 |
|
The two groups of islands, in which the events narrated in the Orkneyingers' Saga
for the most part happened, are widely different in their geographical confirmation. While
the Orkneys lie like Cyclades round Hrossey or the Mainland, and are tolerably equal in size
and shape, Shetland may be said to be altogether overpowered by its Mainland, which is
larger than all the other islands put together, only two or three of which are of any
importance. Added to this the Orkneys are, with the exception of a part of Hoy, "the tall
island," generally flat; and the hills even in Hrossey rarely rise to any great elevation.
When we have named Wideford Hill, the Keely Long Hills, the Ward Hill of Orfir, and the
uplands of Rowsay, we have almost exhausted the hills of Orkney. In Shetland, on the other
hand, the Mainland is full of high hills and headlands culminating in North Mavin at the
extreme north-west of the island in Rona's Hill. Between the two groups politically united
in the days described in the Orkneyingers' Saga, but thus physically distinct, lies the
waste of waters called Sumburgh Roost in modern times, and "Dynraust," or Dynröst, that is
the "thundering, roaring roost" by the Northmen who saw in its wild waves and rushing tides
an apt occasion for the name. In the midst of this Race lies the Fair Isle, the Friðarey of
the Saga, an isle shunned by travellers and steamers at the present time, and memorable in
the story of the Armada for Spanish shipwrecks, but not so inhospitable in older days when
its bays and creeks afforded frequent shelter to the small craft in which the Northmen ran
from one group of islands to the other. There is probably no part of the British Isles which
now plays a less part and is more rarely heard of than the Fair Isle or Fair Hill as it is
sometimes incorrectly called, but there was certainly none which in the time of earl
Rognvald-Kali was more conspicuous in Orkney story. Then Friðarey formed the point on which
the earl's operations against the Orkneys turned, and it was on Friðarey that the beacons
were to have been lighted which were to warn earl Paul and his adherents that mischief was
threatening them from Shetland. The Fair Isle, therefore, forms in the Saga a geographical
link between the two groups of Orkney and Shetland, and we can hardly understand the story
unless we keep the position of Friðarey on the map steadily in view.
Having thus roughly sketched in outline the two groups and their connecting link,
let us enter more fully into the geographical description of the two groups themselves, and
let us begin with Shetland, as the group which the Northmen first made as they ran over from
Norway, and which we may be sure was known to their vikings and sea-rovers before the more
westerly group.
Whatever may be the case with the name of Orkney, it is certain that the name which
Shetland bore before the Northmen called it Hjaltland or Hjaltaland is lost. Some, indeed,
have thought with Munch that these islands never had any fixed population before the
Northmen, except those Papæ or Irish Anchorites and Hermits, whose cells are found on all
the islands of the west as far as Iceland. But it is clear that this view is unfounded. Not
to mention the existence in Shetland of those burghs or castles, of which that on the isle
of Moussa alone remains in something like its full proportions, the underground dwellings
and "weems" in which the Shetland as well as the Orkney Isles abound afford evidence to
prove that both groups of islands were inhabited in early times by one, and probably two
distinct races, to one of which the subterranean earth dwellings and underground weems are
to be assigned, while to the other and more advanced race the burghs and castles, which
tower above the soil like Moussa, are due. What these races were, whether the first which
dwelt underground, in what the Icelandic Sagas call "jarðhúsa," were Esquimaux of Turanian
race, while the burghs, or castles, or Picts' houses, are the handiwork of that mysterious
race of Picts so long the terror of British antiquaries, may be matter of doubt. But certain
it is, from the evidence of our eyes, that both the dwellers in the earthhouses and weems
and the builders of the burghs existed long before the arrival of the Northmen. How those
races perished and passed away is also a matter of which we are in complete ignorance. It
would seem from the silence of the Sagas, and still more perhaps from the fact that the
anchorites referred to only chose the waste places of the earth for their ascetic abodes,
that the Northmen really found those islands empty and desolate, and that it was not before
their swords that the ancient races vanished away. If so this only throws these questions
further up the stream of time. Who were the races who built these subterranean dwellings and
these towering burghs? By what name did they call the country? And how did they vanish,
leaving no trace of their nationality behind?
As soon as the Northmen came they gave the new found land a name, and they called it
"Hjaltaland," or "Hjaltland," from "Hjalt," the knob or guard of the hilt of a sword. It is
idle to ask why the name was given, for the Northmen, as Munch well says, gave names to
places from the most trivial accidents; as when Auda, the Deeply-wealthy, who passed from
Scotland to Iceland by way of Shetland, called a headland or "ness"
"Kambnes," or Combness, because she had lost her comb there. In the same way
Shetland may have been called "Hjaltland," or "Hjaltaland" because some sea-rover lost the
pommel of his sword there. It is easier to show how the modern Shetland ---not Zetland,
which is a barbarous distortion--- arose out of the ancient Hjaltland. First of all the
pronunciation of the word went over in Norway itself to Hjeltland and Hjetland; the
inhabitants of Shetland were called by their Norwegian cousins, "Hjelter" instead of
Hjalter; and even at this day we have the authority of Munch for saying that boats built in
Norway for sale in Shetland are called "Hjeltebaade," while the northern entrance to Bergen
Sound, the point for which ships from Shetland usually steered, is still called
"Hjeltefjord." At the same time, as the pronuciation of "Hj" in many Norwegian dialects is
very nearly "Sh" or "Sch," the name of the group must have sounded to Scotch and English
ears as "Shatland" or "Shetland," and thus "Hjaltaland" or "Hjeltland," written
phonetically, would have become Shatland or Shetland, and so passed into legal deeds and
documents. Just in the same way the supposed name of the Orkney Island, "Hjálpandisey," was
turned into "Shapandsey,"
"Shapensey," and "Shapinsay." It can also be shown that this change of name occurred
early, for in a deed of the year 1289, given in Rymer's Fædera, I. 2, p. 706, we find the
name of Thorvaldus de Shetland, and in a letter of the year 1319, in the Acts of the
Parliament of Scotland, vol. I., and also printed in the Diplomatarium Norwegicum, II. No.
114, the form "Syettelandia" occurs. In the same way the ponies which come from Shetland are
called "Shelties," which is only another form of the word "Hjelte" or "Hjalte," and means
"Shetlander," just in the same way, as Munch well observes, Norwegian horses are called
"Norbagger," that is, "Norwegians," and horses from Arabia "Arabs." In another point of view
the form "Sheltie" is curious as retaining the "l" of the original name, which is thus
preserved in common speech, though it has dropped out of the name of the country
itself.
Passing from the common appellation of the whole group of islands to each in
particular, we find the principal islands mentioned in our Saga, or in old deeds and
documents to be the following: --- Meginland, Mainland, Jalda, or Ála, the modern Yell;
Ö:rnist or Ö:rmstr, the modern Unst; Fetilar or Fætilör, the modern Fetlar; Hvalsey, the
modern Whalesay; Nös, the modern Noss; Brúsey, the modern Bressay; Mosey or Morsey, the
modern Moussa; two called Papey, the big and the little; Glumsey; Fugley, the modern Foula;
and Friðarey, the modern Fair Isle or Fair Hill.
Of these after the Mainland, the ancient Meginland, Jala is often named as well as
Jalasund or Álasund, the modern Yell Sound, which arose out of the ancient name by a very
natural corruption. Munch has pointed out that as the form "Jala" occurs in a list of
islands and firths given in Skálda, and printed in the Ann. for North. Archæol. 1846, p. 86,
it is probably the true form, and not, Ála, in both of which the final -a is another of
those old indeclinable endings in -a which also occur in "Gula" and "Aga," and must not be
confounded with the feminine ending -a which forms u in the genitive. The Saga, p. 107,
speaks of Álasund, and not Jalasund, on the authority of a good MS., 325. As to the original
meaning of the word we have no information, but any one who has lain in Yell Sound and seen
the rush of its tideway and heard the roaring which it makes both in flood and ebb, will
acknowledge that the modern "yell" is very suggestive of the character of its waters. It was
in Álasund that earl Paul seized the ships of his rival earl Rognvald, Tr. p. 114.
We next come to Ö:rnist, or "Onyst," or "Ö:rmstr," as our text of the Saga gives it,
p. 93. This island is the modern Unst. In the list given in Skálda the form "Ormstr" occurs.
While Munch decides for the form Ö:rnist, which he thinks may be derived from the Eagles Ö:rn,
which may build in the high cliffs of Unst, the Saga, as well as Skálda, speak for Ö:rmstr.
Unst is mentioned in the Saga, and it is remarkable that several of the cures at the shrine
of St. Magnus were worked on afflicted persons who came from this island. In this island
lies Haroldswick, the ancient Haraldsvík, said to have been called after Harold Fairhair,
who lay there on his expedition to the Hebrides. If he lay there at all, it is more likly
that he lay in Baltasound, which forms a splendid harbour. Ballastead, Ballastaðir, is
mentioned in the Saga, p. 93, in the accounts of the miracles of earl Magnus; but as the
modern name of the "sound" is Baltasound it is not unlikely that the true reading should be
Baltastaðir.
Fætilör, the modern Fetlar, occurs in the list from the Skálda, but the short Saga
of St. Magnus reads "Fetilar," as we have corrected the false reading "Færeyjum," of the
Cod. Flat. Saga, p. 91. Munch thinks the name is derived from fót, leg or foot, and that the
"lör" of the ending should be "laer," a thigh, in which case the name might come from a
fanciful resemblance in the shape of the island to a human thigh.
Passing over the minor islands, we come to Brúsey or Brúsi's island, the modern
representative of which is the modern Bressay, which helps to make the magnificent harbour
of Lerwick off the Mainland. It perhaps takes its name from Brúsi, one of the earlier Orkney
earls, and earl Rognvald's father.
The two islands called Papa Stour and Papa Little recall the anchorites, recall the
anchorites, who have left evidence of thier ancient occupation of them in those names. Papa
Stour means the big Papa, as Papa Little means the small Papa. In the Icelandic they would
be Papey Stora and Papey Littla.
The Mainland of Shetland though preponderating in size over all the other islands,
plays no such part in the Orkneyingers' Saga as that assumed by Hrossey of the Mainland of
Orkney. That was the abode of mighty earls who had their seats at various times in different
parts of the island. But the Mainland of Shetland, so far as the Orkney Saga is concerned,
seems rather to have been used by those great chiefs as a house of call or a harbour of
refuge. So it was that Harold Fairhair and a long line of kings of his race who followed him
steered for Shetland on their voyages west, and after laying in Bressay Sound off the modern
Lerwick, or in some other convenient haven for a while, passed on to conquest or piracy
further west. The case was nearly the same with the Orkney earls and with the chiefs and
bishops who passed west from Norway. When earl Rognvald-Kali, the kinsman of Saint Magnus
set out on his expeditions against earl Paul Hacon's son, he twice made Shetland his halting
place, once to return inglorious to his politic father's house, and once again to pass on
victorious to the Orkneys. So again when earl Paul had been seized and carried off, and when
earl Rognvald at the height of his power resolved on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he
sailed for Shetland from Norway in his two ships Help and Arrow and lost them both in the
breakers of Gullberwick near the modern Lerwick. (Tr. p. 154, 155.) The loss of his ships
delayed him long in Shetland. The Saga expressly says that "the earl stayed very long in
Shetland" that autumn, and it was then that the romantic episode occurred which is described
in the Story of Earl Rognvald.
On other occasions when we hear of any of the earls going to Shetland it is only to
stay there for a comparatively short time, and never with a view to a fixed above. It
follows from this that but very few Shetland names are mentioned in the Saga even on the
Mainland, and though we can in most cases restore the old Norse names from their modern
equivalents, we can but rarely point to the old names themselves in the pages of the Saga.
One of these cases in which we can fix the locality of the ancient name with certainty is
Borgarfjörðr now Burrafirth on the Mainland, of which we read at p. 75 of our Saga, Tr. p.
76, that while earl Hacon and earl Magnus held the joint wardship of the land, they made an
expedition to Shetland and put to death Thorbjorn, a nobleman in "Burrafirth." On a holm
near the "væ" stands the ruins of the "Borg" or "Burgh" which gave a name to the Firth,
which seems to have been a castle of the same kind as that on the isle of Moussa, and if so
erected long before the arrival of the Northmen in Shetland. (1) Munch supposes that it was
in this castle that the noble Thorbjorn lived when he was cut off about the year 1100 by the
cousins, and that from its strength he must have made a long resistance. But the Saga simply
says that the two earls went against him together and put him to death.
Another place to which we can assign its ancient name is Gulberwick, not far from
Lerwick, which is a town of comparatively modern origin. This, beyond doubt, is the
Gullberuvík of the Saga mentioned in p. 151 as the place where, at the house of a man named
Einar, earl Rognvald-Kali and twelve of his men were hospitably received after his
shipwreck.
But perhaps the most interesting place in all Shetland is the burgh of Moussa which
lies near Sandwick (Sandvík) in the southern part of the Shetland Main. Here, on a little
island, stands the "Burgh" of which we have already spoken, and the only one of those
ancient castles which exists in tolerable preservation. It was famous for its strength
before the period of which the Saga treats, for in the Egils Saga, ch. 32 and 33, we read
that about the year 900 Björn the freeman from Aurland in Sogn, in Norway, who had run away
with Thora Hladhand, the sister of Thorir, a hersir or baron from the district called the
Firths, and was on his voyage with her to Iceland, suffered shipwreck in Shetland, and took
refuge in this castle while his ship was being repaired. In that Saga it is called
Morseyjarborg or Moseyjarborg, a name which we find in our Saga, p. 189, where oddly enough,
we find another pair of fugitive lovers taking shelter in its strong walls. In the year 1153
Erlend the young, a noble chief, but not, as some have supposed, the young earl of that
name, carried off, or rather run off with earl Harold Maddadson's mother Margaret, who is
described as rather a forward woman. The pair fled from the wrath of the earl and shut
themselves up in the burgh on Moussa, where they were besieged for some time by earl Harold,
until peace was made between him and them, and Erlend was allowed to marry the widow of
Maddad who had been earl of Athole.
These are almost the only places which can be identified in Shetland, and which are
mentioned in the Saga. All the names in these islands are corruptions of old Norse names as
Scalloway and Thingwell, which are clearly the old "Skálavágr" and "Þingvöll." The latter
was the place where the solemn assemblies of the freeman were held, as was invariably the
case in early Northern times, under the free and open air of heaven; while the former was
the bay or "væ" on which the booths and huts were erected for the convenience and shelter
of those who attended the assemblies, and which temporary shelter gradually grew into a
village, and a town. In later times when the fashion of open-air Parliaments went out,
Scalloway became the place of meeting, and there in a building the later assemblies were
held. These and many other old names have been identified by Munch in his exhaustive essays
on this subject in the Annals for Northern Archæology; but our purpose here is with the
names and places actually mentioned in the Saga. Before we pass on from Shetland to the Fair
Isle, across Sumburgh Roost, which takes its name from Sumburgh, the southernmost point of
the island, let us pause to remark that as the troubled sea between Shetland and Orkney was
called "Dynröst" (Saga, p. 192), and as the modern name for the southernmost parish of the
Shetland mainland, is Dunrossness, it is plain that this modern application is only a
distortion of "Dynrastarnes," the first part of which is the genitive of "Dynröst."
Dynrastarnes dæs not occur in the text of the Saga, but in the new matter printed in this
edition we find both Dynrastar höfcti and Dynrastarvágr, Dynröst-head and Dynrost-væ, as
the old names for the headland now called Sumburgh Head and the væ beneath it, out of which
earl Rognvald rowed in disguise with the poor fisherman to fish at the very edge of the
dangerous race (pp. 155-7). The word "Sumburgh," is to be found in the old Norse "Svínborg"
and in earlier deeds is called not "Sumburgh" but "Swynburgh." The "Fitful Head," separated
from its sister headland by Quendal Bay, which all readers of the "Pirate" know, has
unfortunately nothing to do with the capricious nature of the winds, but is derived, as
Munch has shown, from the old "Fitfuglahöfði," that is, the head covered with sea-foul, or
"web-footed birds,"
"fitfuglar," which may still be seen sitting in myriads on the ledges of the noble
promontory which rises more than 900 feet into the air.
From all that we have said of Shetland, it will be seen that to the Orkneyingers it
was always more or less a foreign land. The one group seems to have clung more closely to
Norway, and to have been far more dependent on that country than the other. We hear little
there of risings against the power of the kings of Norway, and Norwegians seem always to
have been welcome in Shetland, as may be seen by the way in which Rognvald-Kali, a pure
Norwegian on his father's side, was welcomed on his expeditions against Orkney, and from the
dread which earl Paul had of landing and fighting out his quarrel with his rival, even after
he had seized his ships in Yell Sound. The Saga, p. 114, expressly says that the reason why
earl Paul would not land was that he put no trust in the Shetlanders, and the best proof
that his power over these islands was merely nominal is to be found in the fact that earl
Rognvald stayed there the whole summer after the loss of his ships in the autumn, only to
return to Shetland the summer after on a more successful expedition. It is evident,
therefore, that geographically as well as politically the Shetlanders were more dependent on
Norway. Lying north-east and not far from the Faræs, both their politics and position were
Norwegian, while the Orkneys, lying more to the west and farther from the mother country of
the first settlers, were more independent, and besides politically attracted towards
Scotland and the British Isles. Much, no doubt, was due to the seat of rule being in the
Orkneys, from which the earls ruled Shetland as a dependency, but still more was owing to
the geographical position of the group of isles, and to the temper of the people, which in
Shetland remained more purely Norse than the inhabitants of the sister group. At last, in
the days of king Sverrir, at the end of the 12th century, in the year 1194, just at the
period when the Orkneyingers' Saga ends, Shetland was separated by that king altogether from
Orkney, and associated, for the purpose of government, with the Faræ islands, and thus the
earls of Orkney lost for some years the rights of lordship and the power of taxation which
they had so long held over Shetland as vassals of the Kings of Norway. pp. 231,
235-6.
We now leave Shetland, and pass on our way to the Orkneys, stopping for a while at
the Fair Isle or Fairhill, the Friðarey of the Saga, in which, at one period, the little
island became suddenly famous. The position of the Fair Isle midway between Orkney and
Shetland made it a very important place when the power of earl Paul Hacon's son was
threatened by the expeditions of Rognvald-Kali, who claimed to be one of the rightful earls
of the Orkneys, not only because of the grant which King Harold Gilli had made to him, but
because he was the son of the sister of the saint, earl Magnus, and thus came into the land
strong both from a political and a religious point of view. In those days the proverb was as
true as it has ever been before and since, "forewarned is forearmed." It was everything to
earl Paul to know when earl Rognvald, whom he knew had arrived among the untrusty
Shetlanders, would start on his expedition against the Orkneys. For this purpose, as our
Saga informs us, p. 115, a system of beacons was established, the first of which was to be
on the Fair Isle, a second on Rínansey, or North Ronaldsay, a third on Sanday, a fourth on
Westray, and a fifth on Rowsay. But all the others rested on the first, so that the beacon
on the Fair Isle was the most important of all. These several beacons were entrusted to the
care of earl Paul's most faithful adherents, and not the least interesting portion of the
Saga is that which describes how this system of beacons was turned to the gain, instead of
the harm of earl Rognvald, by the good counsel of his father, the politic Kol. At that time
the chief householder on the Fair Isle was Dagfinn Hlodver's son, described at p. 122 of the
Saga as "a brisk stirring man." So long as he had charge of the beacon it was sure to be
lighted at the first approach of an enemy. But at p. 124 foll. we are informed how even the
wary Dagfinn was deceived by the guile of Kol into lighting the beacon on a false alarm; how
the warning lights spread from isle to isle, and earl Paul's host flocked together, only to
find themselves gathered for no purpose; and at last how quarrels and recriminations arose,
in the course of which Dagfinn was slain. After that false alarm a man named Eric succeeded
to the care of the beacon on the Fair Isle, who, not so wary as Dagfinn, was beguiled into
handing over the beacon to the care of Uni, a confederate of Kol, who took care to drench it
so thoroughly with water that it would not catch fire when earl Rognvald really started with
his expedition (p. 127). The result was that no beacons were lighted on the other islands,
and earl Rognvald established himself in Westray, where his friends and kinsmen soon
flocked to him in sufficient numbers to enable him to hold his own against earl Paul. After
this sudden blaze, like that of its own beacon, the Fair Isle, or Friðarey, passed out of
the story, and is scarcely mentioned again, except at p. 195, when Sweyn Asleif's son bore
up for it when he and earl Erlend the young were caught and parted in Sumburgh Roost in such
a violent storm that each gave the other up as lost.
From the Fair Isle we pass on to Rínansey or North Ronaldsay, the first of the
Orkney islands. But before we proceed farther, let us, as we have given the etymology of the
name Shetland, spend a little time in the consideration of the name Orkney. If we can
believe that Shetland was a nameless land till the Northmen came and called it after the
pommel of a sword, the same cannot be said of the Orkneys, which were already called Orcades
by Pliny the elder in his Natural History, I. 4. ch. 10., and Juvenal in his second Satire,
II. 161, (2) quotations which show that the name did not arise with the Northmen who came
more than 700 years after Pliny, but that it is only their adaptation of the old Celtic name
which the islands received from their earliest inhabitants. The Irish and Gaelic tribes
called the group "Innsi'h Orce," or Innish Orc, that is the Ork isles; the Northmen
Orkn-eyjar, that is the Orkn-isles, where Orkn- seems to be a contraction of Orkan, for the
Anglo-Saxons called the group Orcan-ig, where "an" is only a derivative ending, and has
nothing to do with the root. That root is "Ork" or "Orc," and, as we must look to the Celtic
tribes for the first application of the term to the Orkneys, we must see what "Orc" means in
those dialects. Now "Orc" in Gaelic means a smaller sort of whale, a grampus or bottle-nose
whale, the Delphinus orca of Linnæus, which is still found in large shoals, in the seas
round Orkney, Shetland, and Faræ. Pliny himself calls this kind of whale "orca," and when
Ptolemy calls a promontory, supposed to be Dunnet Head in Caithness opposite the Orkneys,
"Tarvedum or Orcas," we recognise with Munch in the first word the Gaelic "Tarbat," (3) and
in the second the singular of Orcades. So, too, this primæval or aboriginal "Ork" may be
seen in the "Orkahaugr" or Orkahow of the Saga, p. 187; Tr. 190. It was the name which the
Northmen gave to the huge barrow, now called the Maes Howe, which stands near "the Stones of
Stennes," and they gave it a name from the largest animal which they knew on land or in the
sea; much in the same way as the Americans speak in modern times of "Mammoth" caves and
trees to express natural objects of huge size.
There can be no room for doubt then that in the words "Orkneyjar" and "Orkney" we
have a Celtic derivative, and that the islands were so called from the shoals of a
particular kind of whale which in earlier times were much more numerous than they are at
present. The Northmen, as was their common practice, took the ancient name of the islands as
they found it adopted by the Anglo-Saxons. They turned the "Orc" of the Celts into Orkn and
added "ey," their word for an island, to the Celtic appellation.
As they had adopted the Celtic term for the whole group they proceeded in the same
way with each island. When it had what they called Ö:rnefni, that is, an old ariginal
received name of its own, they adopted it, merely putting "ey" after it to mark its insular
character. In cases where an island had no old name of its own, or when its ancient
appellation was unknown, they gave it a new one of their own sometimes descriptive of its
natural features, and sometimes taken from the name of a person. In process of time the
termination "ey" in the names of each of the islands has been transformed into ay or a; thus
"Shapinsay" or "Shapinsa," while certain combinations of letters are slurred over in
utterance; "alp" or "olp" or "alb" in particular have lost their "l," so that the old
Skálpeið, the neck or isthmus between Kirkwall and Scapa Bay, is now pronounced Scapa, and
Kolbeinsey has become Copinsay and Cobesa. At the same time the same change has taken place
with regard to names beginning with Hj, as we have already remarked as being the origin of
the name "Shetland." Thus "Hjálpandisey," which it is conjectured is the old form of one of
the Orkney isles, has become Shapinsay, and the rule holds good in other cases. But as this
perversion of the ending of the names of each isle has given rise to two forms in ay and a,
both plainly derived from the old Norse "ey," it was proposed by Munch in his essay on this
subject in the Annals for Northern Archæology for 1852, to revert to the old form "ey;" and
in fact this change had already been made, even before that learned historian suggested it,
on the excellent charts of the Orkneys, published by the late Captain Thomas, R.N., under
the direction of the Admiralty. We cannot learn, however, that this suggestion has been
accepted by the inhabitants of the islands themselves, and we have therefore in general
adhered to the more usually received form.
After these introductory remarks let us give a list of the Orkney isles as we find
them mentioned in the Saga with their ancient names, and then direct our attention to each
island in its turn, beginning from the North.
The names are North Ronaldsay, Rínansey; Sanay, Sandey; Papa Westray, Papey Meiri;
Westray, Vestrey; Stronsay, Strjónsey; Papa Stronsay, Papey Minni; Egilsay or Egelsha,
Egilsey; Rowsay, Hrólfsey; Mainland, Hrossey; Eynhallow, Eyinhelga; Weir, Vigr; Gairsay,
Gareksey; Damsay, Daminsey; Eller or Hellier Holm, Hellisey; Burray, Borgarey; Græmsay,
Grímsey; How with Walls, Háey with Vágar or Vágaland; South Ronaldsay, Rögnvaldsey; Svonay,
Svíney; Stromay or Stroma, Straumey, and the Pentland Skerries, Pettland-sker. Two of the
larger islands, Eday, Eiðey, and Shapinsay, Hjálpandisey, together with many smaller ones,
are not mentioned in the Saga.
In this list there are some which, at the very first sight, betray a Celtic and a
Christian origin. Just as in the "Orkn" or "Ork" of the Orkneys we perceive a Celtic root,
so is a Celtic and a religious appellations as plainly discernible in Papey, the name given
to two islands. We have seen that the Irish anchorites of St. Columba's rule had left traces
of their cells and ascetic life in Shetland and Iceland. These anchorites the Northmen
believed to have been "Westmen" or Irishmen. (4) Thus there were Papar or anchorites in
Orkney and Shetland, where islands were named after them, and even farms such as Papuli or
Papýli, now Paplay. When the heathen Northmen came to disturb them in their hermitages these
anchorites vanished before them, leaving behind them their cells and churches, as the
Dwarfie Stone on Hoy, and the old church on Egilsay. In Iceland we are told they left behind
them books and staves and rings, and Ari Fróði in his Islendíngabók expressly says of
Iceland, when it was discovered by his countrymen, "Then there were here Christian men,
those whom the Northmen call Papa; but afterwards they went away for that they would not be
here with heathen men, and they left behind them Irish books" (that is manuscripts), and
staves and rings, from that it might be known that they were Irishmen." Besides this we know
from Dicuil's Treatise De Mensurâ Orbis, that about the year 795 several priests had resided
in Iceland from the 1st of February to the 1st of August. What happened in Iceland, Faræ,
and Shetland had more frequently happened in the Orkneys, and we may be sure, as indeed the
names Papey and Papýli sufficiently prove, that this group of isles, so long as they were
waste, in what may be supposed to be the interval between the coming of the Northmen and the
disappearance of the earlier races, was a favourite resort for Irish anchorites of St.
Columba's rule.
And here let us remark that the same problem remains to be solved in Orkney that was
left unsolved in Shetland. The testimony of the soil shows that this group of islands was
inhabited in early times by races which burrowed in the earth in weems and Picts' houses and
erected stately burghs like that at Moussa. But whæver they were and in whatever way they
disappeared, it is certain that at one time these isles were inhabited by races which
possessed considerable skill in construction, and in the case of the burgh-dwellers had made
great advances to civilisation.
Returning to the traces of Celtic influence in the names of the Orkneys, we find it
in Rínansey, Rinarsey, or Ronansey, all ancient names for North Ronaldsay. This is one of
the first islands mentioned in the Saga, in the time of Turf-Einar the fourth Orkney earl,
and there can be little doubt that it took its name from St. Ninian whom the Scots also
called Ringan and Ronan. In later times Rínansey or Ronansey was perverted into Ronaldsay,
and as there was another Ronaldsay in the south of the group, it became necessary to
distinguish one as North, and the other as South Ronaldsay; but originally the name of the
northern island was Rínansey after the saint, and that of the southern Ronaldsey after one
of the earl Rognvalds. (5)
In Daminsey we find another name derived from St. Damian; and in the case of
Egilsey, though it seems thoroughly Norse at first sight, and to have come from the
well-known Norse name Egill, and to be the island of Egill, Munch has endeavoured to show
that the name is derived from the ancient church which still stands with its round tower on
the little island. This church has indeed been a puzzle to ecclesiastical antiquaries. While
some have thought it so like the Irish churches of the same supposed age and character that
it seems to them to have been transported from Ireland; others like Sir Henry Dryden have
refused to see in it a building earlier than the 12th century. According to the first view,
Egilsey would be called not from Egill but from the Irish ecclais or the Welsh eglaus, a
church, and was so named by the Northmen because they found the venerable church standing on
the island when they first arrived in the Orkney waters. In after times, the origin of the
name was forgotten, though the church still stood, memorable for the martyrdom of St. Magnus
which happened hard by, and Egilsey came to be looked on as the island of Egill. But in the
midst of this controversy one fact remains that there was a church on Egilsey when St.
Magnus was slain in the year 1116, and from this church whether it were that now existing or
not the name of the island may have been derived. If this be so in the collective name of
Orkney itself, as well as in the particular names, Papey, Papýli, Rínansey, Daminsey, and
Egilsey, we have unmistakeable evidence of Celtic origin. (6)
After these general remarks we return to our list of islands beginning from the
north. And first of North Ronaldsay, Rínansey, a low flat island, the northernmost of the
group and lying well to the east. This is one of the earliest of all the islands to be
mentioned in the Saga, and in the old edition which is very imperfect in the beginning, it
is the first of all mentioned. As it is, the Mainland, Hrossey, is the first named at p. 6
of this edition of the Saga, where it is said that earl Hallad, the do-nothing son of earl
Rognvald of Mæren, sate down in Hrossey while the Vikings harried his realm. But after earl
Hallad came Turf-Einar, who thus mentions Rínansey after his battle with Halfdan Longlegs:
"I know not what I see in Rínansey, sometimes it lifts itself up, but sometimes it lays
itself down; that is either a bird or a man, and we will go to it." --- P. 8. The battle
itself, which ended in Halfdan's disastrous defeat and death, probably took place in the
firth between Sanday and North Ronaldsay, and from Toftsness on the former island it would
be possible for a sharp-sighted man, as we are told earl Einar was, to see across to the
opposite island. But we are not reduced to this supposition, as he might well have been on
board his ship the morning after the battle when the search for his routed enemies began. At
the present time, North Ronaldsay with its beautiful lighthouse and dangerous reefs is
shunned by voyagers, but in the days of the Saga it was easy of approach to the light craft
of the islanders, and was a place of importance. There it was, in the days of earl Paul,
that the second beacon was to be lighted on the approach of earl Rognvald-Kali, and
Thorstein Ragna's son was to have charge of it (p. 115). His mother was the outspoken Ragna,
who at page 121 foll., entertained earl Paul at a banquet in her house on the island, and
gave him such offence by her bold advice. After earl Paul was carried off by Sweyn Asleif's
son, the very man whom the wise widow advised the earl to make his friend, Ragna and her son
became firm friends of earl Rognvald-Kali. At p. 144, we are told, how when Hall, the son of
Thorarin Broadpaunch came from Iceland to spend the winter with Ragna and her son, and was
ill at ease, and wished to be passed on to the earl's court, Ragna and her son did their
best to further his wishes at first without success. The earl had warriors enough and said,
"No, to neighbour of the brawn." But Ragna was not a woman to be put off, for the Saga gæs
on to tell us that she provoked the earl's satire by paying him a visit in a new fashioned
head dress. After that they began to talk, and the end was that Ragna got her way, and Hall
was long afterwards with earl Rognvald, with whom, as they were both excellent skalds, he
made what the Icelanders called the Old Key to Metres.
We next come to Vestrey, Westray, the Western isle, about the Norse derivation of
which there can be no doubt. It and the West Firth, Vestfjörðr, that is, the troubled strait
between it and Rowsay, are often mentioned in the Saga. There, at Rapness, Hreppisnes, p.
89, lived Kugi, a powerful man, and an adherent of earl Paul, while at Höfn lived Helgi, who
was inclined to earl Rognvald; for the earl came to his house when he got a fair wind from
Shetland, while Kugi was thrown into fetters and badly beaten by the earl's men (p. 127
fol.) Rapness is also mentioned at p. 209 as the place where earl Rognvald met John Wing
when he had carried off Sweyn Aslief's son Olaf. It is called also the "Bull" of Rapness,
that is, the "ból" or farm of Rapness, and lies on the south-east side of the island, while
Höfn, that is, the "Haven," was on the north-east side, where the modern Pier o' Wall lies.
Close by are the "Links," the Norse "lykkjur," where a number of old interments, described
in Wilson's Archæology, pp. 552-555, were discovered in 1849. Not far from Pier o' Wall, or
the ancient Höfn, called also the thorpe or village, lies Trenaby, from which Mr. Balfour of
Balfour takes one of his territorial titles. On the west of the island, not far from the
Noup Head, the Icelandic Gnúpr, stands Noltland Castle, also owned by Mr. Balfour. This, in
John Ben's description of Orkney in 1529, is described as "excellentissia arx sive castellum
sed nondum tamen adhuc completa." In this unfinished state it has remained ever since, with
its walls of immense thickness, its two round towers, and its arched portal. The name of the
place, "Noltland" or "Nowtland," seems plainly derived from the Norse Nautaland, that is,
"neat" or "cattle land." It was on the West Firth, between Westray and Rowsay, that Waltheof
Olaf's son was lost in a ten-oared boat in the year 1135, when on his way to a yule feast
given by earl Paul at Orfir. He was brother of the powerful and unruly Sweyn Asleif's son,
with whose adventures the last part of our Saga is full. At p. 116 will be found an account
of Waltheof's loss. There is a farm called Rackwick on the north-east of Westray, which has
been supposed by some to be the Rekavík of the Saga, where Thorliot, the father of Oliver
the unruly, lived; but it is certain that the Rekavík where that powerful family lived was
the other Rackwick in Hoy, for all the relations of Thorliot and Oliver lay in the south,
and not in the north isles. At p. 87 of our Saga will be found an account of Thorliot and
his kindred, who were in reality rather Scotch than Orkneyingers.
To the north-east of Westray and just opposite to the little harbour of Pier o' Wall
or Höfn, the thorpe where Helgi lived, and where earl Rognvald-Kali first landed in Orkney,
lies Papey Meiri, the bigger Papey, now called Papa Westray to distinguish it from Papey
Minni, the lesser Papey, now called Papa Stronsay. Both these isles, as we have seen, take
their names from the cells of Irish anchorites, and not from any Norse derivatives. As soon
as the Orkneys became Christian, shortly after the days of Olaf Tryggvi's son, that is,
about the year 1000, Papey Meiri became a holy place, and until the great cathedral in
Kirkwall was built it is probable taht St. Tredwall's chapel (7) on Papey Meiri was
considered the holiest spot in all the isles. In the days described by our Saga, St.
Tredwall's chapel has an interest as being the burial place of the gallant earl Rognvald
Brúsi's son, whose body, after he had been slain on Papey Minni or the lesser Papey off
Stronsay, was brought to St. Tredwall's chapel to be interred. Our Saga, p. 53, foll., tells
the story of his death, which for interest and truth may vie with any scene in any
Saga.
We now pass by Eday, the ancient name of which is to be restored as Eiðey, that is,
the island of the eið or aith, or isthmus, from the neck or waist of land which joins the
two ends of the island together, and along with it its satellites Kalfr the Calf, Færey the
Sheep isle, Hólmr the Holm of Farey, and Grænuholmr the Greenholms; for all these are never
mentioned in the Saga, though it is easy to restore, as Munch has done, their ancient form
from their modern names.
Next in order and position is Sandey, Sanday, which is often mentioned in the Saga,
and lies east of Westray and north-east of Eday. Here it was, off the northern end of the
island, which looks on Rínansey or North Ronaldsay, that Turf-Einar lay with his ships when
he had that engagement with Halfdan Longlegs, the son of the mighty Harold Fairhair, which
ended in his defeat and death by immolation to Odin, the God of battles. With regard to the
possibility of that sharp-sighted though one-eyed earl being able to see from Sanday as far
as Rínansey, Munch tells us that it is no more than 6,000 paces from Toftsness in Sanday to
Stromness in Rínansey, a distance to which earl Einar's sharp eyes might perhaps have
reached; but we have already remarked that, in all probability, the earl was on board his
ships when he uttered the words given in the Saga, which besides would seem to have been
caused by something seen on land from the water. After the bloody rite of cutting a
spread-eagle on the back of the victim with a sword by severing the ribs from the backbone
on each side and drawing the lungs out, earl Einar made his men cast a "howe" or cairn over
his enemy, and burst out into a song of triumph on having revenged his father, earl Rognvald
of Mæren, on the son of the great king Harold. It is probable that, as the battle was fought
in Sanday, that the sacrifice to Odin took place on that island, and not on Rínansey; and
that the cairn of Halfdan Longlegs must be sought for among the many barrows which still
exist on Sanday.
In later times Sanday was the abode of a great chief, Thorstein Havard's son, one of
earl Paul's most active followers, and when the care of the beacon on Rínansey was entrusted
to his namesake the son of Ragna, (8) his brother Magnus was to attend to that on Sanday;
later on in the Saga earl Rognvald sent for him and his namesake from Sanday, p. 129, that
they try to arrange matters between himself and earl Paul. Still farther on in the Saga we
read of Sanday and a farm on it called Völuness or Valeness, in the account of Swein
Asleif's son's flight from earl Harold, when the earl seized his house on Gairsay, p. 206.
It was on Sanday that, as the Saga tells us, p. 195, Sweyn Asleif's son and earl Erlend met
after they had parted in Dynröst or sumburgh Roost in so violent a storm that each gave up
the other as lost. It was in Sanday too that Sweyn Asleif's son forced his kinsman John Wing
the younger to fly from Völuness in the bitter winter night, because he abused earl Erlend,
p. 206.
Next in order is Strjónsey, Stronsay, which is frequently mentioned in the Saga. The
chief house on it in old times, seems to have been "the Brink," Brekkar or í Brekkum, where
Richard lived, one of Sweyn Asleif's son's kinsmen, of whom we read, p. 130, that he and
John Wing of the Uplands in Hoy fell on Thorkell flat or the flayer, to whom earl Paul had
given the land in Stronsay which Waltheof Sweyn's brother had owned, and burnt him in it
with nine men. Before that Thorkell had lived in Westray with his sons, not much beloved by
his neighbours, p. 89. Munch has recognised the old Hofsness in the modern Hvipsness on
Stronsay where earl Erelend met Sweyn Asleif's son on his return from Norway at the house of
Sweyn's brother-in-law, Thorfinn Brúsi's son, who had married his sister Ingigerd, whom
Thorbjörn the clerk had repudiated (Saga, p. 187). There the old feud between the young earl
and the old Viking, which arose out of the burning of Frakok, was finally arranged, and
Sweyn became Erelend's chief adviser. In Rousholmhead or the Red Head of Stronsay, may also
be recognised the old name Rauðholmshöfði. Off Stronsay, too, lay Papey Minni, now Papa
Stronsay, where earl Rognvald Brúsi's son was slain.
Shapinsay, which may be restored to Hjálpandisey, is, as we have said, not mentioned
in the Saga by name, but the modern name of the island is well known to all visitors to
Orkney as the principal seat of Mr. Balfour of Trenaby, the owner of this island as well as
of so many others in the Orkneys. But close to Ellwick, the ancient Ellidavík, on the south
side of the island, lies Ellerholm, or Hellierholm, the ancient Hellisey, where, according
to Captain Thomas, quoted by Munch, the cave may still be seen in which the shifty Sweyn
Asleif's son hid his boat when escaping from the pursuit of earl Harold Maddad's son (Saga,
p. 205). At that time there must have been a monastery on one or other of the islands, for
as Sweyn's boat was high and dry in the cave, Sweyn sailed away to Sanday in an old ship of
burden belonging to the monks.
We next come to Egilsey, of which we have already shown that it possibly derives its
name, not from any "Egill" but from the Irish "ecclais" or the Welsh "eglws," meaning a
church, and was called Church island by the Northmen because, when they first came into the
islands, they saw a church standing on it; just as they called Stennis "Steinsnes" because
of the large circle of stones which they beheld standing on that promontory between the two
lakes on the Mainland. Here, at any rate, until the cathedral in Kirkwall was built, the
bishops of Orkney seem to have had their residence. That old church was what may be called
their peculiar as opposed to the earl's churches at Birsay and Orfir, and St. Olaf's church
in Kirkwall, which was the church of the burghers. On various occasions in the Saga when
bishop William was wanted, and especially twice at Christmans (Saga, p. 119, 137), when the
proper place for a bishop would be at his own church, we find him at Egilsay. On the last of
these occasions bishop John of Athole visited bishop William at Egilsay before his interview
with earl Rögnvald as the bearer of Margaret's proposals as to the claim of her son Harold
to half the Orkneys. This church, therefore, remained the bishop's church, though his
cathedral was the Earl's church at Birsay, till the relics of St. Magnus were translated
from that church, where he was first buried, to St. Olaf's church in Kirkwall, to be again
translated to the stately minster which the piety of earl Rognvald-Kali reared in obedience
to his vow to the honour of his holy kinsman. And there on the island which was called after
it still stands the venerable church, a silent witness of so much that has happened in the
isles besides the martyrdom of St. Magnus which threw over it an additional sanctity
throughout Catholic times. At p. 78 foll. of the Saga will be found an account of the
treacherous attack of earl Hacon Paul's son on his cousin Magnus, which ended in the death
of the pious earl, who so soon afterwards was revered as the patron saint of the
isles.
Next we come to Gairsay, the ancient Gareksey, famous in the Saga as the chief abode
of the adventurous Sweyn Asleif's son, though he had other farms in Stronsay and Caithness,
where on the Scotch mainland he held Duncansby, and the strong castle of Lambaborg close to
Þrasvík, the modern Freswick. It was on gairsay that he built himself a house, the drinking
hall of which was so long that it could contain eighty retainers. Here it was that, when he
was at feud with earl Harold, when the earl had seized his house and wasted his corn and
goods, Sweyn fell on him unawares, and sought to burn the house over his head, even though
his own wife and children were in it, and it was fortunate for the earl that he was just
then away hare hunting (Saga, p. 204). Here too, when the long feud between Harold and
himself had burnt itself out and they were reconciled, Sweyn entertained the earl at a great
banquet about the year 1171, when the earl advised him to leave off sea roving, and in the
words of the proverb, "to drive home with a whole wain." The Saga tells, p. 222, how Sweyn
neglected the earl's advice, said he would leave off after one more voyage, set off on a
cruise to Dublin and there perished by treachery. After his death his sons parted their
father's goods and his hall between them, and built up a wall which cuts the large room in
two. (9) All certain traces of this large drinking hall, which surpassed in size all others
in the Orkneys, have now perished, but the name lingers, perhaps, in the farm Langskeal on
the south-west side of the island, which may be restored to Lángskáli, that is the Long
Hall.
On Vígr, now Wyre or Weir, lived another great chief, Kolbeinn the Burly, a
Norwegian, who, as the Saga tells us, p. 151, built a strong stone castle on it which was
known as hard to take. As for Kolbeinn himself he seems to have been a prudent man and to
have kept himself, as much as he could, out of strife. He was the friend of Sweyn Asleif's
son, his neighbour in Gairsay, and fostered his son Olaf (Saga. p. 209). After Sweyn's death
his son Andrew married Kolbein's daughter Frida. At the end of his life he sided with earl
Harold Maddad's son, and together with his son Bjarni, called in the Saga both Bjarni Skáld
and Bjarni Bishop, was a firm adherent of that earl. By their mother Herbjorg Kolbein's
children were descended from earl Paul Thorfinn's son. Some remains of his castle are still
to be seen on Weir, where they are pointed out as "Cobbe Row's castle," that is, Kolbein
Hruga's Castle. In popular tradition he has become a giant, and his burliness is shown in
throwing rocks at churches, after the fashion of the trolls in the popular tales of
Norway.
West of Egilsay lies Rowsay, the ancient Hrólfsey, often confounded by careless
scribes in the MSS. of the Saga with Hrossey or the Mainland. After Hoy it is the hilliest
of all the islands, and its dark upland moors are seen over the green fields of Gairsay and
Weir, as the voyager enters Kirkwall Bay. Here at Westness, Vestnes, then, as now, the chief
house on the island, lived in the time described in the latter part of the Saga, Sigurd of
Westness, the husband of Ingibjörg the honourable, earl Paul's warmest adherent in his feud
with earl Rognvald. Here it was while that ill-fated earl was on a visit to his friend that
he was seized and carried off to perish miserably in Scotland by the daring Sweyn Asleif's
son; a feat which is described in the Saga, p. 131 foll., with a force and liveliness
nowhere surpassed in northern story. At Swendro near the "Urð," the "Ord" or heap of stones
where the earl was seized after a fierce struggle when out otter-hunting, remains have been
found in recent times which may well have been the bones of those nineteen men of the earl's
followers whom Sigurd knew when he went to look at the slain and those six "whom he did not
know" who had fallen on Sweyn's side (Saga, p. 133). Between Rowsay and the Mainland is Evie
Sound, the ancient Efjusund so called from efja, the backwater which is to be found at both
ebb and flow in sounds where the stream runs out and in so violently as it dæs in Evie
Sound. There may be seen and heard that terrific bore or wall of water caused by the waves
of the deep Atlantic when borne by the tide over shallower ground. It may, perhaps be seen
best in Yell Sound in Shetland; but it is seen more or less in all the Orkney and Shetland
firths and sounds, and certainly in a most remarkable degree in Evie Sound.
In Evie Sound, between Rowsay and the mainland, lies the little island of
Eyn-hallow, that is, Eyin Helga, the Holy Isle, the ground of which was said to be so holy
that neither rats nor mice could live on it, and where the straw dripped blood when corn was
cut after sunset. All which are doubtless traditions from the days of the anchorites, who
may have had their abode on it. In the Saga Eyn-hallow is mentioned, p. 209, as the place
where John Wing the younger, Sweyn Asleif's son's kinsman, seized Olaf Sweyn's son, and
carried him off as a hostage to Rapness in Westray, where he met earl Rognvald. The boy had
been fostered by Kolbein the Burly at Weir close by, and as soon as the earl heard of the
seizure he made John Wing carry him back with the warning that, unless he did so, John would
have no peace either at Sweyn's or Kolbein's hands.
We now come to the Mainland called by the Northmen Hrossey (10) or the Horse Island.
What induced them to call it by this name is as doubtful as the occassion which gave rise to
the name Hjaltland for Shetland. Perhaps it was because they found ponies running wild
there; perhaps because they turned horses loose themselves as they did in Iceland.
"Mainland," the modern name of the central island, is the old Norse "Meginland" which they
gave in the case of both Orkney and Shetland to the largest island in each group.
Having thus considered the origin of the ancient and modern names of the Main island
we step into it from Rowsay across Evie Sound and find ourselves in Evie parish, which
stretches from Costa Head all along the troubled sound to Woodwick opposite to Gairsay. At
that point the parish of Rendale (11) meets us; the ancient Rennadalr, somewhere in which
lay Flugunes or Flyðrunes, where Thorstein lived with his cross-grained sons, Asbjörn and
Berlian or Blánn, the latter of whom seems to have been warder of the strong castle in
Damsay, Rennadalr is again mentioned in our Saga (p. 201), on the occasion of earl Erlend's
violent death at Damsay. Southward Rendale extends as far as Isbister, the ancient
Ossabólstaðr, where the inland parish of Harray(12) begins, from which the lake of that name
is called; while beyond Costa Head, the most northerly point of the island, the parish of
Birsay begins and stretches along the coast as far as the high ground of Westrafold in the
south-west. The name Birsay comes from Birgisey, that is, the isle off the ancient district
Birgisherað, still called the Barony or Lordship of Birsay; off the coast, and joined to it
at low tide lies the isle itself, the Brock or Burgh of Birsay. The district is famous in
the Saga as the residence of the mighty earl Thorfinn and his descendants, the chief seat of
their power and the burial place of their race till the translation of the relics of St.
Magnus to Kirkwall deprived the earl's church at Birsay of most of its peculiar sanctity.
Before that translation that church, built by earl Thorfinn, p. 59, and called "Christ's
Church," was reckoned as the cathedral of the bishop (Saga, p. 89). On the Brock are still
to be seen not only some remains of earl Thorfinn's castle, but also the ruins of another
church said to have been dedicated to St. Peter, and all who have visited this remarkable
spot, looking out on the West Atlantic, under the guidance of the late Mr. George Getrie,
will know how much of interest still lingers round that little islet. The existing Christ
Church is a comparatively recent erection, but close by are the foundations of the older
church, of which close by are the foundations of the older church, of which a portion of the
walls and traces of the apse were detected by the sharp eyes of Mr. Petrie.
After Birsay comes Sandwick parish, the ancient Sandvík, remarkable in modern times
as the site of the discovery of those massive silver rings and brooches, the hoard of some
Viking, which were found some years ago, and may be seen in the Museum at Edinburgh. This
Sandwick must not be confounded with another place of the same name near Deerness in the
south-east of the island, where Amundi, the father of Thorkel Fosterer lived, and where Earl
Einar was slain by Thorkell at the feast which was to have reconciled them (Saga, p. 22). On
the east the parish of Sandwick is bounded by the Lakes of Harray and Stennis, between which
it ends near Brogar Bridge, west of which on a ness stand or lie the famous circles of
stones which gave its name to the lake and the parish. The larger circle, also called the
"Ring of Brogar," where Brogar is no doubt a corruption of Brúargarðr "the farm by the
bridge," has been described by Captain Thomas in the Archæologia, vol. xxxiv., to which the
curious reader is referred for more precise details. Let it suffice here to say, that it
consisted originally of 60 stones, erected about 18 feet apart, and forming a circle 366
feet in diameter. Of these rough unhewn stones, which are about 13 feet in height, 36 remain
in a more or less perfect state of preservation. The area, comprising 2 1/2 acres, within
the circle has been artificially raised and levelled, and is surrounded outside the stones
by a ditch 6 feet deep and 29 feet wide. The smaller circle, called the Ring of Stennis,
originally consisted of 12 stones enclosing an area of about 100 feet in diameter; only two
of these stones remain standing, and a third has been thrown down. This circle too was
surrounded by a broad and deep ditch now nearly obliterated. In character these circles of
stones are identical with those of Callernish in the Lewes, and may be ascribed to the same
race, though what that race may have been is hard to say. Round these circles
standing-stones and barrows are irregularly scattered on both the nesses or peninsulas
between the lakes of Harray and Stennis. About a mile and a half from the Stones of Stennis,
on the south east shore of the lake of that name, towers the "Maes Howe," the great mound
with a sepulchral chamber, excavated in 1861 by Mr. Farrer by the permission of Mr. Balfour,
the owner of the property, and with the assistance of Mr. George Petrie and other
distinguished antiquaries. Both those circles of stones and those huge barrows were found by
the Northmen when they came into the Orkneys, and they at once called the ness or headland
on which the principal circle stands Steinsnes or Stoneness, of which the modern Stennis is
a corruption. After that it became the place of meeting for the inhabitants, whether in
council or for single combat. And here it was in the days of one of the most ancient earls,
that Havard the "harvest happy," the son of earl Thorfinn Skull-splitter, was attacked and
slain by his sister's son, Einar Hardchaft, on a spot called Hávarðsteigar in the Saga, p.
12, which we are assured by Mr. George Petrie, as quoted by Munch, is still called
"Havardsteg," after the ill fated earl.
For readers of the Saga, the most interesting fact connected with these Celtic
monuments is the strange discovery when the "Maes Howe" was excavated, that the stones of
its central sepulchral chamber were scored with runes which have been variously read. One
fact, however, remains clear, that the Howe was broken open by the followers of earl
Rognvald-Kali to the Holy Land. This appears plain from one of the very few readings on
which the antiquaries seem all agreed. In inscription 20 occurs the line "Iorsalafarar bruto
"Orkhaug,"
"The Jewryfarers broke into Orkhow;" but the wise men are wrong in seeking Orkhaug
or "Orkhaugr" anywhere else than in the Maes Howe itself. (13) In spite of the opinions
expressed by authorities on runic inscriptions who venture to ascribe various dates to the
inscriptions in question, it is probable that they were all done at the same time, and
before the expedition to the Holy Land started. That was part of the sport of that idle
winter which earl Rognvald and his unruly Norwegian comrades spent in the Orkneys, when, as
we are told, that bold band was full of outrage and frolic. There has always been a tendency
to make more of runic inscriptions that they deserve. They were as often as not the
production of whim or caprice, and no more meant to be serious than the scrawlings of modern
tourists after their own names on national monuments. Thus when we read in one of these
inscriptions "Ingigerð is the loveliest woman," this may mean earl Rognvald's only child
Ingigerð; but then Ingigerd is not at all an uncommon name, and just as when we read "Mary
is a pretty girl" on the Pyramids we do not think it means a Princess Mary, but some Mary
whom the tourist knows, it is probable that this Ingigerd was another maiden than the earl's
daughter.
So also when another of the inscriptions says, "This was cut with the axe which Gauk
Trandil's son from the south country owned," that is an allusion indeed to a weapon owned by
one of the chiefs named in the Njal's Saga as alive two hundred years before; but it was
probably only scored as a joke or hoax on generations to come. It seems pretty plain that
if, as these inscriptions expressly assert, the voyagers to the Holy Land broke into the
Howe, that the inscriptions would be all after their time, the middle of the twelfth
century. With regard to the Maes Howe itself, the evidence of the Saga, as well as of the
inscriptions, seems to show that it was called "Orkahaugr" or Orkahow in the time of the
Saga. At p. 190, it is mentioned that when earl Harold Maddad's son set off on one of his
expeditions against earl Erlend who then lay at Damsay, two of his men went mad, and delayed
them much, owing to the inclemency of the wintry weather while they were in "Orkahow," where
they had taken shelter. This is the Howe now known as the Maes Howe, and it was open,
because a year or two before at most it had been broken into by the followers of earl
Rognvald. On the occasion in question as earl Harold was on an adventure the success of
which depended on secrecy, nothing could be more appropriate than that he should use the
deserted chamber of the Howe as a place of shelter after landing from his ship on the shore
of the lake of Stennis on his straight road to Aurriðafirth or Wideford Bay, in which the
isle of Damsay lies. On the other hand, had he been staying at a farm, his sick men would
not have delayed him; he would have left them there, and passed on. The Howe was called
Orkahaugr because it was the largest of the great barrows which surround the Stones of
Stennis.
The south west point of the peninsula beyond Sandwick forms Stromness parish, a name
no doubt derived from the stream or tide which rushes in between the isles of Hoy and
Græmsay and the Mainland. In ancient times a farm called Kjarrekstaðir stood near the site
of the modern Stromness, which has been identified with the modern Cairston or Carstone.
(14)
The southern extremity of this part of the island forms the parish of Orphir or
Orfir, the ancient Orfjara or Ö:rfjara, the meaning of which is a flat or foreshore left bare
at the ebb tide, a character which the coast still remains. Here it was that earl Paul
Hacon's son kept his court, and here was a stately hall and a round church close by it,
which also has been identified by the skill of Mr. George Petrie; for their position see the
Saga p. 117, foll., where the earl's court and the events which led Sweyn Asleif's son to
slay his namesake Sweyn Breastrope are graphically described. The hall lay near the modern
Swanbister under what is now called the Ward Hill of Orfir, that is to say, the beacon hill
of Orfir, and the highest in the island, which rises behind it to a height of 700 feet. But
Munch has well pointed out that the Saga is wrong when it says that the Bay of Firth or
Aurriðafjörðr, in which Damsay lies, can be seen from that hill, for the prospect in that
direction is intercepted by the Keely Long Hills, the Norse Kilir, and Wideford Hill. At the
extreme southern point of Orfir parish lies a little island, between which and the mainland
is formed what is called in modern times Midland Harbour, in which we at once recognise the
Meðallandshöfn of the Sagas. (15)
Munch thinks that the "væ" or "vágr" which runs up into the mainland protected by
this island was called Hafnarvágr, that is the "væ of the harbour or haven" the modern
Hamnavæ, and he quotes the Saga, p. 190, where it is said, that when earl Harold Maddad's
son attempted to surprise earl Erlend, he sailed first to Græmsay, where he lay two nights.
After that they landed at Hafnarvágr in Hrossey, and crossed to Firth, that is, Wideford
Firth. Then it was that they were caught in that storm which drove them to take shelter in
"Orkahaugi," which Munch calls a farm, and identifies as the modern "Orkhill," but we have
already seen that the Orkahaugr here mentioned is probably no other than the How now called
Maes Howe, and that it was within its sepulchral chambers, then recently broken into by earl
Rognvald's companions, that the earl took refuge. He was on a secret expedition, bent on
seizing his unwary enemy by a sudden dash, and the site of the modern Orkhill is too near
Orfir to have rendered it a suitable stopping place. It is probable, therefore, that the
site of Hafnarvágr is to be sought further up in the bight of the bay, where the stream from
the Lake of Stennis meets the sea. There Harold Maddad's son landed, and thence he started
to traverse the district between the Stones of Stennis and the bay of Firth. Overtaken by a
storm, he sought shelter in Orkahow, and there it was that two of his men went
mad.
