Ulserk, and all the men of his army who had
fallen, should be laid in the ships, and covered entirely over with
earth and stones. King Hakon made many of the ships to be drawn up to
the field of battle, and the hillocks over them are to be seen to the
present day a little to the south of Fredarberg. At the time when King
Hakon was killed, when Glum Geirason, in his song, boasted of King
Hakon's fall, Eyvind Skaldaspiller composed these verses on this
battle:--

     "Our dauntless king with Gamle's gore
     Sprinkled his bright sword o'er and o'er:
     Sprinkled the gag that holds the mouth
     Of the fell demon Fenriswolf (1).
     Proud swelled our warriors' hearts when he
     Drove Eirik's sons out to the sea,
     With all their Guatland host: but now
     Our warriors weep--Hakon lies low!"

High standing stones mark Egil Uslerk s grave.


   ENDNOTES: (1) The Fenriswolf, one of the children of Loke, begotten with
     a giantess, was chained to a rock, and gagged by a sword
     placed in his mouth, to prevent him devouring mankind.
     Fenriswolf's gag is a skaldic expression for a sword.--L.




28. NEWS OF WAR COMES TO KING HAKON.

When King Hakon, Athelstan's foster-son, had been king for twenty-six
years after his brother Eirik had left the country, it happened (A.D.
960) that he was at a feast in Hordaland in the house at Fitjar on the
island Stord, and he had with him at the feast his court and many of
the peasants. And just as the king was seated at the supper-table, his
watchmen who were outside observed many ships coming sailing along from
the south, and not very far from the island. Now, said the one to the
other, they should inform the king that they thought an armed force was
coming against them; but none thought it advisable to be the bearer of
an alarm of war to the king, as he had set heavy penalties on those who
raised such alarms falsely, yet they thought it unsuitable that the king
should remain in ignorance of what they saw. Then one of them went into
the room and asked Eyvind Finson to come out as fast as possible, for it
was very needful. Eyvind immediately came out and went to where he could
see the ships, and saw directly that a great army was on the way; and
he returned in all haste into the room, and, placing himself before
the kind, said, "Short is the hour for acting, and long the hour for
feasting." The king cast his eyes upon him, and said, "What now is in
the way?" Eyvind said--

     "Up king!  the avengers are at hand!
     Eirik's bold sons approach the land!
     The Judgment of the sword they crave
     Against their foe.  Thy wrath I brave;
     Tho' well I know 'tis no light thing
     To bring war-tidings to the king
     And tell him 'tis no time to rest.
     Up!  gird your armour to your breast:
     Thy honour's dearer than my life;
     Therefore I say, up to the strife!"

Then said the king, "Thou art too brave a fellow, Eyvind, to bring us
any false alarm of war." The others all said it was a true report. The
king ordered the tables to be removed, and then he went out to look at
the ships; and when it could be clearly seen that these were ships of
war, the king asked his men what resolution they should take--whether
to give battle with the men they had, or go on board ship and sail away
northwards along the land. "For it is easy to see," said he, "that we
must now fight against a much greater force than we ever had against
us before; although we thought just the same the last time we fought
against Gunhild's sons." No one was in a hurry to give an answer to the
king; but at last Eyvind replied to the king's speech:--

     "Thou who in the battle-plain
     Hast often poured the sharp spear-rain!
     Ill it beseems our warriors brave
     To fly upon the ocean wave:
     To fly upon the blue wave north,
     When Harald from the south comes forth,
     With many a ship riding in pride
     Upon the foaming ocean-tide;
     With many a ship and southern viking,--
     Let us take shield in hand, brave king!"

The king replied, "Thy counsel, Eyvind, is manly, and after my own
heart; but I will hear the opinion of others upon this matter." Now as
the king's men thought they discerned what way the king was inclined to
take, they answered that they would rather fall bravely and like men,
than fly before the Danes; adding, that they had often gained the
victory against greater odds of numbers. The king thanked them for their
resolution, and bade them arm themselves; and all the men did so. The
king put on his armour, and girded on his sword Kvernbit, and put a gilt
helmet upon his head, and took a spear (Kesja) in his hand, and a shield
by his side. He then drew up his courtmen and the bondes in one body,
and set up his banner.




29. THE ARMAMENT OF EIRIK'S SONS.

After Gamle's death King Harald, Eirik's son, was the chief of the
brothers, and he had a great army with him from Denmark. In their army
were also their mother's brothers,--Eyvind Skreyja, and Alf Askman, both
strong and able men, and great man slayers. The sons of Eirik brought up
with their ships off the island, and it is said that their force was not
less than six to one,--so much stronger in men were Eirik's sons.




30. KING HAKON'S BATTLE ARRAY.

When King Hakon had drawn up his men, it is told of him that he threw
off his armour before the battle began. So sings Eyvind Skaldaspiller,
in Hakmarmal:--

     "They found Blorn's brother bold
     Under his banner as of old,
     Ready for battle.  Foes advance,--
     The front rank raise the shining lance:
     And now begins the bloody fray!
     Now!  now begins Hild's wild play!
     Our noble king, whose name strikes fear
     Into each Danish heart,--whose spear
     Has single-handed spilt the blood
     Of many a Danish noble,--stood
     Beneath his helmet's eagle wing
     Amidst his guards; but the brave king
     Scorned to wear armour, while his men
     Bared naked breasts against the rain
     Of spear and arrow, his breast-plate rung
     Against the stones; and, blithe and gay,
     He rushed into the thickest fray.
     With golden helm, and naked breast,
     Brave Hakon played at slaughter's feast."

King Hakon selected willingly such men for his guard or court-men as
were distinguished for their strength and bravery, as his father King
Harald also used to do; and among these was Thoralf Skolmson the Strong,
who went on one side of the king. He had helmet and shield, spear and
sword; and his sword was called by the name of Footbreadth. It was said
that Thoralf and King Hakon were equal in strength. Thord Sjarekson
speaks of it in the poem he composed concerning Thoralf:--

     "The king's men went with merry words
     To the sharp clash of shields and flame swords,
     When these wild rovers of the sea
     At Fitlar fought.  Stout Thoralf he
     Next to the Northmen's hero came,
     Scattering wide round the battle flame
     For in the storm of shields not one
     Ventured like him with brave Hakon."

