Heimskringla, or the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Part 88

Hakon relieved the Throndhjem people of all harbour duties, and gave them many other privileges. He did away with Yule-gifts, and gained by this the good-will of all the Throndhjem people. Thereafter Hakon formed a court, and then proceeded to the Uplands, where he gave the Upland people the same privileges as the Throndhjem people; so that they also were perfectly well affected to him, and were his friends. The people in Throndhjem sang this ballad about him:--

"Young Hakon was the Norseman's pride, And Steig-Th.o.r.er was on his side.

Young Hakon from the Upland came, With royal birth, and blood, and name.

Young Hakon from the king demands His royal birthright, half the lands; Magnus will not the kingdom break,-- The whole or nothing he will take."

2. HAKON'S DEATH.

King Magnus proceeded north to the merchant town (Nidaros), and on his arrival went straight to the king's house, and there took up his abode.

He remained here the first part of the winter (A.D. 1094), and kept seven longs.h.i.+ps in the open water of the river Nid, abreast of the king's house. Now when King Hakon heard that King Magnus was come to Throndhjem, he came from the East over the Dovrefield, and thence down from Throndhjem to the merchant town, where he took up his abode in the house of Skule, opposite to Clement's church, which had formerly been the king's house. King Magnus was ill pleased with the great gifts which Hakon had given to the bondes to gain their favour, and thought it was so much given out of his own property. This irritated his mind; and he thought he had suffered injustice from his relative in this respect, that he must now put up with less income than his father and his predecessors before him had enjoyed; and he gave Th.o.r.er the blame. When King Hakon and Th.o.r.er observed this, they were alarmed for what Magnus might do; and they thought it suspicious that Magnus kept long-s.h.i.+ps afloat rigged out, and with tents. The following spring, after Candlemas, King Magnus left the town in the night with his s.h.i.+ps; the tents up, and lights burning in the tents. They brought up at Hefring, remained there all night, and kindled a fire on the land. Then Hakon and the men in the town thought some treachery was on foot, and he let the trumpets call all the men together out on the Eyrar, where the whole people of the town came to him, and the people were gathering together the whole night. When it was light in the morning, King Magnus saw the people from all districts gathered together on the Eyrar; and he sailed out of the fjord, and proceeded south to where the Gulathing is held.

Hakon thanked the people for their support which they had given him, and got ready to travel east to Viken. But he first held a meeting in the town, where, in a speech, he asked the people for their friends.h.i.+p, promising them his; and added, that he had some suspicions of his relation, King Magnus's intentions. Then King Hakon mounted his horse, and was ready to travel. All men promised him their good-will and support whenever he required them, and the people followed him out to the foot of Steinbjorg. From thence King Hakon proceeded up the Dovrefield; but as he was going over the mountains he rode all day after a ptarmigan, which flew up beside him, and in this chase a sickness overfell him, which ended in his death; and he died on the mountains.

His body was carried north, and came to the merchant town just half a month after he left it. The whole townspeople went to meet the body, sorrowing, and the most of them weeping; for all people loved him with sincere affection. King Hakon's body was interred in Christ church, and Hakon and Magnus had ruled the country for two years. Hakon was a man full twenty-five years old, and was one of the chiefs the most beloved by all the people. He had made a journey to Bjarmaland, where he had given battle and gained a victory.

3. OF A FORAY IN HALLAND.

King Magnus sailed in winter (A.D. 1095) eastward to Viken; but when spring approached he went southwards to Halland, and plundered far and wide. He laid waste Viskardal and many other districts, and returned with a great booty back to his own kingdom. So says Bjorn Krephende in his song on Magnus:--

"Through Halland wide around The clang and shriek resound; The houses burn, The people mourn, Through Halland wide around.

The Norse king strides in flame, Through Viskardal he came; The fire sweeps, The widow weeps, The Norse king strides in flame."

Here it is told that King Magnus made the greatest devastation through Halland.

