The Sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and of Harald The Tyrant (Harald Haardraade) Part 5

Hard by sat a fair man with goodly hair and he swept his hair forward over his face, saying as he stretched forth his neck: 'Make not my hair b.l.o.o.d.y.' A certain man took the hair in his hand and held it fast, and Thorkel sw.a.n.g the axe so as to strike, but the viking drew back his head suddenly & he who was holding his hair moved forward with him, and lo, the axe came down on both his hands and took them off, thereafter cleaving the earth. Then Earl Eirik came up and asked: 'Who is that fine man?' 'Sigurd the lads call me,' said he, 'and I am thought to be a son to Bui: not yet are all the vikings of Jomsborg dead.' 'Thou must of a surety be a true son to Bui; wilt thou have quarter?' 'That dependeth upon who is the bidder thereof,' said Sigurd. 'He offereth it who hath power to give it, to wit Earl Eirik.' 'Then will I take it,' and loosed was he from the rope. Then said Thorkel Leira: 'Though thou grantest quarter, Earl, to all these men, yet never shall Vagn Akason depart hence alive,' & so saying he ran forward with uplifted axe. Just then the viking Skadi tripped in the rope, and dropped before Thorkel's feet, and Thorkel fell flat over him, and Vagn seizing the axe dealt Thorkel his death-blow. Then said the Earl: 'Wilt thou have quarter?' 'Yea will I,' said he, 'if we all are given quarter.' 'Loose them from the rope,' said the Earl, and so it was done accordingly.

Eighteen of these men were slain, but to twelve was quarter granted.

-- Now Earl Hakon & many of his men with him were sitting on a log.

Suddenly there tw.a.n.ged a bowstring from Bui's s.h.i.+p, but the arrow struck Gizur of Valders, a feudatory who was sitting by the Earl & was clad in brave apparel, & forthwith went sundry of Hakon's men out to the s.h.i.+p and found on it Havard the Hewer kneeling by the bulwarks, for his feet had been smitten off him. A bow had he in his hand and when they were come out to the s.h.i.+p, as aforesaid, Havard asked: 'Who fell off the tree-trunk?' 'One named Gizur,' they say. 'Then was my luck lesser than I wished.' 'Ill-luck enough,' say they, 'and more hurt shalt thou not do,' & therewith they slew him. After these things the dead were searched, and the booty brought together for division; five and twenty s.h.i.+ps belonging to the Jomsborg vikings were thus cleared of booty. Tind saith as follows:

'He, feeder of ravens, (Their swords did smite their thighs) Against the friends of the Wends long did struggle, Until he who s.h.i.+elds destroyed had Five and twenty s.h.i.+ps laid waste.'

-- Thereafter were the hosts dispersed.

Earl Hakon betook him to Throndhjem, taking it full ill that Eirik had given Vagn Akason quarter.

Men say that during this battle Earl Hakon made sacrifice of his son Erling in order to gain the victory, and afterwards the hailstorm came, and that then the slaughtering changed over out of the hands of the Jomsborgers. After the battle Earl Eirik went to the Uplands, and from there east to his dominions, and with him went Vagn Akason. Thereafter Eirik gave the daughter of Thorkel Leira-- Ingibiorg was her name-- in marriage to Vagn, & a goodly long-s.h.i.+p to boot, well furnished in all things appertaining thereto, & a crew did he get him for the s.h.i.+p, and they parted in all friends.h.i.+p. Vagn thence fared southward home to Denmark, and became thereafter a famous man.

Many men of might are descended from him.

-- Now it hath been heretofore related how Harald the Grenlander was King of Vestfold, and how Asta, the daughter of Gudbrand Kula had he taken to wife. One summer when he was out laying waste the countries to the eastward, came he to Sweden where Olaf the Swede was King in those days.

Olaf was the son of Eirik the Victorious and of Sigrid the daughter of Skogla-Tosti.

