King Knút the Powerful that fall sailed to Denmark and remained there during the winter with a great host. He was informed that envoys and messages had passed between the kings of Norway and of Sweden and that important plannings might have been involved. King Knút sent envoys to Sweden and to King Onund that winter, with large gifts and offers of friendship. They told Onund from him that he could well sit in peace, so far as his [Knút’s] quarrel with Óláf the Stout was concerned, “for King Onund,” he said, “and his kingdom shall be left in peace by me.” Now when the envoys came before Onund, they presented to him the gifts King Knút had sent him and also tendered his friendship. King Onund received their message rather coolly, so that the envoys felt that King Onund was probably much inclined to friendship with King Óláf. On their return they reported to King Knút the outcome of their mission and that he could not expect the friendship of King Onund.
Chapter 133. Thórir the Hound Joins Karli and Gunnstein
During that winter King Óláf resided in Sarpsborg and had many troops about him. He sent Karli of Hálogaland to the northern part of the land on his missions. Karli first journeyed to the Uppland District, then north over the mountains. He arrived at Nitharós and there took as much of the king’s revenues as he was empowered to, and selected a ship which seemed to him fitting for the errand which the king had assigned to him; which was, to sail north to Bjarmaland.1 The intention was that the king and he should be in partnership, each to have half of the revenue. Early in spring Karli steered his ship north to Hálogaland. Then Gunnstein, his brother, joined him. He had his own merchandise along. There were nearly thirty men on board, and straightway they sailed that same spring north to the Mork [Finnmark].
Thórir the Hound learned about that, so he sent word by messengers to the brothers informing them that he too intended to journey to Bjarmaland in the summer and that he wished to sail together with them and to have an equal share of their gain. The brothers in reply sent word that Thórir should take along twenty-five men, which was the number of their crew. They demanded that of the goods they acquired, an equal portion should be assigned to each ship, not reckoning the merchandise each of them had along.
Now when the messengers Thórir had sent returned, he had launched a large vessel, half warship, half merchantman, which he owned, and had it equipped. As crew for this ship he used his men-servants, nearly eighty in number. Thórir alone had command of this force and was also owner of all the earnings that might be got on the expedition. When ready to sail he steered north along the land and met Karli north at Sandvær.2 Then they sailed together and had a favorable breeze.
When Thórir had joined them, Gunnstein said to his brother Karli that he thought Thórir rather strong in numbers; “and I consider,” he said, “that it is more advisable that we turn back and do not travel in such fashion that Thórir has power over us, because I do not trust him.”
Karli said, “I do not want to turn back; yet it is true that if I had known when at home in Langey that Thórir the Hound would join us with such a large crew, we would have taken more men along.”
The brothers talked about this with Thórir, asking him how it was that he had far more men with him than was stipulated. He made this answer: “I have a large ship, requiring a large crew. It would seem to me that on a hazardous enterprise such as this there never can be too many good men.”
During the summer they sailed, most of the time, as fast as the ships would travel. When there was a light breeze, Karli’s ship sailed faster, but when it freshened, Thórir caught up. Hence they rarely were together, yet never lost sight of one another. When they arrived in Bjarmaland they put into a market town, and dealings [with natives] began. All those who had merchandise along sold it at full value. Thórir acquired an abundance of grey furs as well as beaver and sable pelts. Karli also had a very great amount of wares along, with which he bought many furs.
Thórir’s men return to the ships with their booty.
When the market closed they left by way of the Vína [Dvina] River, and then the truce with the people of the land was declared to be at an end. Now when they were on the high seas, they called a meeting of the crews. Thórir asked them if they perhaps cared to go on inland and make booty. The men answered that they were eager to, providing there was a definite chance to acquire booty. Thórir said that booty could be got if everything went well, “but it is not unlikely that there is danger of life on such an enterprise.” They all said they would risk it if there was hope of making booty. Thórir said it was the custom of Bjarmaland that when a wealthy man died, all his movable property was divided between the dead man and his heirs, in such fashion that he would get half or a third of it, and sometimes less. And this property was to be carried into the woods, sometimes put into grave mounds, and covered with earth. Sometimes, houses were built for that purpose. Thórir told them to make ready for the venture in the evening. It was agreed that no one was to leave the other in the lurch, and no one was to stay behind when the steersmen gave the signal to leave.
They left men behind to guard the ships, and the others went up on land. There they first found a level plain, then a big forest. Thórir headed them, followed by Karli and Gunnstein. Thórir bade the men proceed silently, “and rip some bark from trees so that one can see one tree [so marked] from the other.” They came to a large clearing, and in it was a tall wooden palisade with a gate in it which was locked. Six of the natives were set to guard the palisade every night, two of them every third part of it.
When Thórir and his men arrived at the palisade, the watchmen had gone home, and those who were to have the next shift had not yet come to keep guard. Thórir went up to the palisade and hooked his axe [over the top], then hoisted himself up and so got over the fence. By then Karli had got over it on the other side of the gate. Both came to the gate at the same time, removed the bars, and opened the gate. Then the men entered the enclosure.
