(83.)
272. The ring-breaker obey all
brave men, from Thurso Bay to
Dublin—sooth I say—as
sovran, following Thorfinn.
Thorfinn was a great warrior. He assumed his earldom when he was five years old and ruled more than sixty years. He died of a sickness in the latter days of Harald Sigurtharson. And Brúsi passed away in the days of Knút the Powerful, a short time after the fall of Holy King Óláf.
Chapter 104. Of Hárek of Thjótta
Now we shall continue with two stories, beginning where we left off, at the point when Óláf Haraldsson had made his peace with Óláf, king of Sweden, and that summer when King Óláf sailed north to 1019 Trondheim. During the fall he prepared for winter quarters in Nitharós and resided there during the winter. It was that winter when Thorkel the Foster Father, the son of Ámundi, stayed with King Óláf, as was set down above. At that time King Óláf inquired much how it stood with Christianity round about in the country; and he was informed that there was little of it north in Hálogaland. But it was far from being kept in Naumu Dale and in the inner reaches of the Trondheimfjord.
There was a man called Hárek, who was the son of Eyvind Skáldaspillir. He lived on the island of Thjótta in Hálogaland. Eyvind had not been a man of great wealth, but was of noble descent and most influential. On the island of Thjótta there lived at that time many small farmers. Hárek first bought himself a farm there, not a very large one, then transported his possessions there. But in a few years he had all the farmers moved out who had lived there before, so that he owned the whole island himself, and erected there a large manorial residence. He soon waxed very rich. He was a man of excellent good sense, and most enterprising. By the chieftains he was held in the highest respect and [besides] counted himself as related to the kings of Norway, for which reason he was shown much esteem by the [great] chieftains of the country. Gunnhild, his father’s mother, was the daughter of Earl Hálfdan and Ingibjorg, a daughter of Harald Fairhair. Hárek was rather advanced in age when [what we shall tell] happened. He was the man of greatest distinction in Hálogaland. He had had under him for a long time the trade with the Finns1 and was the chief royal officer of the District of [Finn]mark. At times he had had that office alone, at others he had shared it with other men. He had not come to see King Óláf, but messages and emissaries had passed between them, and their relations had been cordial. Now then, during the winter when King Óláf resided in Nitharós, there passed messages again between the king and Hárek of Thjótta. At that time the king made it known that in the following summer he intended to travel north to Hálogaland and all the way north to the land’s end. But the people of Hálogaland had very divided opinions about this journey.
Chapter 105. King Óláfs Expedition to Hálogaland
Now King Óláf equipped himself in spring with five ships and 1020 a crew of nearly three hundred [360] men; and when ready, he began his journey north along the land. When he arrived in the Naumu Dale District he called for a meeting with the farmers, and was acknowledged king at every assembly. And there as well as in other places he had the laws read to the people, by which they were commanded to maintain their Christianity, on pain of life and limbs or else of loss of all property for those who would not submit to the Christian laws. The king inflicted severe penalties on many, nor did he make any distinction between the powerful and the humble. He did not leave any district before all the people consented to maintain the holy faith. Most of the men of power, and many wealthy farmers, entertained the king. Thus he proceeded all the way north in Hálogaland. Hárek of Thjótta also entertained the king with a banquet attended by a great multitude, and it was a splendid one. At that time Hárek became a landed-man under King Óláf, whereupon the king bestowed upon him revenues such as he [Hárek] had had from the former chieftains of the land.
Chapter 106. Grankel Becomes King Óláf’s Man
There was a man called Grankel or Granketil, a wealthy farmer, and rather advanced in age at the time. When young he had been on viking expeditions and had been a great warrior. He was a man of many accomplishments in the field of manly sports. His son was named Ásmund, and he was in every respect like his father or even excelled him. It was the opinion of many that as regards comeliness, strength, and manly sports he was the third most outstanding man in Norway, Hákon, the foster son of Æthelstān, being the first, and Óláf Tryggvason next. Grankel invited King Óláf to a banquet, and that was a magnificent feast. At their parting Ásmund gave the king splendid gifts as a proof of his friendship. The king invited Ásmund to come with him, insisting very strongly on it. And Ásmund on his part did not think he could refuse this honor. He joined the king’s company, becoming his man, later on, and one of his closest friends.
