King Magnus's speech to the men of Tunsberg.

84. King Magnus had a hearty reception at Tunsberg. Many men came to him from the surrounding country, and he held a council, at which he spoke and said: “It must be known to you what great worries and afflictions we have suffered in the realm; and now I would ask some help from you that we may win it. I will promise you in return that I shall not need henceforth to lay this tax often upon you. It is not surprising if men are tired of the levy for service at sea with us, for ofttimes it has been fraught with danger. But forasmuch as I was anointed and crowned King over this land, therefore before God I dare not break the oaths which then I swore, and I will lay claim to this land with spear and sword, so long as life shall last and the people of the land will support me. There is another course I might follow, one that would bring me an easier life and less danger: I could accept a fief and emoluments from my kinsman King Valdamar.” The King's speech was received with great applause, and they all declared as with one mouth that they would serve and follow him; better to die with him, a rightful King, than serve that priest who had no title by birth to be King. The men of Tunsberg supplied the King with a long-ship well manned by the townsmen. He stayed there half a month and then sailed north, the wind making his progress slow.

Of the Icelandic poet Mani and King Mangus¹⁴

85. King Magnus and his fleet lay for a week at Unnardys, in Lista. The poet Mani was with the King at this time, and he recited a verse:-

“Thou bounteous King of the sun's high seat,
We pray Thee grant to this great host
Quick breeze to Bergen.
It angers us that here at Unnardys
A north-west blast keeps back our men.
O'er-slow to the sound comes southern wind.”

“Well recited, Tungli,” said the King; and he commanded that the poet should have a kirtle, one of many which lay there in a heap, having been washed.

The King was on the frontier of the land, in the east, when Mani came to him, just returned from Rome in the condition of a beggar. The King was in the sitting-room with his train when he entered. Mani was not a handsome man at the time, for he had a shaven crown and was almost naked, yet he knew how to greet the King courteously. The King asked who he was. “My name is Mani,” he answered, “And I am an Icelander just come from Rome, in the south. And the King said, “You must surely be acquainted with old-time stories, Tungli; sit down and recite one.” So Mani recited the Utfarar-drapa, which Halldor Skvaldri composed in Honour of King Sigur Jorsals-Fari, grand-father of King Magnus on the mother's side. The poem, was received with great applause, and seemed to afford great pleasure. Now, there were two jugglers in the sitting-room. They had some little dogs, trained to jump over a stick when in the presence of men of rank, and the nobler the spectator the higher the jump the dogs would make. “Do you see, Tungli,” said the King, “what little account the jugglers make of you? Compose a verse on them, you may possibly be rather a gainer by it.” then Mani recited:-

“With fiddle and pipe the cunning fellow fares,
The juggler brings his scurrilous gestures
Over the rail he makes the red dog leap
To amuse the men. A merry show indeed!
Pray stop his horrid should not listen.”

And again he recited:-

“The fiddle sounds, they strut, they grip the pipe,
The chalk-faced fellows their foolish antics play;
'Tis wonderful to watch the rolling eyes
Of him that sounds the trump, and then to see
The rascal's puckered chops and cheeks blown out!”

This produced great laughter, and the Guardsmen formed a ring round the jugglers, reciting the verse, ever repeating oftenest of all the words, “chops and cheeks blown out.” The jugglers felt much like being roasted, and escaped from the sitting-room. But the King took Mani to himself, and afterwards had him in his company until they reached Bergen.

King Magnus at Bergen. He Slays the Birkibeins whom he finds there.

