Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway
been adorned with great zeal for the God to whom it is dedicated; but,
methinks, He has shown little regard for the town or house: so I see
their God has been angry at those who defended them." King Rettibur gave
the priest Andres the church, the shrine, the holy cross, the Bible,
the altar-book, and four clerks (prisoners); but the heathens burnt the
Castle church, and all the houses that were in the castle. As the fire
they had set to the church went out twice, they hewed the church down,
and then it burnt like other houses. Then the heathens went to their
ships with the booty; but when they mustered their people and saw their
loss, they made prisoners of all the people, and divided them among the
vessels. Now priest Andres went on board the king's ship with the holy
cross, and there came a great terror over the heathens on account of the
portentous circumstance which took place in the king's ship; namely,
it became so hot that all thought they were to be burnt up. The king
ordered the interpreter to ask the priest why this happened. He replied,
that the Almighty God on whom the Christians believed, sent them a proof
of His anger, that they who would not believe in their Creator presumed
to lay hands on the emblem of His suffering; and that there lay so much
power in the cross, that such, and even clearer miracles, happened to
heathen men who had taken the cross in their hands. The king had the
priest put into the ship's boat, and the priest Andres carried the holy
cross in his grasp. They led the boat along past the ship's bow,
and then along the side of the next ship, and then shoved it with a
boat-hook in beside the pier. Then Andres went with the cross by night
to Solbjorg, in rain and dreadful weather; but brought it in good
preservation. King Rettibur, and the men he had remaining, went home
to Vindland, and many of the people who were taken at Konungahella were
long afterwards in slavery in Vindland; and those who were ransomed and
came back to Norway to their udal lands and properties, throve worse
than before their capture. The merchant town of Konungahella has never
since risen to the importance it was of before this event.
12. OF MAGNUS THE BLIND.
King Magnus, after he was deprived of sight, went north to Nidaros,
where he went into the cloister on the holm, and assumed the monk's
dress. The cloister received the farm of Great Hernes in Frosta for his
support. King Harald alone ruled the country the following winter, gave
all men peace and pardon who desired it, and took many of the men into
his court-service who had been with King Magnus. Einar Skulason says
that King Harald had two battles in Denmark; the one at Hvedn Isle, and
the other at Hlesey Isle:--
"Unwearied champion! who wast bred
To stain thy blue-edged weapons red!
Beneath high Hvedn's rocky shore,
The faithless felt thy steel once more."
And again, thus:--
"On Hlesey's plain the foe must quail
'Fore him who dyes their shirts of mail.
His storm-stretched banner o'er his head
Flies straight, and fills the foe with dread."
13. OF KING HARALD GILLE AND BISHOP MAGNUS.
King Harald Gille was a very generous man. It is told that in his time
Magnus Einarson came from Iceland to be consecrated a bishop, and the
king received him well, and showed him much respect. When the bishop was
ready to sail for Iceland again, and the ship was rigged out for sea, he
went to the hall where the king was drinking, saluted him politely and
warmly, and the king received him joyfully. The queen was sitting beside
the king.
Then said the king, "Are you ready, bishop, for your voyage?"
He replied that he was.
The king said, "You come to us just now at a bad time; for the tables
are just removed, and there is nothing at hand suitable to present to
you. What is there to give the bishop?"
The treasurer replies, "Sire, as far as I know, all articles of any
value are given away."
The king: "Here is a drinking goblet remaining; take this, bishop; it is
not without value."
The bishop expressed his thanks for the honour shown him.
Then said the queen, "Farewell, bishop! and a happy voyage."
The king said to her, "When did you ever hear a noble lady say so to a
bishop without giving him something?"
She replies, "Sire, what have I to give him?"
The king: "Thou hast the cushion under thee."
Thereupon this, which was covered with costly cloth, and was a valuable
article, was given to the bishop. When the bishop was going away the
king took the cushion from under himself and gave it him, saying, "They
have long been together." When the bishop arrived in Iceland to his
bishop's see, it was talked over what should be done with the goblet
that would be serviceable for the king; and when the bishop asked
the opinion of other people, many thought it should be sold, and the
value-bestowed on the poor. Then said the bishop, "I will take another
plan. I will have a chalice made of it for this church, and consecrate
it, so that all the saints of whom there are relics in this church shall
let the king have some good for his gift every time a mass is sung over
it." This chalice has since belonged to the bishopric of Skalholt; and
of the costly cloth with which the cushions given him by the king were
covered, were made the choristers' cloaks which are now in Skalholt.
From this the generous spirit of King Harald may be seen, as well as
from many other things, of which but a few are set down here.
14. BEGINNING OF SIGURD SLEMBIDJAKN.
There was a man, by name Sigurd, who was brought up in Norway, and was
called priest Adalbrikt's son. Sigurd's mother was Thora, a daughter of
Saxe of Vik, a sister of Sigrid, who was mother of King Olaf Magnuson,
and of Kare, the king's brother who married Borghild, a daughter of Dag
Eilifson. Their sons were Sigurd of Austrat and Dag. Sigurd of Austrat's
sons were Jon of Austrat, Thorstein, and Andres the Deaf. Jon was
married to Sigrid, a sister of King Inge and of Duke Skule. This
Sigurd, in his childhood, was kept at his book, became a clerk, and was
consecrated a deacon; but as he ripened in years and strength he became
a very clever man, stout, strong, distinguished for all perfections and
exercises beyond any of his years,--indeed, beyond any man in Norway.
