(163.)
530. His derring-do brought dread to
dwellers oft in Seeland.
Hardihood wins out—is
Harald witness—in warfare.
King Harald was a handsome man of stately appearance. He was light blond, with a blond beard and long mustaches, with one eyebrow higher than the other. His hands and feet were large, and both well proportioned. His height was five ells.1 He was ruthless with his enemies, and given to harsh punishment of all who opposed him. As says Thjóthólf:
(164.)
531. Sternly strikes down Harald
strutting henchmen’s o’erbearing.
I ween, the king’s warriors
wanton deeds will atone for.
Will the sword-wielders pay for
willful deeds—’t is but right so—
Harald heals their quarrels—
which they had a hand in.
King Harald was inordinately covetous of power and of valuable possessions of all kinds. He bestowed great gifts on his friends and those of whom he thought much. As says Thjóthólf:
(165.)
532. One mark2 for my merits
meted out the sea-battles’-
urger. He honors highly
all those who are worthy.
King Harald was fifty years old when he fell. We have no stories worthy the telling of his youth before he was fifteen, when he took part in the battle of Stiklarstathir at the side of King Óláf, his [half] brother. He lived thirty-five years after that. And in all that time he lived in constant turbulence and war. King Harald never fled out of battle, but often he sought some way out when fighting against great odds. All who accompanied him in battle and warfare are agreed in saying that when he was in great danger and everything depended on making a quick decision he most usually hit on a plan which in the event was seen by all to be the one most likely to succeed.
Chapter 100. A Comparison of the Ways of Saint Óláf and Harald
Halldór, the son of Brynjólf Úlfaldi the Old, was a man of discernment and a great chieftain. He spoke as follows when he overheard men speaking about how unlike were the dispositions of the two brothers, Holy King Óláf and Harald. He said:
“I was in great favor with both brothers, and I knew the disposition of both. I never saw two persons whose disposition was more alike. Both men were exceedingly sagacious and skilled in arms, avid for wealth and power, imperious in manner, not very affable, jealous of their authority, and given to meting out stern chastisement. King Óláf forcibly converted the people to Christianity and the true faith, and cruelly punished those who turned a deaf ear to it. The leaders of the country would not accept his jurisdiction and equitable judgments, and gathered an army against him, laying him low in his own land. It was therefore he became a saint. But Harald made war to gain fame and power, subduing all those he could, and fell in the realm of other kings. Both brothers were as a rule well mannered and high-minded. They were also widely travelled and men of great energy, and as such became famous and gained a great name.”
Chapter 101. King Svein and the Kings Óláf and Magnús
King Magnús, the son of Harald, held dominion in Norway the first year after the fall of King Harald, but afterwards he ruled the land for two years with his brother Óláf. These two shared the kingdom. King Magnús held sway in the northern part of the country; and Óláf, in the eastern part. King Magnús had a son called Hákon who was fostered by Steigar-Thórir. He was a youth who gave rise to the greatest expectations.
After the fall of King Harald Sigurtharson, Svein, the king of the Danes, alleged that the peaceful agreement between the Norwegians and the Danes had come to an end, asserting that this agreement was to last only as long as both Harald and Svein lived. Then forces were levied in both kingdoms. The sons of Harald had out a full levy of ships and men from Norway, and Svein sailed from the south with an army of Danes. Thereupon envoys went between the two parties with proposals for coming to terms. The Norwegians said they would either adhere to the same conditions of peace that were made before or else give battle. That was the occasion for this verse:
(166.)
533. Thwarted with threats of battle
thewful Óláf,1 eke with
pledges of peace, any
prince’s lust for Norway.
As Stein Herdísarson says in his Óláfsdrápa:
(167.)
534. Will the combat-keen, in
Kaupang he who rules, where
Holy Óláf aye his
altar hath, ward Svein off.
Would Óláf grant to all his
heirs the whole of Norway:
cannot Ulf’s son, the king, lay
claim to any of it.
