Part 8

Carl the Mœre-man comes to King Olave.
[44.] King Olave soon heard that Sigurd and his mates were away. There was heavy talk held over their departure, and some there were that now held it likely that Sigurd and his mates were guilty of that which they denied that they had done. King Olave spoke little of the matter, but he thought that he now knew the truth of that which he guessed before. He went on his way thereafter, and took the guesting that was made ready for him. In the spring King Olave gat him ready to go out of Nithoyce, and gathered a great host to him, both out of Throndham and from other parts of the land farther north; and when he was ready to set out, he fared first south to Mœre with his host and called together his levy, and so fared out of Reamsdale, and afterward south to South Mœre, and lay in the Hereys and waited for his levy. He would often hold a house-moot there; and many things came to his ears that he thought needed to be talked over. One moot that he held he had set forth the matter, and told of the manscathe that he had gotten in the Færeys. "And the scot," said he, "that they promised me never comes. Now I am minded to send men thither after that scot." He asked one man after another to take it up and get him ready for that errand, but gat ever the same answer, for they excused themselves from going. Then a man stood up in the moot, big and bold to look on; he had on a red kirtle, a helm [was] on his head; he was girt with a sword and had a halbert in his hand; he began to speak. "To tell the truth," quoth he, "there is little likeness between men here, for ye have a good king, but he has bad servants; ye say nay to the errand that he would send you on, but ye have often taken friendly gifts and many like things at his hands. As for me, hitherto I have not been the king's friend and he has been my foe, and he says he has good cause for being so. But now, O king, I offer to go on this errand for thee, if no better man can be got." The king answered, "Who is this bold man that answers our speech? Dost thou lift thyself up over all the other men that are here, for thou art willing to go, but they excuse themselves, when I thought they would surely yield to my wish? As to thee, I know thee not at all, and I wot not even thy name." He answered, "My name is not far to seek, O king, and it is my belief that thou must have heard my name. I am called Carl the Mœre-man." The king answered, "So it is, Carl; I have heard talk of thee, and, to tell the truth, there have been times when, if we two had met, thou shouldst not have been able to tell tidings thereof; but now I will not behave worse than thou, and as thou offerest me thy help, I will take it willingly. And thou shalt come to me today, Carl, and be among my guests, and we will talk over this matter." Carl said it should be so, and with that the moot broke up.

Carl the Mœre-man is set at one with the King.
[45.] Carl, the Mœre-man had been a great Wicking and the worst of robbers, and the king had often set men after him to try and take his life, but Carl of Mœre was of great lineage, and a man skilled in all manners of feats. But now he had undertaken this business, the king was reconciled to him, and took him to his closest friendship. He made all things ready for his cruise in the best way that might be. There were twenty men on board with him. The king sent word to his friends in the Færeys, and intrusted Carl to their good help --- that is, to Laf Ossursson and Lawman Gille --- and to this end he sent tokens to them. Carl set out as soon as he was bound; he had fair winds, and made the Færeys, and lay to in Thorshaven in Streamsey.
Then there was a moot called, and much folk came thither. Thrond of Gate came with a great following, and thither came also Laf and Gille, and many men with them. And when they had pitched their tents and made ready, they went to meet Carl the Mœre-man, and they greeted each other in goodly wise. Then Carl gave them the message and tokens that King Olave had sent, and his greeting to Laf and Gille. They were glad of this, and asked Carl to their houses, and promised to do his errand and give him such good help thereto as they could. He took their offer thankfully. A little later Thrond came up and welcomed Carl. "I am right glad," said he, "that such a mighty man should have come here to this land with our king's errand, which we are all bound to fulfill; and I want one thing more --- for thee to take up thy winter quarters with me, and as many of thy crew as thou wilt, and so shall thy worship be higher even than before." Carl said that he had undertaken to stay with Laf, "else would I gladly have accepted thy bidding." Thrond answered, "Laf will win great worship by this; but is there nothing else that I can do to help you?" Carl said that he should think it a great boon if Thrond would get the scot together for him from Eastrey, and also from the other Northern Islands. Thrond said that he was bounden and holden by law to further the king's command so far. Then Thrond went back to his booths, and nothing more happened at that moot. Carl went in to guesting with Laf Ossursson, and was with him all the winter. Laf got together the scot from Streamsey and from all the islands to the south of it.
Next spring Thrond took a great sickness: he had great pains in the eyes and other great ills beside; nevertheless, he got him ready to go to the moot, as was his wont. But when he came to the moot and his tent was pitched, he had a black tilt pitched underneath the other inside, so that it might be less dazzling. Now, when some days of the moot had gone by, Laf and Carl went to Thrond's tent, and took many men with them.

