Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway
in spring (A.D. 1020) the king sent a ship west over the sea to Earl
Thorfin, with the invitation to come east and visit him in Norway.
The earl did not decline the invitation, for it was accompanied by
assurances of friendship.
104. EARL EINAR'S MURDER.
Earl Thorfin went east to Norway, and came to King Olaf, from whom he
received a kind reception, and stayed till late in the summer. When he
was preparing to return westwards again, King Olaf made him a present of
a large and fully-rigged long-ship. Thorkel the Fosterer joined company
with the earl, who gave him the ship which he brought with him from the
west. The king and the earl took leave of each other tenderly. In autumn
Earl Thorfin came to Orkney, and when Earl Einar heard of it he went on
board his ships with a numerous band of men. Earl Bruse came up to his
two brothers, and endeavoured to mediate between them, and a peace was
concluded and confirmed by oath. Thorkel Fosterer was to be in peace and
friendship with Earl Einar; and it was agreed that each of them should
give a feast to the other, and that the earl should first be Thorkel's
guest at Sandwick. When the earl came to the feast he was entertained in
the best manner; but the earl was not cheerful. There was a great room,
in which there were doors at each end. The day the earl should depart
Thorkel was to accompany him to the other feast; and Thorkel sent men
before, who should examine the road they had to travel that day. The
spies came back, and said to Thorkel they had discovered three ambushes.
"And we think," said they, "there is deceit on foot." When Thorkel heard
this he lengthened out his preparations for the journey, and gathered
people about him. The earl told him to get ready, as it was time to be
on horseback. Thorkel answered, that he had many things to put in order
first, and went out and in frequently. There was a fire upon the
floor. At last he went in at one door, followed by an Iceland man from
Eastfjord, called Halvard, who locked the door after him. Thorkel went
in between the fire and the place where the earl was sitting. The earl
asked, "Art thou ready at last, Thorkel?"
Thorkel answers, "Now I am ready;" and struck the earl upon the head so
that he fell upon the floor.
Then said the Icelander, "I never saw people so foolish as not to drag
the earl out of the fire;" and took a stick, which he set under the
earl's neck, and put him upright on the bench. Thorkel and his two
comrades then went in all haste out of the other door opposite to that
by which they went in, and Thorkel's men were standing without fully
armed. The earl's men now went in, and took hold of the earl. He was
already dead, so nobody thought of avenging him: and also the whole was
done so quickly; for nobody expected such a deed from Thorkel, and all
supposed that there really was, as before related, a friendship fixed
between the earl and Thorkel. The most who were within were unarmed, and
they were partly Thorkel's good friends; and to this may be added, that
fate had decreed a longer life to Thorkel. When Thorkel came out he had
not fewer men with him than the earl's troop. Thorkel went to his ship,
and the earl's men went their way. The same day Thorkel sailed out
eastwards into the sea. This happened after winter; but he came safely
to Norway, went as fast as he could to Olaf, and was well received by
him. The king expressed his satisfaction at this deed, and Thorkel was
with him all winter (A.D. 1091).
105. AGREEMENT BETWEEN KING OLAF AND EARL BRUSE.
After Earl Einar's fall Bruse took the part of the country which he had
possessed; for it was known to many men on what conditions Einar and
Bruse had entered into a partnership. Although Thorfin thought it would
be more just that each of them had half of the islands, Bruse retained
the two-thirds of the country that winter (A.D. 1021). In spring,
however, Thorfin produced his claim, and demanded the half of the
country; but Bruse would not consent. They held Things and meetings
about the business; and although their friends endeavoured to settle it,
Thorfin would not be content with less than the half of the islands, and
insisted that Bruse, with his disposition, would have enough even with
a third part. Bruse replies, "When I took my heritage after my father
I was well satisfied with a third part of the country, and there was
nobody to dispute it with me; and now I have succeeded to another third
in heritage after my brother, according to a lawful agreement between
us; and although I am not powerful enough to maintain a feud against
thee, my brother, I will seek some other way, rather than willingly
renounce my property." With this their meeting ended. But Bruse saw that
he had no strength to contend against Thorfin, because Thorfin had both
a greater dominion and also could have aid from his mother's brother,
the Scottish king. He resolved, therefore, to go out of the country; and
he went eastward to King Olaf, and had with him his son Ragnvald, then
ten years old. When the earl came to the king he was well received. The
earl now declared his errand, and told the king the circumstances of the
whole dispute between him and his brother, and asked help to defend his
kingdom of Orkney; promising, in return, the fullest friendship towards
King Olaf. In his answer, the king began with showing how Harald
Harfager had appropriated to himself all udal rights in Orkney, and that
the earls, since that time, have constantly held the country as a fief,
not as their udal property. "As a sufficient proof of which," said he,
"when Eirik Blood-axe and his sons were in Orkney the earls were subject
to them; and also when my relation Olaf Trygvason came there thy father,
Earl Sigurd, became his man. Now I have taken heritage after King Olaf,
and I will give thee the condition to become my man and then I will give
thee the islands as a fief; and we shall try if I cannot give thee aid
that will be more to the purpose than Thorfin can get from the Scottish
king. If thou wilt not accept of these terms, then will I win back my
udal property there in the West, as our forefathers and relations of old
possessed it."
