Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway
was powerful, of great family, and the head-man of those who on account
of the bondes appeared before the king. Now, when they came to the king,
he told them these accusations; to which Olver, on behalf of the bondes,
replied, that they had had no other feasts that harvest than their usual
entertainments, and social meetings, and friendly drinking parties. "But
as to what may have been told you of the words which may have fallen
from us Throndhjem people in our drinking parties, men of understanding
would take good care not to use such language; but I cannot hinder
drunken or foolish people's talk." Olver was a man of clever speech, and
bold in what he said, and defended the bondes against such accusations.
In the end, the king said the people of the interior of Thorndhjem must
themselves give the best testimony to their being in the right faith.
The bondes got leave to return home, and set off as soon as they were
ready.
114. OF THE SACRIFICES BY THE PEOPLE OF THE INTERIOR OF THE THRONDHJEM DISTRICT.
Afterwards, when winter was advanced, it was told the king that the
people of the interior of Throndhjem had assembled in great number at
Maerin, and that there was a great sacrifice in the middle of winter,
at which they sacrificed offerings for peace and a good season. Now
when the king knew this on good authority to be true, he sent men and
messages into the interior, and summoned the bondes whom he thought
of most understanding into the town. The bondes held a council among
themselves about this message; and all those who had been upon the same
occasion in the beginning of winter were now very unwilling to make
the journey. Olver, however, at the desire of all the bondes, allowed
himself to be persuaded. When he came to the town he went immediately
before the king, and they talked together. The king made the same
accusation against the bondes, that they had held a mid-winter
sacrifice. Olver replies, that this accusation against the bondes was
false. "We had," said he, "Yule feasts and drinking feasts wide
around in the districts; and the bondes do not prepare their feasts so
sparingly, sire, that there is not much left over, which people consume
long afterwards. At Maerin there is a great farm, with a large house on
it, and a great neighbourhood all around it, and it is the great delight
of the people to drink many together in company." The king said little
in reply, but looked angry, as he thought he knew the truth of the
matter better than it was now represented. He ordered the bondes to
return home. "I shall some time or other," said he, "come to the truth
of what you are now concealing, and in such a way that ye shall not be
able to contradict it. But, however, that may be, do not try such things
again." The bondes returned home, and told the result of their journey,
and that the king was altogether enraged.
115. MURDER OF OLVER OF EGGJA.
At Easter (A.D. 1021) the king held a feast, to which he had invited
many of the townspeople as well as bondes. After Easter he ordered his
ships to be launched into the water, oars and tackle to be put on board,
decks to be laid in the ships, and tilts (1) and rigging to be set up,
and to be laid ready for sea at the piers. Immediately after Easter
he sent men into Veradal. There was a man called Thoralde, who was the
king's bailiff, and who managed the king's farm there at Haug; and
to him the king sent a message to come to him as quickly as possible.
Thoralde did not decline the journey, but went immediately to the town
with the messenger. The king called him in and in a private conversation
asked him what truth there was in what had been told him of the
principles and living of the people of the interior of Throndhjem, and
if it really was so that they practised sacrifices to heathen gods. "I
will," says the king, "that thou declare to me the things as they are,
and as thou knowest to be true; for it is thy duty to tell me the truth,
as thou art my man."
Thoralde replies, "Sire, I will first tell you that I have brought here
to the town my two children, my wife, and all my loose property that I
could take with me, and if thou desirest to know the truth it shall be
told according to thy command; but if I declare it, thou must take care
of me and mine."
The king replies, "Say only what is true on what I ask thee, and I will
take care that no evil befall thee."
Then said Thoralde, "If I must say the truth, king, as it is, I must
declare that in the interior of the Throndhjem land almost all the
people are heathen in faith, although some of them are baptized. It is
their custom to offer sacrifice in autumn for a good winter, a second at
mid-winter, and a third in summer. In this the people of Eyna, Sparby,
Veradal, and Skaun partake. There are twelve men who preside over these
sacrifice-feasts; and in spring it is Olver who has to get the feast in
order, and he is now busy transporting to Maerin everything needful for
it." Now when the king had got to the truth with a certainty, he
ordered the signal to be sounded for his men to assemble, and for the
men-at-arms to go on board ship. He appointed men to steer the ships,
and leaders for the people, and ordered how the people should be divided
among the vessels. All was got ready in haste, and with five ships and
300 men he steered up the fjord. The wind was favourable, the ships
sailed briskly before it, and nobody could have thought that the king
would be so soon there. The king came in the night time to Maerin, and
immediately surrounded the house with a ring of armed men. Olver was
taken, and the king ordered him to be put to death, and many other men
besides. Then the king took all the provision for the feast, and had it
brought to his ships; and also all the goods, both furniture, clothes,
and valuables, which the people had brought there, and divided the
booty among his men. The king also let all the bondes he thought had the
greatest part in the business be plundered by his men-at-arms. Some were
taken prisoners and laid in irons, some ran away, and many were robbed
of their goods. Thereafter the bondes were summoned to a Thing; but
because he had taken many powerful men prisoners, and held them in his
power, their friends and relations resolved to promise obedience to
the king, so that there was no insurrection against the king on this
occasion. He thus brought the whole people back to the right faith, gave
them teachers, and built and consecrated churches. The king let Olver
lie without fine paid for his bloodshed, and all that he possessed was
adjudged to the king; and of the men he judged the most guilty, some
he ordered to be executed, some he maimed, some he drove out of the
country, and took fines from others. The king then returned to Nidaros.
