Then a great many men from the royal residence drifted to the landing stages and all spoke with one accord, saying that it never should come to pass that they obeyed and served that man who had murdered his own brother—“and if he was not your brother, then you have not the birth to be king.” They struck their weapons together and declared all of them [in the boat] outlawed and proscribed. Then the king’s trumpet was sounded and all landed-men and king’s men were summoned together. But Sigurth and his men thought it wisest to leave the scene. He betook himself to North Horthaland and there met the assembled farmers. They accepted him and gave him the title of king. Then he proceeded to Sogn and there met the assembled farmers and was accepted as king by them also. Then he sailed north to the Fjord District and was received well there. As says Ívar Ingimundarson:
(210.)
578. Both Horthar and Sogn-men,
once Harald had fallen,
received as liege
the son of Magnús.
At the thing, many
thanes on him did,
in his brother’s stead,
bestow king’s name.
King Harald was buried in the Old Christ Church.
The Saga of the Sons of Harald
Chapter 1. Sigurth and Ingi Succeed Harald
Queen Ingiríth, in agreement with the landed-men and the men who constituted the court of King Harald, determined to send a fast boat north to Trondheim to inform the people of the death of King Harald and to urge them to accept as king, Sigurth, the son of Harald, who at that time was north there in the fosterage of Sátha-Gyrth Bártharson, while Queen Ingiríth herself immediately set out for Vík in the east. Ingi, her son by King Harald, was fostered there in Vík with Ámundi, the son of Gyrth, the son of Law-Bersi. And when they arrived in Vík, the Borgar Thing1 was called together. There Ingi was chosen king. He was two years of age then. In these deliberations were active Ámundi, Thjóstólf Álason, and many other great chieftains.
Now when the news of the murder of King Harald arrived north in Trondheim, Sigurth, the son of King Harald was chosen king, by the advice of Óttar Birting, Pétr Sautha-Úlfsson, the brothers Guthorm Ásólfsson of Reine and Óttar Balli, and many other chieftains. And nearly all the people turned their allegiance to the brothers, the sons of Harald, and chiefly, because their father was called holy. And the country was sworn to them to the effect that it would not swear allegiance to anyone else while any of the sons of King Harald were alive.
Chapter 2. Magnús Escapes from the Cloister But Is Defeated
Sigurth Gadabout-Deacon proceeded north of Cape Stath, and when he arrived in North Mœr the letters and tokens of the leaders who had sworn allegiance to the sons of Harald had reached there before him and he got neither welcome nor support there. And because he himself had few followers, he decided to head into the Trondheim District, because he had before sent word there to his friends and those of King Magnús who had been blinded. Now when he arrived at the town [of Nitharós], he rowed up the Nith River and fastened his landing-cables by the royal residence, but had to depart from there, because all the people resisted him. Afterwards they rowed to the island of Hólm and there took Magnús Sigurtharson out of the cloister against the wish of the monks. Before that time he had taken monk’s vows. It is the opinion of most that Magnús went of his own accord; whereas the opposite opinion was spread to improve his [Magnús’?] cause and gain support for himself [Sigurth?], and so it did.
This happened right after Yule. Sigurth and his band sailed out 1137 of the fjord. They were followed by Bjorn Egilsson, Gunnar of Gimsar, Halldór Sigurtharson, Áslák Hákonarson, and the brothers, Benedikt and Eirík, together with those who previously had been in the court of King Magnús, and a great many others. All these with their men sailed along the district of Mœr and as far as the opening of the valley of Raums Dale. There they divided, Sigurth Gadabout-Deacon sailing west across the sea that very winter. Whereas Magnús proceeded to the districts of Uppland, because he expected to obtain a great following there, which indeed he did. There he remained during the winter and also during the entire summer and had a great force.
King Ingi on his part approached with his army, and they met at the place which is called Mynni [at the mouth, that is, of Lake Mjors]. A great battle followed, with King Magnús having superiority in numbers. It is told that Thjóstólf Álason had King Ingi along on his lap during the battle and kept near the banner, and that Thjóstólf was in great danger and difficulty in the heat of the battle; and they say that it was then that Ingi acquired the disability which he suffered from all his life—his back was crooked, and one leg shorter than the other and so weak that he limped all his life.
