Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway
concerned, they held a meeting among themselves, to consider what might
lie under this message, and they were all of opinion that the king
wanted to inquire into the real state of the event which some said had
taken place upon the islands; namely, the failure and disappearance of
the former messengers of the king, and the loss of the two ships, of
which not a man had been saved. It was resolved that Thoralf should
undertake the journey. He got himself ready, and rigged out a
merchant-vessel belonging to himself, manned with ten or twelve men.
When it was ready, waiting a wind, it happened, at Austrey, in the house
of Thrand of Gata, that he went one fine day into the room where his
brother's two sons, Sigurd and Thord, sons of Thorlak, were lying upon
the benches in the room. Gaut the Red was also there, who was one of
their relations and a man of distinction. Sigurd was the oldest, and
their leader in all things. Thord had a distinguished name, and was
called Thord the Low, although in reality he was uncommonly tall, and
yet in proportion more strong than large. Then Thrand said, "How many
things are changed in the course of a man's life! When we were young,
it was rare for young people who were able to do anything to sit or lie
still upon a fine day, and our forefathers would scarcely have believed
that Thoralf of Dimun would be bolder and more active than ye are. I
believe the vessel I have standing here in the boat-house will be so old
that it will rot under its coat of tar. Here are all the houses full of
wool, which is neither used nor sold. It should not be so if I were a
few winters younger." Sigurd sprang up, called upon Gaut and Thord,
and said he would not endure Thrand's scoffs. They went out to the
houseservants, and launched the vessel upon the water, brought down a
cargo, and loaded the ship. They had no want of a cargo at home, and
the vessel's rigging was in good order, so that in a few days they were
ready for sea. There were ten or twelve men in the vessel. Thoralf's
ship and theirs had the same wind, and they were generally in sight of
each other. They came to the land at Herna in the evening, and Sigurd
with his vessel lay outside on the strand, but so that there was not
much distance between the two ships. It happened towards evening, when
it was dark, that just as Thoralf and his people were preparing to go to
bed, Thoralf and another went on shore for a certain purpose. When
they were ready, they prepared to return on board. The man who had
accompanied Thoralf related afterwards this story,--that a cloth was
thrown over his head, and that he was lifted up from the ground, and he
heard a great bustle. He was taken away, and thrown head foremost down;
but there was sea under him, and he sank under the water. When he got
to land, he went to the place where he and Thoralf had been parted, and
there he found Thoralf with his head cloven down to his shoulders, and
dead. When the ship's people heard of it they carried the body out to
the ship, and let it remain there all night. King Olaf was at that time
in guest-quarters at Lygra, and thither they sent a message. Now a Thing
was called by message-token, and the king came to the Thing. He had
also ordered the Farey people of both vessels to be summoned, and they
appeared at the Thing. Now when the Thing was seated, the king stood up
and said, "Here an event has happened which (and it is well that it
is so) is very seldom heard of. Here has a good man been put to death,
without any cause. Is there any man upon the Thing who can say who has
done it?"
Nobody could answer.
"Then," said the king, "I cannot conceal my suspicion that this deed has
been done by the Farey people themselves. It appears to me that it has
been done in this way,--that Sigurd Thorlakson has killed the man, and
Thord the Low has cast his comrade into the sea. I think, too, that the
motives to this must have been to hinder Thoralf from telling about the
misdeed of which he had information; namely, the murder which I suspect
was committed upon my messengers."
When he had ended his speech, Sigurd Thorlakson stood up, and desired to
be heard. "I have never before," said he, "spoken at a Thing, and I do
not expect to be looked upon as a man of ready words. But I think there
is sufficient necessity before me to reply something to this. I will
venture to make a guess that the speech the king has made comes from
some man's tongue who is of far less understanding and goodness than he
is, and has evidently proceeded from those who are our enemies. It is
speaking improbabilities to say that I could be Thoralf's murderer; for
he was my foster-brother and good friend. Had the case been otherwise,
and had there been anything outstanding between me and Thoralf, yet I am
surely born with sufficient understanding to have done this deed in the
Farey Islands, rather than here between your hands, sire. But I am ready
to clear myself, and my whole ship's crew, of this act, and to make
oath according to what stands in your laws. Or, if ye find it more
satisfactory, I offer to clear myself by the ordeal of hot iron; and I
wish, sire, that you may be present yourself at the proof."
When Sigurd had ceased to speak there were many who supported his case,
and begged the king that Sigurd might be allowed to clear himself of
this accusation. They thought that Sigurd had spoken well, and that the
accusation against him might be untrue.
The king replies, "It may be with regard to this man very differently,
and if he is belied in any respect he must be a good man; and if not, he
is the boldest I have ever met with: and I believe this is the case, and
that he will bear witness to it himself."
At the desire of the people, the king took Sigurd's obligation to take
the iron ordeal; he should come the following day to Lygra, where the
bishop should preside at the ordeal; and so the Thing closed. The king
went back to Lygra, and Sigurd and his comrades to their ship.
