Heimskringla

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"Shield against shield, the earl and king
Made shields and swords together ring.
The gold-decked heroes made a play
Which Hild's iron-shirt men say
They never saw before or since
On battle-deck; the brave might wince,
As spear and arrow whistling flew,
Point blank, death-bringing, quick and true."

They fought at the bows, so that the men only on the bows could
strike; the men on the forecastle thrust with spears: and all who
were farther off shot with light spears or javelins, or war-
arrows. Some fought with stones or short stakes; and those who
were aft of the mast shot with the bow. So Says Thiodolf: --

"Steel-pointed spear, and sharpened stake,
Made the broad shield on arm shake:
The eagle, hovering in the air,
Screamed o'er the prey preparing there.
And stones and arrows quickly flew,
And many a warrior bold they slew.
The bowman never twanged his bow
And drew his shaft so oft as now;
And Throndhjem's bowmen on that day
Were not the first tired of this play:
Arrows and darts so quickly fly,
You could not follow with the eye."

Here it appears how hot the battle was with casting weapons.
King Magnus stood in the beginning of the battle within a shield-
rampart; but as it appeared to him that matters were going on too
slowly, he leaped over the shields, and rushed forward in the
ship, encouraging his men with a loud cheer, and springing to the
bows, where the battle was going on hand to hand. When his men
saw this they urged each other on with mutual cheering, and there
was one great hurrah through all the ships. So says Thiodolf: --

"`On with our ships! on to the foe!'
Cry Magnus' men -- on, on they go.
Spears against shields in fury rattle, --
Was never seen so fierce a battle."

And now the battle was exceedingly sharp; and in the assault
Svein's ship was cleared of all her forecastle men, upon and on
both sides of the forecastle. Then Magnus boarded Svein's ship,
followed by his men; and one after the other came up, and made so
stout an assault that Svein's men gave way, and King Magnus first
cleared that ship, and then the rest, one after the other. Svein
fled, with a great part of his people; but many fell, and many
got life and peace. Thiodolf tells of this: --

"Brave Magnus, from the stern springing
On to the stem, where swords were ringing
From his sea-raven's beak of gold
Deals death around -- the brave! the bold!
The earl's housemen now begin
To shrink and fall: their ranks grow thin --
The king's luck thrives -- their decks are cleared,
Of fighting men no more appeared.
The earl's ships are driven to flight,
Before the king would stop the fight:
The gold-distributor first then
Gave quarters to the vanquished men."

This battle was fought on the last Sunday before Yule. So says
Thiodolf: --

"'Twas on a Sunday morning bright,
Fell out this great and bloody fight,
When men were arming, fighting, dying,
Or on the red decks wounded lying.
And many a mabn, foredoomed to die,
To save his life o'erboard did fly,
But sank; for swimming could not save,
And dead men rolled in every wave."

Magnus took seven ships from Svein's people. So says Thiodolf:
--

"Thick Olaf's son seven vessels cleared,
And with his fleet the prizes steered.
The Norway girls will not be sad
To hear such news -- each from her lad."

He also sings: --

"The captured men will grieve the most
Svein and their comrades to have lost;
For it went ill with those who fled,
Their wounded had no easy bed.
A heavy storm that very night
O'ertook them flying from the fight;
And skulls and bones are tumbling round,
Under the sea, on sandy ground."

Svein fled immediately by night to Seeland, with the men who had
escaped and were inclined to follow him; but King Magnus brought
his ships to the shore, and sent his men up the country in the
night-time, and early in the morning they came flown to the
strand with a great booty in cattle. Thiodolf tells about it: --

"But yesterday with heavy stones
We crushed their skulls, and broke their bones,
And thinned their ranks; and now to-day
Up through their land we've ta'en our way,
And driven their cattle to the shore,
And filled out ships with food in store.
To save his land from our quick swords,
Svein will need something more than words."

32. SVEIN'S FLIGHT.

King Magnus sailed with his fleet from the south after Svein to
Seeland; but as soon as the king came there Svein fled up the
country with his men, and Magnus followed them, and pursued the
fugitives, killing all that were laid hold of. So says Thiodolf:
--

"The Seeland girl asks with fear,
`Whose blood-bespattered shield and spear --
The earl's or king's -- up from the shore
Moved on with many a warrior more?'
We scoured through all their muddy lanes,
Woodlands, and fields, and miry plains.
Their hasty footmarks in the clay
Showed that to Ringsted led their way.