East of Orfir parish lies that of St. Olaf, which comprises the waist of the Orkney
Mainland, and in which lies Kirkwall, the heart of the islands, as fortunate in its position
between two seas as the ancient Corinth. The parish was called after the royal Norwegian
saint from the church which was erected to his honour on the shores of the "væ" which runs
into the mainland on the north side of the isthmus. From the church the town which sprang up
round it took its name Kirkjuvágr "the væ of the church," which modern pronunciation has
turned into Kirkwall. From the "væ of the church" across the isthmus to the southern bay it
is hardly so much as an English mile. That isthmus or "eið" is the Skálpeið so often
mentioned in the Saga, and the bay itself is called Skálpaflói or "Skálpeiðsflói," which
have both degenerated in modern speech into "Scapa," and "Scapa bay." On this isthmus, at or
close to the town , but near enough to the bay to see ships sailing up, Things and
gatherings of the freemen were frequently held. No doubt as Kirkwall rose into importance
after the translation there of the relics of St. Magnus and the building of the cathedral,
(16) the ancient place of assembly at the Stones of Stennis was deserted for the more
frequented locality near the capital, and as Scapa Bay became the great landing place of
travellers from the south to Kirkwall, the place of meeting was transferred to the spot
where men most congregated. So it was that after earl Paul was spirited away in that
mysterious manner by Sweyn Asleif's son we find earl Rognvald, p. 134, assembling a Thing to
discuss matters near Kirkwall, where the text shows that the place of meeting was close
enough to the shore to see and even to recognize travellers as they landed. Not far from the
landing place on the western side of Scapa Bay lay the ancient "Knarrarstaðir," Knarstead,
that is, the "stead of ships" and especially merchant ships, from the ancient "Knörr." This
was a farm which belonged to the earls, or at least to earl Rognvald-Kali, p. 137, and where
there was according to the Saga, p. 188, some sort of fortification or castle. The Saga, p.
198 foll., shows how narrowly the earls, on more than one occasion, escaped the attacks of
their enemies at this very farm. On the east side of the bay, where the land is higher, lies
the modern Gatnip, where the Saga, p. 134, tells us that Borgar, the son of earl Erlend's
base-born daughter, Jadvör, lived. The ancient name was Geitaberg or "Goathill" or
Jadvarastaðr, Jadvorstead, and from that elevation Borgar saw Sweyn Asleif's son as he
sailed from Caithness through the South Isles on his adventurous voyage to seize earl Paul.
The same sharp eyes saw the bold Viking return with his prey after he had accomplished his
daring feat.
Now let us return to Kirkwall. The position of the town is peculiar. To the north
and west it is bounded by water. To the north by the open sea of the væ, and on the west by
a backwater called the "Oyce" or "Peerie Sea," that is, the Little Sea. This backwater is
cut off from the open sea by a bank of sand and shingle called the "air," derived from the
ancient Norse "eyrr," the old English form of which is "before" or "or." (17)
Along the east side of this "Oyce" or Peerie Sea straggles the town of Kirkwall
abutting on the open sea of the væ at its northern extremity. Of public buildings, the
remains of the old St. Olaf's Church lie nearest the sea at the northern end of the town,
and no doubt in early times the dwellings of the inhabitants were clustered round that
ancient church. In later days when earl Rognvald's magnificent cathedral rose in all its
beauty further south, other public buildings sprang up about it. So arose what used to be
called till it was pulled down a few years since, the King's Castle, but which was in
reality the ancient palace of the earls, though it was probably not the work of any of the
earls mentioned in the Saga, but erected by one of the St. Clairs in the fourteenth century.
Later still as the town stretched itself still further south another earl's palace was built
by the tyrannical Patrick Stewart at the beginning of the seventeenth century; it stands a
little beyond the bishop's palace, which lay between it and the older earl's
palace.
We now come to the cathedral, which is the glory of the Orkneys and indeed of all
the north. It stands nobly on an open space to the east of the long straggling high street,
pretty nearly at the end of the town, and south east of the king's castle or ancient earl's
palace. The Saga relates how this splendid church arose in obedience to a vow suggested by
the politic Kol, the father of earl Rognvald-Kali. It also tells us that Kol was the master
mason, in which case he was as skilled in architecture as in policy, and how, when money
fell short, the work was carried on by allowing the freemen to redeem their allodial
holdings for a fixed sum (Saga, p. 137). But in spite of all efforts the work after the
first start proceeded slowly, as was often the case with mediæval buildings; and there was a
great gap in the west end of the church which was not filled up till the time of bishop
Thomas Tulloch, about the year 1450. In it, till the Reformation, was that magnificent
shrine of St. Magnus of which we read so much in the Saga. In that religious revolution it
perished with all its treasures. The bones of the saint and his skull, bearing marks of the
fracture made by Lifolf's axe (Saga, p. 81), were then immured in one of the massive pillars
of the choir, whence they were broken out a few years ago by an English nobleman, and having
been inspected, and as far as possible identified, they were returned to the resting place
in which they had so long remained. In this respect the relics were more fortunate than
those of any saint, either in North or South Britain, except perhaps those of Cuthbert at
Durham, and of Edward the Confessor, which last are supposed still to rest at Westminster in
the wooden shrine to which they were restored by Abbot Feckenham in the time of Queen Mary.
For those of St. Cuthbert inquire of the Benedictines. In the cathedral too rested the bones
of bishop William, whom the Saga calls the first bishop of the Orkneys. After having held
the see for the long space of 60 years, he was buried there in the year 1168. In 1848, when
the church was repaired, his bones were found enclosed in a stone cist along with a leaden
plate, on which was inscribed "Hic requiescit Willielmus senex, felicis memoria, primus
Episcopus." The bones and the cist were carted away as rubbish, but the plate and the bone
head of the bishop's pastoral staff are preserved in the Museum of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland.
On the south side of the cathedral and just opposite to it, nearer to the sea shore,
stand the venerable remains of Saint Olaf's church and the cathedral, the oldest building in
the town. For Norwegian history it has great interest, as being the abode and death place of
king Hacon Hacon's son, in the year 1263. His remains found a resting place in St. Magnus
Church till they were removed to Norway.
With regard to the earls and their residence in Kirkwall, it is probable that, in
the times of which the Saga treats, they seldom took up their abode in the town. The
earliest mention of Kirkwall in our Saga is at p. 53, where it is said that earl Rognvald
established himself there, and how earl Thorfinn, after slaying earl Rognvald Brúsi's son
and his followers on the Greater Papey, sailed for Kirkwall, where, by a stratagem, he
induced the remaining adherents of his rival on land to meet him at the landing place
unarmed, when he seized them and put them all to death but one. At the end of the Saga and
especially in the quarrels between the earls Rognvald and Harold and Sweyn Asleif's son, we
hear much of Kirkwall in connexion with the cathedral, which was used both as a sanctuary
for fugitives and a storehouse for sails and the tackling of ships which the earls had
seized.
Leaving Kirkwall and Thievisholm, which no doubt may be restored to Þíofahólmr from
the thieves who met their deaths on the gallows there, but which is not mentioned in the
Saga, we come to Quanterness on the west side of the væ, with its Picts' house, first
described by Barry and since scientifically examined along with so many others in the
Orkneys by the late lamented Mr. George Petrie. Looking west from Quanterness and Kirkwall
the horizon is intercepted by Wideford Hill, in which "Wideford" is a corruption of
"Aurriðafjörðr," that is Troutfirth, otherwise called simply Fjörðr or Firth in the Saga.
From this hill, which almost rivals the Ward Hill of Orfir in height, an extended prospect
is afforded over the whole archipelago and especially north and west towards Westray and
Stronsay. Its sides are hollow with those weems and Picts' houses already described, which
seem more common in this neighbourhood than anywhere else in the Orkneys. Close under the
feet of the beholder as he stands on the top of Wideford Hill lies Aurriðafjörðr, the bay or
firth already mentioned. It is often mentioned in the Saga and was the scene of the death of
the ill fated earl Erlend, who lay in his ship off Damsay, the ancient Daminsey. Of the
strong castle on that island a few remains are visible. On the north side of the Bay of
Firth we return to Rendale parish, the ancient Rennadalr, from which we started, and we have
now completed our perambulation of Hrossey or the Mainland west of the isthmus at Scapa Bay.
The districts east of that isthmus remain to be described.
Off Inganess lies Shapinsay, which is not mentioned in the Saga, but which, as has
been already said, may be with certainty restored to the ancient Hjálpandisey. On its
southern side which protects the entrance to Kirkwall Harbour lies Ellwick, the ancient
Elliðavík which is mentioned in Hacon Hacon's son's Saga.
Returning to the Mainland east of Scapa Bay we come after Inganess Bay to
Tankarness, a peninsula which juts out into the sea, the north point of which was called
Tannskaranes, off which earl Paul Hacon's son (Saga, p. 112 foll.), met the ships of Oliver
the Unruly and Frakok and signally defeated them, having first descried them rounding the
Mull Head off Deerness on their way to join his rival earl Rognvald. Here, on a farm of the
same name, lived a freeman named Erling, who, with his stalwart sons, helped the earl by
bringing stones, the rude artillery of those times, to hurl at his fæs, down to his ship.
Passing on from Tankarness we come to the easternmost peninsula of the Mainland, Deerness,
the ancient Dýrnes, which is almost an island, being only joined to the Mainland by a narrow
neck, probably called in ancient times Sandeið from the nature of the soil, and now called
"Sandaysand." Off the Mull Head (Múli) of Deerness, the bloody sea fight took place between
earl Thorfinn and the Scot-king, Karl Hound's son, and in the verses of Arnor Earlskald, the
name of the promontory is given (Saga, p. 33). This Dýrnes is not to be mistaken for another
Dýrnes or Djurnes near Cape Wrath, which is also mentioned in the Sagas.
On Deerness lies a spot memorable in the early days of the Orkney earls. Here at
Sandvík now Sandwick, that is Sandy Bay, on the east side of the peninsula, lived Ámundi or
Amund in the days of earl Einar Brúsi's son. The words of the Saga are (p. 17) that he lived
in Hrossey at Sandwick, on Laupandanes or Lopness. It seems probable that the last name is
that of the district, and Sandvik that of the abode of Ámundi, but whichever it be, there
with his father lived Thorkel the fosterer of earl Thorfinn, and there at Sandwick Thorkel
slew earl Einar Wrymouth at a feast. There, too, a little afterwards earl Thorfinn fled
when surprised by king Karl, and there he was met by Thorkel "under Deerness" with
reinforcements.
Off Deerness lies Copinsay, the first islet which the traveller passes when steering
for Kirkwall. It is not mentioned in the Saga, but there is no doubt that its ancient name
was Kolbeinsey, as Munch has restored it, and not "Kaupmannaey island" or "Merchant's
island" as some have supposed.
Last of all we come to the south easternmost part of Mainland, the parish of Holm or
Paplay. Munch supposes that Holm is a mispronunciation of "Heimr," but it might have arisen
from the Holms which lie off the coast. The "Papýli" or "Papuli" mentioned in our Saga was
probably this Paplay in Hrossey, and not another farm of the same name in the neighbouring
island of South Ronaldsay. See Saga, page 198. Whichever it was, it was part of the landed
property which belonged to the family of earl Erlend, the father of Saint Magnus, for Paplay
is mentioned by the Saga, p. 74, as part of the dower which Gunhilda, the sister of the
saint, brought to her husband Kol, the son of Kali; and here, too lived the saint's mother,
and after her her son Hacon churl.
We now leave the Mainland, and passing rapidly over Lambholm, Glimsholm, and Burray,
on the last of which there are the remains of a fine burgh, like that at Moussa, from which
no doubt the island took its ancient name of Borgarey, "the island of the burgh or castle,"
we come to South Ronaldsay, which is often mentioned in the Saga. We have already seen that,
in modern times, South Ronaldsay took its prefix "South" to distinguish it from North
Ronaldsay; but in ancient times there was no such ambiguity. The northern island was called
Rínansey and the southern Rögnvaldsey, though, as the MSS. sometimes write both names R-ey,
some confusion has arisen from the carelessness of transcribers, both ancient and modern.
After Hrossey no island is named so often in our Saga as South Ronaldsay, a fact easily
accounted for by its nearness to the Scottish main, whence so many expeditions against the
Isles were planned and executed. On this island was Barðsvik, now Barswick, where Sweyn
Asleif's son (p. 207) saw a ship of war sailing from Hrossey to South Ronaldsay, and from
the same place, (p. 208) earl Rognvald and Sweyn saw earl Harold Maddad's son sailing over
from Caithness to Vágaland, or Walls or Waas, that is to the low lying portion of Hoy. On
the northwest side of the island lies Ronaldsvæ, the ancient Rognvaldsvágr, which,
according to Munch, is the inner bight of the great bay now called "Widewall Bay," and in
ancient times Víðivágr. Ronaldsvæ is interesting as being the harbour in which king Hacon
Hacon's son lay from the 1st to the 10th of August in 1263, when he witnessed the annular
eclipse of the sun which happened on the 5th of August in that year. (18)
Hoxa, the ancient Haugseið (the Cod. Flat. reads "Haugaheiði," Howheath), is an
outlying peninsula on the north west of South Ronaldsay, which forms one arm of Widewall
harbour. It was in all probability so called from the Haugr or Howe of earl Thorfinn
Skullsplitter (Saga, p. 11), whose resting place may, perhaps, be identified with the great
barrow called the "Howe of Hoxa;" though it is probable, as Munch suggests, that the Howe
existed before the Northmen came to Orkney, and was utilized by the followers of the Orkney
earl as his burial place.
Here, too, on the east side of the island, is another Papýli or Paplay, which, with
the other Paplay already mentioned in Hrossey, claims to be the farm described in the Saga,
p. 74, as part of the possessions of the descendents of earl Magnus the Saint. In any case
the name is another proof of the abode of Irish anchorites in the Orkneys. Off South
Ronaldsay lies Swanay, the ancient Swíney, mentioned in the Saga, p. 89, as the abode of
Grim, a man of small means, whose sturdy sons Asbjorn and Margad were the constant followers
of Sweyn Asleif's son.
After South Ronaldsay we have only one considerable island of the group left to
describe. This is Hoy, the ancient Háey, or "high island," which answers to its name as
being, in part at least, the only really mountainous island of the group. The southeastern
extremity of the island is, however, flat; cut off from the hilly part by a narrow neck of
land, just where the "væ," which forms part of the splendid harbour of Longhope, indents
the shore, it is almost considered a distinct island, and is called "Walls," from the
ancient vágar, from vágr, a "væ." In the Saga it is called repeatedly Vágaland. Here is the
væ or haven called Osmondswall in modern and Ásmundarvágr in ancient times; where the Saga
tells us that earl Sigurd was caught weatherbound by king Olaf Tryggvi's son, in the year
995, and forced to become an unwilling convert to Christianity (Saga, p. 15). here too earl
Einar Wrymouth caught and slew Eyvind Urarhorn, king Olaf's dear friend (Saga, p. 20). By
some it has been supposed that Osmondswall is to be sought on South Ronaldsay opposite, but
Munch has shown that it is more properly placed on Walls. The remainder of Hoy is so hilly
as to be scarcely habitable, though there on the "Upland," no doubt a hill farm, lived John
WIng, the friend and kinsman of Sweyn Asleif's son (Saga, p. 89). His brother was Richard of
the Brink on Stronsay, and the Saga tells us (p. 130) how the two fell on Thorkel the
flayer, and burnt him and nine men in the house which their kinsman Waltheof had owned. At
Rackwick, the ancient Rekavík, on the northwest side lived Thorljót, the father of Oliver
the Unruly, and the son in law of Frakok, whose fate is described, Saga, p. 140. In a valley
on the side of the highest hill on Hoy is the famous Dwarfie Stone which contains three
chambers hewn by human hands, and in which we, no doubt, see one of those cells to which the
Papæ or anchorites retired to spend their ascetic lives. Here in Hoy the legends of the
North laid the scene of that endless mythical combat mentioned in the Skálda as
Hjaðnínga-víg, where day by day the followers of Högni and Heðinn fought and fell, only to
rise up at dawn next day to renew the struggle, which was to last till the day of doom. This
is not the only tale which shows that to the Northmen those islands of the West were holy
ground, but it is remarkable that the last remains of Norse pætry in these islands, rescued
by Low in 1774, should have turned on one of the episodes in this Hjaðnínga-víg.
We now leave the Orkneys and pass on across the Pentland Firth, but let us pause to
point out that the true name of that stormy strait is not Pentland, but Petland or Pettland,
that is "the Firth of the land of 'the Picts.'" Whatever may be said to the contrary, the
name thus given by the Northmen to the strait which separated them from a foreign and
hostile race is a proof that the Picts or Pihte or Peohte or Peti, as the Latinized form
ran, were in existence as a people or race when the first sea rovers and settlers reached
those waters from Norway. In those days the term Scotland had not extended to the
northernmost part of the country. The Picts in fact had not yet disappeared before the
advance of the Scots from Ireland and the West. For a long period these two races, the Picts
in the north and east and the Scots --- the Dalriad Scots as they were called --- in the
west, co-existed in Scotland, and during the events narrated in the earlier portion of our
Saga a continuous struggle for supremacy went on between the older Pictish royal race in
Moray and the younger line of the Scots in the south, which at last terminated in the
victory of the latter. Then, and not till then, the Picts disappeared, that is to say, they
were amalgamated with the victorious race. But for centuries the dwellers beyond Caithness,
and Sutherland, in Ross, and Moray, were known to the Northmen as Picts, and not as Scots,
and so the stormy water which parted them from the Scottish mainland was called the
Pettland, or Pictland Firth. In it, between South Ronaldsay and Caithness, lies the
Pettlands Sker, now called "the Pentland Skerries," and nearer to the Scottish shore lies
Stromay or Stroma, the ancient Straumey, "the island in the stream" or tideway, mentioned in
the Njáls Saga, as well as in the Saga, p. 208, as the abode of Ámundi the son of Hnefi, who
reconciled earl Harold and Sweyn Asleif's son.
Finally, before we land on Caithness, we must mention "Svelgr" a dangerous whirlpool
or "maelstrom," which may, perhaps, be identified with the eddy off Swelchie or Swilchie
Point in the island of Stroma. It was in this famous whirlpool that Grotti the mill of the
mythic king Fróði, which could grind all things, was sunk by the sea rover who carried it
off; a story which still lingers in the Norse popular tale, "Why the Sea is Salt," and there
at the bottom of the "Swelchie," Fróði's mill is supposed still to lie and to grind all the
salt in the sea.
Landing in Caithness we shall not be suprised to find the Northmen simultaneously
with their colonization of the Orkneys established on various parts of the north of
Scotland. On jutting headlands and in deep bays and along the winding dales and straths of
the rivers, Northern names still linger to witness their ancient occupation by this stirring
race. Of Caithness, the ancient Katanes or more shortly Nes, the Naze or promontory par
excellence, it may be said that it was in those times purely Norse. It seems always to have
been held by the Orkney earls, and notably by earl Harold Maddad's son, as a fief from the
Scottish king, who, even when most exasperated against his vassal, gave vent to his wrath
rather on the population and freemen than on the earl (Saga, p. 230). When there were joint
earls in the Orkneys and they were good friends, they went annually over to Caithness to
hunt deer, as when earls Rognvald and Harold set out on that hunting party which ended in
Rognvald's death (Saga p. 214-5). Sutherland, too, the ancient Suðrlönd took its name from
the Northmen. It was south to them though north to almost all the rest of Scotland. Over
both these counties, which, by the conformation of the coasts east and west, form as it were
a promontory by themselves, for a long period the Northmen held more sway than any other
rulers in Scotland. In the time of the earls their power naturally varied on the Mainland as
they were strong and aggressive, or weak and peaceful at home. The power wielded by a Sigurd
or a Thorfinn differed much from that claimed by a Brúsi or a Paul. Speaking generally, we
may say that the rule of the Northmen in early times extended as far as the Dornoch Firth
and the Oikel; and on the banks of the latter river it is expressly said of Sigurd, one of
the earliest earls, that he was buried under a "howe" (19) there (Saga, p. 6). The Torfnes,
where earl Einar first cut turf as we are told, and whence he took his nickname, is supposed
to be the same as Tarbetness which divides the Dornoch from the Moray Firth. Arnor Earlskald
sings of it as south of Oikel, p. 35. That this influence of the Northmen existed in later
times, is shown by the account of the route pursued by Sweyn Asleif's son when he went out
to take vengeance on the carline Frakok. He sailed from the Orkneys east of the Swelchie in
the Pentland Firth to the Moray Firth, the ancient Breiðafjörðr, and on to Elgin and the
valley of the Oikel, (20) and so up the country to Athole, where he got guides, and then
fell on his enemy by a back blow in Sutherland, where he wreaked his vengeance to the
full.
In both Caithness and Sutherland a glance at the map will show from the names the
prevalence of Northern settlers in the country. Along the coast, Cape Wrath is a distortion
of cape Hvarf, that is Turnagain Point, because after it the coast trends away south. Close
to it was a Djurnes or Dýrnes, not to be confounded with the headland of the same name in
Hrossey. Then there is Force or Fors, the "waterfall" at the mouth of the river which runs
down from Loch Caldell, the ancient Kalfadals-vatn, through the side dale of the same name,
in which Earl Rognvald-Kali met his death by the hands of the unruly Thorbjorn Clerk (Saga,
p. 215). Next comes Thurso, the ancient Þórsá, mentioned in the Saga, p. 130, as the abode
of earl Ottar Frakok's brother and afterwards of his kinsman, earl Harold Maddad's son. Not
far off is Staur, supposed to be Broom Ness. At Scrabster, Skarabólstaðr, they had a castle.
Not far from Scrabster lies Murkle, the ancient Myrkholl, where Ragnhilda, Eric Bloodaxe's
bloodthirsty daughter, caused her husband earl Arnfinn to be murdered (Saga, p. 11). Dunnet
Head is probably the Rauðabjörg or Red Head of the Sagas. Between it and Duncansby Head is
the Dungalsbær of the Saga, in which it is mentioned often as one of the possessions of
Sweyn Asleif's son, and on the east coast was Lambaborg, Lamburg, the strong castle whence
he and Margad escaped when besieged by earl Rognvald. It is clear from the Saga, pp. 186,
191, that this castle was close to Freswick, the ancient Þrasvík. Further down the coast is
Víkr the modern Wick. It is uncertain where Skidmire, the ancient Skiðamýri, lay, where the
rival earls of Northern and Scottish or Pictish race met to settle their quarrels in staked
lists. It was probably in the interior of Caithness, in the district called the Dales. (21)
There in the Dales at one time dwelt the treacherous and intriguing Frakok till her designs
against earl Paul made both Caithness and Sutherland too hot to hold her, and she retired to
Athole, where her niece Margaret had married earl Maddad. Afterwards she returned to
Helmsdale, Hjalmundalr, in Sutherland, and there it was that her implacable fæ, Sweyn
Asleif's son, fell on her after a circuitous expedition, and burnt her and all who were in
the house (Saga, p. 139, 140). Besides these and many others in Caithness and Sutherland,
which last was the border country between the Northmen and the Scottish races, numberless
names of places along the coasts east and west attest the extent to which their expeditions
reached when they were bent on conquest or sea roving. Not to speak of the invasions both of
Scotland, England, and Ireland by earl Thorfinn, the life of Sweyn Asleif's son, so
graphically told in the Saga, proves how wide a flight the old Viking took in his private
wars. Sometimes he is harrying and burning either alone or in partnership, in the Southern
Isles and Scotland's Firths, that is the Firths on the west coast, where dwelt the great
race of which Somerled was the chief, whom Sweyn was said to have slain. Sometimes he is on
an expedition into the heart of Scotland as far as Athole, bent on vengeance in a blood
feud. Now he is plundering monks or merchants in the Firth or Forth, and seizing, in company
with Anakol, on the goods of Canute, a merchant of North Berwick; for it is plain from the
context that it is North Berwick, and not Berwick-on-Tweed, which is meant when the Saga in
several places talk of Beruvík. At another time he is in the Scilly Isles at Port St.
Mary's, or off Ireland robbing English traders of their broadcloth. Going regularly out to
rob and plunder twice in each year, in spring after he had sown his crops, and in autumn
after he had reaped them, he dies at last in Dublin, the victim of treachery; and so ended
the career of one who may be called the last of the Vikings. Wherever the Northman went he
left his mark, and one of his marks was giving names to places which to his day all over
Scotland and the West bear witness to his enterprize and power.
But this geographical account would be incomplete were we to pass over in silence
those expeditions by the Northmen which went beyond the Narrow Seas away from Norway and the
islands of the West, and entered what to them was the ocean of the Mediterranean. Such were
the fleets fitted out by king Sigurd for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, whence he got his
nickname "Jewryfarer," and by earl Rognvald-Kali expressly in imitation of that monarch.
Those pilgrimages followed the Crusades and the establishment of the Latin kingdom of
Jerusalem, and as in the days of the earlier earls, such as Thorfinn and Hacon, a pilgrimage
to Rome followed by absolution from the Holy Father for direful sins was looked on as the
fitting end of an earthly career too often debased by ambition; so in the days of their
successors it was thought that to visit Jerusalem and to see the Holy Places in that city
and in Palestine was a voyage which might atone for many crimes. In those days the northern
pilgrims, like the modern Syrians and Copts, swam across the muddy Jordan in token that
their sins were washed out by the waves of that holy stream, and not one of the least
curious facts recorded in the pilgrimage of earl Rognvald is his swimming across that river
with Sweyn Asleif's son's stepson, the dashing Sigmund angle, and twisting the knot of shame
in the hoary willows on the opposite bank as a brand of disgrace for the false Eindrid who
had deserted them on the way. These expeditions in another way were connected with the
Crusades. As the Crusaders had often lingered at Constantinople sometimes aiding, sometimes
expelling, the emperors of the East, so king Sigurd and earl Rognvald after him thought it
right to show themselves and their trim ships and bold crews at the Byzantine court, and as
they neared the imperial city, which to their eyes was greater and richer far than any
capital in the world, they strained every nerve and put on all their bravery of apparel to
present themselves as great kings and mighty earls before the eyes of the Greeks and their
master. Nor, assuredly, was it without a flush of pride as they sailed through the
Dardanelles and across the sea of Marmora that those hardy children of the North remembered
that the mainstay of all the pomp and pride of the empire of the East was that chosen band
of Varangians, on whom, of all their legions, the emperors most relied, and to whom the most
exclusive rights and the most sweeping privileges were granted as the reward of their
unflinching allegiance. With regard to these expeditions the Orkneyingers' Saga affords the
most curious information. In it we can follow such a design through every stage from its
very conception to its perfect accomplishment. Here we see how Eindrid the young, who had
served long among the Varangians, first incited earl Rognvald to gain glory by deeds in the
East; then how earl Rognvald's friends and relations rallied round him as soon as he had
made up his mind to make the pilgrimage; next how the ships were built and how long they
took to build, how jealously earl Rognvald's rights as leader of the expedition were guarded
in the stipulation that no one but he was to have a gaily painted and decorated ship, no one
but he one of more than sixty oars; (22) both of which conditions were broken by the
ambition of Eindrid, whose ship alone of all the squadron rivalled in burden and beauty the
longship of the earl.
At last after the ships had been built and his plans matured, earl Rognvald started,
late in the summer of 1151 --- for they had to wait for the traitor Eindrid's new ship ---
for his voyage to the east. Besides bishop William, who, as a clerk of Paris, was supposed
to know all things, and whom they took with them as an interpreter, the earl was followed by
his Orkney chiefs and his Norse kinsmen and friends. In all they had a fleet of fifteen
ships, as well built and fitted out as ships in that age could be. Our purpose here is only
with the geography of their voyage, --- the places they passed rather than the feats they
performed are what we wish to describe. As they passed the Vesla-sands off the Northumbrian
coast, that is, the northeast coast of England, as far as the Humber, one of the skalds who
accompanied the earl burst out into song, the words of his verse fix the spot as off
Humber-mouth, and perhaps one of the many shoals which fringe the mouth of that estuary and
the Wash may be the sand meant. (23) After this we hear of them sailing south along the
coast of England till they come to Valland, that is, France, or some country peopled by a
Romance race; and next we find them at Nerbon, according to all the best MSS. That this
Nerbon is the same as Narbonne in the Gulf of Lyons, in the south of France, seems
impossible, for that city is just the last spot on the shores of the Mediterranean in which
we should expect to find these adventurers, as it lay entirely out of their course. That,
however, it was some place in the wine-growing country is clear from the fact that Ermingard
pours out wine to the earl and his captains rather than mead or ale; and, on the whole, it
seems not unlikely that "Nerbon" is the river Nerbion or Nervion, and that the sea burg is
the modern Bilbao in the north of Spain; but wherever it was, that lovely lady received the
Northmen most hospitably, and whatever might be the case with her, it is plain from earl
Rognvald's verses, long after their parting and when much of that salt water which
proverbially washes out love was between them, that she made a great impression on him. But
their aim was the Holy Land, not to make love in Nerbon, and so earl Rognvald tore himself
away and we next hear of him as sailing west off Thrasness, which may mean Capes La Hogue,
Ortegal, or Finisterre in Spain, according to the position of the doubtful "Nerbon" on the
map of Europe. Next they came, still sailing west, to Galicia in Spain, and there they
wintered, spending part of it, till the weather allowed them to sail in the spring of 1152,
in ridding the inhabitants of the district of a tyrant named Godfrey who oppressed them
terribly. Having taken his castle, they sailed thence west along the shore of heathen Spain,
that is, along the districts possessed by the Moors, landing and harrying the country, and
encountering a violent storm before they could beat through the Gut at Gibraltar. As soon as
they had passed it the treacherous nature of Eindrid was revealed. He sailed away with six
ships for Marseilles, while earl Rognvald and the rest lay to in the Straits. After that the
earl sailed along the Barbary coast till he came off the island of Sardinia, where he fell
in with a huge Dromond, or ship of burden, which had been driven to sea from Tripoli, Tunis,
or Algiers, having on board of her a Moorish chief and untold wealth in wares and gold and
silver. The Northmen took her after a sharp struggle, and then, after a custom not uncommon
in those times, put into a port in Barbary to dispose of the prisoners they had spared, and
some of the goods which they had taken out of their prize. Thence they sailed south to
Crete, again encountering heavy weather, and there they lay under the lee of the island till
they got a fair wind for Acre in Palestine, where they arrived early on a Friday morning.
(24)
There they landed after their long voyage, but sickness as was not unlikely, broke
out among them, and many died. From Acre earl Rognvald and his men visited all the
"halidoms" or holy places in Jewry, and as we have already seen bathed in Jordan, and swam
across it, as it seems on St. Laurence's Day, August 10th, 1152. Soon after that they left
the Holy Land and completed their adventures by a visit to the city of cities,
Constantinople. On their way there they came in the autumn to a place which is in its way
as puzzling as Nerbon. This was "Imbolum," which some have thought to be the island of
Imbros, while the late Gudbrand Vigfusson thought it to be only a distortion of "ej tan
polin." In the account of their stay at this place, another puzzling word occurs in
"miðhæfi," which the inhabitants called out to one another when they met in a narrow place.
This, too, Mr. Vigfusson explains in the Icelandic Dictionary by the Greek metabhqi, "get
down," or "get out of the way," and whatever it was, ignorance of it caused Erling, the
second in command of the expedition, a fall and roll in the mud. A more tragical event
happened there in the murder of John Peter's son, the earl's brother in law, who seems to
have been slain by some of the inhabitants after he had missed his way when drunk at
night.
Leaving "Imbolum" they passed "Engilsness," or Cape St. Angelo, though another
reading is Ægisness, said to be the point at the end of the Thracian Chersonese, at the
mouth of the Dardanelles, where they lay some nights waiting for a fair south wind to carry
them across the sea of Marmora to the great city. As soon as it came, they sailed up with
great pomp, just after the pattern of king Sigurd, and when they came to Constantinople they
were made much of by the emperor Manuel and the Varangians, though the traitor Eindrid, whom
they found there in great favour, did everything in his power to set men against them. About
winter the earl began his voyage home, sailing first to Bulgaria and Durazzo, and thence
across the Adriatic to Apulia. There he left his ships, and with the noblest of his company
ended his journey home by land, clearly leaving the rest of his force to bring the ships
home by sea. From Apulia he took horse and rode to Rome, where, though it is not mentioned,
he no doubt got absolution for his sins. From Rome he went "Rome way," that is, by the usual
route of pilgrims to that city, and so passing through Germany he came to Denmark and to
Norway. No wonder after such a voyage and such exploits men were glad to see them safe back,
and thought that their voyage had been most glorious, and they were much greater men then
than they had been before. This must have been early in 1153. Many things kept earl Rognvald
most of that year in Norway. When the winter was far spent he reached his realm in a
merchant ship with a great train. Ships of war were being built for him in Norway, and his
old ships seem never to have returned from the Mediterranean; at least they are never heard
of. During his absence there had been many changes in the Orkneys, and he found a new
pretender to the earldom in Erlend, the son of earl Harold smooth-tongue. Whatever they
might have thought of him in Norway, earl Rognvald must have felt that to come home in a
merchant ship, after having sailed from the Isles with such a goodly fleet, and to return to
find strife where he had left peace, was a downfall in his position and power which it would
require all his skill and tact to retrieve. How he did this and kept his predominance in the
Orkneys till his death will be seen in that Story of Earl Rognvald which forms the third
portion of the Orkney Sagas.
The late Mr. Vigfusson having elaborately described in the preface to the Norse
text, of which the translation is contained in this volume, the process whereby he was
enabled to build up from various sources the structure of the Orkneyingers' Saga, and having
also most carefully examined and estimated the value which, in point of historical
credibility, attaches to each fragment, it is unnecessary for the translator to add anything
to the information which has already been laid before the student of this period of English
History. It may, however, be pointed out that this volume and the translation of the Hacon
Saga and its Appendices should, with the Norse text and Mr. Vigfusson's laborious
introductions, be treated as a whole, as between them they contain nearly all that is known
from northern sources as to the dominion claimed and exercised by the Northmen over portions
of Great Britain from the reign of Harold Fairhair, in the latter half of the ninth century,
until the collapse of King Hacon's great expedition to Scotland in 1263.
1. It is described in Hibbert's book on Shetland, p. 544, as built of stones,
without cement. In the walls, which are thirteen feet thick, are eleven small round rooms,
each five feet in diameter, with a separate entrance from the inner court, which is 31 feet
in diameter. This "burgh" seems to have differed from that at Moussa in having single, and
not double walls.
2. The lines in Juvenal, II. 159-161 --- "Arma quidem ultra...... Littora Juvernæ
promovimus, et modo captas Orcadas, ac minimâ contentos nocte Britannos." were written after
A.D. 84, when Agricola sailed round Britain and discovered the Orkneys. They are also
important as marking the quantity Orcades with a short pen- ultimate like Strophades,
Pleiades, and Symplegandes.
3. The meaning of this word is a portage, or place where boats and ships are
dragged across a narrow isthmus from sea to sea. Any one acquainted with Scotland, will
recall several Tarbats, or Tarbets, as for instance, that across the neck of the Mull of
Cantire, that at the head of Loch Lomond, where a narrow neck of land separates it from Loch
Long, and another on the east coast in the Dornoch Firth.
4. See Munch's essay in the Annals: and Introduction to Burnt Njal, Edinburgh,
1861.
5. Great confusion has arisen between these two islands from the custom in MSS. of
using the abreviation R-ey for both of them. This abreviation when expanded under the pen of
a careless scribe often turned Rinansey into Rögnvaldsey, and vice versa.
6. It is remarkable that the Horæ for the Feast of St. Magnus (p. 311) as found in
the Aberdeen Breviary contain the form Eglissei and not Egilssei, as though the name of the
isle on which the Saint was martyred were derived from a church and not from Egil.
7. So holy was this church considered, that the first reformed minister could
scarcely prevent his parishioners from saying their prayers in the ruins before they came to
the parish church. St. Tredwall is the Scottish form of St. Triduana, a saint once much
revered across the border. She was said to have come from Achaia with Saint Regulus, to
Scotland; in the course of her journey her beauty so inflamed a Gaulish chief, that to
escape his advances, she cut out her own eyes. After this mutilation, she came to Scotland
and died, and was buried at Restalrig near Edinburgh. Many miracles were wrought at her
grave, and she was especially sought for diseases and injuries of the eyes. At p. 229 of our
Saga will be found a proof of this in the case of Bishop John of Caithness, whom earl Harold
Maddad's son, mutilated both in eyes and tongue, who when brought to the shrine of St.
Tredwall, it is uncertain whether at her chapel in Papey Meiri, or her shrine at Restalrig,
recovered both sight and speech. In Norse utterance, St. Triduana or St. Tredwall became
Trollhæna, pronounced Trodlhæna. Barry says, p. 63, that St. Tredwall's chapel in Papey
Meiri was built over an old Pict's house; and in all probability, the chapel was in
existence as a place of worship, like the church at Egilsay, long before the arrival of the
Northmen in the Orkneys.
8. The text of the Saga, p. 111, says that Thorstein Havard's son Gunnis son was
to have charge of the beacon on Rínansey, but this probably arises out of a confusion
between the two Thorstein's, for at p. 121 it is said that Thorstein Ragna's son fired the
beacon on Rínansey.
9. This seems to be the meaning of the words (p. 221), "Þeir (his sons Olaf and
Andres) gjörðu hit næsta sumar eptir er Sveinn var látinn gaflhlöd í drikkjuskála þann hinn
mikla er hann hafði áttan i Gareksey." Munch says that the meaning of the words is that
Andrew and Olaf built an upper story to the house when their father died, but the sense of
the context plainly is that the hall which Sweyn built was too long for them, they therefore
cut it in half and divided it between them.
10. Munch has shown that the strange name, Pomona, identical with that of the Roman
goddess of Fruit and Plenty, which Buchanan gave to the mainland of Orkney when he says,
"Orcadum maxima multis veterum Pomona vocatur," arose out of a mistake in some MS. of
Solinus, who, in speaking of the Orcades and Thyle, says, "Secundum a continenti stationem
Orcades præbent .... vacant homine, non habent silvas, tantum junceis herbis inhorrescunt.
Cætera eorum nudæ arenæ. Ab Orcadibus Thylen usque 5 dierum ac noctium navigatio est; sed
Thyle larga et diutinâ copiosa est." In this passage both diutina and pomona have been taken
as local names at various times, as when Torfæus tells us that Hrossey or the Mainland was
called Diutina by Solinus, and when the MS. which Fordun and Buchanan preferred read Pomona.
In the one case, the passage in Solinus would have run, "Sed Thyle larga, et Diutina pomonâ
copiosa est," and in the other "Sed Thyle larga et diutina Pomona copiosa est." Solinus was
as Munch well says, a geographical oracle all through the middle ages, but it is clear that
in the passage in question he says nothing whatever about the Orkneys, but only that "Thyle,
which was distant from that group by a voyage of five days and nights, was fruitful and
abundant in the lasting yield of its crops." It follows, therefore, that "Pomona," of which
Barry says "This appellation has been traced, ridiculously enough to a word in the Roman
(i.e., Latin) language, that implies the core or heart of an apple, an allusion to the
situation of this with regard to the rest of the islands," should be banished from the
geography of the Orkneys, as well as the Celtic derivation from "po," little, and "mon,"
country. It is remarkable that Solinus describes the Orkneys as uninhabited in his day, but
when he flourished is very doubtful; about the middle of the third century of the Christian
era seems the most probable date.
11. In this parish the old Norse dialect seems to have maintained itself a long
time. John Ben, as quoted by Munch and Anderson, found it in full force there in 1529.
"Utuntur idiomate proprio," he says, "veluti quum dicimus 'guid 'day, guidman," illi dicunt
'goand da, boundæ.'" That is, "godan dag, bóndi."
12. The name of this parish is probably derived from the word herad, which forms the
last part of the compound Birgis-herad, now Birsay. In old times both the parishes of Harray
and Birsay were united in the district called Birgis-herad. Munch thinks that Birsay dæs
not come from Birgis-ey, the isle or brock of Birsay, but Birgis-á, the stream which falls
into the sea at that spot.
13. See Farrer's beautiful book, Maes Howe, 1862. Compare also this translation of
the Saga, p. 190.
14. The conjecture of Munch is no doubt right that for "Kjarrekstöðum," p. 185 of
the text of the Saga, we should read "Hnarrarstum" Knarstead. Arni could never have run so
far with his shield on his back without being aware of it.
15. Hacon Hacon's son's Saga, p. 352, new ed.
16. The Saga, p. 92, expressly says of Kirkwall, before the translation of the
relics of St. Magnus, from Christ Church in Birsay, that it "had few houses."
17. This "or" or "before" forms the ending of many names of places in the British
Isles, as Upn-or, Bogn-or, Walm-er, in each of which there is a natural bank of sand or
shingle protecting a low tract of land, sometimes, as in the case of Walmer, below
high-water mark; compare also Ravensere, the old Hrafuseyrr, Saga, p. 63, near the Spurn
Head at the north of the Humber.
18. Hacon Hacon's son's Saga, p. 333-4, 352, new ed.
19. Mr. Anderson in Hjaltalins translation of the Saga, p. 107,has identified
Sigurd's Howe through Siward hoch, and Siddera with the modern Cyder hall "near the ferry on
the north bank of the Dornoch Firth into which the Oykel runs." Mr. Skene, however, dæs not
agree with this view.
20. This route by the Oikel is a stumbling block to Mr. Anderson, who proposes to
read "Atjöklabakki" for Ekkjals-bakki; but there seems no good reason for the
alteration.
21. Mr. Anderson places it at Skitten.
22. The longships, that is, the warships of the Northmen, were vessels with one mast
and one sail of a lug shape; they must also have carred a jib or foresail. Aft there seems
to have been a half deck, on which was a poop, lypting, where the cabin of the captain was.
In the waist, they were undecked, and here on benches, sessur, sat the rowers two on a
bench. Hence, when a ship is said to be a twitugsessa, or twenty benches, that means she had
forty oars, halfþritugt, like earl Rognvald's ship fifty oars, and so on, some ships being
said to have had 100 oars on each side, though that, no doubt, is a fabulous number. The way
in which the rowers sat is not clear, though it is not quite such a puzzle as the position
of the oarsmen in the ancient trireme. It is not improbable, if the oars were long and the
longship high out of the water, that the rower who pulled the oar on the starboard side sat
over to larboard and his mate on the bench who pulled on the larboard in his turn over to
starboard, so that each might have more purchase and control over his oar. Across the
undecked part of the ships were thwarts or planks, þoptur; whether these were the benches on
which the rowers sat is uncertain. Passing on to the forepart of the ship, that, too, was
decked, and under the deck, in what would now be called the forecastle, some of the crew
were lodged at night. The rest found shelter under the awnings, tjöld, with which the ships
of the Northmen seem always to have been covered at night when strife was not looked for.
See Saga, p. 192, and Sweyn Asleif's son's advice to his companions. The word "forecastle"
exactly implied what the bow or forepart of the Northmen's ships were. It was raised like
the poop, and on it stood in action the picked men of the crew who were called stafnbúar
that is, stem-men or bowmen. On either side of the prow or true bow, where the bowsprit
projected, were two cat heads, brandar, which were often, together with the figure-head of
the ship, much carved and decorated, and hence often taken as trophies and erected at the
doors of the conquerors' houses as signs of victory; just as was the case with the prows of
galleys in ancient times, and even among the Anglo-Saxons, as when earl Harold Godwin's son
sent similar trophies to Edward the Confessor after he had slain Griffith and taken his
ship. As the waists of the ships were low compared with the stem and stern means were taken
to raise the sides before action by temporary bulwarks, this "clearing the decks for action"
was called víggyrðla skipit. At other times this waist of the ship was decorated with the
shields of the crew which were hung along them on a rail which is even found in trading
ships or býrðinger, see the account in the Saga, page 54, of the surprise of earl Rognvald's
men in Kirkwall by earl Thorfinn. In shape and look these longships or warships were long
and narrow, and so less seaworthy than the byrðings, in which the ordinary traffic of the
time was carried on. It is also a question whether the true byrðingr or trading ship, also
called Knörr, was ever rowed unless in very exceptional cases. Sometimes a warship was
called Snekkja, a snake, or Dreki, a drake or dragon; a ship of this name probably differed
in nothing from the mould of other warships, except that it had, as in Eindrid's ship, which
is expressly called a Drake, a figurehead carved like a dragon, and that at the taffrail at
the sterm, it was carved into coils resembling the folds and tail of a serpent. Besides the
thirty, forty, fifty, or more rowers that each longship carried, her crew consisted of a
greater number, some to fight while the oarsmen rowed the ship into action, some to relieve
the rowers when they had rowed a certain time, Thus, to take one instance out of many, earl
Harold's ship, mentioned in the Saga, page 184, was one of forty oars, and yet her crew was
made up of eighty men; and again, page 48, seventy dead are mentioned as having been taken
out of earl Thorfinn's ship, though it had been said before that his ships were not large.
One hundred and twenty men was no unusual number for a longship to carry. It seems to have
been an invariable practice when Northmen fought against Northmen that the attacking side
rowed up to their adversaries, who awaited them, having first lashed their ships together in
line. As soon as the attacking ships came close enough to begin the action, they too were
lashed together, and after a struggle which lasted some time with missiles, in which stones
were largely and constantly employed, the two lines closed together by the action of wind or
tide, and then when the decks of either side had been sufficiently cleared to allow them to
board, those who had the best of it boarded, gengu upp, much in our old English way, and
then cleared the enemy's deck by a struggle hand to hand. All round the ship on both sides a
gangway seems to have run, and when these and the poop and forecastle were cleared the ship
was said to be "hroðit," and the conquerors passed on from her to the next ship in the
enemy's line to which she was as has been said, lashed. In this way action went on, till one
side had so much the best of it and had cleared or captured so many of the enemy that the
day was won. The sign of this stage was the contest was the signal given on the beaten side
to cut away the lashings, höggva tengslin, and to fly. Then as the line was broken every
ship of the worsted party rowed or sailed off and shifted for itself. This was followed by a
similar sundering of the lashings in the conqueror's line, which then ship by ship chased
the flying fæ. Very graphic accounts of such actions will be found in the Saga, page 33,
fol., where the sea fight near Dyrness between earl Thorfinn and king Karl of Scotland is
described, and also at page 47, fol., where the action between earls Thorfinn and Rognvald
off Dunnet Head in the Pentland Firth is minutely detailed. Compare also the account of the
battle at Hjoring væ, in the Iomsvíkinga Saga. These were the fights of Northmen against
Northmen, but an action very nearly resembling a boarding expedition in large boats against
a galleon of great size will be found at page 173, fol., where earl Rognvald with his seven
ships attacked the Moorish Dromond, which was so huge that she loomed through the fog like
an island, while her sides were so tall and round that they could not board her when they
closed with her broadside to broadside, and at last had to hew their way into her through
her ironbound sides. This combat with the Dromond reminds one much of Drake or Hawkins or
Cavendish capturing the huge galleons or carracks of the Spaniards off the Spanish
Main.
23. The Flatey Book reads for Humrumynni Hverumynni, that is, "Wearmouth." If so,
the sand in question must be sought for off the mouth of the Wear in Durham; and as even the
Flatey Book may have sometimes a good reading, this may be one of the exceptional merits of
that text.
24. The text says only Föstumorgin snemma, "Friday morning early," but it was
probably Good Friday morning, as that was the day by which all pilgrims desired to be in the
Holy Land.
1. There was a king named Fornjot, he ruled over those lands which are called
Finland and Kvenland; that is to the east of that bight of the sea which gæs northward to
meet Gandvik; that we call the Helsingbight. Fornjot had three sons; one was named Hler,
whom we call Ægir, the second Logi, the third Kari; he was the father of Frost, the father
of Snow the old, his son's name was Thorri; he (Thorri) had two sons, one was named Norr and
the other Gorr; his daughter's name was Goi. Thorri was a great sacrificer, he had a
sacrifice every year at midwinter; that they called Thorri's sacrifice; from that the month
took its name. One winter there were these tidings at Thorri's sacrifice, that Goi was lost
and gone, and they set out to search for her, but she was not found. And when that month
passed away Thorri made them take to sacrifice, and sacrifice for this, that they might know
surely where Goi was hidden away. That they called Goi's sacrifice, but for all that they
could hear nothing of her. Four winters after those brothers vowed a vow that they would
search for her; and so share the search between them, that Norr should search on land, but
Gorr should search the outscars and islands, and he went on board ship. Each of those
brothers had many men with him. Gorr held on with his ships out along the sea-bight, and so
into Alland's (1) sea; after that he views the Swedish scars far and wide, and all the isles
that lie in the East salt sea; after that to the Gothland scars, and thence to Denmark, and
views there all the isles; he found there his kinsmen, they who were come from Hler the old
out of Hler's isle, (2) and he held on then still with his voyage and hears nothing of his
sister. But Norr his brother bided till snow lay on the heaths, and it was good going on
snow-shoon. After that he fared forth from Kvenland and inside the sea-bight, and they came
there where those men were who are called Lapps, that is at the back of Finmark. But the
Lapps wished to forbid them a passage, and there arose a battle; and that might and magic
followed Norr and his men; that their fæs became as swine (3) as soon as they heard the
war-cry and saw weapons drawn, and the Lapps betook themselves to flight. But Norr fared
thence west on the Keel, (4) and was long out, so that they knew nothing of men, and shot
beasts and birds for meat for themselves; they fared on till they came where the waters
turned to the westward from the fells. Then they fared along with the waters, and came to a
sea; there before them was a firth as big as it were a sea-bight; there was a mickle tilths,
and great dales came down to the firth. There was a gathering of folk against them, and they
straightway made ready to battle with Norr, and their quarrel fared as was to be looked for.
All that folk either fell or fled, but Norr and his men overcame them as weeds over
cornfields. Norr fared round all the firth and laid it under him, and made himself king over
those districts that lay there inside the firth. Norr tarried there the summer over till it
snowed upon the hearths; then he shaped his course up along the dale which gæs south from
the firth; that firth is now called Drontheim. Some of his men he lets fare the coast way
round Mæren; he laid under him all withersæver he came. And when he comes south over the
fell that lay to the south of the dalebight, he went on still south along the dales, until
he came to a great water which they called Mjösen. Then he turns west again on to the fell,
because it had been told him that his men had come off worsted before that king whose name
was Sokni. Then they came into that district which they called Valders. Thence they fared to
the sea, and came into a long firth and a narrow, which is now called Sogn; there was their
meeting with Sokni, and they had there a mickle battle, because their witchcraft had no hold
on Sokni. Norr went hard forward, and he and Sokni came to handstrokes. There fell Sokni and
many of his folk.
2. After that Norr fared on into the firth that gæs north from Sogn. There Sokni had ruled
before in what is now called Sokni's dale. There Norr tarried a long time, and that is now
called Norafirth. There came to meet him Gorr his brother, and neither of them had then
heard anything of Goi. Gorr too had laid under him all the outer land as he had fared from
the south, and then those brothers shared the lands between them. Norr had all the mainland,
but Gorr shall have all those isles between which and the mainland he passes in a ship with
a fixed rudder. And after that Norr fares to the Uplands, and came to what is now called
Heidmörk (5); there that king ruled whose name was Hrolf of the Hill; he was the son of
Svadi the giant from north of the Dovrefell. Hrolf had taken away from Kvenland Goi,
Thorri's daughter; he went at once to meet Norr, and offered him single combat; they fought
long together and neither was wounded. After that they made their quarrel up, and Norr got
Hrolf's sister, but Hrolf got Goi to wife. Thence Norr turned back to the realm which he had
laid under him, that he called Norway; he ruled that realm while he lived, and his sons
after him, and they shared the land amongst them, and so the realms began to get smaller and
smaller as the kings got more and more numerous, and so they were divided into provinces.
3. Gorr had the isles, and for that he was called a sea-king; his sons were they Heiti and
Beiti, they were sea-kings and mighty overbearing men. They made many inroads on the realm
of Norr's sons, and they had many battles, and now one, now the other won the day. Beiti ran
into Drontheim and warred there; he lay where it is now called Beitsea and Beitstede; thence
he made them drag his ship from the innermost bight of Beitstede, and so north over
Elduneck, that is where the Naumdales come down from the north. He sat himself on the poop
and held the tiller in his hand, and claimed for his own all that land that then lay on the
larboard, and that is many tilths and much land. Heiti, Gorr's son, was father of Sveiði the
sea-king, the father of Halfdan the old, the father of Ivar the Uplanders' earl, the father
of Eystein the noisy, the father of earl Rognvald the mighty and the wise in council. (6)
4. Earl Rognvald joined Harold fair-hair when he seized the land, but he (Harold) gave him
lordship over both the Mæren and Romsdale; (7) he had to wife Ragnhilda the daughter of
Hrolf nosy; their son was Hrolf who won Normandy, he was so tall that horses could not carry
him; for that he was called Ganging-Hrolf; from him are come the Rouen Jarls and the English
Kings; their son was also Ivar, and Thorir the silent. Rognvald had also base-born sons,
their names were Hallad and Hrollaug and Einar, he was the youngest. Harold fair-hair fared
one summer west across the sea to chastise the Vikings, when he was weary at the
peacelessness of those who harried in Norway in summer, but were in the winter in Shetland
or the Orkneys. He laid under him Shetland and the Orkneys and the Southern Isles; he fared
west too as far as Man, and laid waste the tilths of Man. He had there many battles, and
took as his own lands so far west that no king of Norway has ever owned land further west
since. And in one battle, Ivar, son of earl Rögnvald, fell. But when king Harold sailed from
the west, then he gave to earl Rognvald, as an atonement for his son, Shetland and the
Orkneys; but earl Rognvald gave both lands to Sigurd his brother: he was one of king
Harold's forecastle men. The king gave Sigurd the title of earl when he went from the west,
and Sigurd stayed behind there in the west.
5. Earl Sigurd made himself a mighty chief; he joined his fellowship with Thorstein the red,
son of Olaf the white and Aud the deep-minded, (8) and they won all Caithness and much else
of Scotland, Moray and Ross; there he caused to be built a burg southward of Moray. These
two agreed between themselves to meet, Sigurd and Melbricta toothy the Scot-earl, that they
should meet and settle their quarrel at a given place, each with forty men. And when the day
named came, Sigurd thought to himself that the Scots were faithless. He made them mount
eighty men on forty horses; and when Melbricta got to see them, he said to his men: "Now are
we cheated by Sigurd, for I see two feet of a man on each horse's side, and the men must be
twice as many again as the steeds that bear them. Let us now harden our hearts, and let us
see that each has a man for himself before we die;" and they got ready after that. And when
Sigurd saw their plan, he said to his men: "Now half of our force shall get off horseback
and come on them in flank when the battle is joined; but we will ride at them as hard as we
can, and break in sunder their array." And so they met and there was a hard battle, and not
long before Melbricta fell and his followers, and Sigurd caused the heads to be fastened to
his horses' cruppers as a glory for himself. And then they rode home, and boasted of their
victory. And when they were come on the way, then Sigurd wished to spur the horse with his
foot, and he struck his calf against the tooth which stuck out of Melbricta's head and
grazed it; and in that wound sprung up pain and swelling, and that led him to his death. And
Sigurd the mighty is buried under a "how" at Ekkjalsbakka. (9) Guttorm was the name of
Sigurd's son; he ruled the lands one winter and died childless. And when earl Rognvald of
Mæren learnt the death of that father and son, he sent his son Hallad west, and king Harold
gave him the title of earl. And when Hallad came west, he sate down in Hrossey, but Vikings
went about the isles and over in Caithness; they slew and robbed men. But when the yeomen
brought their scathe before earl Hallad, then he thought it hard to right their lot, and he
grew weary of the dignity; he turned himself out of the earldom, and took up his freehold
right, and went back to Norway; and his journey was thought the greatest mark for
mockery.
6. Two Dansk Vikings set themselves down in the lands; the name of the one was Thorir
tree-beard, but the other's Kalf Skurvy; and when earl Rognvald learnt this, he took it very
ill to heart, and fetched before him his sons Thorir and Hrollaug. Hrolf was then out
warring. Rögnvald asked which of them would go west into the isles. Thorir bade him see
about his passage. "So says my mind about this," says the earl, "that your thriving will be
most here, and your ways lie not hence." Then Hrollaug asked, "Wilt you that I go?" The earl
says, "Not for you will the earldom be destined, and the spirits that follow you lie towards
Iceland; there wilt you increase your race and be a famous man in that land."" Then Einar
went forward, the youngest of his sons, and said, "Wilt you that I go to the isles? I will
promise that I will never come back into your eyesight; besides I have here little good to
part from, and it is not to be looked for that my thriving will be less anywhere else than
here." The earl says, "Unlikely are you for a chief for your mother's sake, for she is
thrall born on all sides, but true it is that I should think it all the better that you
gæst soon away and comest late back." Rögnvaldr gave Einar a ship of twenty benches fully
maned, but king Harold gave him the title of earl.
