Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway
foreign people. Dost thou not know that men in other countries exercise
themselves in other feats than in filling themselves with ale, and
making themselves mad, and so unfit for everything that they scarcely
know each other? Give Harald his ring, and do not try to make a fool of
him again, as long as I am above ground."
36. OF SIGURD'S SWIMMING.
It happened once that Sigurd was out in his ship, which lay in the
harbour; and there lay a merchant ship, which was an Iceland trader, at
the side of it. Harald Gille was in the forecastle of the king's ship,
and Svein Rimhildson, a son of Knut Sveinson of Jadar, had his berth the
next before him. There was also Sigurd Sigurdson, a gallant lenderman,
who himself commanded a ship. It was a day of beautiful weather and warm
sunshine, and many went out to swim, both from the long-ship and the
merchant vessel. An Iceland man, who was among the swimmers, amused
himself by drawing those under water who could not swim so well as
himself; and at that the spectators laughed. When King Sigurd saw and
heard this, he cast off his clothes, sprang into the water, and swam to
the Icelander, seized him, and pressed him under the water, and held him
there; and as soon as the Icelander came up the king pressed him down
again, and thus the one time after the other.
Then said Sigurd Sigurdson, "Shall we let the king kill this man?"
Somebody said, "No one has any wish to interfere."
Sigurd replies, that "If Dag Eilifson were here, we should not be
without one who dared."
Then Sigurd sprang overboard, swam to the king, took hold of him, and
said, "Sire, do not kill the man. Everybody sees that you are a much
better swimmer."
The king replies, "Let me loose, Sigurd: I shall be his death, for he
will destroy our people under water."
Sigurd says, "Let us first amuse ourselves; and, Icelander, do thou set
off to the land," which he did. The king now got loose from Sigurd, and
swam to his ship, and Sigurd went his way: but the king ordered that
Sigurd should not presume to come into his presence; this was reported
to Sigurd, and so he went up into the country.
37. OF HARALD AND SVEIN RIMHILDSON.
In the evening, when people were going to bed, some of the ship's men
were still at their games up in the country. Harald was with those who
played on the land, and told his footboy to go out to the ship, make his
bed, and wait for him there. The lad did as he was ordered. The king had
gone to sleep; and as the boy thought Harald late, he laid himself in
Harald's berth. Svein Rimhildson said, "It is a shame for brave men to
be brought from their farms at home, and to have here serving boys to
sleep beside them." The lad said that Harald had ordered him to come
there. Svein Rimhildson said, "We do not so much care for Harald himself
lying here, if he do not bring here his slaves and beggars;" and seized
a riding-whip, and struck the boy on the head until the blood flowed
from him. The boy ran immediately up the country, and told Harald what
had happened, who went immediately out to the ship, to the aft part of
the forecastle, and with a pole-axe struck Svein so that he received a
severe wound on his hands; and then Harald went on shore. Svein ran to
the land after him, and, gathering his friends, took Harald prisoner,
and they were about hanging him. But while they were busy about this,
Sigurd Sigurdson went out to the king's ship and awoke him. When the
king opened his eyes and recognised Sigurd, he said. "For this reason
thou shalt die, that thou hast intruded into my presence; for thou
knowest that I forbade thee:" and with these words the king sprang up.
Sigurd replied, "That is in your power as soon as you please; but other
business is more urgent. Go to the land as quickly as possible to help
thy brother; for the Rogaland people are going to hang him."
Then said the king, "God give us luck, Sigurd! Call my trumpeter, and
let him call the people all to land, and to meet me."
The king sprang on the land, and all who knew him followed him to where
the gallows was being erected. The king instantly took Harald to him;
and all the people gathered to the king in full armour, as they heard
the trumpet. Then the king ordered that Svein and all his comrades
should depart from the country as outlaws; but by the intercession of
good men the king was prevailed on to let them remain and hold their
properties, but no mulct should be paid for Svein's wound.
Then Sigurd Sigurdson asked if the king wished that he should go forth
out of the country.
"That will I not," said the king; "for I can never be without thee."
38. OF KING OLAF'S MIRACLE.
There was a young and poor man called Kolbein; and Thora, King Sigurd
the Crusader's mother, had ordered his tongue to be cut out of his
mouth, and for no other cause than that this young man had taken a piece
of meat out of the king-mother's tub which he said the cook had given
him, and which the cook had not ventured to serve up to her. The man had
long gone about speechless. So says Einar Skulason in Olaf's ballad:--
"The proud rich dame, for little cause,
Had the lad's tongue cut from his jaws:
The helpless man, of speech deprived,
His dreadful sore wound scarce survived.
A few weeks since at Hild was seen,
As well as ever he had been,
The same poor lad--to speech restored
By Olaf's power, whom he adored."
Afterwards the young man came to Nidaros, and watched in the Christ
church; but at the second mass for Olaf before matins he fell asleep,
and thought he saw King Olaf the Saint coming to him; and that Olaf
talked to him, and took hold with his hands of the stump of his tongue
and pulled it. Now when he awoke he found himself restored, and joyfully
did he thank our Lord and the holy Saint Olaf, who had pitied and helped
him; for he had come there speechless, and had gone to the holy shrine,
and went away cured, and with his speech clear and distinct.