4. OF Th.o.r.eR OF STEIG.

"There was a man called Svein, a son of Harald Fietter. He was a Danish man by family, a great viking and champion, and a very clever man, and of high birth in his own country. He had been some time with King Hakon Magnuson, and was very dear to him; but after King Hakon's decease Th.o.r.er of Steig, his foster-father, had no great confidence in any treaty or friends.h.i.+p with King Magnus, if the whole country came into his power, on account of the position in which Th.o.r.er had stood to King Magnus, and the opposition he had made to him. Thereupon Th.o.r.er and Svein took counsel with each other, which they afterwards carried into effect,--to raise, with Th.o.r.er's a.s.sistance, and his men, a troop against Magnus. But as Th.o.r.er was old and heavy, Svein took the command, and name of leader of the troop. In this design several chiefs took part, among whom the princ.i.p.al was Egil Aslakson of Aurland. Egil was a lenderman, and married to Ingebjorg, a daughter of Ogmund Thorbergson, a sister of Skopte of Giske. The rich and powerful man, Skjalg Erlingson, also joined their party. Thorkel Hamarskald speaks of this in his ballad of Magnus:

"Th.o.r.er and Egil were not wise, They aimed too high to win a prize: There was no reason in their plan, And it hurt many a udalman.

The stone, too great for them to throw, Fell back, and hurt them with the blow, And now the udalmen must rue That to their friends they were so true."

Th.o.r.er and Svein collected a troop in the Uplands, and went down through Raumsdal into Sunmore, and there collected vessels, with which they afterwards sailed north to Throndhjem.

5. OF Th.o.r.eR'S ADVENTURES.

The lenderman Sigurd Ulstreng, a son of Lodin Viggiarskalle, collected men by sending round the war-token, as soon as he heard of Th.o.r.er and the troop which followed him, and had a rendezvous with all the men he could raise at Viggia. Svein and Th.o.r.er also met there with their people, fought with Sigurd, and gained the victory after giving him a great defeat; and Sigurd fled, and joined King Magnus. Th.o.r.er and his followers proceeded to the town (Nidaros), and remained there some time in the fjord, where many people joined them. King Magnus hearing this news immediately collected an army, and proceeded north to Throndhjem.

And when he came into the fjord Th.o.r.er and his party heard of it while they lay at Herring, and they were ready to leave the fjord; and they rowed their s.h.i.+ps to the strand at Vagnvik, and left them, and came into Theksdal in Seliuhverfe, and Th.o.r.er was carried in a litter over the mountains. Then they got hold of s.h.i.+ps and sailed north to Halogaland.

As soon as King Magnus was ready for sea, he sailed from Throndhjem in pursuit of them. Th.o.r.er and his party went north all the way to Bjarkey; and Jon, with his son Vidkun, fled from thence. Th.o.r.er and his men robbed all the movable goods, and burnt the house, and a good long-s.h.i.+p that belonged to Vidkun. While the hull was burning the vessel keeled to one side, and Th.o.r.er called out, "Hard to starboard, Vidkun!" Some verses were made about this burning in Bjarkey:--

"The sweetest farm that I have seen Stood on Bjarkey's island green; And now, where once this farmhouse stood, Fire crackles through a pile of wood; And the clear red flame, burning high, Flashes across the dark-night sky.

Jon and Vidkun, this dark night, Will not be wandering without light."

6. DEATH OF Th.o.r.eR AND EGIL.

Jon and Vidkun travelled day and night till they met King Magnus. Svein and Th.o.r.er proceeded northwards with their men, and plundered far and wide in Halogaland. But while they lay in a fjord called Harm, Th.o.r.er and his party saw King Magnus coming under sail towards them; and thinking they had not men enough to fight him, they rowed away and fled.

Th.o.r.er and Egil brought up at Hesjutun; but Svein rowed out to sea, and some of their people rowed into the fjords. King Magnus pursued Th.o.r.er, and the vessels struck together while they were landing. Th.o.r.er stood in the forecastle of his s.h.i.+p, and Sigurd Ulstreng called out to him, and asked, "Art thou well, Th.o.r.er?" Th.o.r.er replied, "I am well in hands, but ill on my feet."

Then all Th.o.r.er's men fled up the country, and Th.o.r.er was taken prisoner. Egil was also taken prisoner, for he would not leave his wife.

King Magnus then ordered both of them to be taken out to Vambarholm; and when they were leading Th.o.r.er from the s.h.i.+p he tottered on his legs.

Then Vidkun called out, "More to the larboard, Th.o.r.er!" When he was being led to the gallows he sang:--

"We were four comrades gay,-- Let one by the helm stay."