More men fell then on the side of King Magnús [than on Ingi’s]—among them these in the front ranks: Halldór Sigurtharson and Bjorn Egilsson, also Gunnar of Gimsar, besides a great many of Magnús’ men, before he would flee or ride away. As says Kolli:1
(211.)
578. Met ye east at Mynni,
mail-clad all, nor was it,
warrior, long ere with your
weapons ye ravens sated.
And also:
(212.)
580. Fallen lay on field, ere
flee would the brave ruler,
most of Magnús’ henchmen.
Mighty king in heaven—2
From there Magnús fled to Gautland and from there, to Denmark.
At that time Earl Karl Sónason ruled in Gautland. He was powerful and ambitious. Wherever Magnús the Blind and his men came before chieftains, they declared that Norway was an easy prey for any powerful chieftain who would seize it, seeing that there was no king over the land and landed-men administered it, and seeing that the landed-men who were first appointed to do so now were at odds with one another because of mutual jealousy. And because Earl Karl was ambitious to rule and lent a willing ear to persuasion he collected a force and rode west to Vík, where many submitted to him because they feared him.
When Thjóstólf Álason and Ámundi got news of this they moved against him with such troops as they could muster, and had King Ingi with them. They encountered Earl Karl and his army of Gauts in the east in the Króka Forest3 and there had a second battle in which King Ingi was victorious. Munán Ogmundarson, Earl Karl’s maternal uncle, fell there. Ogmund, Munán’s father, was the son of Earl Orm Eilífsson and Sigríth, the daughter of Finn Árnason. Ástríth, the daughter of Ogmund was Earl 1137 Karl’s mother. Many men fell in Króka Forest. The earl himself fled east out of the forest. King Ingi drove them altogether east out of his land, so their expedition turned out ignominiously. As says Kolli:
(213.)
581. Known I’ll make the news—his
neb the raven dipped in
wounds of warriors—how that
wolves were sated by Ingi.
With bloody blade repaid he
battle-tumult-raisers
their treachery—was tested
troth—in Króka Forest.
Chapter 3. Magnús Persuades King Eirík to Attack Norway
Magnús the Blind betook himself to Eirík Eimuni’s court and was well received there. He offered Eirík to accompany him to Norway if Eirík would want to conquer the land and sail to Norway with the Danish fleet. He said that if he came there with a strong force, no one would dare hurl a spear against him. The king listened to his persuasions and called out 1137 men and ships for war. He sailed north to Norway with six hundred [720] ships, and Magnús the Blind and his men accompanied him on this expedition.
When they came to Vík they proceeded rather peacefully and with moderation, on the east side of the fjord, but when they arrived with their fleet at Túnsberg they encountered there a great gathering of the landed-men of King Ingi. Vatn-Orm Dagsson, the brother of Grégóríús, had most authority among them. There the Danes could not land and obtain water, and they lost many men. Then they sailed along the fjord to Ósló. There, Thjóstólf Álason was in command.
&nbs
p; It is told that the townsfolk wanted to have the shrine of Saint Hallvarth1 borne out of the town in the evening, and that as many as could take hold of it did so, and that they were not able to carry it farther than out on the church floor. But next morning, when they saw the fleet approaching Main Island,2 four men carried the shrine out of the town, and Thjóstólf and all the people of the town bore it company.
Chapter 4. The Danish Fleet Is Repulsed
King Eirík and his troops pushed up into the town, and some pursued Thjóstólf and his followers. Thjóstólf hurled a javelin at a man whose name was Áskell—he was a forecastleman of King Eirík—and struck him under his throat so that it came out in the nape of his neck; and Thjóstólf was thought never to have made a better shot; because no place was bare on that man’s body but that one. The shrine of Saint Hallvarth was moved to Raumaríki, where it remained for three months. Thjóstólf journeyed about Raumaríki during the night, collecting a force, and in the morning came down to the town [of Ósló]. King Eirík had fires kindled in Saint Hallvarth’s Church and many places in the town, so that it burned down altogether. Soon after, Thjóstólf descended on it with a large force. King Eirík moved away with his fleet, and they were not able to get on land anywhere in the northern part of the fjord because of the forces of the landed-men; and wherever they tried to land, five, six, or more men of their force fell.
