Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway
"'Twas on a Sunday morning bright,
Fell out this great and bloody fight,
When men were arming, fighting, dying,
Or on the red decks wounded lying.
And many a man, foredoomed to die,
To save his life o'erboard did fly,
But sank; for swimming could not save,
And dead men rolled in every wave."
Magnus took seven ships from Svein's people. So says Thiodolf:--
"Thick Olaf's son seven vessels cleared,
And with his fleet the prizes steered.
The Norway girls will not be sad
To hear such news--each from her lad."
He also sings:--
"The captured men will grieve the most
Svein and their comrades to have lost;
For it went ill with those who fled,
Their wounded had no easy bed.
A heavy storm that very night
O'ertook them flying from the fight;
And skulls and bones are tumbling round,
Under the sea, on sandy ground."
Svein fled immediately by night to Seeland, with the men who had escaped
and were inclined to follow him; but King Magnus brought his ships to
the shore, and sent his men up the country in the night-time, and early
in the morning they came flown to the strand with a great booty in
cattle. Thiodolf tells about it:--
"But yesterday with heavy stones
We crushed their skulls, and broke their bones,
And thinned their ranks; and now to-day
Up through their land we've ta'en our way,
And driven their cattle to the shore,
And filled out ships with food in store.
To save his land from our quick swords,
Svein will need something more than words."
32. SVEIN'S FLIGHT.
King Magnus sailed with his fleet from the south after Svein to Seeland;
but as soon as the king came there Svein fled up the country with his
men, and Magnus followed them, and pursued the fugitives, killing all
that were laid hold of. So says Thiodolf:--
"The Seeland girl asks with fear,
'Whose blood-bespattered shield and spear--
The earl's or king's--up from the shore
Moved on with many a warrior more?'
We scoured through all their muddy lanes,
Woodlands, and fields, and miry plains.
Their hasty footmarks in the clay
Showed that to Ringsted led their way.
"Spattered with mud from heel to head,
Our gallant lord his true men led.
Will Lund's earl halt his hasty flight,
And try on land another fight?
His banner yesterday was seen,
The sand-bills and green trees between,
Through moss and mire to the strand,
In arrow flight, leaving the land."
Then Svein fled over to Fyen Island, and King Magnus carried fire and
sword through Seeland, and burnt all round, because their men had joined
Svein's troop in harvest. So says Thiodolf:--
"As Svein in winter had destroyed
The royal house, the king employed
No little force to guard the land,
And the earl's forays to withstand.
An armed band one morn he found,
And so beset them round and round,
That Canute's nephew quickly fled,
Or he would have been captive led.
"Our Throndhjem king in his just ire
Laid waste the land with sword and fire,
Burst every house, and over all
Struck terror into great and small.
To the earl's friends he well repaid
Their deadly hate--such wild work made
On them and theirs, that from his fury,
Flying for life, away they hurry."
33. BURNING IN FYEN.
As soon as King Magnus heard that Svein with his troops had gone across
to Fyen, he sailed after them; and when Svein heard this news he went
on board ship and sailed to Scania, and from thence to Gautland, and at
last to the Swedish King. King Magnus landed in Fyen, and plundered and
burned over all; and all of Svein's men who came there fled far enough.
Thiodolf speaks of it thus:--
"Fiona isle, once green and fair,
Lies black and reeking through the air:
The red fog rises, thick and hot,
From burning farm and smouldering cot.
The gaping thralls in terror gaze
On the broad upward-spiring blaze,
From thatched roofs and oak-built walls,
Their murdered masters' stately halls.
"Svein's men, my girl, will not forget
That thrice they have the Norsemen met,
By sea, by land, with steel, with fire,
Thrice have they felt the Norse king's ire.
Fiona's maids are slim and fair,
The lovely prizes, lads, we'll share:
Some stand to arms in rank and row,
Some seize, bring off, and fend with blow."
After this the people of Denmark submitted to King Magnus, and during
the rest of the winter, there was peace. King Magnus then appointed some
of his men to govern Denmark; and when spring was advanced he sailed
northwards with his fleet to Norway, where he remained a great part of
the summer.
34. BATTLE AT HELGANES
Now, when Svein heard that King Magnus had gone to Norway he rode
straight down, and had many people out of Svithjod with him. The people
of Scania received him well, and he again collected an army, with which
he first crossed over into Seeland and seized upon it and Fyen, and all
the other isles. When King Magnus heard of this he gathered together men
and ships, and sailed to Denmark; and as soon as he knew where Svein was
lying with his ships King Magnus sailed to meet him. They met at a place
called Helganes, and the battle began about the fall of day. King Magnus
had fewer men, but larger and better equipt vessels. So says Arnor, the
earls' skald:--
"At Helganes--so goes the tale--
The brave wolf-feeder, under sail,
Made many an ocean-elk (1) his prey,
Seized many a ship ere break of day.
When twilight fell he urged the fight,
Close combat--man to man all night;
Through a long harvest night's dark hours,
Down poured the battle's iron showers."
