Heimskringla

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The combat became fierce, and the king went forward in the fray.
So says Sigvat: --

"When on they came in fierce array,
And round the king arose the fray,
With shield on arm brave Olaf stood,
Dyeing his sword in their best blood.
For vengeance on his Throndhjem foes,
On their best men he dealt his blows;
He who knew well death's iron play,
To his deep vengeance gave full sway."

239. THORGEIR OF KVISTSTAD'S FALL.

King Olaf fought most desperately. He struck the lenderman
before mentioned (Thorgeir of Kviststad) across the face, cut off
the nose-piece of his helmet, and clove his head down below the
eyes so that they almost fell out. When he fell the king said,
"Was it not true, Thorgeir, what I told thee, that thou shouldst
not be victor in our meeting?" At the same instant Thord stuck
the banner-pole so fast in the earth that it remained standing.
Thord had got his death-wound, and fell beneath the banner.
There also fell Thorfin Mun, and also Gissur Gullbrarskald, who
was attacked by two men, of whom he killed one, but only wounded
the other before he fell. So says Hofgardaref: --

"Bold in the Iron-storm was he,
Firm and stout as forest tree,
The hero who, 'gainst two at once,
Made Odin's fire from sword-edge glance;
Dealing a death-blow to the one,
Known as a brave and generous man,
Wounding the other, ere he fell, --
His bloody sword his deeds showed well."

It happened then, as before related, that the sun, although the
air was clear, withdrew from the sight, and it became dark. Of
this Sigvat the skald speaks: --

"No common wonder in the sky
Fell out that day -- the sun on high,
And not a cloud to see around,
Shone not, nor warmed Norway's ground.
The day on which fell out this fight
Was marked by dismal dusky light,
This from the East I heard -- the end
Of our great king it did portend."

At the same time Dag Hringson came up with his people, and began
to put his men in array, and to set up his banner; but on account
of the darkness the onset could not go on so briskly, for they
could not see exactly whom they had before them. They turned,
however, to that quarter where the men of Hordaland and Rogaland
stood. Many of these circumstances took place at the same time,
and some happened a little earlier, and some a little later.

240. KING OLAF'S FALL.

On the one side of Kalf Arnason stood his two relations, Olaf and
Kalf, with many other brave and stout men. Kalf was a son of
Arnfin Arnmodson, and a brother's son of Arne Arnmodson. On the
other side of Kalf Arnason stood Thorer Hund. King Olaf hewed at
Thorer Hund, and struck him across the shoulders; but the sword
would not cut, and it was as if dust flew from his reindeer-skin
coat. So says Sigvat: --

"The king himself now proved the power
Of Fin-folk's craft in magic hour,
With magic song; for stroke of steel
Thor's reindeer coat would never feel,
Bewitched by them it turned the stroke
Of the king's sword, -- a dust-like smoke
Rose from Thor's shoulders from the blow
Which the king though would end his foe."

Thorer struck at the king, and they exchanged some blows; but the
king's sword would not cut where it met the reindeer skin,
although Thorer was wounded in the hands. Sigvat sang thus of
it: --

"Some say that Thorer's not right bold;
Why never yet have I been told
Of one who did a bolder thing
Than to change blows with his true king.
Against his king his sword to wield,
Leaping across the shield on shield
Which fenced the king round in the fight,
Shows the dog's (1) courage -- brave, not bright."

The king said to Bjorn the marshal, "Do thou kill the dog on whom
steel will not bite." Bjorn turned round the axe in his hands,
and gave Thorer a blow with the hammer of it on the shoulder so
hard that he tottered. The king at the same moment turned
against Kalf and his relations, and gave Olaf his death-wound.
Thorer Hund struck his spear right through the body of Marshal
Bjorn, and killed him outright; and Thorer said, "It is thus we
hunt the bear." (2) Thorstein Knarrarsmid struck at King Olaf
with his axe, and the blow hit his left leg above the knee. Fin
Arnason instantly killed Thorstein. The king after the wound
staggered towards a stone, threw down his sword, and prayed God
to help him. Then Thorer Hund struck at him with his spear, and
the stroke went in under his mail-coat and into his belly. Then
Kalf struck at him on the left side of the neck. But all are not
agreed upon Kalf having been the man who gave him the wound in
the neck. These three wounds were King Olaf's death; and after
the king's death the greater part of the forces which had
advanced with him fell with the king. Bjarne Gullbrarskald sang
these verses about Kalf Arnason: --

"Warrior! who Olaf dared withstand,
Who against Olaf held the land,
Thou hast withstood the bravest, best,
Who e'er has gone to his long rest.
At Stiklestad thou wast the head;
With flying banners onwards led
Thy bonde troops, and still fought on,
Until he fell -- the much-mourned one."

