Heimskringla

by Snorri Sturluson

  who sailed toward them,

  and his fleet,

  fast advancing,

  sword-thing urged

  with athelings.

  Then the fleets clashed together, and there began a most savage 994 battle, with great loss of life on either side, but with much greater loss on the part of Hákon’s; because the Jómsvíkings fought boldly, fiercely, and hard, shooting right through the shields; and there was such a shower of missiles which struck the earl that his coat-of-mail was shot to pieces and became useless, so that he cast it off. Of this, Tind Hallkelsson2 makes mention:

  (139.)

  156. Far else fared it than when

  fair arm-ring-dight maiden—

  waxed the din of weapon-thing

  wild—a bed for the earl made,

  when his gleaming, goodly byrnie,

  gashed by gale of javelins

  cast—cleared were then ships of

  crews—he had to throw off.

  (140.)

  157. Asunder on the sands was

  slit from the earl by arrows—

  ’t was seen by seat-fellows—

  Sorli’s3 ring-woven byrnie.

  Chapter 41. The Battle of Horundarfjord

  The Jómsvíkings’ ships were larger and higher above the water, but both armies pushed their attack most vigorously. Vagn Ákason attacked Svein Hákonarson’s ship so furiously that Svein had his men back water and they were about to flee. Then Earl Eirík rowed his ship forward in the battle array against Vagn. Then Vagn let his ship drop back, and then the ships were in the same position as at first. Then Eirík retired to his line, but by that time his men had backed away and Búi had cut the hawsers [that tied the ships together during the battle] and was about to pursue them. Then Earl Eirík laid his ship broadside to that of Búi, and there ensued a most violent hand to hand fight, with two or three of Eirík’s ships attacking Búi’s one.

  Then a storm sprang up, with a hail shower so violent that every hailstone weighed one ounce. Then Sigvaldi cut the hawsers [that connected his ship with the others] and turned about, intending to flee. Vagn Ákason shouted to him not to flee, but Earl Sigvaldi paid no attention to what he said. Then Vagn hurled a spear at him and struck the man who sat by the rudder. Earl Sigvaldi rowed away with thirty-five ships, but twenty-five remained behind.

  Then Earl Hákon laid his ship broadside to Búi’s, so that blows rained on his crew hard and fast. Vígfús Víga-Glúmsson lifted up a sharp-pointed anvil that lay on the floorboards on which someone had riveted the hilt of his sword. He was a man of tremendous strength. He lifted the anvil with both hands and hurled it at the head of Áslák Hólmskalli, so that the point sank into his skull. No other weapons had been able to hurt him before, and he had slashed right and left [with his sword]. He was Búi’s foster father and his forecastleman. Another forecastleman was Hávarth the Hewer, a man of great strength and bravery.

  The hailstorm during the battle of Hjorunga Bay.

  In this fight Eirík’s men boarded Búi’s ship and advanced toward the raised afterdeck of it. Then Thorstein Midlong slashed across Búi’s forehead cleaving his visor. That made a very big wound. Búi with one sword blow to his side cut Thorstein in two. Then Búi took up two chests full of gold and called out aloud: “Overboard, all Búi’s men,” and leapt overboard with his chests, and many of his men then leapt overboard; though some were slain on the ship because it was not easy to obtain quarter. Thereupon the whole of Búi’s ship was cleared of men from stem to stern and, following that, one ship after the other. Then Earl Eirík laid his ship alongside that of Vagn. There was a terrific defence, but in the end his ship was cleared of men and Vagn made captive, together with thirty others, and brought ashore shackled.

  Then Thorkel Leira went up to them and said, “You made the vow, Vagn, that you would kill me, but now it seems more likely to me that I shall kill you.” Vagn and his men all sat together on a log. Thorkel wielded a big axe and hewed down the man who sat on the end of the log.

  Vagn and his companions were tied in such fashion that a rope was slung around the feet of all of them, leaving their arms free. Then one of them said, “Here I have a dagger in my hand, and I shall stick it in the ground if I am conscious when my head is chopped off.” He was beheaded, and the dagger dropped from his hand.

  Sigurth Búason, Thorkel Leira, and Earl Eirík.

