Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway
God that the lot of the two may befall me which will be most to my
advantage. With this we may encourage ourselves, that we have a more
just cause than the bondes; and likewise that God must either protect
us and our cause in this battle, or give us a far higher recompense for
what we may lose here in the world than what we ourselves could ask.
Should it be my lot to have anything to say after the battle, then shall
I reward each of you according to his service, and to the bravery he
displays in the battle; and if we gain the victory, there must be land
and movables enough to divide among you, and which are now in the hands
of your enemies. Let us at the first make the hardest onset, for then
the consequences are soon seen. There being a great difference in the
numbers, we have to expect victory from a sharp assault only; and,
on the other hand, it will be heavy work for us to fight until we are
tired, and unable to fight longer; for we have fewer people to relieve
with than they, who can come forward at one time and retreat and rest
at another. But if we advance so hard at the first attack that those who
are foremost in their ranks must turn round, then the one will fall over
the other, and their destruction will be the greater the greater numbers
there are together." When the king had ended his speech it was received
with loud applause, and the one encouraged the other.
224. OF THORD FOLASON.
Thord Folason carried King Olaf's banner. So says Sigvat the skald,
in the death-song which he composed about King Olaf, and put together
according to resurrection saga:--
"Thord. I have heard, by Olaf's side,
Where raged the battle's wildest tide,
Moved on, and, as by one accord
Moved with them every heart and sword.
The banner of the king on high,
Floating all splendid in the sky
From golden shaft, aloft he bore,--
The Norsemen's rallying-point of yore."
225. OF KING OLAF'S ARMOUR.
King Olaf was armed thus:--He had a gold-mounted helmet on his head; and
had in one hand a white shield, on which the holy cross was inlaid in
gold. In his other hand he had a lance, which to the present day stands
beside the altar in Christ Church. In his belt he had a sword, which was
called Hneiter, which was remarkably sharp, and of which the handle was
worked with gold. He had also a strong coat of ring-mail. Sigvat the
skald, speaks of this:--
"A greater victory to gain,
Olaf the Stout strode o'er the plain
In strong chain armour, aid to bring
To his brave men on either wing.
High rose the fight and battle-heat,--
the clear blood ran beneath the feet
Of Swedes, who from the East came there,
In Olaf's gain or loss to share."
226. KING OLAF'S DREAM.
Now when King Olaf had drawn up his men the army of the bondes had not
yet come near upon any quarter, so the king said the people should sit
down and rest themselves. He sat down himself, and the people sat around
him in a widespread crowd. He leaned down, and laid his head upon Fin
Arnason's knee. There a slumber came upon him, and he slept a little
while; but at the same time the bondes' army was seen advancing with
raised banners, and the multitude of these was very great.
Then Fin awakened the king, and said that the bonde-army advanced
against them.
The king awoke, and said, "Why did you waken me, Fin, and did not allow
me to enjoy my dream?"
Fin: "Thou must not be dreaming; but rather thou shouldst be awake, and
preparing thyself against the host which is coming down upon us; or,
dost thou not see that the whole bonde-crowd is coming?"
The king replies, "They are not yet so near to us, and it would have
been better to have let me sleep."
Then said Fin, "What was the dream, sire, of which the loss appears
to thee so great that thou wouldst rather have been left to waken of
thyself?"
Now the king told his dream,--that he seemed to see a high ladder,
upon which he went so high in the air that heaven was open: for so high
reached the ladder. "And when you awoke me, I was come to the highest
step towards heaven."
Fin replies, "This dream does not appear to me so good as it does to
thee. I think it means that thou art fey (1); unless it be the mere want
of sleep that has worked upon thee."
ENDNOTES: (1) Fey means doomed to die.
227. OF ARNLJOT GELLINE'S BAPTISM.
When King Olaf was arrived at Stiklestad, it happened, among other
circumstances, that a man came to him; and although it was nowise
wonderful that there came many men from the districts, yet this must be
regarded as unusual, that this man did not appear like the other men
who came to him. He was so tall that none stood higher than up to his
shoulders: very handsome he was in countenance, and had beautiful fair
hair. He was well armed; had a fine helmet, and ring armour; a red
shield; a superb sword in his belt; and in his hand a gold-mounted
spear, the shaft of it so thick that it was a handful to grasp. The man
went before the king, saluted him, and asked if the king would accept
his services.
The king asked his name and family, also what countryman he was.
He replies, "My family is in Jamtaland and Helsingjaland, and my name is
Arnljot Gelline; but this I must not forget to tell you, that I came to
the assistance of those men you sent to Jamtaland to collect scat, and I
gave into their hands a silver dish, which I sent you as a token that I
would be your friend."
Then the king asked Arnljot if he was a Christian or not. He replied,
"My faith has been this, to rely upon my power and strength, and which
faith hath hitherto given me satisfaction; but now I intend rather to
put my faith, sire, in thee."