Sigvat also made these verses on Bjorn: --

"The marshal Bjorn, too, I find,
A great example leaves behind,
How steady courage should stand proof,
Though other servants stand aloof.
To Russia first his steps he bent,
To serve his master still intent;
And now besides his king he fell, --
A noble death for skalds to tell."

ENDNOTES:
(1) Thorer's name was Hund -- the dog; and a play upon Thorer
Hund's name was intended by the skald. -- L.
(2) Bjorn, the marshal's name, signifies a bear. -- L.

241. BEGINNING OF DAG HRINGSON'S ATTACK.

Dag Hringson still kept up the battle, and made in the beginning
so fierce an assault that the bondes gave way, and some betook
themselves to flight. There a great number of the bondes fell,
and these lendermen, Erlend of Gerde and Aslak of Finey; and the
banner also which they had stood under was cut down. This onset
was particularly hot, and was called Dag's storm. But now Kalf
Arnason, Harek of Thjotta, and Thorer Hund turned against Dag,
with the array which had followed them, and then Dag was
overwhelmed with numbers; so he betook himself to flight with the
men still left him. There was a valley through which the main
body of the fugitives fled, and men lay scattered in heaps on
both sides; and many were severely wounded, and many so fatigued
that they were fit for nothing. The bondes pursued only a short
way; for their leaders soon returned back to the field of battle,
where they had their friends and relations to look after.

240. KING OLAF'S MIRACLE SHOWN TO THORER HUND.

Thorer Hund went to where King Olaf's body lay, took care of it,
laid it straight out on the ground, and spread a cloak over it.
He told since that when he wiped the blood from the face it was
very beautiful; and there was red in the cheeks, as if he only
slept, and even much clearer than when he was in life. The
king's blood came on Thorer's hand, and ran up between his
fingers to where he had been wounded, and the wound grew up so
speedily that it did not require to be bound up. This
circumstance was testified by Thorer himself when King Olaf's
holiness came to be generally known among the people; and Thorer
Hund was among the first of the king's powerful opponents who
endeavoured to spread abroad the king's sanctity.

243. OF KALF ARNASON'S BROTHERS.

Kalf Arnason searched for his brothers who had fallen, and found
Thorberg and Fin. It is related that Fin threw his dagger at
him, and wanted to kill him, giving him hard words, and calling
him a faithless villain, and a traitor to his king. Kalf did not
regard it, but ordered Fin and Thorberg to be carried away from
the field. When their wounds were examined they were found not
to be deadly, and they had fallen from fatigue, and under the
weight of their weapons. Thereafter Kalf tried to bring his
brothers down to a ship, and went himself with them. As soon as
he was gone the whole bonde-army, having their homes in the
neighbourhood, went off also, excepting those who had friends or
relations to look after, or the bodies of the slain to take care
of. The wounded were taken home to the farms, so that every
house was full of them; and tents were erected over some. But
wonderful as was the number collected in the bonde-army, no less
wonderful was the haste with which this vast body was dispersed
when it was once free; and the cause of this was, that the most
of the people gathered together from the country places were
longing for their homes.

244. OF THE BONDES OF VERADAL.

The bondes who had their homes in Veradal went to the chiefs
Harek and Thorer, and complained of their distress, saying, "The
fugitives who have escaped from the battle have proceeded up over
the valley of Veradal, and are destroying our habitations, and
there is no safety for us to travel home so long as they are in
the valley. Go after them with war-force, and let no mother's
son of them escape with life; for that is what they intended for
us if they had got the upper hand in the battle, and the same
they would do now if they met us hereafter, and had better luck
than we. It may also be that they will linger in the valley if
they have nothing to be frightened for, and then they would not
proceed very gently in the inhabited country." The bondes made
many words about this, urging the chiefs to advance directly, and
kill those who had escaped. Now when the chiefs talked over this
matter among themselves, they thought there was much truth in
what the bondes said. They resolved, therefore, that Thorer Hund
should undertake this expedition through Veradal, with 600 men of
his own troops. Then, towards evening, he set out with his men;
and Thorer continued his march without halt until he came in the
night to Sula, where he heard the news that Dag Hringson had come
there in the evening, with many other flocks of the king's men,
and had halted there until they took supper, but were afterwards
gone up to the mountains. Then Thorer said he did not care to
pursue them up through the mountains, and he returned down the
valley again, and they did not kill many of them this time. The
bondes then returned to their homes, and the following day
Thorer, with his people, went to their ships. The part of the
king's men who were still on their legs concealed themselves in
the forests, and some got help from the people.

