Heimskringla, or the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Part 55

186. OF ERLING SKJALGSON'S FALL.

King Olaf then steered in towards the Bokn fjord, by which the s.h.i.+ps came out of sight of each other. Thereafter the king ordered his men to strike the sails, and row forwards through a narrow sound that was there, and all the s.h.i.+ps lay collected within a rocky point. Then all the king's men put on their weapons. Erling sailed in through the sound, and observed nothing until the whole fleet was before him, and he saw the king's men rowing towards him with all their s.h.i.+ps at once. Erling and his crew let fall the sails, and seized their weapons; but the king's fleet surrounded his s.h.i.+p on all sides. Then the fight began, and it was of the sharpest; but soon the greatest loss was among Erling's men. Erling stood on the quarter-deck of his s.h.i.+p. He had a helmet on his head, a s.h.i.+eld before him, and a sword in his hand. Sigvat the skald had remained behind in Viken, and heard the tidings. He was a great friend of Erling, had received presents from him, and had been at his house. Sigvat composed a poem upon Erling's fall, in which there is the following verse:--

"Erling has set his s.h.i.+p on sea-- Against the king away is he: He who oft lets the eagle stain Her yellow feet in blood of slain.

His little war-s.h.i.+p side by side With the king's fleet, the fray will bide.

Now sword to sword the fight is raging,

Which Erling with the king is waging."

Then Erling's men began to fall, and at the same moment his s.h.i.+p was carried by boarding, and every man of his died in his place. The king himself was amongst the foremost in the fray. So says Sigvat:--

"The king's men hewed with hasty sword,-- The king urged on the s.h.i.+p to board,-- All o'er the decks the wounded lay: Right fierce and b.l.o.o.d.y was that fray.

In Tungur sound, on Jadar sh.o.r.e, The decks were slippery with red gore; Warm blood was dropping in the sound, Where the king's sword was gleaming round."

So entirely had Erling's men fallen, that not a man remained standing in his s.h.i.+p but himself alone; for there was none who asked for quarter, or none who got it if he did ask. There was no opening for flight, for there lay s.h.i.+ps all around Erling's s.h.i.+p on every side, and it is told for certain that no man attempted to fly; and Sigvat says:--

"All Erling's men fell in the fray, Off Bokn fjord, this hard-fought day.

The brave king boarded, onward cheered, And north of Tungur the deck was cleared.

Erling alone, the brave, the stout, Cut off from all, yet still held out; High on the stern--a sight to see-- In his lone s.h.i.+p alone stood he."

Then Erling was attacked both from the forecastle and from the other s.h.i.+ps. There was a large s.p.a.ce upon the p.o.o.p which stood high above the other s.h.i.+ps, and which n.o.body could reach but by arrow-shot, or partly with the thrust of spear, but which he always struck from him by parrying. Erling defended himself so manfully, that no example is known of one man having sustained the attack of so many men so long. Yet he never tried to get away, nor asked for quarter. So says Sigvat:--

"Skjalg's brave son no mercy craves,-- The battle's fury still he braves; The spear-storm, through the air sharp singing, Against his s.h.i.+eld was ever ringing.

So Erling stood; but fate had willed His life off Bokn should be spilled.

No braver man has, since his day, Past Bokn fjord ta'en his way."

When Olaf went back a little upon the fore-deck he saw Erling's behaviour; and the king accosted him thus:--"Thou hast turned against me to-day, Erling."

He replies, "The eagle turns his claws in defence when torn asunder."

Sigvat the skald tells thus of these words of Erling:--

"Erling, our best defence of old,-- Erling the brave, the brisk, the bold,-- Stood to his arms, gaily crying, 'Eagles should show their claws, though dying:'

The very words which once before To Olaf he had said on sh.o.r.e, At Utstein when they both prepared To meet the foe, and danger shared."

Then said the king, "Wilt thou enter into my service, Erling?"

"That I will," said he; took the helmet off his head, laid down his sword and s.h.i.+eld, and went forward to the forecastle deck.

The king struck him in the chin with the sharp point of his battle-axe, and said, "I shall mark thee as a traitor to thy sovereign."

Then Aslak Fitiaskalle rose up, and struck Erling in the head with an axe, so that it stood fast in his brain, and was instantly his death-wound. Thus Erling lost his life.

The king said to Aslak, "May all ill luck attend thee for that stroke; for thou hast struck Norway out of my hands."

Aslak replied, "It is bad enough if that stroke displease thee, for I thought it was striking Norway into thy hands; and if I have given thee offence, sire, by this stroke, and have thy ill-will for it, it will go badly with me, for I will get so many men's ill-will and enmity for this deed that I would need all your protection and favour."

The king replied that he should have it.

Thereafter the king ordered every man to return to his s.h.i.+p, and to get ready to depart as fast as he could. "We will not plunder the slain,"

says he, "and each man may keep what he has taken." The men returned to the s.h.i.+ps and prepared themselves for the departure as quickly as possible; and scarcely was this done before the vessels of the bondes ran in from the south into the sound. It went with the bonde-army as is often seen, that the men, although many in numbers, know not what to do when they have experienced a check, have lost their chief, and are without leaders. None of Erling's sons were there, and the bondes therefore made no attack, and the king sailed on his way northwards. But the bondes took Erling's corpse, adorned it, and carried it with them home to Sole, and also the bodies of all who had fallen. There was great lamentation over Erling; and it has been a common observation among people, that Erling Skjalgson was the greatest and worthiest man in Norway of those who had no high t.i.tle. Sigvat made these verses upon the occasion:--

"Thus Erling fell--and such a gain To buy with such a loss was vain; For better man than he ne'er died, And the king's gain was small beside.

