Chapter 21
King Harold was in Vik while Thorolf was harrying, and in the autumn he went to Upland, and thence northward to Throndheim, where he stayed through the winter with a large force. Sigtrygg and Hallvard were with him: they had heard what Thorolf had done at their house on Hising, what scathe he had wrought on men and property. They often reminded the king of this, and withal how Thorolf had plundered the king and his subjects, and had gone about harrying within the land. They begged the king's leave that they two brothers might go with their usual following and attack Thorolf in his home.
The king answered thus: 'Ye may think ye have good cause for taking Thorolf's life, but I doubt your fortune falls far short of this work. Thorolf is more than your match, brave and doughty as ye may deem yourselves.'
The brothers said that his would be put to the proof, if the king would grant them leave; they had often run great risk against men on whom they had less to avenge, and generally they had won the day.
And when spring came, and men made ready to go their several ways, then did Hallvard and his brother again urge their request that they might go and take Thorolf's life. So the king gave them leave. 'And I know,' he said, 'ye will bring me his head and many costly things withal when ye come back; yet some do guess that if ye sail north ye will both sail and row south.'
They made them ready with all speed, taking two ships and two hundred men; and when they were ready they sailed with a north-east wind out of the firth, but that is a head-wind for those coasting northward.
Chapter 22
King Harold was at Hlada when the brothers went away. Immediately after this the king made him ready with all haste, and embarked his force on four ships, and they rowed up the firth, and so by Beitis-sea inwards to the isthmus of Elda. There he left his ships behind, and crossed the isthmus northwards to Naumdale. The king there took ships belonging to the landowners, and embarked his force on them, having with him his guard; four hundred men they were. Six ships he had well equipped both with weapons and men. They encountered a fresh head-wind, and rowed night and day, making what progress they could. The night was then light enough for travel.
On the evening of a day after sunset they came to Sandness, and saw lying there opposite the farm a long-ship with tent spread, which they knew to be Thorolf's. He was even then purposing to sail away, and had bidden them brew the ale for their parting carousal. The king ordered his men to disembark and his standard to be raised. It was but a short way to the farm buildings.
Thorolf's watchmen sate within drinking, and were not gone to their posts; not a man was without; all sate within drinking. The king had a ring of men set round the hall: they then shouted a war-whoop, and a war-blast was blown on the king's trumpet. On hearing which Thorolf's men sprang to their weapons, for each man's weapons hung above his seat. The king caused some to make proclamation at the door, bidding women, children, old men, thralls, and bondmen to come out. Then came out Sigridr the mistress, and with her the women that were within, and the others to whom permission was given. Sigridr asked if the sons of Kari of Berdla were there. They both came forward and asked what she would of them.
'Lead me to the king,' said she.
They did so. But when she came to the king, she said: 'Will anything, my lord, avail to reconcile thee with Thorolf?'
The king answered, 'If Thorolf will yield him to my mercy, then shall he have life and limb, but his men shall undergo punishment according to the charges against them.'
Upon this Aulvir Hnuf went to the room, and had Thorolf called to speak with him, and told him what terms the king offered them.
Thorolf answered that he would not take of the king compulsory terms or reconciliation. 'Bid thou the king allow us to go out, and then leave we things to go their own course.'
The king said: 'Set fire to the room; I will not waste my men by doing battle with him outside; I know that Thorolf will work us great man-scathe if he come out, though he has fewer men than we.'
So fire was set to the room, and it soon caught, because the wood was dry and the walls tarred and the roof thatched with birch-bark. Thorolf bade his men break up the wainscoting and get gable-beams, and so burst through the planking; and when they got the beams, then as many men as could hold on to it took one beam, and they rammed at the corner with the other beam-end so hard that the clasps flew out, and the walls started asunder, and there was a wide outlet.
First went out Thorolf, then Thorgils Yeller, then the rest one after another. Fierce then was the fight; nor for awhile could it be seen which had the better of it, for the room guarded the rear of Thorolf's force. The king lost many men before the room began to burn; then the fire attacked Thorolf's side, and many of them fell. Now Thorolf bounded forwards and hewed on either hand; small need to bind the wounds of those who encountered him. He made for where the king's standard was, and at this moment fell Thorgils Yeller. But when Thorolf reached the shield-wall, he pierced with a stroke the standard-bearer, crying, 'Now am I but three feet short of my aim.' Then bore at him both sword and spear; but the king himself dealt him his death-wound, and he fell forward at the king's feet. The king called out then, and bade them cease further slaughter; and they did so.
After this the king bade his men go down to the ships. To Aulvir Hnuf and his brother he said:
'Take ye Thorolf your kinsman and give him honourable burial; bury also the other men who have fallen, and see to the binding of the wounds of those who have hope of life; but let none plunder here, for all this is my property.'
