Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway
"Nor seemed the voyage long, I trow,
To warrior on the high-built bow,
As o'er the ocean-mountains riding
The land and hill seem past him gliding.
With whistling breeze and flashing spray
Past Stein the gay ships dashed away;
In open sea, the southern gale
Filled every wide out-bellying sail.
"Still on they fly, still northward go,
Till he who conquers every foe,
The mighty Canute, came to land,
Far in the north on Throndhjem's strand.
There this great king of Jutland race,
Whose deeds and gifts surpass in grace
All other kings, bestowed the throne
Of Norway on his sister's son.
"To his own son he gave the crown
(This I must add to his renown)
Of Denmark--land of shadowy vales,
In which the white swan trims her sails."
Here it is told that King Canute's expedition was grander than saga can
tell; but Thorarin sang thus because he would pride himself upon being
one of King Canute's retinue when he came to Norway.
183. OF THE MESSENGERS SENT BY KING OLAF FOR HIS SHIPS.
The men whom King Olaf had sent eastwards to Gautland after his ships
took with them the vessels they thought the best, and burnt the rest.
The ship-apparel and other goods belonging to the king and his men they
also took with them; and when they heard that King Canute had gone to
Norway they sailed west through the Sound, and then north to Viken to
King Olaf, to whom they delivered his ships. He was then at Tunsberg.
When King Olaf learnt that King Canute was sailing north along the
coast, King Olaf steered with his fleet into Oslo fjord, and into a
branch of it called Drafn, where he lay quiet until King Canute's fleet
had sailed southwards again. On this expedition which King Canute made
from the North along the coast, he held a Thing in each district, and in
every Thing the country was bound by oath in fealty to him, and hostages
were given him. He went eastward across the mouths of the fjords to
Sarpsborg, and held a Thing there, and, as elsewhere, the country was
surrendered to him under oath of fidelity. King Canute then returned
south to Denmark, after having conquered Norway without stroke of sword,
and he ruled now over three kingdoms. So says Halvard Hareksblese when
he sang of King Canute:--
"The warrior-king, whose blood-stain'd shield
Has shone on many a hard-fought field,
England and Denmark now has won,
And o'er three kingdoms rules alone.
Peace now he gives us fast and sure,
Since Norway too is made secure
By him who oft, in days of yore,
Glutted the hawk and wolf with gore."
184. OF KING OLAF IN HIS PROCEEDINGS.
King Olaf sailed with his ships out to Tunsberg, as soon as he heard
that King Canute had turned back, and was gone south to Denmark. He then
made himself ready with the men who liked to follow him, and had then
thirteen ships. Afterwards he sailed out along Viken; but got little
money, and few men, as those only followed him who dwelt in islands, or
on outlying points of land. The king landed in such places, but got only
the money and men that fell in his way; and he soon perceived that the
country had abandoned him. He proceeded on according to the winds. This
was in the beginning of winter (A.D. 1029). The wind turned very late in
the season in their favour, so that they lay long in the Seley islands,
where they heard the news from the North, through merchants, who told
the king that Erling Skjalgson had collected a great force in Jadar, and
that his ship lay fully rigged outside of the land, together with many
other vessels belonging to the bondes; namely, skiffs, fisher-yachts,
and great row-boats. Then the king sailed with his fleet from the East,
and lay a while in Egersund. Both parties heard of each other now, and
Erling assembled all the men he could.
185. OF KING OLAF'S VOYAGE.
On Thomasmas, before Yule (Dec. 21), the king left the harbour as soon
as day appeared. With a good but rather strong gale he sailed northwards
past Jadar. The weather was rainy, with dark flying clouds in the sky.
The spies went immediately in through the Jadar country when the king
sailed past it; and as soon as Erling heard that the king was sailing
past from the East, he let the war-horn call all the people on board,
and the whole force hastened to the ships, and prepared for battle. The
king's ship passed by Jadar at a great rate; but thereafter turned
in towards the land, intending to run up the fjords to gather men and
money. Erling Skjalgson perceived this, and sailed after him with a
great force and many ships. Swiftly their vessels flew, for they had
nothing on board but men and arms: but Erling's ship went much faster
than the others; therefore he took in a reef in the sails, and waited
for the other vessels. Then the king saw that Erling with his fleet
gained upon him fast; for the king's ships were heavily laden, and were
besides water-soaked, having been in the sea the whole summer, autumn,
and winter, up to this time. He saw also that there would be a great
want of men, if he should go against the whole of Erling's fleet when it
was assembled. He hailed from ship to ship the orders to let the sails
gently sink, and to unship the booms and outriggers, which was done.
When Erling saw this he calls out to his people, and orders them to get
on more sail. "Ye see," says he, "that their sails are diminishing, and
they are getting fast away from our sight." He took the reef out of the
sails of his ship, and outsailed all the others immediately; for Erling
was very eager in his pursuit of King Olaf.
