Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway
Hakon now pushes on briskly with his people, pursuing the flying, and
killing many.
25. OF KING GAMLE.
When Gamle Eirikson came up the ridge of the hill he turned round, and
he observed that not more people were following than his men had been
engaged with already, and he saw it was but a stratagem of war; so he
ordered the war-horns to be blown, his banner to be set up, and he put
his men in battle order. On this, all his Northmen stood, and turned
with him, but the Danes fled to the ships; and when King Hakon and his
men came thither, there was again sharp conflict; but now Hakon had most
people. At last the Eirik's sons' force fled, and took the road south
about the hill; but a part of their army retreated upon the hill
southwards, followed by King Hakon. There is a flat field east of the
ridge which runs westward along the range of hills, and is bounded
on its west side by a steep ridge. Gamle's men retreated towards this
ground; but Hakon followed so closely that he killed some, and others
ran west over the ridge, and were killed on that side of it. King Hakon
did not part with them till the last man of them was killed.
26. KING GAMLE AND ULSERK FALL.
Gamle Eirikson fled from the ridge down upon the plain to the south of
the hill. There he turned himself again, and waited until more people
gathered to him. All his brothers, and many troops of their men,
assembled there. Egil Ulserk was in front, and in advance of Hakon's
men, and made a stout attack. He and King Gamle exchanged blows with
each other, and King Gamle got a grievous wound; but Egil fell, and
many people with him. Then came Hakon the king with the troops which had
followed him, and a new battle began. King Hakon pushed on, cutting down
men on both sides of him, and killing the one upon the top of the other.
So sings Guthorm Sindre:--
"Scared by the sharp sword's singing sound,
Brandished in air, the foe gave ground.
The boldest warrior cannot stand
Before King Hakon's conquering hand;
And the king's banner ever dies
Where the spear-forests thickest rise.
Altho' the king had gained of old
Enough of Freyja's tears of gold (1),
He spared himself no more than tho'
He'd had no well-filled purse to show."
When Eirik's sons saw their men falling all round, they turned and fled
to their ships; but those who had sought the ships before had pushed off
some of them from the land, while some of them were still hauled up and
on the strand. Now the sons of Eirik and their men plunged into the sea,
and betook themselves to swimming. Gamle Eirikson was drowned; but the
other sons of Eirik reached their ships, and set sail with what men
remained. They steered southwards to Denmark, where they stopped a
while, very ill satisfied with their expedition.
ENDNOTES: (1) Freyja's husband was Od; and her tears, when she wept at
the long absence of her husband, were tears of gold. Od's
wife's tears is the skald's expression here for gold--
understood, no doubt, as readily as any allusion to Plutus
would convey the equivalent meaning in modern poetry.--L.
27. EGIL ULSERK'S BURIAL-GROUND.
King Hakon took all the ships of the sons of Eirik that had been left
upon the strand, and had them drawn quite up, and brought on the land.
Then he ordered that Egil Ulserk, and all the men of his army who had
fallen, should be laid in the ships, and covered entirely over with
earth and stones. King Hakon made many of the ships to be drawn up to
the field of battle, and the hillocks over them are to be seen to the
present day a little to the south of Fredarberg. At the time when King
Hakon was killed, when Glum Geirason, in his song, boasted of King
Hakon's fall, Eyvind Skaldaspiller composed these verses on this
battle:--
"Our dauntless king with Gamle's gore
Sprinkled his bright sword o'er and o'er:
Sprinkled the gag that holds the mouth
Of the fell demon Fenriswolf (1).
Proud swelled our warriors' hearts when he
Drove Eirik's sons out to the sea,
With all their Guatland host: but now
Our warriors weep--Hakon lies low!"
High standing stones mark Egil Uslerk s grave.
ENDNOTES: (1) The Fenriswolf, one of the children of Loke, begotten with
a giantess, was chained to a rock, and gagged by a sword
placed in his mouth, to prevent him devouring mankind.
Fenriswolf's gag is a skaldic expression for a sword.--L.
28. NEWS OF WAR COMES TO KING HAKON.
When King Hakon, Athelstan's foster-son, had been king for twenty-six
years after his brother Eirik had left the country, it happened (A.D.
960) that he was at a feast in Hordaland in the house at Fitjar on the
island Stord, and he had with him at the feast his court and many of
the peasants. And just as the king was seated at the supper-table, his
watchmen who were outside observed many ships coming sailing along from
the south, and not very far from the island. Now, said the one to the
other, they should inform the king that they thought an armed force was
coming against them; but none thought it advisable to be the bearer of
an alarm of war to the king, as he had set heavy penalties on those who
raised such alarms falsely, yet they thought it unsuitable that the king
should remain in ignorance of what they saw. Then one of them went into
the room and asked Eyvind Finson to come out as fast as possible, for it
was very needful. Eyvind immediately came out and went to where he could
see the ships, and saw directly that a great army was on the way; and
he returned in all haste into the room, and, placing himself before
the kind, said, "Short is the hour for acting, and long the hour for
feasting." The king cast his eyes upon him, and said, "What now is in
the way?" Eyvind said--
"Up king! the avengers are at hand!
Eirik's bold sons approach the land!