Sigrid was now a widow and to her pertained many great manors in Sweden.

When she heard that her foster-brother Harald the Grenlander had come ash.o.r.e not far from where at that time she was abiding, sent she messengers to him, bidding him to a feast which she was making ready to give. Thereat was Harald glad, and fared to Astrid with a great following of men. And a goodly feast was it withal: the King and the Queen sat in the high-seat and in the evening drank both together, and among the men flowed the ale freely.

At night when the King went to his rest his bed had on it a costly coverlet, and was hung with precious cloths; in that house there were but few men. And the King having unclad him, & gotten into bed, the Queen came hither to him and poured out a cup, and pressed him hard to drink; right kind was she to him withal. Now the King was exceeding drunken, and the Queen likewise.

Then fell the King asleep, and Sigrid went away to her bed. Now the Queen was a very wise woman, and far seeing in many things. The next morning flowed the drink ever apace, but as ofttimes cometh to pa.s.s when men have drunk heavily, even so the more wary of drink are most of them on the morrow. Yet was the Queen merry, and she and Harald spake much together, and as their talk ran on, the Queen said that she deemed her lands & kingdom in Sweden to be of no less worth than his in Norway. Now at this manner of talking the King waxed moody, and found but little pleasure in anything thereafter, and heavy at heart he made him ready to go; yet was the Queen exceeding merry, gave him great gifts, & accompanied him on his way.

-- So back to Norway fared he that autumn, & abode at home during that winter, but little enough pleasure gat he the while. The summer thereafter went he eastward with his host, and shaped his course for Sweden. Word sent he to Sigrid that he desired to meet her, & she rode down to him, & they talked together; then without more ado he asked her whether she would have him for mate, to which Sigrid made answer that to do such a thing would indeed be foolish, seeing that he is well married already, and better for him might not be. Harald confessed Asta to be a good wife and brave, 'but of such n.o.ble blood as mine is she not withal.' Then answered Sigrid. 'Maybe thou art of higher lineage than she, yet nevertheless it beseemeth to me that with her is the happiness of ye both.' And after that few were the words spoken between them before the Queen rode away.

-- Then was King Harald sick at heart, & he made him ready to ride inland to see Queen Sigrid yet once more. Many of his men counselled him therefrom, but none the less went he with a great following to the house of which Sigrid was lady. That same evening there came thither from the east, from Gardariki (western Russia), another king-- Vissavald-- was his name, & he likewise came to woo Sigrid the Queen. The kings & all their retinue were given seats in a large & ancient chamber; & ancient also were the furnis.h.i.+ngs of this room, but drink more than enough went round that evening, so strong indeed that all became drunken, and both the head-guard, and the outer-guard fell asleep. Then, during the night-- and all this was caused by Queen Sigrid-- were they fallen upon with fire and sword; both the chamber & the men who were therein were burned, & of those who came out from it not one was allowed to go alive.

Quoth Sigrid on this matter, that she would teach small kings from other lands to woo her; & thereafter she was called Sigrid the Scheming.

-- It was the winter before these things befell that the battle with the Jomsborg vikings was fought in Hiorungavag. Now while Harald was gone inland, one Hrani was left in charge of the s.h.i.+ps and men; but when the news came that Harald had been done to death, fared they thence forthwith, & going back to Norway recounted the tidings.

And to Asta went Hrani & told her all things concerning their voyage, & likewise the errand that had urged King Harald to Queen Sigrid. When she heard these tidings Asta went straightway to the Uplands to her father, and right welcome was she made, but exceeding wrathful were they both at the base design which had been toward in Sweden, & with Harald that he had been minded to leave her in loneliness. Asta, the daughter of Gudbrand, brought forth a son even there in the summer; this boy was called Olaf at his baptism, & Hrani poured the water over him. At the outset was the child reared by Gudbrand & Asta his mother.

