17. JOURNEY OF ERLING SKAKKE
AND EARL RAGNVALD.
Kyrpingaorm and Ragnhild, a
daughter of Sveinke Steinarson, had a
son called Erling. Kyrpingaorm
was a son of Svein Sveinson, who
was a son of Erling of Gerd.
Otto's mother was Ragna, a daughter
of Earl Orm Eilifson and Sigrid,
a daughter of Earl Fin Arnason.
The mother of Earl Orm was
Ragnhild, a daughter of Earl Hakon the
Great. Erling was a man of
understanding, and a great friend of
King Inge, by whose assistance
and counsel Erling obtained in
marriage Christina, a daughter
of King Sigurd the Crusader and
Queen Malmfrid. Erling possessed
a farm at Studla in South
Hordaland. Erling left the
country; and with him went Eindride
Unge and several lendermen,
who had chosen men with them. They
intended to make a pilgrimage
to Jerusalem, and went across the
West sea to Orkney. There
Earl Ragnvald and Bishop William
joined them; and they had in
all fifteen ships from Orkney, with
which they first sailed to
the South Hebrides, from thence west
to Valland, and then the same
way King Sigurd the Crusader had
sailed to Norvasund; and they
plundered all around in the heathen
part of Spain. Soon after
they had sailed through the Norvasund,
Eindride Unge and his followers,
with six ships, separated from
them; and then each was for
himself. Earl Ragnvald and Erling
Skakke fell in with a large
ship of burden at sea called a
dromund, and gave battle to
it with nine ships. At last they
laid their cutters close under
the dromund; but the heathens
threw both weapons and stones,
and pots full of pitch and boiling
oil. Erling laid his ship
so close under the dromund, that the
missiles of the heathens fell
without his ship. Then Erling and
his men cut a hole in the dromund,
some working below and some
above the water-mark; and so
they boarded the vessel through it.
So says Thorbjorn Skakkaskald,
in his poem on Erling: --
"The axes of the
Northmen bold
A door into the huge ships'
hold
Hewed through her high
and curved side,
As snug beneath her bulge
they ride.
Their spears bring down
the astonished foe,
Who cannot see from whence
the blow.
The eagle's prey, they,
man by man,
Fall by the Northmen's
daring plan."
Audunraude, Erling's forecastle-man,
was the first man who got
into the dromund. Then they
carried her, killing an immense
number of people; making an
extraordinarily valuable booty, and
gaining a famous victory.
Earl Ragnvald and Erling Skakke came
to Palestine in the course
of their expedition, and all the way
to the river Jordan. From
thence they went first to
Constantinople, where they
left their ships, travelled northwards
by land, and arrived in safety
in Norway, where their journey was
highly praised. Erling Skakke
appeared now a much greater man
than before, both on account
of his journey and of his marriage;
besides he was a prudent sensible
man, rich, of great family,
eloquent, and devoted to King
Inge by the strictest friendship
more than to the other royal
brothers.
18. BIRTH OF HAKON HERDEBREID.
King Sigurd went to a feast
east in Viken along with his court,
and rode past a house belonging
to a great bonde called Simon.
While the king was riding past
the house, he heard within such
beautiful singing that he was
quite enchanted with it, and rode
up to the house, and saw a
lovely girl standing at the handmill
and grinding. The king got
off his horse, and went to the girl
and courted her. When the
king went away, the bonde Simon came
to know what the object of
the king's visit had been. The girl
was called Thora, and she was
Simon the bonde's servant-girl.
Simon took good care of her
afterwards, and the girl brought
forth a male child (A.D. 1047),
who was called Hakon, and was
considered King Sigurd's son.
Hakon was brought up by Simon
Thorbergson and his wife Gunhild.
Their own sons also, Onund and
Andreas, were brought up with
Hakon, and were so dear to him that
death only could have parted
them.
19. EYSTEIN AND THE PEASANTS
OF HISING ISLE.