245. OF THE KING'S BROTHER, HARALD SIGURDSON.

Harald Sigurdson was severely wounded; but Ragnvald Brusason
brought him to a bonde's the night after the battle, and the
bonde took in Harald, and healed his wound in secret, and
afterwards gave him his son to attend him. They went secretly
over the mountains, and through the waste forests, and came out
in Jamtaland. Harald Sigurdson was fifteen years old when King
Olaf fell. In Jamtaland Harald found Ragnvald Brusason; and they
went both east to King Jarisleif in Russia, as is related in the
Saga of Harald Sigurdson.

246. OF THORMOD KOLBRUNARSKALD.

Thormod Kolbrunarskald was under King Olaf's banner in the
battle; but when the king had fallen, the battle was raging so
that of the king's men the one fell by the side of the other, and
the most of those who stood on their legs were wounded. Thormod
was also severely wounded, and retired, as all the others did,
back from where there was most danger of life, and some even
fled. Now when the onset began which is called Dag's storm, all
of the king's men who were able to combat went there; but Thormod
did not come into that combat, being unable to fight, both from
his wound and from weariness, but he stood by the side of his
comrade in the ranks, although he could do nothing. There he was
struck by an arrow in the left side; but he broke off the shaft
of the arrow, went out of the battle, and up towards the houses,
where he came to a barn which was a large building. Thormod had
his drawn sword in his hand; and as he went in a man met him,
coming out, and said, "It is very bad there with howling and
screaming; and a great shame it is that brisk young fellows
cannot bear their wounds: it may be that the king's men have done
bravely to-day, but they certainly bear their wounds very ill."

Thormod asks. "What is thy name?"

He called himself Kimbe.

Thormod: "Wast thou in the battle, too?"

"I was with the bondes, which was the best side," says he.

"And art thou wounded any way?" says Thormod.

"A little," said Kimbe. "And hast thou been in the battle too?"

Thormod replied, "I was with them who had the best."

"Art thou wounded?" says Kimbe.

"Not much to signify," replies Thormod.

As Kimbe saw that Thormod had a gold ring on his arm, he said,
"Thou art certainly a king's man. Give me thy gold ring, and I
will hide thee. The bondes will kill thee if thou fallest in
their way."

Thormod says, "Take the ring if thou canst get it: I have lost
that which is more worth."

Kimbe stretched out his hand, and wanted to take the ring; but
Thormod, swinging his sword, cut off his hand; and it is related
that Kimbe behaved himself no better under his wound than those
he had been blaming just before. Kimbe went off, and Thormod sat
down in the barn, and listened to what people were saying. The
conversation was mostly about what each had seen in the battle,
and about the valour of the combatants. Some praised most King
Olaf's courage, and some named others who stood nowise behind him
in bravery. Then Thormod sang these verses: --

"Olaf was brave beyond all doubt, --
At Stiklestad was none so stout;
Spattered with blood, the king, unsparing,
Cheered on his men with deed and daring.
But I have heard that some were there
Who in the fight themselves would spare;
Though, in the arrow-storm, the most
Had perils quite enough to boast."

247. THORMOD'S DEATH.

Thormod went out, and entered into a chamber apart, in which
there were many wounded men, and with them a woman binding their
wounds. There was fire upon the floor, at which she warmed water
to wash and clean their wounds. Thormod sat himself down beside
the door, and one came in, and another went out, of those who
were busy about the wounded men. One of them turned to Thormod,
looked at him, and said, "Why art thou so dead-pale? Art thou
wounded? Why dost thou not call for the help of the wound-
healers?" Thormod then sang these verses: --

"I am not blooming, and the fair
And slender girl loves to care
For blooming youths -- few care for me;
With Fenja's meal I cannot fee.
This is the reason why I feel
The slash and thrust of Danish steel;
And pale and faint, and bent with pain,
Return from yonder battle-plain."

