Heimskringla

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62. ERLING SKJALGSON'S WOOING.

King Olaf went with his men-at-arms to the Gula-Thing; for the
bondes had sent him word that they would reply there to his
speech. When both parties had come to the Thing, the king
desired first to have a conference with the chief people of the
country; and when the meeting was numerous the king set forth his
errand, -- that he desired them, according to his proposal, to
allow themselves to be baptized. Then said Olmod the Old, "We
relations have considered together this matter, and have come to
one resolution. If thou thinkest, king, to force us who are
related together to such things as to break our old law, or to
bring us under thyself by any sort of violence, then will we
stand against thee with all our might: and be the victory to him
to whom fate ordains it. But if thou, king, wilt advance our
relations' fortunes, then thou shalt have leave to do as thou
desirest, and we will all serve thee with zeal in thy purpose."

The king replies, "What do you propose for obtaining this
agreement?"

Then answers Olmod, "The first is, that thou wilt give thy sister
Astrid in marriage to Erling Skjalgson, our relation, whom we
look upon as the most hopeful young man in all Norway."

King Olaf replied, that this marriage appeared to him also very
suitable; "as Erling is a man of good birth, and a good-looking
man in appearance: but Astrid herself must answer to this
proposal."

Thereupon the king spoke to his sister. She said, "It is but of
little use that I am a king's sister, and a king~s daughter, if I
must marry a man who has no high dignity or office. I will
rather wait a few years for a better match." Thus ended this
conference.

63. HORDALAND BAPTIZED.

King Olaf took a falcon that belonged to Astrid, plucked off all
its feathers, and then sent it to her. Then said Astrid, "Angry
is my brother." And she stood up, and went to the king, who
received her kindly, and she said that she left it to the king to
determine her marriage. "I think," said the king, "that I must
have power enough in this land to raise any man I please to high
dignity." Then the king ordered Olmod and Erling to be called
to a conference, and all their relations; and the marriage was
determined upon, and Astrid betrothed to Erling. Thereafter the
king held the Thing, and recommended Christianity to the bondes;
and as Olmod, and Erling, and all their relations, took upon
themselves the most active part in forwarding the king's desire,
nobody dared to speak against it; and all the people were
baptized, and adopted Christianity.

64. ERLING SKJALGSON'S WEDDING.

Erling Skjalgson had his wedding in summer, and a great many
people were assembled at it. King Olaf was also there, and
offered Erling an earldom. Erling replied thus: "All my
relations have been herses only, and I will take no higher title
than they have; but this I will accept from thee, king, that thou
makest me the greatest of that title in the country." The king
consented; and at his departure the king invested his brother-in
law Erling with all the land north of the Sognefjord, and east to
the Lidandisnes, on the same terms as Harald Harfager had given
land to his sons, as before related.

65. RAUMSDAL AND FJORD-DISTRICTS BAPTIZED.

The same harvest King Olaf summoned the bondes to a Thing of the
four districts at Dragseid, in Stad: and there the people from
Sogn, the Fjord-districts, South More, and Raumsdal, were
summoned to meet. King Olaf came there with a great many people
who had followed him from the eastward, and also with those who
had joined him from Rogaland and Hordaland. When the king came
to the Thing, he proposed to them there, as elsewhere,
Christianity; and as the king had such a powerful host with him,
they were frightened. The king offered them two conditions, --
either to accept Christianity, or to fight. But the bondes saw
they were in no condition to fight the king, and resolved,
therefore, that all the people should agree to be baptized. The
king proceeded afterwards to North More, and baptized all that
district. He then sailed to Hlader, in Throndhjem; had the
temple there razed to the ground; took all the ornaments and all
property out of the temple, and from the gods in it; and among
other things the great gold ring which Earl Hakon had ordered to
be made, and which hung in the door of the temple; and then had
the temple burnt. But when the bondes heard of this, they sent
out a war-arrow as a token through the whole district, ordering
out a warlike force, and intended to meet the king with it. In
the meantime King Olaf sailed with a war force out of the fjord
along the coast northward, intending to proceed to Halogaland,
and baptize there. When he came north to Bjarnaurar, he heard
from Halogaland that a force was assembled there to defend the
country against the king. The chiefs of this force were Harek of
Thjotta, Thorer Hjort from Vagar, and Eyvind Kinrifa. Now when
King Olaf heard this, he turned about and sailed southwards along
the land; and when he got south of Stad proceeded at his leisure,
and came early in winter (A.D. 998) all the way east to Viken.