7. Einar sailed west to Shetland, and there folk gathered to him; after that he went south
into the Orkneys, and held on at once to meet Kalf and his companion. There a battle arose,
and both those Vikings fell. Then this stave was sung: "He gave Treebeard to Trolls.
Turf-Einar slew Skurvy." After that he laid the lands under him, and made himself the
greatest chief. He first of men found out how to cut turf out of the earth for firewood on
Turfness in Scotland, for they were ill off for wood in the isles. Einar was a tall man and
ugly, one-eyed, and yet the sharpest-sighted of men.
8. When the sons of Harold fair-hair had grown to man's estate, they became most overbearing
men and unruly within the land; they fell on the king's earls, some they slew, but some they
drove from their owndoms. Snowfrid's sons, Halfdan long-leg, and Gudred the bright, fell on
earl Rognvald of Mæren, and slew him, and took to themselves his realm. But when king Harold
heard that, he grew very wrath, and went out against his sons. Halfdan rushed on ship-board
and sailed west across the sea, but Gudred gave himself up to his father's power. King
Harold gave Thorir as an atonement for his father, Alofa harvest-heal his daughter, and the
title of earl, and all that his father left behind him. Halfdan long-leg came into the
Orkneys, and as soon as it was known that a son of king Harold was come there, then men
became full of fear. Some became Halfdan's liegemen, but earl Einar fled away out of the
isles and up into Scotland. Halfdan laid the isles under him, and made himself king over
them. Einar came back that same year, and he and Halfdan met; there arose then a great
battle, and Einar gained the victory, but Halfdan leapt overboard in the dusk at eventide.
Then Einar sang a stave:
"I see not from Hrolf's hand,
Nor Hrollaug's eke, fly
Dart on the fæman flock,
Father-vengeance befits us;
But while we the battle
This even urged on,
Earl Thorir in Mæren
Over mead-cup sits mute."
Next morning when it was light they went to look for runagate men among the isles if
any had got away; and each was slain on the spot as he stood. Then earl Einar took to saying
these words: "I know not what I see in Rinansey, sometimes it lifts itself up, but sometimes
it lays itself down, that is either a bird or a man, and we will go to it." There they found
Halfdan long-leg, and Einar made them carve an eagle on his back with a sword, and cut the
ribs all from the backbone, and draw the lungs there out, and gave him to Odin for the
victory he had won (10) then Einar sung this:
"Man broad-bearded oft is outlawed,
Many a one, for stealing sheep;
But in isles here I for felling
Mighty Harold's youthful son:
Risk hangs over me, say the freemen,
From the king so courage-full,
Harold's shield I've hewn a hole in,
None can call that dint in doubt."
And again this:
"Ever am I glad since spears,
----Good 'tis daring deeds to do,---
Spears of warriors fond of fight,
Bit the boy-son of the king;
Him I hide not they mislike,
There flew grey across the isles
Bird that feasts on body-wounds,
Wounds of Halfdan, joy of hawks."
After that he made them cast Halfdan's "how," and sang:
"Wreakt I reckon Rognvald's death,
Right in this the Norns have shapen.
Now the people's prop has fallen
To my fourth share of revenge;
Scatter stones you lissom lads,
For a victory we have won,
Scatt to Long-legs here I scatter,
Scatt of stones of grit so hard."
And when this news was heard in Norway, then his brothers took it very ill, and
vowed a vow to fare to the Orkneys and avenge him, but king Harold made them put off their
voyage. Einar sung when he heard of their vow:
"For my life forsooth are many
Eager, as I hear them say,
Mighty men of no mean race,
From divers mansions of the earth;
But for that they do not know,
These, until they lay me low,
Which of us the eagle's claws
Shall bow beneath before all be over."
But sometime after king Harold fared west across the sea and came to the isles.
Einar fled away out of the isles and over to Caithness; after that men came between them and
they made up their quarrel. King Harold laid a fine upon the isles, and bade them pay sixty
marks of gold. Earl Einar offered to bring out the fine alone, and then to own all the
allodial holdings, and the freeholders were willing to do that; for the wealthy thought they
would be able to buy back their holdings, but the poor had no money to pay the fine with.
Einar paid up the fine, and so it was long after that the earls had all the allodial lands,
till earl Sigurd gave back to the Orkneyingers their allodial lands. King Harold fared back
to Norway, but earl Einar ruled over the Orkneys a long time, and died of sickness. He had
three sons. One's name was Arnkell, another Erlend, a third Thorfinn skull-splitter. When
Harold the fair-haired breathed his last, Eric blood-axe was king two winters.
Then came Hacon Athelstane's foster-child from England, but Eric fared out of the
land. He sailed west over the sea, and harried in Scotland and England. But when king
Athelstane heard that he sent men to Eric, and offered to give him some land; he said he had
been a great friend of king Harold, and said that he would show that by honouring his son.
He said also that he would set him at one with king Hacon his foster son. King Eric accepted
this choice, and he gave him Northumberland to rule over; that is a fifth of England. But
for that, Eric had little land and many men, he grew short of money. For that he harried
during the summers, but in the winters he sat at home on his lands; he kept on doing that
while king Athelstane lived. After him his brother Edmund took the realm; he was not such a
friend of the Northmen as king Athelstane, he thought it ill that Eric should have
Northumberland. And one spring king Eric fared north along Scotland, and thence to the
Orkneys, and took with him the earls of the Orkneys, the sons of Turf-Einar, Arnkell and
Erlend. Thence he fared to the Southern Isles, and there too he got a great force. Thence he
fared to Ireland and harried, and he did the like in Bretland (Wales). Thence he fared to
England, and there he harried as he had done elsewhere. Olaf was the name of the king whom
Edmund had set there to ward the land. But for that Eric had a great force, he landed and
went up away from his ships. Olaf also gathered an overwhelming force and fared against king
Eric, and there was a mighty battle. At the beginning of the day the Englishmen fell fast,
but where one fell three came in his stead. But towards the close of the day the loss of men
turned on the side of the Northmen, and the end of it was that king Eric fell and five kings
with him. One of them was called Guthrum; there fell also the earls Arnkell and Erlend, the
sons of Turf-Einar. But when queen Gunnhilda and her sons were ware that Eric had fallen and
that he had before harried the land of the king of England, they thought they knew that
there was no hope of peace for them in England; so they busked them in haste for the
Orkneys. Thorfinn Skullsplitter was then earl there. Then the sons of Gunnhilda took the
isles under them, and were there in the winters but fared a-warring in the summers. But
while Gunnhilda and her sons were in the Orkneys, they heard that there was strife between
the king of the Danes and king Hacon Athelstane's foster-child. Then they thought there was
some hope that they might get help from Harold Gorm's son. Then they began their voyage to
the Dane king. But before they fared out of the Orkneys they gave away Ragnhilda, the
daughter of king Eric and Gunnhilda, to Arnfinn the son of earl Thorfinn, and then Thorfinn
took up his seat (established his rule) in the isles. (11)
9. Thorfinn had five sons. The name of the first was Havard the harvest happy, the second
was Hlodver, the third Ljot, the fourth Skuli, the fifth Arnfinn, Ragnhilda Eric's daughter
wrought her husband Arnfinn's death at Murkle in Caithness; but she gave herself away to
Havard the harvest-happy, his brother. Harvard took the earldom, and was a good chief; and
in his days were good harvests. Einar oily-tongue was the name of a man, Harvard's sister's
son. He was a great chief, and had a great following, and went a-warring in the summers. He
was guest at a feast at Havard's, and at that feast they, Ragnhilda and Einar, talked much
together. She said such a man was well worthy to be a chief, and better fitted for the
earldom than Havard, his kinsman; she called, too, that woman well wedded who had such a
husband. Einar bade her not to take to such words; said he (Harvard) was the noblest man in
the isles, and she full well wedded. Ragnhild answers: "Short henceforth shall be my and
Harvard's wedded life; true it is that there must be men in the isles who will not let
everything grow in their eyes, even if you puttest aside the honour from you." With such
upbraidings Einar's mind turned to greed and guile against the earl his kinsman, and they
settled it between them that he should slay the earl, but that she should be wedded to him.
And sometime after Einar busked himself to that journey, and then a spaeman spoke, who was
with him: "Don't do this work today, but rather tomorrow, else kin-killing will last long in
your family." Einar made as though he heard it not. Havard was then at Stoneness (12) in
Hrossey; there they met one another, and there was a hard battle, and not long before the
earl fell. That place is now called Havard's crofts. And when these tidings were heard,
Einar was thought to have been a mickle dastard for this deed; then Ragnhilda would have no
fellowship with him, and said it was all a lie that she had ever given her word. Then she
sent for Einar hardchaft; he was son of another sister of Harvard's; and when they met, she
said 'twas shame on such kinsmen of his who would not avenge him, and she said she would do
anything that the earl might be avenged. "Besides, too," she said, "it is well known that he
must be most honoured by all good men who avenges the earl, and that man, too, will have won
his way to his realm." Einar answers: "About this it is said," he says, "that you sometimes
say other things than what you have in your heart, but whoso dæs this work must have for it
that you holdest in hand for him the realm and those other things too, which will not be
thought less worth having." So they break off their speech. After this Einar hardchaft fell
on Einar oily-tongue, and slew him; but Ragnhilda sent for Ljot their (Havard's and
Arnkell's) brother, and wedded him. Ljot took the earldom, and became a mighty chief. Einar
hardchaft had now slain his kinsman, but was no nearer the earldom than before. Now he is
very ill pleased with his lot, and would gather men to him, and seek to have the isles by
main force; but he was ill off for men, for the Orkneyingers would only serve the sons of
Thorfinn skull-splitter; and sometime after the earl let Einar hardchaft be slain.
10. Skuli, Ljot's brother, fared away up into Scotland, and there the title of earl was
given him by the Scot-king. After that he came down on Caithness, and gathered folk to him
there; and thence he fared into the isles, and there strove against his brother Ljot for the
realm. Ljot gathers folk, and fared to meet Skuli, and had more men on his side; but when
they met, Skuli would hear of nothing but fighting, so there was a hard battle, and Ljot won
the victory; but Skuli fled over to the Ness and up into Scotland, and there Ljot fares
after him, and stayed there a while, and had more men on his side. And then Skuli rides down
from Scotland with a mighty host, which the Scot-king and earl Macbeth had given him, and he
and Ljot met in the Dales in Caithness, and there arose a mickle battle. And the Scots were
most hot at the beginning of the fight. Earl Ljot bade his men to keep under their shields,
but still to stand as fast as they could. But when the Scots could do nothing, Ljot egged on
his men, and was himself the hottest. And when things had stood so for a while, then the
array of those Scots was broken, and after that they fly; but Skuli kept up the battle,
though he fell at last. Ljot took Caithness under him, and then there was strife between the
King of Scots and earl Ljot, for the Scots were ill pleased at their bad luck. When earl
Ljot was in Caithness with few men, then earl Macbeth came down from Scotland with a mighty
host, and he and Ljot met on Skidmoor in Caithness; and earl Ljot had no great force against
them, but still Ljot went so fast forward, that the Scots they yielded before him, and there
was a short battle before they fled, who chose life, but many were wounded. Ljot turned back
with victory, but his men were much wounded. Earl Ljot also had gotten that wound which led
him to his death, and his death was much mourned.
1. The sea in which are the Åland Isles in the Gulf of Bothnia.
2. Now Læssö in the Cattegat.
3. That is, were panic stricken and rushed wildly about.
4. Keel: The ridge of mountains which forms the watershed, backbone, or keel,
between Sweden and Norway.
5. Now Hedemark.
6. "He was called Rognvald the mighty and wise in council, and men say both were
true names." R. L.
7. "Both the Mæren" are North and South Mæren, which are divided the one from the
other by the Romsdale firth. They stretch north-eastward along the coast from Stadt to
Naumdale."
8. The Flatey Book reads "very wealthy," as Aud was more commonly called.
9. The banks of the Oikel in Sutherland.
10. The Run. Lex. quotes this passage thus: "Then earl Einar went to Halfdan and
carved a blood-eagle on his back in this wise, that he thrust a sword into his trunk by the
backbone and cut all the ribs away, from the backbone down to the loins, and drew the lungs
out there;" omitting the interesting words as to the sacrifice to Odin.
11. The text of this account of Eric blood-axe has been turned into Icelandic from
the Danish Translation, aided by the Heimskringla. In The Flatey Book it is abridged thus:
"Then came Hacon Athelstane's foster-child into the land, but Eric fled away as is before
said. Earls Arnkell and Erlend, sons of Turf-Einar, fell in England with King Eric
blood-axe, as is written before. Gunnhilda and her sons fared afterwards to the Orkneys, and
took them under her, and dwelt there awhile. Then they fared to Denmark, but before they
went gave away Ragnhilda, daughter of Eric and Gunnhilda, to Arnfinn, son of earl Thorfinn,
and earl Thorfinn established himself in the isles."
12. Now Stennis.
11. Hlodver Thorfinn's son took the earldom after Ljot, and was a great chief; he
had to wife Edna, daughter of Kjarval, the Irish king; their son was Sigurd the stout.
Hlodver died of sickness, and is buried under a "how" at Hofn in Caithness. Sigurd, his son,
took the earldom after him; he was a great chief and wide of lands. He held by main force
Caithness against the Scots, and had a host out every summer. He harried in the Southern
Isles, in Scotland and Ireland. It chanced one summer that Finnleik, the Scot-earl, staked
in a battle-field for Sigurd on Skidmoor by a day named, but Sigurd went to ask his mother's
counsel, for she knew many things. (1) The earl told her that there would not be less odds
against him than seven men for one. She answers: "I had reared you up long in my wool-bag
had I known you wouldest like to live for ever; and fate rules life, but not where a man is
come; better it is to die with honour than to live with shame. Take you here hold of this
banner which I have made for you with all my cunning and I ween it will bring victory to
those before whom it is borne, but speedy death to him who bears it." The banner was made
with mickle needlecraft and famous skill. It was made in raven's shape; and when the wind
blew out the banner, then it was as though the raven spread his wings for flight. Earl
Sigurd was very wrath at the words of his mother, and gave the Orkneyingers their allodial
holdings for their help, and so he fared to meet earl Finnleik on Skidmoor, and each drew up
his host in battle array. And when the battle was joined, the banner bearer of earl Sigurd
was shot to death. The earl bade another man go and bear the banner, and after they had
fought a while that man fell. So three banner bearers of the earl fell, but he had the
victory, and then the Orkneyingers got back their allodial rights.
12. Olaf Tryggvi's son was four years in warfare in the western lands since he had come from
Vindland--- the land of the Wends--- before he let himself be baptized in the Scilly isles.
Thence he fared to England --- read Ireland--- and got there to wife Gyda, the daughter of
Kvaran the Irish king. After that he stayed a while in Dublin until earl Hacon sent Thorir
the whiner to lure him thence. Olaf sailed from the west with four ships and came first to
the Orkneys. There he met earl Sigurd in Osmund's væ in South Rognvaldsey with three ships,
and he was boun for warfare. King Olaf let the earl be called on board his ship and said he
wished to talk with him; and when they met king Olaf spoke to him, "It is my will that you
lettest thyself be baptized and all the folk that serve you, else you shall die here at
once, but I will fare with fire and flame over all the isles." But when the earl saw into
what a strait he had come he gave up all his suit into the king's power. The king then let
him be baptized, and took as a hostage his son whose name was Hound or Whelp, but the king
let him be baptized in the name of Hlodvir. Then all the Orkneys became Christian. But king
Olaf then sailed east to Norway, and Hlodvir fared with him, but he lived a short while. But
after that earl Sigurd yielded no obedience to king Olaf. He went into a marriage with a
daughter of Malcolm the king of the Scots, and their son was earl Thorfinn. Earl Sigurd had
before had three sons who were then alive, the name of one of them was Summerled, of the
second Brusi, the third Einar. (2)
13. A little while after the agreement between king Olaf and earl Sigurd Hlodverson, the
earl took to wife the daughter of Malcolm, the Scot-king, and their son was earl Thorfinn.
Earl Sigurd had three other sons, one was called Brusi, the second Summerled, the third
Einar wry-mouth. Five winters (3) after the battle at Svolder, earl Sigurd fared to Ireland,
to help king Sigtrygg silk-beard, but he set up his elder sons over the lands, but his son
Thorfin, he gave over into the hands of the Scot-king, his mother's father, to foster. But
when earl Sigurd came to Ireland, he and king Sigtrygg marched with that host to meet Brian,
the Irish king, and their meeting was on Good Friday. Then it fell out that there was no one
left to bear the raven banner, and the earl bore it himself, and fell there, but king
Sigtrygg fled. King Brian fell with victory and glory.
14. After the fall of earl Sigurd, his sons took the realm and shared it into trithings
among Summerled, Brusi, and Einar. Thorfinn was with the Scot-king five winters old when his
father Sigurd fell. Then the Scot-king gave Thorfinn, his daughter's son, Caithness and
Sutherland and the title of earl, and set up men to rule the land with him. Earl Thorfinn
was early in coming to his full growth, the tallest and strongest of men; his hair was
black, his features sharp, and his brows scowling, and as soon as he grew up it was easy to
see that he was forward and grasping. Those brothers, Brusi and Einar, were unlike in
temper. Einar was a man stern and grasping, unfriendly, and a mighty man for war. Brusi was
a meek man, he kept his feelings well in hand and was humble, and ready-tongued. Summerled
was like to Brusi in temper; he was the eldest of those brothers, and lived shortest, and
died of sickness. After his death earl Thorfinn claimed a share of the realm in the Orkneys.
Einar said that Thorfinn had Caithness and Sutherland, that realm which their father had
owned, and called it more than a trithing of the isles, and would not grant Thorfinn a share
after Summerled; but Brusi was willing to grant it, and gave over the share for his part. "I
will not," he said, "covet more of the realm than that trithing which I own by right." Then
Einar took two lots of the isles under him; then he made himself mighty, and had many
followers, was oft a-warring in the summers, and had a great levy of men out of the land,
but it was quite another story with the spoil. Then the freemen began to be weary of that
toil; but the earl held boldly on with his burdens, and suffered no man to speak a word
against him. Einar was the most overbearing of men. A great dearth arose in his realm from
the toil and outgoings which the freemen had; but in that lot of the land that Brusi had was
great peace and plenty, and the freemen had an easy life; for that he had many friends.
15. There was a powerful and wealthy man named Amund, he dwelt at Hrossey, at Sandwick on
Lopness. His son's name was Thorkell, the properest man of all men who were then growing up
in the Orkneys. Asmund was a wise man, and one of the men most esteemed in the islands. It
fell out one spring that the earl had a mighty levy, as was his wont, but the freemen
grumbled and took it ill, and brought the matter before Amund, and bade him speak to the
earl for a little forbearance. Amund said the earl would turn a deaf ear, "and little will
come of it; as it is the earl and I are good friends, but methinks there is a great risk if
we two should come to a quarrel with our tempers. No," says he, "I will have nothing to do
with it." Then they told their story to Thorkell; he was loath to do anything, but still
promised them his good offices, after being egged on by the men. Amund thought he had been
too hasty in promising. But when the earl held a Thing, then Thorkell spoke on behalf of the
freemen, told the need of the men, and bade the earl spare his people. Einarr answers well,
and says he will give heed to his words: "I had meant now to have six ships out of the land,
but now no more than three shall go; but as for you, Thorkell, don't now ask this any more."
The freemen thanked Thorkell well for his help. The earl fared away on a Viking voyage, and
came back at autumn. But after that, in the spring, the earl had again a levy and held a
Thing with the freemen. Then Thorkell spoke again, and bade the earl spare the freemen. The
earl answers wrathfully, and said that the lot of the freemen should much worsen for his
speech. He made himself so wood and wrath, that he said they should not be both there
another spring safe and sound at the Thing. And so the Thing broke up. But when Amund became
ware of what had passed between the earl and Thorkell, he begged Thorkell to go away. So he
fared over to Caithness to earl Thorfinn, and was there long afterwards, and fostered him,
when the earl was young, and was afterwards called Thorkell fosterer; and he was a man of
mark. Many were the men of might who fled away out of the Orkneys for the overbearing of
earl Einarr. Most fled to earl Thorfinn, some to Norway and to divers lands.
16. As soon as earl Thorfinn was grown up, then he sent a message to Einar his brother, and
asked of him that share of the realm which he thought belonged to him in the Orkneys, but
that was a trithing. Einar was in no hurry to lessen himself so. But when earl Thorfinn
hears that, then he calls out force from Caithness. But when earl Einar was ware of that,
then he gathers force, and gæs against Thorfinn, and means to fight with him. Earl Brusi
also gathers force, gæs to meet them, and brings about an agreement that Thorfinn should
have a trithing of the realm in the Orkneys which he owned by right, but earl Brusi and earl
Einarr laid their lots together. Einar was to have the leadership over them, and the
wardship of the land. But if either of them died before the other, then that one of them who
lived longer should take the lands after the other. But that settlement was thought to be
unfair, for Brusi had a son, whose name was Rognvald, but Einar was sonless. Earl Thorfinn
sets men to keep watch and ward over that realm which he owned in the Orkneys; but he was
most often in Caithness.
17. Earl Einar (4) was most often in the summers in warfare round Ireland and Scotland and
Wales. It happened one summer when he was warring on Ireland that he fought in Ulfreksfirth
(5) with Konufogur the Irish king. Earl Einar there got a mighty defeat and loss of men. The
next summer after Eyvind Urarhorn fared from the west from Ireland, and meant to steer for
Norway. The weather was sharp, and there was a great storm. Then Eyvind put in to Osmund's
væ, (6) and lay there weather bound a while. But when earl Einar learns that, then he went
there with a great force, and he took there Eyvind, and made them slay him, but gave peace
to most of his men. They fared home to Norway about autumn, and went to find king Olaf, and
told him how Eyvind had been taken off. The king answers little about it, and yet it could
be found out that he thought this a mickle manscathe, and wrought more against himself than
any one else. The king was short of words whenever he thought anything much against his
mind. Earl Thorfinn sent Thorkell, his fosterer, out into the isles to get together his
scatts and tolls. Earl Einar laid at Thorkell's door much of that rising against him which
had happened when earl Thorfinn laid his claim out in the isles. Thorkell fared hastily out
of the isles over to the Ness, and told earl Thorfinn that he had become sure of this, that
earl Einar meant death for him, if his friends or kinsmen had not given him warning. "Now I
must choose one of these two things, either to let the earl's and my meeting be so that we
may settle our business once for all; or that other to fare further away, and there where
the earl shall never have power over me." Earl Thorfinn was very eager that he should fare
east to Norway to meet King Olaf. "You wilt," says the earl, "be made much of wherever you
art with honourable men; but I know both your tempers, the earl's and thine, that you two
would be but a scant time before you came to blows." Then Thorkell busked him to go to king
Olaf, and fared about autumn to Norway, and was with king Olaf that winter in great love;
the king took Thorkell much into his counsel. He thought, as was true, that Thorkell was a
wise and very able man. The king found out from his talk that he was very uneven in his
stories about the earls, and that he was a great friend of Thorfinn, but slow to praise earl
Einar. And early next spring the king sent a ship west over the sea to find earl Thorfinn,
and this bidding, by word of mouth, that the earl should come to see him. He did not lay the
journey under his pillow, for words of friendship came along with the message.
18. Earl Thorfinn fared east to Norway and came to see king Olaf. He got there a good
welcome, and stayed there long on in the summer. But when he made ready to go west, then
king Olaf gave him a great and good longship, with all her tackling. Thorkell fosterer made
up his mind to go with earl Thorfinn, and the earl gave him that ship which he had brought
from the west that summer. The king and the earl parted the best of friends with great love.
Earl Thorfinn came back about autumn to the Orkneys. But when earl Einar heard this, he got
many men together and lay aboard ship. Earl Brusi went to meet those brothers, and tried to
bring about a settlement between them, and so it came about that they were set at one again,
and bound that with oaths. Thorkell fosterer was then to be taken into that settlement, and
into friendship with earl Einar, and that was also said that each of them should make the
other a feast, and the earl was to come first to pay Thorkell a visit at Sandwick. But when
the earl was there at the feast, he was treated in the bravest way. The earl was not
cheerful. There was a mickle hall there, and doors at both ends. That day on which the earl
was to go away, and was busking himself, Thorkell was to go along with him to the feast,
Thorkell sent men forward to spy out on the road along which they were to fare that day; but
when they came back they told Thorkell that they found there three ambushes and men with
weapons; "and we think, to say you sooth, that treachery must lie under this." But when
Thorkell learned that he put off his busking and got his men together. The earl bade him
busk himself and said 'twas high time to ride. Thorkell said he had much to look after. He
went sometimes out and sometimes in. Fires were on the floor. Then Thorkell went in at one
of the doors and with him a man who is named Hallvard. He was a man from Iceland, an
Eastfirther by kin. He shut the door after them. Thorkell went inside along the hall between
the fire and where the earl sate. The earl asked, "Art you boun now?" Thorkell answers, "I
am boun now." Then Thorkell hewed at the earl on his head. The earl fell forward stooping on
the floor. Hallvard said, "Here I see the worst of all wrestling tricks, that you do not
draw the earl from the fire." Then he thrust an Irish axe (7) under the nape of the earl's
neck, and jerked him up on the bench. Then both those comrades Thorkell and Hallvard, went
out hastily, by the other doorway facing that by which they went in, and there outside stood
Thorkell's men armed to the teeth. The earl's men looked to him, but he was then dead, and
the hands of all failed them to avenge him; besides, it was all done in a hurry, for no man
looked for such a deed from Thorkell; for they all thought that it would be, as was already
agreed, that there should be friendship between the earl and Thorkell. Most of the men too
were weaponless who were inside the hall, and many of them good friends of Thorkell of yore.
It happened too by that fate by which longer life was allotted to Thorkell. When Thorkell
came out he had no less force than the earl's men. Then Thorkell fared to his ship, but the
earl's men went away. Thorkell sailed away that day east into the sea, and that was after
the winter had begun. Then they came safe and sound to Norway. Thorkell went at once to find
king Olaf, and he got there a good welcome: The king showed himself well pleased at this
deed. Thorkell was with him that winter.
19. After the falling away of earl Einar, earl Brusi took that lot of the lands which earl
Einar had before had, for it was with many men's witness on what terms Brusi and Einar had
gone into partnership. It seemed most right to earl Thorfinn that each of them should have
half the isles; but still Brusi had that winter both lots of the isles. But the spring after
Thorfinn laid claim to the land against Brusi, saying that he will have half the lands, but
Brusi would not say yes to that; so they summoned meetings about those matters. Then their
friends went about to settle the business, and so it came out not only that Thorfinn would
let nothing else please him than to have half the isles; but he says at the same time that
Brusi, with the temper he had, had no need of more than a trithing. "I grudged not," says he
(Brusi), "to have a trithing of the land which I took after my father as my heritage; and no
one challenged my right to that; but now I have taken another trithing after my brother by
lawful agreement. But though I am unable to strive in rivalry with you, kinsman, yet I will
look to some one else rather than consent to give away my realm in such a way." When things
had gone so far at that parley they parted. But when Brusi saw that he could not stand on
even feet against Thorfinn, for that he had a much greater realm, besides the trust that he
had in the Scot-king, his mother's father, then he, Brusi, made up his mind to fare away out
of the land east to find king Olaf, and he had with him his son Rognvald, who was then ten
winters old. But when the earl met the king, he gave him a good welcome. But when the earl
unfolded his errand, and tells the king the whole story of what had happened between his
brother and himself, and begged the king to lend him strength to hold his realm, he offered
him at the same time in return his entire friendship. The king answers, and began first to
say how Harold fair-hair had owned all the allodial land in the Orkneys, "but the earls have
held it since in fief, but never as their owndom; and that is a token," says he, "that when
Eric blood-axe and his sons were in the Orkneys, then the earls were bound to do them
service. But when Olaf, Tryggvi's son, my kinsman, came there, then earl Sigurd, your
father, made himself his man. Now I have taken all the heritage after him. Now I will make
you that choice that you becomest my man; then will I give over to you the isles in fief;
then we two will try, if I lend you my strength, whether it shall stand you in better stead,
or whether his trust in the Scot-king, to your brother Thorfinn. But if you wilt not take
this choice, then must I look after those rights and owndoms which our kinsmen have held
there away west."" The earl bore these sayings in his mind, and laid them before his
friends, and asked counsel of them to what he should consent, and whether he should strike a
bargain with king Olaf on those terms and become his man. "But it is not at all plain to me
what my lot will be when we part, if I say nay; for the king has made bare to me his claim,
that he thinks he owns the isles. But with his boldness of purpose, and bearing in mind this
too that we have come here, it will be a little thing for him to do just as he pleases with
our affair." But though the earl found manifest fault with both courses, whichever way he
went, still he took that choice, to lay all in the king's power, both himself and his realm.
Then king Olaf took from the earl power and lordship over all his lands of heritage, and
then the earl was made the king's man, and bound that with oaths.
20. Earl Thorfinn learnt that Brusi his brother had fared east to find king Olaf, to seek
trust from him; but because Thorfinn had before fared to find king Olaf and got himself into
friendship there, then he thought he had made it all right there beforehand, and knew that
many there would back his cause; so earl Thorfinn takes this counsel: he makes ready his
voyage as speedily as he can and fared to Norway, and thought that he should make the
passage almost as soon as Brusi, and that his errand would not be brought to an end. But
when Thorfinn met the king, it was another way than he had thought; for when he came to see
king Olaf, all that bargain between the king and Brusi was made and struck. Besides, earl
Thorfinn did not know that Brusi had given up his realm before ever earl Thorfinn had come
to see king Olaf. But as soon as they met, the earl and king Olaf, then the king raised the
same claim to the realm in the Orkneys which he had already made to Brusi, and bade Thorfinn
do the same thing, that he should yield over to the king those lots of the lands which he
already owned. The earl answers well to the king's words, and spoke so as to show that he
set great store on his friendship. "And if you, lord," said the earl, "think that you need
my help against other chiefs, then you have won it fully; but it is not in my power to yield
you homage, for I am already the Scot-king's earl, and bound to do him service." But when
the king found that there was drawing back in the earl's answers as to this question which
he had raised, then the king spoke: "If you, earl, wilt not become my man, there is yet
another choice, that I set that man up over the Orkneys whom I will, and my will then is
that you take oath to lay no claim to their lands, and to let them be in peace for you whom
I set up. But if you wilt have none of these choices, then it must so seem to those whom I
set up, as though strife were to be looked for them from you; then may you not think it
wonderful though the dale comes to meet the hill." (8) The earl answers, and bade the king
give him time to think over that matter. The king did so, and gave the earl time and leave
to take counsel with his friends as to this. Then the earl begged the king to grant him time
till the next summer, and that he might fare home first of all. "All my councillors are at
home," (9) he says, "and I am but a child for my years' sake." But the king bade him choose
one of the two courses there and then. Thorkell fosterer was then with the king; he sent men
stealthily to the earl, and besought him not to think, whatever might be on his mind, of
parting so with king Olaf that they were not good friends, just when he had put himself in
the king's hands. He (Thorkell) thought he could see that the only choice left him was to
let the king have his will in everything. It seemed to them (Thorkell and his friends)
though not at all a good choice to have no hope one's self of one's heritage, and to take an
oath to the effect that they might have that realm in peace who were not born to it. But
because that he thought it uncertain about his going away, then he made that choice to give
himself over into the king's hand, and become his man as his brother Brusi had done. The
king found out that Thorfinn was of a much higher spirit than Brusi, and for that sake he
trusted Thorfinn less; the king saw too that he would think he might look for strength from
the Scot-king, even though he broke this agreement; the king understood that out of his
wisdom. Brusi went unwillingly into all the agreement, but spoke nothing but what he meant
to hold; but where Thorfinn was he went gladly at everything; as soon as ever he had made up
his mind what part he should take, (then he went gladly into every condition) (10) and did
not stickle in the least at what the king asked the first evening; but the king doubted that
he must mean to go back on some of his undertakings.
1. That is "by witchcraft."
2. The true text here is preserved only in the Danish Translation, in its place The
Flatey Book has a long chapter out of the Saga of king Olaf, Tvyggvi's son, as contained in
Fms. That chapter will be found in the Appendix.
3. Thus, according to the chronology of the Icelandic writers, it was in reality
fourteen years afterwards.
4. The Flatey Book begins here a new section of the Saga thus: "The chapter of those
Orkneyingers. A mighty man of war in the Orkneys was earl Einar, earl Sigurd's son. He was
thought no fair man. He warred in Ireland, etc."
5. Lough Larne in Ireland.
6. Now Osmondswall in the Orkneys.
7. In the original Sparða, some sort of bill or pole-axe. The word occurs as "spart"
or "spert" in mediæval lists of arms in England. See Hist. Com. Report for 1877. I. p.
491.
8. A proverb meaning that Thorfinn must not be surprised if the natural result
followed.
9. In the Runic Lex. the whole passage runs thus: "earl Thorfinn said, as was true,
that most of his councillors were at home."
10. The sentence in brackets is a repetition.
21. When king Olaf had thought over with himself the whole matter, he let them blow
the trumpets for a great gathering of men, and made them call both the earls there. Then
he spoke thus: "I will now declare before the whole people the settlement between the Orkney
earls and myself. They have now agreed to my absolute right over the Orkneys and Shetland,
and made themselves my men, and bound that with oaths, and I will now give them in fief, to
Brusi one trithing and to Thorfinn another as they have had before; but that trithing which
earl Einar owned, that I make fall to me, for that sake that he slew Eyvind Urarhorn, my
henchman and dear brother in arms. For that lot of the lands, I will take care as I think
good. That, too, I lay on both you brethren, my earls, that you take an atonement from
Thorkell, Amund's son, for the slaying of your brother Einar; and I wish to lay down the
terms of the atonement if you will say yes to that." But it was now as it was in other
things; they said yes to everything the king said. Then Thorkell went forward and bound
himself by the king's award, and so that Thing broke up. King Olaf awarded an atonement for
earl Einar as though for three kings' thanes, but for cause given a trithing of the fine was
to fall to the ground. Earl Thorfinn begged leave of the king to go away, but as soon as he
got that he busked him speedily. But when he was all-boun, it fell upon a day when the earl
was a-drinking on his ship, that there came to him stealthily Thorkell Amund's son, and laid
his head upon his knees, and bade him do with it as he would. The earl asked why he did so,
"now that we are already set at one by the king's doom. Stand up, pray." He did so, and
said, "That atonement which the king made between us I may trust between Brusi and me; but
so far as you have any share in it, you alone shall have your way. Though the king has
awarded me my estates and right to stay in the Orkneys, still I know your frame of mind so
well that I can never go into the isles unless I fare there on your good faith. I will
bind myself to you," he says, "never to come to the Orkneys, whatever the king may have said
about that." The earl held his peace, and was slow to speak, and then he spoke thus: "Wilt
you, Thorkell, that I speak my doom about our matter, and not rest on the king's doom. Then
must I have this beginning of our atonement, that you shallt fare with me to the Orkneys,
and be with me, and never part from me, unless you have my leave; that you shall be bound to
guard my land, and do all things that I will have done so long as we two both live."
Thorkell answers: "That shall be in your power, lord, as well as everything else in which I
may have any voice." Then Thorkell went up (to earl Thorfinn), and bound himself to the earl
in everything that the earl laid down. The earl says that he will utter his doom as to the
payment of the fine (for Einar) afterwards, but he took there and then oaths from Thorkell,
and he turned him then at once to fare away with the earl. Then the earl fared away at once,
as soon as ever he was boun, and he and king Olaf never saw each other more. Earl Brusi
stayed then after him and took more time to busk himself; but before he fared away, king
Olaf had a meeting with him, and said, "It looks to me, earl, that I am like to have you for
a faithful liegeman there away over the western sea, and so I purpose that you shall have
two lots of the lands to rule over, those two I mean which you hadst of yore; and my will is
that you shouldest not be a less man, nor a less powerful, now that you have given thyself
into my hand, than you wast before; but I will clench your faithfulness with this, that I
will that your son Rognvald be here behind. I see then, if you have any trust and two lots
of the lands, that you may well hold your own by right against earl Thorfinn." Brusi took
that with thanks to have two lots of the lands. Brusi stayed there a little while longer
before he fared away, and came about autumn west to the Orkneys. Rognvald, Brusi's son,
stayed behind with king Olaf. He was of all men fairest; his hair was full and yellow, like
silk. He was soon tall and strong; the most perfect man was he both for wit's sake and
courtesy. He was long with king Olaf. Ottar the black makes mention of these things in that
ode which he made on king Olaf:
"Among your thanes are reckoned
Bold lads of Hialti's land,
You gotten have a handy realm
Of princes of the people;
There was no king on earth,
Before you cam'st, warlike lord,
Who underneath his yoke could bow
Those islands of the west."
When those brothers came west to the Orkneys, Thorfinn and Brusi, then Brusi took
two lots of the lands under his lordship, but Thorfinn a trithing. He was ever in Caithness
and Scotland, but set up his men over the isles. At that time Brusi alone kept watch and
ward over the isles. But in that time they were much warred on, for Northmen and Danes
harried much in the west, sea-roving, and came often to the isles when they fared west, or
from the west, and seized this or that ness. Brusi complained that Thorfinn had no force out
to guard the Orkneys or Shetland, but kept the scatts and dues all to his share. Then
Thorfinn made him that offer, that Brusi should have a trithing of the lands, but Thorfinn
two lots, and alone keep watch and ward over the land. But though this arrangement was not
made all at once, yet at last this settlement came about, that Brusi had a trithing and
Thorfinn two lots. This was when Canute had rule in Norway, but Olaf had been forced to fly
out of the land.
22. Earl Thorfinn (1) made himself a great chief; he was the tallest and strongest of men,
ugly, black-haired, sharp-featured, and big-nosed, and with somewhat scowling brows. He was
a mighty man of strife, and greedy both of money and honour; he was lucky in battle, and
skilful in war, and good in onslaught; he was then five winters old when Malcolm the
Scot-king, his mother's father, gave him the title of earl and Caithness as his lordship, as
was written above; but he was fourteen winters when he had war levies out of his land, and
harried on the realms of other chiefs. So says Arnor Earlskald:
"The king amid the crash of helms
Died red his broadsword's edge,
Before fifteen winters he had filled,
Reddener of raven's feet;
Brave chief, of Einar's brothers last,
Lands good to win and guard
He proved himself, a properer man
Is no man beneath the sky."
Earl Thorfinn had much strength from his kinsman the Scot-king; it was a great help
to his power in the Orkneys that that strength was so near. The Scot-king breathed his last
just when those brothers, Brusi and Thorfinn, were set at one again. Then Karl Houndson took
the rule over Scotland; he thought he ought to own Caithness too, like the former
Scot-kings; and he would have scatt from that part of the realm as from other places, but
earl Thorfinn thought he had not too great a heritage after his mother's father, though he
had Caithness. He said that realm had been given to him, and he would pay no scatt for it;
now out of this arose a mighty feud, and each harried the other's realm. King Karl would set
up in Caithness that chief whose name was Mumtan or Muddan; he was his sister's son, and he
gave him the title of earl. Then Muddan rode down on Caithness, and gathered force together
in Sutherland; then news came to earl Thorfinn; and then he drew together a host all over
Caithness; there came too out from the Orkneys Thorkell fosterer, with much force to meet
the earl; then Thorfinn fared to meet Muddan, and had then the greater host. And as soon as
the Scots knew that they had fewer men, they would not fight, (2) and rode up back to
Scotland. Then earl Thorfinn fared after them and laid under him Sutherland and Ross, and
harried far and wide over Scotland; thence he turned back to Caithness, but Thorkell went
out to the isles. The levies of the people also went home. The earl sate in Caithness at
Duncansby, and had there five long-ships, and just so much force as was enough to man them
well. Muddan came to see king Karl in Berwick, and tells him how his paths had not been
smooth. King Karl then got very wrath when he learned that his land was harried; he went
then at once on ship-board, and had eleven long-ships and much people; then he held on north
along Scotland. Muddan he sent back to Caithness with a great force, and he rode the upper
way through Scotland; it was so settled that he should come down thence, and then Thorfinn
would be in a cleft stick. Now it must be told of Karl that he never slackened sail before
he came to Caithness; and then there was scant space between him and Thorfinn. Then Thorfinn
took that counsel to go on ship-board and hold out into the Pentland firth, and he meant to
go to the Orkneys; by that time there was so scant space between them, that Karl and his men
saw Thorfinn's sails as he sailed east across the firth, and they sailed after them at once.
Thorfinn and his men had not seen their sails, and so east he steered along the isles, and
meant to go to Sandwick. He ran in from the east under Deerness, and sent word at once to
Thorkell that he should gather force together. Brusi had the northermost lot of the isles,
and was then there. Thorfinn lay under Deerness, as was written before, and had come there
late. But next morning when it was light, the first thing they found out was that Karl and
his men were rowing up to them with eleven ships. There were then two choices on hand: the
one was to jump ashore and leave the ships and all his goods to his fæs; the other is to
put out to meet them and then let destiny have her sway. Thorfinn called then on his men,
and bade them get out their weapons; he said he would not run away, and bade them row
against them manfully. And after that each side lashed their ships together. Earl Thorfinn
egged on his men much, and bade them be hot, and make the first bout hard. As for the Scots,
he said few of them would stand. This fight was both hard and long, and it was long before
it could be seen which way the day would turn. Of this battle Arnor makes mention in
Thorfinn's ode:
"At last I trow our lord has taught
To mail-linked Karl a lesson,
Away east off Deerness,
The prince's rule prospered:
With war-snakes five the wrathful chief
Rushed against eleven of the king,
And hating flight himself held on
His course with constant heart.
The seamen laid their ships aboard,
Along the thwarts the fæmen fell,
Sharp-edged steel in blood was bathed,
Black blood of Scottish men.
The hero's heartstrings did not quake,
Bowstrings sung and blades were biting,
Shafts were shot and sweat was streaming,
Spear-heads quivered, bright and gleaming."
Now earl Thorfinn egged on his men hotly; then he ran his ship aboard of Karl's
ship, and there was a very hard fight. Then the Scots held together, just before the mast on
the king's ship, and then earl Thorfinn leaps out of the poop and forward on the ship, and
fought most bravely. And when he saw that men grew thin on board Karl's ships, he egged on
his men to board; and when king Karl saw that, he bade them cut the lashings and hold away.
(3) Then Thorfinn and his men cast grappling hooks on board the king's ship. Then Thorfinn
bade them bear up his banner, and he followed it there himself, and a great company of men
with him. Then Karl leapt from his ship with those men that were left upstanding; but the
most part had fallen on board that ship. Karl leapt on board another ship, and bade them
take to their oars, and then the Scots laid themselves out to fly, but Thorfinn chased them.
So says Arnor:
So much shorter was the onslaught,
For my lord to honour dear,
Speedy drove at point of spear,
With less force the fæ to flight:
Over that army sorely smitten
Screamed the seamew bird of battle
Before their red brands sheathed the king's men;
From Sandwick south he fought and won."
Karl held on away south to Broadfirth, (4) and went on shore there and gathered
force anew. Thorfinn turned back after the battle. Then came Thorkell fosterer to meet him,
and then they had much people; then they sailed south to Broadfirth after Karl and his men,
and as soon as ever they came off Scotland they began to harry. Then they were told how
Muddan was north in Caithness at Thurso, and had there a great host; he had also sent to
Ireland after men, for he had there many friends and kinsmen, and there he waited for this
force. Then Thorfinn and Thorkell took this counsel, that Thorkell fosterer should go north
along Caithness with some of the host, while Thorfinn lay behind off Scotland and harried
there. Thorkell went stealthily; besides all the land-folk was true and trusty to him in
Caithness; no news of him went before him until he came into Thurso at dead of night, and
took the house over the heads of Muddan and his men and set fire to it. Muddan slept up in a
loft, and just as he leapt out and down out of the loft gallery, Thorkell hewed at him, and
the blow came on his neck and took off his head. After that the men gave themselves up, but
some got away by running. There many men were slain, but there were a very great many to
whom peace was given. Thorkell stayed there a short while before he fared back to
Broadfirth; he had then a whole host with him which he had got in Caithness and out of
Sutherland and Ross; then he met earl Thorfinn south of Moray, and tells him what had been
done in his travels. The earl thanked him well for his toil; then they both lay there a
while and harried the land.
Now it must be told about king Karl, that he fared up into Scotland after the battle
which he had with earl Thorfinn, and there gathered forces anew. He drew together a host all
from the south of Scotland, both east and west, and from the south all the way to Cantire.
Then also came to meet him that host from Ireland which Muddan had sent after; he sends too
far and wide to chiefs for force, and summoned all that host to meet him against earl
Thorfinn; and the place where he and Thorfinn met was at Turfness, south of Broadfirth.
There arose a mighty battle, and the Scots had a far greater host. Earl Thorfinn was at the
head of his battle array; he had a gilded helmet on his head, and was girt with a sword; a
great spear in his hand, and he fought with it, striking right and left. So it is said that
he was the foremost of all his men. He went there at first where the battle of those Irish
was; so hot was he with his train, that they gave way at once before him, and never
afterwards got into good order again. Then Karl let them bring forward his banner to meet
Thorfinn; there was a hard fight, and the end of it was, that Karl laid himself out to fly,
but some men say that he has fallen. But Arnor says thus:
"Gleaming edge of swords grew gory,
Turfness hight the battle-field,
Young in years the chieftain wrought it,
'Twas on Monday that it fell;
Then to battle there were singing
Blades so thin near Oikel south,
When the sea-king sharp and shifty
Fared to fight with Scotland's lord.
High aloft bore Shetland's lord
Helm amid the crash of spears,
First in fight in Irish blood
The warrior bathed his ruddy brand.
My bounteous lord put forth his might
Under his British shield,
And Hlodver's kinsman caught the host
And set their farms on fire."
Earl Thorfinn drove the flight before him a long way up into Scotland, and after
that he fared about far and wide over the land and laid it under him. He fared then so far
south as Fife, and laid the land under him; men went under him wherever he fared. And then
while he was staying in Fife he sent away from him Thorkell fosterer with some of his force.
And when the Scots knew that, how the earl had sent away from him some of his host, those
very same came against him who had already given themselves up to him; and as soon as ever
the earl was ware of their guile, he fetched together his force and fared to meet them; then
the Scots were slower in their onslaught when they knew the earl was ready for them. Earl
Thorfinn made ready to fight as soon as ever he met the Scots; but then they did not dare to
defend themselves, but broke off at once into flight, and fled wide away to woods and
wastes. And when Thorfinn had chased the fleers, he got together his men, and says that then
he will let them burn all that district in which they were then were, and so pay the Scots
for their enmity and treachery. Then the earl's men fared among thorpes and farms, and so
burned everything, that not a cot stood after them; they slew too all the fighting-men they
found, but women and old men dragged themselves off to woods and wastes with weeping and
wailing. Much folk too they made captives of war and put them into bonds, and so drove them
before them. So says Arnor:
"Homesteads then in blaze were blasted,
Danger that day did not fail them,
Ruddy flame over reeking roofs
Leapt throughout the Scottish land;
Manslayers paid their footing painful
To men, and in one summer's space
Thrice they got the lesser lot
Before our chief, the caitiff Scots."
After that earl Thorfinn fared north along Scotland to his ships, and laid under him
the land wherever he went. He fared then north to Caithness, and sate there that winter; but
every summer thenceforth he had his levies out, and harried about the West lands, but sat
most often still in the winters.
23. Earl Thorfinn did that noble deed in the Orkneys, that he furnished all his body-guard
and many other powerful men all the winter through, both with meat and drink, so that no man
needed to go into inn or boarding-house; just as it is the custom with kings or earls in
other lands to furnish their body-guard and guests with meat and drink at Yule. So says
Arnor:
"All throughout the scourge of serpents, (5)
Rognvald's royal progeny
Drank the lake of barleycorn,
Then the chieftain gleamed in glory."
At this time earl Brusi breathed his last, and then Thorfinn took under him all the
Orkneys. But it must be told of Rognvald Brusi's son, that he was in the battle at
Sticklestead when the saint king Olaf fell; Rognvald got away with the rest of the men who
fled. He brought out of the battle Harold Sigurd's son, king Olaf's brother; Harold was very
much wounded. Rognvald left him to be healed at a small freeman's house, but Rognvald then
fared east across the Keel to Jemtland, and thence to Sweden, to find King ænund. Harold was
with the freeman till he was healed; the freeman then gave his son for a guide to Harold,
and they fared east to Jemtland, and thence to Sweden, and fared much with hooded head. (6)
Harold sung this stave as they ride over some thickets. (7)
Now pass I wood on wood,
Wandering little worth;
Who knows whether I may be
Widely known hereafter."
Harold went in Sweden to meet Rognvald Brusi's son. Thence they both fared east to
Russia, and much folk beside who had been with king Olaf. They did not stop till they came
east into Holmgard (8) to meet king Jarizleif; he made them welcome for the sake of the
saint king Olaf. Then they were made land-warders over Russia, all of them, and earl Eilif,
the son of earl Rognvald Wolf's son.
24. Rognvald Brusi's son stayed behind in Russia when Harold Sigurd's son fared out to
Micklegarth (Constantinople); Rognvald had then the wardenship of the land in the summers,
but was in Holmgard in the winters. King Jarizleif esteemed him much, and all the people
too. Rognvald was, as was written before, taller and stronger than any man; he was the
fairest too of men in his face, and a most gifted man both in mind and body, so that his
match was not to be found. So says Arnor earlskald, that Rognvald had in Russia ten pitched
battles.
"He flourished as a fruitful tree,
And fierce in fight as battle's God,
Ten storms of swords that file the shield
In Russia's regions won."
When they, Einar Thambaskelfir (9); and Kalf Arni's son, sought out Magnus Olaf's
son, east in Russia, Rognvald met them at Aldeigjuborg; (10) then he was just about falling
on Kalf until Einar made him aware in what way it stood with their journey. Einar let
Rognvald be told that Kalf repented him of that wickedness that he had killed the saint king
Olaf from off the face of the land, and now he will atone for that in his son; says that
Kalf then wishes to raise Magnus to rule in Norway and strengthen him against the Knutlings.
And after that Rognvald softened down; then Einar begs him to make up his mind to a journey
with them up to Holmgard, and to back their suit with king Jarizleif, and Rognvald says yea
to that. After that they hire themselves carriage in Aldeigjuborg and drive up to Holmgard,
and find there king Jarizleif, then they bring forward their errand, and say that the rule
of the Knutlings and of Alfifa most of all had got so wearisome to them, that they cannot at
all bear to serve them any longer. Then they beg that king Jarizleif would give over to them
Magnus Olaf's son as a chief. Then Rognvald backs their suit with them, and so dæs Ingigerd
the queen, and many other chiefs. The king was slow to give over Magnus into the hands of
the Northmen, after what they had done towards the saint king Olaf his father: but still it
came about in this way, that twelve of the most noble men swore to king Jarizleif this oath,
that all was true and trustworthy, but king Jarizleif forbore to take the oath of Rognvald
for his faithfulness' sake. Kalf swore that oath to Magnus, that he would follow him without
the land and within the land, and do all those things that Magnus thought more or safer for
his power. After that the Northmen took Magnus for their king, and became hand-bound to him.
Kalf and his friends stayed at Holmgard until Yule went by; then they fared down to
Aldeigjuborg and got ship there; they fared at once from the east as soon as the ice
loosened in the spring; then Rognvald Brusi's son, made up his mind to journey with the
king. They fared first to Sweden, as is said in king Magnus' saga, and thence to Jemtland,
and so from the east across the Keel to Verdale. And as soon as Magnus came into Drontheim,
all the people came under his power. Then he fared to Nidaros, and was there taken to be
king over all the land at the Eyra Thing. After that came about the dealings which he had
with king Sweyn, as is said in the Lives of the kings of Norway.
25. When Rognvald Brusi's son came into Norway, he heard of the death of earl Brusi his
father; he heard also this, that earl Thorfinn had taken under him all the Orkneys. Then
Rognvald was eager to go to his own land, and begged that King Magnus would give him leave
to do that. King Magnus saw that this was needful to Rognvald, and stood well with him in
this matter. Then king Magnus gave Rognvald the title of earl, and three longships, and all
well manned; he gave him also in fief that trithing which king Olaf had owned in the
Orkneys, and which he had given to Brusi, Rognvald's father. Then king Magnus promised to
Rognvald his foster-brother his entire friendship, and said he might reckon his strength his
own whenever he needed it. Thus they parted with such like love-tokens as now were
written.
26. Rognvald Brusi's son sailed west to the Orkneys, and fared first to those homesteads
which his father had owned; then he sent a message to earl Thorfinn his kinsman, and begged
to have that trithing of the isles which his father had owned. He made them also tell
Thorfinn that king Magnus gave him in fief that trithing of the lands which king Olaf had
owned. He begged to have those two lots of the lands at his will of his kinsman Thorfinn.
But at that time earl Thorfinn had great quarrels with the Southislanders and the Irish; he
thought he had much need of help in men, and he made these answers to Rognvald's messengers,
that he shall take of a surety that trithing of the isles which he owned by right, "but that
trithing which Magnus claims as his, then we yielded in that to king Olaf, more for that we
were come within his grasp, than because we thought it right; and so we and our kinsman
Rognvald will agree all the more if we two talk little to each other about that trithing of
the lands; it has long been a cause of quarrel. But if Rognvald will be a trusty kinsman and
strengthener to me, then methinks my realm will be well bestowed if he has that trithing as
a pastime for himself and a strength for both of us. In short, his help is worth more to me
than the scatts which I get from it." After that the messengers fared back, and said to
Rognvald that Thorfinn had yielded to him two lots of the lands, if he will be his
strengthener, as ought to be for kinship's sake. Rognvald says that he had only laid claim
to what he thought he owned. But for that Thorfinn gave the lands up so readily, he said he
would of a surety be willing to lend him help and to be his entire friend, just as their
kinship bound them. Now Rognvald took under him two lots of the lands, and so things stood
that winter. But very early in the spring earl Thorfinn sent word to his kinsman Rognvald,
and begs him to fare a-roving with him, and to bring as many men as he could get with him.
And when these words came to Rognvald, he got ready at once and drew a host together, and
gathered to himself all the ships he could get; and when that host was boun, he fared to
meet earl Thorfinn; then Thorfinn had also got his host boun; and he gave his kinsman
Rognvald a good welcome, and then they went into fellowship together.
27. Those kinsmen Thorfinn and Rognvald harried that summer over the Southern isles and
Ireland, and far and wide about Scotland's firths. Thorfinn laid the land under him wherever
they fared. In the summer they had a great fight in the place called Waterfirth; (11) there
was a great loss of men. They took to battle speedily, and those kinsmen won a bright
victory. Of this battle Arnor earlskald makes mention in Thorfinn's ode: He was there in the
battle.
"There was I where Waterfirth
The place is hight in mickle risk,
With my Lord the friend of man,
Of his works I know the tokens;
From the ships the warriors speedy
Bore the shieldburg, Friday morning
There I saw the grey wolf gaping
Over wounded corse of many a man."
After this battle they turned back to the Orkneys, and sate still through that
winter. And so eight winters went by that Rognvald had two lots of the isles, so that earl
Thorfinn made no complaint about it. But every summer they were a-roving, sometimes both
together, but sometimes each of them by himself, as Arnor says:
"He who loved was often working,
Ireland's offspring fell before him,
When he fell on British races,
Fire flew over Scotland's realm."
28. With those kinsmen everything went always well when they met; but if bad (worse)
men went between them (tale-bearing) the disputes were always talked out. Earl Thorfinn sate
long in Caithness, and Rognvald in the isles. It fell out one summer that earl Thorfinn
harried in the Southern isles and about the West Coast of Scotland. He lay at the place
called Galloway, there Scotland and England meet. He had sent away from him a force south to
England to land and seize and slaughter cattle, for there where he lay with his force all
the folk had fled away, and all the cattle were driven away from him. But when the
Englishmen were ware of the Vikings, they gathered themselves together and fell upon them,
and took from them all the cattle, but slew of them all the men who were fit for anything,
but sent back some runagates, and bade them tell earl Thorfinn how they made Vikings sick of
wrong and robbery; and they had besides about it many scornful words. So they fared to find
earl Thorfinn, and told him how ill they had fared. He took it ill that his men were lost,
but said he could not help it; but this he said he was well able to do, and that was to pay
off the Englishmen for all the gibes and jeers which they made out of the matter; and he
said he must first of all part from them for a while, but if he were safe and sound next
summer he said he and they should meet.
29. At that time Hardicanute was (king) over England and Denmark. After that earl Thorfinn
fared to the Orkneys and sate there that winter. Early in the spring he called out his
levies over all his realm; then he sent a message to his kinsman Rognvald, and Rognvald
agrees to it. Rognvald had a levy over all his realm. Earl Thorfinn drew together a host
from the Orkneys and Caithness; he had also a mighty host from Scotland and Ireland, and
from all the Southern isles people flocked to him. He held on with all that host to England
just as he had promised them the autumn before. Hardicanute was in Denmark when these
tidings happened. But as soon as ever the earls came to England they began to harry and
waste; but those chiefs who were set there to watch the land fared against them with force,
and there was a great and hard battle, and the earls got the victory. After that they fared
far and wide over England, and harried, slew men, and burned the farms wherever they went.