At this meeting of the naval forces [of both countries] the kings came to an agreement by which peace was established between them. King Magnús became ill with ergotism and lay sick for some time. He died in Nitharós and was interred there. As a king he had been beloved of all the people.
The Saga of Óláf the Gentle
Chapter 1. King Óláf the Gentle’s Appearance and Disposition
Óláf was sole king over Norway after the death of his brother Magnús. Óláf was a large man in every way, and well proportioned. All are agreed that no one ever saw a handsomer man nor one of more stately appearance. He had flaxen, silky hair of great beauty, and a fair skin. His eyes were unusually fine, and his limbs well-shaped. As a rule he was a man of few words and spoke little at assemblies. But he was merry at ale and a great drinker, talkative and soft-spoken, peaceably inclined during his rule. As Stein Herdísarson has it:
(168.)
535. His lands the lord of Thronders
—like that well his henchemen—
well-skilled he in warfare—
willingly keeps untroubled.
Store they set by his stemming
strife within his homeland
while he awes the English.
—Óláf under heaven.1
Chapter 2. King Óláf the Gentle’s Building Activities
It was an old custom in Norway that the high-seat of the king was in the middle of the long bench in the hall. And the ale was carried around the fire. King Óláf was the first to have his high-seat placed on the elevated dais which ran across the hall [on one side]. He was also the first to have rooms furnished with stoves, and have the floor covered with straw in winter1 as well as in summer. In the days of King Óláf the market towns grew fast, and some new ones were established. King Óláf founded a market town in Bergen. And soon many rich men began to reside there, and merchants from other lands came sailing to the place. He laid the foundations of Christ Church, the great stone church; however, little was done toward its completion; but he had the wooden church there completed. King Óláf established the Great Guild2 in Nitharós, and many others in the market towns. Before, there had been only banquets at various places. Bœjarbót3 was the name of the great guild bell in Nitharós. The guild brothers there built the Church of Saint Margaret, a stone church.
In the days of King Óláf there arose clubs and drinking bouts in the market towns. At that time new fashions in dress made their appearance. Men wore “court-breeches” laced tight around the legs, and some clasped gold rings around their ankles. They wore trailing gowns, laced with ribbons [?] at the side, and sleeves five ells in length and so tight that they had to be laced with straps all the way up to the shoulders, and high shoes, embroidered all over with white silk, and some with gold laces. And there were many other striking new fashions at that time.
Chapter 3. King Óláf Introduces New Customs
King Óláf introduced these customs in his court that he had cup-bearers stand by his table to pour out the drink from pitchers, both for himself and for all men of high rank who sat at his table. He had also candle-bearers who held tapers for him at table, as many as there were men of high rank sitting there. There was also the seat for the king’s marshal, farther out from the sideboard, an
d there sat the marshals and other persons of rank; and they sat facing inward toward the high-seat. King Harald and other kings before his time used to drink out of horns and to have the ale borne from the high-seat around the fireplace, and to toast those whom they wished. As says Stúf the Skald:
(169.)
536. Warmly the war-play-urger—
well it was to know him—
thought of me, the thewful
thane victorious ever,
when, with gilded horn in
hand, the ring-dispenser,
the dun heath-dwellers’1 feeder,
drank to me at Haug farm.
Chapter 4. Of King Óláf’s Court
King Óláf had a hundred [120] men in his bodyguard and sixty “guests,”1 as well as sixty housecarls whose business it was to transport to the [king’s] place of residence whatever was needed there or to perform such other services which the king desired. But when the farmers asked the king why he had with him a more numerous company at the entertainments the farmers gave him than the laws permitted or former kings had maintained, the king answered as follows: “I do not govern the country better, nor am I held in greater awe than my father, even though I have a company larger by half than he had; but it is not my intention to oppress you or put you to greater expense.”