  Next to him sat a handsome man with long and fine hair. He swept his hair forward over his head and stretched out his neck, saying, “Don’t sully my hair with blood.” A man took hold of his hair with a firm grip. Thorkel swung his axe, but the viking swiftly jerked his head back, so the man holding his hair was forced forward, and the axe fell on both his hands, shearing them off, so that the axe struck the ground.

  Then Earl Eirík came up and asked, “Who is this handsome man?”

  “They call me Sigurth,” he said, “and I am said to be the son of Búi. Not yet are all Jómsvíkings dead.”

  Eirík said, “You are truly likely to be the son of Búi. Would you have quarter?”

  “That depends on who offers it,” said Sigurth.

  “He offers,” said the earl, “who has the authority to do so—Earl Eirík.”

  “Then I accept,” said he. Thereupon he was released from the rope.

  Then Thorkel Leira said, “If, earl, you want to give quarter to all these men, then at least Vagn Ákason shall never escape with his life”—and ran forward with axe swung on high; but the viking Skarth hurled himself down in the rope, falling before Thorkel’s feet, and he fell flat over him. Then Vagn grabbed the axe, swung it aloft and dealt Thorkel his death blow.

  Then the earl said, “Vagn, would you have quarter?”

  “I would,” he replied, “if you give it to all of us.”

  “Release them from the rope,” said the earl; and so was done. Eighteen had been killed and twelve received quarter.

  Chapter 42. Earl Eirík Gives Ingibjorg to Vagn in Marriage

  Earl Hákon and many others were sitting on a log. Then a bowstring twanged on Búi’s ship, and the arrow hit Gizur of Valdres, a landed-man1 of the earl’s. He was sitting next to the earl, dressed splendidly. Then men boarded that ship and found there Hávarth the Hewer, standing on his knees by the railing, for his feet had been lopped off. He had his bow in his hand. And when the men came aboard the ship, Hávarth asked, “Who fell from the log?” They told him it was a man called Gizur. “Then my luck was less than I could have wished,” he said. “A big enough piece of bad luck as it is,” they said, “and you shall not cause more,” and killed him. Then they went over the scene of battle and carried away the spoils for distribution. Twenty-five of the Jómsvíkings’ ships had been cleared of men. As says Tind:

  (141.)

  158. Wounds the warrior dealt to

  Wendish host2 with bloody

  sword—with savage bite it

  sundered bones—in battle,

  ere of their crews could clear the

  combat-urger—was it

  fraught with fearful danger—

  five and twenty longships.

  Thereupon the earls dismissed their army. Earl Hákon was extremely ill-pleased that Eirík had given quarter to Vagn Ákason. It is told that Earl Hákon had in this battle sacrificed his son Erling to gain the victory, and that the hailshower followed the sacrifice, and that it was then the Jómsvíkings suffered most loss of life.

  Then Earl Eirík journeyed to the Uppland districts and to his own possessions, and with him Vagn Ákason. Then Eirík gave Vagn Ingibjorg, the daughter of Thorkel Leira, in marriage, and presented him a good man-of-war with all equipment and procured him a crew. They parted as excellent friends. Then Vagn sailed home south to Denmark and later became a famous man from whom many important persons are descended.

  Chapter 43. King Harald of Grenland Is Slain by Sigríth

  As set down before, Harald of Grenland was king in the Westfold District. He married Ásta, the daughter
of Guthbrand Kúla. One summer, when Harald of Grenland had gone on a viking expedition to the Baltic to acquire possessions, he came to Sweden. At that time Óláf the Swedish was king there. He was the son of King Eirík the Victorious and Sigríth, a daughter of Skoglar-Tósti. Sigríth was widowed then and owned many and large estates in Sweden. Now when she learned that Harald of Grenland, her foster brother, had come ashore not far away, she sent messengers to him, inviting him to a banquet. He did not delay long and came with a large company of men. They were entertained splendidly there. The king and the queen sat in the high-seat and drank together in the evening, and all his men were entertained most lavishly. In the evening, when the king sought his bed he found it decked with covers of costly stuff and made up with sheets of precious material. There were few persons in those lodgings. And when the king had undressed and gotten into bed, the queen came to him and herself poured out a beaker for him, enticing him much to drink, and treating him in the most ingratiating way. The king was dead drunk, and so was she. Then the king went to sleep, and the queen also lay down.

