Heimskringla

by Snorri Sturluson

  Thereupon all the people ran down into the town to their properties, armed themselves, and went down to the landing stages. Then they perceived at once that it meant war, and with a huge force of enemies. Nine ships belonging to merchants trading with the east floated in the river alongside the landing stages. The Wends attacked them first and fought with the merchants. The merchants armed themselves and made a long and manful defence. It was a hard battle before they were overcome. In the fight the Wends lost one hundred fifty [180] ships with all men. At the height of the battle the townsmen stood on the landing stages and shot at the heathens; but when the fight subsided the townsmen fled up into the town. And then all the people ran into the fort with their valuables and all the goods they could carry.

  Solveig, her daughters, and two other women went inland. When the Wends had overcome the merchant ships, they debarked and mustered their troops, when their losses were seen. Some of them ran into the town, others climbed on the merchant ships and took all they wanted. Then they laid fire to the town, burning it as well as all the ships. Then their whole force proceeded to the fort and prepared to attack it.

  Chapter 11. The Wends Beleaguer and Sack the Town

  King Réttibur offered to all in the fort the chance to come out, with safety of life and limbs, keeping their weapons, clothes, and gold. But all shouted it down and went out on the fortifications. Some shot arrows, some hurled stones, some cast stakes,1 and there was a fierce fight. Men fell on both sides, but far more of the Wends.

  Solveig came to the Solbjargir estates and told of what had happened. Then war-arrows were sent to Skúrbágar. At that place there happened to be a drinking bout and many men were there. Among them was a certain farmer who was called Olvir Bigmouth. He leaped up straightaway, took his shield and helmet, shouldered a large axe and called out, “Let us arise, good men, and take your weapons in hand, and let us go to help the townsmen; because it will seem shameful to everyone who learns that we sit here and swill ale while good men in the town risk their lives for our sakes!” Many answered and spoke against that, saying that they would lose their lives and yet be of no help to the townsmen. Then Olvir leaped up and said, “Though all of you stay behind, I shall go alone, and one or two heathens shall fall by my hand before I die,” and ran down to the town.

  The men ran after him to see how he fared and whether they might perhaps help him. But when he approached near enough to the fort that the heathens could see him, eight fully armed men ran against him. And when they met, the heathen men surrounded him. Olvir lifted up his axe and with its forward point hit one of them standing back of him in the throat so that it cut asunder his jawbone and windpipe, and he fell on his back. Then he swung his axe forward and struck another man on the head, cleaving it down to the shoulders. Then the others attacked him, and he slew two more, he himself receiving great wounds. But the four who were left fled then. Olvir ran after them. There was a ditch before them, and two of the heathen men jumped into it, and Olvir killed both of them. By that time he was also stuck fast in the ditch. But two of the eight heathens escaped.

  The men who had followed Olvir pulled him out and took him with them to Skúrbágar and he was healed entirely. And it was general opinion that no one had ever behaved more bravely.

  Two landed-men, Sigurth Gyrtharson, the brother of Philippús, and Sigarth, arrived at Skúrbágar with six hundred [720] men. Sigurth turned back with four hundred [480] men, and ever after was accounted a man of little worth. He died soon afterwards. Sigarth with two hundred [240] men proceeded to the town and there fought the heathen, and fell there with all his men.

  The Wends attacked the fort, but their king and leaders did not participate. In one spot where the Wends were stationed, there stood a man who shot with his bow and killed a man with every arrow. Two men stood in front of that man, protecting him with their shields. Then Sæmund told his son Ásmund to shoot at the bowman at the same time he did—“but I shall shoot at the [one of them] carrying a shield.” He did so, and the man shoved his shield in front of himself. Then Ásmund shot between the shields, and his arrow struck the bowman on his forehead and came out in the nape of his neck, and he fell over dead. When the Wends saw that they all howled like dogs or wolves.

  Then King Réttibur called upon them, offering them safety of life and limbs, but they would not hear of it. Thereupon the heathens attacked them fiercely. One of the heathens approached so near as to come to the very castle gate, and lunged at a man who stood within the gate. But they [made at him] with arrow shots and rocks. He had no shield but was so skilled in magic that no weapon could pierce him. Then Andréás the Priest took consecrated fire and blessed it. He cut some tinder, ignited it and placed it on an arrow head which he handed to Ásmund. And with that arrow he shot at the man protected by magic, and that shot took full effect, so that he fell down dead. Then the heathens set up a howl like before, howling and snarling. Then they all went up to the king, and the Christians thought they were taking counsel and meant to retreat.

  Then an interpreter who understood Wendish, gathered what the chieftain called Ünibur said. He spoke as follows: “These are fierce people and hard to deal with; and even if we got hold of all the goods in this place we might well give as much again if we hadn’t come here at all, seeing how many men and how many chieftains we have lost. To begin with, when we started to attack the fort today, they defended themselves with arrow shots and spears, then they fought us with stones, and now they fight us with sticks like dogs. This makes me think that their means of defence are getting scarce; so let us once more have at them with all our might and put them to the test.”