Chapter 5. The Line of the Danish and Norwegian Kings
King Svein Úlfsson died of a malady ten years after the fall of 1076 the [two] Haralds. He was succeeded on the throne of Denmark by Harald Hein, his son, who ruled for four years; then by Knút, his second son, who ruled for seven years and is pronounced to be a true saint; then by Óláf, his third son, who ruled for eight years; then by Eirík the Good, his fourth son, who also ruled for eight years. Óláf [the Gentle], the king of Norway, married Ingiríth, the daughter of Svein, king of Denmark; and Óláf Sveinsson of Denmark married Ingigerth, the daughter of Harald and thus sister of Óláf [the Gentle]. King Óláf Haraldsson, whom some called Óláf the Gentle, and many, Óláf the Farmer, had a son by Thóra, the daughter of Jóan. He was called Magnús. That lad was very handsome and gave much promise. He grew up at the king’s court.
Chapter 6. The Miracles of Holy King Óláf
King Óláf had a stone church erected in Nitharós on the spot where Holy King Óláf had first been interred; and the altar was placed above the spot where the king had lain. It was consecrated as Christ Church. The shrine of King Óláf was moved there and the altar placed above it. Then many miracles took place there.
In the summer following, on the same day the church had been consecrated, a great multitude was present. It was on the eve of Saint Óláf’s Mass that a blind man recovered his sight. On the mass day itself, when the shrine was set down in the churchyard, as was the custom—a man recovered his speech who had been dumb before for a long time, and with a gentle voice sang praises to God and Holy King Óláf. The third was a woman who had come west from Sweden and had endured much hardship on her journey on account of her blindness and yet had trusted to the mercy of God and had come journeying there on this holy day. Sightless she was led that day into the church for mass; but before the service was at an end she saw clearly with both eyes and had keen vision, when before that she had been blind for fourteen years. She departed thence with solemn joy.
Chapter 7. Saint Óláf Discovers a Murdered Child
It happened in Nitharós, when the shrine of King Óláf was borne about the Street,1 that the shrine became so heavy that it could not be borne away from the spot. Then it was set down and they dug into the Street to find what was below it, and they found there the body of a child which had been murdered and hidden there. It was borne away and the Street put back in the shape it was before; and then the shrine was borne on as usual.
Chapter 8. King Óláf the Gentle Dies of a Sickness
King Óláf often resided in the country on the large estates he owned there. But when he was east in the District of Ranríki, on his farm of Hauk-boer, he was struck down by a sickness which caused his death. He 1093 had then been king of Norway for twenty-six years, after having been chosen king one year after the fall of King Harald. King Óláf’s body was brought north to Nitharós and buried in Christ Church, which had been erected by him. He was much beloved as king, and during his rule Norway had grown greatly in wealth and honor.
The Saga of Magnús Barelegs
Chapter 1. Norway Is Divided between Magnús Óláfsson and Hákon Magnússon
After the death of King Óláf, at an assembly in Vík, Magnús, the son of King Óláf, was immediately chosen king of all Norway. But when the people in the districts of Uppland learned of the death of King Óláf, they chose as king, Hákon, the foster son of Thórir, who was the cousin of Magnús. Thereupon Hákon and Thórir journeyed north to Trondheim, and when they arrived in Nitharós they called together the Eyra Assembly. And at this assembly Hákon demanded the title of king for himself; and the farmers gave him dominion over half the land, the same as King Magnús, his father, had had. Hákon relieved the people of Trondheim of the land-tax and granted them many other amendments of the laws. He also exempted them from having to give Yule presents [to him]. So all the people of Trondheim became friendly inclined to King Hákon. Then King Hákon selected a bodyguard and returned to Uppland. There he granted the people the same improvements in the laws as he had granted the people of Trondheim. And they, too, became his fast friends. Then somebody in Trondheim composed this verse:
(170.)
537. Hákon the young hither—
he is of all men noblest
born, famous in folk-lands—
fared with Steigar-Thórir.
Would he sithen cede the
sway of half of Norway
to Óláf’s son: he asked though
all of the land to govern.