The Judgment of the sword they crave
Against their foe. Thy wrath I brave;
Tho' well I know 'tis no light thing
To bring war-tidings to the king
And tell him 'tis no time to rest.
Up! gird your armour to your breast:
Thy honour's dearer than my life;
Therefore I say, up to the strife!"
Then said the king, "Thou art too brave a fellow, Eyvind, to bring us
any false alarm of war." The others all said it was a true report. The
king ordered the tables to be removed, and then he went out to look at
the ships; and when it could be clearly seen that these were ships of
war, the king asked his men what resolution they should take--whether
to give battle with the men they had, or go on board ship and sail away
northwards along the land. "For it is easy to see," said he, "that we
must now fight against a much greater force than we ever had against
us before; although we thought just the same the last time we fought
against Gunhild's sons." No one was in a hurry to give an answer to the
king; but at last Eyvind replied to the king's speech:--
"Thou who in the battle-plain
Hast often poured the sharp spear-rain!
Ill it beseems our warriors brave
To fly upon the ocean wave:
To fly upon the blue wave north,
When Harald from the south comes forth,
With many a ship riding in pride
Upon the foaming ocean-tide;
With many a ship and southern viking,--
Let us take shield in hand, brave king!"
The king replied, "Thy counsel, Eyvind, is manly, and after my own
heart; but I will hear the opinion of others upon this matter." Now as
the king's men thought they discerned what way the king was inclined to
take, they answered that they would rather fall bravely and like men,
than fly before the Danes; adding, that they had often gained the
victory against greater odds of numbers. The king thanked them for their
resolution, and bade them arm themselves; and all the men did so. The
king put on his armour, and girded on his sword Kvernbit, and put a gilt
helmet upon his head, and took a spear (Kesja) in his hand, and a shield
by his side. He then drew up his courtmen and the bondes in one body,
and set up his banner.
29. THE ARMAMENT OF EIRIK'S SONS.
After Gamle's death King Harald, Eirik's son, was the chief of the
brothers, and he had a great army with him from Denmark. In their army
were also their mother's brothers,--Eyvind Skreyja, and Alf Askman, both
strong and able men, and great man slayers. The sons of Eirik brought up
with their ships off the island, and it is said that their force was not
less than six to one,--so much stronger in men were Eirik's sons.
30. KING HAKON'S BATTLE ARRAY.
When King Hakon had drawn up his men, it is told of him that he threw
off his armour before the battle began. So sings Eyvind Skaldaspiller,
in Hakmarmal:--
"They found Blorn's brother bold
Under his banner as of old,
Ready for battle. Foes advance,--
The front rank raise the shining lance:
And now begins the bloody fray!
Now! now begins Hild's wild play!
Our noble king, whose name strikes fear
Into each Danish heart,--whose spear
Has single-handed spilt the blood
Of many a Danish noble,--stood
Beneath his helmet's eagle wing
Amidst his guards; but the brave king
Scorned to wear armour, while his men
Bared naked breasts against the rain
Of spear and arrow, his breast-plate rung
Against the stones; and, blithe and gay,
He rushed into the thickest fray.
With golden helm, and naked breast,
Brave Hakon played at slaughter's feast."
King Hakon selected willingly such men for his guard or court-men as
were distinguished for their strength and bravery, as his father King
Harald also used to do; and among these was Thoralf Skolmson the Strong,
who went on one side of the king. He had helmet and shield, spear and
sword; and his sword was called by the name of Footbreadth. It was said
that Thoralf and King Hakon were equal in strength. Thord Sjarekson
speaks of it in the poem he composed concerning Thoralf:--
"The king's men went with merry words
To the sharp clash of shields and flame swords,
When these wild rovers of the sea
At Fitlar fought. Stout Thoralf he
Next to the Northmen's hero came,
Scattering wide round the battle flame
For in the storm of shields not one
Ventured like him with brave Hakon."
When both lines met there was a hard combat, and much bloodshed. The
combatants threw their spears and then drew their swords. Then King
Hakon, and Thoralf with him, went in advance of the banner, cutting down
on both sides of them. So says Eyvind Skaldaspiller:--
"The body-coats of naked steel,
The woven iron coats of mail,
Like water fly before the swing
Of Hakon's sword--the champion-king.
About each Gotland war-man's head
Helm splits, like ice beneath the tread,
Cloven by the axe or sharp swordblade,
The brave king, foremost in the fight,
Dyes crimson-red the spotless white
Of his bright shield with foemen's gore.--
Amidst the battle's wild uproar,
Wild pealing round from shore to shore."
31. FALL OF SKREYJA AND ASKMAN.
King Hakon was very conspicuous among other men, and also when the sun
shone his helmet glanced, and thereby many weapons were directed at him.
Then Eyvind Finson took a hat and put it over the king's helmet. Now
Eyvind Skreyja called out, "Does the king of the Norsemen hide himself,
or has he fled? Where is now the golden helmet?" Then Eyvind, and his
brother Alf with him, pushed on like fools or madmen. King Hakon shouted
to Eyvind, "Come on as thou art coming, and thou shalt find the king of
the Norsemen." So says Eyvind Skaldaspiller:--