66. OLAF PROPOSES MARRIAGE TO QUEEN SIGRID.

Queen Sigrid in Svithjod, who had for surname the Haughty, sat in
her mansion, and during the same winter messengers went between
King Olaf and Sigrid to propose his courtship to her, and she had
no objection; and the matter was fully and fast resolved upon.
Thereupon King Olaf sent to Queen Sigrid the great gold ring he
had taken from the temple door of Hlader, which was considered a
distinguished ornament. The meeting for concluding the business
was appointed to be in spring on the frontier, at the Gaut river.
Now the ring which King Olaf had sent Queen Sigrid was highly
prized by all men; yet the queen's gold-smiths, two brothers, who
took the ring in their hands, and weighed it, spoke quietly to
each other about it, and in a manner that made the queen call
them to her, and ask "what they smiled at?" But they would not
say a word, and she commanded them to say what it was they had
discovered. Then they said the ring is false. Upon this she
ordered the ring to be broken into pieces, and it was found to be
copper inside. Then the queen was enraged, and said that Olaf
would deceive her in more ways than this one. In the same year
(A.D. 998) King Olaf went into Ringenke, and there the people
also were baptized.

67. OLAF HARALDSON BAPTIZED.

Asta, the daughter of Gudbrand, soon after the fall of Harald
Grenske married again a man who was called Sigurd Syr, who was a
king in Ringerike. Sigurd was a son of Halfdan, and grandson of
Sigurd Hrise, who was a son of Harald Harfager. Olaf, the son of
Asta and Harald Grenske, lived with Asta, and was brought up from
childhood in the house of his stepfather, Sigurd Syr. Now when
King Olaf Trygvason came to Ringerike to spread Christianity,
Sigurd Syr and his wife allowed themselves to be baptized, along
with Olaf her son; and Olaf Trygvason was godfather to Olaf, the
stepson of Harald Grenske. Olaf was then three years old. Olaf
returned from thence to Viken, where he remained all winter. He
had now been three years king in Norway (A.D. 998).

68. MEETING OF OLAF AND SIGRID.

Early in spring (A.D. 998) King Olaf went eastwards to
Konungahella to the meeting with Queen Sigrid; and when they met
the business was considered about which the winter before they
had held communication, namely, their marriage; and the business
seemed likely to be concluded. But when Olaf insisted that
Sigrid should let herself be baptized, she answered thus: -- "I
must not part from the faith which I have held, and my
forefathers before me; and, on the other hand, I shall make no
objection to your believing in the god that pleases you best."
Then King Olaf was enraged, and answered in a passion, "Why
should I care to have thee, an old faded woman, and a heathen
jade?" and therewith struck her in the face with his glove which
he held in his hands, rose up, and they parted. Sigrid said,
"This may some day be thy death." The king set off to Viken, the
queen to Svithjod.