This Arnor mentions in Thorfinn's ode:
"One there was that Angles mind
Storm of spears, nor evermore
Shall the lord of rings come there
WIth a greater force to battle.
Thin-ground swords bit sturdy people,
But the child of ancient Rognvald
Rushed beneath his buckler there,
South from Man across the main.
On English native land his banner
Bore the earl, and often reddened
Tongue of eagles, troops to carry
Ensigns onward still he ordered,
Fire waxed and homes were blazing,
As the army chased the fleers,
Flames spread fast, and near to heaven
Smote the glare of forest's fæman. (12)
Many blasts of horns were blowing,
Through the burgs when bold to battle
Rushed the ruler, while his banner
Fluttered bravely in the breeze.
'Twas on a rainy Friday morning,
When the day scarce beamed for battle,
That the fæman fierce he scattered;
Weapons flew and wolves were fattened."
Earl Thorfinn had two pitched battles in England, but on the other hand he gave them
many defeats and man-slayings. He lay there almost all the summer through, but at autumn he
fared hom to the Orkneys, and was there that winter.
30. At this time Kalf Arni's son fled out of the land before king Magnus. He fared west
across the sea to his nephew-in-law earl Thorfinn. Thorfinn had then to wife Ingibiorg
earlsmother, the daughter of earl Finn Arni's son. Then Kalf was in great love with earl
Thorfinn. He held about him a great following of men; that was very costly to the earl.
There were many, too, then who said out before him that he should not let Rognvald have two
lots of the isles, when he had to spend so much money himself. And after that earl Thorfinn
sent men out into the isles, and asked for that trithing from earl Rognvald, which earl
Einar wrymouth had owned. But when that message came, the earl brought it before his friends
and counsellors. After that he calls there earl Thorfinn's messengers. Rognvald says, that
as for that lot of the isles which they claim, he had taken it in fief from king Magnus, and
that the king called it his father's heritage. Now he said king Magnus had power to say
which of them should own that lot; but he said he would not let it go if it were the king's
will that he should have it. On this the messengers fared away, and tell earl Thorfinn those
words. They said, too, it was surely to be looked for that this would not be got without a
struggle. But when earl Thorfinn heard that, he grew very wrath, and said it was a likely
story that king Magnus was to have his brother's heritage. He said, too, that had been
agreed to more because he and earl Brusi were then come into king Olaf's grasp than because
it was a fair and rightful sharing of the inheritance. "Now methinks Rognvald doth not repay
me well when I have now let him have that realm in freedom for a while, if I shall not now
come near the heritage my brother has left me unless I fight for it." Earl Thorfinn was so
wrath at this, that no long time after he sends men into the Southern isles, and up into
Scotland, and drew a force together. He gave it out too, that he meant to come to blows with
earl Rognvald, and then take that without forbearance which he could not get when he sought
for it in peace. And now, when this is told to earl Rognvald, that earl Thorfinn was
gathering a force against him, he summoned his friends about him, and moots this with them,
that earl Thorfinn his kinsman means to come to blows with him with a host and strife. He
asked then what force they will furnish him with, and says he is not willing to lose his own
without one trial of strength. But when he begged for their judgment on this matter then men
gave it in very different ways. Some spoke after earl Rognvald, and said it was to be
forgiven him that he did not wish to share his realm; but there were some who said it was to
be forgiven to Thorfinn that he wished to have the realm for a while, when Rognvald had
already had that lot which earl Einar had owned. They said, too, it was bad counsel that
Rognvald should lay himself out to fight against Thorfinn with that force which he could get
from two lots of the isles, when Thorfinn had a trithing and Caithness, and a great share of
Scotland and all the Southern isles. There were men, too, who spoke and said that a peaceful
settlement must be sought, who beg that Rognvald would offer earl Thorfinn a half of the
isles, and so in that way their kinship might still be saved. But when Rognval found that
each had a way of his own, but all were against his resisting, then he laid bare his will,
and said that he will not cut his realm asunder by any settlement; that he would far rather
give up the realm at once, and go to seek king Magnus his fosterbrother, and look after what
strength the king will give him to hold his realm. After that he makes ready for his voyage,
and fares east to Norway, nor dæs he slacken his course before he comes into the presence
of king Magnus. And when he is come there, he tells the king the whole story. The king
made earl Rognvald good cheer, and bade him be with him so long as he liked, and to take a
fief of him so large that he could well maintain himself and his people; but earl Rognvald
told the king that he wished he would give him strength enough to seek back his realm. King
Magnus said of a surety he would aid him with strength to get what he asked. Rognvald stayed
a short time in Norway before he began his voyage west to the Orkneys. He had then many
picked men whom king Magnus had granted him. And this went with him too; he (the king) sent
word to Kalf Arni's son, that he should have his lands and leave to live in Norway, if he
would stand by earl Rognvald in this quarrel between him and earl Thorfinn.
1. The Flatey Book heads this chapter with the following passage: "King Olaf,
Harold's son, got no service from earl Thorfinn, since they parted after earl Brusi and they
came to a settlement all together.
2. The Flatey Book "They were slower about an onslaught."
3. The Flatey Book "and get all his fleet of ships under way as fast as they could,
take to their oars and row away."
4. The Moray firth.
5. The scourge of serpents "the winter."
6. With hooded head, very secretly.
7. "when they parted in a thicket."
8. Holmgard, probably Novgorod.
9. Thambaskelfir, "paunch-shaker," from his fatness, or "good archer," "string
twanger," for his skill with the bow.
10. Aldeigjuborg, the burg on the Aldeiga, or Ladoga lake.
11. A firth in the Isle of Skye.
12. forest's fæman; fire.
31. Earl Rognvald sailed from Norway west towards the Orkneys, and made Shetland
from the sea, and drew force to himself, and thence fared south into the Orkneys. There he
summoned his friends to meet him, and gathered force thence. Earl Thorfinn was over in
Caithness, and news came to him at once of Rognvald's doings, and he drew force to himself
from Scotland and the Southern isles. Earl Rognvald sent at once the message of king Magnus
to Kalf Arni's son, and Kalf took in a kind way all that the king had spoken. Earl Rognvald
drew his host together in the Orkneys, and meant to cross over into the Ness. But when he
came into the Pentland firth, then he had thirty war-ships, all big and in good trim. There
came against him earl Thorfinn, and had sixty ships, and most of them small. Their meeting
was off the Red Head, and they ran into battle at once. There, too, was come Kalf Arni's
son, and had six ships, and all great, and did not run into the fight. And now arises the
hardest battle; either earl egged on his people. But when things had gone on so for a while,
the loss of men turns on earl Thorfinn's side, and that was most because the difference in
the height of the ship's sides was great. Thorfinn had a great ship, and in good trim, and
in that he ran forward most bravely. But when the decks of the smaller ships were cleared,
then the earl's ship was run aboard of on both sides; and then they stood in very great
need. Then numbers of men fell on board the earl's ship, but some were very badly wounded.
Earl Rognvald then egged on his men to board; but when earl Thorfinn saw into what a bad
plight they were come, he made them cut his ship away from her lashings and rowed to land.
He made them bear out of his ship seventy corpses. There, too, went out all those who were
unfightworthy for their wounds' sake. Then earl Thorfinn begged Arnor earlskald to go out of
the ship; he was in the earl's train, and held in great love. He went on shore and chaunted
a song:
"This man is loath to go against
Brusi's son, one's lord to follow
Is good, that lesson to the people
Ne'er shall I be found gainsaying;
Hard the choice we have before us
If these earls so full of fury
Fall to blows, a time of trial
For friendship we shall surely see."
Earl Thorfinn mans his ship with the best men he had left. After that he fares to
find Kalf, and asked him for help. He said thus, that Kalf could not get bought back the
friendship of king Magnus when he had already been forced to flee out of the land. "When you
found it no good that you hadst already been taken into very great love. So may you make up
your mind if Rognvald is victorious over us, and if the power of king Magnus and of him
spreads here over the western sea, that then you wilt not be welcome here. But if we win the
day, then nothing shall fall short to you that I have power to give. We two shall be at no
man's mercy here across the western sea, if we two are both of one mind. And you wilt not
surely like to have that on your mind that you lie here like a cat in a cave, while I fight
for the freedom of us both. Besides, there are those ties between us two, that it beseems
each of us better to lend the other help, since men who are bound to you by no ties are
against us." But when Kalf heard the egging on of Thorfinn, he called on his men, and bade
them put out to battle together with earl Thorfinn. As Bjarni Gullbrar-Skald says:
"We have heard, Kalf, to hurly
How Finn's son-in-law you followedst,
And your war-snakes over the waters
Swiftly swept against the earl;
Gold-begetter, vengeance-mindful,
All unwilling to attack
Brusi's son so bold in battle;
Thorfinn had your help at last."
Now they made an onslaught by rowing, both of them together, earl thorfinn and Kalf.
And when they came to the fight, Thorfinn's host was ready to flee, but very many of them
were fallen. The earl ran his ship against the ship of earl Rognvald, and there arose the
hardest fight. So says Arnor:
"I saw both my goldbestowers,
Each the other's henchmen hewing,
On the fitful firth of Pentland;
Thence my grief grew more and more;
Sea was blood-stained, black kept dripping
Gore between the gaping seams,
Sweat was shed on rim of shield,
All the sides with blood were dabbled."
Kalf ran up against the smaller ships of Rognvald and cleared their decks quickly,
for there was a great difference in the height of their sides. But when the levies who had
come from Norway saw ships cleared hard by them, they then loosed their ships from their
lashings and laid themselves out to fly, so that scarce a ship was left behind with the
earl's ship. Then the fight began to turn. So says Arnor earlskald:
"The lord, so brave in burst of battle,
Then had surely laid beneath him
All that ancient land of Orkney,
--- He had far less loss of men, ---
If the sea-king son of Endil
Could have brought that host to help him,
Island-born, but Shetland's lord,
By his army was betrayed."
And now that the main host had fled, then they, Kalf and Thorfinn, both ran aboard
of earl Rognvald's ship, and then many men of earl Rognvald's fell. And when earl Rognvald
saw in what a straight he was come, and that he could not conquer Thorfinn and Kalf both,
then he made them hew the lashings asunder, and laid himself out to fly. Then the day was
far spent, and it began to grow dark. Earl Rognvald sailed at once that night into the main,
and so east to Norway; he did not slacken his course till he came into king Magnus'
presence; he made him welcome now as before, and bade him be with him; and there earl
Rognvald stayed a while.
32. Now it is to be said of earl Thorfinn, that on the morning after the fight he made them
row about all the isles to search for the men who had fled. Many were slain, but some came
to terms of peace; then earl Thorfinn laid under him all the isles, and made every man come
into his hand, (1) and those as well who had been before bound by an oath to Rognvald. He
sat himself up then in the Orkneys with a very great band of men, and drew his supplies from
Caithness on the other side. But Kalf Arni's son, he sends into the Southland isles, and let
him sit there as a means of strength for himself. But when earl Rognvald had stayed in
Norway awhile with king Magnus, he said to the king that he would try back to the Orkneys.
But when the king heard that, he called it unwise to fare before the winter abated and ice
loosened and the sea began to thaw; said he then would give him ships and crews as many as
he needed. Rognvald speaks thus, and said now he was not willing to lose king Magnus' men;
said, too, that it could not be carried out unless with great loss of men, if he gathered a
host to come to blows with Thorfinn and Karl, such a large realm as they have there west: "I
mean now," he said, "to hold on west with one ship, and to man it as well as I can; then I
ween that no news of us will be borne before us. Then it will either be, that we shall come
upon them unawares, and then we may speedily win that victory which we should win hardly or
not at all with a great force. But if they become aware of our voyage, then we will let the
sea still take care of us."
King Magnus bade him fare as he liked, but to come back to him again as soon as he
chose. And after that earl Rognvald makes ready his voyage and takes pains in choosing men
to go with him; and some of the king's bodyguard made up their minds to go with him; then he
had a picked force. And when they were boun they sailed away to sea. That was about the
beginning of winter. (2)
33. Earl Rognvald made Shetland from the sea; then he learnt that earl Thorfinn was in the
Orkneys and had no very great force with him; he had then no fear of war in high-winter. Now
Rognvald held on straightway south to the Orkneys. Earl Thorfinn was then in Hrossey, and
had no fear for himself. But as soon as Rognvald came into the Orkneys he held on there
where he heard Thorfinn was, and came upon him so unawares, that nothing was heard of them
before they had seized all the doors of the house which Thorfinn and his men were in. It was
night then, and most men were asleep, but the earl sat then still a-drinking. Rognvald and
his men bore fire to the homestead; but when earl Thorfinn was ware of the strife, he sent
men to the doors and let them ask, who had sway over the strife. Then it was said that Earl
Rognvald was come there. Then men sprung to their arms. Then nothing could be done in the
way of defence, because outlet was shut to all. The house began soon to blaze. Thorfinn gave
counsel that men should beg for leave to go of the earl, and he allowed it to all women and
unfree men, but said most of earl Thorfinn's bodyguard would be no better to him alive than
dead. So those men were drawn out to whom peace was given and then the whole house was soon
burning. Earl Thorfinn broke away a wainscot panel at the back of the house, and sprung out
there; he had Ingibjorg his wife in his arms. The night was pitch dark and moonless, and he
got away under the smoke, so that the earl's men were not ware of him. He rowed at once that
night alone in a boat over to the Ness. Earl Rognvald burned down the whole homestead, and
all those men who were inside it, to whom leave was not given to go out. Now no man thought
anything else than that earl Thorfinn had lost his life there. After this earl Rognvald
fared about over all the isles and laid them under him. He sent also those words over to
Caithness and to the Southern isles, that he meant to claim all that realm that earl
Thorfinn had owned. No man gainsaid him in this. Earl Thorfinn was in divers places in
hiding in Caithness with his friends, and no news went abroad that he had got away from the
burning.
34. Earl Rognvald sat in Kirkwall, and drew there the stores which he needed to have for his
winter quarters. He had a great band of men, and much good cheer. But a little before Yule
earl Rognvald fared with a great following into the Little Papey to fetch malt, to be brewed
for Yule. And at even, as they were on the isle, they sate long over a roasting fire, and he
who made up the fire spoke and said that the firewood began to fall short. Then the earl
made a slip of the tongue, and these were the words he spoke: "Then are we full old when
these fires are burnt out."
But he meant so to have spoken, that they would then be full warmed. And as soon as
ever he found it out, he said "I have not made a slip of the tongue before this so that I
call it to mind; it comes into my mind what king Olaf my foster-father said at Sticklestead
when I took him up for a slip of the tongue: If it ever happens that I made a slip of the
tongue I might make up my mind that I should then have but a short time unlived. May be that
my kinsman Thorfinn is yet alive."
And just then they heard how that the homestead was girt round by men. There was
come earl Thorfinn. They bore fire at once to the house, and laid up a pile of fuel before
the doors. They allowed all to go out save the earl's men. And when most of the men were
drawn out, a man went out into the doorway in linen underclothes, and begged earl Thorfinn
to stretch out his hand toward the deacon. But that man rested his hands on the balk of wood
across the doorway, and vaulted out over the balk and the ring of men, so that he came down
ever so far off all of them, and was lost in the darkness of night. Thorfinn bade them hold
on after him, and says there went earl Rognvald, "this is his nimbleness, and no one's
else."
Then they fared to hunt for him, and parted themselves into companies, and Thorkell
fosterer went along the sea-shore to search. They heard how a dog barked among the rocks on
the seashore. Earl Rognvald had his lapdog with him, and he betrayed the earl. (3) They put
him to death at once among the rocks, and it is the story of some men that Thorkell fosterer
slew him, because there were no other men who would do it. But he had sworn to do all those
deeds which seemed to Thorfinn more for his realm's safety than otherwise. Thorfinn and his
men stayed that night on the isle, and there all the train that had followed Rognvald there
were slain. But the morning after they took a ship of burden and laded her with malt. After
that they went on board, and left the shields at stem and prow which Rognvald and his men
had owned. They let, too, no more men be seen in the ship than had followed the earl. Then
they rowed to Kirkwall. And when the followers of Rognvald who were in the town saw that,
they thought that there earl Rognvald must be coming and his men; then they went to meet
him, and most of them unarmed. Earl Thorfinn let them there take about thirty men and slay
them. They were most of them of king Magnus' bodyguard and his friends. The earl gave peace
to one of king Magnus' bodyguard, and bade that man fare east to Norway and tell these
tidings to king Magnus.
35. The body of earl Rognvald was carried to the Greater Papey, and there buried; and it was
the saying of men that he has been by far the best bred man and with most friends of all the
Orkney earls, and his death was a great grief to many a man. After that earl Thorfinn laid
all the isles under him, and now no man gainsaid him in that. Early in the spring came these
tidings east to Norway, and king Magnus thought the loss of Rognvald, his foster-brother,
the greatest scathe, and said he would avenge him as soon as ever he had time. But he had at
that time great strife with king Sweyn Ulfson, who had then let himself be chosen to be king
over Denmark.
36. At that time came into Norway Harold Sigurd's son, the kinsman of king Magnus, and king
Magnus gave him half Norway. They were both kings in Norway one winter. Then they called out
a levy over all Norway and meant to go south to Denmark. But when they lay in the Selisles
two long-ships ran into the haven, and up to king Magnus' ship. A man went from the long
ship in a white cowl, and aft along the ship and up into the poop. The king sate over meat.
This man hailed the king, and bowed before him, took up a loaf of bread and broke a bit off
and ate. The king took his greeting, and reached out to him the bowl when he saw that he ate
the bread. This man took the bowl, and said: "We want peace, messmate."
The king looked at him, and said, "Who are you?"
"I am Thorfinn, Sigurd's son."
"Are you earl Thorfinn," says the king.
"So I am called west yonder," says he, "but I am come here with two ships of twenty
benches each, and rather well manned, so far as we are able. Now I will row on this levy
with you, if you will take help of me. But all my matter and I myself shall be at God's
command and yours, lord, for the sake of those great misdeeds which I have broken against
your will."
Then men went up and heard their talk. The king was slow in answering, and spoke
thus: "True it is, earl Thorfinn, that I had not meant, if the meeting of us two ever took
place as it has now done, that you should be able to tell of our parting. But now things
have happened so, that it beseems not my honour that I should take and kill you, now you
shall fare with me, but the terms of our atonement I will utter at my leisure."" Earl
Thorfinn bade the king good-bye, and went to his ships. The king lay a very long time in the
Selisles. Then a host gathered there to him out of the Bay. He meant to sail thence south
under Jutland as soon as he got a fair wind. Earl Thorfinn was then often long a-talking
with the king. The king treated him well, and took him much into his counsels. It fell out
one day that the earl went on board the king's ship, and aft into the poop. The king bade
him sit by him. The earl sat him down, and they both drank together and were merry. A tall
brisk man in a red kirtle came into the poop, that man hailed the king. The king took his
greeting blithely; that was one of the king's bodyguard. This man began to speak, and said,
"You am I come to find, earl Thorfinn."
"What will you of me," says the earl. "I want to know with what you will atone to me
for my brother, whom you let to be slain west in Kirkwall, along with other thanes of king
Magnus."
"Have you not heard that," says the earl, "that I am not wont to atone for those men
with money whom I cause to be slain. And this is how it is, that methinks I have always had
good cause when I have let men be slain."
"It is no business of mine how you have done by other men, if you atonest for this
one, on whose behalf I make this claim. Besides, I left behind me there some goods of my
own, and for myself I was shamefully treated. I have the best right, therefore, to make this
claim in my brother's name and my own, and I will have amends for it. But the king may as
well forgive everything that is done against him, if he thinks it nothing worth when his
thanes are led out and hewn down like sheep."
The earl answers: "I see plainly that it is all the better for me here that you have
not had power over me. Are you not that man to whom I gave peace yonder."
"Sure enough I am," says he; "it was in your choice to slay me there and then like
other men."
Then the earl answers: "Sooth it is, as the saying gæs, that 'many things happen
that one least looks for.' I thought then that I could never be so placed that I should have
to pay for being too peaceable to my fæs; but now I am to smart for having given you mercy.
You wouldest not be able to cry out against me today before princes if I had let you be
slain like the rest of your companions."
The king looked at the earl and said: "There it comes out though, earl Thorfinn,
that you thinkest you have slain too few of my thanes without atonement."
The king was then as red as blood. The earl sprang up then, and went down out of the
poop and on board his ship. Then all was quiet that evening. But next morning, when men were
woke, a fair breeze was come. Then men rowed straightway out of the haven. The king sailed
then south into Jutland's sea with all the fleet. The earl's ship sailed a good deal
westward to the open sea at the beginning of the day; but when the day began to wear away,
the earl steered west into the main. There is nothing to be said about him before he came to
the Orkneys and sate down there in his realm. King Magnus and Harold sailed to Denmark, and
stayed there that summer. King Sweyn would not come out to meet them; he was in Scanör with
his host. In that summer king Magnus took that sickness which led him to his death. He gave
it out then before all the people that he gave all the realm of Norway to his father's
brother Harold. (4)
37. Earl Thorfinn now ruled over the Orkneys and all the rest of his realms. Kalf, Arni's
son, was also mostly with him. Sometimes he went west sea-roving, and harried the coasts of
Scotland and Ireland; he was also in England, and was for a while over the Thingmen's band.
When earl Thorfinn heard of the death of king Magnus, he sent then men east to Norway to
find king Harold and greet him with friendly words; he says, thus, that he wishes to become
his friend. But when that message came to the king, he took it well, and the king promised
him his friendship. And when this message came back to the earl, he made ready his voyage,
and had with him from the west two ships of twenty benches each, and more than a hundred
men, all fine picked fellows. Then he fared east to Norway, and found the king in Hördaland.
He gave him a very hearty welcome; and at their parting the king gave him good gifts. Thence
the earl sailed south along the land and so to Denmark. There he fared round the land, and
found king Sweyn in Aalborg; he asked the earl to his house, and made him a grand feast.
Then the earl laid bare his purpose how he meant to go south to Rome. But when he came to
Saxony, he met there the kaiser Henry, and he gave the earl a very hearty welcome, and gave
him many great gifts. He got him, too, many horses, and then he made ready his journey
south. Then he fared to Rome and saw the pope there, and there he took absolution from him
for all his misdeeds. The earl turned thence to his journey home, and came back safe and
sound into his realm; and that journey was most famous. Then the earl sat down quietly and
kept peace over all his realm. Then he left off warfare; then he turned his mind to ruling
the people and land, and to law-giving. He sate almost always in Birsay, and let them build
there Christchurch, a splendid minster. There first was set up a bishop's seat in the
Orkneys. Earl Thorfinn had to wife Ingibjorg earlsmother; they had two sons, who grew up out
of childhood; the name of one was Paul and the other's Erlend; they were tall men and fair,
and took more after their mother's side. They were men wise and meek. The earl loved them
much, and so too did all the people.
38. Earl Thorfinn held all his realms till his death day; it is soothly said that he
has been the most powerful of all the Orkney earls. He owned nine earldoms in Scotland, and
all the Southern isles, and he had a great realm in Ireland. So says Arnor
earlskald:
"All the way from Tuskar-skerry
Down to Dublin hosts obeyed him,
Royal Thorfinn, raven-feeder;
True I tell how liegemen loved him."
Earl Thorfinn was then five winters old when Malcolm the Scot-king, his mother's
father, gave him the title of earl; but afterwards he was sixty (5) winters earl. He
breathed his last about the end of king Harold Sigurd's son's days. He is buried at
Christchurch in Birsay, which he let be built. The earl's death was a great grief in the
Orkneys and in his lands of heritage. But in those lands which he had laid under him with
war, then many thought it great thraldom to abide under his power. Then many realms fell
away which the earl had laid under him, and men looked for trust under those chiefs who were
there home-born to rule in those realms. So losses were very soon plainly seen when earl
Thorfinn fell away.
These songs were sung about the battle between earl Rognvald Brusi's son, and earl
Thorfinn:
"Loath am I to tell the story,
How I witness was when men
Broke the truce between the earls,
Equal corpses got the corbies:
Off the isles the mighty monarch
Tore the sea's blue tent in twain,
Storm-cold waters then were stiffened,
Striking ships with buffets sore.
Hard mishap uprose triumphant
As the earls in onslaught strove,
Many a man then learnt the lesson
How to fall in bloody fight;
Hard beneath the headland ruddy
Hearty friends of ours fought,
Storm of spear-points followed after,
Many mild folk there met grief.
Gloom over gleaming sun shall gather,
Earth 'neath billow black be merged,
Austri's burden (6) break to pieces,
Main-sea mount above the mountains;
Before among those isles a fairer
Chieftain shall again be born,
Thorfinn trusty lord of thanes
Long may God him guard alive."
39. Now (7) the sons of earl Thorfinn took the realm after him. Paul was the elder of them,
and he took the lead over them. They did not share the lands between them, and yet were a
very long time well agreed in their dealings. Ingibjorg earlsmother gave herself away, after
the death of earl Thorfinn, to Malcolm the Scot-king, who was called long-neck; their son
was Duncan the Scot-king, father of William the nobleman. His son's name again was William
the prince, whom all the Scots wished to take for the king. Earl Paul, Thorfinn's son, got
to wife the daughter of earl Hacon Ivar's son, and they had many children. Their son's name
was Hacon. They had a daughter whose name was Thora; she was given away in Norway to Haldor,
the son of Brynjulf (the old) camel. Their son's name was Brynjulf; his son's name was
Haldor, who had to wife Gyrid Dag's daughter. Another daughter of Paul's was named Ingirid,
whom Einar Vorsacrow had to wife. Herbjorg was the name of Paul's third daughter; she was
the mother of Ingibjorg the honourable, whom Sigurd of Westness had to wife, and their sons
were Hacon pick and Brynjulf. Sigrid was another daughter of Herbjorg, the mother of Hacon
bairn and Herborg, whom Kolbeinn the burly had to wife. Ragnhilda was the name of a fourth
daughter of earl Paul, she was the mother of Benedict, the father of Ingibjorg, the mother
of Erling the archdeacon. Bergliot was the name of another ? daughter of Ragnhilda, whom
Havard Gunni's son had to wife; their sons were Magnus and Hacon claw, and Dufnjal and
Thorstein. These are all earls' kin, and noblemen in the Orkneys, and all these men come
into the story afterwards. Earl Erlend Thorfinn's son had to wife that woman whose name was
Thora and was the daughter of Summerled the son of Ospak. The mother of Ospak was Thordis,
daughter of Hall o' the Side. Erling and Magnus were their (Erlend's and Thora's) sons, but
their daughters were Gunnhilda and Cecilia, whom Isaac had to wife, and their sons
(Cecilia's and Isaac's), were Endridi and Kol. Jatvor was the name of a base-born daughter
of Erlend, her son's name was Borgar.
40. When those brothers Paul and Erlend had taken the rule in the Orkneys, Harold Sigurd's
son came from the east out of Norway with a great host. He came first to Shetland. Thence he
fared to the Orkneys. There he left behind him Elspeth his queen and their daughters Maria
and Ingigerd. Out of the Orkneys he had much force. Both the earls made ready to go with the
king. The king fared thence south to England, and landed in the place called Cleveland, and
won Scarborough. After that he ran in at Hallorness, and had there a battle and won the
victory. On the mid-week day (Wednesday) next before Matthiasmass he had a battle in York
against earls Waltheof and Morcar. There Morcar fell. The Sunday after that burg was given
into the power of king Harold which stood by Stamford-bridge. The Monday after he went on
land to settle things in the town. At the ships he left behind him his son Olaf, and earls
Paul and Erlend, and Eystein gorcock his brother-in-law, and Thorberg Arni's son. In that
land journey came Harold, Godwin's son, against king Harold with an overwhelming host. A
great battle arose at once, and in that battle fell Harold Sigurd's son. After the king's
fall came Eystein gorcock from the ships, and the earls, and made a very hard onslaught.
That battle was called the gorcock's storm or the gorcock's bout. There fell Eystein gorcock
and well nigh the whole host of the Northmen. After those fights king Harold gave Olaf
Harold's son, and the earls leave to go away out of England, and also to all that host that
had not already fled. Olaf sailed out about autumn from Ravensere, and so to the Orkneys.
And there they heard these tidings, that on that day and at that hour when Harold fell, his
daughter Maria died a sudden death, and it is the talk of men that they have had but one
man's life between them. Olaf was that winter in the Orkneys, and he was the greatest friend
of the earls his kinsmen. They were brother's daughters, Thora king Olaf's mother and
Ingibjorg the earls' mother. Olaf fared when the spring came east to Norway, and was there
taken to be king with Magnus his brother.
But when those brothers ruled the Orkneys, then was their agreement great and good a
long while. But when their sons began to grow up, then they became very overbearing men,
Hacon and Erling. Magnus was the quietest tempered of them. They were all of them tall and
strong, and proper men in all things. Hacon, Paul's son, would be the leader over those
brothers (his cousins); he thought he was more by birth than the sons of Erlend, because he
was the daughter's son of earl Hacon Ivar's son and Ragnhilda daughter of king Magnus the
good. Hacon would have it that his friends should have a larger lot when there was anything
to share than they allowed to the sons of Erlend; but Erlend would not that his sons should
have the worst of it there in the isles. Then it so came about that those kinsmen could not
be together in peace, and there was danger with them. Then their fathers took a share in the
matter; they were to try and make matters up; then a meeting was fixed, and it was soon
found out that each of them leant towards his own sons, and they could make no settlement.
Now disagreement arose between those brothers, and they parted bad friends, and that many
thought great scathe.
1. come into his hand, become his liegeman.
2. The Flatey Book adds, "and got a fair wind."
3. The Flatey Book adds, "Thorkell made him captive, and bade men put an end to the
earl, and offered them money to do it; but no one would do it any more for money. Then
Thorkell did the deed himself, for that he knew that one or other of them must bow before
the other. Then earl Thorfinn came up, and did not blame the deed."
4. The Flatey Book has here left out a long passage which runs thus in the Danish
translation: "But to kjing Sweyn he gave Denmark. He also sent his brother Thorir and many
other of his friends whom he wished to be well treated to king Sweyn. But after king Magnus
was dead, king Harold gave out that he would make for Veborg Thing, and let himself be
chosen there king over all Denmark; and said that then the Norwegians would be for ever over
the Danes, and made a long speech about it. But Einar Paunchshaker answered him, and said,
'It is more to my mind, and I am more bound, to bear the body of king Magnus north to Norway
to the saint king Olaf, his father, than to fight along with king Harold for other kings'
realms.' And at the same time he ended his speech by saying he thought it better to follow
king Magnus dead than any other king alive; and there and then Einar went to his ship, and
as he went all the chiefs whose homes lay north of Stad in Norway, went with him. Then king
Harold saw no other way than to sail first to Norway, and first take the kingdom under him.
King Sweyn was in Skanör at the time that he heard that king Magnus was dead. He had it then
in his mind to ride east into Sweden, and to give up the name of king which he had taken;
and just as he was ready to start there came a man to him who told him that king Magnus was
dead, and all the Norwegian host had gone out of Denmark. Then king Sweyn swore by God that
he would never give up Denmark for any man so long as he was alive. Then he crossed over to
Zealand, and laid the realm under him wherever he came. There he met Thorir and many other
of king Magnus' men whom he had sent together. He took very kindly to them, and Thorir was
with him a long time afterwards."
5. Fifty would seem to be the true reading, for Thorfinn seems to have reigned from
AD 1014 till 1064, in which latter year the earl apears to have died.
6. burden; Heaven, "the burden of Austri," one of the four Dwarves who bore up the
heavens.
7. Here begins the second part of the Orkneyingers' Saga, containing an abridgement
of the Life of St. Magnus.
41. After that kindly men came between them, and seek to settle things; so there was a
peace-meeting fixed for them in Hrossey. At that meeting a settlement was made in this way,
that then the isles were shared into halves as they had been between Thorfinn and Brusi. So
things stood awhile. Hacon was then almost always away war-roving since he had grown up. He
became then a very overbearing man, and they (Hacon and his men) were hard on those men who
served under those kinmen, Erlend and his sons. So it came about again that the settlement
was broken, and they fared against each other a great force. Havard Gunni's son and all the
other noblemen of the earls came one day between them and again brought them together and
tried to bring about a settlement. Then Erlend and his sons would not make matters up, so
that Hacon was to be there in the isles. But because it seemed to their friends that there
was great risk in their quarrels, then they prayed Hacon not to let this stand in the way of
peace; but that he would rather fare away out of the isles. They said it would be good
counsel if he fared east across the sea to visit his kinsmen, both in Norway and Sweden. And
at the beseeching of his men, and also that Hacon was envious of his kinsmen there in the
isles, and thought it good to learn the ways of other chiefs, then he granted them their
prayer that he would fare away at once out of the isles. Then the settlement was again made
by the counsel of good men. After that Hacon fared away out of the isles, first east to
Norway, and he found there king Olaf the quiet. This was about the end of his days. There
Hacon stayed some time. After that he fared east to Sweden to see king Ingi, Steinkel's son,
and he made him welcome. He found there his friends and kinsmen. He reaped there the
greatest honour from the friendships of Hacon, his mother's father. He had held rule there
from Steinkel, the Swede king, after he had to fly the land before king Harold Sigurd's son.
He had grown there to be the greatest friend, both of the king and the men of the land.
Another daughter's son of earl Hacon Ivar's son, was Hacon, who called the Northman; he was
father of Eric the wise, who was king in Denmark after king Eric the ever-memorable. Hacon
stayed in Sweden a while, and king Ingi was good to him. But when things had gone on so a
while then home-sickness came over him to seek west to the isles. Christianity was then
young in Sweden; there were then many men who went about with witchcraft, and thought by
that to become wise and knowing of many things which had not yet come to pass. King Ingi was
a thorough Christian man, and all wizards were loathsome to him. He took great pains to root
out those evil ways which had long gone hand in hand with heathendom, but the rulers of the
land and the great freeholders took it ill that their bad customs were found fault with. So
it came about that the freemen chose them another king, Sweyn, the queen's brother, who
still held to his sacrifices to idols, and was called Sacrifice-Sweyn. Before him king Ingi
was forced to fly the land into West-Gothland; but the end of their dealings was, that king
Ingi took the house over Sweyn's head and burnt him inside it. After that he took all the
land under him. Then he still went on rooting out many bad ways.
42. When Hacon Paul's son was in Sweden, he had heard say that there in the land was a man
who went about with wisdom and spaedom, whether he got it by witchcraft or other things. He
had a great longing to find out this man, and to know whether he could be made wise as to
his future fate. And after that he fared to that man, and found him at last dwelling in the
woods. There he used to go about to feasts, and told the freemen about their crops and other
things. But when he found that man, then he asked him he might come to power or other good
luck. The wizard asked him what manner of man he was. He told him his name and kin, that he
was the daughter's son of Hacon Ivar's son. Then said the wizard: "Why will you take of me
wisdom or sayings; you knowest that those kinsmen of thine of old have had little mind for
such like men as I am, and it may serve your need that you shouldest seek to know your fate
from Olaf the stout, they kinsman, the king of Norway, whom you set all faith in. But I
rather doubt that he would not have humble-mindness enough to tell you what you are eager to
know, or perhaps be not so mighty either as you say he is."
Then Hacon answers: "I will not speak ill of him. I think it more likely that I may
not have worthiness enough to take wisdom from him, than that he may not be so powerful,
that for that reason I should not take wisdom from him. But this is why I have come to see
you, because it has come into my mind that here neither of us will need to envy the other
for the sake of matters of virtue or belief."
That man answers: "It likes me well that I find that you thinkest that you have all
trust where I am, and before that faith which you have followed, you and your other kinsmen.
So it is, too, that with you those who lay themselves out for such things go wondrously to
work. They go about with fasts and wakes, and deem that therefore those things must be
granted to them which they are eager to know. But though they take such pains, yet are they
all the less wise of what they desire to know, the more they mix themselves up with them;
but we lay ourselves under no penance, and yet we are always wise as to those things of
which our friends think it worth while that they should not go on in ignorance. Now things
will so go with us two that you shall get this gain from me, as I see clearly that you
thinkest thyself better able to get the truth from me than from king Ingi's priestly
teachers, whom he thinks he may put all trust in. You shall come in three nights' space, and
then we two will try if I can tell you anything which you are eager to know."
After that they part, and Hacon stays there in those parts, and when three nights
were gone by he fared to meet the wizard. He was then in a certain house all alone, and drew
his breath heavily when he (Hacon) went in, stroked his brow with his hand, and said it cost
him much before he became wise of those things which he was to know beforehand. Hacon says
he was willing to hear his future fate. The spaeman began to say: "If you will know your
fate, then is it long to tell about, for that it is great and because from your life and
labour very great tidings will come to pass; and it is my belief that you will come to be
sole chief over the Orkneys at last, but it may be that you will think it long to wait. I
trow, also, that your offspring will rule there. But from your western voyage, which you
farest next of all to the Orkneys, very great tidings will come about when those things are
fulfilled which will spring from it. You will also in your days let that wickedness be done
which you must either make atonement for or not to that God in whom you believest. But your
footsteps lie further out into the world than I can get to see, but still I think that you
will bring back your bones here to the northern half of the world. Now have I told you those
things that I can at this time, and now say how you will like your day's work."
Hacon answers: "A great story is this you tell, if it be sooth, but I think it will
go better with my lot than you sayest. May be, too, that you has not seen all this of a
truth."
The spaeman bade him believe it or not as he chose, but said that it would come to
pass.
43. After that Hacon went away to see king Ingi, and stayed with him a short time before he
set his heart on faring to the western lands. Then he took leave of the king to go away.
Hacon fared first to Norway to see his kinsman king Magnus, and he made him welcome. Then he
learnt those tidings from the Orkneys, that earl Erlend and his sons had it almost all their
own way there, and had won very many friends, but Paul his father had little or nothing to
do with ruling the land. He thought, too, he made out from those men who came from the west,
and in whose words he could put most faith, that the Orkneyingers would long very little for
his coming there west; for they had already good peace and quietness, but feared if Hacon
came west that strife and uproar would arise from him. But when Hacon thought of this to
himself, then he thought it not unlikely that those kinsmen would hold the realm from him,
but let it not be without risk to him if he came there west without a great force. So he
took that counsel to seek to king Magnus that he would bring him to power in the
Orkneys.
This was after that king Magnus had made them put to death Steigar-Thorir and Egil,
and freed the land from all strife. Hacon was a wise man, and he thought he could see by
king Magnus' talk when they spoke together, that the king would be high-minded and eager to
attack the realms of other chiefs. Hacon fell to saying this before the king, that it would
be a brave deed for a prince to have out the levy and harry west across the sea, and lay the
isles under him, as Harold fair-hair did. Says, too, if he could get rule in the Southern
isles, it would be handy to harry thence in Ireland and Scotland; and if he put the western
lands under him, that thence it would be good to strive with the strength of the Northmen
against the Englishmen, "and so avenge Harold Sigurd's son, your father's father."
But when they spoke of this, it was found that this jumped well with the king's
temper; he said it was well and bravely spoken, and near his mind. "But that you shall keep
in mind Hacon," says the king, "if I were to do this after your words and egging on, to fare
with a host west over the sea, that it must not come on you unawares, though I bore on with
a bold claim to those realms which lie away there west, and make in that no distinction of
men."
But when Hacon heard this utterance, he grew cold and said very little more about
it, and doubted for what these words could be spoken. He left off after that egging on the
king to any voyage; but then little was needed, for after this speech the king sent
messengers over all his realm that the levy should be out. He laid it bare before all the
people that he meant to hold on with that host west over the sea, whatever tidings might
happen afterwards in his voyages. So men made ready for this voyage all over the land. King
Magnus had with him his son on this voyage, eight winters old, whose name was Sigurd; he was
much of a man for his years.
44. When those brothers Paul and Erlend ruled over the Orkneys, king Magnus, the son of Olaf
the quiet, came from the east out of Norway. He had a mighty host, and many liegemen
followed him. Vidkun Johnson, Sigurd Hranis' son, Sark out of Sogn, Dag Eilif's son, Skopti
of Gizki, ægmund, Finn, and Thord; Eyvind elbow the king's marshal. There was also Kali of
Agdir Seabear's son, the son of Thorleif the wise, whom Hallfred maimed, and Kol his son.
Kali was a very wise man, and dear to the king, and a good rhymer. Now when king Magnus came
to the Orkneys, then he seized the earls Paul and Erlend, and sent them east to Norway, but
set up his son Sigurd over the isles, and gave him councillors. King Magnus fared to the
Southern isles and the earls' sons, Magnus and Erling, sons of earl Erlend, and Hacon,
Paul's son, went along with him. But when king Magnus came into the isles, he fell to
harrying first in the Lewes, and won them; and in that voyage he won all the Southern isles,
and took captive Lögman, the son of Gudred, the king of the Southern isles. Thence he fared
south under Bretland (Wales), and had a great battle in Anglesey-sound with two British
earls, Hugh the stout and Hugh the proud. They were brothers of Costnami, who was then king
in Ireland in Ulster. And when men were getting out their weapons and busking themselves for
the fight, Magnus, Erlend's son, sate him down aft in the forecastle, and did not arm
himself. The king asked why he sate. He said he had no quarrel with any man there; "that's
why I will not fight."
The king said: "Get you away down under the thwarts, and don't lie here before men's
feet, if you darest not to fight, for I do not think that faith drives you to
this."
Magnus took a psalter, and sung while the battle lasted, but did not shield himself.
This battle was both hard and long, and both spears were thrown and blows struck; it was
long so that it could not be seen between them which way the fight would turn. King Magnus
shot with a crossbow, and another man from Helgeland by his side. Hugh the proud fought most
sturdily; he was so clad and byrnied that there was no bare spot on him save the eyes. King
Magnus bade the man from Helgeland that they should both shoot at him at once, and so they
did, and one arrow struck him on his nose-guard, but the other went in at the eye, and flew
afterwards through the head. That shot was reckoned to the king.
45. There fell Hugh the proud. After that the British fled and had lost many men; but king
Magnus had won a great victory, but had yet lost many good men, and very many were wounded.
So this was made about it:
"Bolts on byrnies then came rattling,
Might and main the monarch fought,
Agdir's ruler bent his crossbow,
Blood on helmets there was sprinkled:
Bowstrings' hail on mail came flying,
Men fell fast, and Hordas' king,
Seeking land with onslaught hard,
Dealt his deathblow to the earl."
Then king Magnus made Anglesea his own as far south as ever the kings of Norway of
old had ever owned it. Anglesea is a trithing of Bretland (Wales). Kali Seabear's son had
got many wounds in Anglesea sound, though none of them at once mortal. Afterwards king
Magnus turned back by the south course along Scotland.
King Magnus had made Magnus Erlend's son his page, and he served always at the
king's board. But after the battle in Anglesey-sound king Magnus took a great dislike to
him. He said he had behaved like a coward. It fell on a night when king Magnus lay off
Scotland that Magnus Erlend's son ran away from king Magnus' ship when he thought he had the
best chance of flying from the king. He jumped overboard and swam to land, and made up his
berth so that it seemed as if a man lay there. But when he came to land he ran into the
woods, and was in his under-clothing. He struck his foot, and hurt himself much, as he was
bare-foot, and so he could walk no longer at that time. He came to a great tree, and climbed
up there into the branches, and there bound up his foot, and hid himself there in the
branches for some time. But in the morning when men went to meat on board the king's ship,
the king asked where Magnus Erlend's son was. He was told that he was asleep in his berth.
The king bade them wake him, and said something else than sleep must have come over him when
he lay longer than other men. But when they came to his place, then he was missing. Then the
king bade them search for him and let loose the slot hounds. But when the hounds were loose,
they came at once on his track, and ran off to the wood, and came to that tree in which
Magnus was up. Then one hound ran round and round the oak and bayed. Magnus had a stick in
his hand, and threw it at the hound, and hit him on the side. The hound laid his tail
between his legs and ran down to the ships, and the others after it. The king's men could
not find Magnus. He lay hid for a while in the wood, and was next heard of in the court of
Malcolm the king of Scots, and stayed there a while, but sometimes he was in Bretland with a
certain bishop. He was sometimes in England, or in other places with his friends, but he did
not come back to the Orkneys while king Magnus lived.
King Magnus held on his course from the south along Scotland, and then came to meet
him messengers from Malcolm the king of Scots, and offered him peace. They said thus that
the king of Scots would give up to him all those isles that lie to the west of Scotland,
between which and the mainland he could sail in a ship with a fixed rudder. But when king
Magnus ran in from the south to Cantire, he let them drag a cutter over the neck of Cantire,
he held the tiller, and so took as his own all Cantire. That is better than the best isle in
the Southern isles save Man. It gæs from the west of Scotland, and has a narrow neck of
land at the top of it, so that there ships are very often drawn over. King Magnus held on
thence into the Southern isles, but sent his men into Scotland's firths; they were to row in
hugging the land on one side, and out hugging it on the other, and so King Magnus claimed as
his own all the isles to the west of Scotland. Then the king gave it out that he would sit
that winter in the Southern isles, but gave leave to those men who he thought had most need
of it to fare home. But when the levies knew that, they became home-sick, and grumbled badly
about their being so long away. The king then had a talk with his men and councillors. he
went and looked at the wounds of his men. Then the king went to see Kali Seabear's son and
asked after his wounds. Kali said they healed very little, and let him know that he could
not tell how they would turn out. The king asked counsel of him. Kali asked: "Is it not so
king that now your friends steal away from you."
The king made as though he thought that were not so. Kali bade him call them under
arms, and so muster his men. The king did so, and then missed many men. And when the king
told this to Kali, then Kali chaunted this:
"How your wary chiefs reward you
For those precious gifts of thine?
West the vessel's sides are shaking,
Try our trustiness, king!"
Then the king answers:
"Ill have I my boons bestowed,
Boons that brighten face of man,
Buoyant keel to climb the billow,
Now must I command in vain."
After this the king kept watch and ward if men ran from him, and let none ..........
(1) When king Magnus was in the Southern isles, then he got as a bride for his son Sigurd,
Bjadmunja, daughter of Moorkiartan, Thialbi's son, the Irish king of Connaught. Sigurd was
then nine winters old and the maiden five. This winter Kali Seabear's son breathed his last
of his wounds. In Anglesey-sound had fallen Sigurd skewer, Kali's kinsman. He was liegeman
in Agdir.
Next spring early king Magnus fared away from the Southern isles. He fared first to
the Orkneys. There he heard from the east across the sea of the death of the earls, and how
Erlend had died in Nidaros, and was buried there, and Paul in Bergen. In the spring in the
Orkneys king Magnus gave away Gunnhilda, the daughter of earl Erlend, to Kol Kali's son, as
an atonement for the loss of his father, and some estates in the Orkneys went with her as
her dowry, and a homestead in Paplay. Of Erling, the son of earl Erlend, some men say that
he had fallen in Anglesey sound, but Snorri Sturla's son says he has fallen in Ulster with
king Magnus. Kol Kali's son became king Magnus' liegeman, and fared east into Norway with
the king, and home to Agdir with his wife, and settled down on his farms. They, Kol and
Gunnhilda, had two children; their son's name was Kali, but their daughter's name was
Ingirid. they were both of the greatest promise, and reared up with much love.
46. When king Magnus had ruled the land nine winters, he fared away out of the land west
across the sea and harried in Ireland, and was the winter in Connaught. But the summer after
he fell in Ulster on Bartholomew's day. But when king Sigurd in the Orkneys heard of his
father's fall, he fared at once to Norway, and was there taken to be king with his brothers
Eystein and Olaf. Sigurd left behind him over the western sea the daughter of the Irish
king. One winter or two after the fall of king Magnus, Hacon Paul's son came from the west
across the sea, and the kings gave him the title of earl and such power, as was due to his
birth. Then he fared west across the sea and took the realm under him in the Orkneys; he had
always followed king Magnus while he lived. He was with him in his warfare east in Gothland,
as is said in that lay which was made on Hacon Paul's son.
47. When earl Hacon had taken the rule in the Orkneys, Magnus earl Erlend's son came down
from Scotland and asked to take his father's heritage. That pleased the freemen well, for he
had very many friends. He had there many kinsmen and connexions who were glad to raise him
to power. A worthy man named Sigurd then had his mother to wife; their son was Hacon churl;
they kept house in Paplay. When earl Hacon heard that earl Magnus was come into the isles,
he drew force to himself, and would not give up the Orkneys or share that realm which he had
there. After that friends came between them and tried to settle matters. So it came about
that they were made friends on those terms, that Hacon gave up half the realm if that were
the award of the kings of Norway, and with that this strife was stayed. Magnus fared
straightway in the spring to Norway to find king Eystein, for Sigurd had then fared out
abroad to Jerusalem. King Eystein made him a hearty welcome, and gave him up his father's
inheritance, half the Orkneys and the title of earl. Earl Magnus fared west over the sea to
take up his power, and his kinsmen and friends and all the people were glad at that; then
the kinship of Hacon and Magnus throve well when friends took part in it. There was then
peace and plenty in the Orkneys so long as their friendship lasted.
48. Saint Magnus the isle earl was the most peerless of men, tall of growth, manly, and
lively of look, virtuous in his ways, fortunate in fight, a sage in wit, ready-tongued and
lordly-minded, lavish of money and high-spirited, quick of counsel and more beloved of his
friends than any man; blithe and of kind speech to wise and good men, but hard and unsparing
against robbers and sea-rovers; he let many men be slain who harried the freemen and
landfolk; he made murderers and thieves be taken, and visited as well on the powerful as on
the weak robberies and thieveries and all ill deeds. He was no favourer of his friends in
his judgments, for he valued more godly justice than the distinctions of rank. He was
open-handed to chiefs and powerful men, but still he showed most care for poor men. In all
things he kept straitly God's commandments, and kept down his body in many things which in
his praiseworthy life where bright before God, but hidden before men. He then showed his
purpose when he asked the hand of a maiden of the most noble race of Scotland, and drank the
bridal feast with her; he lived ten years with her so that he fulfilled neither of their
lusts, but was pure and spotless of all carnal sins. And when he felt temptation coming over
him, then he went into cold water, and asked support of God for himself. Many were those
other things and noble virtues which he showed to God himself, but hid from men.
49. Those kinsmen Magnus and Hacon held the wardship of the land for some while, so that
they were well agreed. So it is said in that song which is made of them, that they fought
against that chief whose name was Duffnjal, and who was one step further off than the earl's
brother's son, (2) and he fell before them. Thorbjorn was the name of a noble man whom they
put to death in Burra-firth in Shetland; it is the story of many men that they took the
house over his head and burnt him inside it. There are more tidings on which songs have been
made which show that they must have been both together, though here it is not fully told
about them. But when those kinsmen had ruled the land some time, then again happened, what
often and always can happen, that many ill-willing men set about spoiling their kinship.
Then unlucky men gathered more about Hacon, for that he was very envious of the friendships
and lordliness of his kinsman Magnus.
50. Two men are they who are named, who were with earl Hacon, and who were the worst of all
the tale-bearers between those kinsmen, Sigurd and Sighvat sock. This slander came so far
with the gossip of wicked men, that those kinsmen again gathered forces together, and each
earl fared against the other with a great company. Then both of them held on to Hrossey,
where the place of meeting of those Orkneyingers was. But when they came there, then each
drew up his men in array, and they made them ready to battle. There were then the earls and
all the great men, and there too were many friends of both who did all they could to set
them at one again. Many then came between them with manliness and goodwill. This meeting was
in Lent, a little before Palm Sunday. But because many men of their well-wishers took a
share in clearing up these difficulties between them, but would stand by neither to do harm
to the other, then they bound their agreement with oaths and handsels. (3) And when some
time had gone by after that, then earl Hacon, with falsehood and fair words, settled with
the blessed earl Magnus to meet him on a certain day; so that their kinship and steadfast
new-made peace should not be turned aside or set at naught. This meeting for a steadfast
peace and thorough atonement between them was to be in Easter week that spring on Egil's
isle. This pleased earl Magnus well, being, as he was, a thoroughly whole-hearted man, far
from all doubt, guile, or greed; and each of them was to have two ships, and each just as
many men; this both swore, to hold and keep those terms of peace which the wisest men made
up their minds to declare between them. But when Eastertide was gone by, each made him ready
for this meeting. Earl Magnus summoned to him all those men whom he knew to be
kindest-hearted and likeliest to do a good turn to both those kinsmen. He had two longships
and just as many men as was said. And when he was ready he held on his course to Egil's
isle. And as they were rowing in calm over the smooth sea, there rose a billow against the
ship which the earl steered and fell on the ship just where the earl sate. The earl's men
wondered much at this token, that the billow fell on them in a calm where no man had ever
known it to fall before, and where the water under was deep. Then the earl said: "It is not
strange that you wonder at this, but my thought is, that this is a foreboding of my life's
end; may be that may happen which was before spaed about earl Hacon. We should so make up
our minds about our undertaking, that I guess my kinsman Hacon must not mean to deal fairly
by us at this meeting."
The earl's men were afraid at these words, when he said he had so short hope as to
his life's end, and bade him take heed for his life, and not fare farther trusting in earl
Hacon. Earl Magnus answers: "We shall fare on still, and may all God's will be done as to
our voyage."
1. The end of this sentence is illegible in the MS.
2. That is, he was their second cousin.
3. The Danish Translation adds "and the wisest men were to decide between them."
51. Now it must be told about earl Hacon, that he summoned to him a great company,
and has many warships, and all manned and trimmed as though they were to run out to battle.
And when the force came together, the earl makes it clear to the men that he meant at that
meeting so to settle matters between himself and earl Magnus, that they should not both of
them be over the Orkneys. Many of his men showed themselves well pleased at this purpose,
and added many fearful words; and they, Sigurd and Sighvat sock, were among the worst in
their utterance. Then men began to row hard, and they fared furiously. Havard Gunni's son
was on board the earl's ship, a friend and counsellor of the earls', and a fast friend to
both alike. Hacon had hidden from him this bad counsel, which Havard would surely not join
in. And when he knew the earl was so steadfast in this bad counsel, then he jumped from the
earl's ship and took to swimming, and swam to an isle where no man dwelt. Earl Magnus came
first to Egil's isle with his company, and when they saw Hacon coming, they knew that
treachery must be meant. Earl Magnus then betook himself up on the isle with his men, and
went to the church to pray, and was there that night, but his men offered to defend him. The
earl answers: "I will not lay your life in risk for me, and if peace is not to be made
between us two kinsmen, then be it as God wills."
Then his men thought that what he had said when the billow fell on them was coming
true. Now for that he felt sure as to the hours of his life beforehand, whether it was
rather from his shrewdness or of godly foreshadowing, then he would not fly nor fare far
from the meeting of his fæs. (1) He prayed earnestly, and let a mass be sung to him.
52. Hacon and his men jumped up in the morning and ran first to the church, and ransacked
it, and did not find the earl. He had gone another way on the isle with two men into a
certain hiding place. And when the saint earl Magnus saw that they sought for him, then he
calls out to them, and says where he was; he bade them look nowhere else for him. And when
Hacon saw him, then they ran there with shouts and crash of arms. Earl Magnus was then at
his prayers when they came to him, and when he had ended his prayers, then he signed himself
(with the cross), and said to earl Hacon, with steadfast heart: "You didst not well,
kinsman, when you wentest back on your oaths, and it is much to be hoped that you dæst this
more from others badness than thine own. Now will I offer you three choices, that you dæst
some one of these rather than break your oaths and let me be slain guiltless."
Hacon's men asked what offer he made. "That is the first, that I will go south to
Rome, or out far as Jerusalem, and visit holy places, and have two ships with me out of the
land with what we need to have, and so make atonement for both of our souls. This I will
swear, never to come back to the Orkneys."
To this they said "Nay" at once. Then earl Magnus spoke: "Now seeing that my life is
in your power, and that I have in many things made myself an outlaw before Almighty God,
then send you me up into Scotland to some of both our friends, and let me be there kept in
ward, and two men with me as a pastime. Take you care then that I may never be able to get
out of that wardship."
To this they said "Nay" at once. Magnus spoke: "One choice is still behind, which I
will offer you, and God knows that I look more to your soul than to my life; but still it
better beseems you than to take away my life. Let me be maimed in my limbs as you pleasest,
or pluck out my eyes, and set me in a dark dungeon."
Then earl Hacon spoke: "This settlement I am ready to take, nor do I ask anything
farther."
Then the chiefs sprang up and said to earl Hacon: "We will slay now either of you
twain, and you two shall not both from this day forth rule the lands."
Then answers earl Hacon: "Slay you him rather, for I will rather rule the realm and
lands than die so suddenly."
So says Holdbodi, a truthful freeman from the Southern isles, of the parley they
had. he was then with Magnus, and another man with him, when they took him captive.
