Heimskringla

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It happened once that Gyrger and the Varings were going through
the country, and they resolved to take their night quarters in a
wood; and as the Varings came first to the ground, they chose the
place which was best for pitching their tents upon, which was the
highest ground; for it is the nature of the land there to be soft
when rain falls, and therefore it is bad to choose a low
situation for your tents. Now when Gyrger, the chief of the
army, came up, and saw where the Varings had set up their tents,
he told them to remove, and pitch their tents elsewhere, saying
he would himself pitch his tents on their ground. Harald
replies, "If ye come first to the night quarter, ye take up your
ground, and we must go pitch our tents at some other place where
we best can. Now do ye so, in the same way, and find a place
where ye will. It is, I think, the privilege of us Varings here
in the dominions of the Greek emperor to be free, and independent
of all but their own commanders, and bound only to serve the
emperor and empress." They disputed long and hotly about this,
and both sides armed themselves, and were on the way to fight for
it; but men of understanding came between and separated them.
They said it would be better to come to an agreement about such
questions, so that in future no dispute could arise. It came
thus to an arbitration between them, at which the best and most
sagacious men should give their judgment in the case. At this
arbitration it was determined, with the consent of all parties,
that lots should be thrown into a box, and the Greeks and Varings
should draw which was first to ride, or to row, or to take place
in a harbour, or to choose tent ground; and each side should be
satisfied with what the drawing of the lots gave them.
Accordingly the lots were made and marked. Harald said to
Gyrger, "Let me see what mark thou hast put upon thy lot, that
we may not both mark our lots in the same way." He did so. Then
Harald marked his lot, and put it into the box along with the
other. The man who was to draw out the lots then took up one of
the lots between his fingers, held it up in the air, and said,
"This lot shall be the first to ride, and to row, and to take
place in harbour and on the tent field." Harald seized his band,
snatched the die, and threw it into the sea, and called out,
"That was our lot!" Gyrger said, "Why did you not let other
people see it?" Harald replies, "Look at the one remaining in
the box, -- there you see your own mark upon it." Accordingly
the lot which was left behind was examined, and all men saw that
Gyrger's mark was upon it, and accordingly the judgment was given
that the Varings had gained the first choice in all they had been
quarrelling about. There were many things they quarrelled about,
but the end always was that Harald got his own way.

5. HARALD'S EXPEDITION IN THE LAND OF THE SARACENS (SERKLAND).

They went out all on a campaign in summer. When the whole army
was thus assembled Harald kept his men out of the battle, or
wherever he saw the least danger, under pretext of saving his
men; but where he was alone with his own men only, he fought so
desperately that they must either come off victorious or die. It
thus happened often that when he commanded the army he gained
victories, while Gyrger could do nothing. The troops observed
this, and insisted they would be more successful if Harald alone
was chief of the whole army, and upbraided the general with never
effecting anything, neither himself, nor his people. Gyrger
again said that the Varings would give him no assistance, and
ordered Harald to go with his men somewhere else, and he, with
the rest of his army, would win what they could. Harald
accordingly left the army with the Varings and the Latin men, and
Gyrger on his side went off with the Greek troops. Then it was
seen what each could do. Harald always gained victories and
booty; but the Greeks went home to Constantinople with their
army, all except a few brave men, who, to gain booty and money,
joined themselves to Harald, and took him for their leader. He
then went with his troops westward to Africa, which the Varings
call Serkland, where he was strengthened with many men. In
Serkland he took eighty castles, some of which surrendered, and
others were stormed. He then went to Sicily. So says Thiodolf:
--

"The serpent's bed of glowing gold
He hates -- the generous king, the bold!
He who four score towers laid low,
Ta'en from the Saracenic foe.
Before upon Sicilian plains,
Shield joined to shield, the fight he gains,
The victory at Hild's war game;
And now the heathens dread his name."

So says also Illuge Bryndala-skald: --

"For Michael's empire Harald fought,
And southern lands to Michael brought;
So Budle's son his friendship showed
When he brought friends to his abode."

