Heimskringla

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83. EYVIND KINRIFA'S DEATH.

Harek of Thjotta went away from the town as fast as he could; but
Hauk and Sigurd remained in the king's house, and both took
baptism. Harek pursued his voyage until he came to Thjotta. He
sent immediately a message to his friend Eyvind Kinrifa, with the
word that he had been with King Olaf; but would not let himself
be cowed down to accept Christianity. The message at the same
time informed him that King Olaf intended coming to the north in
summer against them, and they must be at their posts to defend
themselves; it also begged Eyvind to come and visit him, the
sooner the better. When this message was delivered to Eyvind, he
saw how very necessary it was to devise some counsel to avoid
falling into the king's hands. He set out, therefore, in a light
vessel with a few hands as fast as he could. When he came to
Thjotta he was received by Harek in the most friendly way, and
they immediately entered into conversation with each other behind
the house. When they had spoken together but a short time, King
Olaf's men, who had secretly followed Harek to the north, came
up, and took Eyvind prisoner, and carried him away to their ship.
They did not halt on their voyage until they came to Throndhjem,
and presented themselves to King Olaf at Nidaros. Then Eyvind
was brought up to a conference with the king, who asked him to
allow himself to be baptized, like other people; but Eyvind
decidedly answered he would not. The king still, with persuasive
words, urged him to accept Christianity, and both he and the
bishop used many suitable arguments; but Eyvind would not allow
himself to be moved. The king offered him gifts and great fiefs,
but Eyvind refused all. Then the king threatened him with
tortures and death, but Eyvind was steadfast. Then the king
ordered a pan of glowing coals to be placed upon Eyvind's belly,
which burst asunder. Eyvind cried, "Take away the pan, and I
will say something before I die," which also was done. The king
said, "Wilt thou now, Eyvind, believe in Christ?" "No," said
Eyvind, "I can take no baptism; for I am an evil spirit put into
a man's body by the sorcery of Fins because in no other way could
my father and mother have a child." With that died Eyvind, who
had been one of the greatest sorcerers.

84. HALOGALAND MADE CHRISTIAN.

The spring after (A.D. 999) King Olaf fitted out and manned his
ships, and commanded himself his ship the Crane. He had many and
smart people with him; and when he was ready, he sailed
northwards with his fleet past Bryda, and to Halogaland.
Wheresoever he came to the land, or to the islands, he held a
Thing, and told the people to accept the right faith, and to be
baptized. No man dared to say anything against it, and the whole
country he passed through was made Christian. King Olaf was a
guest in the house of Harek of Thjotta, who was baptized with all
his people. At parting the king gave Harek good presents; and he
entered into the king's service, and got fiefs, and the
privileges of lendsman from the king.

85. THORER HJORT'S DEATH.

There was a bonde, by name Raud the Strong, who dwelt in Godey
in Salten fjord. Raud was a very rich man, who had many house
servants; and likewise was a powerful man, who had many Fins in
his service when he wanted them. Raud was a great idolater, and
very skillful in witchcraft, and was a great friend of Thorer
Hjort, before spoken of. Both were great chiefs. Now when they
heard that King Olaf was coming with a great force from the south
to Halogaland, they gathered together an army, ordered out ships,
and they too had a great force on foot. Raud had a large ship
with a gilded head formed like a dragon, which ship had thirty
rowing benches, and even for that kind of ship was very large.
Thorer Hjort had also a large ship. These men sailed southwards
with their ships against King Olaf, and as soon as they met gave
battle. A great battle there was, and a great fall of men; but
principally on the side of the Halogalanders, whose ships were
cleared of men, so that a great terror came upon them. Raud
rode with his dragon out to sea, and set sail. Raud had always a
fair wind wheresoever he wished to sail, which came from his arts
of witchcraft; and, to make a short story, he came home to Godey.
Thorer Hjort fled from the ships up to the land: but King Olaf
landed people, followed those who fled, and killed them. Usually
the king was the foremost in such skirmishes, and was so now.
When the king saw where Thorer Hjort, who was quicker on foot
than any man, was running to, he ran after him with his dog Vige.
The king said, "Vige! Vige! Catch the deer." Vige ran straight
in upon him; on which Thorer halted, and the king threw a spear
at him. Thorer struck with his sword at the dog, and gave him a
great wound; but at the same moment the king's spear flew under
Thorer's arm, and went through and through him, and came out at
his other-side. There Thorer left his life; but Vige was carried
to the ships.