This said, the king went down to his ships, and most of his force with him; and when they were come on board men began to bind their wounds. The king went round the ship and looked at men's wounds; and when he saw a man binding a surface-wound, he said: 'Thorolf gave not that wound; his weapon bites far otherwise; few, methinks, bind the wounds which he gave; and great loss have we in such men.'
As soon as day dawned the king had his sail hoisted, and sailed south as fast as he could. As the day wore on, they came upon many rowing-vessels in all the sounds between the islands; the forces on board them had meant to join Thorolf, for spies of his had been southwards as far as Naumdale, and far and wide about the islands. These had got to know how Hallvard and his brother were come from the south with a large force meaning to attack Thorolf. Hallvard's company had constantly met a head-wind, and had waited about in various havens till news of them had gone the upper way overland, and Thorolf's spies had become aware of it, and this gathering of force was on this account.
The king sailed before a strong wind till he came to Naumdale; there he left the ships behind, and went by land to Throndheim, where he took his own ships that he had left there, and thence stood out to Hlada. These tidings were soon heard, and reached Hallvard and his men where they lay. They then returned to the king, and their voyage was much mocked at.
The brothers Aulvir Hnuf and Eyvind Lambi remained awhile at Sandness and saw to the burial of the slain. To Thorolf's body they gave all the customary honours paid at the burial of a man of wealth and renown, and set over him a memorial stone. They saw also to the healing of the wounded. They arranged also the house with Sigridr; all the stock remained, but most of the house-furniture and table-service and clothing was burnt. And when this was done, they went south and came to king Harold at Throndheim, and were with him for awhile.
They were sad, and spoke little with others. And it was so that one day the brothers went before the king, and Aulvir said:
'This permission we brothers claim of thee, O king, that we go home to our farms; for such things have happened here that we have no heart to share drink and seat with those who drew weapon on our kinsman Thorolf.'
The king looked at them, and answered curtly:
'I will not grant you this; ye shall be here with me.'
They went back to their place.
Next day, as the king sat in the audience hall, he had the brothers called to him, and said:
'Now shall ye know of that your business which ye began with me, craving to go home. Ye have been some while here with me, and have borne you well, and always done your duty. I have thought well of you in everything. Now will I, Eyvind, that thou go north to Halogaland. I will give thee in marriage Sigridr of Sandness, her that Thorolf had to wife; and I will bestow on thee all the wealth that belonged to Thorolf; thou shalt also have my friendship if thou canst keep it. But Aulvir shall remain with me; for his skill as skald I cannot spare him.'
The brothers thanked the king for the honour granted to them, and said that they would willingly accept it.
Then Eyvind made him ready for the journey, getting a good and suitable ship. The king gave him tokens for this matter. His voyage sped well, and he came north to Alost and Sandness. Sigridr welcomed him; and Eyvind then showed her the king's tokens and declared his errand, and asked her in marriage, saying that it was the king's message that he should obtain this match. But Sigridr saw that her only choice, as things had gone, was to let the king rule it. So the arrangement was made, and Eyvind married Sigridr, receiving with her the farm at Sandness and all the property that had been Thorolf's. Thus Eyvind was a wealthy man.
The children of Eyvind and Sigridr were Fid Squinter, father of Eyvind Skald-spoiler, and Geirlaug, whom Sighvat Red had to wife. Fid Squinter married Gunnhilda, daughter of earl Halfdan. Her mother was Ingibjorg, daughter of king Harold Fairhair. Eyvind Lambi kept the king's friendship so long as they both lived.
Chapter 23
There was a man named Kettle Hæing, son of Thorkel earl of Naumdale, and of Hrafnilda daughter of Kettle Hæing of Hrafnista. He was a man of wealth and renown; he had been a fast friend of Thorolf Kveldulf's son, and was his near kinsman. He had been out on that expedition when forces gathered in Halogaland with intent to join Thorolf, as has been written above. But when king Harold went south, and men knew of Thorolf's slaying, then they called a gathering.
Hæing took with him sixty men, and turned to Torgar. Hildirida's sons were there, and few men with them. He went up to the farm, and made an attack on them; and there fell Hildirida's sons, and most of those who were there; and Hæing and his company took all the wealth they could lay hands on. After that Hæing took two ships of burden, the largest he could get, and put on board all the wealth belonging to him that he could carry; his wife and children also he took, and all the men that had been with him in the late work. And when they were ready and the wind blew fair, they sailed out to sea. A man named Baug, Hæing's foster-brother, of good family and wealthy, steered the second ship.