39. KING OLAF'S MIRACLE WITH A PRISONER.
The heathens took prisoner a young man of Danish family and carried him
to Vindland, where he was in fetters along with other prisoners. In
the day-time he was alone in irons, without a guard; but at night a
peasant's son was beside him in the chain, that he might not escape from
them. This poor man never got sleep or rest from vexation and sorrow,
and considered in many ways what could help him; for he had a great
dread of slavery, and was pining with hunger and torture. He could not
again expect to be ransomed by his friends, as they had already restored
him twice from heathen lands with their own money; and he well knew that
it would be difficult and expensive for them to submit a third time to
this burden. It is well with the man who does not undergo so much in the
world as this man knew he had suffered. He saw but one way; and that
was to get off and escape if he could. He resolved upon this in the
night-time, killed the peasant, and cut his foot off after killing him,
and set off to the forest with the chain upon his leg. Now when the
people knew this, soon after daylight in the morning, they pursued him
with two dogs accustomed to trace any one who escaped, and to find him
in the forest however carefully he might be concealed. They got him
into their hands and beat him, and did him all kinds of mischief; and
dragging him home, left barely alive, and showed him no mercy. They
tortured him severely; put him in a dark room, in which there lay
already sixteen Christian men; and bound him both with iron and other
tyings, as fast as they could. Then he began to think that the
misery and pain he had endured before were but shadows to his present
sufferings. He saw no man before his eyes in this prison who would beg
for mercy for him; no one had compassion on his wretchedness, except
the Christian men who lay bound with him, who sorrowed with him, and
bemoaned his fate together with their own misfortunes and helplessness.
One day they advised him to make a vow to the holy King Olaf, to devote
himself to some office in his sacred house, if he, by God's compassion
and Saint Olaf's prayers could get away from this prison. He gladly
agreed to this, and made a vow and prepared himself for the situation
they mentioned to him. The night after he thought in his sleep that he
saw a man, not tall, standing at his side, who spoke to him thus, "Here,
thou wretched man, why dost thou not get up?"
He replied, "Sir, who are you?"
"I am King Olaf, on whom thou hast called."
"Oh, my good lord! gladly would I raise myself; but I lie bound with
iron and with chains on my legs, and also the other men who lie here."
Thereupon the king accosts him with the words, "Stand up at once and be
not afraid; for thou art loose."
He awoke immediately, and told his comrades what, had appeared to him in
his dream. They told him to stand up, and try if it was true. He stood
up, and observed that he was loose. Now said his fellow-prisoners, this
would help him but little, for the door was locked both on the inside
and on the outside. Then an old man who sat there in a deplorable
condition put in his word, and told him not to doubt the mercy of the
man who had loosened his chains; "For he has wrought this miracle on
thee that thou shouldst enjoy his mercy, and hereafter be free, without
suffering more misery and torture. Make haste, then, and seek the door;
and if thou are able to slip out, thou art saved."
He did so, found the door open, slipped out, and away to the forest. As
soon as the Vindland people were aware of this they set loose the dogs,
and pursued him in great haste; and the poor man lay hid, and saw well
where they were following him. But now the hounds lost the trace when
they came nearer, and all the eyes that sought him were struck with a
blindness, so that nobody could find him, although he lay before their
feet; and they all returned home, vexed that they could not find him.
King Olaf did not permit this man's destruction after he had reached the
forest, and restored him also to his health and hearing; for they had so
long tortured and beaten him that he had become deaf. At last he came
on board of a ship, with two other Christian men who had been long
afflicted in that country. All of them worked zealously in this vessel,
and so had a successful flight. Then he repaired to the holy man's
house, strong and fit to bear arms. Now he was vexed at his vow, went
from his promise to the holy king, ran away one day, and came in the
evening to a bonde who gave him lodging for God's sake. Then in the
night he saw three girls coming to him; and handsome and nobly dressed
were they. They spoke to him directly, and sharply reprimanded him for
having been so bold as to run from the good king who had shown so much
compassion to him, first in freeing him from his irons, and then from
the prison; and yet he had deserted the mild master into whose service
he had entered. Then he awoke full of terror, got up early, and told the
house-father his dream. The good man had nothing so earnest in life as
to send him-back to the holy place. This miracle was first written down
by a man who himself saw the man, and the marks of the chains upon his
body.
40. KING SIGURD MARRIES CECILIA.
In the last period of King Sigurd's life, his new and extraordinary
resolution was whispered about, that he would be divorced from his
queen, and would take Cecilia, who was a great man's daughter, to wife.
He ordered accordingly a great feast to be prepared, and intended to
hold his wedding with her in Bergen. Now when Bishop Magne heard this,
he was very sorry; and one day the bishop goes to the king's hall, and
with him a priest called Sigurd, who was afterwards bishop of Bergen.