Here it is said that Michael was king of the Greeks at that time.
Harald remained many years in Africa, where he gathered great
wealth in gold, jewels, and all sorts of precious things; and all
the wealth he gathered there which he did not need for his
expenses, he sent with trusty men of his own north to Novgorod to
King Jarisleif's care and keeping. He gathered together there
extraordinary treasure, as is reasonable to suppose; for he had
the plundering of the part of the world richest in gold and
valuable things, and he had done such great deeds as with truth
are related, such as taking eighty strongholds by his valour.

6. BATTLE IN SICILY.

Now when Harald came to Sicily he plundered there also, and sat
down with his army before a strong and populous castle. He
surrounded the castle; but the walls were so thick there was no
possibility of breaking into it, and the people of the castle had
enough of provisions, and all that was necessary for defence.
Then Harald hit upon an expedient. He made his bird-catchers
catch the small birds which had their nests within the castle,
but flew into the woods by day to get food for their young. He
had small splinters of tarred wood bound upon the backs of the
birds, smeared these over with wax and sulphur, and set fire to
them. As soon as the birds were let loose they all flew at once
to the castle to their young, and to their nests, which they had
under the house roofs that were covered with reeds or straw. The
fire from the birds seized upon the house roofs; and although
each bird could only carry a small burden of fire, yet all at
once there was a mighty flame, caused by so many birds carrying
fire with them and spreading it widely among the house roofs.
Thus one house after the other was set on fire, until the castle
itself was in flames. Then the people came out of the castle and
begged for mercy; the same men who for many days had set at
defiance the Greek army and its leader. Harald granted life and
safety to all who asked quarter, and made himself master of the
place.

7. BATTLE AT ANOTHER CASTLE.

There was another castle before which Harald had come with his
army. This castle was both full of people and so strong, that
there was no hope of breaking into it. The castle stood upon a
flat hard plain. Then Harald undertook to dig a passage from a
place where a stream ran in a bed so deep that it could not be
seen from the castle. They threw out all the earth into the
stream, to be carried away by the water. At this work they
laboured day and night, and relieved each other in gangs; while
the rest of the army went the whole day against the castle, where
the castle people shot through their loop-holes. They shot at
each other all day in this way, and at night they slept on both
sides. Now when Harald perceived that his underground passage
was so long that it must be within the castle walls, he ordered
his people to arm themselves. It was towards daybreak that they
went into the passage. When they got to the end of it they dug
over their heads until they came upon stones laid in lime which
was the floor of a stone hall. They broke open the floor and
rose into the hall. There sat many of the castle-men eating and
drinking, and not in the least expecting such uninvited wolves;
for the Varings instantly attacked them sword in hand, and killed
some, and those who could get away fled. The Varings pursued
them; and some seized the castle gate, and opened it, so that the
whole body of the army got in. The people of the castle fled;
but many asked quarter from the troops, which was granted to all
who surrendered. In this way Harald got possession of the place,
and found an immense booty in it.

8. BATTLE AT A THIRD CASTLE.

They came to a third castle, the greatest and strongest of them
all, and also the richest in property and the fullest of people.
Around this castle there were great ditches, so that it evidently
could not be taken by the same device as the former; and they lay
a long time before it without doing anything. When the castle-
men saw this they became bolder, drew up their array on the
castle walls, threw open the castle gates, and shouted to the
Varings, urging them, and jeering at them, and telling them to
come into the castle, and that they were no more fit for battle
than so many poultry. Harald told his men to make as if they did
not know what to do, or did not understand what was said. "For,"
says he, "if we do make an assault we can effect nothing, as they
can throw their weapons under their feet among us; and if we get
in the castle with a party of our people, they have it in their
power to shut them in. and shut out the others; for they have all
the castle gates beset with men. We shall therefore show them
the same scorn they show us, and let them see we do not fear
them. Our men shall go out upon the plain nearest to the castle;
taking care, however, to keep out of bow-shot. All our men shall
go unarmed, and be playing with each other, so that the castle-
men may see we do not regard them or their array." Thus it went
on for some days, without anything being done.