King Ingi lay in the Hornboru Sound with a great fleet. But when King Eirík learned that, he turned back south to Denmark [with his fleet]. King Ingi pursued them, inflicting on them all the damage he could. And it was said that there never was made a more ill-starred expedition with a great force into another king’s land. King Eirík was ill-pleased with Magnús and his followers and believed they had made game of him in having him undertake this expedition and declared he would not again be so stanch a friend of theirs as before.
Chapter 5. Sigurth Slembidjákn Makes Depredations in Norway
Sigurth Gadabout-Deacon that summer came east across the sea to Norway. But when he learned of the ill-luck of his kinsman Magnús, he considered that he would get little support in Norway. So he sailed south along the coast by the outer course all the way to Denmark, and steered into the Eyrar Sound. South of Erre1 he encountered some swift-sailing Wendish ships, attacked them, and was victorious, clearing them of their men, killing many, and hanging others. Another successful battle he fought against the Wends by Mon Island. Then he sailed north and anchored in the eastern branch of the (Gaut Elf) River, overcoming three ships of the fleet of Thórir Hvínantorthi and of Óláf the son of Harald Kesja, his sister’s son. Óláf’s mother was Ragnhild, a daughter of King Magnús Barelegs. Sigurth drove Óláf up on land. Thórir was in the town of Konungahella where he had collected a force. Sigurth advanced that way, and both parties shot at each other, killing some on each side and wounding many others, but Sigurth and his men were not able to land there. At that place fell Úlfhethin Sox-ólfsson, a man from the north of Norway, who had been forecastleman in Sigurth’s force.
Then Sigurth departed and sailed north to Vík, where he plundered far and wide. He anchored his ships in Portyrja on the coast of Lungarth, and waylaid ships sailing in or out of Vík, and plundered in many places. The people of Túnsberg raised a force against him [and his men] and came upon them unawares when Sigurth and his men were ashore dividing their booty. Some of this force fell upon him from the land while they placed ships across the harbor on the outside. Sigurth dashed on board his ship and rowed towards them. Vatn-Orm’s ship lay nearest, and he let his ship fall back. Sigurth rowed past them and escaped in one ship, but many of his men fell. Thereupon this ditty was composed:
(214.)
582. Poorly defended him at
Portyrja old Vatn-Orm.
Chapter 6. Sigurth and Magnús Escape to Northern Norway
Sigurth Gadabout-Deacon then sailed south to Denmark. One man was lost from his ship, his name was Kolbein Thorljótsson of Batald.1 He was in the cockboat towed behind the ship, and they sailed with all their might.
Sigurth wrecked his ship when they arrived in Denmark, and he 1138 stayed that winter in Álaborg. But in the summer following, he and Magnús sailed north with seven ships and arrived unobserved at Listi in the night and anchored their ships near the land. Bentein Kolbeinsson, a member of King Ingi’s bodyguard and a very brave man, was in command there. Sigurth and his men went on land at daybreak and came upon the inhabitants without warning. They stormed their houses and wanted to put the town to the torch, but Bentein escaped to a storehouse in his armor and with his weapons and stood within the doorway with drawn sword—he held his shield before him and was helm-clad, all prepared to defend himself. The door opening was rather low. Sigurth asked why they didn’t go in. They answered that no one was inclined to go in alone. But while they were talking about that heatedly, Sigurth ran into the house past him. Bentein struck at him, but missed him. Thereupon Sigurth turned on him, and they exchanged but a few blows before Sigurth killed him and carried his head out in his hand. They took all the property they found in the town, then returned to their ships.
But when King Ingi and his friends, and the sons of Kolbein, Sigurth and Gyrth, Bentein’s brothers, learned about the slaying of Bentein, the king collected a force against Sigurth. The king himself went along and took a ship from Hákon Pungelta Pálsson, who was the son of the daughter of Áslák Erlingsson of Sóli and cousin of Hákon Maw. Ingi drove Hákon up on land and laid his hands on all their possessions. Sigurth Stork, the son of Eindrithi of Gaut Dale; Eirík Heel, his brother; and Andréás Kelduskítr, son of Grím of Víst fled into the Fjord District, whilst Sigurth himself and Magnús, together with Thorleif Skjappa with three ships sailed north outside the skerries to Hálogaland.