186. OF ERLING SKJALGSON'S FALL.
King Olaf then steered in towards the Bokn fjord, by which the ships
came out of sight of each other. Thereafter the king ordered his men
to strike the sails, and row forwards through a narrow sound that was
there, and all the ships lay collected within a rocky point. Then all
the king's men put on their weapons. Erling sailed in through the sound,
and observed nothing until the whole fleet was before him, and he saw
the king's men rowing towards him with all their ships at once. Erling
and his crew let fall the sails, and seized their weapons; but the
king's fleet surrounded his ship on all sides. Then the fight began, and
it was of the sharpest; but soon the greatest loss was among Erling's
men. Erling stood on the quarter-deck of his ship. He had a helmet on
his head, a shield before him, and a sword in his hand. Sigvat the skald
had remained behind in Viken, and heard the tidings. He was a great
friend of Erling, had received presents from him, and had been at his
house. Sigvat composed a poem upon Erling's fall, in which there is the
following verse:--
"Erling has set his ship on sea--
Against the king away is he:
He who oft lets the eagle stain
Her yellow feet in blood of slain.
His little war-ship side by side
With the king's fleet, the fray will bide.
Now sword to sword the fight is raging,
Which Erling with the king is waging."
Then Erling's men began to fall, and at the same moment his ship was
carried by boarding, and every man of his died in his place. The king
himself was amongst the foremost in the fray. So says Sigvat:--
"The king's men hewed with hasty sword,--
The king urged on the ship to board,--
All o'er the decks the wounded lay:
Right fierce and bloody was that fray.
In Tungur sound, on Jadar shore,
The decks were slippery with red gore;
Warm blood was dropping in the sound,
Where the king's sword was gleaming round."
So entirely had Erling's men fallen, that not a man remained standing in
his ship but himself alone; for there was none who asked for quarter,
or none who got it if he did ask. There was no opening for flight, for
there lay ships all around Erling's ship on every side, and it is told
for certain that no man attempted to fly; and Sigvat says:--
"All Erling's men fell in the fray,
Off Bokn fjord, this hard-fought day.
The brave king boarded, onward cheered,
And north of Tungur the deck was cleared.
Erling alone, the brave, the stout,
Cut off from all, yet still held out;
High on the stern--a sight to see--
In his lone ship alone stood he."
Then Erling was attacked both from the forecastle and from the other
ships. There was a large space upon the poop which stood high above the
other ships, and which nobody could reach but by arrow-shot, or partly
with the thrust of spear, but which he always struck from him by
parrying. Erling defended himself so manfully, that no example is known
of one man having sustained the attack of so many men so long. Yet he
never tried to get away, nor asked for quarter. So says Sigvat:--
"Skjalg's brave son no mercy craves,--
The battle's fury still he braves;
The spear-storm, through the air sharp singing,
Against his shield was ever ringing.
So Erling stood; but fate had willed
His life off Bokn should be spilled.
No braver man has, since his day,
Past Bokn fjord ta'en his way."
When Olaf went back a little upon the fore-deck he saw Erling's
behaviour; and the king accosted him thus:--"Thou hast turned against me
to-day, Erling."
He replies, "The eagle turns his claws in defence when torn asunder."
Sigvat the skald tells thus of these words of Erling:--
"Erling, our best defence of old,--
Erling the brave, the brisk, the bold,--
Stood to his arms, gaily crying,
'Eagles should show their claws, though dying:'
The very words which once before
To Olaf he had said on shore,
At Utstein when they both prepared
To meet the foe, and danger shared."
Then said the king, "Wilt thou enter into my service, Erling?"
"That I will," said he; took the helmet off his head, laid down his
sword and shield, and went forward to the forecastle deck.
The king struck him in the chin with the sharp point of his battle-axe,
and said, "I shall mark thee as a traitor to thy sovereign."
Then Aslak Fitiaskalle rose up, and struck Erling in the head with
an axe, so that it stood fast in his brain, and was instantly his
death-wound. Thus Erling lost his life.
The king said to Aslak, "May all ill luck attend thee for that stroke;
for thou hast struck Norway out of my hands."
Aslak replied, "It is bad enough if that stroke displease thee, for I
thought it was striking Norway into thy hands; and if I have given thee
offence, sire, by this stroke, and have thy ill-will for it, it will go
badly with me, for I will get so many men's ill-will and enmity for this
deed that I would need all your protection and favour."
The king replied that he should have it.
Thereafter the king ordered every man to return to his ship, and to get
ready to depart as fast as he could. "We will not plunder the slain,"
says he, "and each man may keep what he has taken." The men returned
to the ships and prepared themselves for the departure as quickly as
possible; and scarcely was this done before the vessels of the bondes
ran in from the south into the sound. It went with the bonde-army as is
often seen, that the men, although many in numbers, know not what to
do when they have experienced a check, have lost their chief, and
are without leaders. None of Erling's sons were there, and the bondes
therefore made no attack, and the king sailed on his way northwards. But
the bondes took Erling's corpse, adorned it, and carried it with them
home to Sole, and also the bodies of all who had fallen. There was great
lamentation over Erling; and it has been a common observation among
people, that Erling Skjalgson was the greatest and worthiest man in