While King Eystein Haraldson
was in Viken, he fell into disputes
with the bondes of Reine and
the inhabitants of Hising Isle, who
assembled to oppose him; but
he gave them battle at a place
called Leikberg, and afterwards
burnt and destroyed all around in
Hising; so that the bondes
submitted to his will, paid great
fines to the king, and he took
hostages from them. So says Einar
Skulason: --
"The Viken men
Won't strive again,
With words or blows,
The king to oppose.
None safety found
On Viken's ground,
Till all, afraid,
Pledge and scat paid."
And further: --
"The king came near;
He who is dear
To all good men
Came down the glen,
By Leikberg hill.
They who do ill,
The Reine folk, fly
Or quarter cry."
20. WAR EXPEDITION OF KING
HARALDSON.
Soon after King Eystein began
his journey out of the country over
sea to the West (A.D. 1153),
and sailed first to Caithness. Here
he heard that Earl Harald Maddad's
son was in Thursa, to which he
sailed directly in three small
boats. The earl had a ship of
thirty banks of oars, and nearly
eighty men in her. But they
were not prepared to make resistance,
so that King Eystein was
able to board the ship with
his men; and he took the earl
prisoner, and carried him to
his own ship, but the earl ransomed
himself with three marks of
gold: and thus they parted. Einar
Skulason tells of it thus:
--
"Earl Harald in his
stout ship lay
On the bright sand in
Thursa bay;
With fourscore men he
had no fear,
Nor thought the Norse
king was so near,
He who provides the eagle's
meals
In three small boats along-shore
steals;
And Maddad's son must
ransom pay
For his bad outlook that
fair day."
From thence King Eystein sailed
south along the east side of
Scotland, and brought up at
a merchant-town in Scotland called
Aberdeen, where he killed many
people, and plundered the town.
So says Einar Skulason: --
"At Aberdeen, too,
I am told,
Fell many by our Norsemen
bold;
Peace was disturbed, and
blue swords broke
With many a hard and bloody
stroke."
The next battle was at Hartlepool
in the south, with a party of
horsemen. The king put them
to flight, and seized some ships
there. So says Einar: --
"At Hartlepool, in
rank and row,
The king's court-men attack
the foe.
The king's sharp sword
in blood was red,
Blood dropped from every
Norse spear-head.
Ravens rejoice o'er the
warm food
Of English slain, each
where he stood;
And in the ships their
thirst was quenched:
The decks were in the
foe's blood drenched."
Then he went southwards to
England, and had his third battle at
Whitby, and gained the victory,
and burnt the town. So says
Einar: --
"The ring of swords,
the clash of shields,
Were loud in Whitby's
peaceful fields;
For here the king stirred
up the strife. --
Man against man, for death
or life.
O'er roof and tower, rose
on high
The red wrath-fire in
the sky;
House after house the
red fiend burns;
By blackened walls the
poor man mourns."
Thereafter he plundered wide
around in England, where Stephen was
then the king. After this
King Eystein fought with some cavalry
at Skarpasker. So says Einar:
--
"At Skarpasker the
English horse
Retire before the Norse
king's force:
The arrow-shower like
snow-drift flew,
And the shield-covered
foemen slew."
He fought next at Pilavik,
and gained the victory. So says
Einar: --
"At Pilavik the wild
wolf feeds,
Well furnished by the
king's brave deeds
He poured upon the grass-green
plain
A red shower from the
Perthmen slain.
On westwards in the sea
he urges,
With fire and sword the
country purges:
Langtown he burns; the
country rang,
For sword on shield incessant
clang."
Here they burnt Langatun, a
large village; and people say that
the town has never since risen
to its former condition. After
this King Eystein left England
in autumn, and returned to Norway.
People spoke in various ways
about this expedition.
21. OF HARALD'S SONS.
There was good peace maintained
in Norway in the first years of
the government of Harald's
sons; and as long as their old
counsellors were alive, there
was some kind of unanimity among
them. While Inge and Sigurd
were in their childhood, they had a
court together; but Eystein,
who was come to age of discretion,
had a court for himself. But
when Inge's and Sigurd's
counsellors were dead, -- namely,
Sadagyrd Bardson, Ottar
Birting, Amunde Gyrdson, Thjostolf
Alason, Ogmund Svipter, and
Ogmund Denger, a brother of
Erling Skakke (Erling was not much
looked up to while Ogmund lived),
-- the two kings, Inge and
Sigurd divided their courts.