  The people in the fort had done as he said and had in the first fight hurled missiles and stones recklessly. But when the Christians saw that their supply of stakes was diminishing, they cut each pole in two. The heathen attacked them with strong rushes, resting between them. Both parties grew tired and suffered many wounds. And one time when they rested, the king again offered them safety of life and limbs and that they would be permitted to have along both their weapons and their clothing and what they themselves could carry out of the fort.

  By that time Sæmund Housewife had fallen, and the men who were left gave the advice to surrender the fort and themselves into the power of the heathen; which was most unwise, because the heathen did not abide by their word but made prisoners of all, both men, women, and children, killing many and all those who were wounded and young and were considered hard to remove. They took all the goods they found in the fort, and going into Holy Cross Church they robbed it of all its furnishings.

  Andréás the Priest gave Réttibur a crozier with silver ornaments, and to Dúnímiz, his sister’s son, he gave a gold finger ring. For this reason they thought he was a man of influence in the town, and so honored him more than others. They took the Holy Cross and had it away with them. Then they took the altar piece which stood before the altar—the one which King Sigurth had had made in Greece and had brought home with him. They laid it down on the step before the altar. Then they left the church. Then the king said, “This building has been appointed with great love for the god who owns it, and it would seem to me that both the town and this building have not been guarded with much care; because I see that the god is angered at those who were to guard them.”

  King Réttibur gave Andréás the Priest the church and the shrine, the Holy Cross, the book Plenarius, and four clerks. But the heathens burned down the church2 and all the houses within the fort. However, the fire they had set in the church went out twice. Then they hewed down the church, when it took fire all over inside and burned like the other houses.

  Thereupon the heathens boarded their ships with the booty and mustered their troops. But when they saw how many men they had lost, they led captive all the people [of the town], dividing them between their ships.

  Then Andréás the Priest and his clerks entered the king’s ship bearing the Holy Cross. Thereupon a fear befell the heathens, following the
portent that so great a heat came over the king’s ship that all thought they would almost burn. The king bade the interpreter ask the priest what caused it. He said that the almighty God the Christians believed in sent it as a mark of his wrath for those daring to lay hands on the symbol of his martyrdom who did not believe in their maker. “And so much might goes with the Cross that often before have such signs come over the heathen men who had laid hands on it, some even more striking.”

  The king had the priests put out in the ship’s boat, and Andréás carried the Cross in his bosom. The heathens guided the boat along the ship, around the prow, and back along the other side to the poop, then with forks shoved it to the landing stages.

  The priests are set adrift.

  Then Andréás the Priest in the night went to Sólbjargir with the Cross in wind and downpour. Andréás put the Cross in safekeeping.

  Chapter 12. King Magnús Enters the Cloister

  King Réttibur and what was left of his troops returned to Wendland, and many of the people who had been led captive from Konungahella remained there in thralldom for a long time. But those who were ransomed and returned to Norway to their estates, all prospered less than before; and the merchant town of Konungahella never afterwards rose again to the affluence it had before.

  Magnús, when deprived of his eyesight, travelled to Nitharós and there entered the cloister,1 taking a monk’s habit. Then the income of Herness the Large on the Frosta Peninsula was given the cloister for his maintenance. But Harald was sole ruler in the following winter. He gave amnesty to all who desired it, and accepted many men into his retinue, who had before been with Magnús. Einar Skúlason tells us that King Harald fought two battles in Denmark, one by the island of Hvethn, the other, by the island of Hlésey:

  (207.)

  575. Powerful prince, thou didst

  repay the men neath lofty

  Hvethn, with bloody broadswords

  battling, for their treachery.

  And still further:

  (208.)

  576. Bitter war didst wage, thou

  weeds-of-Óthin-reddener,2

  where blasts o’er men billowed

  banners on flat Hlés Isle.

  Chapter 13. The Rise of Sigurth Slembidjákn

  Sigurth was the name of a man who was brought up in Norway. He was supposed to be the son of the priest, Athalbrikt. The mother of Sigurth was Thóra, the daughter of Saxi in Vík and the sister of Sigríth, the mother of King Óláf Magnússon and of; Kári, his brother. The latter was married to Borghild, the daughter of Dag Eilífsson. Their sons were Sigurth of Austrátt and Dag. Sigurth’s sons were Jóan of Austrátt and Thorstein; also, Andréás the Deaf. Jóan was married to Sigríth, the sister of King Ingi and of Duke Skúli.

  In his childhood Sigurth [the son of Athalbrikt] was put to learning. He became a cleric and was consecrated as a deacon. But when he reached maturity in age and strength he was an exceedingly powerful and doughty man, tall in stature, and exceeding all of his own age in accomplishments, as he did nearly everybody else in Norway. Sigurth soon became a most overbearing and unruly man. He was called Slembidjákn [Gadabout-Deacon]. He was a very handsome man. His hair was rather thin, yet of good appearance.