  Sigríth was an exceedingly clever woman and prescient about many things. Again in the morning following, the entertainment was of the best. But then it happened, as generally is the case, when men have drunk to excess, that on the following day most of them go slow about drinking. But the queen was gay, and she and the king talked with one another. She said that she valued her possessions and the dominion she had in Sweden no less than his kingdom and his possessions in Norway. The king became dipleased with her utterances. He grew cool about everything and prepared to leave in great ill humor; but the queen was in a most cheerful mood and said farewell to him, presenting him with lordly farewell gifts.

  In the autumn following, Harald returned to Norway and remained 995 in rather poor spirits. When summer came he sailed into the Baltic again with his fleet. He steered to Sweden and sent word to Queen Sigríth that he wished to see her again. She rode down to the coast to meet with him, and they spoke together. He soon came to the point, asking her if she would marry him. She said that he was insincere in proposing that, because he was so well married that he should be well satisfied. Harald replied that Ásta was, to be sure, a good woman and worthy, “but she is not as highborn as I am.”

  Sigríth said, “It may well be that you are of nobler birth than she. But I should think that the good fortune of both of you reposes with her.”1 Few more words were exchanged between them before the queen rode away.

  King Harald remained behind in heavy spirits. He made ready to ride inland to meet Queen Sigríth again. Many of his men advised against that, but he proceeded nonetheless with a numerous company of men and arrived at the estate belonging to the queen. That same evening another king came there. He was Vissavald from Gartharíki in the east. He came to ask her in marriage. Both kings and their retinue were housed in a large and ancient hall furnished in the same manner. Plentiful drink was served there in the evening. It was so potent that all became dead drunk and that both their bodyguards and the watch posted without fell asleep. Then Queen Sigríth had them assailed in the night with both fire and sword. The hall burned, together with the men inside, and those who got out were slain. Sigríth said that in this way she was going to break kinglets of the habit of visiting her to ask her in marriage. In after times she was called Sigríth the Haughty. The battle with the Jómsvíkings occurred the year before that.

  Chapter 44. The Birth of Saint Óláf

  When Harald had gone ashore, Hrani was left behind with the ships as commander of the force which remained. And when they learned that Harald had been put to death, they left at once and returned to Norway with this news. Hrani went to see Ásta and told her what had happened on their expedition, but also for what purpose Harald had gone to meet Queen Sigríth. When Ásta had learned of these tidings she immediately journeyed to the Uppland District to be with her father. He received her well. Both were greatly incensed about Harald’s plans for marriage in Sweden and that he had meant to leave her. Ásta, the daughter of Guthbrand, in summer gave birth there to a boy child. He was sprinkled with water and given the name Óláf. It was Hrani who sprinkled him. During his first years the boy grew up there with Guthbrand and his mother Ásta.

  Chapter 45. Earl Hákon’s Power and His Licentiousness with Women

  Earl Hákon ruled over all of Norway facing the sea, and his domination extended over sixteen districts. And ever since Harald Fairhair had instituted the order that there should be an earl over every district, this was maintained for a long time afterwards. Earl Hákon had sixteen earls under him. As is said in [Einar Skálaglamm’s poem] Vellekla:

  (142.)

  159. Where else has it e’er been

  heard before that sixteen

  earls did under one great

  earl rule all of Norway?

  Unfading spreads the fame o’er

  four corners of heaven

  of wealth-dispending, warlike

  weapon-thing’s bold urger.

  During the time Earl Hákon ruled over Norway there were good harvests, and a good peace reigned within the land among the farmers. For the greater part of his life the earl was popular with them. But as time wore on it occurred very often that he became licentious in his intercourse with women. He went so far as to abduct the daughters of powerful chieftains and to have them brought to his residence, where he lay with them for a week or two before sending them home. This brought him the bitter resentment of the kinsmen of these women, and the farmers began to murmur menacingly, as is the wont of the people of Trondheim if anything displeases them.