When both lines met there was a hard combat, and much bloodshed. The
combatants threw their spears and then drew their swords. Then King
Hakon, and Thoralf with him, went in advance of the banner, cutting down
on both sides of them. So says Eyvind Skaldaspiller:--

     "The body-coats of naked steel,
     The woven iron coats of mail,
     Like water fly before the swing
     Of Hakon's sword--the champion-king.
     About each Gotland war-man's head
     Helm splits, like ice beneath the tread,
     Cloven by the axe or sharp swordblade,
     The brave king, foremost in the fight,
     Dyes crimson-red the spotless white
     Of his bright shield with foemen's gore.--
     Amidst the battle's wild uproar,
     Wild pealing round from shore to shore."




31. FALL OF SKREYJA AND ASKMAN.

King Hakon was very conspicuous among other men, and also when the sun
shone his helmet glanced, and thereby many weapons were directed at him.
Then Eyvind Finson took a hat and put it over the king's helmet. Now
Eyvind Skreyja called out, "Does the king of the Norsemen hide himself,
or has he fled? Where is now the golden helmet?" Then Eyvind, and his
brother Alf with him, pushed on like fools or madmen. King Hakon shouted
to Eyvind, "Come on as thou art coming, and thou shalt find the king of
the Norsemen." So says Eyvind Skaldaspiller:--

     "The raiser of the storm of shields,
     The conqueror in battle fields,--
     Hakon the brave, the warrior's friend,
     Who scatters gold with liberal hand,
     Heard Skreyja's taunt, and saw him rush,
     Amidst the sharp spears' thickest push,
     And loudly shouted in reply--
     'If thou wilt for the victory try,
     The Norseman's king thou soon shall find!
     Hold onwards, friend!  Hast thou a mind!"

It was also but a short space of time before Eyvind did come up swinging
his sword, and made a cut at the king; but Thoralf thrust his shield so
hard against Eyvind that he tottered with the shock. Now the king takes
his sword Kvernbit with both hands, and hewed Eyvind through helm and
head, and clove him down to the shoulders. Thoralf also slew Alf Askman.
So says Eyvind Skaldaspiller:--

     "With both his hands the gallant king
     Swung round his sword, and to the chin
     Clove Eyvind down: his faithless mail
     Against it could no more avail,
     Than the thin plank against the shock
     When the ship's side beats on the rock.
     By his bright sword with golden haft
     Thro' helm, and head, and hair, was cleft
     The Danish champion; and amain,
     With terror smitten, fled his men."

After this fall of the two brothers, King Hakon pressed on so hard that
all men gave way before his assault. Now fear came over the army of
Eirik's sons, and the men began to fly; and King Hakon, who was at the
head of his men, pressed on the flying, and hewed down oft and hard.
Then flew an arrow, one of the kind called "flein", into Hakon's arm,
into the muscles below the shoulder; and it is said by many people that
Gunhild's shoe-boy, whose name was Kisping, ran out and forwards amidst
the confusion of arms, called out "Make room for the king-killer," and
shot King Hakon with the flein. Others again say that nobody could tell
who shot the king, which is indeed the most likely; for spears, arrows,
and all kinds of missiles flew as thick as a snow-drift. Many of the
people of Eirik's sons were killed, both on the field of battle and on
the way to the ships, and also on the strand, and many threw themselves
into the water. Many also, among whom were Eirik's sons, got on board
their ships, and rowed away as fast as they could, and Hakon's men after
them. So says Thord Sjarekson:--

     "The wolf, the murderer, and the thief,
     Fled from before the people's chief:
     Few breakers of the peace grew old
     Under the Northmen's king so bold.
     When gallant Hakon lost his life
     Black was the day, and dire the strife.
     It was bad work for Gunhild's sons,
     Leading their pack of Hungry Danes
     From out the south, to have to fly,
     And many a bonde leave to die,
     Leaning his heavy wounded head
     On the oar-bench for feather-bed.
     Thoralf was nearest to the side
     Of gallant Hakon in the tide
     Of battle; his the sword that best
     Carved out the raven's bloody feast:
     Amidst the heaps of foemen slain
     He was named bravest on the plain."




32. HAKON'S DEATH.

When King Hakon came out to his ship he had his wound bound up; but
the blood ran from it so much and so constantly, that it could not be
stopped; and when the day was drawing to an end his strength began to
leave him. Then he told his men that he wanted to go northwards to his
house at Alreksstader; but when he came north, as far as Hakonarhella
Hill, they put in towards the land, for by this time the king was almost
lifeless. Then he called his friends around him, and told them what he
wished to be done with regard to his kingdom. He had only one child,
a daughter, called Thora, and had no son. Now he told them to send a
message to Eirik's sons, that they should be kings over the country;
but asked them to hold his friends in respect and honour. "And if
fate," added he, "should prolong my life, I will, at any rate, leave the
country, and go to a Christian land, and do penance for what I have done
against God; but should I die in heathen land, give me any burial you
think fit." Shortly afterwards Hakon expired, at the little hill on the
shore-side at which he was born. So great was the sorrow over Hakon's
death, that he was lamented both by friends and enemies; and they said
that never again would Norway see such a king. His friends removed his
body to Saeheim, in North Hordaland, and made a great mound, in which
they laid the king in full armour and in his best clothes, but with no
other goods. They spoke over his grave, as heathen people are used to
do, and wished him in Valhal. Eyvind Skaldaspiller composed a poem on
the death of King Hakon, and on how well he was received in Valhal. The
poem is called "Hakonarmal":--

     "In Odin's hall an empty place
     Stands for a king of Yngve's race;
     'Go, my valkyries,' Odin said,
     'Go forth, my angels of the dead,
     Gondul and Skogul, to the plain
     Drenched with the battle's bloody rain,
     And to the dying Hakon tell,
     Here in Valhal shall he dwell.'

     "At Stord, so late a lonely shore,
     Was heard the battle's wild uproar;
     The lightning of the flashing sword
     Burned fiercely at the shore of Stord.
     From levelled halberd and spearhead
     Life-blood was dropping fast and red;
     And the keen arrows' biting sleet
     Upon the shore at Stord fast beat.