A few winters before Ingjolf and Hjorleif had gone to settle in Iceland; their voyage was much talked about, and 'twas said there was good choice of land there. So Hæing sailed west over the sea to seek Iceland. And when they saw land, they were approaching it from the south. But because the wind was boisterous, and the surf ran high on the shore, and there was no haven, they sailed on westwards along the sandy coast. And when the wind began to abate, and the surf to calm down, there before them was a wide river-mouth. Up this river they steered their ships, and lay close to the eastern shore thereof. That river is now called Thjors-river; its stream was then much narrower and deeper that it is now. They unloaded their ships, then searched the land eastward of the river, bringing their cattle after them. Hæing remained for the first winter on the eastern bank of the outer Rang-river.
But in the spring he searched the land eastwards, and then took land between Thjors-river and Mark-fleet, from fell to firth, and made his home at Hofi by east Rang-river. Ingunn his wife bare a son in this spring after their first winter, and the boy was named Hrafn. And though the house there was pulled down, the place continued to be called Hrafn-toft.
Hæing gave Baug land in Fleet-lithe, down from Mark-river to the river outside Breidabolstead; and he dwelt at Lithe-end. To his shipmates Hæing gave land or sold it for a small price, and these first settlers are called land-takers. Hæing had sons Storolf, Herjolf, Helgi, Vestar; they all had land. Hrafn was Hæing's fifth son. He was the first law-man in Iceland; he dwelt at Hofi after his father, and was the most renowned of Hæing's sons.
Chapter 24
Kveldulf heard of his son Thorolf's death, and so deeply grieved was he at the tidings that he took to his bed from sorrow and age. Skallagrim came often to him, and talked with him; he bade him cheer up. 'Anything,' (he said) ' was more fitting than to become worthless and lie bedridden; better counsel is it that we seek to avenge Thorolf. Maybe we shall come across some of those who took part in his slaying; but if not that, yet there will be men whom we can reach, and thereby displease the king.'
Kveldulf sang a stave:
'Thorolf in northern isle(O cruel Norns!) is dead:Too soon the Thunder-godHath ta'en my warrior son.Thor's heavy wrestler, age,Holds my weak limbs from fray:Though keen my spirit spurs,No speedy vengeance mine.'
King Harold went that summer to Upland, and in the autumn westwards to Valres, and as far as Vors. Aulvir Hnuf was with the king, and often spoke with him about whether he would pay atonement for Thorolf, granting to Kveldulf and Skallagrim money compensation, or such honour as would content them. The king did not altogether refuse this, if father and son would come to him. Whereupon Aulvir started northwards for the Firths, nor stayed his journey till he came one evening to these twain. They received him gratefully, and he remained there for some time. Kveldulf questioned Aulvir closely about the doings at Sandness when Thorolf fell, what doughty deeds Thorolf had wrought before he fell, who smote him with weapon, where he received most wounds, what was the manner of his fall. Aulvir told him all that he asked; and that king Harold gave him the wound that was alone enough for his bane, and that Thorolf fell forward at the very feet of the king.
Then answered Kveldulf: 'Good is that thou tellest; for 'tis an old saw that he will be avenged who falls forward, and that vengeance will reach him who stands before him when he falls; yet is it unlikely that such good-fortune will be ours.'
Aulvir told father and son that he hoped, if they would go to the king and crave atonement, that it would be a journey to their honour; and he bade them venture this, adding many words to that end.
Kveldulf said he was too old to travel: 'I shall sit at home,' said he.
'Wilt thou go, Grim?' said Aulvir.
'I think I have no errand thither,' said Grim; 'I shall seem to the king not fluent in speech; nor do I think I shall long pray for atonement.'
Aulvir said that he would not need to do so: 'We will do all the speaking for thee as well as we can.'
And seeing that Aulvir pressed this matter strongly, Grim promised to go when he thought he could be ready. He and Aulvir set them a time when Grim should come to the king. Then Aulvir went away first, and returned to the king.
Chapter 25
Skallagrim made him ready for this journey, choosing out of his household and neighbours the strongest and doughtiest that were to be found. One was Ani, a wealthy landowner, another Grani, a third Grimolf and his brother Grim, house-carles these of Skallagrim, and the two brothers Thorbjorn Krum and Thord Beigaldi. These were called Thororna's sons; she dwelt hard by Skallagrim, and was of magic skill. Beigaldi was a coal-biter. There was a man named Thorir Giant, and his brother Thorgeir Earthlong, Odd Lonedweller, and Griss Freedman. Twelve there were for the journey, all stalwart men, and several of them shape-strong.
They took a rowing-ship of Skallagrim's, went southwards along the coast, stood in to Ostra Firth, then travelled by land up to Vors to the lake there; and, their course lying so that they must cross it, they got a suitable rowing-ship and ferried them over, whence they had not very far to go to the farm where the king was being entertained.