As soon as it began to be dark at night Sigurd said to his ship's
people. "To say the truth, we have come into a great misfortune; for
a great lie is got up against us, and this king is a deceitful, crafty
man. Our fate is easy to be foreseen where he rules; for first he made
Thoralf be slain, and then made us the misdoers, without benefit of
redemption by fine. For him it is an easy matter to manage the iron
ordeal, so that I fear he will come ill off who tries it against him.
Now there is coming a brisk mountain breeze, blowing right out of the
sound and off the land; and it is my advice that we hoist our sail, and
set out to sea. Let Thrand himself come with his wool to market another
summer; but if I get away, it is my opinion I shall never think of
coming to Norway again."
His comrades thought the advice good, hoisted their sail, and in the
night-time took to the open sea with all speed. They did not stop until
they came to Farey, and home to Gata. Thrand was ill-pleased with their
voyage, and they did not answer him in a very friendly way; but they
remained at home, however, with Thrand. The morning after, King Olaf
heard of Sigurd's departure, and heavy reports went round about this
case; and there were many who believed that the accusation against
Sigurd was true, although they had denied and opposed it before the
king. King Olaf spoke but little about the matter, but seemed to know of
a certainty that the suspicion he had taken up was founded in truth. The
king afterwards proceeded in his progress, taking up his abode where it
was provided for him.
146. OF THE ICELANDERS.
King Olaf called before him the men who had come from Iceland, Thorod
Snorrason, Geller Thorkelson, Stein Skaptason, and Egil Halson, and
spoke to them thus:--"Ye have spoken to me much in summer about making
yourselves ready to return to Iceland, and I have never given you a
distinct answer. Now I will tell you what my intention is. Thee, Geller,
I propose to allow to return, if thou wilt carry my message there; but
none of the other Icelanders who are now here may go to Iceland before
I have heard how the message which thou, Geller, shalt bring thither has
been received."
When the king had made this resolution known, it appeared to those who
had a great desire to return, and were thus forbidden, that they were
unreasonably and hardly dealt with, and that they were placed in the
condition of unfree men. In the meantime Geller got ready for his
journey, and sailed in summer (A.D. 1026) to Iceland, taking with him
the message he was to bring before the Thing the following summer (A.D.
1027). The king's message was, that he required the Icelanders to adopt
the laws which he had set in Norway, also to pay him thane-tax and
nose-tax (1); namely, a penny for every nose, and the penny at the rate
of ten pennies to the yard of wadmal (2). At the same time he promised
them his friendship if they accepted, and threatened them with all his
vengeance if they refused his proposals.
The people sat long in deliberation on this business; but at last they
were unanimous in refusing all the taxes and burdens which were demanded
of them. That summer Geller returned back from Iceland to Norway to King
Olaf, and found him in autumn in the east in Viken, just as he had come
from Gautland; of which I shall speak hereafter in this story of King
Olaf. Towards the end of autumn King Olaf repaired north to Throndhjem,
and went with his people to Nidaros, where he ordered a winter residence
to be prepared for him. The winter (A.D. 1027) that he passed here in
the merchant-town of Nidaros was the thirteenth year of his reign.
ENDNOTES: (1) Nefgildi (nef=nose), a nose-tax or poll-tax payable to the
king. This ancient "nose-tax" was also imposed by the
Norsemen on conquered countries, the penalty for defaulters
being the loss of their nose.
(2) Wadmal was the coarse woollen cloth made in Iceland, and so
generally used for clothing that it was a measure of value
in the North, like money, for other commodities.--L.
147. OF THE JAMTALAND PEOPLE.
There was once a man called Ketil Jamte, a son of Earl Onund of Sparby,
in the Throndhjem district. He fled over the ridge of mountains from
Eystein Illrade, cleared the forest, and settled the country now called
the province of Jamtaland. A great many people joined him from the
Throndhjem land, on account of the disturbances there; for this King
Eystein had laid taxes on the Throndhjem people, and set his dog, called
Saur, to be king over them. Thorer Helsing was Ketil's grandson, and he
colonised the province called Helsingjaland, which is named after him.
When Harald Harfager subdued the kingdom by force, many people fled out
of the country from him, both Throndhjem people and Naumudal people,
and thus new settlements were added to Jamtaland; and some settlers went
even eastwards to Helsingjaland and down to the Baltic coast, and all
became subjects of the Swedish king. While Hakon Athelstan's foster-son
was over Norway there was peace, and merchant traffic from Throndhjem to
Jamtaland; and, as he was an excellent king, the Jamtalanders came from
the east to him, paid him scat, and he gave them laws and administered
justice. They would rather submit to his government than to the Swedish
king's, because they were of Norwegian race; and all the Helsingjaland
people, who had their descent from the north side of the mountain ridge,
did the same. This continued long after those times, until Olaf the
Thick and the Swedish king Olaf quarrelled about the boundaries. Then
the Jamtaland and Helsingjaland people went back to the Swedish king;
and then the forest of Eid was the eastern boundary of the land, and the
mountain ridge, or keel of the country, the northern: and the Swedish