Thórir told them, “In this enclosure is a mound, and in it is gold and silver all mixed up with earth. Let us go at it. But inside the yard there stands the god of the Permians who is called Jómali.3 Let no one be so bold as to plunder him.” Thereupon they went at the mound and took out of it as much gold and silver as they could and carried it away in their garments. Much earth stuck to it, as might be expected. Then Thórir told them to leave the place. He said, “Now you brothers, Karli and Gunnstein, lead the way, and I shall bring up the rear.” Then all left by the gate. Thórir turned back to Jómali and snatched the silver bowl from his lap. It was filled with silver coins. He poured the silver into his kirtle and inserted his arm in the handle of the bowl, then left by the gate. Meanwhile all the company had passed out of the enclosure when they became aware that Thórir had stayed behind. Karli turned back to look for him, and they met inside the gate. Karli saw that Thórir had the silver bowl with him. Then Karli ran up to Jómali. He saw that he had a thick necklace around his neck. Karli swung his axe and cut in two the thong with which the necklace was fastened in the back of Jómali’s neck. That blow was so violent that Jómali’s head came off. The crash was so loud as to seem a marvel to all. Karli snatched the necklace, and then they made off. But no sooner was the crash heard than the watchmen appeared in the clearing and blew their horns. Right soon then they heard trumpets in all directions. They rushed toward the forest and into it, and heard in the clearing behind them the shouts and the hue and cry of the Permians who had come up.
Thórir the Hound went last of all the company. Two men ahead of him carried a sack for him. In it was something resembling ashes. Thórir put his hand in it and sometimes sowed the contents on their tracks behind them, at others he threw them forward over the company; and so they emerged from the forest onto the plain. They heard the army of the Permians pursuing them with shouts and evil-sounding howls. They rushed out of the forest after them on two sides, but at no time did the Permians or their missiles come so close as to do them any harm. From that they gathered that the Permians di
d not see them.
Now when they arrived at the ships, Karli and his men boarded his first, because they were first all along, but Thórir was farthest behind on land.
As soon as Karli and his company were aboard their ship they took down the tents and unmoored it, then hoisted sail, so their ship quickly gained the high sea; whereas Thórir and his men took a longer time, for their ship was less manageable. And when they got their sail up, Karli’s ship was far from land. Then both sailed across the White Sea. The nights were still light, so they sailed both day and night until Karli one day in the evening put to shore by some islands, where they lowered the sail, cast anchor, and waited for the falling of the tide, because there was a strong current in the sea ahead of them. Then Thórir caught up with them. He also anchored. There upon they lowered a boat. Thórir stepped into it with some men and rowed over to Karli’s ship. Thórir came on board of it. The brothers greeted him cordially. Thórir requested Karli to hand over to him the necklace. “I consider myself most entitled to have the valuables taken there, because it was owing to me that we escaped without danger to our lives. Whereas you, Karli, put us into the worst peril.”
Karli replied, “King Óláf is entitled to half of all that I gain on this journey. I intend him to have the necklace. Go to see him, if you care to, and then maybe he will let you have the necklace, in case he does not wish to have it because I took it from Jómali.” Then Thórir said he wanted both parties to go up on the island to divide their booty. Gunnstein said that the tide was turning and that it was time to sail on. Then they pulled in their cables. When Thórir saw that, he stepped down into his boat and rowed to his ship.
By the time Thórir was able to hoist his sail, Karli and his men had theirs up and had sailed quite a ways. Then they sailed on in such fashion that Karli always was ahead, and both sailed with the utmost speed. So they proceeded till they came to Geirsver,4 where there is the first landing stage for ships from the north. There they both arrived early in the evening and moored their ships by the landing stage. Thórir’s ship lay inside the harbor, Karli’s more on the outside. Now when Thórir and his men had spread their awnings, he went up on land together with many other men. They went up to Karli’s ship. By that time Karli’s crew had made ready [for the night]. Thórir hailed them and asked the skippers to come on land with him. So the two brothers did, accompanied by a few others. Then Thórir began as before, asking them to come on land and bring out for redistribution the goods they had taken as booty. The brothers said there was no necessity for that before they were back home; but Thórir insisted it was not the custom to delay the redistribution of the booty till returning home and depend on the honesty of the men.
They talked about this for some time but without being able to agree. Then Thórir turned to go; but when only a short way, he turned and told his followers to stay there. He called out to Karli. “I want to talk to you in private,” he said. Karli walked up to him. But when they met, Thórir ran a spear through his middle so that it came out in the back. Said Thórir then, “Here you may recognize a man from Bjarkey, Karli. Also, I think, you ought to recognize the spear Seal’s Avenger.” Karli died at once as Thórir and his men returned to their ship.