86. On its voyage north the fleet lay for two or three days at a time in the same harbour. King Magnus's men were very merry, and wherever they were delayed, spent much of the time in games; but the King usually spoke little. They lay two days in Karmsound; here they obtained some accurate tidings of King Sverri's movements from the merchants who came from the north. There-upon the King dispatched Eilif Orri, son of Clement of Grafdale, to Bergen, on the look-out. He sailed away on the Tuesday night, and came back to the King on the Wednesday with the news that there were three ships of the Birkibeins in the town, under the command of Svina-Petr. King Magnus bade his men take down the awnings with all speed, and start off on the voyage. “The Birkibeins are in Bergen,” he said, “and doubtless want a drinking bout with you; they will think you ought to pour out the drink for them.” When his men heard this they were glad; they hoisted the sails and used the oars, for there was a side-wind, accompanied with rain. King Magnus commanded the Skeggi, Orm Kings-brother the Skialdmey; Nikolas Kufubg had the Erkisud, which the Archbishop had given him, a ship of twenty benches; Minan Gautsson had the Hrein, and the Gests the great Fley, a Baltic trader. The wind now began to rise high, and the mast of Minan's ship broke, killing a man who was under it. On the prow of the Kings ship was a man named Thoraldi Thrym, and he said, “The front decks are all wet, and the rain drives over the prows, the men in the fore part think a slower pace would be better.” The King stood up and answered, “I knew not that fires should be kindled in the prows;” and he bade that not a sail should be reefed, but every rope strained to the utmost. On Thursday, half-way between mid-day and nones, the King sailed into the bay; the men went straight to the quays and sprang on shore. They were messengers of woe to the Birkibeins, who had no intelligence of King Magnus's movements They sprang up where each happened to be, some to their weapons, and all out of the town, as many as escaped with life. It was as if one saw a fire, to look up at the fell red with shields. Well-nigh thirty men were slain, some in the town, others above it. The Heklungs quickly stripped the dead of their clothes. King Magnus ordered that no one should have the audacity to bury the bodies before he came back to town; and declared it their rightful due, to be left to raven and to dog. The King summoned an Assembly, at which he himself spoke, and said, “Here we look for troops and assistance from the men of this town; in former times you so aided both me and my father. Here I made my home continually while we were able to live in peace, and here nearly all my kinsmen and foster-brothers. My first business now is to try if an encounter between me and Sverri can be brought about; and. After we separate, I purpose to come here to the town with peace and joy for us all.” Great applause followed his speech. “God grant you a safe return, Sire,” said they all; “may you win in this voyage all that you desire.” The King then went away to his ships, and gave the signal for departure. It is said that crows flocked to the King's ship in such numbers that every rope was covered; so marvelous a sight had never been seen before. In the evening King Magnus left the town with all his fleet, except the Gesta-Fly which had grounded; it left the town in the night.

King Magnus sails north into Sogn to find King Sverri.

87. King Magnus sailed through the sounds on his voyage north and turned into Sogn-Sea. The wind was light. When the men of Sogn heard of his coming many rowed out in boats to meet him, and going on board his ships, sailed on the voyage with him. They told him the tidings that King Sverri had sent off many of his troops, all the bravest of them, and himself lay in Norafiord with few ships, after doing much evil there. These tidings were a great joy to many, and they said that at last the struggle was bound to end, for it was God's will to overthrow that riotous band, the author of so much evil in Norway that the land must wait long for a recovery. There was a distinguished man, named Ivar Elda, who lived at Syrstrand. He was seated at table when King Magnus's ships were seen sailing past. He rose up at once and went to his ship, then rowed out to the King's ship and went on board. The King welcomed him heartily, and Ivar went with him. King Magnus proceeded to the place where the fiord divides, and then turned into Norafiord. He had with him twenty-six ships, almost all large, and well equipped with men and weapons.

King Sverri's preparations for battle, and his speech to his men.

88. We must now tell of King Sverri. On the Friday after he had burnt the homesteads in Soknadale, he lay off Haugastrand, near a place called Fimreiti. He had twelve ships with him, two having remained behind Soknadale, It was the hour of nones, and he sat at meat, and there were watchmen on the look-out opposite the King's ship. When the men had sat a while at meat King Sverri heard the watch say that they saw several ships sailing towards them along the Sogn-Sea. Sometimes they saw six or seven; but when the ships were m ore scattered and sailed farther apart, ten or twelve could be seen. The watchmen were discussing what ships these might be: some said they were ferry-ships which the men of Sogn must have brought in a fleet from Bergen; others said the sails were more like those of long-ships. When the King heard this talking he rose up from the table and went on shore to the watch, followed by others from the ships. Each man now gave his own opinion what ships they were. The King stood up a while, looked at them, and then said, “We must not hide from ourselves that this is an enemy; those are certainly the sails of long-ships.” Then he summoned all his men straight-way to land; and when they were come together he began to speak, and thus said:-

“It may happen again to us Birkibeins, as it has happened before, to have work upon our hands. For there is no use hiding form ourselves, it seems to me, that king Magnus will soon come to visit us. You all know that a large part of our force has gone away form us: some south to Bergen, and what fate has befallen them is in God's hands; others to the market-town to burn it, and they can afford us no help. And though when encounters have occurred with King Magnus we have often been inferior in numbers, yet I expect, if we await him here, we shall most likely have never have had to face greater odds than now. I will, therefore, that we now take counsel together: shall we offer resistance with such force as we have, or do you think it better to abandon the ships and go on shore? You will doubtless feel that we have not made good friends of the people that dwell here in Sogn. Our condition is clear if we leave the ships; where we go King Magnus and his force will march after us, and the whole multitude of inhabitants with him. And to tell the truth, considering the great labour and difficulty I endured before obtaining these ships, it seems certain that if I should now lose them I will never again to attempt to acquire ships in Norway, and every one of us will have to look to himself. Now, I do not wish to lead you, by any self-will of mine, into such great danger, if you see that it should not be done; but if the men of our force think it better to offer resistance, I shall not falter through fear.”

