Chapter 29. Erling Remains as Hostage in Denmark
Kristín, daughter of Sigurth Jerusalemfarer and wife of Erling Skakki, travelled to Denmark, in the fall, to meet King Valdamar, her kinsman. They were the children of sisters. The king received her cordially and provided her with revenues so that she could maintain her retinue. She often spoke with the king, and he was exceedingly kind to her. And in the spring following, Kristín sent messengers to Erling, praying him to have a meeting with the Danish king and come to an agreement with him. During 1166 the following summer, Erling had his residence in Vík. He outfitted a warship and manned it with a picked crew. Then he sailed over to Jutland. He learned that King Valdamar was in Randarós.1 Erling sailed there and arrived at the time when most people sat at table. And when they had tented and made fast their ship, Erling and eleven other men, all in coats of mail, with hoods over their helmets and swords under their cloaks, went to the king’s quarters. Dishes with food were being taken in, and the doors were open. Erling and his companions at once went in and before the high-seat. Erling spoke, “We would have safe-conduct, sir king, both here and for our return journey.”
The king looked at him and said, “Are you here, Erling?”
He answered, “Aye, I am here; and tell us quickly whether we shall have safe-conduct.” In the hall there were eighty men, all unarmed.
The king said, “Safe-conduct you shall have as you ask. I shall not behave in a dastardly way to any man who seeks me out.” Then Erling kissed the king’s hand, and then left the hall and went to his ship. He dwelled there for a time with the king. They discussed the terms between themselves and their lands, and came to the agreement that Erling should remain as a hostage with the Danish king, and in return Ásbjorn Snara, brother of Archbishop Absalón, was to go to Norway as a hostage.
Chapter 30. Erling Becomes Earl Under Valdamar
One time, when King Valdamar and Erling were talking together, Erling said, “My lord, to come to an agreement between us it would seem to me best that you obtain all that portion of Norway which was promised you in our special agreement. And if so, what chieftain would you assign to it—some Dane, perchance? No,” he continued, “hardly any Danish chieftain would care to go to Norway, and there have to deal with a stubborn and dis-obedient people when they had it easy with you here. I have sought you out because I would on no account be without your friendship. Men have before come hither to Denmark from Norway, men such as Hákon Ivarsson and Finn Árnason; and King Svein, your kinsman, made both of them earls. I am now a man of no less power than they were in their time, and the king gave them revenues in Halland, a land of which he before had possession. Now it would seem to me you could well afford to grant me this land [of Vík], if I become your retainer and hold it in fief from you. Nor will King Magnús, my son, deny me that. But to you I would be in duty bound for all service to you, such as appertains to the title of earl.”
These arguments, and others of a like nature, Erling produced; with the result, finally, that Erling swore fealty to King Valdamar. And the king led Erling to [an earl’s] seat, giving him the earldom of Vík to govern as a fief. Thereupon Erling sailed home to Norway, and from that time on was an earl for the remainder of his life, remaining at peace with the Danish king ever after.
Erling had four illegitimate sons. One was called Hreithar, another, Ogmund. They were sons of different mothers. A third son was called Finn, a fourth, Sigurth. Their mother was Ása the Fair. They were younger than the others. With Kristín Kingsdaughter Erling had a daughter whose name was Ragnhild. She was married to Jón Thorbergsson of Randaberg. Kristín left Norway with a man named Grím Rusli. They journeyed to Miklagarth, staying there for a while, and had some children together.
Chapter 31. Erling Captures the Ships of Óláf Guthbrandsson
Óláf, the son of Guthbrand Skafhoggsson and of Máría, the daughter of King Eystein Magnússon, had been fostered up at the estate of Sigurth Agnhott in the Uppland District. And when Erling was in Denmark, Óláf and his foster father Sigurth raised a troop, and many from the Upplands joined it, and Óláf was chosen king there. With these troops they went about the Upplands, sometimes in Vík and sometimes east in the Markir [Forest] District. They had no ships. When Earl Erling heard of this band, he proceeded with his troops to Vík and was in his ships during the summer, but dwelled in Ósló during the fall, and there he prepared the Yule feast. He sent out scouts into the country to reconnoiter about this band, and himself went to look for them together with Orm Kingsbrother. And when they came to the lake called———1 they captured all the ships lying there.
