Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway
skerry is still called Skrattasker.
71. OLAF AND ODIN'S APPARITION.
It is related that once on a time King Olaf was at a feast at this
Ogvaldsnes, and one eventide there came to him an old man very gifted in
words, and with a broad-brimmed hat upon his head. He was one-eyed, and
had something to tell of every land. He entered into conversation with
the king; and as the king found much pleasure in the guest's speech, he
asked him concerning many things, to which the guest gave good answers:
and the king sat up late in the evening. Among other things, the king
asked him if he knew who the Ogvald had been who had given his name both
to the ness and to the house. The guest replied, that this Ogvald was a
king, and a very valiant man, and that he made great sacrifices to a cow
which he had with him wherever he went, and considered it good for his
health to drink her milk. This same King Ogvald had a battle with a king
called Varin, in which battle Ogvald fell. He was buried under a mound
close to the house; "and there stands his stone over him, and close
to it his cow also is laid." Such and many other things, and ancient
events, the king inquired after. Now, when the king had sat late into
the night, the bishop reminded him that it was time to go to bed, and
the king did so. But after the king was undressed, and had laid himself
in bed, the guest sat upon the foot-stool before the bed, and still
spoke long with the king; for after one tale was ended, he still wanted
a new one. Then the bishop observed to the king, it was time to go to
sleep, and the king did so; and the guest went out. Soon after the king
awoke, asked for the guest, and ordered him to be called, but the guest
was not to be found. The morning after, the king ordered his cook and
cellar-master to be called, and asked if any strange person had been
with them. They said, that as they were making ready the meat a man
came to them, and observed that they were cooking very poor meat for the
king's table; whereupon he gave them two thick and fat pieces of beef,
which they boiled with the rest of the meat. Then the king ordered that
all the meat should be thrown away, and said this man can be no other
than the Odin whom the heathens have so long worshipped; and added, "but
Odin shall not deceive us."
72. THE THING IN THRONDHJEM.
King Olaf collected a great army in the east of the country towards
summer, and sailed with it north to Nidaros in the Throndhjem country.
From thence he sent a message-token over all the fjord, calling the
people of eight different districts to a Thing; but the bondes changed
the Thing-token into a war-token; and called together all men, free and
unfree, in all the Throndhjem land. Now when the king met the Thing,
the whole people came fully armed. After the Thing was seated, the king
spoke, and invited them to adopt Christianity; but he had only spoken a
short time when the bondes called out to him to be silent, or they
would attack him and drive him away. "We did so," said they, "with Hakon
foster-son of Athelstan, when he brought us the same message, and we
held him in quite as much respect as we hold thee." When King Olaf saw
how incensed the bondes were, and that they had such a war force that he
could make no resistance, he turned his speech as if he would give way
to the bondes, and said, "I wish only to be in a good understanding
with you as of old; and I will come to where ye hold your greatest
sacrifice-festival, and see your customs, and thereafter we shall
consider which to hold by." And in this all agreed; and as the king
spoke mildly and friendly with the bondes, their answer was appeased,
and their conference with the king went off peacefully. At the close
of it a midsummer sacrifice was fixed to take place in Maeren, and all
chiefs and great bondes to attend it as usual. The king was to be at it.
73. JARNSKEGGE OR IRON BEARD.
There was a great bonde called Skegge, and sometimes Jarnskegge, or
Iron Beard, who dwelt in Uphaug in Yrjar. He spoke first at the Thing
to Olaf; and was the foremost man of the bondes in speaking against
Christianity. The Thing was concluded in this way for that time,--the
bondes returned home, and the king went to Hlader.
74. THE FEAST AT HLADER.
King Olaf lay with his ships in the river Nid, and had thirty vessels,
which were manned with many brave people; but the king himself was often
at Hlader, with his court attendants. As the time now was approaching at
which the sacrifices should be made at Maeren, the king prepared a
great feast at Hlader, and sent a message to the districts of Strind,
Gaulardal, and out to Orkadal, to invite the chiefs and other great
bondes. When the feast was ready, and the chiefs assembled, there was a
handsome entertainment the first evening, at which plenty of liquor went
round, and the guests were made very drunk. The night after they all
slept in peace. The following morning, when the king was dressed, he had
the early mass sung before him; and when the mass was over, ordered to
sound the trumpets for a House Thing: upon which all his men left the
ships to come up to the Thing. When the Thing was seated, the king stood
up, and spoke thus: "We held a Thing at Frosta, and there I invited the
bondes to allow themselves to be baptized; but they, on the other hand,
invited me to offer sacrifice to their gods, as King Hakon, Athelstan's
foster-son, had done; and thereafter it was agreed upon between us that
we should meet at Maerin, and there make a great sacrifice. Now if I,
along with you, shall turn again to making sacrifice, then will I make
the greatest of sacrifices that are in use; and I will sacrifice men.