ENDNOTES: (1) The ships appear to have been decked fore and aft only;
and in the middle, where the rowers sat, to have had tilts or
tents set up at night to sleep under.--L.
116. OF THE SONS OF ARNE.
There was a man called Arne Arnmodson, who was married to Thora,
Thorstein Galge's daughter. Their children were Kalf, Fin, Thorberg,
Amunde, Kolbjorn, Arnbjorn, and Arne. Their daughter, who was called
Ragnhild, was married to Harek of Thjotta. Arne was a lenderman,
powerful, and of ability, and a great friend of King Olaf. At that time
his sons Kalf and Fin were with the king, and in great favour. The wife
whom Olver of Eggja had left was young and handsome, of great family,
and rich, so that he who got her might be considered to have made an
excellent marriage; and her land was in the gift of the king. She and
Olver had two sons, who were still in infancy. Kalf Arneson begged of
the king that he would give him to wife the widow of Olver; and out of
friendship the king agreed to it, and with her he got all the property
Olver had possessed. The king at the same time made him his lenderman,
and gave him an office in the interior of the Throndhjem country. Kalf
became a great chief, and was a man of very great understanding.
117. KING OLAF'S JOURNEY TO THE UPLANDS.
When King Olaf had been seven years (A.D. 1015-1021) in Norway the earls
Thorfin and Bruse came to him, as before related, in the summer, from
Orkney, and he became master of their land. The same summer Olaf went
to North and South More, and in autumn to Raumsdal. He left his ships
there, and came to the Uplands, and to Lesjar. Here he laid hold of
all the best men, and forced them, both at Lesjar and Dovre, either to
receive Christianity or suffer death, if they were not so lucky as to
escape. After they received Christianity, the king took their sons in
his hands as hostages for their fidelity. The king stayed several
nights at a farm in Lesjar called Boar, where he placed priests. Then he
proceeded over Orkadal and Lorodal, and came down from the Uplands at
a place called Stafabrekka. There a river runs along the valley, called
the Otta, and a beautiful hamlet, by name Loar, lies on both sides of
the river, and the king could see far down over the whole neighbourhood.
"A pity it is," said the king, "so beautiful a hamlet should be burnt."
And he proceeded down the valley with his people, and was all night on
a farm called Nes. The king took his lodging in a loft, where he slept
himself; and it stands to the present day, without anything in it
having been altered since. The king was five days there, and summoned
by message-token the people to a Thing, both for the districts of Vagar,
Lear, and Hedal; and gave out the message along with the token, that
they must either receive Christianity and give their sons as hostages,
or see their habitations burnt. They came before the king, and submitted
to his pleasure; but some fled south down the valley.
118. THE STORY OF DALE-GUDBRAND.
There was a man called Dale-Gudbrand, who was like a king in the valley
(Gudbrandsdal), but was only herse in title. Sigvat the skald compared
him for wealth and landed property to Erling Skjalgson. Sigvat sang thus
concerning Erling:--
"I know but one who can compare
With Erling for broad lands and gear--
Gudbrand is he, whose wide domains
Are most like where some small king reigns.
These two great bondes, I would say,
Equal each other every way.
He lies who says that he can find
One by the other left behind."
Gudbrand had a son, who is here spoken of. Now when Gudbrand received
the tidings that King Olaf was come to Lear, and obliged people to
accept Christianity, he sent out a message-token, and summoned all the
men in the valley to meet him at a farm called Hundthorp. All came,
so that the number could not be told; for there is a lake in the
neighbourhood called Laugen, so that people could come to the place both
by land and by water. There Gudbrand held a Thing with them, and said,
"A man is come to Loar who is called Olaf, and will force upon us
another faith than what we had before, and will break in pieces all our
gods. He says that he has a much greater and more powerful god; and it
is wonderful that the earth does not burst asunder under him, or that
our god lets him go about unpunished when he dares to talk such things.
I know this for certain, that if we carry Thor, who has always stood by
us, out of our temple that is standing upon this farm, Olaf's god will
melt away, and he and his men be made nothing so soon as Thor looks upon
them." Then the bondes all shouted as one person that Olaf should never
get away with life if he came to them; and they thought he would never
dare to come farther south through the valley. They chose out 700 men to
go northwards to Breida, to watch his movements. The leader of this band
was Gudbrand's son, eighteen years of age, and with him were many other