53. So glad was the worthy earl Magnus as though he were bidden to a feast; he neither spoke
with hate nor words of wrath. And after this talk he fell to prayer, and hid his face in the
palms of his hands, and shed out many tears before God's eyesight. When earl Magnus the
saint was done to death, Hacon bade Ofeig his banner-bearer to slay the earl, but he said
"Nay" with the greatest wrath. Then he forced Lifolf his cook to kill Magnus, but he began
to weep aloud. "You shall not weep for this," said the earl, "for that there is fame in
doing such deeds; be steadfast in your heart, for you shall have my clothes, as is the wont
and law of men of old (2) and your will, and he who forces you misdæs more than
you."
But when the earl had said this, he threw off his kirtle and gave it to Lifolf.
After that he begged leave to say his prayers, and that was granted him. He fell to earth,
and gave himself over to God, and brought himself as an offering to him. He not only prayed
for himself or his friends, but rather there and then for his fæs and banemen, and forgave
them with all his heart what they had misdone towards him, and confessed his own misdeeds to
God, and prayed that they might be washed off him by the outshedding of his blood, and
commended his soul into God's hand, and prayed that God's angels would come to meet his
soul, and bear it into the rest of Paradise. Some men say that he took the Lord's Body when
the mass was sung to him. When the friend of God was led out to slaughter, he spoke to
Lifolf: "Stand you before me, and hew me on my head a great wound, for it beseems not to
chop off chiefs' heads like thieves'; strengthen thyself, wretched man, for I have prayed
for you to God that he may have mercy on you."
After that he signed himself (with the cross), and bowed himself to the stroke. And
his spirit passed to heaven.
54. That spot was before mossy and stony. But in a little after the worthiness of earl
Magnus before God was so bright that there sprung up a green sward where he was slain, and
God showed that, that he was slain for righteousness' sake, and inherited the fairness and
greenness of Paradise, which is called the earth of living men. Earl Hacon did not allow the
earl to be borne to the church. The death-day of earl Magnus is two nights after Tiburce
mass. He had then been earl over the Orkneys seven winters, he and Hacon both together.
There had then passed since the fall of king Olaf seventy four winters. Sigurd and Eystein
and Olaf were the kings over Norway. There had been passed since the birth of Christ one
thousand and ninety and one winters. (3)
55. After the meeting, Thora, the mother of earl Magnus, had bidden both earls to a feast,
(4) and now came earl Hacon to the feast after the slaying of earl Magnus the saint. Thora
went about waiting on the guests herself, and bore drink to the earl and his men, those who
had been at the slaying of her son. And when the drink took hold of the earl, then Thora
went before him and said: "Now are you come here alone, lord, but I looked for you both;
will you now gladden me before the witness of God and men; be now to me in a son's stead,
and I will be to you in a mother's stead; I much need now your pity, and that you givest me
leave that my son may be borne to church; be now so with me in my prayers as you wouldest
wish God to be with you at doomsday."
The earl holds his peace and thinks over the matter, and was sorry for those ill
deeds when she begged so meekly with tears that she might have her way about bearing her son
to church. He looked at her, and dropped tears, and said to her: "Bury your son where it
pleases you."
After that earl Magnus was borne to Hrossey, and buried at that Christchurch (in
Birsay) which earl Thorfinn made them make. Straightway after that a heavenly light was
often seen shining over his grave. Afterwards men began to call upon him often, if they were
placed in danger, and their matter was granted at once as they prayed. In the same way a
heavenly fragrance was often perceived at his grave, and sick men got back their health
thence. Then next men made journeys there both from the Orkneys and Shetland, who were in
weak health, and watched at the tomb of earl Magnus the saint, and got healing for their
ailments. But yet men did not dare to spread this abroad while earl Hacon lived. It is also
so said, that those men who were most in the treachery against earl Magnus the saint, most
of them died ill and harrowing deaths. At that time William was bishop in the Orkneys; he
was the first bishop there. The bishop's seat was then at Christchurch in Birsay. William
was bishop sixty-six years. He doubted long the holiness of earl Magnus. (5) After the
slaying of earl Magnus, Hacon took all the realm under him in the Orkneys; he then made all
men take an oath to him who had before served earl Magnus; then he became a great chief, and
laid heavy burdens on the friends of earl Magnus, whom he thought had been most against him
in their quarrels. But some winters after, Hacon began his voyage out of the land, and fared
south to Rome; in that journey he fared out to Jerusalem, thence he sought the halidoms, and
bathed in the river Jordan, as is palmers' wont. After that he turned back to his own land,
and took under him the realm in the Orkneys. He then became a good ruler, and kept his realm
well at peace. Then he set up in the Orkneys new laws, which pleased the freemen much better
than those that had been before. With such things his friendships began to grow; and so it
came about that the Orkneyingers cared for nothing else than to have Hacon for their chief,
and his offspring after him.
56. At that time, when earl Hacon had rule in the Orkneys, that man dwelt at the Dale in
Caithness whose name was Moddan, a man of rank and very wealthy; his daughters were these,
Helga and Frakok and Thorleif. Helga, Moddan's daughter, was the concubine of earl Hacon,
and their son was Harold, who was called the smooth-tongued, but their daughter was
Ingibjorg, whom Olaf bitling (6) the Southern isle king had to wife, and Margaret was also
their daughter. Frakok, Moddan's daughter, was given away to that man in Sutherland whose
name was Ljot the dastard, and their daughter was Steinvor the stout, whom Thorljot in
Rackwick had to wife. Their sons were Oliver the unruly and Magnus, and Orm, and Moddan and
Eindrid; and Audhild (was their daughter). Another daughter of Frakok was Gudrun, whom
Thorstein the freeman, dribblemouth, had to wife; their son was Thorbjorn the clerk.
Thorleif, Moddans' daughter, had also a daughter whose name was Gunnhilda. (Audhild?) Earl
Hacon had also another son, whose name was Paul, and was called hold-tongue; he was gloomy,
but had many friends. Between those brothers there was never much love lost when they grew
up. Earl Hacon Paul's son was smitten to death by sickness there in the isles, and men
thought that great scathe, for at the end of his days there was good peace, but the freemen
misdoubted much whether those brothers, Paul and Harold, would be of one mind.
57. After the death of earl Hacon, his sons took the rule, and they were soon of two minds,
and shared the realm into halves. There soon arose great divisions among the great men, and
the chieftains threw themselves very much into two sides. Earl Harold held Caithness from
the Scot-king, and he was almost always there, but sometimes he was up in Scotland, for he
had there many kinsmen and friends. When earl Harold was seated in Sutherland, there came to
him that man whose name was Sigurd, who was said to be the son of Ethelbert the priest; he
was called snap-deacon; he came down then from Scotland, and had been with David the
Scot-king, and he had laid upon him great honours. Earl Harold gave him a very hearty
welcome. Sigurd fared out to the Orkneys with earl Harold, and so did Frakok, Moddan's
daughter, for that Ljot the dastard, her husband was then dead. She and her sister Helga had
then a great share in ruling the land with earl Harold. Sigurd snap was in great love with
all of them. Then Audhild the daughter of Thorleif, Moddan's daughter, followed him as his
leman, and their daughter was Ingigerd, whom Hacon claw afterwards had to wife. Eric the
straight had before had Audhild to wife; their son was Eric stay-brails. When they, Sigurd
and Frakok, came into the isles, a great sundering of followers arose, and each of the earls
gather as many of his friends about him as he could. These were dearest to earl Paul, Sigurd
of Westness, who had to wife Ingibjorg the honourable, the earl's kinswoman, and Thorkel
Summerled's son, who was always with earl Paul, and was called fosterer. He was near of kin
to Magnus the saint, and was more beloved of his friends than any man. Now the friends of
earl Harold deemed that Thorkell would be the last man to spare those brothers strife for
the sake of those griefs which he had suffered from earl Hacon their father. So it came
about at last that earl Harold and Sigurd snap fell on Thorkell fosterer and slew him. But
when earl Paul heard that, he took the tidings very ill, and gathered force together to him.
But then the news came at once to earl Harold, and he, too, drew force to him. But when the
friends of both of them were aware of this, they came up and tried to settle matters, and
then all men had a share in setting them at one again. Earl Paul was so wrath that he would
hear of no terms, unless all those men were sent away who had been at the slaying. But
inasmuch as it seemed to the freemen that great harm would come of their strife, then all
men threw in their word that they should make friends. So it came about that Sigurd was sent
away out of the isles, and those other men whom earl Paul thought were most guilty of the
deed. Earl Harold paid up the fines that followed on Thorkell's slaying. It was also said at
this peace-making that the kinship of those brothers, Paul and Harold, should be bettered,
and they were both to be together at Yule and all the other greatest high-days. Sigurd snap
fared away out of the Orkneys, and up into Scotland, and dwelt there awhile with Malcolm the
Scot-king in good cheer, and he was there thought to be the doughtiest man in all manly
feats. He stayed for a time in Scotland before he fared out to Jewry.
58. It fell out once in the days of those brothers, earl Harold and earl Paul, that they
were to keep the Yule feast at Orfir, in the house of earl Harold, and he was to find the
fare for both of them. He was busy there working hard in getting ready for the feast. Those
sisters were there, Frakok and Helga, the earl's mother, and they were sitting in the little
room at their sewing. Then earl Harold went into the room, but those sisters sat on the
cross-bench, and a new-sewn linen shirt lay between them, white as driven snow. The earl
took up the shirt and saw that it was thickly stitched with gold. He asked: "Who owns this
precious thing?" Frakok says: "'It is meant for your brother Paul."
The earl says: "Why work you so hard at clothes for him? You do not take as much
pains in making me clothes."
The earl was just risen up from his bed, and was only in a shirt and linen breeks,
and had cast a cloak over his shoulders. He threw off the cloak and unfolded the linen
shirt. His mother caught at it, and bade him not be envious though his brother had good
clothes. The earl jerked it out of her hand, and got ready to put it on. Then they threw off
their wimples and tore their hair, (7) and said, his life lay on it if he put on the shirt.
They both then wept sore. The earl put it on nevertheless, and let it fall down over him.
But as soon as ever the cloth clung about his body, a shiver came over his skin, and
straightway after that followed great pain. And from that the earl took to his bed, and lay
but a short while before he breathed his last. That his friends thought great scathe. But at
once after the death of earl Harold, earl Paul his brother took all the realm under him with
the consent of all the freemen in the Orkneys. Earl Paul reckoned as if Frakok and her
sister had meant that precious thing for him which earl Harold had put on, and for that sake
he would not have them live there in the isles. Then they fared away with all their kith and
kin, first to Caithness, and thence up into Sutherland, to those homesteads which Frakok
owned there. There was reared up with her Erlend son of Harold the smoothed-tongued, while
he was a youngster. There, too, was reared up Oliver the unruly, the son of Thorljot of
Rackwick, and of Steinvor Frakok's daughter. Oliver was the tallest of men, and of very
great strength, and wantonly quarrelsome, and a great manslayer; there too was reared up
Thorbjorn the clerk, son of Thorstein the freeman and Gudrun Frakok's daughter. There, too
was reared up Margaret, daughter of earl Hacon and Helga Moddan's daughter, and Eric
staybrails, Frakok's kinsman. These men were all of great family and great for their own
sakes, and they all thought they had a great claim in the Orkneys to those realms which
their kinsman earl Harold had owned. The brothers of Frakok were Angus of the open-hand, and
earl Otter in Thurso; he was a man of birth and rank.
59. Then Earl Paul ruled the Orkneys, and had very many friends. He was a man of few words,
and no speaker at the Things. He let many other men rule the land with him. The earl was
courteous and kind to all the land-folk, liberal of money, and spared nothing to his
friends. He was not fond of war, and sate much in quiet. There were then in the Orkneys many
men of rank who were come from the stock of the earls. There then dwelt at Westness, in
Rowsay, a man of rank, whose name was Sigurd; he had to wife Ingibjorg the honourable, but
her mother's name was Herbjorg, daughter of earl Paul Thorfinn's son. Their sons were these,
Brynjulf and Hacon pike. They were all chieftains of earl Paul. The sons of Havard Gunni's
son, were also friends of earl Paul, Magnus, and Hacon claw, and Thorstein and Dufnjal.
Their mother was Bergljot, but her mother was Ragnhilda, daughter of earl Paul. (8) Erling
was the name of a man; he dwelt at Tankarnes, in Hrossey; he had four sons, all of them
proper men. Olaf was the name of a man, and he was Hrolf's son, who dwelt in Gairsay; he had
another house at Duncansby in Caithness. Olaf was a man of the greatest strength and power,
and had great honours given him by earl Paul. Asleif was the name of his wife. She was wise,
and of great family, and was much thought of for her own sake. Waltheof was the name of one
of their sons, Sweyn was another, a third Gunni; all these were tall and proper men. Their
sister's name was ingigerd. Sigurd earl's-father-in-law had to wife Thora, the mother of
Magnus the saint; their son was Hacon churl; that father and son were mighty chiefs. In
Rinansey (9) dwelt that woman whose name was Ragna, a worthy housewife. Her son's name was
Thorstein, a fine man of good parts. Kugi was the name of a householder in Westray, a wise
man and wealthy, at Rapness. Helgi was the name of a householder, a man of worth and power,
who lived there in Westray, in a thorpe that was then there. Thorkel flat was the name of a
householder in Westray, cross-grained and high and mighty; Thorstein and Haflidi were his
sons; they had not many friends. In Swanay in the Pentland firth, dwelt Grim, a man of small
means; his sons were these, Asbjorn and Margad, the briskest of men. In the Fair Isle dwelt
that man whose name was Dagfinn. Thorstein was the name of a man who dwelt at Flydruness in
Hrossey; his sons were Asbjorn crook-eye and Blian; they were all unfriendly cross-grained
men. Jaddvor, she was the bastard daughter of earl Erlend, born of a thrall, dwelt at
Knarstead, and her son Borgar with her; they were not much beloved. John wing dwelt in Hoy
at the Upland. Richard his brother dwelt at the Brink in Stronsay; they were grand men, and
kinsmen of Olaf Hrolf's son. Grimkel was the name of a man who dwelt at Gletness. These were
all friends of earl Paul, and all the people along with them. These men all come into the
story afterwards.
William was then bishop of the Orkneys, (10) and the bishop's seat was at
Christchurch in Birsay. There then were wrought ever and anon great tokens from the holiness
of earl Magnus when men watched over his tomb, but little stir was made about it because of
the rule of earl Paul. Bishop William too took the edge off of what men said about the
tokens of earl Magnus, and said it was great misbelief to go about with such things. Now we
will first of all let the story stop awhile and rather say something of those glorious
tokens which God has granted for the worth's sake of earl Magnus the saint.
60. Bergfinn Skati's son was the name of a householder in Shetland, and he was blind; he
brought two cripples south into the Orkneys; the name of the one was Sigurd and the other's
Thorbjorn; they all watched over the tomb of earl Magnus. To all of them earl Magnus the
saint appeared, and gave them their health with God; and Bergfinn became so clear-sighted
that he saw and knew his right hand from his left, but both the others stood straight up.
But some time after, on the eve of the death day of earl Magnus, four and twenty men in weak
health watched over the tomb, and all got cured. Then many men craved that of the bishop,
that he would let earl Paul be spoken to, that he would give leave that the tomb should be
searched and the halidom (the relics) of earl Magnus taken up. The bishop took that heavily
when it was said. It happened one summer that bishop William fared east to Norway, and when
he fared back he was late boun, and came to Shetland in autumn, a little before winter set
in. Then foul weather arose and mighty storms, but the bishop could not bear to spend his
time there, and was eager to get home. After that gales burst upon them, and the winter was
come. Then the captain spoke to the bishop, and asked if he would vow for a fair wind not to
say anything against taking up the halidom of earl Magnus; the bishop said yea to that, if
the weather bettered so that he might sing mass at home on the second Sunday at his bishop's
seat. And as soon as ever that vow was fast made, the weather began to change, and came
round to their mind, and they had a fair wing to the Orkneys, and such a quick one that the
bishop sung mass at home the next Sunday. But even when such things were granted to him,
still he would not for all that believe in the holiness of earl Magnus. Earl Paul too laid
his displeasure on all those men who spread such stories about. This event happened in
Christchurch at Birsay one day that the bishop went into the church, and was at his prayers;
he was all alone in the church, but when he stood up and meant to go away, then he became
blind, and could not find his way to the doors; he went about a long time seeking if he
might get away. Then great fear fell upon him, and with that he fared to the tomb of earl
Magnus, and there prayed with tears, and vowed that he would take up the halidom of earl
Magnus, whether earl Paul liked it well or ill. And after that he got back his sight there
over the tomb. After that the bishop sent to fetch to him all the most noble men in the
Orkneys, and made it plain to them that he was ready then to search the tomb of earl Magnus.
And when it was dug into, the coffin was taken out of the ground; the bishop then let the
bones be washed, and they were of a right fair hue. He let them take a knuckle-bone and
proves it thrice in hallowed fire, and it burnt not, but rather became of a hue as though it
were gold. It is the story of some men that it had then run into the shape of a cross. Then
many tokens were there wrought at the halidom of earl Magnus. Then the body was laid in a
shrine and set over the altar. That was on St. Lucia's day. (11) He had then lain in the
mould twenty-one winters. Then it was taken as law that each day should be kept holy, ---
the day that he was taken up and the day of his death. The halidom of earl Magnus was kept
there for some time.
It happened once that a man dreamed a dream in Westray, whose name was Gunni, a good
yeoman, that Magnus the saint came to him and said to him: "This shall you say to bishop
William, that my will is to fare away from Birsay and east to Kirkwall, and I trow that
Almighty God will grant me of his mercy that those men shall be healed of their ailments who
seek there past hope of cure with right faith. This dream shall you boldly tell."
But when Gunni awoke it came all at once into his mind that he must not tell the
dream, for that he was afraid that earl Paul would lay his displeasure on him. But the next
night after earl Magnus showed himself to him when he slumbered; he was then very wrath (and
said): "You shall fare to Birsay and tell your dream when most men are by; but if you farest
not, you shall have punishment for it in this world and more in the other world."" Then
Gunni woke and was full of fear, and fared at once till he came to Birsay to tell his dream
before all the people at mass; and earl Paul was there and many other mighty men. Then many
begged that the bishop would set about it and bear the halidom east to Kirkwall as the earl
had revealed. Earl Paul held his peace as though he had water in his mouth, and turned as
red as blood. After that bishop William fared east to Kirkwall with a gallant company, and
flitted there the halidom of earl Magnus, and they set the shrine over the high altar in the
church. At that time the market town at Kirkwall had few houses. Then many signs and tokens
were straightway wrought there.
A little after Bergfinn Skati's son fared from the north from Shetland the second
time to watch over the halidom of earl Magnus, and had with him his leprous son, whose name
was Halfdan. Earl Magnus appeared to both of them, and passed his hands over them, and then
Halfdan was made thoroughly whole; but Bergfinn got back his sight, so that he became a
sharp-sighted man.
Amundi was the name of a man from the north of Shetland; he had leprosy over all his
body; he fared to Kirkwall, and watched at the shrine of earl Magnus the saint, and prayed
for help and health for himself; but the holy servant of God, earl Magnus, showed himself to
him as he slumbered, and passed his hands over all his body, and when he awoke he was whole
and well, and knew no ailment anywhere, and all praised God and earl Magnus the saint.
Thorkel was a man's name who kept house in the Orkneys; he fell down from off his
barley-stack right down to the ground, and was all crushed on one side; he was brought to
the shrine of the blessed earl Magnus, and there he got back his health.
Sigurd was the name of a man from the north out of Fetlar. His hand was cramped, so
that all his fingers lay in the palm; he fared to Kirkwall, and was there made whole.
Thorbjorn was the name of a man, but Gurth was the name of his father; he was from
Shetland, and was mad, and was brought to earl Magnus, and became straightway whole.
Thord was the name of a man whose nickname was dragon-shot; he was Bergfinn's
hireling of Shetland; he thrashed corn from the halm in the barley barn the next day before
St. Lucia's and St. Magnus' day. But when the daylight began to change, then Bergfinn the
master went out there into the barn and bade him strike off work. Thord says: "It dæsn't
often happen that you thinkest I work over long."
Bergfinn said: "Tomorrow is St. Magnus' day, which we ought to hold with all such
honour as we best can."
Then Bergfinn went away, but Thord worked still as hard as he could. But when a
short time had gone by then Bergfinn went a second time and spoke to Thord in mickle wrath,
and said he thought there was spite in that, "that you workest now at holy tides, and now
leave off at once."
Then Bergfinn went away in a rage. But Thord worked on as before. But when men had
sat down to the board, and had eaten and were full, Thord came in in his workaday clothes,
just when men took to drinking, and began to drink at once. But when he had drained one full
cup, then he lost his wits at once and got wild, so that men had to hold him and to put him
into bonds, and so it went on for three days and nights. Then Bergfinn vowed for him to give
half a mark of silver to the shrine of earl Magnus, and to let Thord watch for three nights
if he might become whole. But Thord became whole on that night, on the evening of which the
vow had just been made. Two men took gold from the shrine of earl Magnus, one an Orkney and
the other a Caithness man; the Caithness man was lost in the Pentland firth; his name was
Gilli. The Orkney man went mad, and said in his fits what they had done, and then a vow was
made for him to go on a pilgrimage south (to Rome), if he might be made whole at the shrine
of earl Magnus. Now he was brought there and became whole at once. -- Ogmund was the name of
a Shetlander on whose head a crossbeam fell and crushed his skull much, but Bergfinn vowed
for him, and cast lots whether the vow should be to go south on a pilgrimage, or to set a
slave free, or to give money to earl Magnus' shrine if he were made whole. But the lot
turned up to give money for earl Magnus' shrine. But the lot turned up to give money for
earl Magnus' shrine, and there he became whole. But Bergfinn, his mother's brother, gave
half a mark as he had vowed. Sigrid Sigurd's daughter was the name of a woman from the north
out of Shetland, who was blind from childhood and till she was twenty; then her father went
with her to earl Magnus, and let her watch there, and gave much goods to the shrine of
Magnus, and there she got her sight.
Sigrid was again the name of a woman from Shetland whose leg broke in two bits; she
was taken to Magnus and she got back there her health.
Sigrid was the name of a third woman from the north out of Shetland in the island of
Unst; she was with Thorlak, who kept house at Baltastead; (12) she sewed when other men left
off work on the eve of earl Magnus' mass; but Thorlak asked why she worked so long; she said
she would leave off there and then. He went away, but she sewed on as before. Then Thorlak
went a second time, and asked why she did so ill; "and away with you," he says, "and don't
work in my house."
She said she had only a little bit unsewn, and worked on as before till it got dark,
and she sate in her place. But when fires were made, and men busked them to eating and
drink, then she fell mad and was thrown into bonds, and she was mad till Thorlak vowed a vow
for her. He cast lots whether the vow should be a pilgrimage south, or setting a slave free,
or giving money to the shrine of earl Magnus the saint, but the lot came up to give money to
earl Magnus' shrine. Thorlak brought her there, and there she became whole, and went south
afterwards.
In England were two men who staked much money on casting of dice, and one of them
had already lost a large sum. Then he staked a ship of burden and all that he had against
all that he had already lost. But the other man threw first two sixes. Then that man thought
things looked badly for him, and called on earl Magnus the saint that he might not lose all
that he had, and then threw his throw. But one of the dice burst asunder, and there turned
up two sixes and and ace, and he gained all that lay upon the throw, and after that he gave
earl Magnus much goods.
Groa was a woman's name in Hrossey; she became raving mad, and was brought to earl
Magnus the saint, and got there her health, and was there all her life after and praised
God.
Sigurd was the name of a man; he was Tand's son, he kept house north in Shetland, he
became devil-mad; and was sewn up in a hide, and was brought afterwards from the north to
Kirkwall to earl Magnus the saint, and there he got back his health, and all praised God who
were by and his holy bosom-friend earl Magnus.
Now is done telling here of those glorious tokens which God grants for the sake of
saint Magnus the isle-earl. Now also we must make an end of these stories with this prayer,
that he who wrote this Saga, and he who dictated it, and everyone who listened to it, may
have intercession and help in their prayers from the holy knight of God earl Magnus, to the
absolution of their sins and to everlasting joy; but of our almighty Lord Jesus Christ may
they have help and mercy, peace and joy, both now and for ever, from him who is and was and
shall be, one true and everlasting God, granting and willing and mighty to give all good
things for ever and ever. Amen.
1. The Danish Translation here adds "He did not go into the church for any other
reason than that he wished to preserve his life. (sic) There he made his prayers heartily to
God, and commended himself into his hands. Early the morning after he went out of the
church, and two others with him by another way down to the shore into a secret place, and
then said his prayers again to God."
2. The Danish Translation adds, "that he shall have one's weapons and clothes who
puts him to death."
3. This date is wrong, to agree with the others it should be 1116.
4. Instead of this sentence the Translation runs thus: --- "Wise men say that in the
spring after they should have been set at one, Thora, the mother of Magnus, had bidden them
both to be her guests, and they were to come straightway to her when they were reconciled,
and came back from Egil's isle."
5. The Flatey Book adds, "till his worthiness was so plainly revealed that God let
his holiness wax higher in the same proportion as it was more tried, as is said in his Book
of Tokens and Wonders."
6. bitling; i.e., "the little bit" or "the tiny."
7. The Flatey Book reads, "Then Frakok threw off her wimple and tore her
hair."
8. Earl Paul; that is, of earl Paul the 1st, grandfather of earl Paul Hacon's
son.
9. Rinansy; North Ronaldsay.
10. Comp. above ch. 55, and Isl. Ann. under the year 1168.
11. St. Lucia's day; Comp. Magn. S. Eyjajarls, ch. 31. and ch. 54 above.
12. Baltastead for Ballaslead in the MS., which would answer to the neighbourhood of
the present Baltasound in Unst.
61. Cecilia (1) was the name of a sister of earl Magnus, born in wedlock. She was given away
east in Norway, and that man whose name was Isaac had her to wife. Their son's name was Kol.
Kol (Kali's son) sate on his farms in Agdir, as was written before, and was the wisest of
all men. He did not fare into the Orkneys. Kol was a very shrewd man. Kali his son grew up
there, and was the most hopeful (2) man, a middleman in growth, well set up, one of the best
limbed of men, with light brown hair. He had more friends than most men, and was a more
proper man, both in body and mind, than most of the other men of his time. He made this
song:
"Draughts I play with open hand,
Games and feats so skilful nine;
Writing runes to me comes ready;
Books I read and smith's work furnish;
I can glide on snow-shoon swift;
Doughtily I shoot and row;
Either stands at my behest,
Sweep of harp or burst of song."
Kali was almost always with Solmund his kinsman, the son of Sigurd supple. He was
(the king's) steward at Tunsberg, and had a house of his own at East Agdir. He was a chief,
and had a great following. They were much of an age, those kinsmen.
62. Kali was fifteen winters old when he fared with chapmen west to England, and had good
wares for traffic. They held on their course to that town which is called Grimsby. There
came a very great crowd of men both from Norway, the Orkneys, and from Scotland, and so also
from the Southern isles. There Kali met that man who went by the name of Gillikrist. (3) He
asked then much about Norway, and talked most with Kali; there was a great fellowship sprung
up (between them). He told Kali as a secret that his name was Harold, and that king Magnus
barelegs was his father, but that his mother's stock was in the Southern isles, and some of
them in Ireland. He asked Kali how he thought he would be welcomed if he came to Norway.
Kali says he thought king Sigurd likely to give him a good welcome if other men did not
spoil matters between them. They, Gillikrist and Kali, exchanged gifts at their parting;
each promised the other his thorough friendship wherever their next meeting might be. But
Gillikrist dæs not tell his secret to more men in that place.
63. After that Kali fared from the west on board the same ship, and they came from abroad at
Agdir, and held on thence north to Bergen. Then Kali sang this song:
Weeks of grimmest walking five
We have waded through the mud;
In mid Grimsby where we were,
Was no want of mud and mire.
Now it is with merry minds,
Over the sea-moors (4) that we let,
Beaked elk (5) across the billow,
Blithely bound to Bergen home."
But when they came to the town, they found there a great crowd of men out the land,
both from the north and from the south, and many, too, from other lands, who had flitted
there much goods. Then those shipmates went into the taverns to make merry. Kali was then a
great man for dress, and had many braveries with him as he was newly come from England. Then
he thought much of himself, and many others thought so too, for he came of a good stock, and
was a well-bred man in himself. But in that tavern where he drank he found a young man of
rank whose name was John; he was the son of Peter Sark's son of Sogn. He was then one of the
king's liegemen. His mother's name was Helga, a daughter of Harek of Sæter. John was a very
showy man in his dress. Unna was the name of a worthy housewife who owned the house in which
they drank. Then there arose a great fellowship between those two, John and Kali, and they
parted with love; John fared then south (6) to Sogn, to his abode, but Kali east to Agdir,
to his father. Kali was also often with Solmund his kinsman. So it went on for some half
years, that Kali was in the summers on trading voyages, but at home in the winters or with
his kinsman Solmund.
64. So it fell out one summer, when Kali had fared north to Drontheim, that he lay
weather-bound under that island which is called Doll. (7) In the isle was a great cave,
which is called Doll's cave. In the cave was great hope of treasure. The chapmen made ready,
and went into the cave, and had the hardest work to make their way there. They came where
water stood across the cave, and none dared to fare across the water save Kali and another
man, whose name was Havard, Solmund's house-carle. They swam across the water, and had a
rope between them. Kali swam first, and had in his hand a blazing torch and a tinder-box
between his shoulders. (8) So they swam over the water and came to land. That place was
rough and rugged, and there was a great stench, and they could scarce get the light struck.
Then Kali gave out that they would go no farther, and said they should make a beacon there
as a memorial. Then Kali sang a song:
"Here have I built in darksome cave
Of Doll a beacon high
To goblin grim of sternest mood,
So golden store I sought,
None knows what man of those who work
The water-skates (9) will wend his way,
His long and weary path, once more
Across this water wide."
After that they turned back and came safe and sound to their men, then they fared
out of the cave; it is not told about their journey that any tidings happened that summer.
They came back to Bergen, and Kali turned into the same tavern to Unna the housewife. There
too he found again John Peter's son and his serving-man, whose name was Brynjulf. There were
there besides many others of his men, though they are not named. It happened one evening
that they John Peter's son and Kali, were gone to sleep, but many sat behind and drank. Then
there was much talk, when men were well drunk; and it came about that they spoke of matching
one man with another, and of who were thought to be noblest of the king's liegemen in
Norway. Brynjulf stood up that John Peter's son was the best bred and best born of the
younger men south of Stad; (10) but Havard Kali's companion spoke up for Solmund, and said
he was no worse bred than John, and declared that the dwellers in the Bay would set much
greater store by him than by John Peter's son. Out of this a great strife arose, and when
the ale spoke in them, then no better heed was taken than this, that up jumped Havard and
got him a cudgel and gave Brynjulf there and then such a blow on the head that he fell down
at once senseless, and men ran to help him up; but Havard was packed off to see Kali, and
Kali sent him south into Alvidra to a priest whose name was Richard, "and bring him," he
says, "my message that I beg him to take you in till I go home east."
Kali got him a man to bear him company, and a boat, and they row away south till
they come to Græning Sound. Then Havard said to his fellow-traveller:
"Now we two are come beyond the bark of hounds, and we will rest ourselves here,"
and with that they lie down to sleep. Now we must take up our story and say that Brynjulf
came to his wits, and he was carried to see John, and he tells him all that had happened,
and how the man had been packed off there and then. John guessed the truth as to his doings,
and made them take a rowing-cutter, and ten men got into her; Brynjulf was there to lead the
men. After that they row south, and come south into Græning Sound, (11) when it was getting
daylight. Then they saw that a boat lay before them on the beach, "and may be," says
Brynjulf, "that these men will be able to tell us something of Havard."
So they went up on land and found them; Havard and his mate were then just awake.
Brynjulf fell on Havard at once with the sword, and both those companions were slain at that
meeting. And now Brynjulf and his men fared back to Bergen after these tidings, and tell
them to John; and after that all the townsfolk knew them. Kali took the tidings of these
slayings very ill; and when men came between him and John, John says that his wish is that
Kali shall alone make his award as to the wrong which he thinks he has suffered, but that
should be saving the king's right and that of the next of kin to take the feud up. And Kali
agreed to those terms, but still there was no love between him and John. Then Kali fared
home east very soon after that; and when he and his father met, and Kali had told about
those tidings and the close of his quarrel, then Kol says:
"Methought you wert showing yourself in a strange light when you tookest any
atonement before your kinsman Solmund were by; now methinks you has come into a strait, and
can take little part in the matter, except to ask for atonement; and so would not Solmund do
if your house-carle were slain and his shipmate."
Kali says:
"You speak the truth, no doubt, father, when you sayest that I have been too hasty
in looking at the matter; but you wert too far off to teach me what to do. It will often be
shown too that I am not so deep-witted as you, but still I thought this, that Solmund would
be never the nearer his due though I forsook that which was offered to me; and I do not call
it a disgrace either to Solmund or to you to accept the right to fix your own terms from
John for your share in the suit, if he offers it you, though I very much doubt whether there
is any need for you to take up the matter. But as for myself, I call myself quite free as to
Brynjulf, so long as I have come to no final utterance in the matter, and taken no money in
atonement."
So that father and son talked much together, and each of them drew his own way about
it; (12) then they sent men to tell Solmund those tidings. After that Kol and Kali and
Solmund met; Kol wished that men should be sent to John to seek for an atonement; but
Solmund and Hallvard, Havard's brother, would hear of nothing but revenge, man for man; and
said it was unseemly to ask a Sogn man for atonement. But for all that the plan was taken
which Kol wished, with this understanding, that Kol gave his word not to withdraw from this
suit before Solmund got what was due to his honour. Kol too was to have the whole management
of the matter in his hands. But when the messengers came back, they say that their business
was taken up slowly and unwillingly; and John refused right out to atone for that man with
money who had before made himself an outlaw by his deeds. Solmund said that had gone just
after his guess, that it would bring them little honour to ask John for an atonement; and
now he begged Kol to give them some advice that was worth having. Kol says:
"Will Hallvard run any risk to get revenge for "his brother, and may be that after
all there may be little brought about."
Hallvard said he would not spare himself to get revenge for his brother, even though
there were risk of life in it. Kol says:
"Then shall you fare north stealthily to Sogn to that man whose name is Uni; he
dwells hard by John: he is a wise man and rather short of money, for John has long elbowed
him out of his means. He is a great friend (of mine), and now rather stricken in years. To
him you shall bring six marks weighed, which I send him that he may lay some plan how you
may wreak your revenge on Brynjulf, or some other man of John's household, whom he will
think not less loss (than Brynjulf.) But if this deed be fulfilled, then Uni shall send you
on to Studla (13) to Kyrping-Worm my kinsman, and his sons Ogmund and Erling, and then
methinks you are as good as come home. Bid Uni after that to sell his land, and change his
abode here to me."
Now Hallvard busked him to this journey, and nothing is told of how he fared, or
where his night-quarters were, before he came one day at evening to Uni's house, and did not
call himself by his own name. Uni and his household asked him about the news of the day, and
at night when men sat by the fires, then the guest asked much about high-born men there in
Sogn and Hördaland. Uni said that none of the king's liegemen there was thought more
powerful than John, both for his birth's sake, but still more for his unfairness, and asked
whether they had not some keepsakes of that down south in the land. The guest he said little
when he (Uni) spoke thus; and after that men dropped off from the fires one by one, so that
at last they two were left behind. Then Uni began to speak, and said thus:
"Is your name Hallvard, pray?"
says he. "Nay," says the guest, and again gave the name he had given in the evening.
Then Uni said:
"Off then is my difficulty," says he, "and yet I would have thought that if my name
were Brynjulf, thine would be Hallvard; but still we two will now go to sleep."
Then the guest took hold of him, and said:
"No, we two will not go yet," and with that he handed him over the bag of money, and
says that Kol sent him that silver, with his greeting, "and why he sends it is that you may
lay a plan with me that I may fulfil my revenge for my brother," and then he tells him all
Kol's counsel. Uni said:
"Kol were worthy of good from me, but I cannot tell how it is fated as to revenge on
Brynjulf; but he is looked for here tomorrow to fetch clothes from his
sweetheart."
And now Uni led him out to the horse-stable which stood before the door outside, and
stowed him away there in the manger. That was before men rose, but he had lain indoors
during the night. Now, when Hallvard had been a little while in the horse stable, he saw how
a huge man had come up to the homestead, and calls out that the woman must be quick; she
took her clothes, and carries them out. Then Hallvard thinks he knows who it must be. So he
gæs out. Brynjulf had laid aside his arms while he tied up the clothes which the woman
brought, and as soon as ever they meet, Hallvard smites Brynjulf his death-blow, and then
went back again into the horse stable, and hid himself there. While the slaying was going on
the woman had gone into the house to kiss and take leave of her friends in the household;
and when she came out she saw the tokens of the deed, and ran in with a great shriek, and
was in such a fright that she was just about to faint away, but still she told them what had
happened. Goodman Uni ran out, and said that the guest must have been a hired murderer, and
sent a man at once to John to tell these tidings, and egged on men as much as he could to
search for the man, and for that no man suspected him of having anything to do with the
deed. Hallvard was in the horse stable till the hottest of the chase had passed off, but
after that he fared by Uni's help and counsel till he came to Studla to Worm and his sons,
and they got him company home east. Kol and Solmund made him welcome, and were well pleased
with their share in the matter; and now these tidings are noised abroad, and men became
aware of the truth. Now John is heavily displeased at this, and so that winter and the
summer after pass away; and thenext winter when Yule was drawing on, John busked him from
home with thirty men, and gave it out that he meant to go on a journey to see his kinsfolk
up at Sæter to the house of Harek, his mother's father, and so he did, and gets there a
hearty welcome. And when those kinsmen were talking together, John says that he means to go
thence to East Agdir to look up Solmund. Harek tried to turn him from this, and said he had
not got the worst of it, though they (John and Solmund) parted as they were. John said he
would not be content that Brynjulf should be unavenged. Harek said he thought his lot would
not be bettered, though they (John and Solmund) had any further dealings in the matter; but
still he had with him away thence thirty men, and so they fared east with half a hundred men
(14) by the upper road, and thought to come unawares upon Solmund and Kol. But when John was
newly gone from home, Uni bestirred himself and fared south to Studla to see Worm, and that
father and son got him company south to Kol, and he came there at Yule, and told them he
thought that John was on his way to attack them. Kol sends out spies at once on all the ways
about him, by which he looked that John might come, and he fared to find Solmund; and those
kinsmen sat with a great company. News came to them about John's journey, and they fared
against him; their meeting was in a wood; they fell at once to battle; Kol and his men were
far more in number, and had the victory. But John lost many men and fled himself into the
woods. He got a wound in his leg, and that healed so ill that he was halt ever after, and
was called limp-leg John. He came home north in Lent, and his journey was thought most
shameful. So now this winter wore away. But the summer after John made them slay two of
Kol's kinsmen, Gunnar and Aslak. A little after king Sigurd came to the town, (15) and this
difficulty was brought before him. After that the king sent word to both sides, and summoned
them to him. Then they came to the king, with their kinsfolk and friends; then an atonement
was sought, and the end of it was that the king's doom should pass upon all their quarrels,
and either side plighted their troth to the other. King Sigurd made a settlement between
them with the advice of the best men. It was so fixed in that settlement that John Peter's
son should take Ingirid Kol's daughter to wife, and then friendship would spring up with
those ties, while the manslaughters (of Havard and Brynjulf) were to be set off one against
the other. The attack on Kol and John's wound were set off against the loss of men away
there east, but the wounds on either side were matched together and set off, and those that
were odd were atoned for in money. Each side too was to yield help to the other both at home
and abroad. It followed also on this settlement that king Sigurd gave Kali Kol's son half
the Orkneys with earl Paul Hacon's son, and the title of earl too. He also gave him the name
of earl Rognvald Brusi's son, because his mother Gunnhilda said that he had been the most
proper man of all the Orkney earls, and thought the name would bring good luck. This share
of the Orkneys Saint Magnus had owned, Rognvald-Kali's mother's brother. After this
atonement they parted with great love-tokens; they who had erewhile been fæs.
65. That winter after king Sigurd sat in Oslo, (16) but about the spring in Lent he took a
sickness, and breathed his last one night after Lady-day. His son Magnus was then in the
town there, and held a Thing at once, and was taken to be king over all the land according
to the oath which men had sworn to king Sigurd. Then he took the king's treasures into his
power. Harold Gilli was then at Tunsberg, (17) when he heard of king Sigurd's death, then he
held meetings with his friends. Then he sent for Rognvald and his kindred, for he had always
been his friend (18) since they met in England. That father and son too had most hand in
Harold's clearing himself by ordeal before king Sigurd, with the help of other liegemen,
Ingimar Sweyn's son and Thiostolf Ali's son. The counsel of Harold and his friends was to
hold the Hauga-Thing there in Tunsberg. There Harold was taken to be king over half the
land. Then those were called force-oaths (19) by which he had sworn away his fathers
inheritance out of his hands before they would let him take the ordeal. Then men flocked to
him and became hand-bound to him, and he gathered a very great company. Then words passed
between those kinsmen. And it was so that seven nights passed before a settlement was
brought about on these terms, that each of them should have half the land against the other;
but king Magnus had (beside) king Sigurd's longship and his table furniture and all his
treasures, and yet he still was not content with his share. He fastened feuds on all
Harold's friends. King Magnus too would not let that gift hold good by which king Sigurd
gave the Orkneys and the earldom to Rognvald, because he clung very fast to Harold's cause
in all their quarrels, and would never leave his cause till all their quarrels were brought
to an end. They, Magnus and Harold, were three winters kings over Norway, so that their
settlement might be said to hold good, but the fourth summer they fought at Fyrileif; (20)
then king Magnus had near sixty hundred men, but Harold had fifteen hundred. These chiefs
were with Harold: Kristred his brother, earl Rognvald, Ingimar of Ask, Thiostolf Ali's son,
and Solmund. King Magnus got the victory, but king Harold fled. There fell Kristred and
Ingimar. He (Ingimar) chanted this song: ---
"Friends befooled me
To Fyrileif field,
Aye was I unwilling
For onslaught of war;
Me bit bolts bitter
From crossbow sped,
Ne'er again shall I
To Ask (21) go back."
King Harold fled east to the Bay to his ships, and fared south to Denmark to find
king Eric the ever-memorable. He gave him Halland as a lordship and eight longships without
tackle. Thiostolf Ali's son sold his lands for ships and arms, and went to seek king Harold
south in Denmark that autumn. King Harold came towards Yule to Bergen, and lay over
Yule-tide in Floru-væ. (22) But after Yule they run up to the town, and there was but a
little struggle; king Magnus was taken captive on board his ship and maimed, but king Harold
took all the land under his sway. But the next spring after king Harold renewed the gift to
Rognvald about the isles, and the title of earl as well.
66. Kol gave this advice to send men to the Orkneys at once after this, and (Rognvald)
begged earl Paul that he would give up half the isles as king Harold had given them to him;
then friendship and thorough kinship should spring up between them. But if earl Paul refused
these things, then these very same men should fare to find Frakok and Oliver the unruly, and
offer them half the lands with earl Rognvald, if they would seek to get it from earl Paul
with a host. But when these men came to the Orkneys and saw earl Paul, and brought forward
their errand there, then earl Paul answers:
"I understand this claim, how it is made with mickle cunning and forethought; they
have betaken themselves to the kings of Norway to get the realm away from under me. Now I
will not reward that faithlessness by giving up my realm to those who come no nearer to me
than Rognvald, and by refusing it to my brother's son and my sister's son. There is no need
here of long words, for I will guard the Orkneys by the strength of my friends and kinsfolk
while God grants me life to do so."
Then the messengers saw how their errand was likely to turn out there. So they fared
away, and went south over the Pentland firth to Caithness, and so into Sutherland to find
Frakok, and tell their errand there, how earl Rognvald and Kol offer Oliver and Frakok half
the Orkneys if they will win them back from earl Paul. Frakok speaks thus:
"True it is that Kol is a very wise man, and wisely has it been seen to in this plan
to look here for strength, because we kinsfolk have great strength, and many men bound to us
by ties. I have now given away Margaret Hacon's daughter to earl Moddan of Athole, who is
noblest of all the Scottish-chiefs by birth. Melmari his father was brother of Malcolm the
Scot-king, father of David, who is now the Scot-king. We have also," she said, "many true
claims to the Orkneys, but we are ourselves something of schemers, and we are said to be
rather deep-witted, so that this strife dæs not come upon us unawares; but still it seems
good to me to join fellowship with that father and son for many things' sake. You shall say
these words to Kol and Rognvald that we two, Oliver and I, will come to the Orkneys next
summer at midsummer with a host to fall on earl Paul; let Rognvald and his men come there
then to meet us, and let us then fight it out with earl Paul; but this winter I will draw
strength to me out of Scotland and the Southern isles from my kinsfolk and friends and
connexions."
Now the messengers fare back east to Norway, and tell that father and son how they
had sped.
67. That winter after this earl Rognvald busked him to fare west, and these chiefs with him,
Solmund and John; they fared in the course of the summer after, and had picked men, though
not many; (and) five or six ships. They come off Shetland at midsummer and heard nothing of
Frakok. Then high and foul winds arose, and they laid their ships up in Alasound, (23) but
fared about to feasts and free-quarters over the land and the freemen made them good cheer.
But of Frakok it must be told that she fares in the spring out to the Southern isles, and
she and Oliver gather force thence to themselves in men and ships; they got twelve ships,
and all of them small and rather thinly manned. And near midsummer they held on for the
Orkneys, and mean to meet earl Rognvald, as was said; they were slow in getting a wind.
There Oliver the unruly was leader of that host, and the earldom in the Orkneys was meant
for him if they could get it. Frakok was there in the fleet too, and many of her kith and
kin.
68. Earl Paul was then at Westness in Rowsay at a feast with Sigurd, when he heard that earl
Rognvald was come to Shetland; then too was heard how a host was gathering together in the
Southern isles to attack them. Then the earl sent word to Kugi in Westray, and to Thorkell
flayer, they were wise men; and many other chieftains he summoned to him. At this meeting
the earl asked counsel of his friends, but they did not all look on the matter in one way;
some wished to share the realm with one or other (of the fæ), and not to have both against
them, but some advised that the earl should fare over to the Ness to his friends, and see
what force he could get there. Earl Paul answers:
"I will not now offer my realm to those to whom I refused it then right out when
they sought it by fair means; methinks too it is unchieftainlike to fly my land without one
trial of strength; I will take that counsel to send men tonight round all the isles to
gather force, and let us fare against Rognvald and his men as soon as we can, and let our
quarrel come to the sword'' point before the South-islanders come."" This plan was taken
which the earl spoke of. That man was then with earl Paul, whose name was Sweyn breastrope;
he was one of the earl's bodyguard, and well honoured of him; he was ever on viking voyages
in the summer, but the winters he spent with earl Paul. Sweyn was a tall, strong man,
swarthy and rather unlucky-looking; he was very fond of the old faith, and had all his life
lain out at night (to follow his black arts). He was one of the earl's forecastle men. These
chiefs came at once that night to earl Paul; Eyvind Melbrigdi's son; he had a longship fully
manned. Olaf Hrolf's son of Gairsay had another, Thorkell flayer a third, Sigurd the master
of the house there a fourth, the fifth the earl had himself. With these five ships they hold
on to Hrossey, and come there on the evening of the fifth day of the week (Thursday evening)
at sundown; then force flocked to them during the night, but they got no more ships. They
meant the day after to sail to Shetland against Rognvald and his men. But next morning, when
it had got light, and the sun was just up, those men came to the earl, who said they had
seen longships fairing from the south on the Pentland firth; they said they could not tell
whether there were ten or twelve of them. The earl and his men made up their minds that
there must be coming Frakok's host. Then the earl bade them to get ready to row against them
as hard and as fast as they could. Then they, Olaf and Sigurd begged him to take time about
it, and said men would come into them every hour. And lo! as they rowed east from
Tankarness, longships come sailing against them from the east round the Mull, and they were
twelve in all. Then the earl and his men lashed their ships together. Then came to him
Erling, the master of Tankarness, and his sons, and offered him his help. By that time they
were so thronged on board their ships that they thought they could find room for no more
men. Then the earl bade Erling to bring down stones for them while they were in no risk of
attack. And when they had made all clear for fight, Oliver and his side came up, and gave
them an onslaught by rowing at once, and they had far more men, but smaller ships. Oliver
had a great ship, and he laid that against the earl's ship. There was then the hardest
fight. Olaf Hrolf's son, laid his ship against the smaller ships of Oliver, and there was a
great difference in the height of the sides, and in a short while he cleared the decks of
three ships. Oliver made such a hard onslaught on the earl's ship, that all the forecastle
men gave way and fled aft of the mast. Then Oliver egged on his men to board, and gæs
himself the first man up. Sweyn breastrope was the foremost of all the earl's men, and
fought most stoutly. Earl Paul sees now that Oliver was come up on board his ship, and eggs
on his men fast; he leaps down himself from the poop, and springs forward in the ship, and
when Oliver saw that, he snatched up a boat-hook, and hurled it at the earl, and it fell
upon his shield, and down he fell at once on the planks. Then there was a great shout. And
at that moment Sweyn breastrope snatched up a great stone and hurled it at Oliver, and hit
him full in the breast; the blow was so great that he tumbled at once overboard, and sank in
the sea. His men got hold of him, and then he was drawn up into his ship, and he lay there
senseless, and men knew not whether he were dead or alive. Then some ran and hewed the
lashings asunder, and were for flying, and then all Oliver's men were driven down from the
earl's ship. Then they took to flying. Just then Oliver came to himself, and bade them not
to fly; but then no one made as though he knew what he said: The earl chased the flying
ships east of Hrossey, and so farther east of Hrossey and Rognvaldsey, and so into the
Pentland firth; then they drew away from one another. Then the earl turns back, and where
they had fought five ships of Oliver's fleet lay empty and unmanned. The earl took them for
his own, and manned them with his followers. The fight took place on the Fastday (Friday),
but that night the earl made them put their ships into trim. Then many men gathered to him,
and two longships. Next morning he had twelve ships, and all in good trim and well manned.
Saturday he sailed to Shetland, and came by night into Alasound unawares to those who
watched earl Rognvald's ships; then earl Paul made them slay the men, but took the ships and
the goods to himself. But next morning news came to Rognvald and his men; they rushed
together and had a great gathering of the freemen; after that they fared down to the strand,
and then egg on Paul and his men to come on shore and fight with them. But earl Paul put no
trust in the Shetlanders, and therefore would not go on land, but offered that they should
get them ships and fight it out on shipboard. But Rognvald and his men saw that they could
get no ships in which they could fight on fair terms. And so they parted as things stood.
Earl Paul and his men fared back to the Orkneys, but earl Rognvald and his men were in
Shetland all that summer, but at autumn they got carried in ships to Norway by divers
chapmen, and their voyage was thought rather shameful. But when earl Rognvald came home, and
he and his father met, Kol asks whether Rognvald was ill content with his lot. He says he
thinks very little had come of his errand, and that little rather unworthily. Kol
says:
"I do not think so though; methinks the errand has been good, and that much has been
done if the Shetlanders are your friends, and that it is better to have gone than not to
have gone."
Rognvald says:
"If you praise this voyage, then it must either be that you must care less about
our lot than I thought, or you must see something in our voyage which we have not yet
thought of seeing. I should be very glad now that you shouldest lay down a plan for us and
be yourself on the voyage with us."
Kol says:
"Both of these things now shall not be done; say all your work is easy, but come one
self's never near the spot. I shall be very glad to use my counsel so as not to swerve from
your honour."
Rognvald answers:
"We will willingly follow the advice you givest."
Kol says:
"My first advice is that you sendest word to king Harold and other of your friends
that they get you force and ships for a western voyage early in the spring, but we will draw
to us all the strength we can get this winter, and let us so lay our plans this second time
that one of two things may be, either that we get the Orkneys, or else lay our bones
there."
Rognvald answers:
"The thought dwells in my mind not to fare on many more such voyages as this which
we have now fared; and such, I ween, is the thought of most of those who lately fared with
us."
69. Earl Paul fared to the Orkneys after that he had taken the ships of earl Rognvald and
his men; he had then to boast over a great victory. Then he had a great feast and bade to
him his chieftains. There then was taken that counsel to pile up (24) a beacon in the Fair
Isle; fire was to be put to it if a host were seen sailing from Shetland. Then there was
another on Rinansey (North Ronaldsay), and so on in more of the isles, so that it might be
seen all over the isles if war were coming on them. Then too men were set to call out men
round all the islands; Thorstein Havard's son, Gunni's son, was to have Rinansey, but his
brother Magnus was to have Sanday, Kugi (was to be on the watch) round Westray, Sigurd of
Westness on Rowsay, Olaf Hrolf's son fared to Duncansby in Caithness, and had the wardship
there. His son Waltheof dwelt then in Stronsay. Then earl Paul granted gifts to his friends,
and all promised him their thorough friendship. He kept many men about him that autumn, till
he learned that Rognvald and his men were away from Shetland. Then no tidings happened in
the islands, and so it went on up to Yule. Earl Paul had a great Yule-feast, and made ready
for it at that homestead of his which is called Orfir; he bade there many noble men. There
was bidden Waltheof Olaf's son out of Stronsay. (25) They set off ten of them in a ten-oared
boat, and they were all lost in the West-firth the day before Yule, and that was thought
great tidings, for Waltheof one of the best-bred of men. His father Olaf had a great train
of followers in Caithness; there were his sons Sweyn and Gunni, and the sons of Grim of
Swanay, Asbjorn and Margad, but Asleif the mistress of the house and her son Gunni had gone
to a feast at a friend's house no long way off. These tidings happened at Duncansby three
nights before Yule that Sweyn Olaf's son had rowed out to fish, and those brothers Asbjorn
and Margad with him. They always went about with him, and were the briskest and bravest of
men. But in the night after they had gone away came Oliver the unruly to Duncansby with that
train which had followed him on his viking voyage that summer, and seized the house over
Olaf's head and set fire to it at once, and burned him inside it and six men with him, but
allowed the others in the house to go out. They took there all the chattels and goods, and
went away after they had done that deed. Sweyn, who was afterwards called Asleif's son, came
home before the first day of Yule, and fared at once north on the Pentland firth; he came
about midnight to Swanay to the house of Grim, the father of Asbjorn and his brother. Grim
got into a ship with them, and they put Sweyn across to Knarstead on Scapa-neck. Arnkell was
the name of the man who kept house there, and his sons' names were Hanef and Sigurd. Grim
and his sons turned back thence, and Sweyn gave Grim a gold finger-ring. Hanef and his
brother Sigurd brought Sweyn to Orfir; there he had a hearty welcome; men guided him to
Eyvind Melbrigdi's son, Sweyn's kinsman. Eyvind led Sweyn before earl Paul, and the earl
greeted Sweyn well and asked him what news, but Sweyn tells the death of his father, with
all that had happened. The earl was ill pleased at that, and said that he had suffered a
great loss; he asked Sweyn to be with him, and said that he would do him great honour. Sweyn
thanks the earl kindly for his bidding, and said he would willingly accept it.
70. After that men went to even-song. There was a great homestead there, and it stood on the
side of a slope, and there was a steep hill at the back of the house, and when one came on
to the brow of the hill, Orrida-firth lay down below. In it lies Damsay. There was a castle
in the island, and that man guarded it whose name was Blann, a son of Thorstein of
Flidruness. There in Orfir was a great drinking hall, and there was a door at the east gable
from the south in the side wall, and a noble church stood before the hall door, and one went
down steps from the hall into the church. But as one went into the hall, there was on the
left hand a great flat stone, and further on inside ale-casks, both many and great, but when
one passed through the doorway there was a small room facing one. (26) When men were come
from even-song, they were ranged in seats. The earl made Sweyn Asleif's son sit next to him
on the inside, but on the outside of the earl Sweyn breastrope sat next him, and then John
the kinsman of Sweyn breastrope. When the board was cleared those men came who told of the
drowning of Waltheof Olaf's son; and the earl thought that great news. Then the earl bade
that no one should tease Sweyn Asleif's son while Yule lasted, and said that even then he
would have enough to think on. And at even, when men had drunk, the earl and most men with
him went to sleep. But Sweyn breastrope went out, and sat out all night, in heathen rites,
as was his wont. And during the night men rose and went to church and heard prayers, and
after high mass men sat down at the board. Eyvind Melbrigdi's son had most of the management
of the feast with the earl, and did not sit down himself. The waiting-men and torch-bearers
stood before the earl's table, but Eyvind poured out the drink into the cup of each of those
namesakes. Then Sweyn breastrope thought that Eyvind filled his cup higher, and would not
touch it before Sweyn Asleif's son had drunk off his cup, and said Sweyn (Asleif's son)
drank unfairly. There had long been no love lost between Sweyn breastrope and Olaf Hrolf's
son, and so too between those namesakes since Swein Asleif's son grew up to be a man. And
when drinking had gone on a while, then they went to Nones. But when men came in again, then
healths and memories were solemnly spoken of, and horns were drained. Then Sweyn breastrope
would change horns with his namesake, and said he thought it was a little one. Then Eyvind
thrust a great horn into Sweyn Asleif's son's hand, and he offered that to his namesake.