King Óláf remained most of the summer in Hálogaland, visiting all communities and there baptizing all the people. At that time there lived a man on the Island of Bjarkey called Thórir the Hound—the most powerful man in the North. He became a landed-man of King Óláf. Many sons of powerful farmers joined the following of King Óláf. As the summer wore on the king returned south and, sailing into the Trondheimfjord, steered to Nitharós, where he settled for the winter. That same winter Thorkel Foster Father had come east from the Orkneys after killing Earl Einar Wrymouth. There was a bad season for grain in the Trondheim District that fall, after a long row of good seasons; and that bad season prevailed all over the northern part of the country, and worse the farther north one went. But in the eastern part of the country the grain crop was good, also in the Uppland districts. But in the Trondheim region people were saved by having much grain in storage.
Chapter 107. King Óláf Learns of Sacrifices in Trondheim
That fall, information reached King Óláf that the farmers in the inner reaches of the Trondheimfjord had had great feasts at the beginning of winter, with much drinking. The king was told that all toasts were brought to the Æsir,1 following old heathen custom. He was told that cattle and horses had been slaughtered and the pedestals [of the idols] reddened with their blood and that sacrifices were being performed for the purpose of improving the harvests. And the report was further that everybody considered it clear that the gods had become angered because the people of Hálogaland had let themselves be baptized. When the king learned of all this, he sent messengers to the Trondheim districts, summoning to him certain farmers whom he mentioned by name.
There was a man called Olvir of Egg after the farm on which he lived. He was a man with great influence and of noble descent. He was the leader of the farmers going to see the king. And when they arrived at the court, the king accused them of what was done. Olvir as the spokesman of the farmers replied that there had been no [sacrificial] feast that fall, but only drinking in company, or communal drinking bouts, and some entertainments between friends. “But as to what is told you,” he said, “about what is said when we people of Trondheim come together for drinking, all men of sense will guard against [believing] what is told them; but no one can be responsible for what fools and drunken people say.” Olvir was a man of ready speech, and not afraid to speak out. He defended the farmers against what had been reported of them. At the conclusion of the meeting the king said that the people from the inner districts of Trondheim themselves would have to bear witness as to how they stood in the faith; whereupon the farmers were given leave to depart for their homes, which they did as soon as they could.
Chapter 108. The King Is Told of Heathen Rites at Mærin
Later during the winter the king was told that the people from the inner reaches of the Trondheimfjord had assembled in great numbers at Mærin and that there were big sacrifices made at midwinter for peace and a good season. Now as the king thought he had learned the truth of the matter, he sent men and a message into these districts, summoning the farmers to the town and again citing those who seemed to him most intelligent. Thereupon the farmers discussed the matter between them and spoke about this message. All those wh
o had gone before were most unwilling to make the journey. But at the pleading of all the farmers Olvir made ready to go. And when he arrived in the town he went at once to see the king, and they talked together. The king accused the farmers of having had a midwinter sacrifice. Olvir replied that the farmers were not guilty of that. “We had Yule feasts, and social drinking all about the districts,” he said. “The farmers do not want to make scant provision for Yule banqueting, and so there is much food and drink left over, and the men kept drinking that store for a long time afterwards. At Mærin there is a large estate with big houses, and there is a large settlement round about. And people consider it good entertainment to drink in a large company.”
The king did not say much and rather showed his displeasure. He considered he knew that what he was told was far from the truth. He ordered the farmers to return—“but,” he said, “I shall ascertain the truth, even if you conceal it and do not want to acknowledge it. But, whatever has been the case hitherto, don’t do so again.” Thereupon the farmers returned home and told how it had gone and that the king was rather angry.