"Spattered with mud from heel to head,
Our gallant lord his true men led.
Will Lund's earl halt his hasty flight,
And try on land another fight?
His banner yesterday was seen,
The sand-bills and green trees between,
Through moss and mire to the strand,
In arrow flight, leaving the land."

Then Svein fled over to Fyen Island, and King Magnus carried fire
and sword through Seeland, and burnt all round, because their men
had joined Svein's troop in harvest. So says Thiodolf: --

"As Svein in winter had destroyed
The royal house, the king employed
No little force to guard the land,
And the earl's forays to withstand.
An armed band one morn he found,
And so beset them round and round,
That Canute's nephew quickly fled,
Or he would have been captive led.

"Our Throndhjem king in his just ire
Laid waste the land with sword and fire,
Burst every house, and over all
Struck terror into great and small.
To the earl's friends he well repaid
Their deadly hate -- such wild work made
On them and theirs, that from his fury,
Flying for life, away they hurry."

33. BURNING IN FYEN.

As soon as King Magnus heard that Svein with his troops had gone
across to Fyen, he sailed after them; and when Svein heard this
news he went on board ship and sailed to Scania, and from thence
to Gautland, and at last to the Swedish King. King Magnus landed
in Fyen, and plundered and burned over all; and all of Svein's
men who came there fled far enough. Thiodolf speaks of it thus:
--

"Fiona isle, once green and fair,
Lies black and reeking through the air:
The red fog rises, thick and hot,
From burning farm and smouldering cot.
The gaping thralls in terror gaze
On the broad upward-spiring blaze,
From thatched roofs and oak-built walls,
Their murdered masters' stately halls.

"Svein's men, my girl, will not forget
That thrice they have the Norsemen met,
By sea, by land, with steel, with fire,
Thrice have they felt the Norse king's ire.
Fiona's maids are slim and fair,
The lovely prizes, lads, we'll share:
Some stand to arms in rank and row,
Some seize, bring off, and fend with blow."

After this the people of Denmark submitted to King Magnus, and
during the rest of the winter, there was peace. King Magnus then
appointed some of his men to govern Denmark; and when spring was
advanced he sailed northwards with his fleet to Norway, where he
remained a great part of the summer.

34. BATTLE AT HELGANES

Now, when Svein heard that King Magnus had gone to Norway he rode
straight down, and had many people out of Svithjod with him. The
people of Scania received him well, and he again collected an
army, with which he first crossed over into Seeland and seized
upon it and Fyen, and all the other isles. When King Magnus
heard of this he gathered together men and ships, and sailed to
Denmark; and as soon as he knew where Svein was lying with his
ships King Magnus sailed to meet him. They met at a place called
Helganes, and the battle began about the fall of day. King
Magnus had fewer men, but larger and better equipt vessels. So
says Arnor, the earls' skald: --

"At Helganes -- so goes the tale --
The brave wolf-feeder, under sail,
Made many an ocean-elk (1) his prey,
Seized many a ship ere break of day.
When twilight fell he urged the fight,
Close combat -- man to man all night;
Through a long harvest night's dark hours,
Down poured the battle's iron showers."

The battle was very hot, and as night advanced the fall of men
was great. King Magnus, during the whole night, threw hand-
spears. Thiodolf speaks of this: --

"And there at Helganes sunk down,
Sore wounded, men of great renown;
And Svein's retainers lost all heart,
Ducking before the flying dart.
The Norsemen's king let fly his spears,
His death-wounds adding to their fears;
For each spear-blade was wet all o'er,
Up to the shaft in their life-gore."

To make a short tale, King Magnus won the victory in this battle,
and Svein fled. His ship was cleared of men from stem to stern;
and it went so on board many others of his ships. So says
Thiodolf: --

"Earl Svein fled from the empty deck,
His lonely ship an unmann'd wreck;
Magnus the Good, the people's friend,
Pressed to the death on the false Svein.
Hneiter (2), the sword his father bore,
Was edge and point, stained red with gore;
Swords sprinkle blood o'er armour bright,

When kings for land and power fight."

And Arnor says :-

"The cutters of Bjorn's own brother
Soon changed their owner for another;
The king took them and all their gear;
The crews, however, got off clear."

A great number of Svein's men fell, and King Magnus and his men
had a vast booty to divide. So says Thiodolf: --

"Where the Norsemen the Danish slew,
A Gautland shield and breast-plate true
Fell to my share of spoil by lot;
And something more i' the south I got:
(There all the summer swords were ringing)
A helm, gay arms, and gear worth bringing,
Home to my quiet lovely one
I sent -- with news how we had won."