Then Sweyn breastrope got wrath, and said to himself between his lips, so that some men, and
the earl among the rest, heard him:
"Sweyn will be Sweyn's death, and Sweyn shall be Sweyn's death."
This was hushed up at once, and now the drinking went on up to even-song. And when
the earl went out, then Sweyn Asleif's son went before him, but Sweyn breastrope sat behind
and drank. But when they came out into the ale-room, Eyvind came after them, and led Sweyn
aside to talk. "Heardest you," he asked, "what your namesake said when you hadst offered him
the horn?"
"No," he said. Then Eyvind repeated the words, and said that the fiend must have put
those words into his mouth during the night. "He must mean you death, but you shall be
beforehand with him in the deed, and slay him."" Eyvind put an axe into his hand, and bade
him stand by the flat stone in the shade, and told him to give Sweyn the blow in front if
John went before him, but if John went behind, then he bade Sweyn to deal his namesake the
blow behind. The earl went to church, and no one gave heed to Eyvind and Sweyn. But Sweyn
breastrope and John went out a little later than the earl. Sweyn breastrope had a sword in
his hand, for he always bore his sword, though others were weaponless, and John went first.
It was light up to the doorway, but the weather was thick. And when Sweyn breastrope came to
the doorway, Sweyn Asleif's son smote him in front on the forehead, and he stumbled forward
at the blow, but did not fall. And when he stood straight again, then he saw a man standing
at the door, and thought it must be he that had wounded him. Then he drew his sword, and
dealt him a blow with it on the head, and clave him down to the shoulders; but it was his
kinsman John on whom the blow fell, and there they both fell down. Then Eyvind came up and
led Sweyn Asleif's son into that room which was over against the doorway, and he was there
drawn out at a window-slit. (27) There Magnus Eyvind's son has a horse ready saddled, and
guided him away at the back of the homestead, and so to Orrida-firth. Then they took ship,
and Magnus carried Sweyn to Damsay, and brought him to the castle; but Blann carried him
next morning north to Egil's isle to meet bishop William. The bishop was then at prayers
when they came there. And after mass Sweyn was brought by stealth to the bishop, and Sweyn
tells him the tidings, the death of his father Olaf and of Waltheof, and the slaying of
Sweyn and John, and called on the bishop to shelter him. The bishop thanked him for the
slaying of Sweyn breastrope, and said that had been a cleansing of the land. The bishop let
Sweyn stay there till Yule was over; but after that he sent him into the Southern isles to
Tyree, to that man whose name was Holdbodi, and who was Hundi's son; he was a great chief
there, and gave Sweyn a very hearty welcome. He stayed there that winter, and was thought of
much worth by all the people.
1. This passage from "Cecilia" to "Kol" is an addition of the Danish Translation,
M.O. reads, "Kali was the name of a man, Kol's son, Kali's son, Seabear's son. Kali was a
son of Gunnhilda, daughter of earl Erlend, the son of Thorfinn, the Orkney earl, who (Kali)
after a time was called Rognvald."
2. hopeful; that is, "of the greatest promise," as in the English expression "young
hopeful."
3. Gillikristi; i.e., "the servant of Christ," one of a series of Celtic names which
came in with the conversion of the heathen, and which still remains in the surname
Gilchrist, Gillespie, "the bishop's servant," is another; Gillicallum, "St. Columba's
servant," another; Gilpatrick, "St. Patrick's servant," another. Of the same character are
Melbride (Melbrigði), Malise, Malcolm, and Melmari, which mean respectively St. Bride's,
Jesus', St. Columba's and the Virgin Mary's servant; Mail or Maoile, like Gilli or Giolla,
being Celtic for servant. Comp. an excellent essay by Munch, on the Runic Inscriptions in
the Isle of Man, in the Mémoires de la Soc. Roy. des Antiquaires du Nord. Copenh.
1845-49.
4. sea-moors; the waste surface of the sea.
5. beaked elk; the ship.
6. So the MS., it should be "north."
7. This island was also called Sandey, Fornm. S. xii. 344. It belongs to the
province of South Mæren, near Drontheim. The cave is still to be seen on its western shore.
Comp. Munch. N.H. iii. 688.
8. Shoulders; That is, the materials for striking a light were fastened at the nape
of his neck and remained dry.
9. Water-skates; ships, i.e., what sailor will ever again, &c.
10. Stad; Stað or Staðir, the westernmost headland in Norway, away from which the
coast trends north and south. The expression answers to our "south of the Tweed," or "in the
south country."
11. The sound near the island of Græning, now Gröningen, north of Mostr, in South
Hördaland.
12. The Flatey Book "each thought his own way about it."
13. Now Stöle in South Hördaland.
14. That is with sixty, half the long hundred of 120. Thirty of his own people and
thirty of Harek's.
15. That is to the town of Bergen.
16. Oslo; Now Christiania, a town of much importance in ancient times.
17. Tunsberg; Now Tönsberg, a great mart in ancient times on the western shore of
"the Bay."
By "the Bay" was meant the great Gulf in the south of Norway, the entrance to which
is the Skaw, and at the bottom of which lies the Christiania firth. The district round the
Gulf was also called "the Bay," and the inhabitants were called "Bay-dwellers."
18. The Danish Translation reads he sent messengers after Kali, who at that time was
called Rognvald, and his father Kol, for Rognvald had always been his friend.
19. As we should say oaths taken under duress, and therefore not binding.
20. Fyrileif; A place on the east side of "the Bay," in the Norwegian province,
called of old Ránríki, but to which the Swedish Båhuslen now answers.
21. Now Asköe, an island off the town of Bergen.
22. A creek, or "væ," near Bergen.
23. Alasound; Yell Sound.
24. The Danish Translation paraphrases the passage:
"Then that counsel was taken that they should bring together heath, wood, and tar on
the highest hills in the Fair Isle, and make out of them a pile or heap of wood; that they
called a beacon."
25. So the Danish Translation. The Flatey Book reads "Stroma" (badly).
26. The Danish Translation reads, "A great slab or flat stone; between it and the
hall (stoffven) were many and great ale-casks; but just opposite the door as one went in was
another little room."
27. Literally "bladder-window," a narrow window covered with bladder to supply the
place of glass. Comp. Sturl. S. i. 168. The Run. Lex s.v. ljóri reads, "he was drawn up
through the louvre."
71. A little while after those manslayings had taken place in Orfir men ran up from
the church, and Sweyn was borne inside the house, for he had not yet drawn his last breath,
though he had lost his senses. He died in the course of the night. Then the earl made every
man take his seat, and wanted to be sure who it was that had caused the slayings; and then
Sweyn Asleif's son was missing. Then men thought it clear that Sweyn had slain them. Then
Eyvind came up and said:
"Any man can see that Sweyn breastrope must have given John his death."
The earl said that no man should blow a hair off Sweyn's (1) head, and says he would
not have done this without a cause. "But if he takes himself off from meeting me," says he,
"then he will be doing himself an ill turn by that."
(2) Men thought it most likely that Sweyn would have gone to Paplay to Hacon churl,
brother of earl Magnus the saint; he was a great chief, mild and gentle. The earl heard no
news of Sweyn that winter, and made them make him an outlaw. When the spring began the earl
fared far and near about the north isles to get in his rents. He made great friends with the
great men, and gave away almost with both hands. The earl came into Stronsay, and gave
Thorkell flayer that farm which Waltheof Olaf's son had owned, for the sake of knowing where
Sweyn had settled down. Thorkell spoke and said:
"It dæs not turn out now as the saying gæs, 'Many are a king's ears.' But though
you beest earl, still it seems to me wonderful that though have heard no tidings of Sweyn,
for I knew at once that bishop William sent him to the Southern isles to Holdbodi Hundi's
son, and there he has been this winter."
The earl said:
"What shall I do to the bishop who has dared to do this?"
Thorkell answers:
"No blame must be given to the bishop for this in the face of what now lies at the
door; you will need all your friends if Rognvald and his men come from the east."
The earl says, "What he says is true."
Earl Paul fared thence to Rinansey (North Ronaldsay), and accepted feast at mistress
Ragna's house and Thorstein's her son. Ragna was a wise woman. They had another farm in
Papay. (3) The earl sat there three nights, for he could not get a wind to Kugi's house in
Westray. They, Ragna and the earl, talked much, and she says to the earl that he had little
loss in Sweyn breastrope, even though he was a great warrior. "You gottest from him many
feuds; it were my counsel, in the face of that trouble which stares you in the face, that
you make you as many friends as you can, and not be fault-finding. I would too that you laid
no blame on bishop William or the other kinsmen of Sweyn Asleif's son; but I would rather
that you wouldest forgive the bishop your wrath, and this besides, that you wouldest let
word be sent to the Southern isles for Sweyn, and forgive him your wrath too, and give him
back his estates on condition that he will be to you such a man as his father was. It has
always been the custom of the noblest men to do much for the sake of their friends, and so
to gather to themselves force and friendship."
The earl answers:
"You are a wise wife, Ragna, but still you has not yet gotten the title of earl in
the Orkneys; you shall not rule the land here. A pretty thing indeed that I should give
Sweyn goods for an atonement, and think that I should win victory for my side in that way!"
He gets wrath about this, and said:
"God settle matters between my kinsman earl Rognvald and me, and let things so go as
each has deserved by his deeds. If I have misdone towards him, then it is time that I should
atone for it; but if so be his aim is to get my realm, then methinks that man my best friend
who aids me, that I may be able to hold my realm. Rognvald I have never yet seen; and this
is why, so far as my knowledge gæs, I have all the less done him any wrong, because
whatever our kinsfolk may have caused to be done, men know well enough that I had no share
in those things."
Many answered that it was quite unpardonabl for any one to try and strive with him
for the realm, but no one spoke against him. When the spring began to wear away, earl Paul
made them pile up the beacons in the Fair Isle and Rinansey, and in almost all the isles, so
that each might be seen from the other. There was a man named Dagfinn Hlodver's son, who
kept house on the Fair Isle, a brisk stirring man; he was to watch that beacon and set fire
to it if a host were seen faring from Shetland.
Earl Rognvald sat that winter at home in Agdir on the farms of that father and son,
and sent word to his friends and kinsfolk; but some he went to see, and begged that they
would aid him in his voyage west both in men and ships, and most of them turned a willing
ear to his wants. But about February Kol sent two ships of burden out of the land, one west
to England to buy stores and weapons, but in the other Solmund sailed south to Denmark to
buy there what Kol bade him, for he has now all the business of fitting them out in his
hands. It was so meant that these ships of burden should come back to Norway at Easter, but
they mean to set sail on the voyage after Easter week. So it was done, and they held on from
the east after Easter week. Each of that pair, father and son, had his own long-ship, but
Solmund had the third. Kol and his son had besides a ship of burden laden with stores. But
when they came to Bergen, they found king Harold there; he gave Rognvald a long-ship fully
trimmed and manned. John limp-leg had also a long-ship. The sixth Aslak, son of Erlend of
Hern had; he was a daughter's son of Steigar-Thorir. He too had a ship of burden laden with
stores. They had six large ships, five cutters, and three ships of burden. When they lay
waiting for a wind at Hern, a ship ran in from the west, and they heard news from the
Orkneys and Shetland, and what preparations earl Paul was taking, if earl Rognvald came
there west with a host that summer.
72. Earl Rognvald let them blow the trumpets to call together a house-Thing (4) while they
lay in Hern, (5) and spoke then of earl Paul's preparations, and how great feud the
Orkneyingers showed towards him when they meant to keep him from the inheritance of his
kinsfolk, after the kings of Norway had given it to him as the rightful heir. And so he
makes them a long and clever speech, --- I meant, he said, "so to go to the Orkneys as
either to get them or else die."
Men gave him great praise for his speech, and promised him trustier following. Then
Kol stood up and said:
"We have heard from the Orkneys how all men there will rise up against you, and keep
you from your realm, siding with earl Paul; and be sure, kinsman, that they will be slow to
lay down that feud which they have taken up against you. Now, it is my counsel to look for
trust there where there is enough of it and to spare, that he may give you your realm who
owns it by right; but that is the saint earl Magnus, your mother's brother. My wish is that
though vowest to him, if he will grant you the inheritance of your kindred and make you his
heir, that you will let a stone minster be built in the Orkneys at Kirkwall if you can get
that realm, so that there shall not be another as splendid in that land, and let it be
hallowed in the name of Saint Magnus the earl your kinsman, and that you will lay out money,
so that the church may grow and thrive, and that there may come his halidom, together with
the bishop's seat."
This all thought good advice. And that vow was fast made. After that they put to
sea, and they got a fair wind, and made Shetland, and each were glad at meeting the others.
The Shetlanders were able to tell them many tidings from the Orkneys, and so they stayed
there some time.
73. It chanced once that Kol asks Uni, for he was then there, and had changed his abode to
that of Kol and his son, after he had taken part in the plot against Brynjulf. Then Kol
asks:
"Whether of the twain will you, Uni, give counsel how the beacon in the Fair Isle
may be set on fire for naught, or undertake that work that another beacon may not be
lighted. I speak to you about this because I know that you are wiser than most of the others
who are now here, though we have here many men of worth."
Uni answers:
"I am no man for advice, but still less would I make a rush to war by my plans. I
will therefore rather choose what shall be done last, because I mean to take the doing of it
all on myself."
(6) And a little after, one day when the weather was fair, Kol made them fit out
many small ships, and turned his course towards the Orkneys. There were no chiefs on board
the ships but Kol. And when they come so far that they think their fleet might be seen from
the Fair Isle, then Kol made them hoist the sails on all the ships, and set men to back
water with the oars, so that the ships might move as slowly as possible, though the wind was
right aft; and he made them set the sails no higher than half-mast, and so hoist them higher
and higher up as they had gone further on. Kol says that then their fleet would be seen from
the Fair Isle, "[and it would seem] as though the ships were coming near to the isle. (7)
May be then that they will set fire to the beacon, and there will be a rush to arms all over
the islands."
Then Dagfinn of the Fair Isle saw the ships sailing and he set fire to the beacon at
once, but fared himself to the earl and told him the news. And as soon as ever the beacon
was seen on the Fair Isle, then Thorstein Ragna's son made them kindle the beacon on
Rinansey. And after that all the others were lit one after the other over all the isles. But
all the freemen fared to meet the earl, and that was the greatest war-gathering. But when
Kol saw that the beacon was a-blaze, he bade his men fare back; and said it might so happen
that this would be a cause of quarrel to some of them; Kol fares back to Shetland after he
had done thus much, and says that now Uni shall betake himself to his plans. Uni calls three
Shetlanders to go along with him; they take a six-oared boat and a few stores beside and
fishing-tackle. They fared to the Fair Isle, and Uni said he was a Norseman, but gives out
that he had wedded in Shetland and had sons there; he says too he had been robbed by earl
Rognvald's men, and speaks the hardest things of them. He takes up his abode in a house
there, and his sons row out to fish; but he stays at home to watch their stores and catch.
He gets to speaking with and to knowing those men who take the lead there, and they are well
pleased with him.
74. After that Dagfinn had set fire to the beacon, he set off to find earl Paul, as was
before said, and there came all the earl's chieftains. Then they took to asking every one
about the doings of earl Rognvald and his men; and men thought it wonderful when they showed
themselves nowhere. But still they kept the force together three days. Then the freemen
began to take it ill, and say that it was great folly to burn the beacons, though fishermen
were seen sailing in their boats. Then blame was laid on Thorstein Ragna's son that he had
done a bad thing when he kindled the beacon on Rinansey. Thorstein answers, and says he
could do nothing else than fire the beacon, when he saw the blaze on the Fair Isle, and said
this had been all Dagfinn's doing. Dagfinn answers:
"Men far more often get ill from you than though art able to say the same of
me."
Thorstein bade him hold his tongue, and sprang up to him with an axe, and smote him
there and then his death-blow. Then men sprang to arms and a battle arose. This was in
Hrossey, a little way from Kirkwall. Sigurd of Westness and his sons Hacon pike and Brynjulf
aided Hlodver Dagfinn'' father, but his own kin helped Thorstein. Then this was told the
earl, and he came up, but it was long before he could get them parted. Then Kugi of Westray
speaks a long speech, and says thus:
"Do not do the earl this shame, that you fall to blows among yourselves, for you
will need all your men within a little time. Let us take heed then that we be not unhandy or
quarrelsome. But as for this, it must have come about by the will and plan of our fæs, and
it must have been a trick of theirs to waste the beacons thus. But now they may be looked
for to come every day, and so let us take counsel and make our plans. No ill-will could have
driven Dagfinn to do as he did, but he was a little more hasty than he ought to have
been."
This guess of Kugi was the very truth, and so he went on with many wise words. So it
came about that each side was willing that the earl should settle the matter; but still it
was thought best to break up the gathering, and men went home. But that man was set to watch
the beacon in the Fair Isle whose name was Eric. And when Uni had been a little while in the
Fair Isle, he came to Eric and said:
"Will you that I watch the beacon? since I do naught else, and I may well sit and
spend all my time on it."
Eric accepted that. But as soon as ever no men were near to the spot, Uni threw
water on the beacon, and made it so wet that fire had no hold of it anywhere.
75. Earl Rognvald and his men agreed that they would wait till the spring tides and east
wind set in together, for then it is scarcely possible to pass between Westray and Hrossey,
but with an east wind one may sail from Shetland to Westray. And so earl Rognvald and his
men profited by this, and came on Friday evening to Westray into Hofn, to the house of
Helgi, who lived there. No signs were then given by the beacons, for when the sails were
seen from the Fair Isle, Eric busked him to go to earl, and sent men to Uni to bid him fire
the beacon, but when that man came there, Uni was off and away. And when that man wanted to
fire the beacon, then it was so wet that the fire would not catch it. And when Eric hears
this, he thinks he sees how things have gone. After that he fares to find earl Paul, and
tells him. But when earl Rognvald was come into Westray, all the island blades gathered
together, and they, Kugi and Helgi, take counsel for them. The first thing was to seek for
peace from the earl. And the end of this business was that the Westrayingers come under earl
Rognvald's power, and swear oaths to him.
76. On the Sunday after earl Rognvald heard mass there in the thorpe, and they were standing
outside by the church. Then they saw how sixteen men walked without weapons and bald. Them
they thought wonderously boun. The earl's men talked together, and asked who these men might
be. Then the earl sang a song:
"Sixteen have I seen at once---
Topknots fell about their brows,
Shield or weapon bore they none, ---
Women all together walk;
We bore witness now to this,
That here west are far the most
Shaveling maidens in this isle,
In the main it lies in tempests."
When the Sunday was over earl Rognvald's men fared there about the country round,
and all men came under the earl's power. It fell out one night in Westray that the earl's
men had news that the islanders were to have a secret meeting to plot against earl Rognvald.
But when the earl got news of that, then he arose and went to the meeting. But it happened
that the earl's men had beaten many of the island blades, and taken master Kugi and put him
in fetters, and said he was at the bottom of this plot. But when earl Rognvald came to the
meeting Kugi fell at his feet and laid all his cause in God's hand and the earl's; he said
he had been brought to the meeting against his will, for all the freemen wished him to be
foreman in the plot. Kugi pleaded his own cause well and glibly, and many others pleaded
with him, and tried to prove what he said to be true. Then the earl chanted this:
"Crooked fetters I see lying
On the legs of greybeard Kugi,
Kugi, worst of midnight plotters,
Fetters now forbid your straying!
Kugi! never hold again
Midnight tryst nor bargain break,
You shall be shut out from guile,
Take an oath and keep it too."
The earl gave all the men there peace. Then they bound their fellowship anew [with
oaths].
77. When earl Rognvald had come into the Orkneys and many men had come under his power, Paul
was in Hrossey, and he and his friends held a Thing and took counsel with their men. The
earl asked for advice as to how he should behave in this strait. But men handled it in
various ways, and it was counsel of some that the lands should be shared with earl Rognvald;
but most of the mighty men, and the freemen too, wished to buy earl Rognvald off with money,
and offered there and then help to do it. Some were eager to have a fight for it, and said
that had turned out well before. Earl Rognvald had had spies at the meeting, and when they
come to him, the earl asked the news. A skald who had been at the Thing answered the earl:
(8)
"Mighty chief! I hear that our
Fæmen hide a hostile mind,
From the freemen at the meeting
This report I also heard,
That the feeders of the wolf,
Many masters too of ships,
Wished your ships to keep the sea,
But for Paul to hold the land."
After that earl Rognvald sent men to find the bishop and begged him to become a
daysman (9) between them, and (he) sent for Thorstein Ragna's son, and Thorstein Havard's
son out of Sanday, and bade them to go with him and try to make a settlement and to stand by
neither side in making any strife; and when they came to the bishop they fared altogether to
find earl Paul, and he (the bishop) tried to make a settlement between those kinsmen. The
bishop brought this about, that peace was fixed for half a month, that they might try to
make a more lasting settlement. Then the isles were shared into lots, where either earl
should have his living during that time. Then earl Rognvald fared to Hrossey, but earl Paul
fared to Rowsay. And in that time these tidings happened in the isles, that those kinsmen of
Swein Asleif's son, John wing of the Upland in Hoy, and Richard of the Brink in Stronsay,
fared against Thorkell flayer to that farm which Waltheof had owned, and burned him inside
it, and nine men with him. They fared after that to find earl Rognvald, and gave him that
choice, that they would join earl Paul with all their kin if earl Rognvald would not take to
them. The earl did not turn them away from him. And when Haflidi Thorkell's son heard that,
he fared at once to find earl Paul, as soon as he heard of his father's burning, and earl
Paul took to him. After that John and his kinsfolk bound themselves as earl Rognvald's
liegemen. He soon had a great following there in the isles, and was much beloved. Earl
Rognvald gave John and Solmund and Aslak and many other of his helpers leave to go home; but
they wished to stay and see how things would turn out. Then earl Rognvald said:
"My thought is, if God wills that I should get rule in the Orkneys, that he will
give me strength, and so will the saint earl Magnus, my kinsman, to hold it, even though you
fare home to your estates."
After that they fared home to Norway, each of them to his own abode.
78. That spring early Sweyn Asleif's son had fared away from the Southern isles up into
Scotland to see his friends. He stayed a long time in Athole with earl Moddad and Margaret
Hacon's daughter, and they talked about many things in secret. There Sweyn heard of strife
from the Orkneys, and he grew eager to fare there and find his kinsfolk. He fared first to
Caithness to Thurso, and a noble man with him whose name was Ljotolf; with him Sweyn had
been long that spring. They came to earl Ottar's house in Thurso, Frakok's brother, and
Ljotolf tried to bring about a settlement between Ottar and Sweyn for what Frakok had caused
to be done, and earl Ottar paid down the fines for the atonement on his own behalf. The earl
also gave his word that he would be friends with Sweyn, but Sweyn promised earl Ottar to
strengthen Erlend the son of Harold smooth-tongue, so that he might get back his father's
inheritance in the Orkneys when he laid claim to it. Sweyn there changed ships, and had a
ship of burden thence, and thirty men on board her. Thence he took a northwest wind across
the Pentland firth, and so west of Hrossey, and so to Evie sound, and so up the sound to
Rowsay. At the isle's end was a high headland, and a great heap of stones under it beneath;
and there otters often lay among the rocks. And as Sweyn and his men were rowing along the
sound, he began to speak, and said:
"There are men yonder on the headland, and we will run in there and learn the news
of them. My will now is that men should change their trim a little; we will take to our
hammocks; and there twenty men shall lie down, but ten shall row; (10) we will go softly and
slowly."
But when they neared the isle, men call out from the head that they must row to
Westness, and bring to earl Paul what they had on board ship. They thought they were
speaking to chapmen. But earl Paul had been that night at Westness to a feast in Sigurd's
house. The earl had risen up betimes, and he and nineteen men had gone south on the isle to
hunt otters which lay among the rocks under the head. They meant to be back home in time for
their morning draught. The men on board the ship of burden rowed to land, and they asked one
another of this thing and that, and what the men were called whom they had met. The men in
the ship of burden told whence they had come; they ask also where the earl might be. They
tell them that he was there on the rocks. Sweyn and his men heard that as they lay in their
hammocks; and Sweyn then told them to run the ship in so that she might not be seen from the
head. Then Sweyn said that they must arm themselves, and fall at once on the earl's men when
they met. And so they do. There they slew nineteen men, but six of Sweyn's men fell. They
took earl Paul by force, and led him on board their ship, and turned their stem to the sea,
and fared back the same way west of Hrossey, and ran in between Hoy and Grimsey, and so east
of Swelg, (11) thence south to Broad firth, and up it to Ekkjalsbakka. (12) There he left
his ship and twenty men, but he and the rest fared till he came to Athole and met earl
Maddad and Margaret earl Paul's sister. There they had a hearty welcome, and earl Maddad set
earl Paul in his own high-seat. And when they had sat down, in came Margaret walking with a
great train of women, and threw her arms round her brother. After that men were brought in
to amuse them. Earl Paul was rather short of words, as was not wonderful that he should have
great misgivings. Nothing has been handed down of earl Paul's words, or of Sweyn's as they
were faring both together. Earl Maddad and Margaret and Sweyn Asleif's son went into a room
and talked together. But at even after drink Sweyn and his captive were shown the way to a
sleeping-house all alone, and they were locked in there, and so it went on every evening
while they were there.
79. It happened one day that Margaret gave out that Sweyn Asleif's son was going to the
Orkneys to see earl Rognvald, and give him his choice whether he would rather have earl Paul
to rule with him in the Orkneys, or Harold, son of Maddad and herself, who was three winters
old. And when earl Paul heard of that, he answers:
"As to my mind, it is to be said that I fared away so from my realm that men will
never have heard of such doings before: nor will I ever go back to the Orkneys. I see that
this vengeance must be given of God for the robbery of me and my kinsmen; but if it seems to
God that the realm is mine, then will I give it to Harold, if he may live to enjoy it; but
as for me, I wish that money may be given me to settle me in some cloister, and then keep
you watch and ward, so that I do not get away thence. But my wish is, Sweyn, that you farest
to the Orkneys, and sayest that I am blinded, or even more maimed, for my friends will seek
me out if I am sound and hale in all my limbs. It may then be that I may not be able to
forego faring back to my realm with them, for I guess they will think there is more harm in
our parting than will really befall them."
No more words of the earl are handed down than these. After that Sweyn Asleif's son
fared to the Orkneys, but earl Paul stayed behind in Scotland. And this is the story that
Sweyn told of what had happened. But some men tell a story which is less seemly, that
Margaret had led Sweyn Asleif's son by her counsel to blind earl Paul her brother, and put
him into a dark dungeon; but after that she got another man to take his life there. But we
do not know which of the two stories is more true; but all men know that he never afterwards
came back to the Orkneys, nor held he any rule in Scotland.
80. These tidings happened at Westness, when the earl's home-coming grew late, then Sigurd,
the master of the house, made them send men to look for them; but when they got to where the
pile of rocks was, they saw the bodies of the slain. Then they thought the earl must have
fallen there; fared home and told these tidings. Sigurd fared at once to the spot to see and
reckon the dead, and they found there nineteen of the earl's men, but there were six men
besides there whom they knew not. After that Sigurd sent men to Egil's isle to find the
bishop and to tell him these tidings. And the bishop fared at once to see Sigurd, and they
fell to talk of these tidings, and Sigurd guessed that this must have been by the plotting
of earl Rognvald. But the bishop answers that some other proof must be brought forward
before he would believe that earl Rognvald had betrayed earl Paul his kinsman. "I guess,"
says the bishop, "that some others must have wrought this ill deed."
Borgar the son of Jatvor Erlend's daughter, who dwelt at Goathill, (13) he had seen
the ship of burden when it fared from the south, and fared back south. But when that was
heard, then men thought that this must have been by the plotting of Frakok and Oliver the
unruly. But when these tidings were noised about the isles, that earl Paul was away and
gone, and no man knew what was become of him, then they sought counsel among themselves, and
there were very many who then fared to find earl Rognvald, and swore fealty to him. But
Sigurd of Westness, and his sons Brynjulf and Hakon pike, said they would swear oaths to no
man, while they were without news of earl Paul, whether he were to be looked for back or
not. There were more men too who refused to take oaths to earl Rognvald, but there were some
who laid down a time or a day when they would come over into his hand if nothing was then
heard of earl Paul. But when earl Rognvald saw that he had to do with many mighty men, then
he took crossly nothing that the freemen asked. And so time went on, that every now and then
he held Things with the freemen, and from time to time some of them came over to his hand at
each Thing.
Now it happened one day at Kirkwall, that earl Rognvald had a Thing with the
freemen, and when men were at the Thing, it was seen how nine armed men came from Scapa-neck
to the Thing. And when they came to the Thing, there they knew Sweyn Asleif's son, and men
were eager to know what tidings he had to tell. Sweyn had sailed in his ship from the south
to Scapa-neck, and there left his ship, but he and his men walked to Kirkwall afterwards.
And so when they came on the place of meeting, then his friends and kinsfolk flocked round
him, and asked him what news, but he answered little, and bade them call the bishop to him.
But the bishop greeted Sweyn well, for they had long been friends. They two went aside to
talk, and Sweyn tells the bishop all the truth about his doings, and bade him now take
counsel with him about these knotty points. The bishop said:
"These are mickle tidings that you tell Sweyn, and it is more than likely that we
two shall not be able to settle this matter by ourselves; and now my will is that you bidest
for me here, but I will go and back your suit before all the people and earl
Rognvald."
Then the bishop gæs to the meeting, and craves for a hearing, and when he got it,
then the bishop pleads Sweyn's cause, and said for what cause he had fared away from the
Orkneys, and what penalties earl Paul had laid on him for the slaying of Sweyn breastrope,
that worst of men. Then the bishop begged of earl Rognvald for peace on Sweyn'' part, and he
begs it too of all the people. Then earl Rognvald answers:
"I give my word that Sweyn shall have peace from me for three nights, but methinks,
bishop, you bearest that look beneath your brow, as though you two, Sweyn and you, will be
able to tell us of some great tidings which have not yet come out. My will is that you
takest Sweyn into your keeping and be answerable for him, but I will have a talk with him on
the morrow.""
"Yes, yes," said the bishop, "willingly will he talk with you, and that as soon as
may be, and he will become your man if you will take to him."
The earl answers:
"Methinks there are not over many friends of mine in this land, but still we must
talk more together before I agree to that."
After that those four went aside to talk, earl Rognvald, Kol his father, the bishop,
and Sweyn Asleif's son; then Sweyn tells them the lieve and the loath (14) of all that had
passed between him and earl Paul; but they took that counsel to let most of the crowd of men
fare away from the Thing. The earl stands up the morning after, and gave the men then leave
to go home. But when the crowd of men broke up from the Thing, then he fetched this man and
that man by himself to come and talk with them, and made all men first promise Sweyn peace
who were by before he told the tidings. But the morning after Hacon churl, brother of earl
Magnus the saint, was got to go and tell Sigurd of Westness and his sons of what had
befallen the earl, and this too that he was not to be looked for to take up his rule, and
that he was maimed. Sigurd says:
"This methinks is great tidings about the earl's going away, but that methinks is
heaviest of all that he is maimed, for there is no place where he could have gone that I
would not fare to find him out if he were hale."
And so he had said to his friends afterwards, that Hacon should not have gone away
unmaimed if he had had force enough when he [Hacon] told him this story, he took it so much
to heart.
But after these tidings, all men in the Orkneys went over into earl Rognvald's
hands, and now he became sole chief over that realm which earl Paul had owned. And not long
after the ground plan was marked out for Magnus' church, and builders were gathered for it;
and the work went on so fast in three years, that less was done in four or five thenceforth.
Kol was the man who looked most after the workmanship of the building, and had most of the
guidance as to the plan. But as the building went on, it grew costly to the earl, and his
money was far spent. Then the earl sought for counsel to his father. But Kol gave him that
advice that the earl should bring in a law to the effect that the earls had taken all
freehold lands in inheritance after men, but that the heirs had to redeem them for their
own, and that was thought rather hard. Then earl Rognvald made them call together a Thing,
and offered the freemen the choice of buying their freeholds out and out, so that there was
no need to redeem them. And that they agreed on among themselves, so that all were well
pleased. But a mark was to be paid to the earl for every plough-land over all the isles. But
thenceforth money was not lacking for the church building, and that building is wrought with
much toil and pains.
1. Sweyn's; i.e. Sweyn Asleif's son's.
2. The Danish Translation reads:
"Then he must have something on his conscience, and knows that he is guilty; else I
will not believe that he has done this without cause."
3. Papay; Probably in Papay Westray.
4. The original of our "husting" or "hustings."
5. A group of islands near Bergen off the coast of Hördeland.
6. The Translation runs thus:
"still less would I go there with warriors, and therefore I will come afterwards
with my plan, if I can think anything out by myself."
7. In the Translation the stratagem of Kol is thus described. "As if the ships were
coming ever nearer and nearer as they hoisted the sails, though they scarcely moved on at
all."
8. The Flatey Book reads, "the earl asked the news of a skald who had been
there."
9. daysman] "Neither is there any daysman betwixt us."
--- Job ix. 33.
10. The Danish Translation adds, "and we will take in our sail."
11. Swelg] The "Swelchie," a wellknown eddy or whirlpool off the Caithness
coast.
12. Ekkjalsbakka ] No doubt Strath Oikel.
13. In chapter 59 they are said to have lived at Knarstead.
14. the lieve and the loath] that is he made a clean breast of it; he told them
everything, whether it were pleasing or displeasing to them.
81. When earl Rognvald had ruled two winters over the Orkneys, then he kept the Yule
feast at one of his farms which is called Knarstead. It was the sixth Yule day, that a ship
was seen faring from the south from the Pentland firth. The weather was good, and the earl
stood out of doors, and many men by him, and looked and thought what that ship might be.
That man was there whose name was Hrolf, and he was the earl's body-priest. And when these
men came to land, then they went up from their ship, and the earl's men kept count of them
and reckoned that they might be fifteen or sixteen men. But at the head of the band walked a
man in a blue cape, and he had tucked his hair under the hood; he had shaven the beard from
his chin in front, but his jaws and cheeks were unshaven, and there (the hair) hung down
full and long. This man seemed rather strange to them (the earl's men), but Hrolf the Priest
knew that man, and says that that was bishop John who had come down from Scotland out of
Athole. Then the earl went to meet them, and gives the bishop a hearty welcome. The earl
seated the bishop on his own high-seat, but waits himself at the board before him like a
page. Next morning the bishop held mass early, and then he fared north to Egil's isle to see
bishop William, and was there till the tenth Yule day. Then both the bishops fared to see
earl Rognvald with a worthy following, and brought out their errand. They tell him of that
agreement between Sweyn's Asleif's son and earl Maddad, that their son Harold should fare
out into the Orkneys to be fostered by earl Rognvald, with this understanding that Harold
should bear the title of earl, and have half the Orkneys with earl Rognvald, but they should
both have one court, and that earl Rognvald should rule for both of them, and do so though
Harold grew to be a man; and if each had a will of his own, then earl Rognvald was to have
his way. Sweyn was there too, and brought this matter forward along with the bishop. So earl
Rognvald and his friends took this counsel, that a meeting was fixed for the spring at Lent
in Caithness, and then an agreement was made on those terms, and was bound by the oaths of
the best men of the Orkneys and of Scotland. Then Harold Maddad's son fared out into the
Orkneys with earl Rognvald, and there and then the title of earl was given him. Then
Thorbjorn clerk fared to the isles with earl Harold; he was a son of Thorstein the freeman
and Gudrun Frakok's daughter; he was a wise man and of great weight; he then fostered earl
Harold, and had great power over him. Thorbjorn took to himself a wife in the Orkneys, and
got Ingirid (1) Olaf's daughter, Sweyn Asleif son's sister. Thorbjorn was then by turns
either out there in the Orkneys or up in Scotland, and he was the boldest of men, and the
most unfair overbearing man in most things. Sweyn Asleif's son took under him all those
estates which his father Olaf and his brother Waltheof had owned; he then became a mighty
chief, and always had a great company of men with him. He was a wise man and foresighted (2)
about many things; an unfair overbearing man, and reckless towards others. There were not at
that time those two men west across the sea, who were not of greater birth, who were thought
of more power and weight than those brothers-in-law Sweyn and Thorbjorn. There was then
between them great love.
82. It fell out once that Sweyn Asleif's son came to talk with earl Rognvald, and asked that
he would give him strength of men and ships to avenge on Oliver and Frakok the burning of
his father Olaf. The earl spoke and said:
"Do not think, Sweyn, that either of us need now look for harm at the hands of
either Oliver or Frakok, a carline, who is fit for nothing."
Sweyn answers:
"There will always be harm at their hands so long as they live; and I must say I
then looked for other things when I did my utmost for your sake, than that you shouldest not
grant me such things [as I now ask]."
The earl answers:
"What help then shall I give you which will please you?"
Sweyn answers:
"Two ships well fitted and manned."
The earl said it should be as he asked. And after that Sweyn busked him for that
voyage, and when he was "boun" he sailed south to Broadfirth, and took the north-west wind
to Dufeyra. (3) That is a market town in Scotland. But thence he sailed into the land along
the shore of Murray and to Ekkjalsbakka. Thence he fared next of all to Athole to earl
Maddad and lay at the place called Elgin. Then he [the earl] gave Sweyn guides, who knew the
paths over fells and wastes, where he wished to go. Thence he fared the upper way over
fells and wood, above all places where men dwelt, and came out in Helmsdale, near the middle
of Sutherland. But Oliver and his men had spies out everywhere where they thought that
strife was to be looked for from the Orkneys, but on this way they did not at all look for
warriors. So they were not ware of the host before Sweyn and his men had come to a slope at
the back of Frakok's homestead. There came against them Oliver the unruly with sixty men;
then they fell to battle at once, and there was a short struggle. Oliver and his men gave
way towards the homestead, for they could not get to the wood. Then there was a great
slaughter of men, but Oliver he fled away up to Helmsdale water, and swam across the river
and so up on to the fell, and thence he fared to Scotland's firth, and so out to the
Southern isles. And he is out of the story. But when Oliver drew off, Sweyn and his men
fared straight up to the house and plundered it of everything, but after that they burnt the
homestead, and all those men and women who were inside it. And there Frakok lost her life.
Sweyn and his men did there the greatest harm in Sutherland before they fared to their
ships. After that they lay out that summer, and harried round Scotland. Sweyn came home at
autumn to the Orkneys to see earl Rognvald; and he gave Sweyn a hearty welcome; then Sweyn
fared across to the Ness to Duncansby, and sat there that winter. At that time came a
message by word of mouth to Sweyn from Holdbodi out of the Southern isles, that Sweyn should
come to help him, for there to Tyree had come a Freeman from Wales, and had chased Holdbodi
out of house and home, and had robbed him of much goods. That man was called Robert who was
sent, English by kin. Sweyn bestirred himself at once when the message was sent to him, and
came out into the Orkneys to meet earl Rognvald, and begged earl Rognvald that he would give
him force and ships. The earl asked what Sweyn wanted to take in hand. He said that man had
sent him word, to whom of all others he ought to be the last to say "nay," and who had stood
him then in best stead, when he had most need when almost every one turned against him. The
earl answers:
"It were well then if you two parted friends, but most South-islanders are untrue;
but you will be able to show your manliness, and I will give you two ships thoroughly
manned."
This pleases Sweyn well, and they fared then to the Southern isles, and he did not
find Holdbodi before he got as far west as Man, for he [Holdbodi] had fled away there. But
when Sweyn came to Man, then Holdbodi was fain to see him. And there in Man that Freeman
from Wales had done great harm in plunderings and manslayings, and so wide about in the
Southern-isles. Before him had fallen a man of birth and worth, whose name was Andrew; he
left behind him a wife whose name was Ingirid, and a son whose name was Sigmund angle.
Ingirid the housewife had much goods and a great homestead. Holdbodi gave Sweyn that advice
to ask for her hand, but when that question was put to her, then she said that Sweyn must do
that deed for his match, to avenge her husband Andrew. Sweyn answers that he might do the
Welshmen some harm, "but I cannot tell how it will be fated as to loss of life."
And after that those two, Sweyn and Holdbodi, went on warfare and had five ships.
They harried round Wales, and went up on land at the place called Earlsness, and did there
great mischief. It was one morning that they went up into a certain thorpe, and there was
but a little struggle. The householders fled out of the thorpe, but Sweyn and his men
plundered it of everything, and burnt six homesteads before their breakfast. There was then
with Sweyn a man from Iceland, whose name was Eric, and he sang this stave:
"Farms are in flames, But farmers are robbed; So has Sweyn willed it, Six in one
morning: Wild work enough too He wrought there to one man, Letting the leaseholder Livecoal
on lease."
After that they fared to their ship, and lay out that summer and got much war-spoil,
but the Freeman ran away to that isle which is called Lund. (4) There was a good stronghold;
Sweyn and Holdbodi sat before it for some time, and could do nothing. And they fared home in
the autumn to Man.
83. That winter Sweyn made his wedding-feast with Ingirid, and then sat there in great
honour. Next spring he gathered men to him, and fared to see Holdbodi, and asked him for
force of men, but he begged off, and said the men were many of them at work, but some were
on trading voyages, and Sweyn got nothing of what he asked. But there was proof plain that
the Freeman and Holdbodi had come to terms by stealth, and bound their bargain by gifts. But
Sweyn fared away nevertheless, and had then three ships, and they got little spoil in goods
at the beginning of the summer. But as time went on they fared south under Ireland, and took
there a bark which the monks of the Scilly Isles owned and plundered it. He harried also far
and wide on Ireland, and took there much goods, and they fared home at autumn to Man, and
had a great force. Sweyn Asleif's son had sat there at home but a scant time, when he heard
this rumour that Holdbodi would not be true to him but Sweyn would not hear of such a thing.
And one night about winter those tidings happened, that Sweyn's watchmen came and said that
strife was coming upon them. Sweyn and his men ran to their weapons and out of doors. They
saw where men were coming with fire to the homestead, and they had a great band. Then Sweyn
and his men sprung up on a hillock and defended themselves thence; they had horns and blew
them. But that place is thickly peopled, and men flocked to help Sweyn and his band, so that
the end of it was, that those who had come against them fell off. Sweyn and his men followed
them up and chased them. There many men fell in the flight, but a crowd were wounded on
either side before they parted. But Holdbodi was the leader of this band, and he had taken
himself off in the flight. He fared away till he came to Lundy; the Freeman gave him a
hearty welcome, and they held together. Sweyn fared home, and had many men with him and kept
good watch and ward, for he put little faith in the South-islanders. When the stores of
Sweyn and his men began to fail, the folk quarrelled with him; and he sold his lands when
the winter went on for money and goods, and fared early in the spring from the South to the
Lewes, and stayed there a long time. He had done much mischief in this voyage.
84. When Sweyn was in the Southern isles, earl Rognvald had fared to Caithness, and went to
a feast at Wick with that man whose name was Hroald, his wife's name was Arnljot. Sweyn was
the name of their son, and he was the briskest of men. But when the earl was at the feast,
Thorbjorn clerk and his men came down from Scotland, and told these tidings that Thorstein
the freeman his father was slain, and that a Scottish earl had slain him, but that earl's
name was Waltheof. But men made that a matter of talk what a deal earl Rognvald and
Thorbjorn had to say to one another, for the earl could scarce finish the business he had in
hand for their talk. Thorbjorn fared thence out into the isles with the earl, but Sweyn
Hroald's son then became the earl's waiting-man. Thorbjorn had then been for a while in
Scotland; he had let two men be slain who had been at the burning of Frakok with Sweyn
Asleif's son. But when Sweyn came out of the Southern isles, then he fared home to Gairsay
to his house, but he did not go to see earl Rognvald as he was wont when he came off
warfare. But when the earl heard that he was come home, he asked Thorbjorn if he thought he
knew why it was that Sweyn would not come to see him. Thorbjorn answers:
"This I guess, that Sweyn mislikes me, for that I let those men be slain who were
with him at the burning of Frakok."
The earl said:
"I will not that you two be at strife."
And after that earl Rognvald fared to Gairsay, and tried to bring about an atonement
between them, and that was easy, for they both were willing that the earl should settle the
matter. After that he made them good friends for that time, and that settlement was kept a
long time after.
85. In that time a vessel from Iceland came to the Orkneys, and that man was on board whose
name was Hall, son of Thorarin broad-paunch; he fared to live and lodge in Rinansey with
Ragna and her son Thorstein. He was ill at ease there, and begged Thorstein that he would
take him to earl Rognvald. They fared to find him, but the earl would not take him into his
service; but when they came home, then Ragna asks how they had fared. Then Hall sang a
song:
"I sent your son on an errand, Ragna, Man to man speaks words of truth; This his
weighty calling was Place at court for me to ask; But the prince, of rings the waster, He
who rules with glory highest, Says he has warriors enough; Said 'No' to neighbour of the
brawn."
A little after Ragna fared to see earl Rognvald on some errand of her own. She was
so "boun" that she had a red cap on her head made of horsehair. And when the earl saw that,
he sang:
"Never have I heard that ladies, All of them if highly born, Wimples wore upon their
heads; Soft-tongued grows not rings' assassin; (5) But now Ragna, gold-lands' fury, (6)
Binds a mare's tail round her brow; She a bride in gay attire Gæs to meet the wound-goose
feeder."
(7) Ragna said:
"Now it comes to that which is often said that no man is so wise as to see
everything as it is, for this is of a horse and not of a mare."
She took then a silken cloth, and threw it over her head as a wimple, and still went
on talking of her affairs. The earl was rather slow in listening to her at first, but
afterwards softened down his speech as she went on, and she got her business settled as she
wished, and leave for Hall to live at the earl's court. And he was there long afterwards
with earl Rognvald. They made both of them together the old Key to Verse-making, and let
there be five strophes in each metre, but then the song seemed too long, and now two
strophes are sung in each metre.
86. It is said that Sweyn Asleif's son heard how Holdbodi was come into the Southern isles,
then he begged Earl Rognvald to give him strength to avenge himself. The earl gave him five
ships, and Thorbjorn clerk steered one of them, but Haflidi son of Thorkell flayer the
second, Duffnjal son of Havard Gunni's son the third, Richard Thorleif's son the fourth,
Sweyn Asleif's son the fifth. But as soon as ever Holdbodi heard of Sweyn, then he fled back
south to Lundy; and his fellows took him to them. Sweyn and his companions slew many men in
the Southern isles, but plundered and burnt far and wide. They got much goods, but they
could not get at Holdbodi, and he never came back to the Southern isles afterwards. Sweyn
wanted to be in the Southern isles that winter, but Thorbjorn and the rest wished to go
home, and so late in the autumn they fared from the south to Caithness, and came to
Duncansby. And when they were to share their war-spoil, then Sweyn said that all should have
an even share, save himself, who was to have a chief's share, for he said he alone had led
them, and said the earl had given them to him as help. He said too he was the only one who
had any quarrel with the South-islanders, but they had none. But Thorbjorn thought he had
not done a bit less work, and been not a whit less a leader than Sweyn. They wished also
that all the ship-captains should have an even share. But the end of it was that Sweyn had
his way, for he had many more men to back him there on the Ness. But Thorbjorn fared out to
the Orkneys to find earl Rognvald, and told him how things had gone between them and Sweyn,
and how ill pleased they were that he had robbed them of their shares. The earl said it
would not be the only time that Sweyn would be found to be no fair man in his dealings, "but
still the day will come when he will take his pay for his wrong-doings. But you shall not
strive with him about this. I will give you as much out of my goods as you lose by him; my
will also is that you make no claim against him for this, and it will be well if greater
difficulties do not flow from him; though I fear that we shall not have long to wait for
this."
Thorbjorn answers:
"God thank you, lord, for this honour which you do to us, and we will not strive
with Sweyn about this, but never hereafter will I be his friend, and I will do him some
dishonour instead of this."
And after that Thorbjorn declares himself parted from Ingirid Sweyn's sister, and
sent her over to the Ness to Sweyn. He gave her a hearty welcome, but thought great shame
had been done to him. Then there was feud between them, and it came to what the saw says,
"Set a thief to catch a thief."
But still neither now plotted openly against the other.
When Sweyn was in the Souther-isles, he had set Margad Grim's son in Duncansby to
govern it, and given into his hand that charge (8) which he held of earl Rognvald. But
Margad was quibbling and quarrelsome, and he became hated for his unfairness. But those who
were most sufferers by his unfairness ran off to find master Hroald and kept themselves
there with him. From that a feud arose between Hroald and Margad. A little after Sweyn had
come home Margad fared south to Wick with nineteen men on some business of his own. And
before he came from the south he made an onslaught on master Hroald's house and slew him and
some men more. After that they fared to Duncansby to find Sweyn. Then Sweyn gathers men and
fares to Lambburg, and got the place ready. There was a good stronghold, and there he sat
with sixty men, and flitted there for himself food and other stores, which they needed to
have. The burg stood on some sea-crags, but at the top on the land side there was a stone
wall well built. The rocks went far along the sea the other way. They did there much
mischief in Caithness in robberies, and flitted there their spoil into the burg, and they
became much hated.
87. These tidings came to the ears of earl Rognvald and Sweyn Hroald's son; Sweyn begged the
earl for help that he might set this matter straight; many men backed this prayer with
Sweyn. So it came about that earl Rognvald bestirred himself and fared over to the Ness, and
these chiefs with him; Thorbjorn, Haflidi Thorkel's son, Duffnjal Havard's son, and Richard,
and they were the worst in their counsel against Sweyn. They fared to Duncansby, and Sweyn
was then away. It was said that he had fared south to Wick, and they fared there. But when
they came there they heard that Sweyn was in Lambburg. Then the earl and his men fared
there. And when they came to the burg, then Sweyn asks who ruled over the band. He was told
that Earl Rognvald ruled over it. Sweyn greeted him well and asked the earl after his
errand. The earl answers that he wills that he should hand over Margad into their power.
Sweyn asks whether he shall have peace. The earl said he would not promise that. Then Sweyn
said:
"I cannot find it in my heart to give Margad up to the power of Sweyn Hroald's son
and his band, or any other of my fæs, those I mean who are with you, but willingly would I
be atoned with you, lord."
Then Thorbjorn clerk answers:
"Hear now what the lord's traitor says, that he will willingly be atoned; but he has
already robbed his land, and lain out like a thief. Ill repayest you the earl the many
honours which he has done to you, as you will [repay] all those over whom you may be able to
come."
Sweyn answers:
"You have no need Thorbjorn, to throw in so much talk here, for it will not be done
after your words. But that is my foreboding that you will repay him in the worst way the
honour that he has done you before you two part, for that none will ever reap luck from you
who have anything to do with you."
Then earl Rognvald bade that men should not rail at one another. After that they sat
themselves down round the burg, and forbade all ingoings of food, and so it went on for a
long time that they could do nothing in the way of attack. And when their food was wellnigh
spent, then Sweyn called his men together and sought counsel of them, but all men spoke with
one mouth that they would have his guidance and foresight while they had the choice of it.
Then Sweyn took to words, and said:
"It seems to me most unworthy to starve here, but after all to fall into the power
of one's fæs. And this too has gone, as was likely, [and proves] that we lack both wit and
luck when matched with earl Rognvald. And here now it was tried to bring about peace and
atonement, but neither could be got for Margad my companion; but though I know that all
other men here will have a choice of peace, yet I cannot find it in my heart to hand him
over [to fall] under the axe. Now it is not right that so many should pay for his
perplexity, though I dare not part from him even yet."
And after this Sweyn took that counsel to knit together those ropes that they had.
But at night then they let Sweyn and Margad slip down out of the burg into the sea. And
after that they took to swimming, and struck out along the rocks till the cliffs broke off.
After that they stepped on land, and fared up into Sutherland, and so to Murray, and thence
to Dufeyri. There they found some Orkneymen in a ship of burden; the man's name was Hallvard
who was their chief, but the second's name was Thorkell; they were ten in all. Sweyn and
Margad went on board ship with them, and they twelve together fared in the ship of burden
south off Scotland till they came to the isle of May. There was then a monastery. Baldwin
was the abbot's name who ruled over it. There Sweyn and his men were seven nights
weather-bound, and said that they were sent to find the Scot-king from earl Rognvald. The
monks doubted their story, and thought they were robbers, and sent to the land for men. But
when Sweyn and his men were ware of that, then they sprang on shipboard and plundered the
place of much goods. They fared away and in up Murkfirth. (9) They found in Edinburgh David
the Scot-king; he gave Sweyn a hearty welcome, and bade them stay with him. Sweyn told the
king the whole story of his coming there, and how things had gone between him and earl
Rognvald before they parted, and so also that they had robbed in the isle of May. Sweyn and
his men were there for a while with the Scot-king in good cheer. King David sent men to
those men who had lost goods at Sweyn's hands in his voyage, and let them put their own
worth on their scathe, but made good with his own money to each his loss. King David offered
Sweyn to send and fetch his wife from the Orkneys, but to give him such honour in Scotland
as he might well be pleased with. Sweyn laid bare his will before the king, and spoke thus
that his wish was that Margad should be there behind with the king, but that he should send
word to earl Rognvald that he should take an atonement at his hand, but Sweyn says that he
was ready to lay all his suit in earl Rognvald's power; he said he would ever be
well-pleased if they were good friends, but ill-pleased if they were fæs. King David
answers:
"It is now clear both that this earl must be worthy, and besides that you think that
only worth having which looks towards him; for now you riskest all on his good faith, but
givest up that which we offer you."
Sweyn says he will never give up his friendship, but still says that he must beg the
king to grant him this. The king said so it should be. King David sent men north into the
Orkneys with gifts, and this message, that the earl should take atonement from Sweyn. Then
Sweyn too fared north into the isles, but Margad stayed behind with the king. King David's
messengers fared to find earl Rognvald. He gave them a hearty welcome, took the gifts too
which the king sent him, and gave his word as to the atonement. He took Sweyn after that
into his peace and full friendship, and then he [Sweyn] fared back to his house.
88. When Sweyn and Margad were away out of Lambburg, those who were in the burg took that
counsel to give up the place into earl Rognvald's power. He asked what was the last they
knew of Sweyn and Margad; but they told him all about it. And when the earl heard that, he
said:
"Sooth it is to say that no man is Sweyn's match of all those men of whom we have a
choice here with us; such deeds are both manly and hardy. But I will not be a dastard
towards you, though you have been woven up in this difficulty with Sweyn; each of you shall
fare away in peace from before me."
The earl fared home thence to the Orkneys, but sent Thorbjorn clerk with forty men
on board a ship south to Broadfirth to look after Sweyn and Margad, and naught could be
heard of him. Then Thorbjorn speaks out and tells them that they are going on
wondrously:
"Here we are driving along ever so far at Sweyn's heels, but we have heard that earl
Waltheof my father's bane-man is but a short way hence with a small following of men. And
now if you will fare with me against him, then will I give you my word that I shall not
behave as Sweyn, that I should make you robbed of your share if war-spoil falls into our
hands; for those goods which we shall get you shall have, but allot me that only which you
please, for methinks fame is better than fee."
After that they fared to where earl Waltheof was at a feast, and took the house over
their heads, and set fire to it at once. Waltheof and his men ran to the doors, and asked
who was master of that fire. Thorbjorn said who he was. Waltheof offered atonement for the
slaying of Thorstein, but Thorbjorn said there was no need to seek for a settlement.
Waltheof and his men defended themselves well for a while. But when the fire pressed them
hard, they sprang out, and then their defence lasted but a short while, for they were much
worn out by the fire. There fell earl Waltheof and thirty men with him. There Thorbjorn and
his men got much goods, and he kept all his promise manfully by his men; they fared after
that out to the Orkneys to find earl Rognvald, and he showed that he was well pleased at
their errand. Then it was quiet in the isles, and there was good peace.
In that time dwelt at Wyre, in the Orkneys, Kolbein the burly, a man from Norway,
and he was a very mighty man; he built him a good stone-castle there; that was a safe
stronghold. Kolbein had to wife Herbjorg, a sister of Hacon bairn, but their mother was
Sigrid a daughter of Herborg, Paul's daughter. These were their children: Kolbein carle,
Bjarni skald, Summerled, Aslak, Frida. They were all of might and mark.
89. In that time the sons of Harold Gilli ruled over Norway. Ingi and Sigurd were children
in years. Then liegemen were chosen as councillors to those brothers. Eystein was the eldest
of them. But Ingi was lawfully begotten, and the liegemen paid most honour to him; he let
them have their own way in everything as they chose. In that time these liegemen had most to
do with his counsel, Ogmund and Erling, the sons of Kyrping-Worm. They took that counsel
with king Ingi, that he should send word to earl Rognvald, and give him a seemly bidding to
come and see him. They said, as was true, that the earl had been a great friend of his
father, and they bade him to behave as lovingly as he could to the earl, so that he might be
more his friend than his brothers', whatever might arise between them. The earl was a
kinsman of those brothers, (10) and one of their greatest friends. But when these words came
to earl Rognvald, he listened to them quickly, and busks him for his voyage, for he was
eager to fare to Norway to see his kinsfolk and friends. On this voyage earl Harold begged
to go for the sake of curiosity and pastime; he was then fourteen or fifteen years old. And
when the earls were "boun," they fared from the west with chapmen, and had a proper
following, and came in the spring early to Norway. They found king Ingi in Bergen, and king
Ingi gave them a very hearty welcome; there earl Rognvald found many of his kinsfolk and
friends; he stayed there very long that summer. That summer came from abroad, from
Micklegarth, (11) Eindrid the young; he had been there long in [the Emperor's] service; he
was able to tell them many tidings thence, and men thought it a pastime to ask him about
things that had happened abroad out in the world. The earl often talked with him. And once
on a time when they were talking, then Eindrid said:
"Methinks it is wonderful, earl, that you will not fare out to Jewry, and not have
stories alone as to the tidings which are to be told thence. That is the fittest place for
such men as you for the sake of your skill; you will be best honoured there when you fallest
in with men of rank."