  Chapter 46. Earl Hákon Sends Thórir Klakka to Inveigle Óláf Tryggvason

  Earl Hákon heard a rumor that there was a man to the west beyond the sea who called himself Áli, and that he was there regarded as a man of royal race; and from the accounts of some men the earl conceived the suspicion that this man might perhaps be of a Norwegian royal race. He was told that Áli said that his kinsfolk lived in Gartharíki. Now the earl had heard that Tryggvi Óláfsson had had a son who had gone east to Gartharíki and had there been brought up by King Valdamar, and that this son was called Óláf. Also, the earl had made many inquiries about this man, and now he suspected that this same man had got to the lands in the west.

  There was a man called Thórir Klakka, a great friend of Earl Hákon, who had been on viking expeditions for a long time, and occasionally on trading journeys and had a wide acquaintance with countries and people. This man Earl Hákon sent west across the sea, bidding him to undertake a trading journey to Dublin, which at that time was done by many, in order to find out who this man Áli was; and if he found out for sure that it was Óláf Tryggvason or someone else of royal Norwegian race, he was to get the better of him by some treachery, if he could.

  Chapter 47. Óláf Tryggvason Converts the Orkneys and Sails to Norway

  So then Thórir journeyed west to Dublin in Ireland, and there made inquiries about Áli. The latter was at the court of King Óláf Kváran, his brother-in-law. Then Thórir managed to get to speak with Áli. Thórir was a man of clever speech. And when they had talked together for a very long time, Áli began to ask about matters in Norway, first about the kings in the Upplands, who of them were still living and what regions they ruled over. He also asked about Earl Hákon and how popular he was in the country. Thórir said, “Earl Hákon is so powerful a man that no one dares to oppose him; but the reason for that is that there is no one else to look to. To tell you the truth, I know the frame of mind of many men of importance and also of the people, and that they would be most eager and more than willing to have some king of the race of Harald Fairhair rule there; but we do not know of any such, and chiefly because we have learned that it does not avail to fight Earl Hákon.” And when they had discussed this often, Óláf revealed his name and descent to Thórir and asked his advice and what he thought would happen if he came to Norway—whether he believed that the farmers would accept him as king. Thóri
r urged him most strongly to undertake that, praising him and his accomplishments highly.

  As a result, Óláf longed much to journey to the land of his fathers, and finally sailed east with five ships; at first, to the Hebrides. Thórir was in his company. From there, he sailed to the Orkneys. At that time Earl Sigurth Hlothvisson was anchored with one warship in Ásmundar Bay in the Island of Rognvaldsey,1 intending to sail over to Caithness. Óláf steered his fleet east toward the islands and anchored there, as the Pentland Firth was not navigable [because of a storm].

  As soon as Óláf learned that the earl was moored not far from him, he requested him to come and confer with him. And when the earl came it was not long before the king commanded him to accept baptism, together with all his people, or else suffer death at once; and the king said he would devastate the islands with fire and flame, and lay the land waste unless the people accepted baptism. And seeing the pinch he was in, the earl chose to be baptized. Then he and all those with him were christened. Thereupon, the earl swore allegiance to the king, giving him his son as hostage. He was called Whelp or Hound, and Óláf took him along to Norway.

  Then Óláf sailed east across the sea and sighted land at the Island of Morstr, which was the first place for him to come ashore and where he had mass sung in a tent. In after times a church was built in that same place.

  Thórir Klakka told the king that it was most advisable for him not to let anyone know who he was and not to let any news be spread of his whereabouts, but to move on the earl as fast as possible so as to surprise him unprepared. King Óláf did so, travelling north day and night with every favorable breeze and without the people of the country becoming aware who he was. And when he arrived north at Agthaness he had learned that Earl Hákon was in the Fjord District and also that he had had a clash with the farmers. But when Thórir heard that, he found out that things had taken a turn very different from what he had thought; because after the battle with the Jómsvíkings all the people of Norway had been ardent friends of Earl Hákon because of the victory he had won, and thereby freeing all the country from hostilities. But now it happened unfortunately [for him] that a great chieftain had come to the land while the farmers had fallen out with him.