Heimskringla

by Snorri Sturluson

  Chapter 56. Ástríth Refuses to Marry Erling Skjálgsson

  King Óláf with his troops proceeded to the Gulathing Assembly, because the farmers had sent him word that they would make reply to his demands there. But when both parties had arrived at the assembly, the king insisted on first conferring with the chieftains of the land. And when they were all gathered, the king voiced his intentions and requested them to have themselves baptized according to his command.

  Then replied Olmóth the Old, “We kinsmen have discussed this matter between us, and we all shall follow one course. If it be so, sir king, that you intend to compel us kinsmen to break our laws and to subdue us by force, we shall oppose you with all our might; and then let him obtain victory who can. But if on the contrary you will do something to the advantage of us kinsmen, then you will attain your aim so well that we will give you our complete allegiance.”

  The king said, “What would you have me do so that we come to a fair agreement between us?”

  Then Olmóth said, “First this, that you marry your sister Ástríth1 to Erling Skjálgsson, our kinsman, whom we consider the most promising of all young men in Norway.” King Óláf replied that to him that match would seem a good one, adding that Erling was of high birth and seemed indeed most eligible, but that Ástríth herself would have to give her consent. Then the king discussed this with his sister.

  “Little do I benefit,” said she, “from being a king’s daughter and a king’s sister if you wish me to marry a commoner. I would rather wait some years for another match.” And with that they ended their discussion.

  Chapter 57. Ástríth Consents to Marry Erling

  King Óláf had one of Ástríth’s hawks taken and its feathers plucked, whereupon he sent it back to her.1 Then Ástríth said, “Angry is my brother now.” Then she arose and went to the king. He made her welcome. Then Ástríth said that it was her wish that the king was to act in her behalf as he thought best.

  “I had thought,” said the king, “that I would obtain the power to raise to high estate in this land whom I will.” The king then had Olmóth, Erling, and all their kinsmen called to him to discuss the matter of this marriage; and in the end Ástríth was betrothed to Erling. Thereupon the king had the assembly meet and bade the farmers accept Christianity. And then Olmóth and Erling were the leaders in speaking for this matter, important to the king, as well as all of their kinsmen. No one dared to oppose him. Then all the people there were baptized and converted.

  Chapter 58. The Nuptials of Erling Skjálgsson

  Erling Skjálgsson celebrated his wedding in the summer, and it was attended by a very great multitude. King Óláf was there too. He offered Erling an earldom. Erling answered thus, “My kinsmen have been hersar [barons]. I do not wish to have a title higher than they. But this would I accept of thee, sir king, that you let me be the greatest of this title in the country.” The king granted him that. And at their parting King Óláf assigned to Erling, his brother-in-law, the lands south of the mouth of the Sognfjord and east [south] to Cape Lithandisness [Lindesness], under the same conditions as Harald Fairhair had granted his sons, as was written above.

  Chapter 59. The King Christianizes the Western Districts

  In the fall of the same year King Óláf summoned an assembly representing four district meetings to be held on Dragseith [Isthmus] on the peninsula of Stath. To it were to repair people from Sogn, the Fjord districts, South Mœr, and Raums Dale. The king proceeded there with a very large following from the eastern part of the land and also the force which had joined him in Rogaland and Horthaland. And when King Óláf came there he bade people to be baptized, as he had in other places. But because the king had the support there of a large army, they were alarmed. In the end the king offered them two alternatives: either to accept Christianity and be baptized, or else to fight it out with him. But since the farmers saw no chance to fight the king they decided on having all the people christened.

  Thereupon King Óláf with his army proceeded to North Mœr and converted that district to Christianity. Then he sailed into the [Trondheim] fjord to Hlathir and had the temple there dismantled and all the property and all the decorations removed from it and from the idol. He took a large gold ring from the temple gates which Earl Hákon had had constructed, whereupon he had the temple burned down. But when the farmers learned of this they sent the war-arrows about all the districts, summoning an army and intending to attack the king.