69. THE BURNING OF WARLOCKS.

Then the king proceeded to Tunsberg, and held a Thing, at which
he declared in a speech that all the men of whom it should be
known to a certainty that they dealt with evil spirits, or in
witchcraft, or were sorcerers, should be banished forth of the
land. Thereafter the king had all the neighborhood ransacked
after such people, and called them all before him; and when they
were brought to the Thing there was a man among them called
Eyvind Kelda, a grandson of Ragnvald Rettilbeine, Harald
Harfager's son. Eyvind was a sorcerer, and particularly knowing
in witchcraft. The king let all these men be seated in one room,
which was well adorned, and made a great feast for them, and gave
them strong drink in plenty. Now when they were all very drunk,
he ordered the house be set on fire, and it and all the people
within it were consumed, all but Eyvind Kelda, who contrived to
escape by the smoke-hole in the roof. And when he had got a long
way off, he met some people on the road going to the king, and he
told them to tell the king that Eyvind Kelda had slipped away
from the fire, and would never come again in King Olaf's power,
but would carry on his arts of witchcraft as much as ever. When
the people came to the king with such a message from Eyvind, the
king was ill pleased that Eyvind had escaped death.

70. EYVIND KELDA'S DEATH.

When spring (A.D. 998) came King Olaf went out to Viken, and was
on visits to his great farms. He sent notice over all Viken that
he would call out an army in summer, and proceed to the north
parts of the country. Then he went north to Agder; and when
Easter was approaching he took the road to Rogaland with 300
(=360) men, and came on Easter evening north to Ogvaldsnes, in
Kormt Island, where an Easter feast was prepared for him. That
same night came Eyvind Kelda to the island with a well-manned
long-ship, of which the whole crew consisted of sorcerers and
other dealers with evil spirits. Eyvind went from his ship to
the land with his followers, and there they played many of their
pranks of witchcraft. Eyvind clothed them with caps of darkness,
and so thick a mist that the king and his men could see nothing
of them; but when they came near to the house at Ogvaldsnes, it
became clear day. Then it went differently from what Eyvind had
intended: for now there came just such a darkness over him and
his comrades in witchcraft as they had made before, so that they
could see no more from their eyes than from the back of their
heads but went round and round in a circle upon the island. When
the king's watchman saw them going about, without knowing what
people these were, they told the king. Thereupon he rose up with
his people, put on his clothes, and when he saw Eyvind with his
men wandering about he ordered his men to arm, and examine what
folk these were. The king's men discovered it was Eyvind, took
him and all his company prisoners, and brought them to the king.
Eyvind now told all he had done on his journey. Then the king
ordered these all to be taken out to a skerry which was under
water in flood tide, and there to be left bound. Eyvind and all
with him left their lives on this rock, and the skerry is still
called Skrattasker.

71. OLAF AND ODIN'S APPARITION.

It is related that once on a time King Olaf was at a feast at
this Ogvaldsnes, and one eventide there came to him an old man
very gifted in words, and with a broad-brimmed hat upon his head.
He was one-eyed, and had something to tell of every land. He
entered into conversation with the king; and as the king found
much pleasure in the guest's speech, he asked him concerning many
things, to which the guest gave good answers: and the king sat up
late in the evening. Among other things, the king asked him if
he knew who the Ogvald had been who had given his name both to
the ness and to the house. The guest replied, that this Ogvald
was a king, and a very valiant man, and that he made great
sacrifices to a cow which he had with him wherever he went, and
considered it good for his health to drink her milk. This same
King Ogvald had a battle with a king called Varin, in which
battle Ogvald fell. He was buried under a mound close to the
house; "and there stands his stone over him, and close to it his
cow also is laid." Such and many other things, and ancient
events, the king inquired after. Now, when the king had sat late
into the night, the bishop reminded him that it was time to go to
bed, and the king did so. But after the king was undressed, and
had laid himself in bed, the guest sat upon the foot-stool before
the bed, and still spoke long with the king; for after one tale
was ended, he still wanted a new one. Then the bishop observed
to the king, it was time to go to sleep, and the king did so; and
the guest went out. Soon after the king awoke, asked for the
guest, and ordered him to be called, but the guest was not to be
found. The morning after, the king ordered his cook and cellar-
master to be called, and asked if any strange person had been
with them. They said, that as they were making ready the meat a
man came to them, and observed that they were cooking very poor
meat for the king's table; whereupon he gave them two thick and
fat pieces of beef, which they boiled with the rest of the meat.
Then the king ordered that all the meat should be thrown away,
and said this man can be no other than the Odin whom the heathens
have so long worshipped; and added, "but Odin shall not deceive
us."