King Inge then got great assistance
from Gregorius Dagson, a son
of Dag Eilifson by Ragnhild a
daughter of Skapte Ogmundson.
Gregorius had much property, and
was himself a thriving, sagacious
man. He presided in the
governing the country under
King Inge, and the king allowed him
to manage his property for
him according to his own judgment.
22. HABITS AND MANNERS OF HARALD'S
SONS.
When King Sigurd grew up he
was a very ungovernable, restless man
in every way; and so was King
Eystein, but Eystein was the more
reasonable of the two. King
Sigurd was a stout and strong man,
of a brisk appearance; he had
light brown hair, an ugly mouth;
but otherwise a well-shaped
countenance. He was polite in his
conversation beyond any man,
and was expert in all exercises.
Einar Skulason speaks of this:
--
"Sigurd, expert in
every way
To wield the sword in
bloody fray,
Showed well that to the
bold and brave
God always luck and victory
gave.
In speech, as well as
bloody deeds,
The king all other men
exceeds;
And when he speaks we
think that none
Has said a word but he
alone."
King Eystein was dark and dingy
in complexion, of middle height,
and a prudent able man; but
what deprived him of consideration
and popularity with those under
him were his avarice and
narrowness. He was married
to Ragna, a daughter of Nicolas Mase.
King Inge was the handsomest
among them in countenance. He had
yellow but rather thin hair,
which was much curled. His stature
was small; and he had difficulty
in walking alone, because he had
one foot withered, and he had
a hump both on his back and his
breast. He was of cheerful
conversation, and friendly towards
his friends; was generous,
and allowed other chiefs to give him
counsel in governing the country.
He was popular, therefore,
with the public; and all this
brought the kingdom and the mass of
the people on his side. King
Harald Gille's daughter Brigida was
first married to the Swedish
king Inge Halsteinson, and
afterwards to Earl Karl Sonason,
and then to the Swedish king
Magnus. She and King Inge
Haraldson were cousins by the mother's
side. At last Brigida married
Earl Birger Brose, and they had
four sons, namely, Earl Philip,
Earl Knut, Folke, and Magnus.
Their daughters were Ingegerd,
who was married to the Swedish
king Sorkver, and their son
was King Jon; a second daughter was
called Kristin, and a third
Margaret. Harald Gille's second
daughter was called Maria,
who was married to Simon Skalp, a son
of Halkel Huk; and their son
was called Nikolas. King Harald
Gille's third daughter was
called Margaret, who was married to
Jon Halkelson, a brother of
Simon. Now many things occurred
between the brothers which
occasioned differences and disputes;
but I will only relate what
appears to me to have produced the
more important events.
23. CARDINAL NIKOLAS COMES
TO THE COUNTRY.
In the days of Harald's sons
Cardinal Nikolas came from Rome to
Norway, being sent there by
the pope. The cardinal had taken
offence at the brothers Sigurd
and Eystein, and they were obliged
to come to a reconciliation
with him; but, on the other hand, he
stood on the most affectionate
terms with King Inge, whom he
called his son. Now when they
were all reconciled with him, he
moved them to let Jon Birgerson
be consecrated archbishop of
Throndhjem and gave him a vestment
which is called a pallium; and
settled moreover that the archbishop's
seat should be in Nidaros,
in Christ church, where King
Olaf the Saint reposes. Before that
time there had only been common
bishops in Norway. The cardinal
introduced also the law, that
no man should go unpunished who
appeared with arms in the merchant-town,
excepting the twelve men
who were in attendancce on
the king. He improved many of the
customs of the Northmen while
he was in the country. There never
came a foreigner to Norway
whom all men respected so highly, or
who could govern the people
so well as he did. After some time
he returned to the South with
many friendly presents, and
declared ever afterwards that
he was the greatest friend of the
people of Norway. When he
came south to Rome the former pope
died suddenly, and all the
people of Rome would have Cardinal
Nikolas for pope, and he was
consecrated under the name of
Adrian; and according to the
report of men who went to Rome in
his days, he had never any
business, however important, to settle
with other people, but he would
break it off to speak with the
Northmen who desired to see
him. He was not long pope, and is
now considered a saint.