Carl takes Money from the Kinsmen.
[46.] When they got to Thrond's tent, there were some men standing outside. Laf asked whether Thrond was in his booth, and they said he was. Laf told them to ask him to come out. "Carl and I have business with him." When they came back, they said that Thrond had the pains in his eyes so bad that he could not come out, and asked Laf and those with him to come in. Laf told his fellows to fare warily when they went into the tent. "Do not crowd, but let him go out first that came in last." Laf went in first, and after him Carl and his fellows, and they went all-weaponed as if they were going into battle. Laf went in under the black tilt and asked where Thrond was. Thrond answered and greeted Laf. He took his greeting and then asked whether he had gathered any scot from the Northern Islands, and if the money would be paid. Thrond answered that what he had promised Carl had not slipped his mind, and that the scot should be rightly paid. "Here is a money-bag, Laf, that thou shalt take; the silver is in it." Laf looked round the tent and saw few men there; there were a few lying on the dais-benches, but very few sitting up. Then Laf went up to Thrond and took the bag and carried it out of the tent into the light and poured out the silver into his shield, and turned the money over in his hands and told Carl to look over it. They looked it through for a little, and then Carl asked what Laf thought of the money. He answered, "I think every one of these pennies here is as bad a one as could be picked out in all the Northern Islands." Thrond heard that and called out, "Is not the money good?" Laf answered him, "It is not," said he. Thrond said, "My kinsmen are great nithings, who cannot be trusted in anything. I sent them out in the spring to get the scot in from the Northern Islands, for I have been good for nothing this spring; but they must have taken bribes from the yeomen to take bad money for the scot which was not good enough to pass. But the next thing to do, Laf, is to look at the money which was paid me for my land-rent." Laf gave back the silver, and took the other bag and carried it to Carl, and they ransacked it through. Then Carl asked what Laf thought of that money. "It is lacking," said he, "but not so that it would not be taken where what should be paid was carelessly laid down, but I will never take such money as this to King Olave." With that a man that was lying on the dais-benches threw the hood off his head and said, "Sooth is the old saw, Age cows a man; and it is so with thee, Thrond, since thou lettest Carl the Mœre-man cast back thy money to thee all day." This was Geat the Red. Thrond leapt up at Geat's speech and began to use foul words and to rebuke his kinsmen mightily. And when he stopped at last, he told Laf to give him back that money, "and do thou take this bag of money here, which my farmers brought me in the spring, and though my sight is now bad, yet a man's own hand is his best help." With that a man rose up from the dais-benches --- Thord the Low it was --- and said, "We have got no little scolding for this Carl of Mœre's sake, and he shall be well repaid for it." Laf took the silver and carried it to Carl, and they looked through it. Then Laf said, "No need to look long at this money. Send a man, Thrond, to see it weighed." Thrond answered that he thought the best thing would be for Laf to see to it for him. Then Laf and his fellows went out a little way from the tent, and they sat down and weighed the silver. Carl took the helm off his head and put the silver in it as they weighed it out. [As they were weighing the money] they saw a man walking close to them with a pike-staff in his hand; he had a hat on his head, a green cloak, his feet were bare, and he had linen breeches bound on his legs; he stuck the pike-staff into the ground and left it there, saying as he walked off, "Look to it, Mœre-Carl, that thou get no hurt from my pike-staff."

Carl is Slain.
[47.] A little after that some weaponed men came up, calling lustily for Laf Ossursson to come as quick as he could to Lawman Gille's booth. "Sigurd Thorlacsson has just ran in under the tent-edge and wounded a man to the death." Laf leapt up and went off to see Lawman Gille, and all the men from his booth went with him, but Carl stayed behind and the Eastmen were standing in a ring round him. Geat the Red suddenly ran up and smote him with a hand-axe over men's shoulders, and the stroke lighted on Carl's head, but made no great wound. But Thord the Low caught up the pike-staff that was standing in the ground, and brought it down on the hammer of the axe, so that it drove the axe right into his head. With that a lot of men crowded out of Thrond's tent. Carl was carried off dead. Thrond was as wrath as could be at this deed as far as words went, but he offered money that his friend might be atoned for. Laf and Gille held out against it, and would not take money for atonement. Sigurd was outlawed for the ill deed he had wrought for killing Gille's booth-man, and Thord and Geat for the slaughter of Carl. The Eastmen got ready the ship which Carl had brought over there, and went back to meet King Olave, but it was not fated that any vengeance should be taken for those things, because of the war that was then in Norway.
And now the tale is ended of those things which came about through King Olave seeking scot from the Færeys. Howbeit there were great deeds done in the Færeys after Carl the Mœre-man's death, but they touch Thrond of Gate, Laf Ossursson, and Lawman Gille, and of them there are great stories told, which shall now be set forth.