  King Óláf then sailed his fleet out of the fjord, steering north along the land with the intention of going to Hálogaland and christening it. But when he arrived at Bjarnaurar, he learned that the people of Hálogaland had collected an army and meant to defend their land against him. The chieftains of their forces were Hárek of Thjótta, Thórir Hart of Vágar, and Eyvind Kinnrifa. When King Óláf learned that he turned about and sailed south along the land. And when he had rounded Stath Promontory he proceeded more leisurely, yet managed to get all the way to Vík at the beginning of winter.

  Chapter 60. King Óláf Wooes Queen Sigríth

  Queen Sigríth of Sweden, who was called the Haughty, resided on her estates. That winter messengers went between King Óláf and Queen Sigríth, and through them King Óláf asked for the hand of Queen Sigríth. She received his suit favorably, and the betrothal was definitely agreed on. Thereupon King Óláf sent Queen Sigríth the large gold [arm] ring which he had taken from the temple gate at Hlathir. It was considered a splendid possession. Their meeting to arrange matters for the wedding was to be in the spring following at the boundary [on an island] in the [Gaut Elf] River.

  Now [as to] this ring which King Óláf had sent Queen Sigríth and which was so greatly valued by all—with the queen there were two smiths, brothers. And when they held the ring in their hands and weighed it and talked secretly together, the queen had them called to her and asked them why they laughed in their sleeves about the ring. They would not say. Then she told them by all means to let her know what they had noticed. They said that the ring was counterfeit. Then she had the ring broken in two, and there was seen to be copper inside it. Then the queen was furious and said that Óláf would defraud her in more things than that.

  That same winter King Óláf journeyed up to Hringaríki to christen the people there. Ásta, the daughter of Guthbrand, had soon after the death of Harald of Grenland married a man called Sigurth Sýr [Sow], who was king of Hringaríki. He was the son of Hálfdan, who was the son of Sigurth Hrísi [Bastard], a son of Harald Fairhair. At Ásta’s residence there lived Óláf, her son with Harald of Grenland. While young he was brought up by Sigurth Syr, his stepfather. Now when King Óláf Tryggvason came to Hringaríki to christen the people, Sigurth Sýr and Ásta, his wife, 998 had themselves baptized together with her son Óláf, and Óláf Tryggvason became the godfather of Óláf Haraldsson. He was three years old at the time. Then King Óláf journeyed back to Vík and dwelled there during the winter. That was the third year of his being king in Norway.

  Chapter 61. Queen Sigríth Refuses Baptism

  Early in spring King Óláf journeyed east to Konungahella for 998 the meeting with Queen Sigríth. And when they met they discussed the matter which had been broached in winter, that they were to marry; and matters went very well. Then King Óláf said that Sigríth should be baptized and accept the true faith. She replied in this wise: “I do not mean to abandon the faith I have had, and my kinsmen before me. Nor shall I object to your belief in the god you prefer.”

  Then Sigríth said, “This may well be your death!”

  The King Óláf became very angry and said hastily, “Why should I want to marry you dog of a heathen?” and slapped her in the face with the glove he had in his hand. Whereupon he arose, and she too.

  Then Sigríth said, “This may well be your death!” With that they parted. The king returned north to Vík, and the queen east to Sweden.

  Chapter 62. The King Has the Warlocks Burned

  King Óláf then proceeded to the town of T�
�nsberg and held an assembly there at which he proclaimed that all those who were known to be guilty of practicing magic and sorcery or who were warlocks must leave the country. Then the king had a search made in that neighborhood for such persons, and summoned them to his presence. Among those who came was a man called Eyvind Kelda. He was the grandson of Rognvald Rettilbeini, a son of Harald Fairhair. Eyvind was a sorcerer and exceedingly skilled in wizardry. King Óláf had all these people put in one room and entertained well with strong drink. And when they were drunk he had the house fired, and it burned down with all those inside, except that Eyvind Kelda escaped through the louver and got away. And when he had got a long ways he encountered people who intended to journey to the king, and he bade them tell the king that Eyvind Kelda had escaped and that he would never after get into the clutches of King Óláf and that he would behave as he had done before in practicing his sorcery. And when these men came before King Óláf they told him what Eyvind had bidden them. The king was greatly vexed that Eyvind was not dead.