Then Thormod stood up and went in towards the fire, and stood
there awhile. The young woman said to him, "Go out, man, and
bring in some of the split firewood which lies close beside the
door." He went out and brought in an armful of wood, which he
threw down upon the floor. Then the nurse-girl looked him in the
face, and said, "Dreadfully pale is this man -- why art thou so?"
Then Thormod sang: --

"Thou wonderest, sweet sprig, at me,
A man so hideous to see:
Deep wounds but rarely mend the face,
The crippling blow gives little grace.
The arrow-drift o'ertook me, girl, --
A fine-ground arrow in the whirl
Went through me, and I feel the dart
Sits, lovely girl, too near my heart."

The girl said, "Let me see thy wound, and I will bind it."
Thereupon Thormod sat down, cast off his clothes, and the girl
saw his wounds, and examined that which was in his side, and felt
that a piece of iron was in it, but could not find where the iron
had gone in. In a stone pot she had stirred together leeks and
other herbs, and boiled them, and gave the wounded men of it to
eat, by which she discovered if the wounds had penetrated into
the belly; for if the wound had gone so deep, it would smell of
leek. She brought some of this now to Thormod, and told him to
eat of it. He replied, "Take it away, I have no appetite for my
broth." Then she took a large pair of tongs, and tried to pull
out the iron; but it sat too fast, and would in no way come, and
as the wound was swelled, little of it stood out to lay hold of.
Now said Thormod, "Cut so deep in that thou canst get at the iron
with the tongs, and give me the tongs and let me pull." She did
as he said. Then Thormod took a gold ring from his hand, gave it
to the nurse-woman, and told her to do with it what she liked.
"It is a good man's gift," said he: "King Olaf gave me the ring
this morning." Then Thormod took the tongs, and pulled the iron
out; but on the iron there was a hook, at which there hung some
morsels of flesh from the heart, -- some white, some red. When
he saw that, he said, "The king has fed us well. I am fat, even
at the heart-roots;" and so saying he leant back, and was dead.
And with this ends what we have to say about Thormod.

248. OF SOME CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE BATTLE.

King Olaf fell on Wednesday, the 29th of July (A.D. 1030). It
was near mid-day when the two armies met, and the battle began
before half-past one, and before three the king fell. The
darkness continued from about half-past one to three also.
Sigvat the skald speaks thus of the result of the battle: --

"The loss was great to England's foes,
When their chief fell beneath the blows
By his own thoughtless people given, --
When the king's shield in two was riven.
The people's sovereign took the field,
The people clove the sovereign's shield.
Of all the chiefs that bloody day,
Dag only came out of the fray."

And he composed these: --

"Such mighty bonde-power, I ween,
With chiefs or rulers ne'er was seen.
It was the people's mighty power
That struck the king that fatal hour.
When such a king, in such a strife,
By his own people lost his life,
Full many a gallant man must feel
The death-wound from the people's steel."

The bondes did not spoil the slain upon the field of battle, for
immediately after the battle there came upon many of them who had
been against the king a kind of dread as it were; yet they held
by their evil inclination, for they resolved among themselves
that all who had fallen with the king should not receive the
interment which belongs to good men, but reckoned them all
robbers and outlaws. But the men who had power, and had
relations on the field, cared little for this, but removed their
remains to the churches, and took care of their burial.

249. A MIRACLE ON A BLIND MAN.

Thorgils Halmason and his son Grim went to the field of battle
towards evening when it was dusk, took King Olaf's corpse up, and
bore it to a little empty houseman's hut which stood on the other
side of their farm. They had light and water with them. Then
they took the clothes off the body, swathed it in a linen cloth,
laid it down in the house, and concealed it under some firewood
so that nobody could see it, even if people came into the hut.
Thereafter they went home again to the farmhouse. A great many
beggars and poor people had followed both armies, who begged for
meat; and the evening after the battle many remained there, and
sought lodging round about in all the houses, great or small. It
is told of a blind man who was poor, that a boy attended him and
led him. They went out around the farm to seek a lodging, and
came to the same empty house, of which the door was so low that
they had almost to creep in. Now when the blind man had come in,
he fumbled about the floor seeking a place where he could lay
himself down. He had a hat on his head, which fell down over his
face when he stooped down. He felt with his hands that there was
moisture on the floor, and he put up his wet hand to raise his
hat, and in doing so put his fingers on his eyes. There came
immediately such an itching in his eyelids, that he wiped the
water with his fingers from his eyes, and went out of the hut,
saying nobody could lie there, it was so wet. When he came out
of the hut he could distinguish his hands, and all that was near
him, as far as things can be distinguished by sight in the
darkness of light; and he went immediately to the farm-house into
the room, and told all the people he had got his sight again, and
could see everything, although many knew he had been blind for a
long time, for he had been there, before, going about among the
houses of the neighbourhood. He said he first got his sight when
he was coming out of a little ruinous hut which was all wet
inside. "I groped in the water," said he, "and rubbed my eyes
with my wet hands." He told where the hut stood. The people who
heard him wondered much at this event, and spoke among themselves
of what it could be that produced it: but Thorgils the peasant
and his son Grim thought they knew how this came to pass; and as
they were much afraid the king's enemies might go there and
search the hut, they went and took the body out of it, and
removed it to a garden, where they concealed it, and then
returned to the farm, and slept there all night.