72. THE THING IN THRONDHJEM.

King Olaf collected a great army in the east of the country
towards summer, and sailed with it north to Nidaros in the
Throndhjem country. From thence he sent a message-token over all
the fjord, calling the people of eight different districts to a
Thing; but the bondes changed the Thing-token into a war-token;
and called together all men, free and unfree, in all the
Throndhjem land. Now when the king met the Thing, the whole
people came fully armed. After the Thing was seated, the king
spoke, and invited them to adopt Christianity; but he had only
spoken a short time when the bondes called out to him to be
silent, or they would attack him and drive him away. "We did
so," said they, "with Hakon foster-son of Athelstan, when he
brought us the same message, and we held him in quite as much
respect as we hold thee." When King Olaf saw how incensed the
bondes were, and that they had such a war force that he could
make no resistance, he turned his speech as if he would give way
to the bondes, and said, "I wish only to be in a good
understanding with you as of old; and I will come to where ye
hold your greatest sacrifice-festival, and see your customs, and
thereafter we shall consider which to hold by." And in this all
agreed; and as the king spoke mildly and friendly with the
bondes, their answer was appeased, and their conference with the
king went off peacefully. At the close of it a midsummer
sacrifice was fixed to take place in Maeren, and all chiefs and
great bondes to attend it as usual. The king was to be at it.

73. JARNSKEGGE OR IRON BEARD.

There was a great bonde called Skegge, and sometimes Jarnskegge,
or Iron Beard, who dwelt in Uphaug in Yrjar. He spoke first at
the Thing to Olaf; and was the foremost man of the bondes in
speaking against Christianity. The Thing was concluded in this
way for that time, -- the bondes returned home, and the king went
to Hlader.

74. THE FEAST AT HLADER.

King Olaf lay with his ships in the river Nid, and had thirty
vessels, which were manned with many brave people; but the king
himself was often at Hlader, with his court attendants. As the
time now was approaching at which the sacrifices should be made
at Maeren, the king prepared a great feast at Hlader, and sent a
message to the districts of Strind, Gaulardal, and out to
Orkadal, to invite the chiefs and other great bondes. When the
feast was ready, and the chiefs assembled, there was a handsome
entertainment the first evening, at which plenty of liquor went
round. and the guests were made very drunk. The night after they
all slept in peace. The following morning, when the king was
dressed, he had the early mass sung before him; and when the mass
was over, ordered to sound the trumpets for a House Thing: upon
which all his men left the ships to come up to the Thing. When
the Thing was seated, the king stood up, and spoke thus: "We held
a Thing at Frosta, and there I invited the bondes to allow
themselves to be baptized; but they, on the other hand, invited
me to offer sacrifice to their gods, as King Hakon, Athelstan's
foster-son, had done; and thereafter it was agreed upon between
us that we should meet at Maerin, and there make a great
sacrifice. Now if I, along with you, shall turn again to making
sacrifice, then will I make the greatest of sacrifices that are
in use; and I will sacrifice men. But I will not select slaves
or malefactors for this, but will take the greatest men only to
be offered to the gods; and for this I select Orm Lygra of
Medalhus, Styrkar of Gimsar, Kar of Gryting, Asbjorn Thorbergson
of Varnes, Orm of Lyxa, Haldor of Skerdingsstedja;" and besides
these he named five others of the principal men. All these, he
said, he would offer in sacrifice to the gods for peace and a
fruitful season; and ordered them to be laid hold of immediately.
Now when the bondes saw that they were not strong enough to make
head against the king, they asked for peace, and submitted wholly
to the king's pleasure. So it was settled that all the bondes
who had come there should be baptized, and should take an oath to
the king to hold by the right faith, and to renounce sacrifice to
the gods. The king then kept all these men as hostages who came
to his feast, until they sent him their sons, brothers, or other
near relations.

