Heimskringla, or the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Part 28

2. OF OLAF AND KING SIGURD SYR.

It happened one day that King Sigurd wanted to ride from home, but there was n.o.body about the house; so he told his stepson Olaf to saddle his horse. Olaf went to the goats' pen, took out the he-goat that was the largest, led him forth, and put the king's saddle on him, and then went in and told King Sigurd he had saddled his riding horse. Now when King Sigurd came out and saw what Olaf had done, he said "It is easy to see that thou wilt little regard my orders; and thy mother will think it right that I order thee to do nothing that is against thy own inclination. I see well enough that we are of different dispositions, and that thou art far more proud than I am." Olaf answered little, but went his way laughing.

3. OF RING OLAF'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

When Olaf Haraldson grew up he was not tall, but middle-sized in height, although very thick, and of good strength. He had light brown hair, and a broad face, which was white and red. He had particularly fine eyes, which were beautiful and piercing, so that one was afraid to look him in the face when he was angry. Olaf was very expert in all bodily exercises, understood well to handle his bow, and was distinguished particularly in throwing his spear by hand: he was a great swimmer, and very handy, and very exact and knowing in all kinds of smithwork, whether he himself or others made the thing. He was distinct and acute in conversation, and was soon perfect in understanding and strength. He was beloved by his friends and acquaintances, eager in his amus.e.m.e.nts, and one who always liked to be the first, as it was suitable he should be from his birth and dignity. He was called Olaf the Great.

4. KING OLAF'S WAR EXPEDITION.

Olaf Haraldson was twelve years old when he, for the first time, went on board a s.h.i.+p of war (A.D. 1007). His mother Asta got Hrane, who was called the foster-father of kings, to command a s.h.i.+p of war and take Olaf under his charge; for Hrane had often been on war expeditions.

When Olaf in this way got a s.h.i.+p and men, the crew gave him the t.i.tle of king; for it was the custom that those commanders of troops who were of kingly descent, on going out upon a viking cruise, received the t.i.tle of king immediately although they had no land or kingdom. Hrane sat at the helm; and some say that Olaf himself was but a common rower, although he was king of the men-at-arms. They steered east along the land, and came first to Denmark. So says Ottar Svarte, in his lay which he made about King Olaf:--

"Young was the king when from his home He first began in s.h.i.+ps to roam, His ocean-steed to ride To Denmark o'er the tide.

Well exercised art thou in truth-- In manhood's earnest work, brave youth!

Out from the distant north Mighty hast thou come forth."

Towards autumn he sailed eastward to the Swedish dominions, and there harried and burnt all the country round; for he thought he had good cause of hostility against the Swedes, as they killed his father Harald.

Ottar Svarte says distinctly that he came from the east, out by way of Denmark:--

"Thy s.h.i.+p from sh.o.r.e to sh.o.r.e, With many a well-plied car, Across the Baltic foam is dancing.-- s.h.i.+elds, and spears, and helms glancing!

Hoist high the swelling sail To catch the freshening gale!

There's food for the raven-flight Where thy sail-winged s.h.i.+p shall light; Thy landing-tread The people dread; And the wolf howls for a feast On the sh.o.r.e-side in the east."

5. OLAF'S FIRST BATTLE.

The same autumn Olaf had his first battle at Sotasker, which lies in the Swedish skerry circle. He fought there with some vikings, whose leader was Sote. Olaf had much fewer men, but his s.h.i.+ps were larger, and he had his s.h.i.+ps between some blind rocks, which made it difficult for the vikings to get alongside; and Olaf's men threw grappling irons into the s.h.i.+ps which came nearest, drew them up to their own vessels, and cleared them of men. The vikings took to flight after losing many men. Sigvat the skald tells of this fight in the lay in which he reckons up King Olaf's battles:--

"They launch his s.h.i.+p where waves are foaming-- To the sea sh.o.r.e Both mast and oar, And sent his o'er the seas a-roaming.

Where did the sea-king first draw blood?

