Saga of Olaf Haroldson

103. EYVIND URARHORN'S MURDER.

One summer (A.D. 1018) that Earl Einar marauded in Ireland, he
fought in Ulfreks-fjord with the Irish king Konofogor, as has
been related before, and suffered there a great defeat. The
summer after this (A.D. 1019) Eyvind Urarhorn was coming from the
west from Ireland, intending to go to Norway; but the weather was
boisterous, and the current against him, so he ran into
Osmundwall, and lay there wind-bound for some time. When Earl
Einar heard of this, he hastened thither with many people, took
Eyvind prisoner, and ordered him to be put to death, but spared
the lives of most of his people. In autumn they proceeded to
Norway to King Olaf, and told him Eyvind was killed. The king
said little about it, but one could see that he considered it a
great and vexatious loss; for he did not usually say much if
anything turned out contrary to his wishes. Earl Thorfin sent
Thorkel Fosterer to the islands to gather in his scat. Now, as
Einar gave Thorkel the greatest blame for the dispute in which
Thorfin had made claim to the islands, Thorkel came suddenly back
to Caithness from Orkney, and told Earl Thorfin that he had
learnt that Earl Einar would have murdered him if his friends and
relations had not given him notice to escape. "Now," says he,
"it is come so far between the earl and me, that either some
thing decisive between us must take place if we meet, or I must
remove to such a distance that his power will not reach me." The
earl encouraged Thorkel much to go east to Norway to King Olaf.
"Thou wilt be highly respected," says he, "wherever thou comest
among honourable men; and I know so well thy disposition and the
earl's, that it will not be long before ye come to extremities."
Thereupon Thorkel made himself ready, and proceeded in autumn to
Norway, and then to King Olaf, with whom he stayed the whole
winter (A.D. 1020), and was in high favour. The king often
entered into conversation with him, and he thought, what was
true, that Thorkel was a high-minded man, of good understanding.
In his conversations with Thorkel, the king found a great
difference in his description of the two earls; for Thorkel was a
great friend of Earl Thorfin, but had much to say against Einar.
Early in spring (A.D. 1020) the king sent a ship west over the
sea to Earl Thorfin, with the invitation to come east and visit
him in Norway. The earl did not decline the invitation, for it
was accompanied by assurances of friendship.

104. EARL EINAR'S MURDER.

Earl Thorfin went east to Norway, and came to King Olaf, from
whom he received a kind reception, and stayed till late in the
summer. When he was preparing to return westwards again, King
Olaf made him a present of a large and fully-rigged long-ship.
Thorkel the Fosterer joined company with the earl, who gave him
the ship which he brought with him from the west. The king and
the earl took leave of each other tenderly. In autumn Earl
Thorfin came to Orkney, and when Earl Einar heard of it he went
on board his ships with a numerous band of men. Earl Bruse came
up to his two brothers, and endeavoured to mediate between them,
and a peace was concluded and confirmed by oath. Thorkel
Fosterer was to be in peace and friendship with Earl Einar; and
it was agreed that each of them should give a feast to the other,
and that the earl should first be Thorkel's guest at Sandwick.
When the earl came to the feast he was entertained in the best
manner; but the earl was not cheerful. There was a great room,
in which there were doors at each end. The day the earl should
depart Thorkel was to accompany him to the other feast; and
Thorkel sent men before, who should examine the road they had to
travel that day. The spies came back, and said to Thorkel they
had discovered three ambushes. "And we think," said they, "there
is deceit on foot." When Thorkel heard this he lengthened out
his preparations for the journey, and gathered people about him.
The earl told him to get ready, as it was time to be on
horseback. Thorkel answered, that he had many things to put in
order first, and went out and in frequently. There was a fire
upon the floor. At last he went in at one door, followed by an
Iceland man from Eastfjord, called Halvard, who locked the door
after him. Thorkel went in between the fire and the place where
the earl was sitting. The earl asked, "Art thou ready at last,
Thorkel?"

Thorkel answers, "Now I am ready;" and struck the earl upon the
head so that he fell upon the floor.

Then said the Icelander, "I never saw people so foolish as not to
drag the earl out of the fire;" and took a stick, which he set
under the earl's neck, and put him upright on the bench. Thorkel
and his two comrades then went in all haste out of the other door
opposite to that by which they went in, and Thorkel's men were
standing without fully armed. The earl's men now went in, and
took hold of the earl. He was already dead, so nobody thought of
avenging him: and also the whole was done so quickly; for nobody
expected such a deed from Thorkel, and all supposed that there
really was, as before related, a friendship fixed between the
earl and Thorkel. The most who were within were unarmed, and
they were partly Thorkel's good friends; and to this may be
added, that fate had decreed a longer life to Thorkel. When
Thorkel came out he had not fewer men with him than the earl's
troop. Thorkel went to his ship, and the earl's men went their
way. The same day Thorkel sailed out eastwards into the sea.
This happened after winter; but he came safely to Norway, went as
fast as he could to Olaf, and was well received by him. The king
expressed his satisfaction at this deed, and Thorkel was with him
all winter (A.D. 1091).