Svein fled up to Scania with all the men who escaped with him;
and King Magnus and his people drove the fugitives up through the
country without meeting any opposition either from Svein's men or
the bondes. So says Thiodolf: --

"Olaf's brave son then gave command,
All his ships' crews should quickly land:
King Magnus, marching at their head,
A noble band of warriors led.
A foray through the land he makes;
Denmark in every quarter shakes.
Up hill and down the horses scour,
Carrying the Danes from Norsemen's power."

King Magnus drove with fire and sword through the land. So says
Thiodolf: --

"And now the Norsemen storm along,
Following their banner in a throng:
King Magnus' banner flames on high,
A star to guide our roaming by.
To Lund, o'er Scania's peaceful field,
My shoulder bore my useless shield;
A fairer land, a better road,
As friend or foe, I never trod."

They began to burn the habitations all around, and the people
fled on every side. So says Thiodolf: --

"Our ice-cold iron in great store,
Our arms, beside the king we bore:
The Scanian rogues fly at the view
Of men and steel all sharp and true.
Their timbered houses flame on high,
Red flashing over half the sky;
The blazing town flings forth its light,
Lighting the cowards on their flight."

And he also sang: --

"The king o'er all the Danish land
Roams, with his fire-bringing band:
The house, the hut, the farm, the town,
All where men dwelt is burned down.
O'er Denmark's plains and corn-fields,
Meadows and moors, are seen our shields:
Victorious over all, we chase
Svein's wounded men from place to place.

"Across Fiona's moor again,
The paths late trodden by our men
We tread once more, until quite near,
Through morning mist, the foes appear.
Then up our numerous banners flare
In the cold early morning air;
And they from Magnus' power who fly
Cannot this quick war-work deny."

Then Svein fled eastwards along Scania, and King Magnus returned
to his ships, and steered eastwards also along the Scanian coast,
having got ready with the greatest haste to sail. Thiodolf sings
thus about it: --

"No drink but the salt sea
On board our ships had we,
When, following our king,
On board our ships we spring.
Hard work on the salt sea,
Off Scania's coast, had we;
But we laboured for the king,
To his foemen death to bring."

Svein fled to Gautland, and then sought refuge with the Swedish
king, with whom he remained all winter (A.D. 1046), and was
treated with great respect.

ENDNOTES:
(1) Ship. -- L.
(2) This was the name of Saint Olaf's sword, which Magnus had
recovered. -- L.

35. OF KING MAGNUS'S CAMPAIGN.

When King Magnus had subdued Scania he turned about, and first
went to Falster, where he landed, plundered, and killed many
people who had before submitted to Svein. Arnor speaks of this:
--

"A bloody vengeance for their guile
King Magnus takes on Falster Isle;
The treacherous Danes his fury feel,
And fall before his purpled steel.
The battle-field is covered o'er,
With eagle's prey from shore to shore;
And the king's courtmen were the first
To quench with blood the raven's thirst."

Thereafter Magnus with his fleet proceeded to the isle of Fyen,
went on land, plundered, and made great devastation. So says
Arnor, the earls' skald: --

"To fair Fiona's grassy shore
His banner now again he bore:
He who the mail-shirt's linked chains
Severs, and all its lustre stains, --
He will be long remembered there,
The warrior in his twentieth year,
Whom their black ravens from afar
Saluted as he went to war."

36.---OF KING MAGNUS~S BATTLES.

King Magnus remained in Denmark all that winter (A.D. 1046), and
sat in peace. He had held many battles, and had gained the
victory in all. So says Od Kikinaskald: --

"'Fore Michaelmas was struck the blow,
That laid the Vindland vikings low;
And people learned with joy to hear
The clang of arms, and leaders' cheer.
Short before Yule fell out the day,
Southward of Aros, where the fray,
Though not enough the foe to quell,
Was of the bloodiest men can tell."

And Arnor says: --

"Olaf's avenger who can sing?
The skald cannot o'ertake the king,
Who makes the war-bird daily drain
The corpse-blood of his foemen slain.
Four battles won within a year, --
Breaker of shields! with swords and spear,
And hand to hand, exalt thy fame
Above the kings of greatest name."