86. KING OLAF'S VOYAGE TO GODEY.

King Olaf gave life and freedom to all the men who asked it and
agreed to become Christian. King Olaf sailed with his fleet
northwards along the coast, and baptized all the people among
whom he came; and when he came north to Salten fjord, he intended
to sail into it to look for Raud, but a dreadful tempest and
storm was raging in the fjord. They lay there a whole week, in
which the same weather was raging within the fjord, while without
there was a fine brisk wind only, fair for proceeding north along
the land. Then the king continued his voyage north to Omd, where
all the people submitted to Christianity. Then the king turned
about and sailed to the south again; but when he came to the
north side of Salten fjord, the same tempest was blowing, and the
sea ran high out from the fjord, and the same kind of storm
prevailed for several days while the king was lying there. Then
the king applied to Bishop Sigurd, and asked him if he knew any
counsel about it; and the bishop said he would try if God would
give him power to conquer these arts of the Devil.

87. OF RAUD'S BEING TORTURED.

Bishop Sigurd took all his mass robes and went forward to the bow
of the king's ship; ordered tapers to be lighted, and incense to
be brought out. Then he set the crucifix upon the stem of the
vessel, read the Evangelist and many prayers, besprinkled the
whole ship with holy water, and then ordered the ship-tent to be
stowed away, and to row into the fjord. The king ordered all the
other ships to follow him. Now when all was ready on board the
Crane to row, she went into the fjord without the rowers finding
any wind; and the sea was curled about their keel track like as
in a calm, so quiet and still was the water; yet on each side of
them the waves were lashing up so high that they hid the sight of
the mountains. And so the one ship followed the other in the
smooth sea track; and they proceeded this way the whole day and
night, until they reached Godey. Now when they came to Raud's
house his great ship, the dragon, was afloat close to the land.
King Olaf went up to the house immediately with his people; made
an attack on the loft in which Raud was sleeping, and broke it
open. The men rushed in: Raud was taken and bound, and of the
people with him some were killed and some made prisoners. Then
the king's men went to a lodging in which Raud's house servants
slept, and killed some, bound others, and beat others. Then the
king ordered Raud to be brought before him, and offered him
baptism. "And," says the king, "I will not take thy property
from thee, but rather be thy friend, if thou wilt make thyself
worthy to be so." Raud exclaimed with all his might against the
proposal, saying he would never believe in Christ, and making his
scoff of God. Then the king was wroth, and said Raud should die
the worst of deaths. And the king ordered him to be bound to a
beam of wood, with his face uppermost, and a round pin of wood
set between his teeth to force his mouth open. Then the king
ordered an adder to be stuck into the mouth of him; but the
serpent would not go into his mouth, but shrunk back when Raud
breathed against it. Now the king ordered a hollow branch of an
angelica root to be stuck into Raud's mouth; others say the king
put his horn into his mouth, and forced the serpent to go in by
holding a red-hot iron before the opening. So the serpent crept
into the mouth of Raud and down his throat, and gnawed its way
out of his side; and thus Raud perished. King Olaf took here
much gold and silver, and other property of weapons, and many
sorts of precious effects; and all the men who were with Raud he
either had baptized, or if they refused had them killed or
tortured. Then the king took the dragonship which Raud had
owned, and steered it himself; for it was a much larger and
handsomer vessel than the Crane. In front it had a dragon's
head, and aft a crook, which turned up, and ended with the figure
of the dragon's tail. The carved work on each side of the stem
and stern was gilded. This ship the king called the Serpent.
When the sails were hoisted they represented, as it were, the
dragon's wings; and the ship was the handsomest in all Norway.
The islands on which Raud dwelt were called Gylling and Haering;
but the whole islands together were called Godey Isles, and the
current between the isles and the mainland the Godey Stream.
King Olaf baptized the whole people of the fjord, and then sailed
southwards along the land; and on this voyage happened much and
various things, which are set down in tales and sagas, -- namely,
how witches and evil spirits tormented his men, and sometimes
himself; but we will rather write about what occurred when King
Olaf made Norway Christian, or in the other countries in which he
advanced Christianity. The same autumn Olaf with his fleet
returned to Throndhjem, and landed at Nidaros, where he took up
his winter abode. What I am now going to write about concerns
the Icelanders.