24. MIRACLE OF KING OLAF.
In the time of Harald Gille's
sons, it happened that a man called
Haldor fell into the hands
of the Vindland people, who took him
and mutilated him, cut open
his neck, took out the tongue through
the opening, and cut out his
tongue root. He afterwards sought
out the holy King Olaf, fixed
his mind entirely on the holy man,
and weeping besought King Olaf
to restore his speech and health.
Thereupon he immediately recovered
his speech by the good king's
compassion, went immediately
into his service for all his life,
and became an excellent trustworthy
man. This miracle took place
a fortnight before the last
Olafsmas, upon the day that Cardinal
Nikolas set foot on the land
of Norway.
25. MIRACLES OF KING OLAF ON
RICHARD.
In the Uplands were two brothers,
men of great family, and men of
fortune, Einar and Andres,
sons of Guthorm Grabard, and brothers
of King Sigurd Haraldson's
mother; and they had great properties
and udal estates in that quarter.
They had a sister who was very
handsome, but did not pay sufficient
regard to the scandal of
evil persons, as it afterwards
appeared. She was on a friendly
footing with an English priest
called Richard, who had a welcome
to the house of her brothers,
and on account of their friendship
for him she did many things
to please him, and often to his
advantage; but the end of all
this was, that an ugly report flew
about concerning this girl.
When this came into the mouth of the
public all men threw the blame
on the priest. Her brothers did
the same, and expressed publicly,
as soon as they observed it,
that they laid the blame most
on him. The great friendship that
was between the earl and the
priest proved a great misfortune to
both, which might have been
expected, as the brothers were silent
about their secret determination,
and let nothing be observed.
But one day they called the
priest to them, who went, expecting
nothing but good from them;
enticed him from home with them,
saying that they intended to
go to another district, where they
had some needful business,
and inviting him to go with them.
They had with them a farm-servant
who knew their purpose. They
went in a boat along the shore
of a lake which is called Rands
lake, and landed at a ness
called Skiptisand, where they went on
shore and amused themselves
awhile. Then they went to a retired
place, and commanded their
servant-man to strike the priest with
an axe-hammer. He struck the
priest so hard that he swooned; but
when he recovered he said,
"Why are ye playing so roughly with
me?" They replied, "Although
nobody has told thee of it before,
thou shalt now find the consequence
of what thou hast done."
They then upbraided him; but
he denied their accusations, and
besought God and the holy King
Olaf to judge between them. Then
they broke his leg-bones, and
dragged him bound to the forest
with them; and then they put
a string around his head, and put a
board under his head and shoulders,
and made a knot on the
string, and bound his head
fast to the board. Then the elder
brother, Einar, took a wedge,
and put it on the priest's eye, and
the servant who stood beside
him struck upon it with an axe, so
that the eye flew out, and
fell upon the board. Then he set the
pin upon the other eye, and
said to the servant, "Strike now more
softly." He did so, and
the wedge sprang from the eye-stone, and
tore the eyelid loose. Then
Einar took up the eyelid in his
hand, and saw that the eye-stone
was still in its place; and he
set the wedge on the cheek,
and when the servant struck it the
eye-stone sprang out upon the
cheek-bone. Thereafter they opened
his mouth, took his tongue
and cut it off, and then untied his
hands and his head. As soon
as he came to himself, he thought of
laying the eye-stones in their
place under the eyelids, and
pressing then with both hands
as much as he could. Then they
carried him on board, and went
to a farm called Saeheimrud, where
they landed. They sent up
to the farm to say that a priest was
lying in the boat at the shore.
While the message was going to
the farm, they asked the priest
if he could talk; and he made a
noise and attempted to speak.