     "Upon the thundering cloud of shield
     Flashed bright the sword-storm o'er the field;
     And on the plate-mail rattled loud
     The arrow-shower's rushing cloud,
     In Odin's tempest-weather, there
     Swift whistling through the angry air;
     And the spear-torrents swept away
     Ranks of brave men from light of day.

     "With batter'd shield, and blood-smear'd sword
     Slits one beside the shore of Stord,
     With armour crushed and gashed sits he,
     A grim and ghastly sight to see;
     And round about in sorrow stand
     The warriors of his gallant band:
     Because the king of Dags' old race
     In Odin's hall must fill a place.

     "Then up spake Gondul, standing near
     Resting upon her long ash spear,--
     'Hakon!  the gods' cause prospers well,
     And thou in Odin's halls shalt dwell!'
     The king beside the shore of Stord
     The speech of the valkyrie heard,
     Who sat there on his coal-black steed,
     With shield on arm and helm on head.

     "Thoughtful, said Hakon, 'Tell me why
     Ruler of battles, victory
     Is so dealt out on Stord's red plain?
     Have we not well deserved to gain?'
     'And is it not as well dealt out?'
     Said Gondul. 'Hearest thou not the shout?
     The field is cleared--the foemen run--
     The day is ours--the battle won!'

     "Then Skogul said, 'My coal-black steed,
     Home to the gods I now must speed,
     To their green home, to tell the tiding
     That Hakon's self is thither riding.'
     To Hermod and to Brage then
     Said Odin, 'Here, the first of men,
     Brave Hakon comes, the Norsemen's king,--
     Go forth, my welcome to him bring.'

     "Fresh from the battle-field came in,
     Dripping with blood, the Norsemen'a king.
     'Methinks,' said he, great Odin's will
     Is harsh, and bodes me further ill;
     Thy son from off the field to-day
     From victory to snatch away!'
     But Odin said, 'Be thine the joy
     Valhal gives, my own brave boy!'

     "And Brage said, 'Eight brothers here
     Welcome thee to Valhal's cheer,
     To drain the cup, or fights repeat
     Where Hakon Eirik's earls beat.'
     Quoth the stout king, 'And shall my gear,
     Helm, sword, and mail-coat, axe and spear,
     Be still at hand!  'Tis good to hold
     Fast by our trusty friends of old.'

     "Well was it seen that Hakon still
     Had saved the temples from all ill (1);
     For the whole council of the gods
     Welcomed the king to their abodes.
     Happy the day when men are born
     Like Hakon, who all base things scorn.--
     Win from the brave and honoured name,
     And die amidst an endless fame.

     "Sooner shall Fenriswolf devour
     The race of man from shore to shore,
     Than such a grace to kingly crown
     As gallant Hakon want renown.
     Life, land, friends, riches, all will fly,
     And we in slavery shall sigh.
     But Hakon in the blessed abodes
     For ever lives with the bright gods."


   ENDNOTES: (1) Hakon, although a Christian, appears to have favoured the
     old religion, and spared the temples of Odin, and therefore
     a place in Valhal is assigned him.--L.




SAGA OF KING HARALD GRAFELD AND OF EARL HAKON SON OF SIGURD.


PRELIMINARY REMARKS

This saga might be called Gunhild's Saga, as she is the chief person in
it. The reign of King Harald and Earl Hakon is more fully described
in the next saga, that is, Olaf Trygvason's. Other literature on this
epoch:

"Agrip" (chap. 8), "Historia Norvegia", (p. 12), "Thjodrek" (chap. 5),
"Saxo" (pp. 479-482), "Egla" (chaps. 81, 82), "Floamanna" (chap.
12), "Fareyinga" (chaps. 2, 4, 10), "Halfred's Saga" (chap. 2), "Hord
Grimkelsons Saga" (chaps. 13, 18), "Kormak" (chaps. 19-27), "Laxdaela"
(chaps. 19-21), "Njala" (chaps, 3-6).

The skalds of this saga are:--Glum Geirason, Kormak Agmundson, Eyvind
Skaldaspiller, and Einar Helgason Skalaglam.




1. GOVERNMENT OF THE SONS OF EIRIK.

When King Hakon was killed, the sons of Eirik took the sovereignty of
Norway. Harald, who was the oldest of the living brothers, was over them
in dignity. Their mother Gunhild, who was called the King-mother, mixed
herself much in the affairs of the country. There were many chiefs in
the land at that time. There was Trygve Olafson in the Eastland, Gudrod
Bjornson in Vestfold, Sigurd earl of Hlader in the Throndhjem land; but
Gunhild's sons held the middle of the country the first winter. There
went messages and ambassadors between Gunhild's sons and Trygve and
Gudrod, and all was settled upon the footing that they should hold from
Gunhild's sons the same part of the country which they formerly had
held under King Hakon. A man called Glum Geirason, who was King Harald's
skald, and was a very brave man, made this song upon King Hakon's
death:--

     "Gamle is avenged by Harald!
     Great is thy deed, thou champion bold!
     The rumour of it came to me
     In distant lands beyond the sea,
     How Harald gave King Hakon's blood
     To Odin's ravens for their food."

This song was much favoured. When Eyvind Finson heard of it he composed
the song which was given before, viz.:--

     "Our dauntless king with Gamle's gore
     Sprinkled his bright sword o'er and o'er," &c.

This song also was much favoured, and was spread widely abroad; and
when King Harald came to hear of it, he laid a charge against Evyind
affecting his life; but friends made up the quarrel, on the condition
that Eyvind should in future be Harald's skald, as he had formerly been
King Hakon's. There was also some relationship between them, as Gunhild,
Eyvind's mother, was a daughter of Earl Halfdan, and her mother was
Ingibjorg, a daughter of Harald Harfager. Thereafter Eyvind made a song
about King Harald:--

     "Guardian of Norway, well we know
     Thy heart failed not when from the bow
     The piercing arrow-hail sharp rang
     On shield and breast-plate, and the clang
     Of sword resounded in the press
     Of battle, like the splitting ice;
     For Harald, wild wolf of the wood,
     Must drink his fill of foeman's blood."