Sigurd showed early traces of a haughty ungovernable spirit, and was
therefore called Slembidjakn. He was as handsome a man as could be seen,
with rather thin but beautiful hair. When it came to Sigurd's ears that
his mother said King Magnus was his father, he laid aside all clerkship;
and as soon as he was old enough to be his own master, he left the
country. He was a long time on his travels, went to Palestine; was at
the Jordan river; and visited many holy places, as pilgrims usually do.
When he came back, he applied himself to trading expeditions. One winter
he was in Orkney with Earl Harald, and was with him when Thorkel Fostre
Summarlidason was killed. Sigurd was also in Scotland with the Scottish
king David, and was held in great esteem by him. Thereafter Sigurd went
to Denmark; and according to the account of himself and his men, he
there submitted to the iron ordeal to confirm his paternal descent, and
proved by it, in the presence of five bishops, that he was a son of King
Magnus Barefoot. So says Ivar Ingemundson, in Sigurd's song:--
"The holiest five
Of men alive,--
Bishops were they,--
Solemnly say,
The iron glowing
Red hot, yet showing
No scaith on skin,
Proves cause and kin."
King Harald Gille's friends, however, said this was only a lie, and
deceit of the Danes.
15. SIGURD IN ICELAND.
It is told before of Sigurd that he passed some years in merchant
voyages, and he came thus to Iceland one winter, and took up his lodging
with Thorgils Odson in Saurby; but very few knew where he was. In
autumn, when the sheep were being driven into a fold to be slaughtered,
a sheep that was to be caught ran to Sigurd; and as Sigurd thought the
sheep ran to him for protection, he stretched out his hands to it and
lifted it over the fold dyke, and let it run to the hills, saying,
"There are not many who seek help from me, so I may well help this one."
It happened the same winter that a woman had committed a theft, and
Thorgils, who was angry at her for it, was going to punish her; but
she ran to Sigurd to ask his help, and he set her upon the bench by
his side. Thorgils told him to give her up, and told him what she had
committed; but Sigurd begged forgiveness for her since she had come
to him for protection, and that Thorgils would dismiss the complaint
against her, but Thorgils insisted that she should receive her
punishment. When Sigurd saw that Thorgils would not listen to his
entreaty, he started up, drew his sword, and bade him take her if he
dared; and Thorgils seeing that Sigurd would defend the woman by force
of arms, and observing his commanding mien, guessed who he must be,
desisted from pursuing the woman, and pardoned her. There were many
foreign men there, and Sigurd made the least appearance among them. One
day Sigurd came into the sitting-room, and a Northman who was splendidly
clothed was playing chess with one of Thorads house-servants. The
Northman called Sigurd, and asked him his advice how to play; but when
Sigurd looked at the board, he saw the game was lost. The man who
was playing against the Northman had a sore foot, so that one toe was
bruised, and matter was coming out of it. Sigurd, who was sitting on the
bench, takes a straw, and draws it along the floor, so that some young
kittens ran after it. He drew the straw always before them, until they
came near the house-servant's foot, who jumping up with a scream, threw
the chessmen in disorder on the board; and thus it was a dispute how the
game had stood. This is given as a proof of Sigurd's cunning. People did
not know that he was a learned clerk until the Saturday before Easter,
when he consecrated the holy water with chant; and the longer he stayed
there the more he was esteemed. The summer after, Sigurd told Thorgils
before they parted, that he might with all confidence address his
friends to Sigurd Slembidjakn. Thorgils asked how nearly he was related
to him, on which he replies, "I am Sigurd Slembidjakn, a son of King
Magnus Barefoot." He then left Iceland.
16. OF SIGURD SLEMBE.
When Harald Gille had been six years (A.D. 1136), king of Norway, Sigurd
came to the country and went to his brother King Harald, and found him
in Bergen. He placed himself entirely in the king's hands, disclosed
who his father was, and asked him to acknowledge their relationship. The
king gave him no hasty or distinct reply; but laid the matter before
his friends in a conference at a specially appointed meeting. After
this conference it became known that the king laid an accusation against
Sigurd, because he had been at the killing of Thorkel Fostre in the
West. Thorkel had accompanied Harald to Norway when he first came to
the country, and had been one of Harald's best friends. This case was
followed up so severely, that a capital accusation against Sigurd was
made, and, by the advice of the lendermen, was carried so far, that some
of the king's pursuivants went one evening late to Sigurd, and called
him to them. They then took a boat and rowed away with Sigurd from the
town south to Nordnes. Sigurd sat on a chest in the stern of the boat,
and had his suspicions that foul play was intended. He was clothed in
blue trousers, and over his shirt he had a hood tied with ribands,
which served him for a cloak. He sat looking down, and holding his
hood-strings; and sometimes moved them over his head, sometimes let