Chapter 2. King Hákon Dies Traversing the Mountains
In the fall King Magnús journeyed north to Kaupang, and when he had arrived there he went to the royal estate and dwelled there during the beginning of the winter. He kept seven warships in an open space in the ice of the Nith River in front of the royal residence. But when King Hákon learned that King Magnús had arrived in the Trondheim District he came west [north] over the Dofra Mountains to Trondheim and to Kaupang, and took lodgings in the Skúli residence below Saint Clemens Church. That had been the old royal residence. King Magnús thought ill of the great concessions which King Hákon had made to the farmers to win their favor. Magnús considered that it was no less his own property which had been given away, and he was greatly incensed about that and considered himself wronged by his kinsman in thus having so much less revenue than his father and forefathers had had, and blamed Thórir for that. King Hákon and Thórir became aware of this and were apprehensive of what measures Magnús would take. They thought it ominous that Magnús had afloat warships tented and equipped.
In spring, near Candlemas Magnús set out at dead of night and stood out with his ships tented and with lights under the tents, and sailed to Hefring Head.1 There they stayed during the night, making great fires up on land.
Then King Hákon and the troops in the town thought that this was done to trick them. He had the trumpets blown to call out his forces, and all the people in the town came and collected in one place. But in the morning at dawn, when King Magnús saw the assembled multitude on Eyrar Point, he sailed out of the fjord and south to the Gula Assembly District. Then King Hákon prepared for proceeding east [south] to Vík. But before that he held a meeting in the town and there made a speech bespeaking the friendship of the people and promising to be friends with all. He said he felt much misgivings as to what King Magnús, his kinsman, intended to do. King Hákon sat on horseback, all ready to start out. Everyone vowed friendship and good will, promising him their aid, if that was required. And all the multitude followed him out to Steinbjorg Hill.2
King Hákon journeyed up to the Dofra Mountains; and one day, as he rode over the mountains, he followed after a ptarm
igan which flew away from him. Then he took deadly sick and expired there on the 1094 mountain. His body was brought north and arrived in Kaupang half a month after he had left it. Then all the people of the town, most of them weeping, came to meet the body of the king, because everybody had loved him with heartfelt affection. The body of King Hákon was interred in Christ Church. King Hákon had reached the age of about twenty-five years. He was one of the chieftains who was most beloved by all the people in Norway. He had travelled north to Permia, had fought there, and won a victory.
Chapter 3. King Magnús Harries in Halland
During the winter King Magnús continued east to Vík. And when spring came he sailed south to Halland and harried there far and wide. He destroyed Viskar Dale and a number of other districts by fire. He made large booty there and then returned to his own kingdom. As Bjorn the Cripple-handed1 says in his Magnússdrápa:
(171.)
538. Far and wide the war-lord
wasted Halland’s homesteads—
swift he followed the fleeing
foe—with sword and fire.
Burned the thane of Thronders2
thatched farms many in Visk Dale—
soundly slept not women
south there—and other shires.
It is said here that King Magnús harried fiercely in Halland.
Chapter 4. Steigar-Thórir Collects Forces against King Magnús
There was a man called Svein, the son of Harald Flettir, of Danish origin. He was a great viking and warrior, of exceeding bravery, and of noble lineage in his country. He had been one of the followers of King Hákon. Now after the death of Hákon, Steigar-Thórir had small hopes that he could achieve a reconciliation with King Magnús and win his friendship, once his power extended over all the land, because of what he had done and his opposition to King Magnús. Then Thórir and Svein adopted a plan which later proved a success: they raised a band with the aid of Thórir and his many henchmen. But because Thórir was an old man now and sluggish in his movements, Svein took over the leadership of the band and became its chieftain. In this plot a number of chieftains were involved. The most prominent of them was Egil, the son of Áslák of Forland. Egil was a landed-man. He was married to Ingibjorg, the daughter of Ogmund Thorbergsson and the sister of Skopti of Gizki. Skjálg was the name of another powerful and wealthy man who joined the band. Of this, Thorkel Hamarskáld1 makes mention in his Magnússdrápa:
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