  The sorcerers die on the skerries.

  Chapter 63. Eyvind Kelda and Other Warlocks Are Drowned

  Toward spring King Óláf sailed out along the [Fold]fjord, visiting his large estates, and sent messengers about all the Vík District that he would collect troops in summer and journey north with them. Then he proceeded north [west] to Agthir. And as Lent approached, he sailed to Rogaland and by Easter-Eve arrived at Ogvaldsness on the Island of Kormt. There, the Easter repast was prepared for him. He had with him close to three hundred [360] men. The same night Eyvind Kelda approached the island with a warship fully manned with warlocks only and other kinds of sorcerers. Eyvind left his ship together with his crew and began to exert his spells. He made such a cover of darkness with fog that the king and his people should not be able to see them. But when they came close to the building on Ogvaldsness it became bright day. And then matters turned out differently from what Eyvind had intended: then the same darkness he had produced with his magic enveloped him and his followers so that they could not see any more with their eyes than with the back of their heads and went about in circles. But the king’s watchman saw them but did not know what band it was, and told the king. He and all his followers arose and put on their clothes. And when he saw Eyvind and his band he ordered his men to arm themselves and go up to them to find out who they were. And when the king’s men recognized Eyvind they captured him and his crew and led them to the king. Then Eyvind told him about his doings; whereupon the king had them taken out to skerries which were covered with water at high tide and bound them there. Thus Eyvind and all his companions lost their lives. That place was thereafter called Skrattasker [Sorcerers’ Skerries].

  Chapter 64. Óthin Visits the King

  It is told that one evening when King Óláf was being entertained at Ogvaldsness an old and very wise-spoken man came in. He wore a hood coming low down over his face and was one-eyed. This man had things to tell of every land. He engaged in conversation with the king, and the king found much pleasure in his talk and asked him about many things. The guest had an answer to all his questions, and he stayed up long in the evening with him. Then the king asked him whether he knew who had been the Ogvald after whom the ness and the estate were named. The guest answered that Ogvald had been a king and a great man of war and had worshipped a cow more than anything else, and that he had her with him wherever he went, and that he thought it salutary always to drink her milk. “King Ogvald fought with a king named Varin, and in that battle King Ogvald fell. He was then interred here in the mound close to the estate, and memorial stones were raised for him which still stand here. And in another place close to here the cow was buried.” Such tales he told, and many others, about kings and other stories of olden times.

  When they had sat thus a long time in the night, the bishop reminded the king that it was time to retire, and the king did so. But when he was undressed and had got into bed, the guest sat down on the footboard and still talked a long time with the king, and no sooner had he said one thing than the king longed to hear more. Then the bishop said to the king that it was time to go to sleep. The king did so, and the guest left the room. A short time afterwards the king awoke and asked after the guest and ordered that he be called to him, but the guest was nowhere to be found.

  On the morning following, the king had the cook called before him and also the man who attended to the drink and asked them if any stranger had come to see them. They said that when they were about to prepare the meal some man they did not know approached them and said that they were preparing marvellously poor meat for the king’s table. And then he gave them two fat and thick sides of beef, which they boiled, together with other meat. Then the king said they were to destroy all that food—that this had probably not been any human but Óthin, the god heathen men had long worshipped, and that he was not going to succeed in deceiving them.

  Chapter 65. The People of Trondheim Reject the King’s Attempt to Christianize Them

  In the summer King Óláf gathered numerous troops from the eastern part of the country, and with that force proceeded north to Trondheim, anchoring first at Nitharós.1 Then he sent out messengers2 about all the fjord to call an assembly, summoning the men of eight districts to Frosta; but the farmers changed their token into war-arrows and called together both free men and thralls in the whole province of Trondheim.

  Now when the king arrived at the assembly, he found there the host of farmers all armed. And when the meeting was opened, the king spoke to the people and bade them accept Christianity. But when he had spoken but a little while, the farmers called out and asked him to cease, saying that otherwise they would set upon him and drive him away. “Thus we did to Hákon, the foster child of Æthelstān, when he demanded that of us, and we do not value you higher than him.”