Chapter 32. Erling Is Warned of Treachery by Dreams
The priest who sang mass at the estate of Rythjokul, which is near the lake, invited the earl and his followers to a banquet at Candlemas 1167 [February 2nd]. The earl promised to come, considering it a good thing to hear the divine service there. They rowed across the lake in the evening before Candlemas. But this priest had another plan in mind; he sent out men to inform Óláf of Erling’s whereabouts. He gave Erling and his company strong drink in the evening, and encouraged them to drink heavily. When the earl wished to go to sleep, their beds were made for them in the banquet hall. When they had slept but a little while, the earl awoke and asked if it was time for the matins. The priest said it was still early in the night, and told them to sleep at their ease. The earl said: “I am dreaming so much tonight, and I am sleeping poorly.” Then he fell asleep, but woke up again and bade the priest get up and sing mass. The priest asked the earl to go to sleep, saying it was [barely] midnight. The earl lay down and slept a short while, then jumped out of his bed and ordered his men to put on their clothes. They did so and took up their arms, then went to church and deposited them outside whilst the priest sang the matins.
Chapter 33. Óláf Ill-Luck Fails to Capture Erling
Óláf got the message in the evening; and during the night they travelled six rastir,1 which people considered a huge distance, and arrived at Rythjokul at matins. It was pitch dark night. Óláf and his men rushed at the hall, raising their battle cry, and killed some who had not gone to matins. But when Erling and his men heard the battle cry, they ran to fetch their weapons, and then took the way down to the ships. Óláf and his men encountered them by a [stone] fence, and there was a fight. Erling and his men retreated along the fence, which protected them. Their number was much smaller than that of Óláf. Many of them fell, and many were wounded. What helped them most was that Óláf’s men could not distinguish them as it was so dark. Erling’s men made straight for the ships. In that fight fell Ari Thorgeirsson, the father of Bishop Guthmund, and many others of Erling’s bodyguard. Erling received a wound on his left side, but some men say that he accidentally directed the sword against himself when he drew it. Orm, too, was sorely wounded. With great difficulty they escaped onto the ships and at once pulled away.
It was said that Óláf and his men had the worst kind of ill luck in this encounter, seeing how Erling and his men were delivered into their hands, if only he had proceeded with more sense. Thereafter, people called him Óláf Ill-Luck, and some called his troops “hoodmen.” They moved with their band around the country as before, but Earl Erling retired to Vík to his ships, and spent the following summer there. Óláf was, sometimes, in the Uppland districts and sometimes, east in the Markir District. They held that band together a second winter.
Chapter 34. Erling Defeats Óláf Ill-Luck
In the following spring, Óláf and his men came down to Vík and collected the royal revenues there, remaining there for a long time 1168 during the summer. Earl Erling learned of that and steered his fleet east to encounter them. That took place in the eastern part of the [Ósló] fjord, at a locality called Stangir. There was a great battle and Erling won the victory. Sigurth Agnhott fell there, together with many of Óláf’s men, but Óláf himself saved himself by flight. Later, he went south to Denmark and, during the following winter, stayed in Álaborg in Jut
land. 1169 In the spring following, Óláf took sick and died. He is interred by Saint Mary’s Church, and the Danes consider him a saint.
Chapter 35. Erling Has Harald Beheaded
Níkolás Kúfung, the son of Pál Skoptason, was a landed-man of King Magnús. He captured Harald, the reputed son of King Sigurth Haraldsson and Kristín Kingsdaughter, and so the brother, by the same mother, of King Magnús. Níkolás brought Harald to Bergen and delivered him into the hands of Earl Erling. It was the habit of Erling that, when enemies of his were brought before him, he said nothing or only a little, and that very quietly, if he was decided to kill them, but would mercilessly berate those whom he meant to pardon. Erling said little to Harald, and so many feared what he might intend to do with him. So they begged King Magnús to intercede with the earl for Harald. The king did so. The earl answered, “This, your friends advised you to do. But you will not govern your kingdom in peace if you yield to counsels of mercy.” Thereupon Erling had Harald taken to Northness, where he was beheaded.
