Must by hip own men trusted be.
"Who urges thee, who seek'st re-
nown.
The bondes' cattle to cut down?
No king before e'er took in hand
Such viking-work in his own land.
Such rapine men will not long bear.
And the king's counsellors will but
share
In their ill-will : when once in-
flamed.
The king himself for all is blamed.
"A dangerotis sign it Is, I fear.
That old grey-bearded men appear
In corners whispering at the Thing,
As if they had bad news to bring.
The young sit still, — no laugh, or
shout, —
More looks than words passing
about ;
And groups of whispering heads are
seen.
On buttoned breasts, with lowering
mien.
"Among the udalmen, they say
The king, if he could have his way.
Would seize the bondes' udal land,
And free-born men must this with-
stand.
In truth the man whose udal field.
By any doom that law can yield
From him adjudged the king would
take.
Could the king's throne and power
shake.
This verse is the last : —
"A holy bond between us still Thee we will serve with heart and
Makes me wish speedy end to ill : hand.
The sluggard waits till afternoon, — With thee we'll fight by sea or land :
At once great Magnus! grant our With Olaf's sword take Olaf's mind,
boon. And to thy bondes be more kind."
In this song the king was exhorted to observe the laws
which his father had established. This exhortation had
a good effect on the king, for many others held the same
language to him. So at last the king consulted the most
prudent men, who ordered all affairs according to law.
Thereafter King Magnus had the law-book composed in
writing which is still in use in Throndhjem district, and
667
THE HEIMSKRINGLA
is called The Grey Goose} King Magnus afterwards
became very popular, and was beloved by all the country
people, and therefore he was called Magnus the Good.
18. — OF THE ENGLISH KINGS.
The king of the English, King Harald, died (1040)
five years after his father King Canute, and was buried
beside his father at Winchester. After his death his
brother Hardaknut, the second son of the old King Ca-
nute, was king of England, and was thus king both of
Denmark and England. He ruled these kingdoms two
years, and then died of sickness in England, leaving no
children. He was buried at Winchester beside his father.
After his death Edward the Good, a son of the English
king Ethelred (and Emma, a daughter of Richard earl
of Rouen), was chosen king in England. King Edward
the Good was, on his mother's side, a brother of Harald
and Hardaknut, the sons of Canute the Great; and the
daughter of Canute and Queen Emma was Gunhild, who
was married to the Emperor Henry of Germany, who was
called Henry the Mild. Gunhild had been three years in
Germany when she fell sick, and she died five years after
the death of her father King Canute the Great.
^The Grey Goose, so called probably from the colour of the parchment
on which it is written, is one of the most curious relics of the Middle
Ages, and give us an unexpected view of the social condition of the
Northmen in the eleventh century. Law appears to have been so far
advanced among them that the forms were not merely established, but
the slightest breach of the legal foims of proceeding involved the loss of
tb(! case. The Grey Goose embraces subjects not dealt with probably by
any other code in Europe at that period. The provision for the poor, the
equality of weights and measures, police of markets and of sea havens,
provision for illegitimate children of the poor, inns for travellers, wages
of servants and support of them in sickness, protection of pregnant women
and even of domestic animals from injury, roads, bridges, vagrants, beg-
gars, are subjects treated of iu this code. — Schlcyel. — L.
668
SAGA OF MAGNUS THE GOOD
19. OF KING MAGNUS OI.AF'SON.
When King Magnus Olafsnn heard of Tlnrdaknut's
death, he immediately, sent people south to Denmark, with
a message to the men who had l30und themselves by oath
to the peace and agreement which was made between King
Magnus and Hardaknut, and reminded them of their
pledge. He added, as a conclusion, that in summer
(1042) he would come with his army to Denmark to take
possession of his Danish dominions, in terms of the agree-
ment, or to fall in the field with his army. So says Arnor,
the earls' skald : —
"Wise were the words, exceeding 'With his good sword he'll Denmark
wise, gain.
Of him who stills the hungriest cries Or fall upon a hloody plain ;
Of beasts of prey — the earl's lord ; And rather than give up his cause,
And soon fulfilled will be his word : Will leave his corpse to raven's
claws.' "
• 20. KING MAGNUS'S ARMAMENT.
Thereafter King Magii,us gathered together a great
army, and summoned to him all lendermen and powerful
bondes, and collected war-ships. When the army was
assembled it was very handsome, and well fitted out. He
had seventy large vessels when he sailed from Norway.