105. AGREEMENT BETWEEN KING OLAF AND EARL BRUSE.

After Earl Einar's fall Bruse took the part of the country which
he had possessed; for it was known to many men on what conditions
Einar and Bruse had entered into a partnership. Although Thorfin
thought it would be more just that each of them had half of the
islands, Bruse retained the two-thirds of the country that winter
(A.D. 1021). In spring, however, Thorfin produced his claim, and
demanded the half of the country; but Bruse would not consent.
They held Things and meetings about the business; and although
their friends endeavoured to settle it, Thorfin would not be
content with less than the half of the islands, and insisted that
Bruse, with his disposition, would have enough even with a third
part. Bruse replies, "When I took my heritage after my father I
was well satisfied with a third part of the country, and there
was nobody to dispute it with me; and now I have succeeded to
another third in heritage after my brother, according to a lawful
agreement between us; and although I am not powerful enough to
maintain a feud against thee, my brother, I will seek some other
way, rather than willingly renounce my property." With this
their meeting ended. But Bruse saw that he had no strength to
contend against Thorfin, because Thorfin had both a greater
dominion and also could have aid from his mother's brother, the
Scottish king. He resolved, therefore, to go out of the country;
and he went eastward to King Olaf, and had with him his son
Ragnvald, then ten years old. When the earl came to the king he
was well received. The earl now declared his errand, and told
the king the circumstances of the whole dispute between him and
his brother, and asked help to defend his kingdom of Orkney;
promising, in return, the fullest friendship towards King Olaf.
In his answer, the king began with showing how Harald Harfager
had appropriated to himself all udal rights in Orkney, and that
the earls, since that time, have constantly held the country as a
fief, not as their udal property. "As a sufficient proof of
which," said he, "when Eirik Blood-axe and his sons were in
Orkney the earls were subject to them; and also when my relation
Olaf Trygvason came there thy father, Earl Sigurd, became his
man. Now I have taken heritage after King Olaf, and I will give
thee the condition to become my man and then I will give thee the
islands as a fief; and we shall try if I cannot give thee aid
that will he more to the purpose than Thorfin can get from the
Scottish king. If thou wilt not accept of these terms, then will
I win back my udal property there in the West, as our forefathers
and relations of old possessed it."

The earl carefully considered this speech, laid it before his
friends, and demanded their advice if he should agree to it, and
enter into such terms with King Olaf and become his vassal. "But
I do not see what my lot will be at my departure if I say no; for
the king has clearly enough declared his claim upon Orkney; and
from his great power, and our being in his hands, it is easy for
him to make our destiny what he pleases."

Although the earl saw that there was much to be considered for
and against it he chose the condition to deliver himself and his
dominion into the king's power. Thereupon the king took the
earl's power, and the government over all the earl's lands, and
the earl became his vassal under oath of fealty.

106. THE EARL'S AGREEMENT TO THE KING'S TERMS.

Thorfin the earl heard that his brother Bruse had gone east to
King Olaf to seek support from him; but as Thorfin had been on a
visit to King Olaf before, and had concluded a friendship with
him, he thought his case would stand well with the king, and that
many would support it; but he believed that many more would do so
if he went there himself. Earl Thorfin resolved, therefore, to
go east himself without delay; and he thought there would be so
little difference between the time of his arrival and Bruse's,
that Bruse's errand could not be accomplished before he came to
King Olaf. But it went otherwise than Earl Thorfin had expected;
for when he came to the king the agreement between the king and
Bruse was already concluded and settled, and Earl Thorfin did not
know a word about Bruse's having surrendered his udal domains
until he came to King Olaf. As soon as Earl Thorfin and King
Olaf met, the king made the same demand upon the kingdom of
Orkney that he had done to Earl Bruse, and required that Thorfin
should voluntarily deliver over to the king that part of the
country which he had possessed hitherto. The earl answered in a
friendly and respectful way, that the king's friendship lay near
to his heart: "And if you think, sire, that my help against other
chiefs can be of use, you have already every claim to it; but I
cannot be your vessel for service, as I am an earl of the
Scottish king, and owe fealty to him."

As the king found that the earl, by his answer, declined
fulfilling the demand he had made, he said, "Earl, if thou wilt
not become my vassal, there is another condition; namely, that I
will place over the Orkney Islands the man I please, and require
thy oath that thou wilt make no claim upon these lands, but allow
whoever I place over them to sit in peace. If thou wilt not
accept of either of these conditions, he who is to rule over
these lands may expect hostility from thee, and thou must not
think it strange if like meet like in this business."

The earl begged of the king some time to consider the matter.
The king did so, and gave the earl time to take the counsel of
his friends on the choosing one or other of these conditions.
Then the earl requested a delay until next summer, that he might
go over the sea to the west, for his proper counsellors were all
at home, and he himself was but a child in respect of age; but
the king required that he should now make his election of one or
other of the conditions. Thorkel Fosterer was then with the
king, and he privately sent a person to Earl Thorfin, and told
him, whatever his intentions might be, not to think of leaving
Olaf without being reconciled with him, as he stood entirely in
Olaf's power. From such hints the earl saw there was no other
way than to let the king have his own will. It was no doubt a
hard condition to have no hope of ever regaining his paternal
heritage, and moreover to bind himself by oath to allow those to
enjoy in peace his domain who had no hereditary right to it; but
seeing it was uncertain how he could get away, he resolved to
submit to the king and become his vassal, as Bruse had done. The
king observed that Thorfin was more high-minded, and less
disposed to suffer subjection than Bruse, and therefore he
trusted less to Thorfin than to Bruse; and he considered also
that Thorfin would trust to the aid of the Scottish king, if he
broke the agreement. The king also had discernment enough to
perceive that Bruse, although slow to enter into an agreement,
would promise nothing but what he intended to keep; but as to
Thorfin when he had once made up his mind he went readily into
every proposal and made no attempt to obtain any alteration of
the king's first conditions: therefore the king had his
suspicions that the earl would infringe the agreement.