88. OF THE ICELANDERS.

Kjartan Olafson, a son's son of Hoskuld, and a daughter's son of
Egil Skallagrimson, came the same autumn (A.D. 999) from Iceland
to Nidaros, and he was considered to be the most agreeable and
hopeful man of any born in Iceland. There was also Haldor, a son
of Gudmund of Modruveller; and Kolbein, a son of Thord, Frey's
gode, and a brother's son of Brennuflose; together with Sverting,
a son of the gode Runolf. All these were heathens; and besides
them there were many more, -- some men of power, others common
men of no property. There came also from Iceland considerable
people, who, by Thangbrand's help, had been made Christians;
namely, Gissur the white, a son of Teit Ketilbjornson; and his
mother was Alof, daughter of herse Bodvar, who was the son of
Vikingakare. Bodvar's brother was Sigurd, father of Eirik
Bjodaskalle, whose daughter Astrid was King Olaf's mother.
Hjalte Skeggjason was the name of another Iceland man, who was
married to Vilborg, Gissur the White's daughter. Hjalte was also
a Christian; and King Olaf was very friendly to his relations
Gissur and Hjalte, who live with him. But the Iceland men who
directed the ships, and were heathens, tried to sail away as soon
as the king came to the town of Nidaros, for they were told the
king forced all men to become Christians; but the wind came stiff
against them, and drove them back to Nidarholm. They who
directed the ships were Thorarin Nefjulson, the skald Halfred
Ottarson, Brand the Generous, and Thorleik, Brand's son. It was
told the king that there were Icelanders with ships there, and
all were heathen, and wanted to fly from a meeting with the king.
Then the king sent them a message forbidding them to sail, and
ordering them to bring their ships up to the town, which they
did, but without discharging the cargoes. (They carried on their
dealings and held a market at the king's pier. In spring they
tried three times to slip away, but never succeeded; so they
continued lying at the king's pier. It happened one fine day
that many set out to swim for amusement, and among them was a man
who distinguished himself above the others in all bodily
exercises. Kjartan challenged Halfred Vandredaskald to try
himself in swimming against this man, but he declined it. "Then
will I make a trial," said Kjartan, casting off his clothes, and
springing into the water. Then he set after the man, seizes hold
of his foot, and dives with him under water. They come up again,
and without speaking a word dive again, and are much longer under
water than the first time. They come up again, and without
saying a word dive a third time, until Kjartan thought it was
time to come up again, which, however, he could in no way
accomplish, which showed sufficiently the difference in their
strength. They were under water so long that Kjartan was almost
drowned. They then came up, and swam to land. This Northman
asked what the Icelander's name was. Kjartan tells his name.

He says, "Thou art a good swimmer; but art thou expert also in
other exercises?"

Kjartan replied, that such expertness was of no great value.

The Northman asks, "Why dost thou not inquire of me such things
as I have asked thee about?"

Kjartan replies, "It is all one to me who thou art, or what thy
name is."

"Then will I," says he, "tell thee: I am Olaf Trygvason."

He asked Kjartan much about Iceland, which he answered generally,
and wanted to withdraw as hastily as he could; but the king said,
"Here is a cloak which I will give thee, Kjartan." And Kjartan
took the cloak with many thanks.)" (1)

ENDNOTES:
(1) The part included in parenthesis is not found in the
original text of "Heimskringla", but taken from "Codex
Frisianus".

89. BAPTISM OF THE ICELANDERS.

When Michaelmas came, the king had high mass sung with great
splendour. The Icelanders went there, listening to the fine
singing and the sound of the bells; and when they came back to
their ships every man told his opinion of the Christian man's
worship. Kjartan expressed his pleasure at it, but most of the
others scoffed at it; and it went according to the proverb, "the
king had many ears," for this was told to the king. He sent
immediately that very day a message to Kjartan to come to him.
Kjartan went with some men, and the king received him kindly.
Kjartan was a very stout and handsome man, and of ready and
agreeable speech. After the king and Kjartan had conversed a
little, the king asked him to adopt Christianity. Kjartan
replies, that he would not say no to that, if he thereby obtained
the king's friendship; and as the king promised him the fullest
friendship, they were soon agreed. The next day Kjartan was
baptized, together with his relation Bolle Thorlakson, and all
their fellow-travelers. Kjartan and Bolle were the king's guests
as long as they were in their white baptismal clothes, and the
king had much kindness for them. Wherever they came they were
looked upon as people of distinction.

90. HALFRED VANDREDASKALD BAPTIZED.

As King Olaf one day was walking in the street some men met him,
and he who went the foremost saluted the king. The king asked
the man his name, and he called himself Halfred.

"Art thou the skald?" said the king.

"I can compose poetry," replied he.

"Wilt thou then adopt Christianity, and come into my service?"
asked the king.