So says Thiodolf the skald : —
"Brave king! the terror of the foe. And southward now the bright keel
With thee will many a long-ship go. glides;
Full seventy sail are gathered here. O'er the white waves the Bison rides.
Eastward with their great king to Snails swell, yards crack, the highest
steer mast
O'er the wide sea scarce seen at last."
Here it related that King Magnus had the great ]iis(^ii,
which his father King Olaf had built. It had more than
thirty banks of rowers; and forward on the l^ow was a
21 669
THE HEIMSKRINGLA
great buffalo head, and aft on the stern-post was its tail.
Both the head and the tail, and both sides of the ship, were
gilded over. Of this speaks Arnor, the earls' skald : —
"The white foam lashing o'er the Around Stavanger-point careering,
deck Through the wild sea's white flames
Oft made the glided head to shake : steering,
The helm down, the vessel's heel Tackle loud singing to the strain,
Oft showed her stem's bright-glac- The storm-horse flies to Denmark's
ing steel. plain."
King Magnus set out to sea from Agder, and sailed
over to Jutland. So says Arnor : —
"I can relate how through the gale The iron-clad Thingmen's chief to
The gallant Bison carried sail, see
With her lee gunwale in the wave. On Jutland's coast right glad were
The king on board, Magnus the we. —
brave! Right glad our men to see a king
Who in the fight his sword could
swing."
21. — KING MAGNUS COMES TO DENMARK.
When King Magnus came to Denmark he was joyfully
received. He appointed a Thing without delay, to which
he summoned the people of the country, and desired they
would take him as king, according to the agreement which
had been entered into. As the highest of the chiefs of the
country were bound by oath to King Magnus, and were
desirous of keeping their word and oath, they endeavoured
zealously to promote the cause with the people. It con-
tributed also that King Canute the Great, and all his de-
scendants, were dead ; and a third assistance was, that his
father King Olaf's sanctity and miracles were become
celebrated in all countries.
22. — KING MAGNUS CHOSEN KING OF DENMARK.
King Magnus afterwards ordered the people to be sum-
ling.
670
moned to Viborg to a Thing. Both in older and later
SAGA OP MAGNUS THE GOOD
times, the Danes elected their kinrrs at the X'ihcjip- Tiiine
At this Thiiii;- the Danes chose Mat^nus Olafson to he kinj^
of all the Danish tlominions. Kin£,r Magnus remained
long in Denmark during the summer (104r3) ; and wher-
ever he came the people received him joyfully, and obeyed
him willingly. He divided the country into baronies and
districts, and gave fiefs to men of power in the land. Late
in autumn he returned with his fleet to Norway, but lay
for some time at the Gaut river.
23. — OF SVEIN ULFSON.
There was a man, by name Svein, a son of Earl Ulf,
and grandson of Thorgils Sprakaleg. Svein's mother was
Astrid, a daughter of King Svein Forkheard. She was a
sister of Canute the Great by the father's side, and of the
Swedish King Olaf Kirikson by the mother's side; for
her mother was Queen Sigrid the Haughty, a daughter
of Skoglar Toste. Svein Ulfson had been a long time
living with his relation the Swedish king, ever since King
Canute had ordered his father Ulf to be killed, as is re-
lated in the saga of old King Canute, — that lie had his
brother-in-law, Earl Ulf, murdered in Roskilde; and on
which account Svein had not since been in Denmark.
Svein Ulfson w^as one of the handsomest men that could
be seen; he was very stout and strong, and very expert
in all exercises, and a w^ell-spoken man withal. Every one
who knew him said he had every quality which became a
good chief. Svein Ulfson waited upon King Magnus
while he lay in the Gaut river, as before mentioned, and
the king received him kindlv, as he was bv many advised
67 1
THE HEIMSKRINCLA
to do; for Svein was a particularly popular man. He
could also speak for himself to the king well and cleverly;
so that it came at last to Svein's entering into King Mag-
nus's service, and becoming his man. They often talked
together afterwards in private concerning many affairs.
24. SVEIN UI.FS0N CREATED AN EARL-
One day, as King Magnus sat in his high-seat and
many people were around him, Svein Ulfson sat upon a
footstool before the king. The king then made a speech :
— "Be it known to you, chiefs, and the people in general,
that I have taken the following resolution. Here is a
distinguished man, both for family and for his own merits,
Svein Ulfson, w'ho has entered into my service, and given
me promise of fidelity. Now, as ye know, the Danes have
this summer become my men, so that when I am absent
from the country it is without a head; and it is not un-
known to you how it is ravaged by the people of Vindland,
Kurland, and others from the Baltic, as well as by Saxons.