Gunnstein and his men saw Karli fall. They ran up straightway, carried the corpse to their ship, then quickly removed the awnings and the gangplanks and rowed away from land, then hoisted the sail and made off. When Thórir and his men saw that, they also struck their tentings, working feverishly. But when they hoisted the sail, the rope extending from the top of the mast to the stem broke, and the sail fell down athwart the ship. This caused Thórir much delay before they could again raise the sail. By this time Gunnstein was a long ways off, before Thórir’s ship could get up speed. He used both sail and oars, as did Gunnstein.
Thus they both hurried on, day and night, as fast as they could. It was a long time before Thórir could catch up, because as soon as they came to the region where there are many straits, Gunnstein’s ship was quicker in making the turns. Yet Thórir finally gained on him, so that when Gunnstein arrived at Lengjuvik,5 he steered to the land and, abandoning the ship, ran up on land [with his crew]. A little later Thórir arrived there and ran up on land after them, giving them pursuit. A certain woman managed to help and hide Gunnstein. It is said that she was greatly skilled in magic. Thórir and his men returned to their ship. They took all the valuables from Gunnstein’s ship, loaded it with stones, then took it out into the fjord, bored holes in it and sank it. Thereupon Thórir proceeded home to Bjarkey.
Gunnstein and his men at first moved stealthily, travelling by rowboats and at night, and lay still in daytime. They went on that way till they were past Bjarkey Island and out of Thórir’s district. Then Gunnstein first returned home to Langey Island, where he tarried only a short while before straightway journeying south. He did not stop till he arrived south in Trondheim. There he met King Óláf and told him what had happened on his expedition to Bjarmaland. The king was greatly put out about this, and invited Gunnstein to stay with him, saying that he would seek to make amends for Gunnstein’s grievance when the opportunity came. Gunnstein accepted that offer and remained at King Ólaf’s court.
Chapter 134. King Óláf Proceeds to Horthaland
As was related above, King Óláf that winter resided east of Sarpsborg when Knút the Powerful was in Denmark. Onund, king of Sweden, that winter rode about West Gautland with an army of more than three thousand [3600] men, and messengers and messages went between the two kings. They made the agreement to meet the following spring at Konungahella. They delayed about the meeting, because they meant to find out before what were the intentions of King Knút. But as spring wore on Knút made his fleet ready to sail west to England, leaving behind him as ruler of Denmark Hortha-Knút [Harde-Canute], his son, and with him [as adviser], Earl Úlf, the son of Thorgils Sprakalegg. Úlf was married to Ástríth, daughter of King Svein and sister of Knút the Powerful. Their son was Svein, who later was king of Denmark. Earl Úlf was a most distinguished personage.
Knút the Powerful sailed west to England. As soon as the kings Óláf and Onund learned that, they came to the meeting agreed on and met in Konungahella by the [Gaut Elf] River. It was a joyful meeting, with great attestations of friendship, so that their relations were plain to everyone. They discussed many things between them, known to themselves alone, but some of which were put into effect later so as to become plain to everybody. At their parting, the two kings exchanged gifts and parted as friends.
Then King Onund proceeded inland to Gautland, but King Óláf, north to Vík, and later on to Agthir, and from there north along the land. He was becalmed for a long time in Eika Sound. There he learned that Erling Skjálgsson and the inhabitants of Jathar had gathered a large force.
One day some followers of the king talked about the weather and whether the wind was in the south or southwest and whether weather conditions were right for rounding Jathar. Most of them were of the opinion that they were not. Then Halldór Brynjólfsson replied. “It seems to me,” he said, “that you would consider sailing conditions good enough to round Jathar if Erling Skjálgsson had prepared a reception for us at Sóli.” Then King Óláf commanded the awnings to be taken off and the ships to be turned about. So was done, and they sailed that day past Jathar with an excellent breeze, and in the evening anchored by Hvítingsey Island. From there the king proceeded to Horthaland and was entertained there.
Chapter 135. Thórálf Is Slain
That spring a ship had sailed to the Faroes. On that ship were messengers carrying King Óláf’s orders that one of the men whom he had selected to be his attendants, whether Leif Ozurarson or Gilli the Lawspeaker, or Thórálf of Dimon, was to come to him in Norway. But when this message was brought to the Faroes, and personally to these men, they discussed among themselves what might be at the bottom of these orders; and they agreed in surmising that the king wished to inquire about just what was said to have happened in the islands, and whi
ch some held to be true, with respect to the disaster which had befallen the [previous] messengers of the king and their crews, of which not a man had been rescued. They came to the decision that Thórálf was to go.
He made ready for the journey and outfitted the cargo ship he owned with a crew. On that vessel were ten or twelve men. But when they were all ready to sail and were waiting for a favorable breeze, it happened, one fine day, that Thránd came into the living room of his house in Gata on the Island of Austrey, and there he found his two nephews, Sigurth and Thórth, both lying on the dais. They were sons of Thorlák. A third man there was called Gaut the Red, also a kinsman of theirs. They were all foster sons of Thránd, and doughty men. Sigurth was the oldest, and in most cases their leader. Thórth had a nickname, being called Thórth the Little, though he was exceedingly tall, besides being stout of frame and strong.
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