Gunhild's sons resided mostly in the middle of the country, for they did
not think it safe for them to dwell among the people of Throndhjem or
of Viken, where King Hakon's best friends lived; and also in both places
there were many powerful men. Proposals of agreement then passed between
Gunhild's sons and Earl Sigurd, 
or they got no scat from the Throndhjem
country; and at last an agreement was concluded between the kings and
the earl, and confirmed by oath. Earl Sigurd was to get the same power
in the Throndhjem land which he had possessed under King Hakon, and on
that they considered themselves at peace. All Gunhild's sons had the
character of being penurious; and it was said they hid their money in
the ground. Eyvind Skaldaspiller made a song about this:--

     "Main-mast of battle!  Harald bold!
     In Hakon's days the skald wore gold
     Upon his falcon's seat; he wore
     Rolf Krake's seed, the yellow ore
     Sown by him as he fled away,
     The avenger Adils' speed to stay.
     The gold crop grows upon the plain;
     But Frode's girls so gay (1) in vain
     Grind out the golden meal, while those
     Who rule o'er Norway's realm like foes,
     In mother earth's old bosom hide
     The wealth which Hakon far and wide
     Scattered with generous hand: the sun
     Shone in the days of that great one,
     On the gold band of Fulla's brow,(2)
     On gold-ringed hands that bend the bow,
     On the skald's hand; but of the ray
     Of bright gold, glancing like the spray
     Of sun-lit waves, no skald now sings--
     Buried are golden chains and rings."

Now when King Harald heard this song, he sent a message to Eyvind to
come to him, and when Eyvind came made a charge against him of being
unfaithful. "And it ill becomes thee," said the king, "to be my enemy,
as thou hast entered into my service." Eyvind then made these verses:--

     "One lord I had before thee, Harald!
     One dear-loved lord!  Now am I old,
     And do not wish to change again,--
     To that loved lord, through strife and pain,
     Faithful I stood; still true to Hakon,--
     To my good king, and him alone.
     But now I'm old and useless grown,
     My hands are empty, wealth is flown;
     I am but fir for a short space
     In thy court-hall to fill a place."

But King Harald forced Eyvind to submit himself to his clemency. Eyvind
had a great gold ring, which was called Molde, that had been dug up out
of the earth long since. This ring the King said he must have as the
mulet for the offence; and there was no help for it. Then Eyvind sang:--

     "I go across the ocean-foam,
     Swift skating to my Iceland home
     Upon the ocean-skates, fast driven
     By gales by Thurse's witch fire given.
     For from the falcon-bearing hand
     Harald has plucked the gold snake band
     My father wore--by lawless might
     Has taken what is mine by right."

Eyvind went home; but it is not told that he ever came near the king
again.


   ENDNOTES: (1) Menja and Fenja were strong girls of the giant race, whom
     Frode bought in Sweden to grind gold and good luck to him;
     and their meal means gold.--L.
(2) Fulla was one of Frig's attendants, who wore a gold band on
     the forehead, and the figure means gold,--that the sun
     shone on gold rings on the hands of the skalds in Hakon's
     days.--L.




2. CHRISTIANITY OF GUNHILD'S SONS.

Gunhild's sons embraced Christianity in England, as told before; but
when they came to rule over Norway they made no progress in spreading
Christianity--only they pulled down the temples of the idols, and cast
away the sacrifices where they had it in their power, and raised great
animosity by doing so. The good crops of the country were soon wasted in
their days, because there were many kings, and each had his court about
him. They had therefore great expenses, and were very greedy. Besides,
they only observed those laws of King Hakon which suited themselves.
They were, however, all of them remarkably handsome men--stout, strong,
and expert in all exercises. So says Glum Geirason, in the verses he
composed about Harald, Gunhild's son:--

     "The foeman's terror, Harald bold,
     Had gained enough of yellow gold;
     Had Heimdal's teeth (1) enough in store,
     And understood twelve arts or more."

The brothers sometimes went out on expeditions together, and sometimes
each on his own account. They were fierce, but brave and active; and
great warriors, and very successful.


   ENDNOTES: (1) Heimdal was one of the gods, whose horse was called
       Gold-top; and the horse's teeth were of gold.




3. COUNCILS BY GUNHILD AND HER SONS.

Gunhild the King-mother, and her sons, often met, and talked together
upon the government of the country. Once Gunhild asked her sons what
they intended to do with their kingdom of Throndhjem. "Ye have the title
of king, as your forefathers had before you; but ye have little land or
people, and there are many to divide with. In the East, at Viken, there
are Trygve and Gudrod; and they have some right, from relationship, to
their governments. There is besides Earl Sigurd ruling over the whole
Throndhjem country; and no reason can I see why ye let so large a
kingdom be ruled by an earl, and not by yourselves. It appears wonderful
to me that ye go every summer upon viking cruises against other lands,
and allow an earl within the country to take your father's heritage from
you. Your grandfather, whose name you bear, King Harald, thought it
but a small matter to take an earl's life and land when he subdued all
Norway, and held it under him to old age."

Harald replied, "It is not so easy, mother, to cut off Earl Sigurd as
to slay a kid or a calf. Earl Sigurd is of high birth, powerful in
relations, popular, and prudent; and I think if the Throndhjem people
knew for certain there was enmity between us, they would all take his
side, and we could expect only evil from them. I don't think it would
be safe for any of us brothers to fall into the hands of the Throndhjem
people."

Then said Gunhild, "We shall go to work another way, and not put
ourselves forward. Harald and Erling shall come in harvest to North
More, and there I shall meet you, and we shall consult together what is
to be done." This was done.




4. GUNHILD'S SONS AND GRJOTGARD.

Earl Sigurd had a brother called Grjotgard, who was much younger, and
much less respected; in fact, was held in no title of honour. He had
many people, however, about him, and in summer went on viking cruises,
and gathered to himself property. Now King Harald sent messengers to
Throndhjem with offers of friendship, and with presents. The messengers
declared that King Harald was willing to be on the same friendly terms
with the earl that King Hakon had been; adding, that they wished the
earl to come to King Harald, that their friendship might be put on a
firm footing. The Earl Sigurd received well the king's messengers and
friendly message, but said that on account of his many affairs he could
not come to the king. He sent many friendly gifts, and many glad and
grateful words to the king, in return for his friendship. With this
reply the messengers set off, and went to Grjotgard, for whom they had
the same message, and brought him good presents, and offered him King
Harald's friendship, and invited him to visit the king. Grjotgard
promised to come and at the appointed time he paid a visit to King
Harald and Gunhild, and was received in the most friendly manner. They
treated him on the most intimate footing, so that Grjotgard had
access to their private consultations and secret councils. At last the
conversation, by an understanding between the king and queen, was turned
upon Earl Sigurd; and they spoke to Grjotgard about the earl having kept
him so long in obscurity, and asked him if he would not join the king's
brothers in an attack on the earl. If he would join with them, the
king promised Grjotgard that he should be his earl, and have the same
government that Sigurd had. It came so far that a secret agreement was
made between them, that Grjotgard should spy out the most favourable
opportunity of attacking by surprise Earl Sigurd, and should give King
Harald notice of it. After this agreement Grjotgard returned home with
many good presents from the king.