Therefore I promised them a chief who could defend and
rule their land; and I know no man better fitted, in all
respects, for this than Svein Ulfson, who is of birth to be
chief of the country. I will therefore make him my earl,
and give him the government of my Danish dominions
while I am in Norway; just as King Canute the Great set
his father, Earl Ulf, over Denmark while he was in Eng-
land."
Then Einar Tambaskelfer said, "Too great an earl —
too great an earl, my foster-son!"
The king replied in a passion, "Ye have a poor opinion
672
SACA OP MAGXUS THE GOOD
of my judgment, I think. Some consider that ye are too
great earls, and others that ye are Ik for nothing."
Then the king stood up, took a sword, and girt it on
the earl's loins, and took a shield and fastened it on his
shoulders, put a helmet upon his head, and gave him the
title of earl, with the same fiefs in Denmark which his
father Earl Ulf had formerly held. Afterwards a shrine
was brought forth containing holy relics, and Svein laid
his hand hereon, and swore the oath of fidelity to King
Magnus; upon which the king led the carl to the high-
seat by his side. So says Thiodolf : —
'"Twas at the Gaut rivor's shore. The vows by Svein solemnly Rlvrr.,
With hand on shrine Svein Ulfson On holy bones of saints in heaven,
swore. To Magnus seemed both fair and
King Magnus first said o'er the oath, fast :
With which Svein Ulfson pledged He found they were too fair to last."
his troth.
Earl Svein went thereafter to Denmark, and the whole
nation received him well. He established a court about
him, and soon became a great man. In winter (1043),
he went much about the country, and made friends among
the powerful chiefs: and, indeed, he was beloved by all
the people of the land.
25. — KING Magnus's foray.
King Magnus proceeded northward to Norway with his
fleet, and wintered there; but when the spring set in
(1043) he gathered a large force, with which he sailed
south to Denmark, having heard the news from Vindland
that theVindland people in Jomsborg had withdrawn from
their submission to him. The Danish kings had formerly
had a very large earldom there, and they first founded
6/3
THE HEIMSKRINGLA
Jomsborg; and now the place was become a very strong
fortress. When King Magnus heard of this, he ordered
a large fleet and army to be levied in Denmark, and sailed
in summer to Vindland with all his forces, which made a
very large army altogether, Arnor, the earls' skald, tells
of it thus : —
"Now in this strophe, royal youth ! And never did a king before
I tell no more than the plain truth. So many ships to any shore
Thy armed outfit from the strand Lead on, as thou to Vindland's isle:
Left many a keel-trace on the sand. The Vindland men in fright recoil."
Now when King Magnus came to Vindland he attacked
Jomsborg, and soon took the fortress, killing many people,
burning and destroying both in the town and in the coun-
try all around, and making the greatest havoc. So says
Arnor, the earl's skald : —
"The robbers, hemmed 'twixt death The heathen on his false gods calls,
and fire. And trembles even in their halls ;
Knew not how to escape thy ire ; And by the light from its own flamp
O'er Jomsborg castle's highest towers The king this viking-hold o'ercame."
Thy wrath the whirlwind-fire pours.
Many people in V^indland submitted to King Magnus.
but many more got out of the way and fled. King Mag-
nus returned to Denmark, and prepared to take his winter
abode there, and sent away the Danish, and also a great
many of the Norwegian people he had brought with him.
26. — SVEIN RECEIVES THE TITLE OF KING.
The same winter (1043), in which Svein Ulfson was
raised to the government of the whole Danish dominions,
and had made friends of a great number of the principal
chiefs in Denmark, and obtained the affections of the peo-
l)le, he assumed by the advice of many of the chiefs the
title of king. But when in the spring thereafter he heard
6/4
SAGA OP MAGXUS THE GOOD
that King Magnus had come from the north ^vith a great
army, Svein went over to Scania, from thence up to Gaut-
land, and so on to Svithjod to his relation, King Emund,
where he remained all summer, and sent spies out to Den-
mark, to inquire about the king's proceedings and the
number of his men. Now when Svcin heard that King
Magnus had let a great part of his army go away, and also
that he was south in Jutland, he rode from Svithjod with
a great body of people which the Swedish king had given
him. When Svein came to Scania the people of that coun-
try received him well, treated him as their king, and men
joined him in crowds. He then went on to Seeland, where
he was also well received, and the whole country joined
him. He then went to Fyen, and laid all the islands under
his power ; and as the people also joined him, he collected
a great army and many ships of war.