9. OF ULF AND HALDOR.

Two Iceland men were then with Harald; the one was Haldor (1), a
son of the gode Snorre, who brought this account to Iceland; the
other was Ulf Uspakson, a grandson of Usvifer Spake. Both were
very strong men, bold under arms, and Harald's best friends; and
both were in this play. Now when some days were passed the
castle people showed more courage, and would go without weapons
upon the castle wall, while the castle gates were standing open.
The Varings observing this, went one day to their sports with the
sword under their cloaks, and the helmet under their hats. After
playing awhile they observed that the castle people were off
their guard; and instantly seizing their weapons, they made at
the castle gate. When the men of the castle saw this they went
against them armed completely, and a battle began in the castle
gate. The Varings had no shields, but wrapped their cloaks round
their left arms. Some of them were wounded, some killed, and all
stood in great danger. Now came Harald with the men who had
remained in the camp, to the assistance of his people; and the
castle-men had now got out upon the walls, from which they shot
and threw stones down upon them; so that there was a severe
battle, and those who were in the castle gates thought that help
was brought them slower than they could have wished. When Harald
came to the castle gate his standard-bearer fell, and Harald said
to Haldor, "Do thou take up the banner now." Haldor took up the
banner, and said foolishly, "Who will carry the banner before
thee, if thou followest it so timidly as thou hast done for a
while?" But these were words more of anger than of truth; for
Harald was one of the boldest of men under arms. Then they
pressed in, and had a hard battle in the castle; and the end was
that Harald gained the victory and took the castle. Haldor was
much wounded in the face, and it gave him great pain as long as
he lived.

ENDNOTES:
(1) One of the descendants of this Haldor was Snorre Sturlason,
the author of "Heimskring1a".

10. BATTLE AT A FOURTH CASTLE.

The fourth castle which Harald came to was the greatest of all we
have been speaking about. It was so strong that there was no
possibility of breaking into it. They surrounded the castle, so
that no supplies could get into it. When they had remained here
a short time Harald fell sick, and he betook himself to his bed.
He had his tent put up a little from the camp, for he found
quietness and rest out of the clamour and clang of armed men.
His men went usually in companies to or from him to hear his
orders; and the castle people observing there was something new
among the Varings, sent out spies to discover what this might
mean. When the spies came back to the castle they had to tell of
the illness of the commander of the Varings, and that no assault
on that account had been made on the castle. A while after
Harald's strength began to fail, at which his men were very
melancholy and cast down; all which was news to the castle-men.
At last Harald's sickness increased so rapidly that his death was
expected through all the army. Thereafter the Varings went to
the castle-men; told them, in a parley, of the death of their
commander; and begged of the priests to grant him burial in the
castle. When the castle people heard this news, there were many
among them who ruled over cloisters or other great establishments
within the place, and who were very eager to get the corpse for
their church, knowing that upon that there would follow very rich
presents. A great many priests, therefore, clothed themselves in
all their robes, and went out of the castle with cross and shrine
and relics and formed a beautiful procession. The Varings also
made a great burial. The coffin was borne high in the air, and
over it was a tent of costly linen and before it were carried
many banners. Now when the corpse was brought within the castle
gate the Varings set down the coffin right across the entry,
fixed a bar to keep the gates open, and sounded to battle with
all their trumpets, and drew their swords. The whole army of the
Varings, fully armed. rushed from the camp to the assault of the
castle with shout and cry; and the monks and other priests who
had gone to meet the corpse and had striven with each other who
should be the first to come out and take the offering at the
burial, were now striving much more who should first get away
from the Varings; for they killed before their feet every one who
was nearest, whether clerk or unconsecrated. The Varings
rummaged so well this castle that they killed all the men,
pillaged everything and made an enormous booty.

11. OF HARALD.

Harald was many years in these campaigns, both in Serkland and
in Sicily. Then he came back to Constantinople with his troops
and stayed there but a little time before he began his expedition
to Jerusalem. There he left the pay he had received from the
Greek emperor and all the Varings who accompanied him did the
same. It is said that on all these expeditions Harald had fought
eighteen regular battles. So says Thiodolf: --

"Harald the Stern ne'er allowed
Peace to his foemen, false and proud;
In eighteen battles, fought and won,
The valour of the Norseman shone.
The king, before his home return,
Oft dyed the bald head of the erne
With bloody specks, and o'er the waste
The sharp-claw'd wolf his footsteps traced."