250. OF THORER HUND.

The fifth day (Thursday), Thorer Hund came down the valley of
Veradal to Stiklestad; and many people, both chiefs and bondes,
accompanied him. The field of battle was still being cleared,
and people were carrying away the bodies of their friends and
relations, and were giving the necessary help to such of the
wounded as they wished to save; but many had died since the
battle. Thorer Hund went to where the king had fallen, and
searched for his body; but not finding it, he inquired if any one
could tell him what had become of the corpse, but nobody could
tell him where it was. Then he asked the bonde Thorgils, who
said, "I was not in the battle, and knew little of what took
place there; but many reports are abroad, and among others that
King Olaf has been seen in the night up at Staf, and a troop of
people with him: but if he fell in the battle, your men must
have concealed him in some hole, or under some stone-heap." Now
although Thorer Hund knew for certain that the king had fallen,
many allowed themselves to believe, and to spread abroad the
report, that the king had escaped from the battle, and would in a
short time come again upon them with an army. Then Thorer went
to his ships, and sailed down the fjord, and the bonde-army
dispersed, carrying with them all the wounded men who could bear
to be removed.

251. OF KING OLAF'S BODY.

Thorgils Halmason and his son Grim had King Olaf's body, and were
anxious about preserving it from falling into the hands of the
king's enemies, and being ill-treated; for they heard the bondes
speaking about burning it, or sinking it in the sea. The father
and son had seen a clear light burning at night over the spot on
the battlefield where King Olaf's body lay, and since, while they
concealed it, they had always seen at night a light burning over
the corpse; therefore they were afraid the king's enemies might
seek the body where this signal was visible. They hastened,
therefore, to take the body to a place where it would be safe.
Thorgils and his son accordingly made a coffin, which they
adorned as well as they could, and laid the king's body in it;
and afterwards made another coffin in which they laid stones and
straw, about as much as the weight of a man, and carefully closed
the coffins. As soon as the whole bonde-army had left
Stiklestad, Thorgils and his son made themselves ready, got a
large rowing-boat, and took with them seven or eight men, who
were all Thorgil's relations or friends, and privately took the
coffin with the king's body down to the boat, and set it under
the foot-boards. They had also with them the coffin containing
the stones, and placed it in the boat where all could see it; and
then went down the fjord with a good opportunity of wind and
weather, and arrived in the dusk of the evening at Nidaros, where
they brought up at the king's pier. Then Thorgils sent some of
his men up to the town to Bishop Sigurd, to say that they were
come with the king's body. As soon as the bishop heard this
news, he sent his men down to the pier, and they took a small
rowing-boat, came alongside of Thorgil's ship, and demanded the
king's body. Thorgils and his people then took the coffin which
stood in view, and bore it into the boat; and the bishop's men
rowed out into the fjord, and sank the coffin in the sea. It was
now quite dark. Thorgils and his people now rowed up into the
river past the town, and landed at a place called Saurhlid, above
the town. Then they carried the king's body to an empty house
standing at a distance from other houses, and watched over it for
the night, while Thorgils went down to the town, where he spoke
with some of the best friends of King Olaf, and asked them if
they would take charge of the king's body; but none of them dared
to do so. Then Thorgils and his men went with the body higher up
the river, buried it in a sand-hill on the banks, and levelled
all around it so that no one could observe that people had been
at work there. They were ready with all this before break of
day, when they returned to their vessel, went immediately out of
the river, and proceeded on their way home to Stiklestad.