Then said Einar to his brother,
"If he recover and the
stump of his tongue grow, I am afraid he
will get his speech again."
Thereupon they seized the stump with
a pair of tongs, drew it out,
cut it twice, and the third time to
the very roots, and left him
lying half dead. The housewife in
the farm was poor; but she
hastened to the place with her
daughter, and they carried
the priest home to their farm in their
cloaks. They then brought
a priest, and when he arrived he bound
all his wounds; and they attended
to his comfort as much as they
were able. And thus lay the
wounded priest grievously handled,
but trusting always to God's
grace, and never doubting; and
although he was speechless,
he prayed to God in thought with a
sorrowful mind, but with the
more confidence the worse he was.
He turned his thoughts also
to the mild King Olaf the Saint,
God's dear favourite, of whose
excellent deeds he had heard so
much told, and trusted so much
more zealously on him with all his
heart for help in his necessity.
As he lay there lame, and
deprived of all strength, he
wept bitterly, moaned, and prayed
with a sore heart that the
dear King Olaf would help him. Now
when this wounded priest was
sleeping after midnight, he thought
he saw a gallant man coming
to him, who spoke these words, "Thou
art ill off, friend Richard,
and thy strength is little." He
thought he replied to this
assentingly. Then the man accosted
him again, "Thou requirest
compassion?" The priest replies, "I
need the compassion of Almighty
God and the holy King Olaf." He
answered, "Thou shalt
get it." Thereupon he pulled the tongue-
stump so hard that it gave
the priest pain; then he stroked with
his hands his eyes, and legs,
and other wounded members. Then
the priest asked who he was.
He looked at him, and said, "Olaf,
come here from Throndhjem;"
and then disappeared. But the priest
awoke altogether sound, and
thus he spoke: "Happy am I, and
thanks be to the Almighty God
and the holy King Olaf, who have
restored me!" Dreadfully
mishandled as he had been, yet so
quickly was he restored from
his misfortune that he scarcely
thought he had been wounded
or sick. His tongue was entire; both
his eyes were in their places,
and were clear-sighted; his broken
legs and every other wound
were healed, or were free from pain;
and, in short, he had got perfect
health. But as a proof that
his eyes had been punched out,
there remained a white scar on
each eyelid, in order that
this dear king's excellence might be
manifest on the man who had
been so dreadfully misused.
26. KING INGE AND SIGURD HOLD
A THING.
King Eystein and King Sigurd
had quarrelled, because King Sigurd
had killed King Eystein's court-man
Harald, the Viken man, who
owned a house in Bergen, and
also the priest Jon Tapard, a son of
Bjarne Sigurdson. On account
of this affair, a conference to
settle it was appointed in
winter in the Uplands. The two sat
together in the conference
for a long time, and so much was known
of their conference that all
three brothers were to meet the
following summer in Bergen.
It was added, that their conference
was to the effect that King
Inge should have two or three farms,
and as much income as would
keep thirty men beside him, as he had
not health to be a king. When
King Inge and Gregorius heard this
report, they came to Bergen
with many followers. King Sigurd
arrived there a little later,
and was not nearly so strong in
men. Sigurd and Inge had then
been nineteen years kings of
Norway (A.D. 1155). King Eystein
came later still from the south
than the other two from the
north. Then King Inge ordered the
Thing to be called together
on the holm by the sound of trumpet;
and Sigurd and Inge came to
it with a great many people.
Gregorius had two long-ships,
and at the least ninety men, whom
he kept in provisions. He
kept his house-men better than other
lendermen; for he never took
part in any entertainment where each
guest brings his liquor, without
having all his house-men to
drink with him. He went now
to the Thing in a gold-mounted
helmet, and all his men had
helmets on. Then King Inge stood up,
and told the assembly what
he had heard; how his brothers were
going to use him, and depose
him from his kingdom; and asked for
their assistance. The assembled
people made a good return to his
speech, and declared they would
follow him.