10. HARALD'S EXPEDITION TO PALESTINE.

Harald went with his men to the land of Jerusalem and then up to
the city of Jerusalem, and wheresoever he came in the land all
the towns and strongholds were given up to him. So says the
skald Stuf, who had heard the king himself relate these tidings:
--

"He went, the warrior bold and brave,
Jerusalem, the holy grave,
And the interior of the land,
To bring under the Greeks' command;
And by the terror of his name
Under his power the country came,
Nor needed wasting fire and sword
To yield obediance to his word."

Here it is told that this land came without fire and sword under
Harald's command. He then went out to Jordan and bathed therein,
according to the custom of other pilgrims. Harald gave great
gifts to our Lord's grave, to the Holy Cross, and other holy
relics in the land of Jerusalem. He also cleared the whole road
all the way out to Jordan, by killing the robbers and other
disturbers of the peace. So says the skald Stuf: --

"The Agder king cleared far and wide
Jordan's fair banks on either side;
The robber-bands before him fled,
And his great name was widely spread.
The wicked people of the land
Were punished here by his dread hand,
And they hereafter will not miss
Much worse from Jesus Christ than this."

13. HARALD PUT IN PRISON.

Thereafter he went back to Constantinople. When Harald returned
to Constantinople from Jerusalem he longed to return to the North
to his native land; and when he heard that Magnus Olafson, his
brother's son, had become king both of Norway and Denmark, he
gave up his command in the Greek service. And when the empress
Zoe heard of this she became angry and raised an accusation
against Harald that he had misapplied the property of the Greek
emperor which he had received in the campaigns in which he was
commander of the army. There was a young and beautiful girl
called Maria, a brother's daughter of the empress Zoe, and Harald
had paid his addresses to her; but the empress had given him a
refusal. The Varings, who were then in pay in Constantinople,
have told here in the North that there went a report among
well-informed people that the empress Zoe herself wanted Harald
for her husband, and that she chiefly blamed Harald for his
determination to leave Constantinople, although another reason
was given out to the public. Constantinus Monomachus was at
that time emperor of the Greeks and ruled along with Zoe. On
this account the Greek emperor had Harald made prisoner and
carried to prison.

14. KING OLAF'S MIRACLE AND BLINDING THE GREEK EMPEROR.

When Harald drew near to the prison King Olaf the Saint stood
before him and said he would assist him. On that spot of the
street a chapel has since been built and consecrated to Saint
Olaf and which chapel has stood there ever since. The prison was
so constructed that there was a high tower open above, but a door
below to go into it from the street. Through it Harald was
thrust in, along with Haldor and Ulf. Next night a lady of
distinction with two servants came, by the help of ladders, to
the top of the tower, let down a rope into the prison and hauled
them up. Saint Olaf had formerly cured this lady of a sickness
and he had appeared to her in a vision and told her to deliver
his brother. Harald went immediately to the Varings, who all
rose from their seats when he came in and received him with joy.
The men armed themselves forthwith and went to where the emperor
slept. They took the emperor prisoner and put out both the eyes
of him. So says Thorarin Skeggjason in his poem: --

"Of glowing gold that decks the hand
The king got plenty in this land;
But it's great emperor in the strife
Was made stone-blind for all his life."

So says Thiodolf, the skald, also: --

"He who the hungry wolf's wild yell
Quiets with prey, the stern, the fell,
Midst the uproar of shriek and shout
Stung tho Greek emperor's eyes both out:
The Norse king's mark will not adorn,
The Norse king's mark gives cause to mourn;
His mark the Eastern king must bear,
Groping his sightless way in fear."

In these two songs, and many others, it is told that Harald
himself blinded the Greek emperor; and they would surely have
named some duke, count, or other great man, if they had not known
this to be the true account; and King Harald himself and other
men who were with him spread the account.