They came there at the time when the king was gone to table. Some men they found to speak with outside in the yard, and asked what was going on. This being told them, Grim begged one to call Aulvir Hnuf to speak with him. The man went into the room and up to where Aulvir sat, and said: 'There be men here outside newly come, twelve together, if men one may call them, for they are liker to giants in stature and semblance than to mortal men.'
Aulvir at once rose and went out, for he knew who they were who had come. He greeted well his kinsman Grim, and bade him go with him into the room.
Grim said to his comrades: ''Tis the custom here that men go weaponless before the king; six of us shall go in, the other six shall bide without and keep our weapons.'
Then they entered, and Aulvir went up to the king, Skallagrim standing at his back. Aulvir was spokesman: 'Here now is come Grim Kveldulf's son; we shall feel thankful to thee, O king, if thou make his journey hither a good one, as we hope it will be. Many get great honour from thee to whom less is due, and who are not nearly so accomplished as is he in every kind of skill. Thou wilt also do this because it is a matter of moment to me, if that is of any worth in thy opinion.'
Aulvir spoke fully and fluently, for he was a man ready of words. And many other friends of Aulvir went before the king and pleaded this cause.
The king looked round, and saw that a man stood at Aulvir's back taller than the others by a head, and bald.
'Is that Skallagrim,' asked the king, 'that tall man?'
Grim said he guessed rightly.
'I will then,' said the king, 'if thou cravest atonement for Thorolf, that thou become my liege-man, and enter my guard here and serve me. Maybe I shall so like thy service that I shall grant thee atonement for thy brother, or other honour not less than I granted him; but thou must know how to keep it better than he did, if I make thee as great a man as was he.'
Skallagrim answered: 'It is well known how far superior to me was Thorolf in every point, and he got no luck by serving thee, O king. Now will I not take that counsel; serve thee I will not, for I know I should get no luck by yielding thee such service as I should wish and as would be worthy. Methinks I should fail herein more than Thorolf.'
The king was silent, and his face became blood-red. Aulvir at once turned away, and bade Grim and his men go out. They did so. They went out, and took their weapons, and Aulvir bade them begone with all haste. He and many with him escorted them to the water-side. Before parting with Skallagrim, Aulvir said:
'Kinsman, thy journey to the king ended otherwise than I would have chosen. I urged much thy coming hither; now, I entreat thee, go home with all speed, and come not in the way of king Harold, unless there be better agreement between you than now seems likely, and keep thee well from the king and from his men.'
Then Grim and his company went over the water; but Aulvir with his men, going to the ships drawn up by the water-side, so hacked them about that none was fit to launch. For they saw men coming down from the king's house, a large body well armed and advancing furiously. These men king Harold had sent after them to slay Grim. The king had found words soon after Grim went out, and said:
'This I see in that tall baldhead: that he is brim full of wolfishness, and he will, if he can reach them, work scathe on men whom we should be loth to lose. Ye may be sure, ye against whom he may bear a grudge, that he will spare none, if he get a chance. Wherefore go after him and slay him.'
Upon this they went and came to the water, and saw no ship there fit to launch. So they went back and told the king of their journey, and that Grim and his comrades would now have got clear over the lake.
Skallagrim went his way with his comrades till he reached home; he then told Kveldulf of this journey. Kveldulf showed him well pleased that Skallagrim had not gone to the king on this errand to take service under him; he still said, as before, that from the king they would get only loss and no amends. Kveldulf and Skallagrim spoke often of their plans, and on this they were agreed, that they would not be able to remain in the land any more than other men who were at enmity with the king, but their counsel must be to go abroad. And it seemed to them desirable to seek Iceland, for good reports were given about choice of land there. Already friends and acquaintances of theirs had gone thither - to wit, Ingolf Arnarson, and his companions - and had taken to them land and homestead in Iceland. Men might take land there free of cost, and choose their homestead at will.
So they quite settled to break up their household and go abroad.
Thorir Hroaldson had in his childhood been fostered with Kveldulf, and he and Skallagrim were about of an age, and as foster-brothers were dear friends. Thorir had become a baron of the king's at the time when the events just told happened, but the friendship between him and Skallagrim continued.
Early in the spring Kveldulf and his company made ready their ships. They had plenty of good craft to choose from; they made ready two large ships of burden, and took in each thirty able-bodied men, besides women and children. All the movable goods that they could carry they took with them, but their lands none dared buy, for fear of the king's power. And when they were ready, they sailed away: first to the islands called Solundir, which are many and large, and so scored with bays that few men (it is said) know all their havens.