When the King finished his speech his men thought they perceived what he desired, and it seemed good to all of them to applaud what they way to be his wish, although they did not see the promise of success. And now well-nigh all at once answered, and said they certainly wished for battle, and never without a contest would submit to flight, for which there was no cause whatever. They had constantly fought against great odds, they said, and yet won victory. And the King answered: “You have now chosen the course which is the more agreeable to my mind; and I may tell you something which will make you more eager to fight, and more valiant-you will send this day a king to his grave.” This speech caused great anxiety to many: “Which King would it be?” then King Sverri commanded the awnings to be taken down, and the ships to be rowed up the fiord close to land. “A cutter,” he said, “shall row will all speed up to Soknadale to our ships there, and bid them come to us. Of the three men in each half-cabin, let one sit at the oar, a second row in boats to land and fetch stones, the third, as well as all the others who are free, prepare, the ships and set up the war-bulwarks.” It was done as the King commanded, they took the nails which the king had given them, fastened the rings of walrus hide all round the inn part of the ships' sides, fixed in them the supports, and attached the war-bulwarks. Every man was now busily engaged, and it was easy to see that the Birkibeins were practiced in such labour. The men sent with the cutter up the fiord met their comrades rowing down, and told them the rumour; and the crews of the long ships bestirred themselves, struck in their oars and rowed with all their might. As they approached the fleet they came so close to each other, rowing in eager strife, that the oars collided and broke. “There is other business than smashing oars that you must see to,” said the King. And he bade them turn to shore, there to wait for King Magnus. Stones were then brought from land, as many as they wished, and the ships' war-bulwarks set up. The King now commanded the stern-cables of all the ships to be brought on board, the prows to be turned seawards, and the oars placed for rowing. The King's ship lay close to the strand, nearest the entrance of the fiord. Then the King bade his men arm themselves and take their places in the cabins.

King Sverri went on shore and walked up to a little brook; here the King had water given to him to wash his hands, and had his clothes brushed as if he were about to attend a banquet. His dress was all dark brown. After this he went down to the rock under which his ship lay, and spoke a few words. He laid hold of the ship's prow, but his men removed his hands because the tar on the beak was not dry. And the King said: “Our ships shall not be tied together. We must reap advantage, if we can, from this that our bulwarks are high, our men are bold and keen in fight. There is only one expedient whereby we may retain life- we must prove superior to our foes; flight will not avail us, or yet begging for peace. Look to your weapons, and let no missile be thrown in vain from the ships. Defend yourselves first, let each man protect his neighbour, and may God protect us all.” Then he commanded the standards to be set up. Alongside the ships a little cliff jutted forward and almost prevented a view of the mouth of the fiord. He therefore sent a cutter to look out for king Magnus's fleet; and after the oarsmen had rowed a dew strokes from land they pulled back with half as much speed again, saying that the fleet was sailing in upon them. Straightway the trumpet sounded, and the Birkibeins began to row out all their ships to meet them, and raised the war-cry. The Mariusud was steered by Thord, brother of Finngeir.

King Magnus's speech to his men before the battle

89. King Magnus now entered the fiord in pursuit of the Birkibeins. And when his men knew they were within a short distance, they lowered their sails and let the ships run under bare poles, keeping close together. The Heklungs had put on their armour and were ready for battle. King Magnus then made a speech to them and said:-

“These large merchant-ships in our fleet are not fitted for rowing. Let them be tied between my ship and Orm's . We shall row towards the big ship and attach ourselves to it; and I should not like the ships to be loosed until either theirs is cleared or ours. I know that to many, in thought and speech, the result would appear good, if brought about, that Sverri and I should no more both need to demand these war contributions. And I think such, result, dear to my mind and hope, might well be asked from God. I was five years old when the chiefs and folk of this land gave me the name of King, and seven years old when consecrated King by the Legate from Rome and Archbishop Eystein, assisted by all the people's bishops of this land. I was then so much a child that I could be master of neither word nor oath, and I thought it better to join in games with other young boys than to sit among chiefs. I strove not for the kingdom, and little please and ease have I had in the kingdom. Now I am eight- and- twenty years old, and during the last eight my rule has been my own loss, and a loss to all the people of the land. But may God reward my men and the chiefs and the whole people for the loving help they have given me in many dangers. There is no need for me to urge you with words; you can all see our need that every one should do his manliest. We have abundant means; we have to lack of troops; God be praised, that wherever we touched land, men have joined our ranks. Sverri has now scattered his forces here and there, and has now but a few men left with him, and they are enclosed here before us, in the fiord, like sheep in a pen. May God grant such as end to this encounter that we may have peace and freedom from our enemies hereafter, whether we remain alive or die.”