5. SIGURD BURNT IN A HOUSE IN STJORADAL

Earl Sigurd went in harvest into Stjoradal to guest-quarters, and from
thence went to Oglo to a feast. The earl usually had many people about
him, for he did not trust the king; but now, after friendly messages
had passed between the king and him, he had no great following of people
with him. Then Grjotgard sent word to the king that he could never
expect a better opportunity to fall upon Earl Sigurd; and immediately,
that very evening, Harald and Erling sailed into Throndhjem fjord with
several ships and many people. They sailed all night by starlight, and
Grjotgard came out to meet them. Late in the night they came to Oglo,
where Earl Sigurd was at the feast, and set fire to the house; and burnt
the house, the earl, and all his men. As soon as it was daylight, they
set out through the fjord, and south to More, where they remained a long
time.




6. HISTORY OF HAKON, SIGURD'S SON.

Hakon, the son of Earl Sigurd, was up in the interior of the Throndhjem
country when he heard this news. Great was the tumult through all the
Throndhjem land, and every vessel that could swim was put into the
water; and as soon as the people were gathered together they took Earl
Sigurd's son Hakon to be their earl and the leader of the troops, and
the whole body steered out of Throndhjem fjord. When Gunhild's sons
heard of this, they set off southwards to Raumsdal and South More; and
both parties kept eye on each other by their spies. Earl Sigurd was
killed two years after the fall of King Hakon (A.D. 962). So says Eyvind
Skaldaspiller in the "Haleygjatal":--

     "At Oglo, as I've heard, Earl Sigurd
     Was burnt to death by Norway's lord,--
     Sigurd, who once on Hadding's grave
     A feast to Odin's ravens gave.
     In Oglo's hall, amidst the feast,
     When bowls went round and ale flowed fast,
     He perished: Harald lit the fire
     Which burnt to death the son of Tyr."

Earl Hakan, with the help of his friends, maintained himself in the
Throndhjem country for three years; and during that time (A.D. 963-965)
Gunhild's sons got no revenues from it. Hakon had many a battle with
Gunhild's sons, and many a man lost his life on both sides. Of this
Einar Skalaglam speaks in his lay, called "Vellekla," which he composed
about Earl Hakon:--

     "The sharp bow-shooter on the sea
     Spread wide his fleet, for well loved he
     The battle storm: well loved the earl
     His battle-banner to unfurl,
     O'er the well-trampled battle-field
     He raised the red-moon of his shield;
     And often dared King Eirik's son
     To try the fray with the Earl Hakon."

And he also says:--

     "Who is the man who'll dare to say
     That Sigurd's son avoids the fray?
     He gluts the raven--he ne'er fears
     The arrow's song or flight of spears,
     With thundering sword he storms in war,
     As Odin dreadful; or from far
     He makes the arrow-shower fly
     To swell the sail of victory.
     The victory was dearly bought,
     And many a viking-fight was fought
     Before the swinger of the sword
     Was of the eastern country lord."

And Einar tells also how Earl Hakon avenged his father's murderer:--

     "I praise the man, my hero he,
     Who in his good ship roves the sea,
     Like bird of prey, intent to win
     Red vengeance for his slaughtered kin.
     From his blue sword the iron rain
     That freezes life poured down amain
     On him who took his father's life,
     On him and his men in the strife.
     To Odin many a soul was driven,--
     To Odin many a rich gift given.
     Loud raged the storm on battle-field--
     Axe rang on helm, and sword on shield."

The friends on both sides at last laid themselves between, and brought
proposals of peace; for the bondes suffered by this strife and war in
the land. At last it was brought to this, by the advice of prudent men,
that Earl Hakon should have the same power in the Throndhjem land which
his father Earl Sigurd had enjoyed; and the kings, on the other hand,
should have the same dominion as King Hakon had: and this agreement was
settled with the fullest promises of fidelity to it. Afterwards a great
friendship arose between Earl Hakon and Gunhild, although they sometimes
attempted to deceive each other. And thus matters stood for three years
longer (A.D. 966-968), in which time Earl Hakon sat quietly in his
dominions.




7. OF HARALD GRAFELD.

King Hakon had generally his seat in Hordaland and Rogaland, and also
his brothers; but very often, also, they went to Hardanger. One summer
it happened that a vessel came from Iceland belonging to Icelanders, and
loaded with skins and peltry. They sailed to Hardanger, where they heard
the greatest number of people assembled; but when the folks came to deal
with them, nobody would buy their skins. Then the steersman went to King
Harald, whom he had been acquainted with before, and complained of his
ill luck. The king promised to visit him, and did so. King Harald was
very condescending, and full of fun. He came with a fully manned boat,
looked at the skins, and then said to the steersman, "Wilt thou give me
a present of one of these gray-skins?" "Willingly," said the steersman,
"if it were ever so many." On this the king wrapped himself up in a
gray-skin, and went back to his boat; but before they rowed away from
the ship, every man in his suite bought such another skin as the king
wore for himself. In a few days so many people came to buy skins, that
not half of them could be served with what they wanted; and thereafter
the king was called Harald Grafeld (Grayskin).