  Then it came to Sigurth’s ears that his mother said King Magnús Barelegs was his father. And as soon as he was his own master, he quit the clerical mode of life and left the country. He was a long time on these journeys. He journeyed to Jerusalem, went to the Jordan River, and sought out the holy places as pilgrims are wont to. And when he returned he engaged in merchant journeys. One winter he dwelled for some time in the Orkneys. He was with Earl Harald when Thorkel Fóstri, the son of Sumarlithi, fell. Sigurth also was in Scotland with David, king of the Scots, where he was held in great honor. Then Sigurth sailed to Denmark, and, according to him and his men, he there went through the ordeal to prove his paternity—and bore it, to the effect that he was the son of King Magnús. Five bishops [they said] had been present on that occasion. As says Ívar Ingimundarson1 in his poem on Sigurth:

  (209.)

  577. Ordeals ordered

  about the atheling’s kin

  five Danish bishops

  who were foremost thought;

  and so was proved,

  that of the powerful king,

  in might matchless,

  Magnús was sire.

  Harald’s friends alleged that this was just a fraud and lie of the Danes.

  Chapter 14. Sigurth Makes Good His Escape

  When Harald had been king in Norway for six years Sigurth 1136 came to Norway in order to see King Harald, his brother. He found him in Bergen, and at once went up to him and revealed his paternity to him, asking him to acknowledge his kinship. The king made no quick decision about this matter and brought it before his friends in meetings and discussions. The result of these conferences was that the king accused Sigurth of having been an accomplice in the killing of Thorkel Fóstri west in the Orkneys—Thorkel had accompanied King Harald when first he came to Norway and had been his stanch friend. And this accusation was urged with such energy that it was accounted a deed deserving Sigurth’s death; and on the advice of the landed-men it was arranged that late one evening some men of the king’s ‘guests’ approached Sigurth and called on him to go with them. They took a skiff and rowed away from the town with Sigurth and south to Northness. Sigurth sat aft on the box, thinking about what was going to happen to him and suspecting treachery. He was clad in blue trousers and a shirt, and had a cloak with cords as outer garments. He looked down before him, with his hands on the cords of his cloak, now placing them on his head, now taking them off. But when they were rounding a point of land—the men were merry and drunk and rowed furiously, entirely off their guard—then Sigurth stood up and went to the side of the skiff. The two men assigned to guard him also stood up, seizing his cloak and holding it away from him, as is the wont with men of rank. But as he suspected that they were holding onto more of his clothing, he grabbed both of them with either hand and plunged overboard with them. But the skiff sped on a long way before they managed to turn, and it took them a long time before they picked up their men. But Sigurth dived and swam under water so far that he reached the shore before they had turned the skiff to get him. He was exceedingly fast on foot. He headed inland, and the king’s men went and looked for him all night without finding him. He hid in the cleft of a rock and was chilled through and through. He took off his breeches, cut a hole in the seat-gores, stuck his head through and his arms into the legs and thus for the time being saved his life. The king’s men returned, nor could they conceal their misadventure.

  Chapter 15. Sigurth Conspires to Kill King Harald

  Sigurth considered that it would not be of any avail for him to meet King Harald, and kept in hiding all that fall and during the first part of the winter. He was in the town of Bergen with a certain priest and schemed how he could bring about the death of King Harald, and very many conspired with him in this, even some who at that time were the followers and body servants of King Harald as they had before been the followers of King Magnús. They were great favorites of King Harald, so much so that one or the other of them always sat at table with the king.

  In the evening of Lucius Mass [December 13th] two men sitting 1136 there were talking together, and one of them said to the king, “Sire, now we have decided to leave to you the decision in our dispute. Each of us has put up as stake a measure of honey. I say that you will sleep with Queen Ingiríth your wife, tonight, but he says you will sleep with Thóra, the daughter of Guthorm.”

  Laughing, the king replied, quite unsuspecting that so much treachery lay in the question, “It isn’t you who will win that wager.”

  From his answer they gathered where he was expected to be that night. But the bodyguard had been set before the lodgings where most men thought the king would be, which were the queen’s.

  Chapter 16. Sigurth Kills King Harald but is Rebuffed by the King’s Men

&nb
sp; Sigurth Gadabout-Deacon and some men with him went to the lodgings where the king slept, broke down the door and went in with their swords drawn. Ívar Kolbeinsson was the first to inflict a wound on King Harald. The king had lain down drunk and slept hard. He awoke when they attacked him and said in his delirium, “Now you are treating me cruelly, Thóra!”

  She started up quickly and said, “You are treated cruelly by men worse disposed to you than I.”

  King Harald lost his life there. Sigurth and his men left the place 1136 and had those called to him who had promised to follow him if he managed to kill King Harald. Then Sigurth and his men boarded a skiff and, seizing the oars, rowed out in the bay to the royal residence. Day was breaking by that time. Then Sigurth stood up [in the boat] and spoke to the men standing on the king’s landing stage. He declared himself to be the slayer of King Harald and asked them to accept him and to acknowledge him as the king, as his birth entitled him to.