Chapter 36. Eystein Raises the Band Called Birchlegs
There was a man called Eystein who was considered [to be] the son of King Eystein Haraldsson. It is said that he was a youth who had not yet attained manhood when one summer he appeared east in Sweden and 1170 sought out Birgir Brosa who was married to Brígitha, a daughter of Harald Gilli and paternal aunt of Eystein. [The young] Eystein revealed to them his claim, and requested them to help them. The earl and his spouse both thought well of the matter and promised him their assistance. He stayed there for a while. Earl Birgir procured Eystein some troops and gave him ample money for subsistence and good presents when he left. Both promised him their friendship. Thereupon Eystein proceeded north [west] to Norway and finally arrived in Vík. There, men flocked to him, and his band grew. They made Eystein king, and the band stayed in Vík that winter. But as they ran out of money, they robbed far and wide, so that landed-men and farmers collected troops against them. But when Eystein’s men were overpowered, they fled to the forests and camped for a long time in the wilderness. Then their clothes fell off them, so that they tied birchbark about their calves, whence the farmers called them Birchlegs. Often they made incursions into the settlements, appearing now here, now there, breaking into houses wherever there were not enough people to oppose them. They had some brushes with the farmers, with now the one, now the other victorious. There were three regular battles with the Birchlegs, and they won the day in each one. In the Króka Forest they nearly met disaster. There they met a hosts of farmers. The Birchlegs made a barricade of logs against them, and then escaped into the forests. They remained two years in Vík, not venturing farther north.
Chapter 37. Of Erling’s Appearance and Character
King Magnús had ruled thirteen years when the Birchlegs arose. In the third summer they procured ships and sailed along the land, making booty and increasing their troops. First they kept to Vík, but as the summer 1174 wore on, they held their course to the north and sailed so swiftly that there was no tidings of them before they reached Trondheim. Most of the Birchlegs were from the Forest District and the Gaut Elf River vicinity, and there were many from the province of Thelamork; and they were well armed. Their king, Eystein, was a handsome man with a fair complexion and small features, not of a tall stature. By many he was called Eystein Meyla [Girlie]. King Magnús and Earl Erling were in Bergen when the Birchlegs sailed north, and were not aware of their coming. Erling was a powerful and resourceful man, an excellent general in times of disturbance, a good and capable ruler. He was considered rather cruel and hard. The chief reason for that was that he gave but few of his enemies permission to stay in the country, even though they asked for leniency; and because of that many flocked to bands when such arose against him. Erling was a tall and brawny man, somewhat short-necked, with a long face and sharp features. He had a light complexion and became very gray haired. He carried his head a bit to one side.1 His disposition was amiable and he had a stately bearing. He wore old-fashioned clothing—kirtles with long waists and long sleeves, and likewise shirts and doublets with long sleeves, French cloaks, and shoes coming high up on the calves. He had the king wear similar clothes while he was young; but when he became independent, he dressed with much finery. King Magnús was of an easy-going disposition and gay, very cheerful, and a great lover of women.
Chapter 38. Of Níkolás Sigurtharson
Níkolás was the son of Sigurth Hranason and of Skjaldvor, the daughter of Brynjólf Úlfaldi and sister of Halldór Brynjólfsson. She was also the sister, by the same mother, of Magnús Barelegs. Níkolás was a great leader. He had his estate in Hálogaland on the island of Ongul, at a place called Steig. He had a house in Nitharós below Saint John’s Church [near] where Thorgeir the Chaplain had his. Níkolás frequently resided in Kaupang and was influential in all the councils of the townspeople. Skjaldvor, a daughter of Níkolás, was married to Eirík Árnason who also was a landed-man.
Chapter 39. Eirík in Vain Warns Níkolás
At the time of the latter part of Marymas [September 8th], when 1176 people were coming from the matins in the town, Eirík approached Níkolás and said, “Kinsman, some fishermen who have come in from outside [the fjord] report that warships were sailing into the fjord, and people think that it may be the Birchlegs; and it would be well to have all the townsmen summoned out to Eyrar with their arms.”
Níkolás replied, “I don’t pay any attention to fishermen’s tittle-tattle. I shall send out men to reconnoiter on the fjord, but let us hold an assembly today.”