27. OF GREGORIUS DAGSON.
Then King Sigurd stood up and
said it was a false accusation that
King Inge had made against
him and his brother, and insisted that
Gregorius had invented it;
and insinuated that it would not be
long, if he had his will, before
they should meet so that the
golden helmet should be doffed;
and ended his speech by hinting
that they could not both live.
Gregorius replied, that Sigurd
need not long so much for this,
as he was ready now, if it must
be so. A few days after, one
of Gregorius's house-men was killed
out upon the street, and it
was Sigurd's house-men who killed
him. Gregorius would then
have fallen upon King Sigurd and his
people; but King Inge, and
many others, kept him back. But one
evening, just as Queen Ingerid,
King Inge's mother, was coming
from vespers, she came past
where Sigurd Skrudhyrna, a courtman
of King Inge, lay murdered.
He was then an old man, and had
served many kings. King Sigurd's
courtmen, Halyard Gunnarson,
and Sigurd, a son of Eystein
Trafale, had killed him; and people
suspected it was done by order
of King Sigurd. She went
immediately to King Inge, and
told him he would be a little king
if he took no concern, but
allowed his court-men to be killed,
the one after the other, like
swine. The king was angry at her
speech; and while they were
scolding about it, came Gregorius in
helmet and armour, and told
the king not to be angry, for she was
only saying the truth. "And
I am now," says he, "come to thy
assistance, if thou wilt attack
King Sigurd; and here we are,
above 100 men in helmets and
armour, and with them we will attack
where others think the attack
may be worst." But the most
dissuaded from this course,
thinking that Sigurd would pay the
mulct for the slaughter done.
Now when Gregorius saw that there
would be no assault, he accosted
King Inge thus: "Thou wilt
frighten thy men from thee
in this way; for first they lately
killed my house-man, and now
thy court-man, and afterwards they
will chase me, or some other
of thy lendermen whom thou wouldst
feel the loss of, when they
see that thou art indifferent about
such things; and at last, after
thy friends are killed, they will
take the royal dignity from
thee. Whatever thy other lendermen
may do, I will not stay here
longer to be slaughtered like an ox;
but Sigurd the king and I have
a business to settle with each
other to-night, in whatever
way it may turn out. It is true that
there is but little help in
thee on account of thy ill health,
but I should think thy will
should not be less to hold thy hand
over thy friends, and I am
now quite ready to go from hence to
meet Sigurd, and my banner
is flying in the yard."
Then King Inge stood up, and
called for his arms, and ordered
every man who wished to follow
him to get ready, declaring it was
of no use to try to dissuade
him; for he had long enough avoided
this, but now steel must determine
between them.
28. OF KING SIGURD'S FALL.
King Sigurd sat and drank in
Sigrid Saeta's house ready for
battle, although people thought
it would not come to an assault
at all. Then came King Inge
with his men down the road from the
smithy shops, against the house.
Arne, the king's brother-in-
law, came out from the Sand-bridge,
Aslak Erlendson from his own
house, and Gregorius from the
street where all thought the
assault would be worst. King
Sigurd and his men made many shots
from the holes in the loft,
broke down the fireplaces, and threw
stones on them. Gregorius
and his men cut down the gates of the
yard; and there in the port
fell Einar, a son of Laxapaul, who
was of Sigurd's people, together
with Halvard Gunnarson, who was
shot in a loft, and nobody
lamented his death. They hewed down
the houses, and many of King
Sigurd's men left him, and
surrendered for quarter. Then
King Sigurd went up into a loft,
and desired to be heard. He
had a gilt shield, by which they
knew him, but they would not
listen to him, and shot arrows at
him as thick as snow in a snow-shower,
so that he could not stay
there. As his men had now
left him, and the houses were being
hewn down, he went out from
thence, and with him his court-man
Thord Husfreyja from Viken.
They wanted to come where King Inge
was to be found, and Sigurd
called to his brother King Inge, and
begged him to grant him life
and safety; but both Thord and
Sigurd were instantly killed,
and Thord fell with great glory.
King Sigurd was interred in
the old Christ church out on the
holm. King Inge gave Gregorius
the ship King Sigurd had owned.