  And when King Óláf perceived the angry disposition of the farmers and observed that they had so large a force that resistance was impossible, he yielded in his speech as if to agree with the farmers, and said, “I desire that we come to an agreement such as we had before. I wish to journey to where you celebrate your greatest sacrifice and there see what is your accustomed faith. Then let us decide on what faith we shall adopt, and agree on that, all of us.” And as the king spoke gently to the farmers their mood softened and all their discussion thereafter proceeded peaceably and in a conciliatory spirit; and it was finally decided that there should be held a midsummer sacrifice inside the fjord at Mærin, and that all the chieftains and influential farmers should attend it as was the custom; and King Óláf was to come there too.

  Chapter 66. Járnskeggi Is the Leader of the Farmers

  There was a powerful franklin called Skeggi. He was called Járnskeggi [Ironbeard]. He dwelled at Upphaug in Yrjar. Skeggi was the first to speak against King Óláf at the assembly and also was of most influence among the farmers opposing Christianity. Thus stood matters when the assembly dissolved. Then the farmers went home, and the king, to Hlathir.

  Chapter 67. The King Forces the Farmers to Accept Christianity

  King Óláf moored his ships in the Nith River. He had thirty ships, with a picked and numerous crew. The king himself often resided at Hlathir with his retinue. And when the time approached for the sacrifices at Mærin, King Óláf arranged for a big feast at Hlathir and sent messengers into the inner fjord district to Strind and up into Gaular Dale and into Orka Dale, inviting chieftains and other farmers of importance. And when the banquet was all prepared and those invited had arrived, there was good entertainment the first evening, and drink was served very liberally, and the men grew very drunk. But afterwards during the night everyone slept in peace.

  On the morning after, when the king was dressed, he had mass sung for himself; and when it was finished he had the horns blown to summon men for a meeting. Then all his crews left their ships and came to the assembly; and when it opened, the king arose and spoke as follows:

  “We had an assembly at Frosta, and there I bade the farmer
s to let themselves be baptized, but they bade me on the contrary to come to sacrifice with them, as had done Hákon, the foster son of Æthelstān. Then we agreed that we should meet in Mærin and there make a great sacrifice. But if I am to sacrifice with you, then I shall have a sacrifice made which is the greatest ever made, and sacrifice humans. And I shall choose for that, not thralls or evildoers, but the noblest of men as sacrifice to the gods. I shall choose for that Orm Lygra1 of Methalhús, Styrkár of Gimsar, Kár of Grýting, Ásbjorn and Thorberg of Ornesś,1 Orm of Lyxá, Halldór of Skerthingstethja”—and he named still another five most prominent men, saying that he would sacrifice them to obtain a good season and peace; and then he had his men immediately attack them. But when the farmers saw that they did not have a sufficient force to fight the king, they asked for quarter and offered to submit to his terms. Then they came to the agreement that all the farmers who had come were to let themselves be baptized and to promise the king upon oath to hold fast to the true faith and to abolish all sacrifices. The king kept all these men by him at the feast until they had delivered their sons or their brothers or other close kinsmen as hostages to the king.

  Chapter 68. King Óláf Attends the Sacrifice at Marin

  King Óláf with all his troops proceeded to the inner reaches of the Trondheimfjord. And when he reached Mærin, all the chieftains of the Trondheim District who most opposed Christianity had arrived together with all the rich farmers who before had maintained the sacrifices in that place. There was a great multitude, just as there had been at the Frostathing Assembly. Then the king asked the assembly to meet, and both parties came there all armed. And when the assembly met, the king made a speech in which he asked the people to accept Christianity. Járnskeggi answered his speech as representative of the farmers. He said that it was the wish of the farmers as it had been before that the king should not break the laws. “It is our wish, sir king,” he said, “that you make the sacrifice as other kings have done here before you.” The farmers shouted approval, saying they wanted everything done as Skeggi had said. Then the king replied that he would go into the temple and see what their custom was when they sacrificed. The farmers were well pleased with that, and both parties went to the temple.