75. OF THE THING IN THRONDHJEM.

King Olaf went in with all his forces into the Throndhjem
country; and when he came to Maeren all among the chiefs of the
Throndhjem people who were most opposed to Christianity were
assembled, and had with them all the great bondes who had before
made sacrifice at that place. There was thus a greater multitude
of bondes than there had been at the Frosta-Thing. Now the king
let the people be summoned to the Thing, where both parties met
armed; and when the Thing was seated the king made a speech, in
which he told the people to go over to Christianity. Jarnskegge
replies on the part of the bondes, and says that the will of the
bondes is now, as formerly, that the king should not break their
laws. "We want, king," said he, "that thou shouldst offer
sacrifice, as other kings before thee have done." All the bondes
applauded his speech with a loud shout, and said they would have
all things according to what Skegge said. Then the king said he
would go into the temple of their gods with them, and see what
the practices were when they sacrificed. The bondes thought well
of this proceeding, and both parties went to the temple.

76. THE THRONDHJEM PEOPLE BAPTIZED.

Now King Olaf entered into the temple with some few of his men
and a few bondes; and when the king came to where their gods
were, Thor, as the most considered among their gods, sat there
adorned with gold and silver. The king lifted up his gold-inlaid
axe which he carried in his hands, and struck Thor so that the
image rolled down from its seat. Then the king's men turned to
and threw down all the gods from their seats; and while the king
was in the temple, Jarnskegge was killed outside of the temple
doors, and the king's men did it. When the king came forth out
of the temple he offered the bondes two conditions, -- that all
should accept of Christianity forthwith, or that they should
fight with him. But as Skegge was killed, there was no leader in
the bondes' army to raise the banner against King Olaf; so they
took the other condition, to surrender to the king's will and
obey his order. Then King Olaf had all the people present
baptized, and took hostages from them for their remaining true to
Christianity; and he sent his men round to every district, and no
man in the Throndhjem country opposed Christianity, but all
people took baptism.

77. A TOWN IN THE THRONDHJEM COUNTRY.

King Olaf with his people went out to Nidaros, and made houses on
the flat side of the river Nid, which he raised to be a merchant
town, and gave people ground to build houses upon. The king's
house he had built just opposite Skipakrok; and he transported
thither, in harvest, all that was necessary for his winter
residence, and had many people about him there.

78. KING OLAF'S MARRIAGE.

King Olaf appointed a meeting with the relations of Jarnskegge,
and offered them the compensation or penalty for his bloodshed;
for there were many bold men who had an interest in that
business. Jarnskegge had a daughter called Gudrun; and at last
it was agreed upon between the parties that the king should take
her in marriage. When the wedding day came King Olaf and Gudrun
went to bed together. As soon as Gudrun, the first night they
lay together, thought the king was asleep, she drew a knife, with
which she intended to run him through; but the king saw it, took
the knife from her, got out of bed, and went to his men, and told
them what had happened. Gudrun also took her clothes, and went
away along with all her men who had followed her thither. Gudrun
never came into the king's bed again.

79. BUILDING OF THE SHIP CRANE.

The same autumn (A.D. 998) King Olaf laid the keel of a great
long-ship out on the strand at the river Nid. It was a snekkja;
and he employed many carpenters upon her, so that early in winter
the vessel was ready. It had thirty benches for rowers, was high
in stem and stern, but was not broad. The king called this ship
Tranen (the Crane). After Jarnskegge's death his body was
carried to Yrjar, and lies there in the Skegge mound on Austrat.