There fell many of King Sigurd's
and King Inge's men, although I
only name a few; but of Gregorius's
men there fell four; and also
some who belonged to no party,
but were shot on the piers, or out
in the ships. It was fought
on a Friday, and fourteen days
before Saint John the Baptist's
day (June 10, 1155). Two or
three days after King Eystein
came from the eastward with thirty
ships, and had along with him
his brother's son Hakon, a son of
King Sigurd. Eystein did not
come up to the town, but lay in
Floruvagar, and good men went
between to get a reconciliation
made. But Gregorius wanted
that they should go out against him,
thinking there never would
be a better opportunity; and offered
to be himself the leader.
"For thou, king, shalt not go, for we
have no want of men."
But many dissuaded from this course, and
it came to nothing. King Eystein
returned back to Viken, and
King Inge to Throndhjem, and
they were in a sort reconciled; but
they did not meet each other.
29. OF GREGORIUS DAGSON.
Somewhat later than King Eystein,
Gregorius Dagson also set out
to the eastward and came to
his farm Bratsberg in Hofund; but
King Eystein was up in the
fjord at Oslo, and had his ships drawn
above two miles over the frozen
sea, for there was much ice at
that time in Viken. King Eystein
went up to Hofund to take
Gregorius; but he got news
of what was on foot, and escaped to
Thelemark with ninety men,
from thence over the mountains, and
came down in Hardanger; and
at last to Studla in Etne, to Erling
Skakke's farm. Erling himself
had gone north to Bergen; but his
wife Kristin, a daughter of
King Sigurd, was at home, and offered
Gregorius all the assistance
he wanted; and he was hospitably
received. He got a long-ship
there which belonged to Erling, and
everything else he required.
Gregorius thanked her kindly, and
allowed that she had behaved
nobly, and as might have been
expected of her. Gregorius
then proceeded to Bergen, where he
met Erling, who thought also
that his wife had done well.
30. RECONCILIATION OF EYSTEIN
AND INGE.
Then Gregorius went north to
Throndhjem, and came there before
Yule. King Inge was rejoiced
at his safety, and told him to use
his property as freely as his
own, King Eystein having burnt
Gregorius's house, and slaughtered
his stock of cattle. The
ship-docks which King Eystein
the Elder had constructed in the
merchant town of Nidaros, and
which had been exceedingly
expensive, were also burnt
this winter, together with some good
vessels belonging to King Inge.
This deed was ascribed to King
Eystein and Philip Gyrdson,
King Sigurd's foster-brother, and
occasioned much displeasure
and hatred. The following summer
King Inge went south with a
very numerous body of men; and King
Eystein came northwards, gathering
men also. They met in the
east (A.D. 1156) at the Seleys,
near to the Naze; but King Inge
was by far the strongest in
men. It was nearly coming to a
battle; but at last they were
reconciled on these conditions,
that King Eystein should be
bound to pay forty-five marks of
gold, of which King Inge should
have thirty marks, because King
Eystein had occasioned the
burning of the docks and ships; and,
besides, that Philip, and all
who had been accomplices in the
deed, should be outlawed.
Also that the men should be banished
the country, against whom it
could be proved that they gave blow
or wound to King Sigurd; for
King Eystein accused King Inge of
protecting these men; and that
Gregorius should have fifteen
marks of gold for the value
of his property burnt by King
Eystein. King Eystein was
ill pleased with these terms, and
looked upon the treaty as one
forced upon him. From that meeting
King Inge went eastward to
Viken, and King Eystein north to
Throndhjem; and they had no
intercourse with each other, nor were
the messages which passed between
them very friendly, and on both
sides they killed each other's
friends. King Eystein, besides,
did not pay the money; and
the one accused the other of not
fulfilling what was promised.
King Inge and Gregorius enticed
many people from King Eystein;
among others, Bard Standale
Brynjolfson, Simon Skalp, a
son of Halkel Huk, Halder
Brynjolfson, Jon Halkelson,
and many other lendermen.