The battle was very hot, and as night advanced the fall of men was
great. King Magnus, during the whole night, threw hand-spears. Thiodolf
speaks of this:--
"And there at Helganes sunk down,
Sore wounded, men of great renown;
And Svein's retainers lost all heart,
Ducking before the flying dart.
The Norsemen's king let fly his spears,
His death-wounds adding to their fears;
For each spear-blade was wet all o'er,
Up to the shaft in their life-gore."
To make a short tale, King Magnus won the victory in this battle, and
Svein fled. His ship was cleared of men from stem to stern; and it went
so on board many others of his ships. So says Thiodolf:--
"Earl Svein fled from the empty deck,
His lonely ship an unmann'd wreck;
Magnus the Good, the people's friend,
Pressed to the death on the false Svein.
Hneiter (2), the sword his father bore,
Was edge and point, stained red with gore;
Swords sprinkle blood o'er armour bright,
When kings for land and power fight."
And Arnor says:--
"The cutters of Bjorn's own brother
Soon changed their owner for another;
The king took them and all their gear;
The crews, however, got off clear."
A great number of Svein's men fell, and King Magnus and his men had a
vast booty to divide. So says Thiodolf:--
"Where the Norsemen the Danish slew,
A Gautland shield and breast-plate true
Fell to my share of spoil by lot;
And something more i' the south I got:
(There all the summer swords were ringing)
A helm, gay arms, and gear worth bringing,
Home to my quiet lovely one
I sent--with news how we had won."
Svein fled up to Scania with all the men who escaped with him; and King
Magnus and his people drove the fugitives up through the country without
meeting any opposition either from Svein's men or the bondes. So says
Thiodolf:--
"Olaf's brave son then gave command,
All his ships' crews should quickly land:
King Magnus, marching at their head,
A noble band of warriors led.
A foray through the land he makes;
Denmark in every quarter shakes.
Up hill and down the horses scour,
Carrying the Danes from Norsemen's power."
King Magnus drove with fire and sword through the land. So says
Thiodolf:--
"And now the Norsemen storm along,
Following their banner in a throng:
King Magnus' banner flames on high,
A star to guide our roaming by.
To Lund, o'er Scania's peaceful field,
My shoulder bore my useless shield;
A fairer land, a better road,
As friend or foe, I never trod."
They began to burn the habitations all around, and the people fled on
every side. So says Thiodolf:--
"Our ice-cold iron in great store,
Our arms, beside the king we bore:
The Scanian rogues fly at the view
Of men and steel all sharp and true.
Their timbered houses flame on high,
Red flashing over half the sky;
The blazing town flings forth its light,
Lighting the cowards on their flight."
And he also sang:--
"The king o'er all the Danish land
Roams, with his fire-bringing band:
The house, the hut, the farm, the town,
All where men dwelt is burned down.
O'er Denmark's plains and corn-fields,
Meadows and moors, are seen our shields:
Victorious over all, we chase
Svein's wounded men from place to place.
"Across Fiona's moor again,
The paths late trodden by our men
We tread once more, until quite near,
Through morning mist, the foes appear.
Then up our numerous banners flare
In the cold early morning air;
And they from Magnus' power who fly
Cannot this quick war-work deny."
Then Svein fled eastwards along Scania, and King Magnus returned to his
ships, and steered eastwards also along the Scanian coast, having got
ready with the greatest haste to sail. Thiodolf sings thus about it:--
"No drink but the salt sea
On board our ships had we,
When, following our king,
On board our ships we spring.
Hard work on the salt sea,
Off Scania's coast, had we;
But we laboured for the king,
To his foemen death to bring."
Svein fled to Gautland, and then sought refuge with the Swedish king,
with whom he remained all winter (A.D. 1046), and was treated with great
respect.
ENDNOTES: (1) Ship.--L.
(2) This was the name of Saint Olaf's sword,
which Magnus had recovered.--L.
35. OF KING MAGNUS'S CAMPAIGN.
When King Magnus had subdued Scania he turned about, and first went
to Falster, where he landed, plundered, and killed many people who had
before submitted to Svein. Arnor speaks of this:--
"A bloody vengeance for their guile
King Magnus takes on Falster Isle;
The treacherous Danes his fury feel,
And fall before his purpled steel.
The battle-field is covered o'er,
With eagle's prey from shore to shore;
And the king's courtmen were the first
To quench with blood the raven's thirst."
Thereafter Magnus with his fleet proceeded to the isle of Fyen, went on
land, plundered, and made great devastation. So says Arnor, the earls'
skald:--
"To fair Fiona's grassy shore
His banner now again he bore:
He who the mail-shirt's linked chains
Severs, and all its lustre stains,--
He will be long remembered there,
The warrior in his twentieth year,
Whom their black ravens from afar
Saluted as he went to war."
36. OF KING MAGNUS'S BATTLES.
King Magnus remained in Denmark all that winter (A.D. 1046), and sat in
peace. He had held many battles, and had gained the victory in all. So
says Od Kikinaskald:--
"'Fore Michaelmas was struck the blow,
That laid the Vindland vikings low;