In the battle shock At Sote's rock; The wolves howl over their fresh food."

6. FORAY IN SVITHJOD.

King Olaf steered thereafter eastwards to Svithjod, and into the Lag (the Maelar lake), and ravaged the land on both sides. He sailed all the way up to Sigtuna, and laid his s.h.i.+ps close to the old Sigtuna.

The Swedes say the stone-heaps are still to be seen which Olaf had laid under the ends of the gangways from the sh.o.r.e to the s.h.i.+ps. When autumn was advanced, Olaf Haraldson heard that Olaf the Swedish king was a.s.sembling an army, and also that he had laid iron chains across Stoksund (the channel between the Maelar lake and the sea), and had laid troops there; for the Swedish king thought that Olaf Haraldson would be kept in there till frost came, and he thought little of Olaf's force knowing he had but few people. Now when King Olaf Haraldson came to Stoksund he could not get through, as there was a castle west of the sound, and men-at-arms lay on the south; and he heard that the Swedish king was come there with a great army and many s.h.i.+ps. He therefore dug a ca.n.a.l across the flat land Agnafit out to the sea. Over all Svithjod all the running waters fall into the Maelar lake; but the only outlet of it to the sea is so small that many rivers are wider, and when much rain or snow falls the water rushes in a great cataract out by Stoksund, and the lake rises high and floods the land. It fell heavy rain just at this time; and as the ca.n.a.l was dug out to the sea, the water and stream rushed into it. Then Olaf had all the rudders uns.h.i.+pped and hoisted all sail aloft. It was blowing a strong breeze astern, and they steered with their oars, and the s.h.i.+ps came in a rush over all the shallows, and got into the sea without any damage. Now went the Swedes to their king, Olaf, and told him that Olaf the Great had slipped out to sea; on which the king was enraged against those who should have watched that Olaf did not get away. This pa.s.sage has since been called King's Sound; but large vessels cannot pa.s.s through it, unless the waters are very high. Some relate that the Swedes were aware that Olaf had cut across the tongue of land, and that the water was falling out that way; and they flocked to it with the intention to hinder Olaf from getting away, but the water undermined the banks on each side so that they fell in with the people, and many were drowned: but the Swedes contradict this as a false report, and deny the loss of people. The king sailed to Gotland in harvest, and prepared to plunder; but the Gotlanders a.s.sembled, and sent men to the king, offering him a scat. The king found this would suit him, and he received the scat, and remained there all winter. So says Ottar Svarte:--

"Thou seaman-prince! thy men are paid: The scat on Gotlanders is laid; Young man or old To our seamen bold Must pay, to save his head: The Yngling princes fled, Eysvssel people bled; Who can't defend the wealth they have Must die, or share with the rover brave."

7. THE SECOND BATTLE.

It is related here that King Olaf, when spring set in, sailed east to Eysyssel, and landed and plundered; the Eysyssel men came down to the strand and grave him battle. King Olaf gained the victory, pursued those who fled, and laid waste the land with fire and sword. It is told that when King Olaf first came to Eysvssel they offered him scat, and when the scat was to be brought down to the strand the king came to meet it with an armed force, and that was not what the bondes there expected; for they had brought no scat, but only their weapons with which they fought against the king, as before related. So says Sigvat the skald:--

"With much deceit and bustle To the heath of Eysyssel The bondes brought the king, To get scat at their weapon-thing.

But Olaf was too wise To be taken by surprise; Their legs scarce bore them off O'er the common test enough."