Eirík went home, and when the bells were rung for high mass, Níkolás went to church. Then Eirík approached him again and said, “I do think, kinsman, that the report is true. There are men here who say they have seen the sails. It seems advisable to me that we two ride outside the town and collect a force.”
Níkolás answered, “You are rather importunate, son-in-law. Let us first attend mass and then see about the matter later on.” Níkolás went to church; but when the mass was ended, Eirík again approached Níkolás, saying, “Kinsman, now my horses are ready. I want to ride away.”
Níkolás replied, “Farewell, then! We shall hold an assembly on Eyrar and find out how many troops we have in town.” Thereupon Eirík rode on his way, and Níkolás went into his house and sat down to table.
Chapter 40. The Birchlegs Kill Níkolás
But at the very time the food was set on the table, a man came in and told Níkolás that at this moment the Birchlegs were rowing up the river. Then Níkolás called out that his men should arm themselves; and when they were armed, Níkolás ordered them into the loft. But that was a most unwise counsel, because if they had defended the yard the townsfolk would have come to their assistance, and because the Birchlegs filled the whole yard and then attacked the loft on all sides. The two parties called out to one another, and the Birchlegs offered quarter to Níkolás, but he refused it. Then they fought. Níkolás and his men had their bows and arrows, and defended themselves with spears and rocks from the fireplaces hurled down at their enemies, but the Birchlegs chopped down the houses and shot with arrows incessantly. Níkolás had a red shield starred with gold studs, a work of [smith] Vilhjálm. The Birchlegs shot so [hard] that the arrows sank to the shaft in it. Níkolás said, “Now my shield fails me.” Níkolás fell there, and a great many of his men, and people felt much grief at his death. The Birchlegs gave quarter to all townsmen.
The Birchlegs attack Níkolás’ residence.
Chapter 41. Eystein Is Acclaimed King
Thereupon Eystein was chosen king there, and all the people swore allegiance to him. He stayed for a while in the town, then proceeded into the District of Trondheim. There, many joined him, among them Thorfinn the Black from Snos with a troop. Toward winter they returned to the town. Then, Jón Kettling, Sigurth, and Vilhjálm, the sons of Guthrun of Saltness, attached themselves to this band. From the town of Nitharós they proceeded up the Orka Dale—by that time their number had
increased to nearly two thousand [2400] men. From there they marched to the Uppland districts, then to Thótn and Hathaland, and finally to Hringaríki.
Chapter 42. King Magnús Erlingsson Defeats the Birchlegs
In fall King Magnús together with Orm Kingsbrother proceeded east to Vík with part of the army. Earl Erling remained behind in Bergen with a large army to meet the Birchlegs, in case they chose to come by way of the sea. King Magnús and Orm Kingsbrother settled in Túnsberg, and 1177 there celebrated Yule. King Magnús learned of the presence of the Birchlegs at Ré. Then the king and Orm marched out of the town and arrived at Ré farm. There lay a deep snow and it was fearfully cold. Then, when they approached the farm they went outside of the enclosure onto the road, and outside along the stone fence they formed ranks and trod down the snow. Altogether they had not quite fifteen hundred [1800] men. The Birchlegs were at other farms, and some parts of their force, here and there in the houses. But as soon as they became aware of the approach of King Magnús’ army, they collected and formed ranks. And when they saw the force of the king, they thought, as was the case, that their own was larger, and immediately began to attack. But when they advanced along the road, few could walk abreast, and those who ran to the side got into snow so deep that they could hardly move forward, and so their lines broke. Those who kept along the road were felled. Then their standard was cut down, those nearest it retreated, and some fled. King Magnús’ men pursued them and killed one after the other whom they caught up with. Then the Birchlegs could not form ranks and stood unprotected against shots [of the king’s men], many fell and many fled. So it happened, as often is the case, that men, be they ever so brave and skilled in arms, once they are defeated badly and turn to flight, rarely have the stamina to turn back. Then the main body of the Birchlegs started to flee, and a great number fell as King Magnús’ men killed all they could, with no quarter given to any whom they could seize hold of, and the flight spread in all directions.
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