Heimskringla, or the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Part 80

"The Upland king was all the night Speeding the arrows' deadly flight.

All in the dark his bow-string's tw.a.n.g Was answered; for some white s.h.i.+eld rang, Or yelling shriek gave certain note The shaft had pierced some ring-mail coat, The foemen's s.h.i.+elds and bulwarks bore A Lapland arrow-scat(1) or more."

Earl Hakon, and the people who followed him, did not make fast their s.h.i.+ps in the fleet, but rowed against the Danish s.h.i.+ps that were loose, and slew the men of all the s.h.i.+ps they came up with. When the Danes observed this each drew his s.h.i.+p out of the way of the earl; but he set upon those who were trying to escape, and they were nearly driven to flight. Then a boat came rowing to the earl's s.h.i.+p and hailed him and said that the other wing of King Harald's fleet was giving way and many of their people had fallen. Then the earl rowed thither and gave so severe an a.s.sault that the Danes had to retreat before him. The earl went on in this way all the night, coming forward where he was most wanted, and wheresoever he came none could stand against him. Hakon rowed outside around the battle. Towards the end of the night the greatest part of the Danish fleet broke into flight, for then King Harald with his men boarded the vessel of King Svein; and it was so completely cleared that all the crew fell in the s.h.i.+p, except those who sprang overboard. So says Arnor, the earls' skald:--

"Brave Svein did not his vessel leave Without good cause, as I believe: Oft on his casque the sword-blade rang, Before into the sea he sprang.

Upon the wave his vessel drives; All his brave crew had lost their lives.

O'er dead courtmen into the sea The Jutland king had now to flee."

And when King Svein's banner was cut down, and his s.h.i.+p cleared of its crew, all his forces took to flight, and some were killed. The s.h.i.+ps which were bound together could not be cast loose, so the people who were in them sprang overboard, and some got to the other s.h.i.+ps that were loose; and all King Svein's men who could get off rowed away, but a great many of them were slain. Where the king himself fought the s.h.i.+ps were mostly bound together, and there were more than seventy left behind of King Svein's vessels. So says Thiodolf:--

"Svein's s.h.i.+ps rode proudly o'er the deep, When, by a single sudden sweep, Full seventy sail, as we are told, Were seized by Norway's monarch bold."

King Harald rowed after the Danes and pursued them; but that was not easy, for the s.h.i.+ps lay so thick together that they scarcely could move.

Earl Fin Arnason would not flee; and being also shortsighted, was taken prisoner. So says Thiodolf:--

"To the six Danish earls who came To aid his force, and raise his name, No mighty thanks King Svein is owing For mighty actions of their doing.

Fin Arnason, in battle known, With a stout Norse heart of his own, Would not take flight his life to gain, And in the foremost ranks was ta'en."

ENDNOTES: (1) The Laplanders paid their seat, or yearly tax, in bows and arrows; and the meaning of the skald appears to be, that as many as were paid in a year were shot at the foe.--L.

66. KING SVEIN'S FLIGHT.

Earl Hakon lay behind with his s.h.i.+ps, while the king and the rest of the forces were pursuing the fugitives; for the earls' s.h.i.+ps could not get forward on account of the s.h.i.+ps which lay in the way before him. Then a man came rowing in a boat to the earl's s.h.i.+p and lay at the bulwarks.

The man was stout and had on a white hat. He hailed the s.h.i.+p, "Where is the earl?" said he.

The earl was in the fore-hold, stopping a man's blood. The earl cast a look at the man in the hat and asked what his name was. He answered, "Here is Vandrad: speak to me, earl."

The earl leant over the s.h.i.+p's side to him. Then the man in the boat said, "Earl, I will accept of my life from thee, if thou wilt give it."

Then the earl raised himself up, called two men who were friends dear to him, and said to them, "Go into the boat; bring Vandrad to the land; attend him to my friend's Karl the bonde; and tell Karl, as a token that these words come from me, that he let Vandrad have the horse which I gave to him yesterday, and also his saddle, and his son to attend him."