King Magnus had three battles with Svein Ulfson. So says
Thiodolf: --

"To our brave Throndhjem sovereign's praise
The skald may all his skaldcraft raise;
For fortune, and for daring deed,
His song will not the truth exceed.
After three battles to regain
What was his own, unjustly ta'en,
Unjustly kept, and dues denied,
He levied dues in red-blood dyed."

37. OF KING MAGNUS, AND THORFIN AND RAGNVALD, EARLS OF ORKNEY.

While King Magnus the Good, a son of King Olaf the Saint, ruled
over Norway, as before related, the Earl Ragnvald Brusason lived
with him. Earl Thorfin Sigurdson, the uncle of Ragnvald, ruled
then over Orkney. King Magnus sent Ragnvald west to Orkney, and
ordered that Thorfin should let him have his father's heritage.
Thorfin let Ragnvald have a third part of the land along with
him; for so had Erase, the father of Ragnvald, had it at his
dying day. Earl Thorfin was married to Ingebjorg, the earl-
mother, who was a daughter of Fin Arnason. Earl Ragnvald thought
he should have two-thirds of the land, as Olaf the Saint had
promised to his father Bruse, and as Bruse had enjoyed as long as
Olaf lived. This was the origin of a great strife between these
relations, concerning which we have a long saga. They had a
great battle in Pentland Firth, in which Kalf Arnason was with
Earl Thorfin. So says Bjarne Gullbrarskald: --

"Thy cutters, dashing through the tide,
Brought aid to Earl Thorfin's side,
Fin's son-in-law, and people say
Thy aid made Bruse's son give way.
Kalf, thou art fond of warlike toil,
Gay in the strife and bloody broil;
But here 'twas hate made thee contend
Against Earl Ragnvald, the king's friend."

38. OF KING MAGNUS'S LETTER TO ENGLAND.

King Magnus ruled then both over Denmark and Norway; and when he
had got possession of the Danish dominions he sent ambassadors
over to England to King Edward, who brought to him King Magnus's
letter and seal. And in this letter there stood, along with a
salutation from King Magnus, these words: -- "Ye must have heard
of the agreement which I and Hardaknut made, -- that he of us two
who survived the other should have all the land and people which
the deceased had possessed. Now it has so turned out, as ye have
no doubt heard, that I have taken the Danish dominions as my
heritage after Hardaknut. But before he departed this life he
had England as well as Denmark; therefore I consider myself now,
in consequence of my rights by this agreement, to own England
also. Now I will therefore that thou deliver to me the kingdom;
otherwise I will seek to take it by arms, both from Denmark and
Norway; and let him rule the land to whom fate gives the
victory."

39. KING EDWARD'S ANSWER TO KING MAGNUS'S LETTER.

Now when King Edward had read this letter, he replied thus: "It
is known to all men in this country that King Ethelred, my
father, was udal-born to this kingdom, both after the old and
new law of inheritance. We were four sons after him; and when he
by death left the throne my brother Edmund took the government
and kingdom; for he was the oldest of us brothers, and I was well
satisfied that it was so. And after him my stepfather, Canute
the Great, took the kingdom, and as long as he lived there was no
access to it. After him my brother Harald was king as long as he
lived; and after him my brother Hardaknut took the kingdoms both
of Denmark and England; for he thought that a just brotherly
division that he should have both England and Denmark, and that I
should have no kingdom at all. Now he died, and then it was the
resolution of all the people of the country to take me for king
here in England. So long as I had no kingly title I served only
superiors in all respects, like those who had no claims by birth
to land or kingdom. Now, however, I have received the kingly
title, and am consecrated king. I have established my royal
dignity and authority, as my father before me; and while I live I
will not renounce my title. If King Magnus come here with an
army, I will gather no army against him; but he shall only get
the opportunity of taking England when he has taken my life.
Tell him these words of mine." The ambassadors went back to King
Magnus, and told him the answer to their message. King Magnus
reflected a while, and answered thus: "I think it wisest, and
will succeed best, to let King Edward have his kingdom in peace
for me, and that I keep the kingdoms God has put into my hands."

SAGA OF HARALD HARDRADE.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Harald, son of Sigurd Syr, was born in the year A.D. 1015, and
left Norway A.D. 1030. He was called Hardrade, that is, the
severe counsellor, the tyrant, though the Icelanders never
applied this epithet to him. Harald helped the Icelanders in the
famine of A.D. 1056, and sent them timber for a church at
Thingvol. It was the Norwegians who gave him the name tyrant in
contrast to the "debonairete" of Magnus. He came to Norway in
A.D. 1046, and became sole king in A.D. 1047. He died in A.D.
1066, and his son and successor Magnus died in A.D. 1069.