31. OF EYSTEIN AND INGE.
Two years after King Sigurd's
fall (A.D. 1157) both kings
assembled armaments; namely,
King Inge in the east of the
country, where he collected
eighty ships; and King Eystein in the
north, where he had forty-five,
and among these the Great Dragon,
which King Eystein Magnuson
had built after the Long Serpent; and
they had on both sides many
and excellent troops. King Inge lay
with his ships south at Moster
Isle, and King Eystein a little to
the north in Graeningasund.
King Eystein sent the young Aslak
Jonson, and Arne Sturla, a
son of Snaebjorn, with one ship to
meet King Inge; but when the
king's men knew them, they assaulted
them, killed many of their
people, and took all that was in the
ship belonging to them. Aslak
and Arne and a few more escaped to
the land, went to King Eystein,
and told him how King Inge had
received them. Thereupon King
Eystein held a House-thing, and
told his followers how ill
King Inge had treated his men, and
desired the troops to follow
him. "I have," said he, "so many,
and such excellent men, that
I have no intention to fly, if ye
will follow me." But
this speech was not received with much
favour. Halkel Huk was there;
but both his sons, Simon and Jon,
were with King Inge. Halkel
replied, so loud that many heard
him, "Let thy chests of
gold follow thee, and let them defend thy
land."
32. KING EYSTEIN'S DEATH.
In the night many of King Eystein's
ships rowed secretly away,
some of them joining King Inge,
some going to Bergen, or up into
the fjords; so that when it
was daylight in the morning the king
was lying behind with only
ten ships. Then he left the Great
Dragon, which was heavy to
row, and several other vessels behind;
and cut and destroyed the Dragon,
started out the ale, and
destroyed all that they could
not take with them. King Eystein
went on board of the ship of
Eindride, a son of Jon Morner,
sailed north into Sogn, and
then took the land-road eastwards to
Viken. King Inge took the
vessels, and sailed with them outside
of the isles to Viken. King
Eystein had then got east as far as
Fold, and had with him 1200
men; but when they saw King Inge's
force, they did not think themselves
sufficiently strong to
oppose him, and they retired
to the forest. Every one fled his
own way, so that the king was
left with but one man. King Inge
and his men observed King Eystein's
flight, and also that he had
but few people with him, and
they went immediately to search for
him. Simon Skalp met the king
just as he was coming out of a
willow bush. Simon saluted
him. "God save you, sire," said he.
The king replied, "I do
not know if thou are not sire here."
Simon replied, "That is
as it may happen."
The king begged him to conceal
him, and said it was proper to do
so. "For there was long
friendship between us, although it has
now gone differently."
Simon replied, it could not
be.
Then the king begged that he
might hear mass before he died,
which accordingly took place.
Then Eystein laid himself down on
his face on the grass, stretched
out his hands on each side, and
told them to cut the sign of
the cross between his shoulders, and
see whether he could not bear
steel as King Inge's followers had
asserted of him. Simon told
the man who had to put the king to
death to do so immediately,
for the king had been creeping about
upon the grass long enough.
He was accordingly slain, and he
appears to have suffered manfully.
His body was carried to Fors,
and lay all night under the
hill at the south side of the church.
King Eystein was buried in
Fors church, and his grave is in the
middle of the church-floor,
where a fringed canopy is spread over
it, and he is considered a
saint. Where he was executed, and his
blood ran upon the ground,
sprang up a fountain, and another
under the hill where his body
lay all night. From both these
waters many think they have
received a cure of sickness and pain.
It is reported by the Viken
people that many miracles were
wrought at King Eystein's grave,
until his enemies poured upon it
soup made of boiled dog's flesh.
Simon Skalp was much hated for
this deed, which was generally
ascribed to him; but some said
that when King Eystein was
taken Simon sent a message to King
Inge, and the king commanded
that King Eystein should not come
before his face. So King Sverre
has caused it to be written; but
Einar Skulason tells of it
thus: --
"Simon Skalp, the
traitor bold,
For deeds of murder known
of old,
His king betrayed; and
ne'er will he
God's blessed face hereafter
see."