Saga of Olaf Haroldson

238. BEGINNING OF THE BATTLE OF STIKLESTAD.

Now came Thorer Hund, went forward in front of the banner with
his troop, and called out, "Forward, forward, bondemen!"
Thereupon the bondemen raised the war-cry, and shot their arrows
and spears. The king's men raised also a war-shout; and that
done, encouraged each other to advance, crying out, "Forward,
forward, Christ-men! cross-men! king's men!" When the bondes
who stood outermost on the wings heard it, they repeated the same
cry; but when the other bondes heard them they thought these were
king's men, turned their arms against them, and they fought
together, and many were slain before they knew each other. The
weather was beautiful, and the sun shone clear; but when the
battle began the heaven and the sun became red, and before the
battle ended it became as dark as at night. King Olaf had drawn
up his army upon a rising ground, and it rushed down from thence
upon the bonde-army with such a fierce assault, that the bondes'
array went before it; so that the breast of the king's array came
to stand upon the ground on which the rear of the bondes' array
had stood, and many of the bondes' army were on the way to fly,
but the lendermen and their house-men stood fast, and the battle
became very severe. So says Sigvat: --

"Thundered the ground beneath their tread,
As, iron-clad, thick-tramping, sped
The men-at-arms, in row and rank,
Past Stiklestad's sweet grassy bank.
The clank of steel, the bowstrings' twang,
The sounds of battle, loudly rang;
And bowman hurried on advancing,
Their bright helms in the sunshine glancing."

The lendermen urged their men, and forced them to advance.
Sigvat speaks of this: --

"Midst in their line their banner flies,
Thither the stoutest bonde hies:
But many a bonde thinks of home,
And many wish they ne'er had come."

Then the bonde-army pushed on from all quarters. They who stood
in front hewed down with their swords; they who stood next thrust
with their spears; and they who stood hindmost shot arrows, cast
spears, or threw stones, hand-axes, or sharp stakes. Soon there
was a great fall of men in the battle. Many were down on both
sides. In the first onset fell Arnljot Gelline, Gauka-Thorer,
and Afrafaste, with all their men, after each had killed a man or
two, and some indeed more. Now the ranks in front of the king's
banner began to be thinned, and the king ordered Thord to carry
the banner forward, and the king himself followed it with the
troop he had chosen to stand nearest to him in battle; and these
were the best armed men in the field, and the most expert in the
use of their weapons. Sigvat the skald tells of this: --

"Loud was the battle-storm there,
Where the king's banner flamed in air.
The king beneath his banner stands,
And there the battle he commands."

Olaf came forth from behind the shield-bulwark, and put himself
at the head of the army; and when the bondes looked him in the
face they were frightened, and let their hands drop. So says
Sigvat: --

"I think I saw them shrink with fear
Who would not shrink from foeman's spear,
When Olaf's lion-eye was cast
On them, and called up all the past.
Clear as the serpent's eye -- his look
No Throndhjem man could stand, but shook
Beneath its glance, and skulked away,
Knowing his king, and cursed the day."

The combat became fierce, and the king went forward in the fray.
So says Sigvat: --

"When on they came in fierce array,
And round the king arose the fray,
With shield on arm brave Olaf stood,
Dyeing his sword in their best blood.
For vengeance on his Throndhjem foes,
On their best men he dealt his blows;
He who knew well death's iron play,
To his deep vengeance gave full sway."

239. THORGEIR OF KVISTSTAD'S FALL.

King Olaf fought most desperately. He struck the lenderman
before mentioned (Thorgeir of Kviststad) across the face, cut off
the nose-piece of his helmet, and clove his head down below the
eyes so that they almost fell out. When he fell the king said,
"Was it not true, Thorgeir, what I told thee, that thou shouldst
not be victor in our meeting?" At the same instant Thord stuck
the banner-pole so fast in the earth that it remained standing.
Thord had got his death-wound, and fell beneath the banner.
There also fell Thorfin Mun, and also Gissur Gullbrarskald, who
was attacked by two men, of whom he killed one, but only wounded
the other before he fell. So says Hofgardaref: --

"Bold in the Iron-storm was he,
Firm and stout as forest tree,
The hero who, 'gainst two at once,
Made Odin's fire from sword-edge glance;
Dealing a death-blow to the one,
Known as a brave and generous man,
Wounding the other, ere he fell, --
His bloody sword his deeds showed well."