And when Eindrid had said that, many others backed it with him, and egged the earl
on that he should become the leader of this voyage. Erling threw in many words in favour of
it, and said that he would make up his mind to join the voyage, if the earl would become
their leader. And so, when so many men of rank and birth were eager, then the earl gave his
word to go on the voyage. And when the earl and Erling made up their minds to this, then
many great men chose to go on this voyage. These liegemen: Eindrid the young shall tell them
the way, John Peter's son, Aslak Erlend's son, and Gudorm Mjola-pate of Helgeland. It was
agreed that none of them should have a larger ship than one but the earl should have a
carved or painted or gilded ship. That should be done so that no man might envy another for
that one had fitted out his ship or his crew better than another; John limp-leg shall get a
ship made for the earl to sail abroad in, and take the greatest pains with it.
Earl Rognvald fared home west in the autumn, and meant to sit two winters in his
realm. King Ingi gave the earl two long-ships, rather small but very handsome, and made most
for rowing, and they were the fastest of all ships. Earl Rognvald gave one ship to earl
Harold; that was named "Arrow," but the other was named "Help."
In these ships the earls held on west across the sea. Earl Rognvald had also taken
great gifts from his friends. It was on Tuesday evening that the earl's put to sea, and they
sailed with a very good wind that night; and the wind began to get high. Midweek-day
(Wednesday) there was a mighty storm, but on Thursday night they were ware of land. It was
then very dark. They saw the surf of breakers on every side about them. They had sailed in
company up to this. Then there was no other choice than to sail on and dash both ships to
pieces, and so they did. There were rocks a-head, and a little strip of foreshore, but all
the rest above cliffs. There all the men were saved, but they lost much goods; some of it
was thrown ashore in the night. Earl Rognvald behaved himself then still best of all men, as
he ever did. He was so merry, that he played with his fingers and made verses nearly at
every word. He drew his finger-ring off his finger with his lips and sang a song:
"Here I hang with hammer bent
The hanger of the falcon's seat, (12)
On the gallows of the hawk's bridge (13)
Golden ring to Odin's draught; (14)
Cave-dwellers of giant voice
Me so glad your pine has made,
That I play now with my fingers,
Perch of hawk that harries geese."
And when they had got together their baggage, they fared up into the country to look
for dwellings, for they thought they knew that they must have come to Shetland. They found
homesteads speedily, and then the men were shared out amongst the houses of the district.
Men were fain to see the earl where he came, and the mistress asked about his voyage. The
earl sang a song:
"There was a crash when ocean billow
Crushed to pieces, Help and Arrow;
To those wives the storm brought sorrow,
Wild waves threatened men with scathe;
I see this voyage of ready-witted
Earls, will long be had in mind;
Hard work surely had the seamen
To withstand the watery shock."
The housewife bore a cloak of skin to the earl instead of a cloak; he took it
laughingly, and reached out his hands towards her and sang:
"Here I shake a wrinkled skin-cloak,
Strangely scanty is my dress;
That ship-plain that stands over our
Plaids and mantles rises high;
Still perhaps attired more bravely
From the eel-mead's briny horse (15)
We may go; against the rocks
Dashed the surf the yardarm's steed."
Then great fires were made for them, and they roasted themselves at the fires. Asa
was the name of the waiting-maid. She went out for water, and another woman with her. But
when they came to the water Asa stumbled into the well in the fog; but she ran home much
chilled and spoke between her shiverings, and men could not make out what she said. The earl
says he knows her tongue, and sang:
"Be quiet, now, alas! but Asa
Atatata! in water lieth;
Hutututu! where by the fire
Shall I sit? I'm very cold."
The earl sends twelve of his men to Einar in Gullberwick, but he said he would not
take them in unless the earl came himself. And when earl Rognvald hears that, then he
sang:
"Einar says that he will nourish
None of Rognvald's trusty men
Save the earl himself; now Odin's
Ocean(16) rises in my throat;
Well I know the stout of heart
Ne'er yet broke his word to men;
Late at even in I went
Where the fires brightly blazed."
This even happened one day south in Dynröstvæ in Shetland, that an old and poor
householder waited long for his mate, but all the boats rowed out, each as it was manned.
Then came a man to the old householder in a white cowl; and asked why he did not row out
a-fishing like other men. The householder says that his mate was not come. "Master," says
the cowl-man will "you that I row with you?"
"That I will" says the householder, "but still I must have the lot which falls to my
boat; for I have many bairns at home, and I work for them as well as I can."
After that they rowed out off Dynrösthead and inside the Hundholms. There was a
strong current there where they lay and great eddies; they had to lie in the eddy and fish
in the race. The cowl-man sat in the bow and paddled against the tide; but the householder
was to fish. The householder bade him mind that they were not borne into the race; for then
he said they would run great risks. The cowl-man did not behave as he bade him, and cared
not though the householder came into a little danger. A little after they were borne into
the race, and the householder was very scared and said "Wretch that I was for my ill-luck
when I took you today to row; for here I must die; but my folk at home have no one to help
them, and will all come to beggary if I am lost."
And the householder was so afraid that he wept, and he dreaded that his death was
nigh. The cowl-man answers, "Be cheerful master, and do not weep; for he will pull us two
out of the race who let us fall into it."
After that the cowl-man rowed out of the race, and the householder was very glad at
that. Then they rowed to land, and put up the boat. And the householder bade the cowl-man to
go with him and share the fish. But the cowl-man told the householder to share them as he
liked; he says he will not have more than his third. There was much folk come down to the
strand, both men and women, and many needy folk. The cowl-man gave the poor all the fish
which had fallen to his lot that day; and then he made ready to go away. There was a steep
slope to walk up, and many woman sat on the slope. But as he went up the slope his foot
slipped, for it was slippery after rain, and he fell down from the slope. A woman was the
first to see that and laughed loud at him, and after her other folk. But when the cowl-man
heard that he sang:
"The nymph of silk with eyes of fire,
Louder laughs the lovely may,
Than she anything at my array:
Few can tell an earl indeed,
Thus disguised in fisher's weed,
Yet through billows danger scorning,
I drew the boat this early morning."
After that the cowl-man went away; and men became aware later that this cowl-man had
been earl Rognvald. It became also known afterwards to many men that there had been many
such feats of his which were both helpful in the sight of God, and pleasant in the eyes of
men. Men reckoned (to him) also as a proverb what stood in the verse that "Few can tell an
earl in fisher's weeds."
The earl stayed very long in Shetland, and fared in the autumn south to the Orkneys,
and sat in his realm. That autumn two Iceland men came to him, the one's name was Armod, and
he was a skald; the other's Oddi the little Glum's son, a man from Broadfirth, and he too
made good verses. The earl took to them both and gave them board and lodging in his train.
The earl had a great Yule feast, and bade men to it and gave gifts. He reached out a spear
inlaid with gold to Armod skald, and shook it as he did that, and bade him make a song in
return. [Armod sang]:
"The best of chiefs, of Odin's storm
The rouser, dæs not trust his gifts
To other men to bring to me,
The pæt who will sound his praise;
The noble warder of the land,
The first of kings, to Armod bore
This best blood-taper (17) bright with gold,
And placed the weapon in his hand."
It fell out one day about Yule that men were looking at the hangings; then the earl
said to Oddi the little:
"Make you a song about the behaviour of that man who is there on the hanging, and
have you your song sung when I have ended my song; and mind and have none of those words in
your song that I have in my song."
The earl sang:
"The ring lord of the falcon's seat
Who, old in years, stands on the hanging
Down from his shoulder by his side;
Bandy-legs will not move forward,
Through the grove of Ocean's brightness
Waxes wrath with him who loves
The icicle of battle-hour."
Oddi sang:
"Sword-god here with stooping shoulders
Stands, and thinks to hew with sword
His rival in a woman's love
At the door of yonder tent;
He will do the men a mischief
With his sword; and now 'tis time
For the loaders of the sea-skates
To make friends before wounds are given."
It happened one day that a mad man got loose from his bonds, and rushed at earl
Rognvald; and clutched him so fast that the earl all but tottered to his fall. Then the earl
sang a song:
"At the mantle of the monarch
The sturdy beggar caught and clutched,
The carle was on the eve of hurling
Hard to earth the liberal lord;
Still the tree of steel stood upright,
Though men said they saw him stagger;
Might enow the sword-edge scatterer
Careful keeps to hold his own."
The earl had also bishop William at his feast that Yule, and many of his chieftains.
Then he laid bare his plans how he meant to go away from the land and out to Jewry; he
begged the bishop to go with him on his voyage. The bishop was a Paris clerk, and the earl
wished above all things that he should be their spokesman. The bishop promised to go with
him.
90. These men made ready to go with earl Rognvald: Magnus, son of Havard Gunni's son, and
Sweyn Hroald's son. They were captains of ships both of them. These fared of the lesser men,
so far as they are named: Thorgeir Scotpoll, Oddi the little, Thorbjorn the swarthy, and
Armod. These were the earl's skalds. Then there were also these men: Thorkell crook-eye, and
Grimkel of Glettness, and Blian, son of Thorstein of Flydruness.
And when those two winters were spent which they were to have to get ready, earl
Rognvald fared out of the Orkneys east to Norway early in the spring, and wished to know how
those liegemen got on with their outfit. And when the earl came to Bergen, he found there
Erling wryneck and John limp-leg the earl's brother-in-law. There too had come Aslak, but
Gudorm came a little after. There too was that ship off the wharf which John had got made
for the earl; it had five-and-thirty seats for rowers, and was a very careful piece of work,
and the figure-head and taffrail and weather-vanes were all overlaid with gold, and she was
carved and painted in many other places; the ship was the greatest treasure of her kind.
Eindrid came also from time to time to the town that summer, and always says that he would
be boun the week after; but men were ill-pleased when they had to wait so long. Some wished
that he should not be waited for, and said that men had sailed on such voyages before though
Eindrid were not with them. And a little while after Eindrid came to the town and gave out
that he was then boun, and then the earl bade him set sail as soon as ever he thought he was
like to get a fair wind. And when that day came that they thought they had a good chance,
they pulled out of the town and took to their sails. The wind was rather light, and the
earl's ship made little way, for she needed a good breeze. The other chiefs slackened sail,
and would not sail away from the earl. But as they drew away from among the isles, the wind
began to get sharp, and then it grew so high that they had to reef sail on board the smaller
ships, but the earl's ship began to walk fast. Then they saw two big ships sailing after
them and at once by and beyond them. One of those ships was a work of much pains, it was a
drake; both the head forward and the coils aft were much gilded. It was gay and gaudy, and
painted all above the water-line wherever it seemed to look well. The earl's men said that
there must Eindrid be sailing, "and he has kept little to that which was laid down, that no
one should have a carved or gilded ship but you, lord."
The earl says:
"Great is Eindrid's pride. But now there is this excuse for his refusing to be equal
with us that we have been so far wrong in our opinion as to him; but it is hard to see
whether luck gæs before him or after him; we will not shape our course after his
haste."
Then Eindrid bore speedily away from them in that big ship, but the earl kept in
company with his ships, and they had a good passage. They came about autumn to the Orkneys
safe and sound. Then it was thought best that they should sit there that winter; some sat at
their own cost, but some were with the householders, and many with the earl.
In the isles there was great stir that winter, and the Easterlings and the
Orkneyingers fell asunder about bargains and love-matters, and many quarrels sprang up. The
earl took great pains to keep watch on those on both sides who thought they wre bound to
repay him for all the good he had done them, and that they were worthy of all good from
him.
Of Eindrid and his messmates that is to be told that they came to Shetland; and he
dashed there that good ship to splinters and lost much goods, but the lesser ship was saved.
Eindrid was that winter in Shetland, and sent men east to Norway to let them build him a
ship for his voyage abroad.
There was a man named Arni spindleshanks, a messmate of Eindrid's; he fared south
into the Orkneys that winter and nine of his companions with him. Arni was a very unfair man
and bold and strong. He and his companions sat at his own cost in one of the isles that
winter. Arni buys malt and cattle for slaughter from a tenant of Sweyn Asleif's son; but
when he asked for the price, Arni put him off. And a second time, when he asked for it, he
was paid with threats, and before they parted Arni gave him a blow with the back of his axe
and said this:
"Go now and tell that champion Sweyn with whom you are ever threatening us, and let
him set your lot straight; you will not need more than this."
The husbandman went and told Sweyn and bade him set his lot straight. Sweyn answers
shortly about it, and said he could make no promise about it. It was one day about spring
that Sweyn fared to get in his rents; they were four of them in an eight-oared boat. Their
course lay by that isle in which Arni and his men sat. Sweyn told his men to pull in towards
the land, but there was a strong ebb tide on. Sweyn went on shore alone, and had his
hand-axe in his hand and no other weapons. He bade them watch the boat so that the ebb did
not leave it high and dry. Arni and his men sat in an outhouse a short way from the sea.
Sweyn went up to the outhouse and into it. Arni and five of his men were inside and hailed
Sweyn; he took their greeting, and spoke to Arni, and told him that he must pay up his debt
to the husbandman. Arni said there was good time still for that. Sweyn bade him do as he
asked him, and pay up the debt. Arni said he would not do so for all that. Sweyn said he
would only ask him for a little more, and with that he struck his axe against Arni's head,
so that it went up to the back of the blade, and he lost his hold of the axe. Sweyn sprang
out, but Arni's messmates looked to him, but some ran after Sweyn down into the mud. So they
ran along the shore and one was fleetest; Sweyn and his pursuer were then at very close
quarters. Great sea-weed tangles lay on the shore in the mud. Sweyn caught up one of the
tangles and dashed it into the face of him who was nearest to him, sand and all. This man
took to rubbing his eyes with both hands, and wiped the sand out of them. But Sweyn got
clear off to his boat, and fared home to Gairsay to his house. A little while after Sweyn
fared over to the Ness on an errand of his own; he sent word to earl Rognvald that he should
take an atonement for the slaying of Arni spindleshanks. And as soon as these words came to
him, he [the earl] summoned to him all those who had the blood feud for the slaying of Arni,
and made matters up with them, so that they were pleased, and he paid up the fine himself.
Much other mischief the earl made good with his own money that was wrought that winter both
by the Easterlings and Orkneyingers, for they had pulled very ill together. In the spring
very early the earl summoned a crowded Thing in Hrossey; there came all the chiefs who were
in his realm. Then he made it bare to them that he meant to go out of the land to Jewry, and
says that he would give over his realm into the hands of Harold Maddod's son, his kinsman.
He begged this that all would follow him like true men in whatever he might need while he
was away. Earl Harold was then nearly a man of twenty. (18) He was a tall man of growth, and
stout and strong, an ugly man and wise enough, and men thought him a likely man for a chief.
Thorbjorn clerk had then most share in ruling the land with him when earl Rognvald first
fared out of the Orkneys.
1. Thus in the text and in the Danish Translation. In chap. 59. she is called Ingigerd, cf.
ch. 86, below.
2. foresighted] This word implies that he had a supernatural foreknowledge of many
things which were about to happen. We have the remnant of this old belief in the Scottish
"second sight."
3. Deveron. (?)
4. Lund] Lundy island in the Bristol Channel.
5. A "kenning" or periphrasis for king or earl.
6. A periphrasis for lady.
7. A periphrasis for hawk, and "the wound-goose feeder," a periphrasis for chief or
earl.
8. charge] Swayn was earl Rognvald's sýslumaðr, i.e. his "steward" or "bailiff," in
Caithness, whose office it was to collect the earl's income from taxes, fines, and dues.
When Sweyn went to the Southern isles he handed over these duties to Margad as his
deputy.
9. Murk-firth] The Firth of Forth.
10. i.e. of Ogmund and Erling.
11. Constantinople.
12. A periphrasis for ring which hangs on the hand, the falcon's seat.
13. Another periphrasis for the hand.
14. A periphrasis for "pætry."
15. This and "the yard-arm's steed" are periphrasis for "a ship."
16. A periphrasis for "song."
17. A periphrasis for a sword.
18. man of twenty] He was then between eighteen and nineteen.
91. Earl Rognvald busked him that summer to leave the Orkneys, and he was rather
late boun, for they had a long while to wait for Eindrid, as his ship did not come from
Norway which he had let be made there the winter before. But when they were boun, they held
on their course away from the Orkneys in fifteen big ships. These were then the
ship-captains; earl Rognvald, bishop William, Erling wry-neck, Aslak Erlend's son, Gudorm,
Mjola-pate of Helgeland, Magnus Havard's son, Sweyn Hroald's son, Eindrid the young, John
Peter's son limpleg, and those five whose names are not told. They were Eindrid's men. They
sailed away from the Orkneys, and south to Scotland, and so on to England, and as they
sailed by Northumberland, off Humbermouth, Armod sang a song:
"The sea was high off Humbermouth
When our ships were beating out,
Bends the mast and sinks the land
'Neath our lee off Vesla-sand;
Wave with veil of foam that rises
Drives not in the eyes of him
Who now sits at home; the stripling
From the meeting rideth dry."
They sailed thence south round England and to France. (1) Nothing is said of their
voyage before that they came to that seaburg which is named Nerbon. (2) There these tidings
had happened, that the earl who before had ruled the town was dead; his name was Germanus;
he left behind him a daughter young and fair, whose name was Ermingerd. She kept watch and
ward over her father's inheritance with the counsel of the most noble men of her kinsfolk.
They gave that counsel to the queen that she should bid the earl to a worthy feast, and said
that by that she would be famous if she welcomed heartily such men of rank who had come so
far to see her, and who would bear her fame still further. The queen bade them see to that.
And when this counsel had been agreed on by them, men were sent to the earl and he was told
that the queen bade him to a feast with as many of his men as he chose to bring with him.
The earl of his men bidding with thanks; he chose out all his best men for this journey with
him. And when they came to the feast, there was the best cheer, and nothing was spared which
could do the earl more honour than he had ever met before. One day it happened as the earl
sat at the feast that the queen came into the hall and many women with her, she held a
beaker of gold in her hand. She was dressed in the best clothes, had her hair loose as
maidens wont to have, and had put a golden band round her brow. She poured the wine into the
earl's cup, but her maidens danced before them. The earl took her hand and the beaker too
and set her on his knee, and they talked much that day. Then the earl sang a song:
"Sure it is, lady lovely,
That your stature far outvies
Form of women whose attire
Gleams well fringed with Frodi's meal; (3)
Locks as soft as yellow silk,
Lets the maiden downward fall
On her shoulders; I have reddened
Eager eagles' crooked claws."
The earl stayed there very long in the best of cheer. The townsmen pressed the earl
to settle down there, and spoke out loudly about how they would give him the lady to wife.
The earl said he would fare on that voyage which he had purposed, but said he would come
there as he fared back, and then they could carry out their plan [or not] as they pleased.
After that the earl busked him away thence with his fellow voyagers. And as they sailed west
of Thrasness they have a good wind; then they sat and drank and were very merry. Then the
earl sang a song:
"Noble youth will long remember
Words which Ermingerda spoke;
Brave bride wills that we should ride
Over Ran's home to Jordan's stream;
But when back the water-horse's
Woods (4) fare north across the wave,
He will cut the whale-land then
Home to Nerbon at the fall."
This Armod sang:
"Unless changes my fate hard,
I shall fair Ermingerd
Ne'er meet again;
Many nurseth for that noble maiden his pain;
Were I not blessed in slumbering ---
'Twere luck past all numbering ---
One night by her side;
The fairest of faces has surely that bride."
Oddi the little sang a song:
"We are scarcely, as I ween,
Worthy of fair Ermingerd;
Well I know that noble crown-land
May be called the king of queens;
For it well befits that goddess
Of the ringfield's fire to find
A better husband altogether;
May she live blest 'neath seat of sun."
92. They fared till they came west to Galicialand in the winter before Yule, and meant to
sit there Yule over. They dealt with the landsmen and begged them to set them a market to
buy food; for the land was barren and bad for food; for the land was barren and bad for
food, and the landsmen thought it hard to feed that host of men. Now these tidings had
happened there, that in that land sat a chief, who was a stranger, in a castle, and he had
laid on the landsmen very heavy burdens. He harried them on the spot if they did not agree
at once to all that he asked, and he offered them the greatest tyranny and oppression. And
when the earl spoke to the landsmen about bringing him food to buy, they made him that
offer, that they would set them up a market thenceforth on till Lent, but they must rid them
in some way or other of the men in the castle; but earl Rognvald was to bear the brunt in
return for the right of having all the goods that were gotten from them. The earl laid this
bare before his men, and sought counsel from them as to which choice he should take, but
most of them were eager to fall on the castlemen, and thought it bid fair for spoil. And so
earl Rognvald and his host went into that agreement with the landsmen. But when it drew near
to Yule, earl Rognvald called his men to a talk and said:
"Now have we sat here awhile, and yet we have had nothing to do with the castlemen,
but the landsmen are getting rather slack in their dealings with us; methinks they think
that what we promised them will have no fulfilment; but still that is not manly not to turn
our hands to what we have promised. Now, kinsman Erling will I take counsel from you in what
way we shall win the castle, for I know that you are here some of you the greatest men for
good counsel; but still I will beg all those men who are here that each will throw in what
[he thinks] is likeliest to be worth trying."
Erling answered the earl's speech:
"I will not be silent at your bidding, but I am not a man for counsel; and it would
be better rather to call on those men for that who have seen more, and are more wont to such
exploits, as is Eindrid the young. But here it will be as the saying gæs, 'You must shoot
at a bird before you get him.' And so we will try to give some counsel whatever comes of it.
We shall today, if it seems to you not bad counsel or to the other shipmasters, go all of us
to the wood, and bear each of us three shoulder-bundles of faggots on our backs under the
castle; for it seems to me as though the lime will not be trusty if a great fire is brought
to it. We shall let this go on for the three next days and see what turn things
take."
They did as Erling bade. And when that toil was over, it was come right on to Yule.
The bishop would not let them make their onslaught while the Yule high feast stood over
them.
That chief's name was Godfrey who dwelt in the castle; he was a wise man and
somewhat stricken in years. He was a good clerk, and had fared far and wide, and knew many
tongues. He was a grasping man and a very unfair man. He calls together his men when he saw
their [Rognvald's] undertakings, and said to them:
"This scheme seems to me clever and harmful to us which the Northmen have taken in
hand; it will befall us thus if fire is borne against us, that the stone wall round the
castle will be untrusty, but the Northmen are strong and brave; we shall have to look for a
sharp fight from them if they get a chance. I will now take counsel with you what shall be
done in this strait which has befallen us."
But his men all bade him see to that for them. Then he began to speak, and
said:
"My first counsel is that you shall bind a cord round me and let me slide down the
castle wall tonight. I shall have on bad clothes and fare into the camp of the Northmen, and
know what I can find out."
This counsel was taken as he had laid it down. And when Godfrey came to earl
Rognvald, and said he was an old beggar carle, and spoke in Spanish; they understood that
tongue best. He fared about among all the booths and begged for food. He found out that
there was great envy and splitting into parties amongst the Northmen. Eindrid was the head
of one side, but the earl of the other. Godfrey came to Eindrid and got to talk with him,
and brought that before him that the chief who held the castle had sent him there. "He will
have fellowship with you, and he hopes that you will give him peace if the caste be won; he
would rather that you should have his treasures, if you will do so much in return for them,
than those who would rather see him a dead man."
Of such things they talked and much besides. But the earl was kept in the dark; all
this went on by stealth at first. And when Godfrey had stayed a while with the earl's men,
then he turned back to his men. But this was why they did not flit what they owned out of
the castle, because they did not know whether the storm would take place at all; besides
they could not trust the landfolk.
93. It was the tenth day of Yule that earl Rognvald rose up. The weather was good. Then he
bade his men put on their arms, and let the host be called up to the castle with the
trumpet. Then they drew the wood towards it, and piled a bale (5) round about the wall; the
earl drew up his men for the onslaught where each of them should go. The earl gæs against
it from the south with the Orkneyingers; Erling and Aslak from the west; John and Gudorm
from the east; Eindrid the young from the north, with his followers. And when they were boun
for the storm they cast fire into the bale. Then the earl sang:
"Ermingerd's white handmaid bore
Wine to men, the goddess bright
Of driven snow, so fair she seemed
To my vision when we met;
Now the warrior band resolves
To rush onward and attack
Castle-garrison with fire;
Sharp-swords spring from out the sheaths."
Now they begin to press on fast both with fire and weapons. Then they shot hard into the
work, for they could not reach them by any other attack. The castlemen stood loosely here
and there on the wall, for they had to guard themselves against the shots. They poured out
too burning pitch and brimstone, and the earl's men took little harm by that. Now it turned
out, as Erling had guessed, that the castle wall crumbled before the fire when the lime
would not stand it, and there were great breaches in it. Sigmund angle was the name of a man
in the earl's body-guard; he was Sweyn Asleif's son's stepson; he pressed on faster than any
man to the castle, and ever went on before the earl; he was then scarcely grown up. And when
the storm had lasted awhile, then all men fled from the castle wall. The wind was on from
the south, and the reek of the smoke lay towards Eindrid and his men. And when the fire
began to spread very fast, then the earl made them bring water, and cool the rubble that was
burned. And then there was a lull in the assault. (6) Then earl Rognvald sang a
song:
"Aye shall I that Yule remember,
Warrior! which we spent at Agdir,
East among the fells with Solmund,
Steward strong of Norway's king;
Now again at that same season
Of another year as then
Stunning din of swords I make
On the castle's southern verge."
And again he sang:
"Well pleased was I when the wine-tree (7)
Listened to my winning words;
Past all hope then was I given
At harvest to the foreign maid;
Now again I sate the eagles,
Since full well we love the girl
Nobly born; and now the freestone
Set in mortar must give way."
Then Sigmund angle sang this:
"Bear these words back when the spring comes
To the goddess needle-plying,
Wearing gems from fell-side won,
Bear them over the sea to Orkney;
That no warrior, though he were
Wight of elder years, went farther
Forward 'neath the castle walls,
When strokes sung high at early morn."
After that the earl made ready to storm, and Sigmund angle with him. There was then but a
little struggle, and they got into the castle. There many men were slain, but those who
would take life gave themselves up to the earl's power. There they took much goods, but they
did not find the chief, and scarcely any precious things. Then there was forthwith much talk
how Godfrey could have got away; and then at once they had the greatest doubt of Eindrid the
young, that he must have passed him away somehow, and that he [Godfrey] must have gone away
under the smoke to the wood.
After that earl Rognvald and his host stayed there a short time in Galicialand, and
held on west off Spain. They harried wide in that part of Spain which belonged to the
heathen, and got there much goods. They ran up into a thorpe there, as the earl told them.
But those who dwelt in the thorpe ran together and made ready to battle; then there was a
hard struggle, and the landfolk fled at last, but many were slain. Then the earl sang a
song:
"Lady-meeting now I long for;
Out away in Spain was driven
Fæ in speedy flight, and many
Ring-trees (8) panting rushed before me;
We were worthy Ermingerda,
For that then sweet songs were chaunted
In our praises to the people;
Corses covered all the field."
After that they sailed west off Spain, and got there a great storm, and lay three
days at anchor, so that they shipped very much water, and it lay near that they had lost
their ships. Then the earl sang:
"Cool fields goddess! (9) never shall I
Free afraid in wintry storm
If along the good ship's sides
Hemp and cable do not snap;
To the white-hued clad in linen,
To lady proud my word when sailing
South I gave; and now the wind
To the Sound soon bears my ship."
After that they hoisted their sails, and beat out to Njorfa Sound (10) with a very
cross wind. (11) Then Oddi the little sang:
"Hearty friend of men, who drinks
Mead in-doors, has often spent
Seven much more cheerful days
With the captain of the sound-tree; (12)
But today the high-souled Rognvald,
With his band of shielded men,
On his bright-hued wooden horse
Ran for Njorvi's narrow Sound."
And as they were just beating into the Sound, the earl sang:
"Eastern wind has borne along
Our ships at winter-tide
Far from the French lady's hands;
Come, run out our boom to tack;
We shall have to gird our sea-stag
Half-mast high off Spain today;
Soon to Svidrir's stormy Sound,
Speeds the gale our ships along."
They sailed through Njorfa Sound, and then the weather began to get better. And then
as they bore out of the Sound, Eindrid the younger parted company from the earl with six
ships. He sailed over the sea to Marseilles, but Rognvald and his ships lay behind at the
Sound, and men talked much about it, how Eindrid helped Godfrey away. Then the earl made
them hoist their sails; they sailed on the main, and steered a south course along Sarkland.
(13) Then Rognvald sang a song:
"North away the land still trends,
Brave ship spares not now the wave,
Nor shall now this man be slow
To break out in burst of song;
This soft belt of earth (14) I cut
Off the Spanish shore today;
With thin keel, this hateful bight
To a lazy longshoreman."
Nothing is told of the voyage of the earl and his men before they came south off
Sarkland, and lay in the neighbourhood of Sardinia, and knew not what land they were near.
The weather had turned out in this wise, that a great calm set in and mists and smooth seas
--- though the nights were light --- and they saw scarcely at all from their ships, and so
they made little way. One morning it happened that the mist lifted. Men stood up and looked
about them. Then the earl asked if men saw anything new. They said they saw naught but two
islets, little and steep; and when they looked for the islets the second time, then one of
the islets was gone. They told this to the earl; he began to say:
"That can have been no islets, that must be ships which men have out here in this
part of the world, which they call Dromonds; (15) those are ships big as holms to look on.
But there where the other Dromond lay a breeze must have come down on the sea, and they must
have sailed away, but these must be wayfaring men, either chapmen or faring in some other
way on their business."
After that the earl lets them call to him the bishop and all the shipmasters; then
he began to say:
"I call you together for this, lord bishop and Erling my kinsman; see you any scheme
or chance of ours that we may win victory in some way over those who are on the
Dromond."
The bishop answers:
"Hard, I guess, will it be for you to run your longships under the Dromond, for you
will have no better way of boarding than by grappling the bulwarks with a broad axe, but
they will have brimstone and boiling pitch to throw under your feet and over your heads. You
may see, earl, so wise as you are, that it is the greatest rashness to lay one's self and
one's men in such risk."
Then Erling began to speak:
"Lord bishop," he says, "likely it is that you are best able to see this that there
will be little hope of victory in rowing against them. But somehow it seems to me that
though we try to run under the Dromond, so methinks it will be that the greatest weight of
weapons will fall beyond our ships, if we hug her close, broadside to broadside. But if it
be not so, then we can put off from them quickly, for they will not chase us in the
Dromond."
The earl began to say:
"That is spoken like a man and quite to my mind. I will now make that clear to the
shipmasters and all the crews, that each man shall busk him in his room, and arm himself as
he best can. After that we will row up to them. But if they are Christian chapmen, then it
will be in our power to make peace with them; but if they are heathen, as I feel sure they
are, then Almighty God will yield us that mercy that we shall win the victory over him. But
of the war-spoil which we get there, we shall give the fiftieth penny to poor
men."
After that men got out their arms and heightened the bulwarks of their ships, and
made themselves ready according to the means which they had at hand. The earl settles where
each of his ships should run in. Then they made an onslaught on her by rowing, and pulled up
to her as briskly as they could.
94. But when those who were on board the Dromond saw that ships were rowing up to them, and
that men meant to make an onslaught on them, they took silken stuffs and costly goods and
hung them out on the bulwarks, and then made great shoutings and hailings; and it seemed to
the earl's men as though they dared the Northmen to come on against them. Earl Rognvald laid
his ship aft alongside the Dromond on the starboard, but Erling aft too on the larboard.
John and Aslak, they laid their ships foreward each on his own board, but the others
amidships on both boards, and all the ships hugged her close, broadside to broadside. And
when they came under the Dromond, her sides were so high out of the water that they could
not reach up with their weapons. But they [the fæ] poured down blazing brimstone and
flaming pitch over them. And it was as Erling guessed it would be, that the greatest weight
of weapons fell out beyond the ships, and they had no need to shield themselves on that side
which was next to the Dromond, but those who were on the other side held their shields over
their heads and sheltered themselves in that way. And when they made no way with their
onslaught, the bishop shoved his ship off and two othes, and they picked out and sent there
their bowmen, and they law within shot, and shot thence at the Dromond, and then that
onslaught was the hardest that was made. Then those [on board the Dromond] got under cover,
but thought little about what those were doing who had laid their ships under the Dromond.
Earl Rognvald called out then to his men that they should take their axes and hew asunder
the broadside of the Dromond in the parts where she was least iron-bound. But when the men
in the other ships saw what the earls men were about, they also took the like counsel. Now
where Erling and his men had laid their ship a great anchor hung on the Dromond, and the
fluke was hung by the crook over the bulwark, but the stock pointed down to Erling's ship.
Audun the red was the name of Erling's bowman; he was lifted up on the anchor-stock. But
after that he hauled up to him more men, so that they stood as thick as every they could on
the stock, and thence hewed at the sides as they best could, and that hewing was by far the
highest up. And when they had hewn such large doors that they could go into the Dromond,
they made ready to board, and the earl and his men got into the lower hold, but Erling and
his men into the upper. And when both their bands had come up on the ship, there was a fight
both great and hard. On board the Dromond were Saracens, what we call Mahomet's unbelievers.
There were many blackamoors, and they made the hardest struggle. Erling got there a great
wound on his neck near his shoulders as he sprang up into the Dromond. That healed so ill,
that he bore his head on one side ever after. That was why he was called wryneck. And when
they met, earl Rognvald and Erling, the Saracens gave way before them to the forepart of the
ship, but the earl's men then boarded her one after another. Then they were more numerous,
and they pressed the enemy hard. They saw that on board the Dromond was that one man who was
both taller and fairer than the others; the Northmen held it to be the truth that that man
must be their chief. Earl Rognvald said that they should not turn their weapons against him,
if they could take him in any other way. Then they hemmed him in and bore him down with
their shields, and so he was taken, and afterwards carried to the bishop's ship, and few men
with him. They slew there much folk, (16) and got much goods and many costly things. When
they had ended the greatest part of their toil, they sat down and rested themselves. Then
the earl sang this:
"Famous in victorious glory,
Erling, brave in battle, went
Against the galleon, tree of spears, (17)
When our banners dripped with blood;
Low we laid the swarthy champions,
Blood of fæmen then was shed
Far and wide, and soldiers brave
Died their keen-edged faulchions red."
And again he sang:
"We make up our minds to win
The galleon, slaughter this I call;
At early dawn the warrior crew
Reddened all their blades with gore;
North and from the north the lady
Of this shower of spears will hear
Up to Nerbon; from our people
Fæmen loathsome life-loss bore."
Men spoke of these tidings which had happened there. Then each spoke of what he
thought he had seen; and men talked about who had been the first to board the Dromond, and
could not agree about it. Then some said that it was foolish that they should not all have
one story about these great tidings; and the end of it was that they agreed that earl
Rognvald should settle the dispute; and afterwards they should all back what he said. Then
the earl sang:
"First upon the gloomy galleon
Ruddy Audun went with eager
Daring, and the warrior dauntless
Swift dashed on to seize the spoil;
There at last we reached to redden
Weapons in our fæman's blood;
Mankind's God has ruled it so;
On the planks fell corses black."
When they had stripped the Dromond, they put tire into her and burnt her. And when
that tall man whom they had made captive saw that, he was much stirred and changed colour,
and could not hold himself still. But though they tried to make him speak, he said never a
word, and made no manner of sign, nor did he pay any heed to them whether they promised him
good or ill. But when the Dromond began to blaze, they saw as though blazing molten ore ran
down into the sea. That moved the captive man much. They were quite sure then that they had
looked for goods carelessly, and now the metal had melted in the heat of the fire, whether
it had been gold or silver. Earl Rognvald and his men sailed thence south under Sarkland,
and lay under a sea-burg, and made a seven nights' truce with the townsmen, and had dealings
with them, and sold them the men whom they had taken. No man would buy the tall man. And
after that the earl gave him leave to go away, and four men with him. He came down the next
morning with a train of men, and told them that he was a prince of Sarkland, and had sailed
thence with the Dromond and all the goods that were aboard her. He said too he thought that
worst of all that they burnt the Dromond, and made such waste of that great wealth, that it
was of no use to any one. "But now I have great power over your affairs. Now you shall have
the greatest good from me for having spared my life, and treated me with such honour as you
could; but I would be very willing that we saw each other never again. And so now live safe
and sound and well."
After that he rode up the country, but earl Rognvald sailed thence south to Crete,
and they lay there in very foul weather. Then Armod sang a song when he kept watch at night
on board the earl's ship.
"On the keel-horse we keep watch,
Where below the stiff ribs dashes
Wave on wave; this weary work
Have we here to win till morning;
Over my shoulder now I look
Back on Crete, while milksop soft
Sleeps to night with sleek-skinned maiden,
Kind in her close-fitting smock."
95. The earl and his men lay under Crete till they got a fair wind for Jewry-land, and came
to Acreburg early on a Friday morning, and landed then with such great pomp and state as was
seldom seen there. Thorbjorn the swarthy then made a song:
"In the Orkneys for a winter
Was I serving with the chief;
Feeder of the bird of battle
First arose to strive in fight;
Now the shield on Friday morning
Here we bear with eager haste,
With the earl in battle proven,
In watery port of Acre town."
The earl and his men stayed in Acreburg a while. There sickness came into their
ranks, and many famous men breathed their last. There Thorbjorn the swarthy a liegeman
breathed his last. Oddi the little sang:
"Barks of chieftains
Thorbjorn bore,
Swarthy of hue,
By Thrasness swift;
Under the best of skalds
Woodbear (18) trode
Ati's acres
To Acreburg.
Then saw I him,
The hero's friend,
Sprinkled with mould
In mother church;
Now the soil stony,
By sunbeam blest,
Lies heavy over him
In southern land."
Earl Rognvald and his men then fared from Acreburg, and sought all the holiest
places in the land of Jewry. They all fared to Jordan and bathed there. Earl Rognvald and
Sigmund angle swam across the river, and went up on the bank there, and there where was a
thicket of brushwood, and there they twisted great knots. Then the earl sang:
"For the men a coil I twisted
Of the way-thong on the heath,
Out on Jordan's further bank;
Clever woman this will learn;
But I trow that it will seem
Long to go so far as this
To all lazy stay-at-homes;
On wide field the blood falls warm."
Then Sigmund sang:
"I will wreathe another knot
For the sloth who sits at home;
Sooth to say that we have set
For his child a snare today."
The earl sang:
"To the coward here we twine
In the thicket close a knot,
On this feast of holy Laurence;
Tired to quarters good I came."
After that they fared back to Jerusalem. And when they came close to the city, then
earl Rognvald sang:
"At this bard's breast hangs a cross,
Between his shoulder-blades a palm;
Pride of heart shall be laid low;
Soldiers scale the cliffs in order."
96. Earl Rognvald and his men fared that summer from the land of Jewry, and meant to go
north to Micklegarth, and came about autumn to that town which is called Imbolar. (19) They
stayed there a very long time in the town. They had that watchword in the town if men met
one another walking where it was throng and narrow, and the one thought it needful that the
other who met him should yield him the path, then he says thus:
"Out of the way,"
"Out of the way."
One evening as the earl and his men were coming out of the town, and Erling wryneck
went out along the whart to his ship, some of the townsmen met him and called out, "Out of
the way, Out of the way."
Erling was very drunk, and made as though he heard them not, and when they ran
against one another, Erling fell off the wharf, and down into the mud which was below, and
his men ran down to pick him up, and had to strip off every stitch of his clothes, and wash
him. Next morning when he and the earl met, and he was told what had happened, he smiled at
it and sang:
" 'Mid-street' my friend would not call
So he had in filth to fall
Head and heels, and thus in that
Great misfortune nearly followed;
Then I trow the king's own cousin
Little comely looked when rolling
midst the mud in Imbolar;
To his breeks the blue clay clung."
These tidings happened a little while after there in the town, when they came out of
the town very drunk that John limpleg's men missed him, but no man else. They sent at once
to look for him on board the other ships that night, and he could not be found, but they
could not look for him upon the land in the night. But next morning they rose up as soon as
ever it was light, and found him a little way from the burg-wall, and he had breathed his
last, and they found wounds on him. But it was never known who had given him his hurt. Then
they bestowed burial on his body, and found him a grave at the church. After that they fared
away thence. And nothing is told of their voyage before they come north to Engilsness [Cape
St. Angelo]. There they lay some nights and waited for a wind which would seem fair to them
to sail north along the sea to Micklegarth. They took great pains then with their sailing,
and so sailed with great pomp just as they had heard that Sigurd Jewryfarer had done. And as
they sailed north along the sea, earl Rognvald sang a song:
"Let us ride on Refil's steed (20)
Out to Micklegarth with speed;
From the field draw not the plough,
Ear the main with dripping prow;
Take we bounty of the king,
Push we on while weapons ring,
Redden maw of wolf with gore,
Mighty monarch bow before."
97. When earl Rognvald and his men came to Micklegarth, they had a hearty welcome from the
emperor and the Varangians. Menelaus was then emperor over Micklegarth, whom we call Manuel;
he gave the earl much goods, and offered them bounty-money if they would stay there. They
stayed there awhile that winter in very good cheer. There was Eindrid the young, and he had
very great honour from the emperor. He had little to do with earl Rognvald and his men, and
rather tried to set other men against them. Earl Rognvald set out on his voyage home that
winter from Micklegarth, and fared first west to Bulgaria-land to Dyrrachburg. (21) Thence
he sailed west across the sea to Poule. (22) There earl Rognvald and bishop William and
Erling and all the nobler men of their band landed from their ships, and got them horses,
and rode thence first to Rome, and so homewards on the way from Rome till they come to
Denmark, and thence they fared north to Norway. There men were glad to see them, and this
voyage was most famous, and they who had gone on it were thought to be men of much more
worth after than before. While they had been on their travels Ogmund the gallant, Erling
wryneck's brother had died; he was thought of most worth of those brothers while they were
both alive. Erling threw in his lot at once with king Ingi, because he leant most to him of
those brothers in all friendship, and they never parted so long as they both
lived.
But after king Ingi's fall Magnus was chosen to be king over that band, the son of
Erling and Kristina, daughter of king Sigurd Jewryfarer; but Erling alone had then the whole
rule over the land in Norway. Waldemar the Dane-king gave Erling the title of earl; he
became the greatest man after that, and a mighty chief, as is written in his saga. Eindrid
the young came from abroad some winters later than earl Rognvald and his men, and he threw
in his lot then with king Eystein, for he would have nothing to do with Erling. But after
the fall of king Eystein, these, Eindrid the young and Sigurd son of Havard the freeman of
Reyrir, got together a band, and chose as king Hacon broadshoulders, son of king Sigurd
Harold's son. They slew Gregory Dag's son and king Ingi. Those two, Eindrid and Hacon,
fought with Erling wryneck under Sekk; there Hacon fell but Eindrid fled. Earl Erling let
Eindrid the young be slain sometime after away east in the Bay.
98. Earl Rognvald stayed a very long time in Hordaland that summer when he came into the
land, and heard then many tidings out of the Orkneys. It was told him that there was great
strife, and the chieftains had gone into two bands, but there were few who sat by so that
they had no share in the strife. Earl Harold was on one side, but on the other earl Erlend
and Sweyn Asleif's son. And when the earl heard that said, he sang this song:
"Now the princes of the people
Have gone back on many an oath;
That is blasphemy against God;
Men's ill redes now come to light;
But this evil will not lessen
In those who guile devise at home;
So let us on lissom leg
Step light so long as beard will wag."
The earl had no ships at his command. Then he looked to his kinsfolk and friends
that they should get him some longships made that winter. They took that well upon them, and
granted him in that matter just what he asked. The earl busked him that summer to fare west
into the Orkneys to his realm, and he was very late boun, for he lingered much. He fared
west on board that trading-ship which Thorhall Asgrim's son owned; he was an Icelander, and
of great kindred, and had a house south at Bishopstongues. The earl had for all that a great
train on board the ship and a noble band of companions. They made Scotland when the winter
was far spent, and long lay off Scotland under Turfness. The earl came a little before Yule
into the Orkney to his realm.
99. Now shall be told what tidings happened in the Orkneys while earl Rognvald was abroad on
his travels.
That same summer that the earl had fared away from the land, came east from Norway
king Eystein son of Harold Gilli; he had a great host. And when he came into the Orkneys he
steered with his host for South Ronaldshay. Then he heard that earl Harold Maddad's son had
fared over to Caithness with a twenty-benched ship, and had eighty men with him; he lay in
Thurso. But when king Eystein heard of him, he manned three cutters and fared west over the
Pentland-firth, and so to Thurso. He came there so that the earl and his men were not ware
of it before the king's men boarded their ship and made the earl captive. He was led before
the king, and their dealings turned out so, that the earl ransomed himself with three marks
of gold, but his realm he gave over into king Eystein's hands, so that he was to hold it of
him ever after. Then the earl became king Eystein's man, and bound that with oaths. And
after that king Eystein fared to Scotland, and harried there that summer. He harried far and
wide too round England on that voyage, and he was thought to aveng king Harold Sigurd's son.
After that king Eystein fared east into his realm to Norway, and very various stories were
told of his doings. Earl Harold stayed behind in the Orkneys in his realm, and he was in
good favour with most men. Earl Maddad his father was then dead, but his mother Margaret had
come out into the Orkneys. She was a fair woman and very proud and haughty. At that time
David the Scot-king died, and Malcolm his grandson (23) was taken to be king; he was a child
in years when he took the realm.
100. Erlend, son of Harold smooth-tongue, was most of his time in Thurso, but
sometimes he was in the Southern isles, or a-roving after earl Ottar was dead. He was the
most promising man, and thoroughly trained and skilled in most things, bountiful of money,
blithe and ready to listen to good advice, and of all men most beloved by his followers. He
had a great train. Anakol was the name of a man, he was Erlend's fosterer, and had most
weight in his counsels. Anakol was a viking and a man of good birth and great hardihood, a
Southislander by kin; he was Erlend's counsellor.
When Erlend heard that earl Rognvald was gone away from his realm abroad to
Jerusalem, he went to him to give him the title of earl and Caithness as a lordship, as his
father Harold had held it from king David, king Malcolm's grandfather. King Malcolm was then
a child in years, but for that Erlend had there many noble kinsfolk who backed his cause, it
came about that the Scot-king gave Erlend the title of earl, and granted him half Caithness
with his kinsman Harold. Then Erlend fared to Caithness and met his friends there. After
that he gathered force to himself and fared out into the Orkneys. There he bade them do
homage to him, but earl Harold Maddad's son got a force together at once, when he heard of
Erlend, and had many men on his side. Then men went between those kinsman, and tried to set
them at one. Erlend asked for half the isles with Harold, but he will not give them up, and
the end of it was that peace was fixed for that year. But the plan was that Erlend shall
fare east into Norway to find king Eystein and ask for that half which earl Rognvald owned,
and then Harold said he would give it up. Then Erlend fared east into Norway, but Anakol and
some of his train were behind in the Orkneys. Gunni Olaf's son, Sweyn Asleif's son's
brother, had got a child by Margaret earl Harold's mother, but the earl made him an outlaw.
From that unfriendliness sprung up between Sweyn and earl Harold, and Sweyn sent Gunni south
into the Lewes to his friend Ljotolf, with whom Sweyn had been before. Fogl was the name of
Ljotolf's son; he was with earl Harold, and he and Sweyn had little to say to one another.
When earl Erlend fared east to Norway, earl Harold fared over to Caithness, and sat that
winter in Wick. Sweyn Asleif's son was then in Thraswick in Caithness, and had under his
charge the farms of his stepsons. He had first to wife Ragnhild Ogmund's daughter; they were
but a short while together. Olaf was their son. After that he had to wife Ingirid Thorkel's
daughter. Andrew was their son. It was on Wednesday in Passion week that Sweyn had gone up
into Lambaburg with some men. They saw where a ship of burden fared from the east off the
Pentland firth, and Sweyn thought he knew that there must be earl Harold's men, whom he had
sent after his scatts to Shetland. Sweyn bade his men go on board ship, and pull out to the
ship of burden, and so they did. They took the ship of burden and all that was worth
anything, but shoved earl Harold's men ashore, and they went east to Wick and told him. Earl
Harold said little in answer, and says that he and Sweyn would take it by turns to have each
other's goods, and he quartered his men about at different houses during Easter. Then the
Caithness men said that the earl was on his visitations. But as soon as ever Easter was
over, Sweyn fared away with the ship of burden and a rowing cutter to the Orkneys. And when
they came to Scapa-neck, they took there a ship from Fogl Ljotolf's son; he was then come
from the south out of the Lewes from his father, and meant to go to earl Harold. And in that
trip they took about twelve ounces of gold from Sigurd cloven-foot, earl Harold's
house-carle; that money had been brought into his house, but they were in Kirkwall who owned
it. After that Sweyn fared over to the Ness and up into Scotland, and found Malcolm the
Scot-king at Aberdeen. He was then nine winters old. (24) There Sweyn was a month in very
good cheer, and the Scot-king bade him take all those rights and easements in Caithness
which he had owned before he fell out with earl Harold. Sweyn thanked the king. After that
Sweyn busked him to go away, and he and the Scot-king parted with great love. Then Sweyn
fared to his ships, and sailed from the south to the Orkneys. Anakol was then in Deerness
when Sweyn and his men sailed from the south, and they saw his sails off the east side of
the Mull. They sent to Sweyn and his men Gauti the Master of Skeggbjornsstead, and Anakol
begged that Sweyn would come to terms with Fogl about taking the ship, for there was kinship
between them, and Fogl was then with Anakol. But when Gauti found Sweyn and his men, and
told him Anakol's words, then Sweyn bade them sail to Sanday and meet him there, for he said
he must sail there at once. There was a very numerous meeting there to make matters up, and
the atonement was only brought about slowly. But the end of it was that Sweyn alone was to
make what award he chose. After that Anakol threw in his force with Sweyn, and they bound
themselves to try to bring about an atonement between him and earl Erlend when he came from
the east, for there was feud between them for the burning of Frakok. Sweyn and Anakol fared
to Stronsay, and lay by Hofsness some nights. Thorfinn Brusi's son then dwelt in Stronsay;
he had then to wife Ingigerd Sweyn's sister, whom Thorbjorn clerk had left to herself. When
Sweyn and Anakol lay by Hofsness, earl Erlend sailed up from off the main, and Anakol and
Thorfinn Brusi's son fared out at once to meet him, and tried to bring about an atonement
between him and Sweyn, and the earl took the offer of atonement heavily, and said Sweyn had
always gone against the stream towards his kinsfolk and himself, but not kept to what he
[Sweyn] and earl Ottar had settled as to lending him [Erlend] strength to get the realm for
himself. (25) Then Sweyn offered to the earl his following and counsel, and they were trying
to bring the atonement about all day, but it was not brought about before they both of them,
Anakol and Thorfinn, gave out that they would follow Sweyn out of the islands if the earl
would not be atoned with him. Earl Erlend brings back from the east that message from king
Eystein, that he should have that lot of the Orkneys which earl Harold had owned before.
Sweyn gave that counsel, when he and the earl were set at one, that they should fare at once
to find earl Harold before he heard that of others, and bid him give up the realm to him. It
was done as Sweyn said. They met earl Harold off Kjarrekstead, (26) and he lay on shipboard.
It was on Michaelmas morning that earl Harold and his men saw that longships were faring up
to them, and they doubted that there would be strife. They ran from their ships and into the
castle that was then there. Arni Hrafn's son was the name of a man who ran from earl
Harold's ship and to Kirkwall; he was so scared that he did not know that he had his shield
at his back before he stuck fast in the church-door. Thorgeirr was the name of a man who was
there inside and saw him Arni's messmates thought that he was lost, and looked for him two
days. Earl Erlend and Sweyn ran from their ships to the castle after earl Harold and his
men, and attacked them all that day both with fire and weapons. They made a very stout
defence, and the darkness of night parted them. There many men were wounded on either side,
but earl Harold and his men had surely been worn out and forced to give themselves up to
them if the onslaught had lasted longer. But next morning freemen came up, friends of both
sides, and tried to bring about an atonement between them, and Sweyn and earl Erlend were
loath to make matters up. But still it came about that they were set at one on these terms,
that earl Harold swore oaths that Erlend should have his (Harold's), share of the isles, and
that he would never make any claim against him for that realm. These oaths were taken before
many of the best men then in the isles as witnesses, and after that earl Harold fared over
to the Ness, and so on up to Scotland to his kinfolk, then few Orkneyingers fared with him.
Earl Erlend and Sweyn and his companions summoned a Thing of the freemen in Kirkwall, and
the freemen came to it from all the isles. Earl Erlend pleaded his cause, and so too did
many others of his friends and kinsfolk. Then the earl said that king Eystein had given him
that realm in the Orkneys which earl Harold had before had in his keeping; then he begged
the freemen to do him homage. He had there with him Eystein's letters, which proved that he
spoke sooth. So it came about that the freemen yielded obedience to earl Erlend, and then he
took under him all the Orkneys, and made himself chief over them. But it was so settled
between earl Erlend and the freemen, that he should not withhold from earl Rognvald that
half of the realm which he owned, if it were fated that he should come back. But if earl
Rognvald claimed more than half, then the freemen should hold that against him along with
earl Erlend. Sweyn Asleif's son was ever with earl Erlend, and bade him be wary, and not
trust too well earl Harold or the Scots. They lay most part of the winter on shipboard, and
kept spies out away from them. But when Yule drew on, and the weather began to grow hard,
then Sweyn fared home to Gairsay to his house, but bade the earl be not the less wary though
they were parted, and so the earl did, for he lay long on shipboard, and gathered stores
together in no one place for his Yule feast.
1. France] Valland in its widest sense means all the Romano-Celtic nations in the
west of Europe, and is used just as the Germans speak of Welschland. In a more restricted
sense it is used of the north-west of France, or of Brittany and Normandy. Fm. S. iv. 59.
Here it seems to include both France and Spain.
2. This is probably the best reading: The "seaburg" might be Bilbao on the "Nerbion"
or "Nervion."
3. A periphrasis for "gold."
4. A periphrasis for "ships."
5. bale] The old meaning of the word was a heap of fuel for a fire, a pyre, whence
all the other meanings of the word and its compounds, as "baleful" and "balefire" are
derived.
6. M.O. reads thus: "and cool the grit that had run (been fused by the heat) before
they made ready to the storm. But while the lull lasted the earl sang this song."
7. A periphrasis for "woman."
8. Ring-trees, a periphrasis for men.
9. Cool fields goddess, a periphrasis for lady, i.e. Ermengarda.
10. The Gut of Gibraltar.
11. The Danish Translation reads, "for the wind was very much on one
side."
The Flatey Book reads "a very fair wind."
12. A periphrasis for "a ship."
13. Barbary.
14. A periphrasis for "sea."
15. Also called "Dromons" from the Greek "dromwn," used at first for a swift ship of
war, and afterwards for any large vessel. See Du Cange, s.v. "Dromones."
16. The Flatey Book reads, "but every other man's child they slew," which is wrong.
Compare the sale of the prisoners further on.
17. Periphrasis for man, i.e. Erling.
18. A periphrasis for "ship."
19. Imbolar] It is very hard to identify this place. If Ægissness be the true
reading at the end of this chapter, Imbolar may very well be the island of Imbros at the
mouth of the Dardanelles, for Ægisness is said to be the extreme point of the Thracian
Chersonese. On the other hand, if Engilsness be the true reading in the passage referred to,
Imbolar must be sought for in the south-western part of Asia Minor, or even in Crete, for
Engilsness, or Egilsness, is identified with Cape Malea or St. Angelo in the Peloponese.
Munch inclines to the latter view, N. H. iii, 840, note. G. V. supposes, in the Icel. Dict.,
that Imbolum is a mistake of the Northmen for "empolij" as "miðhæfi" a little further on is
a distortion of "metabhqi" - "get down" or "out of the way."
20. A periphrasis for "ship."
21. Durazzo.
22. Apulia.
23. Grandson] The Cd. reads "son," the Tr. "grandson" correctly.
24. nine winters old] King Malcolm was born in 1140, and was therefore about twelve
years old at this time. The Chron. de Melrose says that he was twelve years old at his
accession. Comp. Munch, N. H. iii, 848, note, who places these events in the year
1154.
25. himself] Comp. ch. 78.