When he came to the gallows he said, "Bad counsel comes to a bad end."

Then Th.o.r.er was hanged; but when he was hoisted up the gallows tree he was so heavy that his neck gave way, and the body fell down to the ground; for Th.o.r.er was a man exceedingly stout, both high of stature and thick. Egil was also led to the gallows, and when the king's thralls were about hanging him he said, "Ye should not hang me, for in truth each of you deserves much more to be hanged." People sang these verses about it:--

"I hear, my girl, that Egil said, When to the gallows he was led, That the king's thralls far more than he Deserved to hang on gallows-tree.

It might be so; but, death in view, A man should to himself be true,-- End a stout life by death as stout, Showing no fear; or care, or doubt."

King Magnus sat near while they were being hanged, and was in such a rage that none of his men was so bold as to ask mercy for them. The king said, when Egil was spinning at the gallows, "Thy great friends help thee but poorly in time of need." From this people supposed that the king only wanted to have been entreated to have spared Egil's life.

Bjorn Krephende speaks of these things:--

"King Magnus in the robbers' gore Dyed red his sword; and round the sh.o.r.e The wolves howled out their wild delight, At corpses swinging in their sight.

Have ye not heard how the king's sword Punished the traitors to their lord?

How the king's thralls hung on the gallows Old Th.o.r.er and his traitor-fellows?"

7. OF THE PUNISHMENT OF THE THRONDHJEM PEOPLE.

After this King Magnus sailed south to Throndhjem, and brought up in the fjord, and punished severely all who had been guilty of treason towards him; killing some, and burning the houses of others. So says Bjorn Krephende:--

"He who despises fence of s.h.i.+elds Drove terror through the Throndhjem fields, When all the land through which he came Was swimming in a flood of flame.

The raven-feeder, will I know, Cut off two chieftans at a blow; The wolf could scarcely ravenous be, The ernes flew round the gallows-tree."

Svein Harald Fletter's son, fled out to sea first, and sailed then to Denmark, and remained there; and at last came into great favour with King Eystein, the son of King Magnus, who took so great a liking to Svein that he made him his dish-bearer, and held him in great respect.

King Magnus had now alone the whole kingdom, and he kept good peace in the land, and rooted out all vikings and lawless men. He was a man quick, warlike, and able, and more like in all things to his grandfather, King Harald, in disposition and talents than to his father.

8. OF THE BONDE SVEINKE, AND SIGURD ULSTRENG.

There was a man called Sveinke Steinarson, who was very wealthy, and dwelt in Viken at the Gaut river. He had brought up Hakon Magnuson before Th.o.r.er of Steig took him. Sveinke had not yet submitted to King Magnus. King Magnus ordered Sigurd Ulstreng to be called, and told him he would send him to Sveinke with the command that he should quit the king's land and domain. "He has not yet submitted to us, or shown us due honour." He added, that there were some lendermen east in Viken, namely Svein Bryggjufot, Dag Eilifson, and Kolbjorn Klakke, who could bring this matter into right bearing. Then Sigurd said, "I did not know there was the man in Norway against whom three lendermen besides myself were needful." The king replied, "Thou needst not take this help, unless it be necessary." Now Sigurd made himself ready for the journey with a s.h.i.+p, sailed east to Viken, and there summoned the lendermen to him.

Then a Thing was appointed to Viken, to which the people were called who dwelt on the Gaut river, besides others; so that it was a numerous a.s.sembly. When the Thing was formed they had to wait for Sveinke. They soon after saw a troop of men coming along, so well furnished with weapons that they looked like pieces of s.h.i.+ning ice; and now came Sveinke and his people to the Thing, and set themselves down in a circle. All were clad in iron, with glowing arms, and 500 in number.

Then Sigurd stood up, and spoke. "My master, King Magnus, sends G.o.d's salutation and his own to all friends, lendermen and others, his subjects in the kingdom; also to the powerful bondes, and the people in general, with kind words and offers of friends.h.i.+p; and to all who will obey him he offers his friends.h.i.+p and good will. Now the king will, with all cheerfulness and peace, show himself a gracious master to all who will submit to him, and to all in his dominions. He will be the leader and defender of all the men of Norway; and it will be good for you to accept his gracious speech, and this offer."