80. THANGBRAND THE PRIEST GOES TO ICELAND.

When King Olaf Trygvason had been two years king of Norway (A.D.
997), there was a Saxon priest in his house who was called
Thangbrand, a passionate, ungovernable man, and a great man-
slayer; but he was a good scholar, and a clever man. The king
would not have him in his house upon account of his misdeeds; but
gave him the errand to go to Iceland, and bring that land to the
Christian faith. The king gave him a merchant vessel: and, as
far as we know of this voyage of his, he landed first in Iceland
at Austfjord in the southern Alptfjord, and passed the winter in
the house of Hal of Sida. Thangbrand proclaimed Christianity in
Iceland, and on his persuasion Hal and all his house people, and
many other chiefs, allowed themselves to be baptized; but there
were many more who spoke against it. Thorvald Veile and
Veterlide the skald composed a satire about Thangbrand; but he
killed them both outright. Thangbrand was two years in Iceland,
and was the death of three men before he left it.

81. OF SIGURD AND HAUK.

There was a man called Sigurd, and another called Hauk, both of
Halogaland, who often made merchant voyages. One summer (A.D.
998) they had made a voyage westward to England; and when they
came back to Norway they sailed northwards along the coast, and
at North More they met King Olaf's people. When it was told the
king that some Halogaland people were come who were heathen, he
ordered the steersmen to be brought to him, and he asked them if
they would consent to be baptized; to which they replied, no.
The king spoke with them in many ways, but to no purpose. He
then threatened them with death and torture: but they would not
allow themselves to be moved. He then had them laid in irons,
and kept them in chains in his house for some time, and often
conversed with them, but in vain. At last one night they
disappeared, without any man being able to conjecture how they
got away. But about harvest they came north to Harek of Thjotta,
who received them kindly, and with whom they stopped all winter
(A.D. 999), and were hospitably entertained.

82. OF HAREK OF THJOTTA.

It happened one good-weather day in spring (A.D. 999) that Harek
was at home in his house with only few people, and time hung
heavy on his hands. Sigurd asked him if he would row a little
for amusement. Harek was willing; and they went to the shore,
and drew down a six-oared skiff; and Sigurd took the mast and
rigging belonging to the boat out of the boat-house, for they
often used to sail when they went for amusement on the water.
Harek went out into the boat to hang the rudder. The brothers
Sigurd and Hauk, who were very strong men, were fully armed, as
they were used to go about at home among the peasants. Before
they went out to the boat they threw into her some butter-kits
and a bread-chest, and carried between them a great keg of ale.
When they had rowed a short way from the island the brothers
hoisted the sail, while Harek was seated at the helm; and they
sailed away from the island. Then the two brothers went aft to
where Harek the bonde was sitting; and Sigurd says to him, "Now
thou must choose one of these conditions, -- first, that we
brothers direct this voyage; or, if not, that we bind thee fast
and take the command; or, third, that we kill thee." Harek saw
how matters stood with him. As a single man, he was not better
than one of those brothers, even if he had been as well armed; so
it appeared to him wisest to let them determine the course to
steer, and bound himself by oath to abide by this condition. On
this Sigurd took the helm, and steered south along the land, the
brothers taking particular care that they did not encounter
people. The wind was very favourable; and they held on sailing
along until they came south to Throndhjem and to Nidaros, where
they found the king. Then the king called Harek to him, and in a
conference desired him to be baptized. Harek made objections;
and although the king and Harek talked over it many times,
sometimes in the presence of other people, and sometimes alone,
they could not agree upon it. At last the king says to Harek,
"Now thou mayst return home, and I will do thee no injury; partly
because we are related together, and partly that thou mayst not
have it to say that I caught thee by a trick: but know for
certain that I intend to come north next summer to visit you
Halogalanders, and ye shall then see if I am not able to punish
those who reject Christianity." Harek was well pleased to get
away as fast as he could. King Olaf gave Harek a good boat of
ten or twelve pair of oars, and let it be fitted out with the
best of everything needful; and besides he gave Harek thirty men,
all lads of mettle, and well appointed.