The king replies, "If thou wilt put faith in me thou must also put faith
in what I will teach thee. Thou must believe that Jesus Christ has made
heaven and earth, and all mankind, and to him shall all those who are
good and rightly believing go after death."
Arnljot answers, "I have indeed heard of the white Christ, but neither
know what he proposes, nor what he rules over; but now I will believe
all that thou sayest to me, and lay down my lot in your hands."
Thereupon Arnljot was baptized. The king taught him so much of the holy
faith as appeared to him needful, and placed him in the front rank of
the order of battle, in advance of his banner, where also Gauka-Thorer
and Afrafaste, with their men, were.
228. CONCERNING THE ARMY COLLECTED IN NORWAY.
Now shall we relate what we have left behind in our tale,--that the
lendermen and bondes had collected a vast host as soon as it was
reported that King Olaf was come from Russia, and had arrived in
Svithjod; but when they heard that he had come to Jamtaland, and
intended to proceed westwards over the keel-ridge to Veradal, they
brought their forces into the Throndhjem country, where they gathered
together the whole people, free and unfree, and proceeded towards
Veradal with so great a body of men that there was nobody in Norway at
that time who had seen so large a force assembled. But the force, as
it usually happens in so great a multitude, consisted of many different
sorts of people. There were many lendermen, and a great many powerful
bondes; but the great mass consisted of labourers and cottars. The chief
strength of this army lay in the Throndhjem land, and it was the most
warm in enmity and opposition to the king.
229. OF BISHOP SIGURD.
When King Canute had, as before related, laid all Norway under his
power, he set Earl Hakon to manage it, and gave the earl a court-bishop,
by name Sigurd, who was of Danish descent, and had been long with
King Canute. This bishop was of a very hot temper, and particularly
obstinate, and haughty in his speech; but supported King Canute all he
could in conversation, and was a great enemy of King Olaf. He was now
also in the bondes' army, spoke often before the people, and urged them
much to insurrection against King Olaf.
230. BISHOP SIGURD'S SPEECH.
At a House-thing, at which a great many people were assembled, the
bishop desired to be heard, and made the following speech: "Here are
now assembled a great many men, so that probably there will never be
opportunity in this poor country of seeing so great a native army;
but it would be desirable if this strength and multitude could be a
protection; for it will all be needed, if this Olaf does not give over
bringing war and strife upon you. From his very earliest youth he has
been accustomed to plunder and kill: for which purposes he drove widely
around through all countries, until he turned at last against this,
where he began to show hostilities against the men who were the best and
most powerful; and even against King Canute, whom all are bound to serve
according to their ability, and in whose scat-lands he set himself down.
He did the same to Olaf the Swedish king. He drove the earls Svein and
Hakon away from their heritages; and was even most tyrannical towards
his own connections, as he drove all the kings out of the Uplands:
although, indeed, it was but just reward for having been false to their
oaths of fealty to King Canute, and having followed this King Olaf in
all the folly he could invent; so their friendship ended according
to their deserts, by this king mutilating some of them, taking their
kingdoms himself, and ruining every man in the country who had an
honourable name. Ye know yourselves how he has treated the lendermen, of
whom many of the worthlest have been murdered, and many obliged to fly
from their country; and how he has roamed far and wide through the land
with robber-bands, burning and plundering houses, and killing people.
Who is the man among us here of any consideration who has not some great
injury from him to avenge? Now he has come hither with a foreign troop,
consisting mostly of forest-men, vagabonds, and such marauders. Do ye
think he will now be more merciful to you, when he is roaming about with
such a bad crew, after committing devastations which all who followed
him dissuaded him from? Therefore it is now my advice, that ye remember
King Canute's words when he told you, if King Olaf attempted to return
to the country ye should defend the liberty King Canute had promised
you, and should oppose and drive away such a vile pack. Now the only
thing to be done is to advance against them, and cast forth these
malefactors to the wolves and eagles, leaving their corpses on the spot
they cover, unless ye drag them aside to out-of-the-way corners in
the woods or rocks. No man would be so imprudent as to remove them to
churches, for they are all robbers and evil-doers." When he had ended
his speech it was hailed with the loudest applause, and all unanimously
agreed to act according to his recommendation.
231. OF THE LENDERMEN.
The lendermen who had come together appointed meetings with each other,
and consulted together how they should draw up their troops, and who
should be their leader. Kalf Arnason said that Harek of Thjotta was best
fitted to be the chief of this army, for he was descended from Harald
Harfager's race. "The king also is particularly enraged against him on
account of the murder of Grankel, and therefore he would be exposed to
the severest fate if Olaf recovered the kingdom; and Harek withal is a
man experienced in battles, and a man who does much for honour alone."
Harek replies, that the men are best suited for this who are in the
flower of their age. "I am now," says he, "an old and decaying man, not
able to do much in battle: besides, there is near relationship between
me and King Olaf; and although he seems not to put great value upon that
tie, it would not beseem me to go as leader of the hostilities against