8. EARL EIRIK'S BIRTH.

Earl Hakon came one winter to the Uplands to a feast, and it so happened
that he had intercourse with a girl of mean birth. Some time after the
girl had to prepare for her confinement, and she bore a child, a boy,
who had water poured on him, and was named Eirik. The mother carried the
boy to Earl Hakon, and said that he was the father. The earl placed
him to be brought up with a man called Thorleif the Wise, who dwelt in
Medaldal, and was a rich and powerful man, and a great friend of the
earl. Eirik gave hopes very early that he would become an able man, was
handsome in countenance, and stout and strong for a child; but the
earl did not pay much attention to him. The earl himself was one of
the handsomest men in countenance,--not tall, but very strong, and
well practised in all kinds of exercises; and withal prudent, of good
understanding, and a deadly man at arms.




9. KING TRYGVE OLAFSON'S MURDER.

It happened one harvest (A.D. 962) that Earl Hakon, on a journey in
the Uplands, came to Hedemark; and King Trygve Olafson and King Gudrod
Bjornson met him there, and Dale-Gudbrand also came to the meeting. They
had agreed to meet, and they talked together long by themselves; but so
much only was known of their business, that they were to be friends of
each other. They parted, and each went home to his own kingdom. Gunhild
and her sons came to hear of this meeting, and they suspected it must
have been to lay a treasonable plot against the kings; and they often
talked of this among themselves. When spring (A.D. 963) began to set
in, King Harald and his brother King Gudrod proclaimed that they were to
make a viking cruise, as usual, either in the West sea, or the Baltic.
The people accordingly assembled, launched the ships into the sea, and
made themselves ready to sail. When they were drinking the farewell
ale,--and they drank bravely,--much and many things were talked over
at the drink-table, and, among other things, were comparisons between
different men, and at last between the kings themselves. One said that
King Harald excelled his brothers by far, and in every way. On this King
Gudrod was very angry, and said that he was in no respect behind Harald,
and was ready to prove it. Instantly both parties were so inflamed that
they challenged each other to battle, and ran to their arms. But some of
the guests who were less drunk, and had more understanding, came between
them, and quieted them; and each went to his ship, but nobody expected
that they would all sail together. Gudrod sailed east ward along the
land, and Harald went out to sea, saying he would go to the westward;
but when he came outside of the islands he steered east along the coast,
outside of the rocks and isles. Gudrod, again, sailed inside, through
the usual channel, to Viken, and eastwards to Folden. He then sent
a message to King Trygve to meet him, that they might make a cruise
together in summer in the Baltic to plunder. Trygve accepted willingly,
and as a friend, the invitation; and as heard King Gudrod had but few
people with him, he came to meet him with a single boat. They met
at Veggen, to the east of Sotanes; but just as they were come to the
meeting place, Gudrod's men ran up and killed King Trygve and twelve
men. He lies buried at a place called Trygve's Cairn (A.D. 963).




10. KING GUDROD'S FALL.

King Harald sailed far outside of the rocks and isles; but set his
course to Viken, and came in the night-time to Tunsberg, and heard that
Gudrod Bjornson was at a feast a little way up the country. Then King
Harald set out immediately with his followers, came in the night, and
surrounded the house. King Gudrod Bjornson went out with his people;
but after a short resistance he fell, and many men with him. Then King
Harald joined his brother King Gudrod, and they subdued all Viken.




11. OF HARALD GRENSKE.

King Gudrod Bjornson had made a good and suitable marriage, and had
by his wife a son called Harald, who had been sent to be fostered to
Grenland to a lenderman called Hroe the White. Hroe's son, called Hrane
Vidforle (the Far-travelled), was Harald's foster-brother, and about
the same age. After his father Gudrod's fall, Harald, who was called
Grenske, fled to the Uplands, and with him his foster-brother Hrane,
and a few people. Harald staid a while there among his relations; but
as Eirik's sons sought after every man who interfered with them, and
especially those who might oppose them, Harald Grenske's friends and
relations advised him to leave the country. Harald therefore went
eastward into Svithjod, and sought shipmates, that he might enter into
company with those who went out a cruising to gather property. Harald
became in this way a remarkably able man. There was a man in Svithjod at
that time called Toste, one of the most powerful and clever in the land
among those who had no high name or dignity; and he was a great warrior,
who had been often in battle, and was therefore called Skoglar-Toste.
Harald Grenske came into his company, and cruised with Toste in summer;
and wherever Harald came he was well thought of by every one. In the
winter Harald, after passing two years in the Uplands, took up his abode
with Toste, and lived five years with him. Toste had a daughter, who
was both young and handsome, but she was proud and high-minded. She was
called Sigrid, and was afterwards married to the Swedish king, Eirik
the Victorious, and had a son by him, called Olaf the Swede, who was
afterwards king of Svithjod. King Eirik died in a sick-bed at Upsala ten
years after the death of Styrbjorn.




12. EARL HAKON'S FEUDS.

Gunhild's sons levied a great army in Viken (A.D. 963), and sailed along
the land northwards, collecting people and ships on the way out of every
district. They then made known their intent, to proceed northwards with
their army against Earl Hakon in Throndhjem. When Earl Hakon heard this
news, he also collected men, and fitted out ships; and when he heard
what an overwhelming force Gunhild's sons had with them, he steered
south with his fleet to More, pillaging wherever he came, and
killing many people. He then sent the whole of the bonde army back to
Throndhjem; but he himself, with his men-at-arms, proceeded by both the
districts of More and Raumsdal, and had his spies out to the south of
Stad to spy the army of Gunhild's sons; and when he heard they were come
into the Fjords, and were waiting for a fair wind to sail northwards
round Stad, Earl Hakon set out to sea from the north side of Stad, so
far that his sails could not be seen from the land, and then sailed
eastward on a line with the coast, and came to Denmark, from whence he
sailed into the Baltic, and pillaged there during the summer. Gunhild's
sons conducted their army north to Throndhjem, and remained there
the whole summer collecting the scat and duties. But when summer
was advanced they left Sigurd Slefa and Gudron behind; and the other
brothers returned eastward with the levied army they had taken up in
summer.