Thereupon they went into the boat and took the oars in hand, while Vandrad steered. This took place just about daybreak, while the vessels were in movement, some rowing towards the land, some towards the sea, both small and great. Vandrad steered where he thought there was most room between the vessels; and when they came near to Norway's s.h.i.+ps the earl's men gave their names and then they all allowed them to go where they pleased. Vandrad steered along the sh.o.r.e, and only set in towards the land when they had come past the crowd of s.h.i.+ps. They then went up to Karl the bonde's farm, and it was then beginning to be light. They went into the room where Karl had just put on his clothes. The earl's men told him their message and Karl said they must first take some food; and he set a table before them and gave them water to wash with.

Then came the housewife into the room and said, "I wonder why we could get no peace or rest all night with the shouting and screaming."

Karl replies, "Dost thou not know that the kings were fighting all night?"

She asked which had the better of it.

Karl answered, "The Northmen gained."

"Then," said she, "our king will have taken flight."

"n.o.body knows," says Karl, "whether he has fled or is fallen."

She says, "What a useless sort of king we have! He is both slow and frightened."

Then said Vandrad, "Frightened he is not; but he is not lucky."

Then Vandrad washed his hands; but he took the towel and dried them right in the middle of the cloth. The housewife s.n.a.t.c.hed the towel from him, and said, "Thou hast been taught little good; it is wasteful to wet the whole cloth at one time."

Vandrad replies, "I may yet come so far forward in the world as to be able to dry myself with the middle of the towel."

Thereupon Karl set a table before them and Vandrad sat down between them. They ate for a while and then went out. The horse was saddled and Karl's son ready to follow him with another horse. They rode away to the forest; and the earl's men returned to the boat, rowed to the earl's s.h.i.+p and told the success of their expedition.

67. OF KING HARALD.

King Harald and his men followed the fugitives only a short way, and rowed back to the place where the deserted s.h.i.+ps lay. Then the battle-place was ransacked, and in King Svein's s.h.i.+p was found a heap of dead men; but the king's body was not found, although people believed for certain that he had fallen. Then King Harald had the greatest attention paid to the dead of his men, and had the wounds of the living bound up. The dead bodies of Svein's men were brought to the land, and he sent a message to the peasants to come and bury them. Then he let the booty be divided, and this took up some time. The news came now that King Svein had come to Seeland, and that all who had escaped from the battle had joined him, along with many more, and that he had a great force.

68. FIN ARNASON GETS QUARTER.

Earl Fin Arnason was taken prisoner in the battle, as before related; and when he was led before King Harald the king was very merry, and said, "Fin, we meet here now, and we met last in Norway. The Danish court has not stood very firmly by thee; and it will be a troublesome business for Northmen to drag thee, a blind old man, with them, and preserve thy life."

The earl replies, "The Northmen find it very difficult now to conquer, and it is all the worse that thou hast the command of them."

Then said King Harald, "Wilt thou accept of life and safety, although thou hast not deserved it?"

The earl replies, "Not from thee, thou dog."

The king: "Wilt thou, then, if thy relation Magnus gives thee quarter?"

Magnus, King Harald's son, was then steering the s.h.i.+p.

The earl replies, "Can the whelp rule over life and quarter?"

The king laughed, as if he found amus.e.m.e.nt in vexing him.--"Wilt thou accept thy life, then, from thy she-relation Th.o.r.er?"

The earl: "Is she here?"

"She is here," said the king.

Then Earl Fin broke out with the ugly expressions which since have been preserved, as a proof that he was so mad with rage that he could not govern his tongue:--

"No wonder thou hast bit so strongly, if the mare was with thee."

Earl Fin got life and quarter and the king kept him a while about him.

But Fin was rather melancholy and obstinate in conversation; and King Harald said, "I see, Fin, that thou dost not live willingly in company with me and thy relations; now I will give thee leave to go to thy friend King Svein."