15. HARALD'S JOURNEY FROM CONSTANTINOPLE.

The same night King Harald and his men went to the house where
Maria slept and carried her away by force. Then they went down
to where the galleys of the Varings lay, took two of them and
rowed out into Sjavid sound. When they came to the place where
the iron chain is drawn across the sound, Harald told his men to
stretch out at their oars in both galleys; but the men who were
not rowing to run all to the stern of the galley, each with his
luggage in his hand. The galleys thus ran up and lay on the iron
chain. As soon as they stood fast on it, and would advance no
farther, Harald ordered all the men to run forward into the bow.
Then the galley, in which Harald was, balanced forwards and swung
down over the chain; but the other, which remained fast athwart
the chain, split in two, by which many men were lost; but some
were taken up out of the sound. Thus Harald escaped out of
Constantinople and sailed thence into the Black Sea; but before
he left the land he put the lady ashore and sent her back with a
good escort to Constantinople and bade her tell her relation, the
Empress Zoe, how little power she had over Harald, and how little
the empress could have hindered him from taking the lady. Harald
then sailed northwards in the Ellipalta and then all round the
Eastern empire. On this voyage Harald composed sixteen songs for
amusement and all ending with the same words. This is one of
them: --

"Past Sicily's wide plains we flew,
A dauntless, never-wearied crew;
Our viking steed rushed through the sea,
As viking-like fast, fast sailed we.
Never, I think, along this shore
Did Norsemen ever sail before;
Yet to the Russian queen, I fear,
My gold-adorned, I am not dear."

With this he meant Ellisif, daughter of King Jarisleif in
Novgorod.

16. OF KING HARALD.

When Harald came to Novgorod King Jarisleif received him in the
most friendly way and he remained there all winter (A.D. 1045).
Then he took into his own keeping all the gold and the many kinds
of precious things which he had sent there from Constantinople
and which together made up so vast a treasure that no man in the
Northern lands ever saw the like of it in one man's possession.
Harald had been three times in the poluta-svarf while he was in
Constantinople. It is the custom, namely, there, that every time
one of the Greek emperors dies, the Varings are allowed
poluta-svarf; that is, they may go through all the emperor's
palaces where his treasures are and each may take and keep what
he can lay hold of while he is going through them.

17. KING HARALD'S MARRIAGE.

This winter King Jarisleif gave Harald his daughter Elisabeth in
marriage. She is called by the Northmen Ellisif. This is
related by Stuf the Blind, thus: --

"Agder's chief now got the queen
Who long his secret love had been.
Of gold, no doubt, a mighty store
The princess to her husband bore."

In spring he began his journey from Novgorod and came to
Aldeigjuborg, where he took shipping and sailed from the East in
summer. He turned first to Svithjod and came to Sigtuna. So
says Valgard o' Val: --

"The fairest cargo ship e'er bore,
From Russia's distant eastern shore
The gallant Harald homeward brings --
Gold, and a fame that skald still sings.
The ship through dashing foam he steers,
Through the sea-rain to Svithjod veers,
And at Sigtuna's grassy shores
His gallant vessel safely moors."

18. THE LEAGUE BETWEEN KING HARALD AND SVEIN ULFSON.

Harald found there before him Svein Ulfson, who the autumn before
(A.D. 1045) had fled from King Magnus at Helganes; and when they
met they were very friendly on both sides. The Swedish king,
Olaf the Swede, was brother of the mother of Ellisif, Harald's
wife; and Astrid, the mother of Svein, was King Olaf's sister.
Harald and Svein entered into friendship with each other and
confirmed it by oath. All the Swedes were friendly to Svein,
because he belonged to the greatest family in the country; and
thus all the Swedes were Harald's friends and helpers also, for
many great men were connected with him by relationship. So says
Thiodolf:

"Cross the East sea the vessel flew, --
Her oak-keel a white furrow drew
From Russia's coast to Swedish land.
Where Harald can great help command.
The heavy vessel's leeward side
Was hid beneath the rushing tide;
While the broad sail and gold-tipped mast
Swung to and fro in the hard blast."

19. KING HARALD'S FORAY.

Then Harald and Svein fitted out ships and gathered together a
great force; and when the troops were ready they sailed from the
East towards Denmark. So says Valgard: --

"Brave Yngve! to the land decreed
To thee by fate, with tempest speed
The winds fly with thee o'er the sea --
To thy own udal land with thee.
As past the Scanlan plains they fly,
The gay ships glances 'twixt sea and sky,
And Scanian brides look out, and fear
Some ill to those they hold most dear."