In truth no man I ever knew Was, in all ways, so firm and true; Free from servility and pride, Honoured by all, yet thus he died."

Sigvat also says that Aslak had very unthinkingly committed this murder of his own kinsman:--

"Norway's brave defender's dead!

Aslak has heaped on his own head The guilt of murdering his own kin: May few be guilty of such sin!

His kinsman's murder on him lies-- Our forefathers, in sayings wise, Have said, what is unknown to few, 'Kinsmen to kinsmen should be true.'"

187. OF THE INSURRECTION OF AGDER DISTRICT.

Of Erling's sons some at that time were north in Throndhjem, some in Hordaland, and some in the Fjord district, for the purpose of collecting men. When Erling's death was reported, the news came also that there was a levy raising in Agder, Hordaland, and Rogaland. Forces were raised and a great army a.s.sembled, under Erling's sons, to pursue King Olaf.

When King Olaf retired from the battle with Erling he went northward through the sounds, and it was late in the day. It is related that the king then made the following verses:--

"This night, with battle sounds wild ringing, Small joy to the fair youth is bringing Who sits in Jadar, little dreaming O'er what this night the raven's screaming.

The far-descended Erling's life Too soon has fallen; but, in the strife He met the luck they well deserve Who from their faith and fealty swerve."

Afterwards the king sailed with his fleet along the land northwards, and got certain tidings of the bondes a.s.sembling an army. There were many chiefs and lendermen at this time with King Olaf, and all the sons of Arne. Of this Bjarne Gullbrarskald speaks in the poem he composed about Kalf Arnason:--

"Kalf! thou hast fought at Bokn well; Of thy brave doings all men tell: When Harald's son his men urged on To the hard strife, thy courage shone.

Thou soon hadst made a good Yule feast For greedy wolf there in the East: Where stone and spear were flying round, There thou wast still the foremost found.

The people suffered in the strife When n.o.ble Erling lost his life, And north of Utstein many a speck Of blood lay black upon the deck.

The king, 'tis clear, has been deceived, By treason of his land bereaved; And Agder now, whose force is great.

Will rule o'er all parts of the state."

King Olaf continued his voyage until he came north of Stad, and brought up at the Herey Isles. Here he heard the news that Earl Hakon had a great war-force in Throndhjem, and thereupon the king held a council with his people. Kalf Arnason urged much to advance to Throndhjem, and fight Earl Hakon, notwithstanding the difference of numbers. Many others supported this advice, but others dissuaded from it, and the matter was left to the king's judgment.

188. DEATH OF ASLAK FITIASKALLE.

Afterwards the king went into Steinavag, and remained there all night; but Aslak Fitiaskalle ran into Borgund, where he remained the night, and where Vigleik Arnason was before him. In the morning, when Aslak was about returning on board, Vigleik a.s.saulted him, and sought to avenge Erling's murder. Aslak fell there. Some of the king's court-men, who had been home all summer, joined the king here. They came from Frekeysund, and brought the king tidings that Earl Hakon, and many lendermen with him, had come in the morning to Frekeysund with a large force; "and they will end thy days, sire, if they have strength enough." Now the king sent his men up to a hill that was near; and when they came to the top, and looked northwards to Bjarney Island, they perceived that a great armament of many s.h.i.+ps was coming from the north, and they hastened back to the king with this intelligence. The king, who was lying there with only twelve s.h.i.+ps, ordered the war-horn to sound, the tents to be taken down on his s.h.i.+ps, and they took to their oars. When they were quite ready, and were leaving the harbour, the bonde army sailed north around Thiotande with twenty-five s.h.i.+ps. The king then steered inside of Nyrfe Island, and inside of Hundsver. Now when King Olaf came right abreast of Borgund, the s.h.i.+p which Aslak had steered came out to meet him, and when they found the king they told him the tidings,--that Vigleik Arnason had killed Aslak Fitiaskalle, because he had killed Erling Skjalgson. The king took this news very angrily, but could not delay his voyage on account of the enemy and he sailed in by Vegsund and Skor. There some of his people left him; among others, Kalf Arnason, with many other lendermen and s.h.i.+p commanders, who all went to meet Earl Hakon. King Olaf, however, proceeded on his way without stopping until he came to Todar fjord, where he brought up at Valdal, and landed from his s.h.i.+p. He had then five s.h.i.+ps with him, which he drew up upon the sh.o.r.e, and took care of their sails and materials. Then he set up his land-tent upon a point of land called Sult, where there are pretty flat fields, and set up a cross near to the point of land. A bonde, by name Bruse, who dwelt there in More, and was chief over the valley, came down to King Olaf, together with many other bondes, and received him well, and according to his dignity; and he was friendly, and pleased with their reception of him. Then the king asked if there was a pa.s.sable road up in the country from the valley to Lesjar; and Bruse replied, that there was an urd in the valley called Skerfsurd not pa.s.sable for man or beast. King Olaf answers, "That we must try, bonde, and it will go as G.o.d pleases. Come here in the morning with your yoke, and come yourself with it, and let us then see. When we come to the sloping precipice, what chance there may be, and if we cannot devise some means of coming over it with horses and people."

189. CLEARING OF THE URD.