The earl carefully considered this speech, laid it before his friends,
and demanded their advice if he should agree to it, and enter into such
terms with King Olaf and become his vassal. "But I do not see what my
lot will be at my departure if I say no; for the king has clearly enough
declared his claim upon Orkney; and from his great power, and our being
in his hands, it is easy for him to make our destiny what he pleases."
Although the earl saw that there was much to be considered for and
against it he chose the condition to deliver himself and his dominion
into the king's power. Thereupon the king took the earl's power, and
the government over all the earl's lands, and the earl became his vassal
under oath of fealty.
106. THE EARL'S AGREEMENT TO THE KING'S TERMS.
Thorfin the earl heard that his brother Bruse had gone east to King Olaf
to seek support from him; but as Thorfin had been on a visit to King
Olaf before, and had concluded a friendship with him, he thought his
case would stand well with the king, and that many would support it; but
he believed that many more would do so if he went there himself. Earl
Thorfin resolved, therefore, to go east himself without delay; and he
thought there would be so little difference between the time of his
arrival and Bruse's, that Bruse's errand could not be accomplished
before he came to King Olaf. But it went otherwise than Earl Thorfin had
expected; for when he came to the king the agreement between the king
and Bruse was already concluded and settled, and Earl Thorfin did not
know a word about Bruse's having surrendered his udal domains until he
came to King Olaf. As soon as Earl Thorfin and King Olaf met, the king
made the same demand upon the kingdom of Orkney that he had done to Earl
Bruse, and required that Thorfin should voluntarily deliver over to the
king that part of the country which he had possessed hitherto. The earl
answered in a friendly and respectful way, that the king's friendship
lay near to his heart: "And if you think, sire, that my help against
other chiefs can be of use, you have already every claim to it; but I
cannot be your vessel for service, as I am an earl of the Scottish king,
and owe fealty to him."
As the king found that the earl, by his answer, declined fulfilling the
demand he had made, he said, "Earl, if thou wilt not become my vassal,
there is another condition; namely, that I will place over the Orkney
Islands the man I please, and require thy oath that thou wilt make no
claim upon these lands, but allow whoever I place over them to sit in
peace. If thou wilt not accept of either of these conditions, he who is
to rule over these lands may expect hostility from thee, and thou must
not think it strange if like meet like in this business."
The earl begged of the king some time to consider the matter. The king
did so, and gave the earl time to take the counsel of his friends on
the choosing one or other of these conditions. Then the earl requested a
delay until next summer, that he might go over the sea to the west, for
his proper counsellors were all at home, and he himself was but a child
in respect of age; but the king required that he should now make his
election of one or other of the conditions. Thorkel Fosterer was then
with the king, and he privately sent a person to Earl Thorfin, and told
him, whatever his intentions might be, not to think of leaving Olaf
without being reconciled with him, as he stood entirely in Olaf's power.
From such hints the earl saw there was no other way than to let the king
have his own will. It was no doubt a hard condition to have no hope of
ever regaining his paternal heritage, and moreover to bind himself by
oath to allow those to enjoy in peace his domain who had no hereditary
right to it; but seeing it was uncertain how he could get away, he
resolved to submit to the king and become his vassal, as Bruse had done.
The king observed that Thorfin was more high-minded, and less disposed
to suffer subjection than Bruse, and therefore he trusted less to
Thorfin than to Bruse; and he considered also that Thorfin would trust
to the aid of the Scottish king, if he broke the agreement. The king
also had discernment enough to perceive that Bruse, although slow to
enter into an agreement, would promise nothing but what he intended
to keep; but as to Thorfin when he had once made up his mind he went
readily into every proposal and made no attempt to obtain any alteration
of the king's first conditions: therefore the king had his suspicions
that the earl would infringe the agreement.
107. EARL THORFIN'S DEPARTURE, AND RECONCILIATION WITH THORKEL.
When the king had carefully considered the whole matter by himself, he
ordered the signal to sound for a General Thing, to which he called in
the earls. Then said the king, "I will now make known to the public our
agreement with the Orkney earls. They have now acknowledged my right of
property to Orkney and Shetland, and have both become my vassals, all
which they have confirmed by oath; and now I will invest them with these
lands as a fief: namely, Bruse with one third part and Thorfin with one
third, as they formerly enjoyed them; but the other third which Einar
Rangmund had, I adjudge as fallen to my domain, because he killed Eyvind
Urarhorn, my court-man, partner, and dear friend; and that part of the
land I will manage as I think proper. I have also my earls, to tell you
it is my pleasure that ye enter into an agreement with Thorkel Amundason
for the murder of your brother Einar, for I will take that business, if