But I will not select slaves or malefactors for this, but will take the
greatest men only to be offered to the gods; and for this I select
Orm Lygra of Medalhus, Styrkar of Gimsar, Kar of Gryting, Asbjorn
Thorbergson of Varnes, Orm of Lyxa, Haldor of Skerdingsstedja;" and
besides these he named five others of the principal men. All these, he
said, he would offer in sacrifice to the gods for peace and a fruitful
season; and ordered them to be laid hold of immediately. Now when the
bondes saw that they were not strong enough to make head against the
king, they asked for peace, and submitted wholly to the king's pleasure.
So it was settled that all the bondes who had come there should be
baptized, and should take an oath to the king to hold by the right
faith, and to renounce sacrifice to the gods. The king then kept all
these men as hostages who came to his feast, until they sent him their
sons, brothers, or other near relations.
75. OF THE THING IN THRONDHJEM.
King Olaf went in with all his forces into the Throndhjem country; and
when he came to Maeren all among the chiefs of the Throndhjem people who
were most opposed to Christianity were assembled, and had with them all
the great bondes who had before made sacrifice at that place. There
was thus a greater multitude of bondes than there had been at the
Frosta-Thing. Now the king let the people be summoned to the Thing,
where both parties met armed; and when the Thing was seated the king
made a speech, in which he told the people to go over to Christianity.
Jarnskegge replies on the part of the bondes, and says that the will
of the bondes is now, as formerly, that the king should not break their
laws. "We want, king," said he, "that thou shouldst offer sacrifice, as
other kings before thee have done." All the bondes applauded his speech
with a loud shout, and said they would have all things according to what
Skegge said. Then the king said he would go into the temple of their
gods with them, and see what the practices were when they sacrificed.
The bondes thought well of this proceeding, and both parties went to the
temple.
76. THE THRONDHJEM PEOPLE BAPTIZED.
Now King Olaf entered into the temple with some few of his men and a few
bondes; and when the king came to where their gods were, Thor, as
the most considered among their gods, sat there adorned with gold and
silver. The king lifted up his gold-inlaid axe which he carried in his
hands, and struck Thor so that the image rolled down from its seat. Then
the king's men turned to and threw down all the gods from their seats;
and while the king was in the temple, Jarnskegge was killed outside of
the temple doors, and the king's men did it. When the king came forth
out of the temple he offered the bondes two conditions,--that all should
accept of Christianity forthwith, or that they should fight with him.
But as Skegge was killed, there was no leader in the bondes' army to
raise the banner against King Olaf; so they took the other condition, to
surrender to the king's will and obey his order. Then King Olaf had
all the people present baptized, and took hostages from them for their
remaining true to Christianity; and he sent his men round to every
district, and no man in the Throndhjem country opposed Christianity, but
all people took baptism.
77. A TOWN IN THE THRONDHJEM COUNTRY.
King Olaf with his people went out to Nidaros, and made houses on the
flat side of the river Nid, which he raised to be a merchant town, and
gave people ground to build houses upon. The king's house he had built
just opposite Skipakrok; and he transported thither, in harvest, all
that was necessary for his winter residence, and had many people about
him there.
78. KING OLAF'S MARRIAGE.
King Olaf appointed a meeting with the relations of Jarnskegge, and
offered them the compensation or penalty for his bloodshed; for there
were many bold men who had an interest in that business. Jarnskegge had
a daughter called Gudrun; and at last it was agreed upon between the
parties that the king should take her in marriage. When the wedding day
came King Olaf and Gudrun went to bed together. As soon as Gudrun, the
first night they lay together, thought the king was asleep, she drew a
knife, with which she intended to run him through; but the king saw it,
took the knife from her, got out of bed, and went to his men, and told
them what had happened. Gudrun also took her clothes, and went away
along with all her men who had followed her thither. Gudrun never came
into the king's bed again.
79. BUILDING OF THE SHIP CRANE.
The same autumn (A.D. 998) King Olaf laid the keel of a great long-ship
out on the strand at the river Nid. It was a snekkja; and he employed
many carpenters upon her, so that early in winter the vessel was ready.
It had thirty benches for rowers, was high in stem and stern, but
was not broad. The king called this ship Tranen (the Crane). After
Jarnskegge's death his body was carried to Yrjar, and lies there in the
Skegge mound on Austrat.
80. THANGBRAND THE PRIEST GOES TO ICELAND.
When King Olaf Trygvason had been two years king of Norway (A.D. 997),
there was a Saxon priest in his house who was called Thangbrand, a
passionate, ungovernable man, and a great man-slayer; but he was a good
scholar, and a clever man. The king would not have him in his house upon
account of his misdeeds; but gave him the errand to go to Iceland, and
bring that land to the Christian faith. The king gave him a merchant
vessel: and, as far as we know of this voyage of his, he landed first in
Iceland at Austfjord in the southern Alptfjord, and passed the winter in
the house of Hal of Sida. Thangbrand proclaimed Christianity in Iceland,
and on his persuasion Hal and all his house people, and many other
chiefs, allowed themselves to be baptized; but there were many more
who spoke against it. Thorvald Veile and Veterlide the skald composed
a satire about Thangbrand; but he killed them both outright. Thangbrand
was two years in Iceland, and was the death of three men before he left
it.