Chapter 109. The King Arrives at Marin
King Óláf arranged for a great entertainment in the Easter 1021 season, to which he had invited many townspeople and also some farmers. But after Easter the king ordered his ships to be launched, and tackle and oars brought out. He had the ships decked and tented, and when so equipped he let the ships float by the piers. After Easter, King Óláf despatched some men to Vera Dale.
There was a certain man by the name of Thóraldi who was the king’s steward on his estate at Haug [in Vera Dale]. The king sent him word to join him in all haste. Nor did Thóraldi tarry, but at once travelled to the town together with the messengers. The king summoned him to talk with him in private and asked him how much truth there was in this. “I am told about the ways of the people in the inner reaches of the Trondheimfjord, and is it true that they perform sacrifices? I want you to tell me what are the facts,” the king said, “as you know them. You owe me that, for you are my man.”
Thóraldi replied, “Sire, let me tell you first of all that I have brought hither to the town my two sons and my wife, and all the movable property that I could take along. Now if you want me to tell you the truth about this, I am at your command. But if I tell you the facts then you will have to look out for me.”
The king said, “Tell me the truth about what I ask you, and I shall look out for you so you will suffer no harm.”
“To tell the truth, sire, if you want the facts, in the interior of the Trondheim District nearly all the people are pure heathen in their belief, even though some few there are baptized. It is their custom to perform a sacrifice in the fall to welcome winter, a second at midwinter, and a third in summer to welcome its arrival. In this, the people of Eyin and those of Sparabú, of Vera Dale, and of Skaun participate. There are twelve men who take it upon themselves to arrange the sacrificial feasts; and this spring it falls to Olvir to make ready the feast. He is now busily engaged upon that at Mærin, and all provisions necessary for the feast are being brought there.”
Now when the king had learned the truth, he had the trumpets blown to summon his troops and ordered them to board the ships. He appointed steersmen and also captains of the troops, and which troop was to be on each ship. All this was done quickly. The king had five ships and three hundred [360] men, and with these he proceeded up toward the head of the fjord. There was a favorable breeze, and the swift-sailing ships made good progress. No one had imagined that the king would get there so quickly, but he arrived at Mærin during the night. The houses were at once surrounded. Olvir was captured and killed, together with many others. The king took all provisions and had them brought to his ships, along with all the properties, such as furniture, clothing, and valuables which had been moved there, and had them distributed as booty among his men. The king also had those men’s homes ransacked whom he suspected to have had most part in these doings. Some were captured and put in chains, some escaped by flight, and many had their goods confiscated. Then the king summoned the farmers to a meeting. And because he had made many men of influence prisoner and had them in his power, their kinsmen and friends decided to swear obedience to the king; and no resistance was made to him at the time. He converted all the people to the right faith, placing priests there and erecting and consecrating churches. The king judged Olvir to have been slain for just cause and confiscated all his possessions. But as to the other men who seemed to him most guilty, some he had killed, some mutilated, some he drove out of the country, and some he mulcted. Thereupon the king returned to Nitharós.
Chapter 110. Of Árni Armóthsson and His Kin
There was a man called Árni Armóthsson. He was married to Thóra, the daughter of Thorstein Gallows. Their children were Kálf, Finn, Thorberg, Ámundi, Kolbjorn, Arnbjorn, Árni, and Ragnhild. She was the wife of Hárek of Thjótta. Árni was a landed-man, powerful and prominent, a great friend of King Óláf. At the time, his sons Kálf and Finn were at the court of King Óláf, and highly regarded. The woman who had been married to Olvir at Egg was young and handsome, of noble ancestry and wealthy. A match with her was considered most excellent, but it was the king who had the disposition of her property in his hands. By Olvir she had two young sons. Kalf Árnason requested the king to let him marry Olvir’s widow, and because of their friendship the king granted him that, together with all the possessions Olvir had had; whereupon the king made him a landed-man and procured him the stewardship for his rule in the District of Trondheim. Then Kálf became a great chieftain and was a man of exceding sagacity.