27. — OF KING Magnus's military force.
King Magnus heard this news, and at the same time
that the people of Vindland had a large force on foot. He
summoned people therefore to come to him, and drew
together a great army in Jutland. Otto, also, the Duke
of Brunsvik, who had married Ulfhild, King Olaf the
Saint's daughter, and the sister of King Magnus, came
to him with a great troop. The Danish chiefs pressed
King Magnus to advance against the Vindland army, and
not allow pagans to march over and lay waste the coun-
try ; so it was resolved that the king with his army should
proceed south to Heidaby. While King Magnus k.y at
Skotborg river, on Hlyrskog Heath. he got intelligence con-
6/5
THE HELMSKRIXGLA
cerning the \'indland army, and that it was so numerous
it could not be counted ; whereas King Magiius had so
few, that there seemed no chance for him but to fly. The
king, however, determined on fighting, if there was any
possibility of gaining the victory; but the most dissuaded
him from venturing on an engagement, and all, as one
man, said that the Vindland people had undoubtedly a pro-
digious force. Duke Otto, however, pressed much to go
to battle. Then the king ordered the whole army to be
gathered by the war trumpets into battle array, and or-
dered all the men to arm, and to lie down for the night
under their shields ; for he was told the enemy's army had
come to the neighbourhood. The king was very thought-
ful ; for he was vexed that he should be obliged to fly,
\\hich fate he had never experienced before. He slept but
little all night, and chanted his prayers.
28. OF KING OLAF's MIRACLE.
The following day was Michaelmas eve. Towards
dawn the king slumbered, and dreamt that his father,
King Olaf the Saint, appeared to him, and said, "Art thou
so melancholy and afraid, because the Vindland people
come against thee with a great army? Be not afraid of
heathens, although they be many; for I shall be with thee
in the battle. Prepare, therefore, to give battle to the Vind-
landers, when thou hearest my trumpet." When the king
awoke he told his dream to his men, and the day was then
dawning. At that moment all the people heard a ring-
ing of bells in the air ; and those among King Magnus's
men who had been in Nidaros thought that it was the
676
SAGA OF MAGNUS THE GOOD
ringing of the bell called Glcxl, which King Olaf had pre-
sented to the church of Saint Clement in the town of
Nidaros.
29. BATTLE OF IILYRSKOG HEATH.
Then King Magnus stood up, and ordered the war
trumpets to sound, and at that moment the Vindland army
advancerl from the south across the river against him ;
on which the whole of the king's army stood up, and ad-
vanced against the heathens. King Magnus threw off
from him his coat of ring-mail, and had a red silk shirt
"outside over his clothes, and had in his hands the battle-
axe called HeP, wdiich had belonged to King Olaf. King
Magnus ran on before all his men to the enemy's army,
and instantly hewed down with both hands every man
who came against him. So says Amor, the earls' skald : —
"His armour on the ground he flung His broad axe Hel with both hands
His broad axe round his head he wielding,
swung : Shields, holms, and skulls before it
And Norway's king strode on in yielding,
might. He seemed with Fate the world to
Through ringing swords, to the wild share,
flght. And life or death to deal out there."
This battle was not very long; for the king's men wei'c
very fiery, and where they came the Vindland men fell as
thick as tangles heaped up by the waves on the strand.
They whiO stood behind betook themselves to flight, and
were hewed down like cattle at a slaughter. The king
himself drove the fugitives eastward over the heath, and
people fell all over the moor. So says Thiodolf : —
"And foremost he pursued. He drove them o'er the heath.
And the flying foe down hewed; And they fly from bloody death;
An eagle's feast eafh stroke. But the moor, a mile or more,
As the Vindland helms he broke. With the dead was studded o'er."
iHel — Death ; the goddess of Death. — L.
677
THE HEIMSKRIXGLA
It is a common saying, that there never was so great a
slaughter of men in the northern lands, since the time of
Christianity, as took place among the Vindland people on
Hlyrskog's Heath. On the other side, not many of King
Magnus's people were killed, although many were
wounded. After the battle the king ordered the wounds of
his men to be bound ; l)ut there were not so many doctors
in the army as were necessary, so the king himself went
round, and felt the hands of those he thought best suited
for the business ; and when he had thus stroked their palms
he named twelve men, who, he thought, had the softest
hands, and told them to bind the wounds of the people;
and although none of them had ever tried it before, they
all became afterwards the best of doctors. There were
two Iceland men among them ; the one was Thorkil, a son
of Geire, from Lyngar; the other was Atle, father of
Bard Svarte of Selardal, from w horn many good doctors
are descended. After this battle, the report of the miracle
which King Olaf the Saint had w^orked was spread widely
through the country; and it was the common saying of
the people, that no man could venture to fight against
King Magnus Olafson, for his father Saint Olaf stood
so near to him that his enemies, on that account, never
could do him harm.