"If I am baptized," replies he, "it must be on one condition, --
that thou thyself art my godfather; for no other will I have."

The king replies, "That I will do." And Halfred was baptized,
the king holding him during the baptism.

Afterwards the king said, "Wilt thou enter into my service?"

Halfred replied, "I was formerly in Earl Hakon's court; but now I
will neither enter into thine nor into any other service, unless
thou promise me it shall never be my lot to be driven away from
thee."

"It has been reported to me," said the king, "that thou are
neither so prudent nor so obedient as to fulfil my commands."

"In that case," replied Halfred, "put me to death."

"Thou art a skald who composes difficulties," says the king; "but
into my service, Halfred, thou shalt be received."

Halfred says, "if I am to be named the composer of difficulties,
what cost thou give me, king, on my name-day?"

The king gave him a sword without a scabbard, and said, "Now
compose me a song upon this sword, and let the word sword be in
every line of the strophe." Halfred sang thus:

"This sword of swords is my reward.
For him who knows to wield a sword,
And with his sword to serve his lord,
Yet wants a sword, his lot is hard.
I would I had my good lord's leave
For this good sword a sheath to choose:
I'm worth three swords when men use,
But for the sword-sheath now I grieve."

Then the king gave him the scabbard, observing that the word
sword was wanting in one line of his strophe. "But there instead
are three swords in one of the lines," says Halfred. "That is
true," replies the king. -- Out of Halfred's lays we have taken
the most of the true and faithful accounts that are here related
about Olaf Trygvason.

91. THANGBRAND RETURNS FROM ICELAND.

The same harvest (A.D. 999) Thangbrand the priest came back from
Iceland to King Olaf, and told the ill success of his journey;
namely, that the Icelanders had made lampoons about him; and that
some even sought to kill him, and there was little hope of that
country ever being made Christian. King Olaf was so enraged at
this, that he ordered all the Icelanders to be assembled by sound
of horn, and was going to kill all who were in the town, but
Kjartan, Gissur, and Hjalte, with the other Icelanders who had
become Christians, went to him, and said, "King, thou must not
fail from thy word -- that however much any man may irritate
thee, thou wilt forgive him if he turn from heathenism and become
Christian. All the Icelanders here are willing to be baptized;
and through them we may find means to bring Christianity into
Iceland: for there are many amongst them, sons of considerable
people in Iceland, whose friends can advance the cause; but the
priest Thangbrand proceeded there as he did here in the court,
with violence and manslaughter, and such conduct the people there
would not submit to." The king harkened to those remonstrances;
and all the Iceland men who were there were baptized.

92. OF KING OLAF'S FEATS.

King Olaf was more expert in all exercises than any man in Norway
whose memory is preserved to us in sagas; and he was stronger and
more agile than most men, and many stories are written down about
it. One is that he ascended the Smalsarhorn, and fixed his
shield upon the very peak. Another is, that one of his followers
had climbed up the peak after him, until he came to where he
could neither get up nor down; but the king came to his help,
climbed up to him, took him under his arm, and bore him to the
flat ground. King Olaf could run across the oars outside of the
vessel while his men were rowing the Serpent. He could play with
three daggers, so that one was always in the air, and he took the
one falling by the handle. He could walk all round upon the
ship's rails, could strike and cut equally well with both hands,
and could cast two spears at once. King Olaf was a very merry
frolicsome man; gay and social; was very violent in all respects;
was very generous; was very finical in his dress, but in battle
he exceeded all in bravery. He was distinguished for cruelty
when he was enraged, and tortured many of his enemies. Some he
burnt in fire; some he had torn in pieces by mad dogs; some he
had mutilated, or cast down from high precipices. On this
account his friends were attached to him warmly, and his enemies
feared him greatly; and thus he made such a fortunate advance in
his undertakings, for some obeyed his will out of the friendliest
zeal, and others out of dread.

93. BAPTISM OF LEIF EIRIKSON.

Leif, a son of Eirik the Red, who first settled in Greenland,
came this summer (A.D. 999) from Greenland to Norway; and as he
met King Olaf he adopted Christianity, and passed the winter
(A.D. 1000) with the king.