13. OF EARL HAKON AND GUNHILD'S SONS.

Earl Hakon, towards harvest (A.D. 963), sailed into the Bothnian Gulf
to Helsingjaland, drew his ships up there on the beach, and took the
land-ways through Helsingjaland and Jamtaland, and so eastwards round
the dividing ridge (the Kjol, or keel of the country), and down into the
Throndhjem district. Many people streamed towards him, and he fitted out
ships. When the sons of Gunhild heard of this they got on board their
ships, and sailed out of the Fjord; and Earl Hakon came to his seat at
Hlader, and remained there all winter. The sons of Gunhild, on the other
hand, occupied More; and they and the earl attacked each other in
turns, killing each other's people. Earl Hakon kept his dominions of
Throndhjem, and was there generally in the winter; but in summer he
sometimes went to Helsingjaland, where he went on board of his ships
and sailed with them down into the Baltic, and plundered there; and
sometimes he remained in Throndhjem, and kept an army on foot, so that
Gunhild's sons could get no hold northwards of Stad.




14. SIGURD SLEFA'S MURDER.

One summer Harald Grayskin with his troops went north to Bjarmaland,
where be forayed, and fought a great battle with the inhabitants on the
banks of the Vina (Dwina). King Harald gained the victory, killed many
people, plundered and wasted and burned far and wide in the land, and
made enormous booty. Glum Geirason tells of it thus:--

     "I saw the hero Harald chase
     With bloody sword Bjarme's race:
     They fly before him through the night,
     All by their burning city's light.
     On Dwina's bank, at Harald's word,
     Arose the storm of spear and sword.
     In such a wild war-cruise as this,
     Great would he be who could bring peace."

King Sigurd Slefa came to the Herse Klyp's house. Klyp was a son of
Thord, and a grandson of Hordakare, and was a man of power and great
family. He was not at home; but his wife Alof give a good reception to
the king, and made a great feast at which there was much drinking. Alof
was a daughter of Asbjorn, and sister to Jarnskegge, north in Yrjar.
Asbjorn's brother was called Hreidar, who was father to Styrkar, whose
son was Eindride, father of Einar Tambaskielfer. In the night the king
went to bed to Alof against her will, and then set out on his journey.
The harvest thereafter, King Harald and his brother King Sigurd Slefa
went to Vors, and summoned the bondes to a Thing. There the bondes fell
on them, and would have killed them, but they escaped and took different
roads. King Harald went to Hardanger, but King Sigurd to Alrekstader.
Now when the Herse Klyp heard of this, he and his relations assembled to
attack the king; and Vemund Volubrjot (1) was chief of their troop. Now
when they came to the house they attacked the king, and Herse Klyp, it
is said, ran him through with his sword and killed him; but instantly
Klyp was killed on the spot by Erling Gamle (A.D. 965).


   ENDNOTES: (1) Volubrjotr.--Literally "the one who breaks the vala", that
     is, breaks the skulls of witches.




15. GRJOTGARD'S FALL.

King Harald Grafeld and his brother King Gudrod gathered together a
great army in the east country, with which they set out northwards to
Throndhjem (A.D. 968). When Earl Hakon heard of it he collected men,
and set out to More, where he plundered. There his father's brother,
Grjotgard, had the command and defence of the country on account of
Gunhild's sons, and he assembled an army by order of the kings.
Earl Hakon advanced to meet him, and gave him battle; and there fell
Grjotgard and two other earls, and many a man besides. So says Einar
Skalaglam:--

     "The helm-crown'd Hakon, brave as stout,
     Again has put his foes to rout.
     The bowl runs o'er with Odin's mead, (1)
     That fires the skald when mighty deed
     Has to be sung.  Earl Hakon's sword,
     In single combat, as I've heard,
     Three sons of earls from this one fray
     To dwell with Odin drove away." (2)

Thereafter Earl Hakon went out to sea, and sailed outside the coast,
and came to Denmark. He went to the Danish King, Harald Gormson, and was
well received by him, and staid with him all winter (A.D. 969). At that
time there was also with the Danish king a man called Harald, a son of
Knut Gormson, and a brother's son of King Harald. He was lately come
home from a long viking cruise, on which he had gathered great riches,
and therefore he was called Gold Harald. He thought he had a good chance
of coming to the Danish kingdom.


   ENDNOTES: (1) Odin's mead, called Bodn, was the blood or mead the sons
of     Brage, the god of poets, drank to inspire them.--L.
(2) To dwell with Odin,--viz. slew them.--L.




16. KING ERLING'S FALL.

King Harald Grafeld and his brothers proceeded northwards to Throndhjem,
where they met no opposition. They levied the scat-duties, and all other
revenues, and laid heavy penalties upon the bondes; for the kings had
for a long time received but little income from Throndhjem, because Earl
Hakon was there with many troops, and was at variance with these kings.
In autumn (A.D. 968) King Harald went south with the greater part of
the men-at-arms, but King Erlin remained behind with his men. He raised
great contributions from the bondes, and pressed severely on them; at
which the bondes murmured greatly, and submitted to their losses with
impatience. In winter they gathered together in a great force to go
against King Erling, just as he was at a feast; and they gave battle to
him, and he with the most of his men fell (A.D. 969).




17. THE SEASONS IN NORWAY AT THIS TIME.

While Gunhild's sons reigned in Norway the seasons were always bad, and
the longer they reigned the worse were the crops; and the bondes laid
the blame on them. They were very greedy, and used the bondes harshly.
It came at length to be so bad that fish, as well as corn, were wanting.
In Halogaland there was the greatest famine and distress; for scarcely
any corn grew, and even snow was lying, and the cattle were bound in
the byres (1) all over the country until midsummer. Eyvind Skaldaspiller
describes it in his poem, as he came outside of his house and found a
thick snowdrift at that season:--

     "Tis midsummer, yet deep snows rest
     On Odin's mother's frozen breast:
     Like Laplanders, our cattle-kind
     In stall or stable we must bind."


   ENDNOTES: (1) Byres = gards or farms.




18. THE ICELANDERS AND EYVIND THE SKALD.

Eyvind composed a poem about the people of Iceland, for which they
rewarded him by each bonde giving him three silver pennies, of full
weight and white in the fracture. And when the silver was brought
together at the Althing, the people resolved to have it purified, and
made into a row of clasps; and after the workmanship of the silver was
paid, the row of clasps was valued at fifty marks. This they sent to
Eyvind; but Eyvind was obliged to separate the clasps from each other,
and sell them to buy food for his household. But the same spring a shoal
of herrings set in upon the fishing ground beyond the coast-side, and
Eyvind manned a ship's boat with his house servants and cottars, and
rowed to where the herrings were come, and sang:--

     "Now let the steed of ocean bound
     O'er the North Sea with dashing sound:
     Let nimble tern and screaming gull
     Fly round and round--our net is full.
     Fain would I know if Fortune sends
     A like provision to my friends.
     Welcome provision 'tis, I wot,
     That the whale drives to our cook's pot."