8. THE THIRD BATTLE.

After this they sailed to Finland and plundered there, and went up the country. All the people fled to the forest, and they had emptied their houses of all household goods. The king went far up the country, and through some woods, and came to some dwellings in a valley called Herdaler,--where, however, they made but small booty, and saw no people; and as it was getting late in the day, the king turned back to his s.h.i.+ps. Now when they came into the woods again people rushed upon them from all quarters, and made a severe attack. The king told his men to cover themselves with their s.h.i.+elds, but before they got out of the woods he lost many people, and many were wounded; but at last, late in the evening, he got to the s.h.i.+ps. The Finlanders conjured up in the night, by their witchcraft, a dreadful storm and bad weather on the sea; but the king ordered the anchors to be weighed and sail hoisted, and beat off all night to the outside of the land. The king's luck prevailed more than the Finlanders' witchcraft; for he had the luck to beat round the Balagard's side in the night, and so got out to sea. But the Finnish army proceeded on land, making the same progress as the king made with his s.h.i.+ps. So says Sigvat:--

"The third fight was at Herdaler, where The men of Finland met in war The hero of the royal race, With ringing sword-blades face to face.

Off Balagard's sh.o.r.e the waves Ran hollow; but the sea-king saves His hard-pressed s.h.i.+p, and gains the lee Of the east coast through the wild sea."

9. THE FOURTH BATTLE IN SUDERVIK.

King Olaf sailed from thence to Denmark, where he met Thorkel the Tall, brother of Earl Sigvalde, and went into partners.h.i.+p with him; for he was just ready to set out on a cruise. They sailed southwards to the Jutland coast, to a place called Sudervik, where they overcame many viking s.h.i.+ps. The vikings, who usually have many people to command, give themselves the t.i.tle of kings, although they have no lands to rule over.

King Olaf went into battle with them, and it was severe; but King Olaf gained the victory, and a great booty. So says Sigvat:--

"Hark! hark! The war-shout Through Sudervik rings, And the vikings bring out To fight the two kings.

Great honour, I'm told, Won these vikings so bold: But their bold fight was vain, For the two brave kings gain."

10. THE FIFTH BATTLE IN FRIESLAND.

King Olaf sailed from thence south to Friesland, and lay under the strand of Kinlima in dreadful weather. The king landed with his men; but the people of the country rode down to the strand against them, and he fought them. So says Sigvat:--

"Under Kinlima's cliff, This battle is the fifth.

The brave sea-rovers stand All on the glittering sand; And down the hors.e.m.e.n ride To the edge of the rippling tide: But Olaf taught the peasant band To know the weight of a viking's hand."

11. DEATH OF KING SVEIN FORKED BEARD.

The king sailed from thence westward to England. It was then the case that the Danish king, Svein Forked Beard, was at that time in England with a Danish army, and had been fixed there for some time, and had seized upon King Ethelred's kingdom. The Danes had spread themselves so widely over England, that it was come so far that King Ethelred had departed from the country, and had gone south to Valland. The same autumn that King Olaf came to England, it happened that King Svein died suddenly in the night in his bed; and it is said by Englishmen that Edmund the Saint killed him, in the same way that the holy Mercurius had killed the apostate Julian. When Ethelred, the king of the English, heard this in Flanders, he returned directly to England; and no sooner was he come back, than he sent an invitation to all the men who would enter into his pay, to join him in recovering the country. Then many people flocked to him; and among others, came King Olaf with a great troop of Northmen to his aid. They steered first to London, and sailed into the Thames with their fleet; but the Danes had a castle within. On the other side of the river is a great trading place, which is called Sudvirke. There the Danes had raised a great work, dug large ditches, and within had built a bulwark of stone, timber, and turf, where they had stationed a strong army. King Ethelred ordered a great a.s.sault; but the Danes defended themselves bravely, and King Ethelred could make nothing of it. Between the castle and Southwark (Sudvirke) there was a bridge, so broad that two wagons could pa.s.s each other upon it. On the bridge were raised barricades, both towers and wooden parapets, in the direction of the river, which were nearly breast high; and under the bridge were piles driven into the bottom of the river. Now when the attack was made the troops stood on the bridge everywhere, and defended themselves. King Ethelred was very anxious to get possession of the bridge, and he called together all the chiefs to consult how they should get the bridge broken down. Then said King Olaf he would attempt to lay his fleet alongside of it, if the other s.h.i.+ps would do the same. It was then determined in this council that they should lay their war forces under the bridge; and each made himself ready with s.h.i.+ps and men.