-- Earl Hakon ruled the whole coast of Norway; sixteen counties had he under his sway, and forasmuch as Harald Fairhair had prescribed that an earl should be over every county, and that prescription had endured for long, there were under him sixteen earls. Thus it is said in the Vellekla:

'Where else know we the government (On this the hosts may ponder) Of one land-ruler over the lands of sixteen earls?

Unto the four corners of heaven rises the rumour Of the doughty deeds of the belauded chieftain.'

-- During the rule of Earl Hakon the increase was good in the land, & peace was there within it among the peasantry. Well-beloved, too, was the Earl among them for the greater part of his life, but as his years waxed old it happened that his intercourse with women became unseemly, and to such a pa.s.s came this that the Earl would cause the daughters of powerful men to be brought unto him, when he would lie with them for a week or twain, and then send them back to their homes. This manner of acting brought him to great enmity with the kinsmen of these women, and the peasantry fell to murmuring, as is the wont of the folk of Throndhjem when things are not to their liking.

-- Now there came to the ears of Earl Hakon the fame of a man overseas westward who called himself Oli, & whom men held for a King; and he mis...o...b..ed from the talk of certain folk that this man must be of the lineage of the Norwegian Kings. He was told, indeed, that Oli called himself Gerdish (i.e., of Garda) by race, but the Earl had heard that Tryggvi Olafson had had a son who had been taken eastward to Garda (western Russia), and had been brought up there at the Court of King Valdamar, and that his name was Olaf.

Often had the Earl sought information about this man, and he mis...o...b..ed that he it was who had now come to the western countries. Now to Hakon the Earl was a great friend, one Thorir Klakka, who was known far and wide, for he had sailed long whiles as a viking, and at others as a merchant.

So west across the sea Earl Hakon now despatched this man, bidding him fare to Dublin as a merchant, as many were wont to fare in those days.

It was laid on Thorir that he should ascertain of what manner of man was this Oli, and should he hear of a truth he was Olaf Tryggvason, or of the lineage of the Kings of Norway, then was Thorir, if it might be, to ensnare him into the power of the Earl.

-- So Thorir gat him west to Dublin, and enquiring there for tidings of Oli learned that he was with his brother-in-law King Olaf Kvaran.-- Thereafter Thorir brought it to pa.s.s that he gat speech of Oli, and when they had talked often and long (for Thorir was a very smooth-tongued man) fell Oli to asking about the Upland kings: which of them were still alive and what dominions pertained to them.

Likewise asked he concerning the Earl, and if he were much beloved in the country. Thorir answered: 'The Earl is so mighty a man that no one durst speak but as he wills, nevertheless the reason of this is that we have none other to look to. Verily know I the minds of many mighty men, & of the people likewise, & that they would be eager & ready were a king of the lineage of Harald Fair-hair to come to the realm.

Of this, however, is there no likelihood inasmuch as it has been well proven how little it availeth to contend against Earl Hakon.'

And when they had talked much together on this matter, revealed Olaf unto Thorir his name & lineage, & craved counsel of him whether the peasantry would have him for their King should he fare over to Norway.

With eagerness sought Thorir to urge him on to make this journey, praising him and his prowess most exceedingly. Then did Olaf conceive a great desire to be gone to the realm of his kin; and sailed he thereafter from the west with five s.h.i.+ps, going first to the Hebrides; & together with him went Thorir. Later sailed he to the Orkneys where Earl Sigurd, the son of Hlodvir, was lying in Asmundarvag (Osmundwall) in Rognvaldzey (South Ronaldsey) in a long-s.h.i.+p for he was about to sail over to Katanes (Caithness). Then did King Olaf sail his folk from the west & put into haven in the island because Pettlanzfjord (Pentland Firth) was not navigable.

When the King heard that the Earl was lying there summoned he him to talk with him, and Earl Sigurd having come to the King not long did they talk ere the King Olaf said that the Earl and all the folk of the land must let themselves be baptized or they would straightway be put to death; and the King said he would carry fire & sword through the isles, and lay waste the land if the folk thereof did not allow themselves to be christened.