So entirely were his movable goods exhausted, that he was obliged to
sell his arrows to buy herrings, or other meat for his table:--

     "Our arms and ornaments of gold
     To buy us food we gladly sold:
     The arrows of the bow gave we
     For the bright arrows of the sea." (1)


   ENDNOTES: (1) Herrings, from their swift darting along, are called the
     arrows of the sea.




KING OLAF TRYGVASON'S SAGA.


PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Hitherto the narrative has been more or less fragmentary. With Olaf
Trygvason's Saga reliable history begins, and the narration is full and
connected. The story of Hakon the earl is incorporated in this saga.

Accounts of Olaf Trygvason may be found in Od the Monk's legendary saga,
in parts of "Agrip", "Historia Norvegiae", and in Thjodrek. Icelandic
works on this epoch are:

"Egla", "Eyrbyggja", "Finboga", "Floamanna", "Faereyinga", "Hallfredar
Saga", "Havardar Saga", "Are's Islendinga-bok", "Kristni Saga",
"Laxdaela", "Ljosvetninga", "Njala", "Orkneyinga", "Viga Glums Saga",
and "Viga Styrs Saga".

The skalds quoted are: Glum Geirason, Eyvind Finson, Skaldaspiller,
Einar Skalaglam, Tind Halkelson, Eyjolf Dadaskald, Hallarstein,
Halfred Vandraedaskald, Haldor Ukristne, Skule Thorsteinson, and Thord
Kolbeinson.




1. OLAF TRYGVASON'S BIRTH.

King Trygve Olafson had married a wife who was called Astrid. She was a
daughter of Eirik Bjodaskalle, a great man, who dwelt at Oprustader. But
after Trygve's death (A.D. 963) Astrid fled, and privately took with her
all the loose property she could. Her foster-father, Thorolf Lusarskeg,
followed her, and never left her; and others of her faithful followers
spied about to discover her enemies, and where they were. Astrid was
pregnant with a child of King Trygve, and she went to a lake, and
concealed herself in a holm or small island in it with a few men. Here
her child was born, and it was a boy; and water was poured over it, and
it was called Olaf after the grandfather. Astrid remained all summer
here in concealment; but when the nights became dark, and the day began
to shorten and the weather to be cold, she was obliged to take to the
land, along with Thorolf and a few other men. They did not seek for
houses unless in the night-time, when they came to them secretly;
and they spoke to nobody. One evening, towards dark, they came to
Oprustader, where Astrid's father Eirik dwelt, and privately sent a man
to Eirik to tell him; and Eirik took them to an out-house, and spread a
table for them with the best of food. When Astrid had been here a short
time her travelling attendants left her, and none remained, behind with
her but two servant girls, her child Olaf, Thorolf Lusarskeg, and his
son Thorgils, who was six years old; and they remained all winter (A.D.
964).




2. OF GUNHILD S SONS.

After Trygve Olafson's murder, Harald Grafeld and his brother Gudrod
went to the farm which he owned; but Astrid was gone, and they could
learn no tidings of her. A loose report came to their ears that she was
pregnant to King Trygve; but they soon went away northwards, as before
related. As soon as they met their mother Gunhild they told her all that
had taken place. She inquired particularly about Astrid, and they told
her the report they had heard; but as Gunhild's sons the same harvest
and winter after had bickerings with Earl Hakon, as before related, they
did not seek after Astrid and her son that winter.




3. ASTRID'S JOURNEY.

The spring after (A.D. 964) Gunhild sent spies to the Uplands, and all
the way down to Viken, to spy what they could about Astrid; and her men
came back, and could only tell her that Astrid must be with her father
Eirik, and it was probable was bringing up her infant, the son of
Trygve. Then Gunhild, without delay, sent off men well furnished with
arms and horses, and in all a troop of thirty; and as their leader she
sent a particular friend of her own, a powerful man called Hakon. Her
orders were to go to Oprustader, to Eirik, and take King Trygve's son
from thence, and bring the child to her; and with these orders the men
went out. Now when they were come to the neighbourhood of Oprustader,
some of Eirik's friends observed the troop of travellers, and about the
close of the day brought him word of their approach. Eirik immediately,
in the night, made preparation for Astrid's flight, gave her good
guides, and send her away eastward to Svithjod, to his good friend Hakon
Gamle, who was a powerful man there. Long before day they departed,
and towards evening they reached a domain called Skaun. Here they saw
a large mansion, towards which they went, and begged a night's lodging.
For the sake of concealment they were clad in mean clothing. There
dwelt here a bonde called Bjorn Eiterkveisa, who was very rich, but very
inhospitable. He drove them away; and therefore, towards dark, they went
to another domain close by that was called Vidar. Thorstein was the name
of the bonde; and he gave them lodging, and took good care of them,
so that they slept well, and were well entertained. Early that morning
Gunhild's men had come to Oprustader, and inquired for Astrid and her
son. As Eirik told them she was not there, they searched the whole
house, and remained till late in the day before they got any news of
Astrid. Then they rode after her the way she had taken, and late
at night they came to Bjorn Eiterkveisa in Skaun, and took up their
quarters there. Hakon asked Bjorn if he knew anything about Astrid, and
he said some people had been there in the evening wanting lodgings;
"but I drove them away, and I suppose they have gone to some of the
neighbouring houses." Thorstein's labourer was coming from the forest,
having left his work at nightfall, and called in at Bjorn's house
because it was in his way; and finding there were guests come to the
house, and learning their business, he comes to Thorstein and tells him
of it. As about a third part of the night was still remaining, Thorstein
wakens his guests and orders them in an angry voice to go about their
business; but as soon as they were out of the house upon the road,
Thorstein tells them that Gunhild's messengers were at Bjorn's house,
and are upon the trace of them. They entreat of him to help them, and
he gave them a guide and some provisions. He conducted them through a
forest to a lake, in which there was an islet overgrown with reeds. They
waded out to the islet, and hid themselves among the

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