His speech was received with great applause. “Well spoken, thou best of kings,” they all cried at once; “may God give thee to tread down thy enemies.” Then Orm Kings-brother spoke: “I would advise, Sire, that we attack frist of all the smaller ships where we shall meet with little resistance. I expect the big ship will be difficult to win, so long as there is both a plentiful force of ships, and of men from the other ships, to help it.” The King replied: “It seems to me as if all the ships are won if the big ship is won. “ So they did as the King commanded; the four ships were tied together and the King's ship sailed nearest the south shore.

Speech of Asbiorn Jonsson before the battle.

90. Asbiorn Jonsson laid his ship alongside Orm's ship, and the two were fastened together. Then Asbiorn spoke:-

“The day is now come that we have all longed for, when Sverri and the Birkibeins are here in front of us, forced like sheep into a pen. There is an end now to his sleights and his tricks, for the Fiend, in whom he trusts, and by whom his counsels are inspired, will now fail him. Such is the Fiend's way with his friends. He grants them prosperity for a time, and fails them at their life's end. Sverri is now shiftless. He sent Svina-Petr away south to Bergen, an errand whereon he met his desserts. Other, the Gests, the worst of his men, limbs of the Fiend, he sent into Sogn, under one who has done most evil, Ulf, the peasant's son. And now Sverri had added to his own evil deeds and violence the only evil he had hitherto left undone, for he has wasted with fire a Christian land; and he shall now pay for it. Let us set on these Birkibeins, two or three on one if it makes the work lighter; and let us deal heavy strokes at all before us, careless where the blows fall, for we use no care in chopping meat for dogs or ravens. As for their souls, let the men of Soknadale show them where to go.” Great applause followed this speech, all saying that he had spoken well. Afterwards they fastened the ships together in fours or fives, and by means of oars on the outer side of the end ships rowed them all together side by side into the fiord near the southern shore.

King Magnus wore a kirtle of scarlet that was parti-coloured, half white, half red; and a kirtle of the same colour and cloth was worn by Magnus Mangi, son of Eirik Stagbrell. The King carried a sword that was named fish-back, the sharpest of all swords.

Battle of Norafiord. Attack on the Marisusd [15^th June 1184]

91.We will now relate some events that occurred in the encounter between the two Kings, of which somewhat had been already said. We return to the Birkibeins. As they rowed from land they saw King Magnus's fleet coming upon them, and there was an appearance in front of it such as is seen at sea when heavy rain falls during a calm. This shower soon passed over; it was a flight of arrows, and they had need of their shields. When they would turn the Mariusud, she described a large curve, and before she could be fully turned, the ships ran into another. King Magnus's ships came against the bows of the Mariusud, striking her in the side, and the prows of the King's ships were turned towards her. The Skeggi lay against her fore pump-room, and the others in succession towards her prow, as they found being very eager, and the Birkibeins keeping rather under shelter, while all the ships drifted together towards the strand. The Birkibeins as first were hampered in the attack as the Mariusud lay between them and King Magnus's ships. Thereupon King Sverri sprang into a boat, with one man, and rowed to Eirik Kings-son's ship. The King then called to them and said they were behaving wretchedly and timidly, and he bade them row forth past the big ship and aim at the smaller ships of the Heklungs. And try what they could effect. Rowing from ship to ship, the King incited his men, and told them where they should attack. The King's words had good effect on the Birkibeins, and they pressed forward boldly; and made a fierce onset, which was returned in full by the others. Both sides now made use of every missile at hand. As the King rowed back to his ship and arrow passed over his head and struck the prow of the boat; then a second, directly afterwards, struck the boats' side above his knees. The King sat and moved not. “A dangerous shot, Sire,” said his companion. “Comes near when God wills,” answered the King. So thick was now the shower of weapons and stones upon the Mariusud that the king found he could not get back on board, and he rowed away to land. Munan Guatsson's men drove their ship to land, and leapt ashore, and threw great quantities of stone on the Mariusud, all about the fore-room and forward to the pump-room, and those who were there stationed suffered severely. The men in the prow were the most exposed to the onslaught of the Heklungs and the shower of missiles, and they said to one another that the fore-room men ought now to pay the King for their mead and kirtle-cloth. The men in the stern now called to the starboard oarsmen to row forward. This was done, and the ship was moved so that the Skeggi now lay opposite the aft pump-room. All the men of the larboard side and the fore-room men had enough to do, for there lay fourteen ships against one side of the Mariusud. The Heklungs then shot bolts, and threw spears and lumps of hard whetstone which they had brought from the east with them, from Skida, very dangerous to life. They cast also short swords and palstaves, but were not so near as to fight hand to hand. The Birkibeins sheltered themselves, unable to do more; yet many fell, and almost all were wounded by missiles or stones. They were so wearied and harassed that some who were unwounded, or yet slightly wounded, yet died of exhaustion. But the Heklungs delayed to board the ship because of the difficulty in reaching her over the prows of their own ships; whereas if the ships had been placed alongside, one of the crews might have boarded the other's ship long before.