26. Kjarrekstead] Munch N. H. iii., 849, note, has well pointed out that
Knarrarstöðum, the present Knarstane, is probably the right reading here. Kjarrekstödum,
answering to the present Cairston or Stromness, would be too far off the Arni's flight,
while Knarstane is within easy reach of Kirkwall.
101. It happened on the tenth day of Yule that Sweyn sat in Gairsay and drank with his
house-carles; he began to speak and rubbed his nose:
"It is my meaning that now earl Harold is on his voyage to the isles."
His house-carles say that that were unlikely for the storms' sake that then lay over
them. He said he knew that they would think so. "And now," says he, "I will not send the
earl news of this for my foreboding all alone, but I doubt though that there is worse
counsel in that."
So that talk fell to the ground, and they drank on as before. Earl Harold began his
voyage out to the Orkneys at Yule. He had four ships and one hundred men; he lay two nights
off Grimsay. They landed at Hamnavæ in Hrossey; thence they went the thirteenth day of Yule
to Firth. They were in Orkahow while a snow-storm drove over them, and there two men of
their band lost their wits and that was a great hindrance to their journey. It was in the
night that they came to Firth; it happened then that earl Erlend had gone on board his ship,
but he had drunk that day up at the house. Earl Harold and his men slew two men there, and
the name of one of them was Kettle; (1) but they took prisoners four men: Arnfinn Anakol's
brother, Ljot was the name of the second, and two others. Earl Harold fared back to Thurso,
and Thorbjorn clerk and his men. But those brothers Benedict and Eric fared to Lambaburg,
and had Arnfinn along with them. At once that very night, as soon as earl Erlend was ware of
the strife, then he sent men to Gairsay to tell Sweyn, and he [Sweyn] made them run down to
his ships to the sea the day after, and fared to find earl Erlend, as he had sent word, and
they were then on shipboard most of the winter. Benedict and his brother sent that message,
that Arnfinn would only be set loose on those terms, if earl Erlend and his men would let
them have that ship which they had taken off Kjarrekstead. The earl was rather eager that
the ship should be given up; but Anakol set his face against it, and said that Arnfinn
should get away not a whit the less that winter, though that were not granted. It was on the
midweekday (Wednesday) next before the Fast that they Anakol and Thorstein Ragna's son,
fared over to the Ness with twenty men in a cutter, and came off the coast in the night.
They drew the cutter into a hidden cove under a certain burg. (2) They go up on shore, and
hide themselves in thickets a short way from the house in Thraswick, but they dressed up the
ship so, that it looked just as if men lay in every seat. Men had come to the ship in the
morning, and had no doubt as to what she was. Anakol and his men saw men row in a ship away
from the burg and land at the oyce. (3) Then they saw a man too ride out from the burg, and
another walking, and knew it was Eric. Then Anakol and his men parted their force, and ten
of them went to the sea, down the river, and watched that no one should come to the ship,
but the other ten went to the house. Eric came to the homestead a little before them, and
went up to the hall, there he heard the sound of armed men, and then ran into the hall, and
out at the other door, and wanted to go to the ship, but there the men were in his way, and
he got taken captive there, and was carried out into the isles to earl Erlend. Then men were
sent to earl Harold, and it was told him that Eric would not be set free till Arnfinn and
his companions came safe and sound to earl Erlend, and that was done as he was told. Next
spring earl Harold busked him from Caithness, and fared north to Shetland; he meant to take
the life of Erlend the young, for he had asked the hand of Margaret the earl's mother, but
she had refused. After that he got himself a train of followers, and took her away from the
Orkneys, and bore her north to Shetland, and sat himself down in Moussaburg; there he had
laid in great stores. But when earl Harold came to Shetland, he sat down round the burg and
forbade all supplies, but it is an unhandy place to get at by storm. Then men came up and
tried to bring about an atonement between them. Erlend asked that the earl should give him
the woman in marriage, but offered himself to strengthen the earl's hands, and said that it
was worth more to him to get back his realm, but said too that the likeliest way to do that
was to make himself as many friends as he could. That prayer many backed with Erlend, and
this was the end of the matter, that they were set at one, and Erlend got Margaret, and
after that made ready to follow the earl, and they fared that summer east to Norway. And
when that was heard in the Orkneys, then earl Erlend and his men laid their plans, and Sweyn
was eager that they should fare a sea-roving, and so get money. And so they did, and fared
south to Broadfirth, and harried off the east of Scotland. They fared south to Berwick.
(4)
Canute the wealthy was the name of a man, he was a chapman, and sat very often in
Berwick. Sweyn and his companions took a ship large and good, which Canute owned, and much
goods aboard her; there too his wife was on board. After that they fared south under
Blyholm. Canute was then in Berwick when he heard of the robbery; he made a bargain with the
men of Berwick for a hundred marks of silver, that they go out to get back the goods. They
were most of them chapmen who went out to look for the goods. They fared in fourteen ships
to look for them. Now when Erlend and Sweyn lay under Blyholm, Sweyn spoke to them, and told
them that men should lie with no awning over their ships; said he had got it into his head
that the men of Berwick would come in a great company to look them up at night. But there
was a sharp wind on, and men gave no heed to what he said, and all men lay under their
awnings, save that on Sweyn's ship there was no awning aft of the mast. Sweyn sat up on the
poop in a hairy cloak on a chest and said he was so boun to spend the night. Einar skew was
the name of a man on board Sweyn's ship; he spoke and said that far too many stories had
been told of Sweyn's bravery; "he is called a better man than other men, but now he dares
not throw an awning over his ship."
Sweyn made as though he heard not. There were watchmen upon the holm; Sweyn heard
how they could not agree as to what they saw. He went up to them and asked about what they
strove. They said they could not tell what they saw. Sweyn was the sharpest-sighted of all
men, and when he looked steadfastly at the spot, he saw that there were fourteen ships
coming on them from the north all together. He went on board his ship and bade the watchmen
go on board the ships and tell what had happened. Sweyn bade his men wake up and throw off
their awnings. After that a great cry arose, and most men shouted out to Sweyn, and asked
what counsel should be taken; he bade men be still, but said his counsel was to lay their
ships between the holm and the land, "and try if they will so sail round away from us; but
if that may not be, then let us row against them as hard as we can."
But other counsellors spoke against that, and said the only plan was to sail away,
and so it was done. Then Sweyn spoke:
"If you will sail away, then beat out to sea."
Sweyn was last boun. Anakol waited for him. But when Sweyn's ship went faster, then
he made them slacken sail, and waited for Anakol, and would not that he should be left
behind with a single ship. Then Einar skew said, as Sweyn and his men sailed with all
sail:
"Sweyn," says he, "is it not so that our ship stands still?"
Sweyn says:
"I do not think that," says he, "but I counsel you that you speak no more against my
bravery, if you can not tell for fear's sake whether the ship walks under you or not, for
this is the fastest of all ships under sail."
The men of Berwick sailed south away from them, but Sweyn and his fleet then turned
in under the mainland. And when they came under the Isle of May, then Sweyn sent men to
Edinburgh to tell the Scot-king of the spoil they had taken, but before they came to the
burg, twelve men rode to meet them, and they had bags full of silver at their cruppers. And
when they met, the Scottish men asked after Sweyn Asleif's son; they said where he was, and
asked what they wanted of him. The Scots said that they had been told that Sweyn was taken
prisoner, and the Scot-king had sent them to set him free with that money which they carried
with them. Sweyn's men told them the news in return, and fared to find the Scot-king, and
told him their errand. The king spoke lightly of the loss of Canute's money, and sent Sweyn
a costly shield and other good gifts more. Earl Erlend and Sweyn fared that autumn to the
Orkneys and came back rather late.
That summer earl Harold fared to Norway, as was before told. Then too earl Rognvald
came back from abroad from Micklegarth into Norway, and Erling wry-neck with him, as was
before written. And earl Rognvald came into the Orkneys a little before Yule.
102. Then men at once came between earl Rognvald and earl Erlend, and tried to set them at
one. Then men brought forward that understanding which had passed between freemen and earl
Erlend, that he should not withhold his share of the isles from earl Rognvald. Then things
came to a fixed meeting between those earls in Kirkwall, and at that meeting they made
matters up and bound that by oaths. That was two nights before Yule, and the terms of the
settlement were that each of them should have half of the isles, and both should guard them
against earl Harold or any others if they laid claim to them. Earl Rognvald had then no
force of ships before the summer after, when his ships came from the east out of Norway.
That winter all stood quiet, but in the spring after the earls laid their plans against earl
Harold if he should come from the east, and earl Erlend and Sweyn Asleif's son fared to
Shetland, and were to lie in wait for him there if he showed himself. Earl Rognvald fared
over to Thurso, for they thought that Harold might make there when he came from the east,
for he had many kinsfolk and friends there. Earl Erlend and Sweyn were in Shetland that
summer, and stopped all ships so that no one might go to Norway. Earl Harold fared that
summer from the east out of Norway, and had seven ships; he made the Orkneys, but three of
his ships were driven into Shetland by stress of weather, and Erlend and Sweyn took them.
When earl Harold came into the Orkneys, there he heard those tidings, that earl Rognvald and
earl Erlend were atoned, and that each of them was to have half the isles. Then earl Harold
thought he saw that as for his choice, nothing was meant for him. Then he took that counsel
to fare over to the Ness at once to find earl Rognvald before earl Erlend and Sweyn came
back from Shetland. Earl Erlend and Sweyn were then in Shetland, when they heard that earl
Harold was come into the Orkneys with five ships; they held on south at once into the isles
with five ships, and got caught in Dynrace, (5) in dangerous tides and a storm of wind, and
there they parted company. Then Sweyn bore up for the Fair isle in two ships, and they
thought the earl lost. Thence they held on their course south under Sanday, and there earl
Erlend lay before them with three ships, and that was a very joyful meeting. Thence they
fared to Hrossey, and heard there that earl Harold had fared over to the Ness. But that is
to be said of earl Harold's doings, that he came to Thurso and had six ships. Earl Rognvald
was then up the country in Sutherland, and sat there at a wedding, at which he gave away his
daughter Ingirid to Eric staybrails. News came to him at once that earl Harold was come into
Thurso. Earl Rognvald rode down with a great company from the bridal to Thurso. Eric
staybrails was Harold's kinsman, and he did all he could to set them at one again, and many
others backed that with him, and said that it was as clear as day to them that they ought
not to let themselves be parted for the sake of that kinship and those foster-ties and that
fellowship which had been between them. So it came about that a meeting was brought to pass
between them and peace given, and they were to meet in a castle at Thurso, and they two talk
alone, but each of them was to have as many men as the other hard by the castle. They talked
long, and things went well with them. They had not met before since earl Rognvald came into
the land. And when the day was far spent, earl Rognvald was told that earl Harold's people
were flocking there with arms. Earl Harold said that no harm would come of that. Next after
that they heard great blows struck outside, and then they ran out. There was come Thorbjorn
clerk with a great train of men, and he began straightway to wound and maimearl Rognvald's
men when they met. The earls called out that they should not fight. Then men ran up out of
the town and parted them. There fell thirteen of earl Rognvald's house-carles, but he
himself was wounded in the face. After that their friends did their best to set them at one
again, and so it came about that they were atoned and bound anew their friendship with
oaths. This was four nights before Michaelmas. Then too that counsel was taken that they
should fare at once that night out into the Orkneys against earl Erlend and Sweyn. They held
on with thirteen ships west on the Pentland firth, and ran across to Rognvaldsey, (6) and
made the land in Vidvæ, and there went on shore. Earl Erlend and his men lay on shipboard
in Bardswick, and thence they saw a great company in Rognvaldsey, and sent out spies there,
and then they had sure news that the earls had been set at one. It was also told them that
they would not let them have the power either of strand-slaughter or any other stores of
food, and must so mean then and there to cut off their food in the isles. Then earl Erlend
and his men went to talk, and he sought counsel of his men. But they all agreed with one
voice that Sweyn should see to it what counsel should be taken. But Sweyn gave utterance to
this decision, that they should at once that very night sail over to the Ness, and said that
they had no strength to strive with both of them there in the isles. He made that show
before the people at large, that they would fare to the Southern isles, and be there that
winter. That was Michaelmas eve when they sailed on the firth, but as soon as ever they came
to Caithness, they hastened up into the country, and drove down to the shore great droves of
cattle to slaughter and slaughtered them, and put them on board their ships. Great storms
were on and foul weather, and the firth was always impassable. But as soon as ever there was
a fair wind, Sweyn sent men in a boat to the other side from the Ness to say that earl
Erland had slaughtered cattle on the shore in Caithness, and that they lay boun to sail to
the Southern isles as soon as ever they got a breeze. And when these tidings came to earl
Rognvald's ears, he brought them before a meeting of householders, and spoke to his people.
He bade his men be wary and keep good watch, and lie every night on board their ships, "for
there is not an hour of the day or night that I do not look for Sweyn here in the Orkneys,
and so much the rather that he made so many words about how he would fare out of the
land."
At the beginning of winter Sweyn and his companions fared out of Thurso, and turned
west round the coast of Scotland. They had seven ships, and all well manned and trimmed and
big. They began their passage by the help of oars alone. But when they were come on their
course away from the Ness, earl Rognvald's spies fared out into the isles, and told him
these tidings. The earls then rowed their ships to Scapaneck, and earl Rognvald would that
they should lie on board their ships a while. Now when Sweyn and his companions had got
about as far west as Staur, Sweyn spoke and said that they would not plague themselves any
longer by rowing, and bade them put their ships about and hoist their sails. This plan the
men thought rather foolish, but still it was done as Sweyn would. But when they had sailed
about, the war-snakes ran swiftly before the wind. (7) And nothing is told of their voyage
before they come to Vogland (8) in the Orkneys. There they heard that the earls lay at
Scapa-neck with fourteen ships off Knarstead. There was then Erlend the young and Eric
staybrails, and many other noble men.
103 Thorbjorn clerk had gone east to Paplay at Firth to the house of Hacon churl, his
father-in-law. Thorbjorn then had his daughter Ingigerd to wife. It was four nights before
Simon's mass that Sweyn uttered that decision, that he would row up and make an onslaught on
the earls at night. But that seemed rather foolhardy considering the difference of force
which there was. Still Sweyn would have his way, and so it was, for the earl too was rather
eager for it.
At even a storm of soft melting sleet set in; then earl Rognvald went away from his
ship and meant to go to Ofir to his house; he knew no cause for fear; he was with six men.
They came to Knarstead in the sleet storm. There dwelt Botolf bungle, a man from Iceland and
a good skald. He asked earl Rognvald to be there with him the night over, and tried to talk
him over with many words. They went in, and their clothes were pulled off them; they lay
down to sleep, but Botolf was to keep watch. That self same night earl Erlend and his men
pulled up against earl Harold and his men, and came upon them unawares, so that they knew
nothing of their coming before they heard the warcry. Then they ran to their arms, and
defended themselves like men. There was great slaughter, and the onslaught ended so that
earl Harold fled away up on shore, when only five men were left upstanding on board the
ship. There fell Bjarni Erlend the young's brother, a man of rank and worth, and a hundred
men with him, but a whole crowd were wounded. All men ran from their ships and fled up on
the land. Few fell of earl Erlend's men, but the earl took there fourteen ships that the
earls owned, and all the goods that were on board them. When the most of the work was done,
they heard that earl Rognvald had gone away from his ship that evening, and first up to
Knarstead, and there they fared. Botolf the master was outside before the door when they
came there, and he gave them a hearty greeting. They asked whether earl Rognvald were there
by chance. Botolf said he had been there that night. But they behaved wildly, and asked
where he then was, and said he must know. Botolf stretched out his hand up and round about
the yard, and sang a song:
"After fowls the chieftain fares;
Soldiers shoot their weapons well;
Yonder heath-hen 'neath the hill
May have hope of blow on neck;
There the cross-bow crushes heath-poults
Wondrously when warriors meet,
Warrior stems that wound the snake; (9)
The king defends his land with sword."
The earl's men ran headlong out of the "town," (10) and he thought he had the best
of it who ran fastest and first got power over the earl. But Botolf went indoors and woke up
the earl, and tells him those tidings that had happened in the night, and also what the
earl's men were after. Then they jumped up and clothed themselves, and fared away at once,
and to Orfir to the earl's house, and when they came there, earl Harold was there before
them in hiding. Then they fared at once over to the Ness each in his boat, the one with
three men and the other with four men. All their men fared over to the Ness as they got
passages. Earl Erlend and Sweyn took all the earl's ships and very much goods. Sweyn
Asleif's son made them hand over to him as his share all earl Rognvald's treasures that were
taken on board his ship, and he sent them to earl Rognvald over to the Ness. Sweyn was very
eager that earl Erlend and his men should station their ships out in Vogaland, and that they
should lie in that part of the Firth (11) where they could see any sailing of ships as soon
as ever they put out from the Ness. He thought it good thence to lie in wait for attacks, if
there were any chance of a passage. But earl Erlend made up his mind, for the sake of the
egging on of his levies, that they should fare north to Damsay, and there they drank by day
in a great hall, but lashed their ships together every evening, and slept in them by night.
And so it went up to the Yule fast. It was five nights before Yule, that Sweyn Asleif son
fared east to Sandwick to Sigrid his kinswoman; he was to make up a quarrel between her and
her neighbour, whose name was Bjorn. But before he fared away, he spoke to earl Erlend that
he should sleep on shipboard by night, and be then not less wary though he [Sweyn] were not
with him. Sweyn was one night at the house of his kinswoman Sigrid.
104 Gisl was the name of a man; he was Sweyn's tenant and dear friend. He made a prayer to
Sweyn that he should come as a guest to his house, and see how matters stood with him. He
had made them brew liquor, and wated to tap it for Sweyn and his men. When they came at even
to Gil's (12) house, it was told them that earl Erlend had not gone to the ships the evening
before. As soon as ever Sweyn heard this, he sent Margad Grim's son and two other men to the
earl, and bade him take heed to his counsel, though he had not done so the night before;
"but," says he, "methinks it is to be dreaded that I shall need to take counsel for this
earl but a short while longer."
Margad and his companions fared to find earl Erlend, and told him Sweyn's words. The
earl's men said he [Sweyn] had wondrous ways; they said that one while he thought nothing
too dangerous, but sometimes he was so afraid that he scarce knew how to keep himself or
others safe. They said that they would sleep in peace on land, and not fare to the ships.
The earl said it should be so as Sweyn had laid it down; and the end of it was, that the
earl went on board his own ship with four-and-twenty men, but all the others lay up at the
house. Margad and those who were on board Sweyn's ship lay in another bay a short way off
thence.
This very same night earl Rognvald and earl Harold came unawares upon earl Erlend,
so that those watchmen who watched on the isle and on the ship were none of them aware of it
before they boarded the ship. Orm was the name of a man, and Ufi was another; they were in
the forehold on board earl Erlend's ship. Ufi jumped up, and would wake the earl, and could
not get him awakened, so dead drunk was he. Ufi caught up the earl in his arms, and leapt
overboard with him, and into the after boat which floated by the ship's side; but Orm leapt
over on the other side, and he got safe to land. But the earl lost his life, and most of the
other men who were in the ships. (13) The men on board Sweyn's ship wakened at the war cry,
and cut the cable asunder, and pulled out off the ness, but the full moon gave a strong
light, and then they saw that the earls were pulling away. Then they thought they could tell
that they must have settled their business with earl Erlend. Sweyn's house carles then rowed
away, and fared first to Rendale, but sent a man to Sweyn to tell him such things as they
had then seen and heard. Earl Harold was for giving peace to earl Erlend's men, but earl
Rognvald would wait first to see whether his body were found, or whether he had got away.
Earl Erlend's body was found two nights before Yule; the shaft of a spear was seen standing
up out of the seaweed, and when they got to it, that spear stood right through him. His body
was borne to the church, but then peace was given to the earl's men, and so too to four of
Sweyn's house carles who were taken. John was the name of a man who was called wing; he was
a sister's son of John wing, of whom it was spoken before, he had been with Hacon churl, and
had got his sister with child, and then ran away a sea roving with Anakol, but now he was
with earl Erlend, and yet he had not been at the battle. Earl Erlend's men made their way to
Kirkwall, and took shelter in Magnus' church. The earls also fared there, and then a meeting
for a settlement was fixed in the church. Then John could not get an atonement with the
earls before he had given his word to keep his wedding with the woman. There all men took
oaths to the earls, and they settled that matter rather easily. John wing bound himself over
into earl Harold's hand, and became his steward.
105 When Sweyn Asleif's son heard of the fall of earl Erlend, he fared to Rendale, and met
his house carles there. (14) They were able to tell him plainly of the tidings that had
happened in Damsay. After that Sweyn and his men fared to Rowsay, and came there at the
flood-tide; they took all the tackling out of the ship, and laid her up; they shared the men
about among the houses, and kept spies out between them and the earls and others of the
great men to know what each were doing. Sweyn Asleif's son went there up on the fell, and
five men with him, and so down the other side to the sea shore, and stole right up to a
homestead thereabouts in the darkness. They heard a great chattering inside. There were that
father and son, Thorfinn and Ogmund, and Erlend their brother in law. Erlend, he was
boasting about that to that father and son, that he had given earl Erlend his death blow,
but they all thought they had fought very well. And when Sweyn heard that, he springs inside
into the house at them, and his companions after him. Sweyn was quickest, and he smote
Erlend at once his death blow; but they took Thorfinn prisoner, and had him off along with
them, but Ogmund was slightly wounded. Sweyn and his men fared to Thingwall; there dwelt
then Helgi Sweyn's father's brother, and they were there at the beginning of Yule in hiding.
Earl Rognvald fared to Damsay at Yule, but earl Harold stayed behind at Kirkwall. Earl
Rognvald sent men to Thingwall to Helgi, and bade him tell his kinsman Sweyn if he knew
anything as to where he was, that the earl wanted to bid him to stay with him at Yule, and
said he was willing to have a hand in setting him and earl Harold at one again. And when
these words came to Sweyn, he fared to meet earl Rognvald with five men, and was with him
the latter part of Yule. (15) But after Yule a meeting to make friends was fixed between
Sweyn and the earls; there all those quarrels were to be put an end to which had not been
already made up. And when they met, earl Rognvald did his best to make Sweyn and earl Harold
friends, but most men there were very hard in their counsel against him, who were not
already either kinsfolk or friends of Sweyn; but those men said that trouble would always
arise from Sweyn if he were not made away with out of the isles. But that settlement was
made, that Sweyn should pay a mark of gold to each of the earls, and lose half his lands and
his good longship. Sweyn answers when he hears the award:
"This atonement will be best kept if I am not treated with dishonour."
Earl Rognvald would not take the fine from Sweyn. He says he will in no wise
disgrace him, he says, too, he thinks there is much more gain to be got from his friendship
than from his goods. Earl Harold fared after the atonement to Gairsay to Sweyn's house, and
dealt there rather wastefully with his corn and other gear that he had. But when Sweyn heard
that he brought it before earl Rognvald, and called it a breach of the atonement, and said
he would fare home and see after his stores. Earl Rognvald said; "Be with me, Sweyn and I
will send word to the earl, and again bring him to speak about your affairs; but I will not
that you should think to strive against earl Harold, for he will be too much of a man for
you in strife, though you are a mighty man in yourself, and a bold brisk man."
But Sweyn would not let himself be hindered, and fared with nine men in a cutter to
Gairsay, and came there late at even. They saw fire in the bake house; (16) Sweyn fared
there to it. He wished that they should take the fire and lay it to the hall, and burn the
homestead and the earl inside it. Sweyn Blakari's son was the name of a man; he was the man
of most weight of all those that were there with Sweyn; he set his face most against this,
and said might be the earl were not in the house. But even though he were there, he says
that they would not let his wife or his daughters come out; but says that it would never do
to burn them inside the house. Then Sweyn and his men went to the doorway, and so in towards
the hall door; then those men sprang up who were in the hall, and shut to the door. Then
Sweyn and his men became aware that the earl was not in the homestead. But those who were
inside gave up their defence, and handed over their weapons to Sweyn and his men, and came
out all unarmed, and Sweyn gave peace to all the earl's house carles. Sweyn broached all his
drink, and had away with him his wife and daughters. He asked Ingirid his wife where Harold
was, but she would not tell him:
"Hold your peace then and point it out to us."
She would not do that either. She was the earl's kinswoman. Sweyn gave up some of
their arms when they came on shipboard. There was an end of the atonement between Sweyn and
the earl when this news was heard. Earl Harold had gone to a little isle to hunt hares.
Sweyn held on his course to Hellis isle, (17) that is a craggy isle towards the sea, and
there is a great cave in the rock, and the sea came right up into the mouth of the cave at
flood-tide. When earl Harold's house carles got their weapons from Sweyn and his men, they
fared straightway to find earl Harold, and told him of their dealings with Sweyn. The earl
made them launch his ship at once, and egged on his men to row after them, "and let us now
bring matters to the sword's point."
Then they fell to rowing after them, and each saw the other and knew one another.
And when Sweyn sees that the earl and his men were drawing up to them, Sweyn spoke and
said:
"We must try and seek some plan, for I have no mind to meet him when matters are so
hot between us, with the difference in force which there will be; we will take that
counsel," says he, "to fare to the cave, and see what turn our matters then take."
So Sweyn and his men did. They came to the cave at the flood, laid the ship up
there, for the cave sloped up into the rock; then the sea rose and flowed into the mouth of
the cave. Earl Harold and his men fared all day about the isle looking for them and found
them not; they saw too no sailing of ships from the isle. They wondered much at that; they
thought it unlikely that Sweyn should have foundered and sunk. They rowed round and round
the isle to look for Sweyn and could not find him, as was likly. Then the most they could
make of it was that Sweyn and his men must have borne up for other islands; then they rowed
there to seek them where they thought likeliest. Almost as soon as ever the earl and his men
rowed away, the sea fell from the cave's mouth. Sweyn and his men had heard the talk of the
earl and his men. Sweyn left his ship behind in the cave, (18) but they took an old ship of
burden on the isle, which the monks owned, and held on in her to Sanday. There they went on
land, but shoved off the ship of burden and she drove about from strand to strand till she
broke up. But Sweyn and his men went up into the isle, and came to that homestead which is
called Valaness, there that man dwelt whose name was Bard, Sweyn's kinsman. They called him
out by stealth, and Sweyn said that he wished to stay there. Bard said he should do so if he
pleased "but I dare not that you be here save in hiding."
They went in and were alone in [a room in] the house, so that only a wall of wattle
was between them and other men. There was a secret doorway in the house in which Sweyn was,
and stones were loosely piled up in it. That afternoon came John wing earl Harold's steward
and seven of them together. Bard gave them a hearty welcome, and fires were made for them,
and they roasted themselves at them. John was very wild in his words, and talked about the
tidings that had happened in those dealings which the earls had had with Sweyn; he blamed
Sweyn much, and said he was a dastardly trucebreaker and true to no man; he had but just now
made peace with earl Harold, and yet he would fare forthwith and burn the house over his
head: he said too there would never be peace in the land before Sweyn were driven out of the
land. The master Bard and John's companions rather spoke up for Sweyn. After that John took
to speaking ill of earl Erlend, and said that was no scathe though he had lost his life; he
called him such an overbearing man, that no one dared to call his head his own for him. And
when Sweyn heard that, then he could not stand it, and snatched up his weapons and ran at
the secret doorway, and hurled down the stones out of it. Then there was a great clatter.
Sweyn meant to run round to the hall door. John sat in his shirt and linen breeks. And when
he heard the noise that Sweyn made he lost no time in lacing up his shoon, but jumped up
from the fire, and set off at once away from the house. But it was moonless and pitch dark,
and a sharp frost. He came that night to another homestead, and was much frostbitten on his
feet, so that some of his tæs dropped off. Sweyn gave peace to John's companions for master
Bard's words' sake. Sweyn was there that night, but afterwards next morning they fared away
thence with a cutter which Bard owned and gave to Sweyn. Then they fared south to Bardswick,
and were there at a cave. Sweyn was sometimes during the day at the house and drank there,
but slept by his ship at night, and so guarded himself against his fæs.
106 It happened one morning early that Sweyn and his men saw a great longship fare from
Hrossey to Rognvaldsey, and Sweyn knew at once that it was earl Rognvald's ship, that he was
wont to steer himself, and they ran into Rognvaldsey, and there where Sweyn's cutter lay,
and five men went on shore from the earl's ship, but Sweyn and his men were on a height, and
pelted the earl's men with stones thence. And when they saw that from the ship, men got out
their arms. But when Sweyn and his men saw that they ran down from the height and to the
beach, and shoved off the cutter and jumped into her. The longship had run up on shore, so
that she was fast. Sweyn stood up in his cutter as they rowed out by the longship, and had a
spear in his hand. But when earl Rognvald saw that, then he took a shield and held it before
him, but Sweyn did not throw the spear. But when the earl saw that they were about to part,
he made them hold up a truce shield, (19) and begged that Sweyn and his men would come to
land. But when Sweyn saw that, he bade his men pull to land, and says he would still be best
pleased if he could be made friends with earl Rognvald.
107 After that earl Rognvald and Sweyn went on shore, and they two talked long together,
and things went smoothly with them. And as they sat a talking then they saw earl Harold's
sailing, as he fared from Caithness and to Vogaland. (20) And when the ship bore away under
the island, then Sweyn asked the earl what counsel should be taken now. The earl says that
Sweyn should fare over to the Ness then and there. This was in Lent. They fared both at the
same time out of Rognvaldsey, the earl he fared to Hrossey, but Sweyn fared west to Stroms,
and earl Harold and his men saw the ship, and thought they knew that Sweyn owned her. They
put out at once into the firth after them. And when Sweyn and his men saw that the earl and
his men held on after them; then they left their ship and hid themselves away. But when earl
Harold came to Stroms, they saw Sweyn's ship, and doubted then that the abodes of men must
be too near, and for that they would not land from their ship. Amundi was a man's name the
son of Hnefi; he was a friend of earl Harold, but a father's brother of Sweyn Asleif's son's
step-children; he came between them then, and got it brought about that the same atonement
should be held which had been made the winter before. Then a storm of wind sprung up; and
each side had to stay there that night; and Amundi stowed away earl Harold and Sweyn both in
one bed. In that house many men of each of them took their rest. After this atonement Sweyn
fared over to the Ness, but earl Harold over to the Orkneys. Sweyn heard that the earl had
said that he called their peace making rather loosely made. Little heed paid Sweyn to that.
He fared south into the Dales, and was that Easter with Summerled his friend; but earl
Harold fared north to Shetland, and was there very long that spring. Sweyn fared from the
south after Easter, and met on the way John wing's two brothers, the name of the one was
Peter down-at-heel, (21) but the other's Blane. Sweyn and his men took them captive and
stripped them of all their goods, but brought them to land; then a gallows tree was hewn for
them. And when all was ready, Sweyn said that they should run away up the country; he said
it would be more shame to their brother John that they should live. They were long out in
the cold and much frozen when they got to a homestead. Sweyn fared thence to the Southern
isles to the Lewes, and stayed there a while. But when John wing heard that Sweyn had taken
his brothers captive, but knew not what he had done with them, then he fared to Enhallow,
(22) and there seized Olaf Sweyn's son, Kolbein the burly's fosterchild, and fared with him
to Westray. Then earl Rognvald and he met at Rapness, and when the earl saw Olaf there, he
said:
"Why are you here, Olaf?"
He answers: "It is John wing's doing."
The earl looked to John, and said: "Why did you bring Olaf here?"
He answered: "Sweyn seized my brothers, and I do not know that he has not slain
them."
The earl said: "Carry him back as fast as you can, and do not dare to do him any
harm, whatever has become of your bretheren; for you will have no peace in the isles, either
at Sweyn's or Kolbein's hands, if you do anything to him."
108 After Easter in the spring Sweyn began his voyage from the Southern isles, and had
sixty men. He held on his course to the Orkneys, and first to Rowsay. There he seized that
man whose name was Hacon churl; he had been with earl Harold when earl Erlend fell. Hacon
bought himself off with three marks of gold, and so freed himself from Sweyn. There in
Rowsay Sweyn and his men found that ship which the earls had awarded that Sweyn should give
up, and the bulwarks on both sides had been hewn out of her. That earl Rognvald had made
them do, for no one had been willing either to buy or beg the ship from the earls. Sweyn
held on then to Hrossey, and found earl Rognvald in Birsay. The earl gave him a hearty
welcome, and Sweyn was with him that spring. Earl Rognvald says that was why he had hewn the
bulwarks out of the ship, because he did not wish him to do any hasty deed there in the
isles when he came back from the Southern isles. Sweyn was there with earl Rognvald and
fourteen men besides himself. Earl Harold came from Shetland that spring at Whitsuntide, and
as soon as ever he came into the Orkneys, earl Rognvald sent men to him to say that his will
was that he and Sweyn should make friends anew. And then the meeting for an atonement was
fixed for the Friday in the Holy Week in Magnus' church, and earl Rognvald went with a broad
axe to the meeting and Sweyn with him. Then the self same atonement was agreed upon which
had been brought about the winter before.
109 Then earl Rognvald gave to earl Harold that ship which Sweyn had owned, but he gave to
Sweyn all else that had been awarded from him and came to his share. Earl Rognvald and Sweyn
stood by the church door while the sail was being borne out; for it had been laid up in
Magnus' church; and Sweyn looked rather cross when they bore out the sail. The Saturday
after, when nones were over, earl Harold's men came to see Sweyn Asleif's son, and said that
he would that Sweyn should come and talk with him. Sweyn brought that message before earl
Rognvald, and he was not very eager that Sweyn should go on this quest; he says he dæs not
know whether he might trust them. But Sweyn went nevertheless, and six of them together. The
earl sat in a little room on a cross bench, and Thorbjorn clerk by him. There were few other
men with the earl. They greeted the earl worthily; and he took their greeting well. They
made room for Sweyn to sit; so they sat a while and drank. After that Thorbjorn went away,
and Sweyn and his men said that they then doubted much as to what the earl was about to take
in hand. Thorbjorn came back a little after and gave Sweyn a scarlet kirtle and cloak and
sword; he said he did not know whether he would call them a gift, for those precious things
had been taken from Sweyn the winter before. Sweyn accepted these gifts. Earl Harold gave
Sweyn the longship which he had owned, and half his lands and estates. He asked Sweyn to
come and be with him, and said their friendship should never fail. Sweyn took this well, and
went at once that night, and told earl Rognvald how things had gone with earl Harold and
himself. Earl Rognvald showed that he was glad at that, and bade Sweyn take heed that they
did not fall out again.
110 Sometime after these three chiefs made up their minds to go a sea roving, Sweyn,
Thorbjorn, and Eric. They fared first to the Southern isles. They fared as far west as the
Scilly isles, and won there a great victory in Mary Haven (23) on Columba's mass, and got
very much war spoil. After that they fared to the Orkneys, and were well agreed.
After the atonement of earl Rognvald and earl Harold and Sweyn Asleif's son, the
earls were always both together, and earl Rognvald had the leadership, but they were very
good friends. When they came home from Scilly, Thorbjorn clerk fared to earl Harold, and
became his chief councillor. Sweyn fared home to Gairsay, and sat there with a great band of
men in the winters, and had his war spoil to keep up his household expenses, along with his
other stores, which he had there in the isles. He had most leaning to earl Rognvald. Every
summer he was out roving. It was said that Thorbjorn clerk made things no better between
earl Rognvald and earl Harold. Thorarin cod-nose was the name of one of earl Rognvald's body
guard and his friend too; he was always with the earl. Thorkell was the name of one of
Thorbjorn clerk's followers and friends. Those Thorarin and Thorkell, quarrelled over their
drink in Kirkwall, and Thorkell gave Thorarin a wound, and got away afterwards to Thorbjorn.
Thorarin's messmates followed Thorkell up, but he and Thorbjorn defended themselves out of a
loft. Then that was told to the earls, and they came to the spot to part them. Thorbjorn
would not let earl Rognvald utter an award in this quarrel, and found fault with the hue and
cry that had been made to his house. But when Thorarin was whole of his wounds, then he slew
Thorkell as he went to church. Thorarin ran into the church, but Thorbjorn and his men ran
after him and his followers. Then that was told to earl Rognvald, and he went there with a
great company, and asked whether Thorbjorn meant to break open the church. Thorbjorn said
that the church had no right to hold those who were inside it. Earl Rognvald said once for
all the church must not be broken into, and Thorbjorn was hustled away from the church by
the throng of men. No atonement was made for this. Thorbjorn fared over to the Ness, and was
there a while. Then there was much heard of their doings, for Thorbjorn did much mischief
both in the ravishing of women and in slaughter of men. Thorbjorn fared by stealth into the
Orkneys, in a cutter, with thirty men with him. He rushed in by himself alone in the evening
into the tavern where Thorarin was a drinking. Thorbjorn smote him at once his death blow;
after that he ran off in the dark far away. For this sake earl Rognvald made Thorbjorn clerk
an outlaw over all his realm. Thorbjorn fared over to the Ness, and was with his brother in
law Hosvir in hiding; he was called "the strong"; he had to wife Ragnhilda, Thorbjorn's
sister; their son was Stephen councillor, Thorbjorn's follower. A little while after
Thorbjorn fared to see Malcolm the Scot-king, and was with him in good cheer. With the
Scot-king was the man whose name was Gilli-Odran; he was of great kindred and a very unfair
man; he fell under the wrath of the Scot-king for the mischief and manslaying which he
wrought in his realm. Gilli-Odran ran away into the Orkneys, and the earls took him into
their service. Gilli-Odran was in Caithness, and had the earl's stewardship there. Helgi was
the name of a man of rank and a householder in Caithness, he was earl Rognvald's friend. He
and Gilli-Odran quarrelled about the stewardship, and Gilli-Odran fell upon him and slew
him. But after the manslaughter he fared away west to Scotland's firths, and that chief took
him in whose name was Summerled the freeman, he had rule in the Dales, in Scotland's firths.
Summerled had to wife Ragnhilda daughter of Olaf bitling, (24) the Southern isle king. The
mother of Ragnhilda was Ingibjorg, the daughter of earl Hacon Paul's son. These were the
children of Summerled and Ragnhilda: Dougal the king, Rognvald, and Angus, that is called
the Dale-dwellers' kin. Earl Rognvald summoned to him Sweyn Asleif's son before he went on
his roving cruise. And when they met, earl Rognvald begged him to keep a look out for
Gilli-Odran if he had a chance. Sweyn said he could not tell what might be fated to come of
it.
1. The Flatey Book adds, "but the other is not named."
2. The Flatey Book reads, "some rocks."
3. i.e., River's mouth. Oyce is the modern Orkney word for this.
4. This Berwick appears from the context not to be Berwick-upon-Tweed, but North
Berwick, at the mouth of the Firth of Forth.
5. Dynrace] Sumburg Roost.
6. South Ronaldshay.
7. The Flatey Book reads, "the war-snakes began to walk swiftly for there was a good
breeze."
8. Vogland] Walls in Hoy in the Orkneys.
9. A periphrase for "men."
10. i.e. "homefield."
11. i.e. the Pentland Firth.
12. Thus, by transposition, for "Gisl's."
13. The Flatey Book "ship."
14. The Flatey Book reads, "After the fall of earl Erlend, Sweyn Asleif's son fared
to Rendale and found there Margad, and his house-carles."
15. The Flatey Book adds, "in good cheer."
16. The Flatey Book reads, "they fared to the back of the house, Sweyn wished that
they should light a fire."
17. Hellis isle ] Ellarholm, near Shapinsay.
18. Because they could not launch her as she was high and dry.
19. i.e. a white shield as opposed to the red war shield.
20. Vogaland ] Walls in Hoy.
21. The Translation reads "whining-Peter."
22. Eyin Helga, i.e., the Holy Island, now Enhallow, between Rowsay and the
Mainland.
23. Port St. Mary.
24. i.e., the tiny, an allusion probably to his stature.
111. After that Sweyn fared off on his viking cruise, and had five longships. And when he
came west off Scotland's firths, Sweyn heard that Summerled the freeman was gone on board
ship, and meant to go a roving; he had seven ships. There Gilli-Odran steered one ship, and
he was gone higher up the firths after that force which had not yet come. As soon as ever
Sweyn heard of Summerled, he ran in to battle against him, and there was a hard battle. And
in that fight fell Summerled the freeman, and much folk with him. There Sweyn became sure
that Gilli-Odran had not been there. Then Sweyn fared to look him up, and found him in
Murkfirth, and there he slew Gilli-Odran and fifty men with him. After that Sweyn fared a
sea roving, and back at autumn, as he was wont. And when he came home he was not long in
meeting earl Rognvald, and he showed himself well pleased at those deeds.
112. It was the earl's custom nearly every summer to fare over to Caithness, and there to go
up into the woods and wastes to hunt red deer or reindeer. (1) Thorbjorn clerk was with
Malcolm the Scot-king, but sometimes he fared down to the Ness, and was with his friends by
stealth. He had three friends in Caithness, in whom he placed most trust. One was Hosvir his
brother in law; the second Lifolf, who dwelt in Thorsdale; the third was Halvard Dufa's son,
who dwelt at Force in Calfdale which gæs off from Thorsdale. These were his bosom
friends.
113. When earl Rognvald had been earl two and twenty winters since earl Paul was made
captive, then the earls fared over to Caithness, when the summer was far spent, after their
wont. And when they came to Thurso, then they heard some rumour that Thorbjorn clerk must be
up Thorsdale in hiding, and not at all short-handed, and how he must mean an onslaught
thence if he got a chance. Then the earls got men together to them, and fared with a band of
one hundred, and twenty of them ride, but the others were on foot. They fared in the evening
up the dale and turned in as guests somewhere where there was (what the Celts call) "erg,"
but we call "setr" (a shieling on the hill). That evening, as men sat by the fires, earl
Rognvald sneezed very often. Earl Harold spoke and said:
"Shrill sneezing kinsman."
They fared on up the dale the next morning, and earl Rognvald rode always on in
front that day, and that man with him whose name was Asolf; another man who was with him was
Jomar his kinsman. Five of them together so ride a head up along Calfdale. (2) And as they
fared to the homestead which is called Force, master Halvard was up on a corn-rick, and
piled it up, but his house carles bore the sheaves up to him. Earl Harold and his men rode
somewhat behind. But when Halvardk knew earl Rognvald, he hailed him by name, and bawled out
very loud, and asked him after news, and his voice might have been heard just as well though
he were farther off. This was a little way from the sitting room, and the house stood on a
high brink; but there was a narrow fenced path to ride along up to the house, and it was
very steep. In this homestead was Thorbjorn clerk inside, and sat at drink. The fenced path
led up to the house end at the gable, and there was a doorway in the house and another
doorway in the gable, and stones heaped up loosely in it. When Thorbjorn and his men heard
the words that passed, and how Halvard hailed earl Rognvald and his men, they ran at once to
their arms, and broke down the stones out of the secret door, and sprang out at it.
Thorbjorn runs round the gable, and to the fence of the path. Just then the earl and his men
had come to the door. Then Thorbjorn smote at once at the earl, but Asolf threw his arms in
the way, and the stroke toomk off his hand. Afterwards the sword came on the earl's chin,
and that was a great wound. Asolf said, when he got the stroke:
"Let those follow the earl better who have more gifts to pay him for."
He was then eighteen winters old, and was newcome to the earl. Earl Rognvald wanted
to jump off his horse's back when he saw Thorbjorn, but his foot got fast in the stirrup. At
that moment up came Stephen and thrust at the earl with a spear. Then Thorbjorn gave the
earl another wound. But Jomar just then thrust a spear into Thorbjorn's thigh, and the blow
passed on into his small entrails. Then Thorbjorn and his men turned to the back of the
house, and there they had to run down a great steep brink, and on to a soft moor. Just then
up came earl Harold and his men, and their course was so shaped that they came right in the
way of Thorbjorn and his men, and then each knew the others. Then the earl's men said, those
who knew what was in the wind, that they should turn after Thorbjorn and his men; but earl
Harold set his face against it, and says he will wait and hear what earl Rognvald says about
this matter:
"For Thorbjorn is a very great friend of mine as you know, for kinship's sake, and
many other ties which are between us."
But those men who were with earl Rognvald thronged about him dead, (3) and rather a
long time passed before earl Harold and his men heard the tidings. Then they [Thorbjorn and
his men] were come on to the moor, and across the quagmire which ran along through the moor.
But for the egging on of the earls' companions, earl Harold and his men ran down on the
moor, and the two bands met at the quagmire, so that each band was on its own side, and
Thorbjorn and his men held the bank of the dike against them. Then those men flocked to him
from the homestead who had followed him there, and all together they made up fifty men. Then
they defended themselves manfully, and had a good stronghold to fight from, for the quagmire
was both broad and deep, and the moor was soft up to it in front, and the only way they
could make an onslaught on them was, that they shot at them with spears. Thorbjorn told his
men that they should not shoot any of them back. And when the shots died away, then they
began to speak to one another, and Thorbjorn called out to earl Harold and spoke
thus:
"This I will pray of you, kinsman, that you give me peace; but I will offer to give
over this matter into your power, that you alone may doom it; and I will then shrink from no
one thing that is in my power, that your honour may be then more than it was before. I hope
also, kinsman, that you will bear in mind that those strifes have been, in which you would
not have made such a difference between us two, earl Rognvald and me, that you would have
slain me though I had done this deed, I mean when he kept you most under his elbow, and let
you have no voice in anything any more than his knave; but I gave you the best gifts, and
looked to do you honour in all that I could. But this deed that I have done in great
wickedness, and that lies on me, but the whole realm is fallen into your power. You may also
know this, that earl Rognvald meant the same lot for me which I have now given to him; and
it is my foreboding, kinsman, though things had turned out so that I were dead, but earl
Rognvald were alive, that you would treat him as a man who had done a deed which you must
put up with, but me you now wish to make a dead man."
Thorbjorn went on so that many and fair spoken words, and many men backed that with
him, and begged for peace for him. So it came that the earl began to listen to what he said
when many backed it. Then Magnus the son of Havard Gunni's son, a chieftain of the earls'
and their kinsman. He was the man of most birth and worth in the band with earl Harold. He
spoke thus:
"It is no business of ours to teach you what to do, earl, after these great deeds
which we see before us. But I must say how the common fame will run about them, if peace be
given to Thorbjorn after this work; and this besides I will say, that when he dares to say
to your face nearly at every word that he has done this his ill deed for you, or wrought it
for your honour, it will be an everlasting shame and dishonour to you, and to all the earl's
kinsfolk, if he be not avenged. I think that earl Rognvald's friends will hold it for sooth
that you must for a long while have been plotting the earl's death; but now have brought it
about. Or thinkest you that he will clear your conscience when he has to throw off the blame
from himself, but when no one makes an answer for you, when he now tells you to your face
that he has wrought this misdeed for your sake; or how couldest you better prove the truth
of that but by now giving him peace. As for me, my mind is made up, that he shall never have
peace from me, if any good men and true will follow me, whether it believe or loath to
you."
Just in the same way spoke his brothers, Thorstein and Hacon, and Sweyn Hroald's
son. Then they turned away from the earl, and went up along the bank of the dike, and tried
where they might get across. And when Thorbjorn and his men saw that Magnus and his
followers turn away along the dike, then Thorbjorn began to speak and said:
"Now they must have split about the counsel to take, the earl will wish to give me
peace, but Magnus will speak against it."
But while they were speaking about that, Thorbjorn and his men fell away from the
dike. Earl Harold and his men stood on the dike bank. And when he saw that nothing would
come of the peace giving, he leapt over the quagmire with all his weapons, and it was nine
ells across the dike. His companions leapt after him, and no one got to leap clear over, but
most of them got hold of the bank and so floundered to land. Thorbjorn's men egged him on
that they should turn either against the earl and his men or against Magnus and his men, and
let their quarrel be settled, there and then. Then Thorbjorn said:
"Methinks the best plan is that each man should choose what he thinks likeliest to
stand him in stead, but as for me, I will still look to meeting with earl Harold."
Most men set their faces against this, and begged him rather to take to the woods
and save himself. Thorbjorn would not take that counsel. So those men his companions dropped
off from him, and looked for help for themselves in divers ways. But Thorbjorn and eight men
together with him were left behind. And when he sees that earl Harold is come over the dike,
he gæs to meet him, and fell on his knees before him, and says he brings him his head. Many
of the earl's men still begged for peace for Thorbjorn. Then the earl began to speak, and
said:
"Away and save yourself, Thorbjorn, I have no heart to slay you, but I will not see
you henceforth."
Then they were faring down along Calfdale's river, when these words passed between
them. Magnus and his men pressed on hard after them, and when the earl saw that, he
spoke:
"Save yourself, Thorbjorn; I cannot fight for you against my men."
Then Thorbjorn and his men parted from the earl's company, and went to some empty
shielings, which are called Asgrim's "erg"; Magnus and his men followed Thorbjorn and his
men up, and forthwith set fire to the house. Thorbjorn and his men defended themselves
manfully. And when the house began to fall down over their heads from the fire, Thorbjorn
and his men came out, and every weapon was at once brought to bear upon them that could
reach them; they were already much worn out by the force of the flames. There all those nine
brothers in arms lost their lives. And when they came to look what wounds Thorbjorn had, his
entrails had slipt out into that wound which Jomar had given him. Earl Harold went his way
down along the dale, but Magnus and his men turned back to Force, and laid out earl
Rognvald's body and brought it down to Thurso.
Earl (4) Harold and his men fared with the body away thence out into the Orkneys
with a goodly company, and bestowed burial on it in St. Magnus' church in the choir; and
there he rested till Bishop Bjarni caused his halidom (relics) to be taken up by the Pope's
leave. (5) There on the stone on which earl Rognvald's blood had come when he died, it may
still be seen at this very day as fair as though it were new shed blood. Earl Rognvald's
death was a great grief, for he was very much beloved there in the isles, and far and wide
elsewhere. He had been a very great helper to many men, bountiful of money, gentle, and a
steadfast friend; a great man for feats of strength and a good skald. He had a daughter his
only child alive, Ingigerd, whom Eric staybrails had to wife. Their children were these:
Harald the young, and Magnus mannikin, Rognvald, and Ingibjorg, Elin, and Ragnhilda.
114. After the fall of earl Rognvald, earl Harold took all the isles under his rule, and
became the sole chief over them. Earl Harold was a mighty chief, one of the tallest and
strongest of men, "dour" and hard-hearted; he had to wife Afreka; (6) their children were
these: Henry and Hacon, Helena and Margaret. When Hacon was but a few winters old, Sweyn
Asleif's son offered to take him as his foster child, and he was bred up there, and as soon
as ever he was so far fit, that he could go about with other men, then Sweyn had him away
with him a sea roving every summer, and led him on to the worthiness in everything. It was
Sweyn's wont at that time, that he sat through the winter at home in Gairsay, and there he
kept always about him eighty men at his beck. He had so great a drinking hall, that there
was not another as great in all the Orkneys. Sweyn had in the spring hard work, and made
them lay down very much seed, and looked much after it himself. But when that toil was
ended, he fared away every spring on a viking voyage, and harried about among the Southern
isles and Ireland, and came home after midsummer. That he called spring-viking. Then he was
at home till the corn fields were reaped down, and the grain seen to and stored. Then he
fared away on a viking voyage, and then he did not come home till the winter was one month
spent and that he called his autumn viking.
115. These tidings happened once on a time, that Sweyn Asleif's son fared away on his spring
cruise, then Hacon earl Harold's son fared with him; and they had five ships with oars, and
all of them large. They harried about among the Southern isles. Then the folk was so scared
at him in the Southern isles, that men hid all their goods and chattels in the earth or in
piles of rocks. Sweyn sailed as far south as Man, and got ill off for spoil. Thence they
sailed out under Ireland and harried there.But when they came about south under Dublin, then
two keels sailed there from off the main, which had come from England, and meant to steer
for Dublin; they were laden with English cloths, and great store of goods was aboard them.
Sweyn and his men pulled up to the keels, and offered them battle. Little came of the
defence of the Englishmen before Sweyn gave the word to board. Then the Englishmen were made
prisoners. And there they robbed them of every penny which was aboard the keels, save that
the Englishmen kept the clothes they stood in and some food, and went on their way
afterwards with the keels, but Sweyn and his men fared to the Southern isles, and shared
their war spoil. They sailed from the west with great pomp. They did this as a glory for
themselves when they lay in harbours, that they threw awnings of English cloth over their
ships. But when they sailed into the Orkneys, they sewed the cloth on the fore part of the
sails, so that it looked in that wise as though the sails were made altogether of
broadcloth. This they called the broadcloth cruise. Sweyn fared home to his house in
Gairsay. He had taken from the keels much wine and English mead. Now when Sweyn had been at
home a short while, he bade to him earl Harold, and made a worthy feast against his coming.
When earl Harold was at the feast, there was much talk amongst them of Sweyn's good cheer.
The earl spoke and said:
"This I would now, Sweyn, that you wouldest lay aside your sea rovings; 'tis good
now to drive home with a whole wain. But you knowest this, that you have long maintained
yourself and your men by sea roving, but so it fares with most men who live by unfair means,
that they lose their lives in strife, if they do not break themselves from it."
Then Sweyn answered, and looked to the earl, and spoke with a smile, and said thus:
"Well spoken is this, lord, and friendly spoken, and it will be good to take a bit of good
counsel from you; but some men lay that to your door, that you too are men of little
fairness."
The earl answered: "I shall have to answer for my share, but a gossiping tongue
drives me to say what I do."
Sweyn said: "Good, no doubt, drives you to it, lord. And so it shall be, that I will
leave off sea roving, for I find that I am growing old, and strength lessens much in
hardships and warfare. Now I will go out on my autumn cruise, and I would that it might be
with no less glory than the spring cruise was; but after that my warfaring shall be
over."
The earl answers: "It is hard to see, messmate, whether death or lasting luck will
come first."
After that they dropped talking about it. Earl Harold fared away from the feast, and
was led out with fitting gifts. So he and Sweyn parted with great love-tokens.
116. A little after Sweyn busks him for his roving cruise; he had seven longships and all
great. Hacon earl Harold's son went along with Sweyn on his voyage. They held on their
course first to the Southern isles, and got there little war spoil; thence they fared out
under Ireland, and harried there far and wide. They fared so far south as Dublin, and came
upon them there very suddenly, so that the townsmen were not ware of them before they had
got into the town. They took there much goods. They made prisoners there those men who were
rulers in the town. The upshot of their business was that they gave the town up into Sweyn's
power, and agreed to pay as great a ransom as he chose to lay upon them. Sweyn was also to
hold the town with his men and to have rule over it. The Dublin men swear an oath to do
this. They fared to their ships at even, but next morning Sweyn was to come into the town,
and take the ransom, place his men about the town, and take hostages from the townsmen. Now
it must be told of what happened in the town during the night. The men of good counsel who
were in the town held a meeting among themselves, and talked over the straits which had
befallen them; it seemed to them hard to let their town come into the power of the
Orkneyingers, and worst of all of that man whom they knew to be the most unjust man in the
Western lands. So they agreed amongst themselves that they would cheat Sweyn if they might.
They took that counsel, that they dug great trenches before the burg gate on the inside, and
in many other places between the houses where it was meant that Sweyn and his men should
pass; but men lay in wait there in the houses hard by with weapons. They laid planks over
the trenches, so that they should fall down as soon as ever a man's weight comes on them.
After that they strewed straw on the planks so that the trenches might not be seen, and so
bided the morrow.
117. On the morning after Sweyn and his men arose and put on their arms; after that they
went to the town. And when they came inside beyond the burg gate the Dublin men made a lane
from the burg gate right to the trenches. Sweyn and his men saw not what they were doing,
and ran into the trenches. The townsmen they ran straightway to hold the burg gate, but some
to the trenches, and brought their arms to bear on Sweyn and his men. It was unhandy for
them to make any defence, and Sweyn lost his life there in the trenches, and all those who
had gone into the town. So it was said that Sweyn was the last to die of all his messmates,
and spoke these words before he died:
"Know this all men, whether I lose my life today or not, that I am one of the saint
earl Rognvald's bodyguard, and I now mean to put my trust in being there where he is with
God."
(7) Sweyn's men fared at once to their ships and pulled away, and nothing is told
about their voyage before they come into the Orkneys. There now is an end of telling about
Sweyn; and it is the talk of men that he has been most of a man for his own sake in the
Western lands, both of yore and now a days, of those men who had no higher titles of honour
than he. (8)
After the fall of Sweyn, his sons Olaf and Andrew shared his inheritance between
them. They made the next summer after Sweyn lost his life a party-wall in that great
drinking hall which he had owned in Gairsay. Andrew Sweyn's son had to wife Frida Kolbein
the burly's daughter, sister of Bjarni, bishop of the Orkneyingers.
Earl Harold now ruled over the Orkneys, and was the greatest chief; he had to wife
afterwards Hvarflada (9) earl Malcolm's daughter of Moray. Their children were these:
Thorfinn, David, and John, Gunhilda, Herborga, and Longlife.
Literature
USER'S GUIDE to abbreviations, the site's bibliography, letter codes, dictionaries, site design and navigation, tips for searching the site and page referrals. [LINK]
DISCLAIMER: [LINK]
© 1998–2009, Tormod Kinnes. All rights reserved. [E-MAIL]
|