94. FALL OF KING GUDROD.

Gudrod, a son of Eirik Bloodaxe and Gunhild, had been ravaging in
the west countries ever since he fled from Norway before the Earl
Hakon. But the summer before mentioned (A.D. 999), where King
Olaf Trygvason had ruled four years over Norway, Gudrod came to
the country, and had many ships of war with him. He had sailed
from England; and when he thought himself near to the Norway
coast, he steered south along the land, to the quarter where it
was least likely King Olaf would be. Gudrod sailed in this way
south to Viken; and as soon as he came to the land he began to
plunder, to subject the people to him, and to demand that they
should accept of him as king. Now as the country people saw that
a great army was come upon them, they desired peace and terms.
They offered King Gudrod to send a Thing-message over all the
country, and to accept of him at the Thing as king, rather than
suffer from his army; but they desired delay until a fixed day,
while the token of the Thing's assembling was going round through
the land. The king demanded maintenance during the time this
delay lasted. The bondes preferred entertaining the king as a
guest, by turns, as long as he required it; and the king accepted
of the proposal to go about with some of his men as a guest from
place to place in the land, while others of his men remained to
guard the ships. When King Olaf's relations, Hyrning and
Thorgeir, heard of this, they gathered men, fitted out ships, and
went northwards to Viken. They came in the night with their men
to a place at which King Gudrod was living as a guest, and
attacked him with fire and weapons; and there King Gudrod fell,
and most of his followers. Of those who were with his ships some
were killed, some slipped away and fled to great distances; and
now were all the sons of Eirik and Gunhild dead.

95. BUILDING OF THE SHIP LONG SERPENT.

The winter after, King Olaf came from Halogaland (A.D. 1000), he
had a great vessel built at Hladhamrar, which was larger than any
ship in the country, and of which the beam-knees are still to be
seen. The length of keel that rested upon the grass was seventy-
four ells. Thorberg Skafhog was the man's name who was the
master-builder of the ship; but there were many others besides,
-- some to fell wood, some to shape it, some to make nails, some
to carry timber; and all that was used was of the best. The ship
was both long and broad and high-sided, and strongly timbered.

While they were planking the ship, it happened that Thorberg had
to go home to his farm upon some urgent business; and as he
remained there a long time, the ship was planked up on both sides
when he came back. In the evening the king went out, and
Thorberg with him, to see how the vessel looked, and everybody
said that never was seen so large and so beautiful a ship of
war. Then the king returned to the town. Early next morning the
king returns again to the ship, and Thorberg with him. The
carpenters were there before them, but all were standing idle
with their arms across. The king asked, "what was the matter?"
They said the ship was destroyed; for somebody had gone from,
stem to stern, and cut one deep notch after the other down the
one side of the planking. When the king came nearer he saw it
was so, and said, with an oath, "The man shall die who has thus
destroyed the vessel out of envy, if he can be discovered, and I
shall bestow a great reward on whoever finds him out."

"I can tell you, king," said Thorberg, "who has done this piece
of work." --

"I don't think," replies the king, "that any one is so likely to
find it out as thou art."

Thorberg says, "I will tell you, king, who did it. I did it
myself."

The king says, "Thou must restore it all to the same condition as
before, or thy life shall pay for it."

Then Thorberg went and chipped the planks until the deep notches
were all smoothed and made even with the rest; and the king and
all present declared that the ship was much handsomer on the side
of the hull which Thorberg, had chipped, and bade him shape the
other side in the same way; and gave him great thanks for the
improvement. Afterwards Thorberg was the master builder of the
ship until she was entirely finished. The ship was a dragon,
built after the one the king had captured in Halogaland; but this
ship was far larger, and more carefully put together in all her
parts. The king called this ship Serpent the Long, and the
other Serpent the Short. The long Serpent had thirty-four
benches for rowers. The head and the arched tail were both gilt,
and the bulwarks were as high as in sea-going ships. This ship
was the best and most costly ship ever made in Norway.

96. EARL EIRIK, THE SON OF HAKON.

Earl Eirik, the son of Earl Hakon, and his brothers, with many
other valiant men their relations, had left the country after
Earl Hakon's fall. Earl Eirik went eastwards to Svithjod, to
Olaf, the Swedish king, and he and his people were well received.
King Olaf gave the earl peace and freedom in the land, and great
fiefs; so that he could support himself and his men well. Thord
Kolbeinson speaks of this in the verses before given. Many
people who fled from the country on account of King Olaf
Trygvason came out of Norway to Earl Eirik; and the earl resolved
to fit out ships and go a-cruising, in order to get property for
himself and his people. First he steered to Gotland, and lay
there long in summer watching for merchant vessels sailing
towards the land, or for vikings. Sometimes he landed and
ravaged all round upon the sea-coasts. So it is told in the
"Banda-drapa": --