During the winter Magnús stayed with Víthkun Jóansson; while Sigurth hewed off the [projecting] stem and stern of his ship,2 gashed holes in it, and sank it in the innermost reach of the Ægisfjord. He passed the winter in the Tjalda Sound on the island of Hinn3 at Gljúfrafjord. Innermost in this fjord there is a cave. There Sigurth and more than twenty of his men passed the winter. They fashioned a door in front of the cave so that it could not be detected from the beach. They were provisioned during the winter by Thorleif Skjappa and by Einar, the son of Ogmund of Sand and of Guthrún, the daughter of Einar, who was the son of Ari of Reykjaholar. It is told that Sigurth had the Finns make him two skiffs in the fjord. They were held together by sinews, without any nails, and had withies for knee-timbers. They were rowed by twelve men on each side. Sigurth lived with the Finns while they made the skiffs, and they had small-beer for him when they entertained him. Afterwards Sigurth composed this verse:4
(215.)
583. Good was’t in Lapps’ hut,
gladly we drank,
and the prince pleasantly
passed ’twixt the benches.
Not lacked good cheer
at the Lapps’ banquet:
cheered is man by man,
remote though the land.
These skiffs were so swift that no ship could overtake them in the open sea; as this verse has it:
(216.)
584. Few ships fleeter
than fast Háleyg5 boat.
Swiftly saileth
sinew-bound skiff.
In the spring following, Sigurth and Magnús proceeded south 1139 in the two skiffs the Finns had built. And when they came to Vágar they killed Svein the Priest and his two sons.
Chapter 7. Sigurth and Magnús Commit Atrocities Along the Shore
Sigurth then sailed south to Víkar and there caught Viljalm the Tanner—he was a landed-man of King Sigurth—and Thóraldi Chaps, and killed both. Then Sigurth proceeded south along the land and there found Styrkár Glæsirófa south at Byrtha sailing north from Kaupang, and killed him. When he arrived at Valsness he found Swíne-Grím, and had his right hand cut off. Then he sailed south to Mœr, outside the entrance of the Trondheimfjord, and there captured Hethin Hardbelly and
Kálf Ringeye. He let Hethin escape but killed Kálf.
King Sigurth and Sátha-Gyrth, his foster father, learned about Sigurth’s excursions and what he was doing, and sent out men to hunt him down. For leaders they chose Jón Katha, the son of Kálf the Crooked, a brother of Bishop Ívar, and as a second in command, Priest Jón Smyril. They manned the ship called the Reindeer which had twenty-two benches and was an exceedingly swift ship. They went out to track down Sigurth, but could not find him and returned ingloriously, because it was said that they had seen them and had not dared to attack them. Sigurth sailed south to Horthaland and arrived at Herthla. There resided Einar, the son of Salmon Pál. He had gone to the Hamarsfjord for the assembly held before Ascension Day.1 Sigurth and his men took possession of all they could lay hands on and also of a warship of twenty-five benches which Einar owned. They also laid hold of his four-year-old son who was staying with one of Einar’s workmen. Some of the men wanted to kill the boy, others, to take him along with them. The workman told them, “It won’t be of any advantage to you to kill this boy, nor will you profit from taking him with you. He is my son, and not Einar’s.” And believing him, they let the boy remain there and went their way. But when Einar returned home he gave the workman goods worth at least two ounces of gold. He thanked him for his resourceful action and said he would be his friend ever after. This is what Eirík Oddsson relates, who was the first to write down this account; and he heard Einar Pálsson tell about this occurrence when he was in Bergen.
After this, Sigurth sailed south along the land until he arrived east in Vík. There, at Kvildir, he encountered Finn Sautha-Úlfsson, engaged in collecting the rents for King Ingi, and hanged him. Thereupon he sailed south to Denmark.
Heimskringla Page 85