So the Earl being thus beset chose to accept baptism, and was baptized there and then with all his men. Thereafter swore the Earl an oath that he would become the King's man, & give him his son for a hostage-- his name was Whelp or Hound-- and Olaf took him home with him to Norway.

-- Olaf then sailed eastward out to sea, and when he left the main, went in to the Isle of Most, where he went on land in Norway for the first time.

He caused a Ma.s.s to be said in his tent, & on the self-same spot was a church afterward builded. Now Thorir Klakka told the King that their wisest course was to keep secret his ident.i.ty, and to let not the slightest rumour about him get abroad, and to travel as speedily as might be so as to fall upon the Earl while he was still unawares.

Even so did King Olaf, faring northward day and night according to the set of the wind, & he let not the people know of his journey, nor who it was that was sailing. When he was come north to Agdanes gat he tidings that Earl Hakon was within the fjord, & moreover that he was at variance with the peasantry. Now when Thorir heard tell of this quite otherwise was it from what he had expected, for after the battle of the Jomsborg vikings all men in Norway were full friendly with Earl Hakon by reason of the victory he had won, & which had saved the land from war; but now so ill had things befallen that here was the Earl at strife with the peasantry, & that with a great chief come into the land.

-- At this time Hakon the Earl was a guest at Medalhus in Gaulardal, his s.h.i.+ps lying off Vigg the while.

Now there was a certain Orm Lyrgia, a wealthy yeoman who lived at Bynes, and he had to wife Gudrun the daughter of Bergthor of Lundar, & so fair a woman was this Gudrun that she was called the 'sun of Lundar.'

And on such an errand as this, namely to bring unto him Orm's wife, did Earl Hakon send his thralls.

The men coming thither to Bynes made known their errand, but Orm bade them first go out & sup, & before they had well eaten there had come to him many men whom he had sent for from the neighbouring homesteads. Then said Orm that he would in nowise suffer Gudrun to go with the thralls; and Gudrun herself bade the thralls go tell the Earl that never would she go to him save he sent Thora of Rimul,-- a wealthy lady and one of the Earl's sweethearts, to fetch her. Then the thralls said that they would come once again in such a manner that both master and mistress would repent them of this business, & uttering grievous threats they gat them gone. Now in all four directions of the countryside did Orm send out war-arrows, and with them word that all men should rise against Hakon the Earl to slay him. Moreover he let Haldor of Skerdingsted be told, and forthwith Haldor also made despatch of the war-arrow.

Not long before this had the Earl taken the wife of a man named Bryniolf, and from that piece of work had arisen a great pother, and something nigh the a.s.sembling together of an host.

So after receiving the message aforesaid all the people hastened together and made their way to Medalhus, but to the Earl coming news of their motions thereon left he the house together with his men and went to a deep valley which is now called Jarlsdal (the Earl's valley), and therein they hid themselves. The day thereafter kept the Earl watch on the peasant host. The peasants had encompa.s.sed all the footways, though they were mostly of a mind that the Earl had made off to his s.h.i.+ps.

These were now commanded by his son Erling, a young man of singular promise.

When night fell sent the Earl his men away from him, bidding them take to the forest tracks out to Orkadal, 'No one will harm ye if I am nowhere nigh,' he said. 'Send also word to Erling to go out of the fjord so that we may meet in More. I shall find a means to hide me from the peasants.' Then the Earl departed and a thrall of his named Kark bore him company.

Ice was there on the Gaul river, but the Earl set his horse at it & they came through, with the loss of his cloak, to a cave which has since been called Jarlsh.e.l.lir (the Earl's cave), and therein slept they soundly.

When Kark awakened recounted he unto the Earl a dream he had dreamt: how a man black & ill to behold had come nigh the cave, and he was afeared would enter it, and this man had told him that 'Ulli' was dead.