30. — BATTLE AT RE.
King Magnus immediately turned round with his army
against Svein, whom he called his earl, although the Danes
called him their king; and he collected ships, and a great
force, and on both sides a great strength was assembled.
678
SAGA OF MAGNUS THE GOOD
In Svein's army were many chiefs from Scania. Hallaiid.
Seelaiid, and Fyen; while King Mac^nns. on ihc other
hand, had mostly Norway and Jutland men. and with
that war- force he hastened to meet Svein. They met at
Re, near Vestland ; and there was a great battle, which
ended in King Magnns gaining the victory, and Svein
taking flight. After losing many i>eople, Svein lied back
to Scania, and from thence to Gantland, which was a
safe refuge if he needed it, and stood open to him. King
]\Iagnus returned to Jutland, where he remained all winter
(1044) with many people, and had a guard to watch his
ships. Arnor, the earls' skald, speaks of this : —
"At Re our battle-loving lord At Re, upon the western shore,
In bloody meeting stained his In Vestland warrior's blood once
sword, — more."
31. — BATTLK AT ARCS.
Svein Ulfson went directly to his ships as soon as he
heard that King Magnus had left his fleet. He drew to
him all the men he could, and went round in winter among
the islands, Seeland, Fyen, and others. Towards Yule he
sailed to Jutland, and went into Limfjord, where many
people submitted to him. He imposed scat upon some,
but some joined King Magnus. Now when King Magnus
heard what Svein was doing, he betook himself to his
ships with all the Northmen then in Denmark, and a part
of the Danish troops, and steered south along the land.
Svein was then in Aros with a great force : and when he
heard of King Magnus he laid his vessels without the
town, and prepared for battle. \Mien King Magnus
heard for certain where Svein w^as, and that the distance
679
THE HEIMSKRINGLA
between them was but short, he held a Mouse-thing-, and
addressed his people thus : "It is reported to me that the
earl and his fleet are lying not far from us, and that he
has man}- people. Now I would let you know^ that I in-
tend to go out against the earl and fight for it, although
we have fewer people. Wo: will, as formerly, put our
trust in God, and Saint Olaf, my father, w'ho has given
us victory sometimes when we fought, even though we
had fewer men than the enemy. Now I would have you
get ready to seek out the enemy, and give battle the mo-
ment we find him by rowing all to attack, and being all
ready for battle." Thereupon the men put on their weap-
ons, each man making himself and his place ready; and
then they stretched themselves to their oars. When they
saw the earl's ships they rowed tow^ards them, and made
ready to attack. A\'hen Svein's men saw the forces they
armed themselves, bound their ships together, and then
began one of the sharpest of battles. So says Thiodolf,
the skald : —
"Shield against shield, the earl and They never saw before or since
king On battle-deck : the brave might
Made shields and swords together winne,
ring. As spear and arrow whistling flew.
The gold-decked heroes made a play Point blank, death-bringing, quick
Which, Hild's iron-shirt men say and true."
They fought at the bows, so that the men only on the
bows could strike ; the men on the forecastle thrust wath
spears; and all who were farther off shot with light
spears or javelins, or w^ar-arrows. Some fought with
stones, or short stakes; and those who were aft of the mast
shot with the bow. So Says Thiodolf: —
"Steel-pointed spear, and sharpened Screamed o'er the prey preparing
stake. there.
Made thp broad shield on arm shake : And stones and arrows thickly flew.
The eagle, hovering in the air. And many a warrior bold they slew.
680
SAGA or ^fAC^'i's riii'. coon
The bowman never twanged tils bow Wore not first tired of this play :
And drew bis sbaft so oft as now ; Arrows and darls so quii'kly Uy,
And Throndhjem's bowmen on that You could not follow with lUe eye."
day
Here it appears how hot the Ijattlc was with casting
weapons. King Magnus stood in the beginning of the
battle within a shield-rampart; but as it appeared to him
that matters were going on too slowly, he leaped over the
shields, and rushed forward in the ship, encouraging his
men with a loud cheer, and springing to the bows, where
the battle was going on hand to hand. When his men