It happened then, as before related, that the sun, although the
air was clear, withdrew from the sight, and it became dark. Of
this Sigvat the skald speaks: --

"No common wonder in the sky
Fell out that day -- the sun on high,
And not a cloud to see around,
Shone not, nor warmed Norway's ground.
The day on which fell out this fight
Was marked by dismal dusky light,
This from the East I heard -- the end
Of our great king it did portend."

At the same time Dag Hringson came up with his people, and began
to put his men in array, and to set up his banner; but on account
of the darkness the onset could not go on so briskly, for they
could not see exactly whom they had before them. They turned,
however, to that quarter where the men of Hordaland and Rogaland
stood. Many of these circumstances took place at the same time,
and some happened a little earlier, and some a little later.

240. KING OLAF'S FALL.

On the one side of Kalf Arnason stood his two relations, Olaf and
Kalf, with many other brave and stout men. Kalf was a son of
Arnfin Arnmodson, and a brother's son of Arne Arnmodson. On the
other side of Kalf Arnason stood Thorer Hund. King Olaf hewed at
Thorer Hund, and struck him across the shoulders; but the sword
would not cut, and it was as if dust flew from his reindeer-skin
coat. So says Sigvat: --

"The king himself now proved the power
Of Fin-folk's craft in magic hour,
With magic song; for stroke of steel
Thor's reindeer coat would never feel,
Bewitched by them it turned the stroke
Of the king's sword, -- a dust-like smoke
Rose from Thor's shoulders from the blow
Which the king though would end his foe."

Thorer struck at the king, and they exchanged some blows; but the
king's sword would not cut where it met the reindeer skin,
although Thorer was wounded in the hands. Sigvat sang thus of
it: --

"Some say that Thorer's not right bold;
Why never yet have I been told
Of one who did a bolder thing
Than to change blows with his true king.
Against his king his sword to wield,
Leaping across the shield on shield
Which fenced the king round in the fight,
Shows the dog's (1) courage -- brave, not bright."

The king said to Bjorn the marshal, "Do thou kill the dog on whom
steel will not bite." Bjorn turned round the axe in his hands,
and gave Thorer a blow with the hammer of it on the shoulder so
hard that he tottered. The king at the same moment turned
against Kalf and his relations, and gave Olaf his death-wound.
Thorer Hund struck his spear right through the body of Marshal
Bjorn, and killed him outright; and Thorer said, "It is thus we
hunt the bear." (2) Thorstein Knarrarsmid struck at King Olaf
with his axe, and the blow hit his left leg above the knee. Fin
Arnason instantly killed Thorstein. The king after the wound
staggered towards a stone, threw down his sword, and prayed God
to help him. Then Thorer Hund struck at him with his spear, and
the stroke went in under his mail-coat and into his belly. Then
Kalf struck at him on the left side of the neck. But all are not
agreed upon Kalf having been the man who gave him the wound in
the neck. These three wounds were King Olaf's death; and after
the king's death the greater part of the forces which had
advanced with him fell with the king. Bjarne Gullbrarskald sang
these verses about Kalf Arnason: --

"Warrior! who Olaf dared withstand,
Who against Olaf held the land,
Thou hast withstood the bravest, best,
Who e'er has gone to his long rest.
At Stiklestad thou wast the head;
With flying banners onwards led
Thy bonde troops, and still fought on,
Until he fell -- the much-mourned one."

Sigvat also made these verses on Bjorn: --

"The marshal Bjorn, too, I find,
A great example leaves behind,
How steady courage should stand proof,
Though other servants stand aloof.
To Russia first his steps he bent,
To serve his master still intent;
And now besides his king he fell, --
A noble death for skalds to tell."

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