Chapter 111. The King Forces the Uppland Districts to Become Christian
By this time King Óláf had been seven years in Norway. That 1021 same summer the two Orkney earls, Thorfinn and Brúsi had come to him. King Óláf took possession of their lands, as was written above. That summer also the king went about the districts of North and South Mœr, and about Raums Dale in fall. In the latter place he disembarked and proceeded to the Uppland districts till he came to Lesjar. There he had all the most prominent men taken, both at Lesjar and Dofrar. And they all were compelled to become Christians or else suffer death or flee abroad if they were able. And they who let themselves be baptized surrendered to the king their sons as hostages for their good faith.
The king passed the night at a place called Bœjar in Lesjar, and left priests behind. Then he proceeded through Loru Dale and through Ljár Dale, arriving at a place called Stafabrekka. A river called Ótta runs through that valley, and there are fair settlements called Lóar on both sides of the river, and the king could see from one end of the settlement to the other. “Too bad,” he said, “to have to burn down so fine a settlement,” and he descended down the valley with his troops and stayed overnight at a farm called Nes, and the king was quartered in a loft where he slept by himself; and that stands there to this day, nor has any change been made in it since that time. The king remained there for five days, calling together an assembly, and summoning to it people both from Vági, Lóar, and from He Dale. He had his messengers proclaim that they had the choice, either to give battle to him and to suffer their places to be burned down, or to accept Christianity and deliver up to him their sons as hostages. Thereupon they went up to the king and submitted to him. But some fled south into the Dales.
Chapter 112. The King Negotiates with the People of Guthbrands Dale
Dala-Guthbrand [Guthbrand of the Dales] was the name of a man who ruled like a king over the Dales. In rank he was a hersir. Sigvat the Skald compared him to Erling Skjálgsson with regard to power and extent of his lands. About Erling, Sigvat composed this verse:
(84.)
273. One great warrior, knew I,
was there, unto you like,
Guthbrand hight, who governed,
gold-rich, over Dalesmen.
Equal, I would say, is
either enemy-of-gold-rings.
Lies he who, ’mongst lair-hoards-
Guthbrand had one son of whom there will be mention. When Guthbrand learned that King Óláf had come to Lóar and forced people to become Christian, he sent out the war-arrows, summoning all Dalesmen to meet with him at the farm called Hundthorp. And all came, an immense number; because nearby lies a lake called Log; so that the place can be reached by boat as well as by travelling on land. There Guthbrand held a meeting with them and said that a man called Óláf had come to Lóar, “and means to bid us have a faith different from the one we have had, and to break in pieces all our gods, and says that he has a god by far greater and more powerful. It is a wonder that the earth does not burst asunder under him for daring to speak thus, or that our gods allow him to go about longer. But I think that if we bear Thór out from our temple, where he stands here in this farm and has always helped us, and if he sees Óláf and his men, they will melt away, and he and his men become as nothing.”
Then all the people shouted approval and said that Óláf would never get away alive if ever he came there, “and he will not dare to go farther south in the Dales,” they said. Thereupon they despatched seven hundred [840] men to be on the lookout at Breitha, and the leader of this force was the eighteen-year-old son of Guthbrand, accompanied by many other men of weight. They came to the farm called Hof and stayed there three days, when many joined them of those who had fled from Lesjar, Lóar, and Vági and would not receive baptism.
King Óláf and Bishop Sigurth assigned priests to Lóar and Vági. Then they proceeded over Vágarost2 and descended to Sil, where they stayed overnight and learned that a great host was expecting them. Likewise the farmers at Breitha learned of the king’s approach and prepared for battle against him. Now when the king arose he put on his armor and proceeded south along the Sil meadows and did not stop till he came to Breitha. There he saw before him a large host ready to do battle with him. Then the king put his men in battle formation, himself riding at their head, and addressed the farmers, bidding them receive Christianity. They answered, “You will get something else done today than to mock us,” and raised their battle cry, striking their weapons against their shields. Thereupon the king’s men ran forward and hurled their spears, but the farmers forthwith turned to flight and only few stood their ground. Then Guthbrand’s son was captured. King Óláf gave him quarter and took him along with him. The king remained there for four days.
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