His saga is to be compared with "Agrip", "Fagrskinna", and
"Morkinskinna".

The skalds quoted are: Thiodolf, Bolverk, Illuge Bryndalaskald,
Stuf the skald, Thorarin Skeggjason, Valgard o' Val, Od
Kikinaskald, Grane Skald, Thorleik the Fair, Stein Herdison, Ulf
the Marshal, Arnor the earls' skald, Thorkel Skallason, and King
Harald Hardrade himself.

1. HARALD ESCAPES FROM THE BATTLE OF STIKLESTAD.

Harald, son of Sigurd Syr, brother of Olaf the Saint, by the same
mother, was at the battle of Stiklestad, and was fifteen years
old when King Olaf the Saint fell, as was before related. Harald
was wounded, and escaped with other fugitives. So says Thiodolf:
--

"At Haug the fire-sparks from his shield
Flew round the king's head on the field,
As blow for blow, for Olaf's sake,
His sword and shield would give and take.
Bulgaria's conqueror, I ween,
Had scarcely fifteen winters seen,
When from his murdered brother's side
His unhelmed head he had to hide."

Ragnvald Brusason led Harald from the battle, and the night after
the fray took him to a bonde who dwelt in a forest far from other
people. The peasant received Harald, and kept him concealed; and
Harald was waited upon until he was quite cured of his wounds.
Then the bonde's son attended him on the way east over the ridge
of the land, and they went by all the forest paths they could,
avoiding the common road. The bonde's son did not know who it
was he was attending; and as they were riding together between
two uninhabited forests, Harald made these verses:

"My wounds were bleeding as I rode;
And down below the bondes strode,
Killing the wounded with the sword,
The followers of their rightful lord.
From wood to wood I crept along,
Unnoticed by the bonde-throng;
`Who knows,' I thought, `a day may come
My name will yet be great at home.'"

He went eastward over the ridge through Jamtaland and
Helsingjaland, and came to Svithjod, where he found Ragnvald
Brusason, and many others of King Olaf's men who had fled from
the battle at Stiklestad, and they remained there till winter was
over.

2. HARALD'S JOURNEY TO CONSTANTINOPLE.

The spring after (A.D. 1031) Harald and Ragnvald got ships, and
went east in summer to Russia to King Jarisleif, and were with
him all the following winter. So says the skald Bolverk: --

"The king's sharp sword lies clean and bright,
Prepared in foreign lands to fight:
Our ravens croak to have their fill,
The wolf howls from the distant hill.
Our brave king is to Russia gone, --
Braver than he on earth there's none;
His sharp sword will carve many feast
To wolf and raven in the East."

King Jarisleif gave Harald and Ragnvald a kind reception, and
made Harald and Ellif, the son of Earl Ragnvald, chiefs over the
land-defence men of the king. So says Thiodolf: --

"Where Ellif was, one heart and hand
The two chiefs had in their command;
In wedge or line their battle order
Was ranged by both without disorder.
The eastern Vindland men they drove
Into a corner; and they move
The Lesians, although ill at ease,
To take the laws their conquerors please."

Harald remained several years in Russia, and travelled far and
wide in the Eastern land. Then he began his expedition out to
Greece, and had a great suite of men with him; and on he went to
Constantinople. So says Bolverk: --

"Before the cold sea-curling blast
The cutter from the land flew past,
Her black yards swinging to and fro,
Her shield-hung gunwale dipping low.
The king saw glancing o'er the bow
Constantinople's metal glow
From tower and roof, and painted sails
Gliding past towns and wooded vales."

3. OF HARALD.

At that time the Greek empire was ruled by the Empress Zoe the
Great, and with her Michael Catalactus. Now when Harald came to
Constantinople he presented himself to the empress, and went into
her pay; and immediately, in autumn, went on board the galleys
manned with troops which went out to the Greek sea. Harald had
his own men along with him. Now Harald had been but a short time
in the army before all the Varings flocked to him, and they all
joined together when there was a battle. It thus came to pass
that Harald was made chief of the Varings. There was a chief
over all the troops who was called Gyrger, and who was a relation
of the empress. Gyrger and Harald went round among all the Greek
islands, and fought much against the corsairs.

4. OF HARALD AND GYRGER CASTING LOTS.