Saga of Magnus the Good

5. KING MAGNUS'S JOURNEY TO NORWAY.

In autumn (A.D. 1035) King Magnus proceeded eastward to the end
of the country, and was received as king throughout the whole
land, and the country people were rejoiced at his arrival.

6. DEATH OF KING CANUTE THE GREAT AND HIS SON SVEIN.

King Svein, Canute's son, went to Denmark, as before related, and
took part in the government with his brother Hardaknut. In the
same autumn King Canute the Great died in England, the 13th
November, forty years old, and was buried at Winchester. He had
been king of Denmark for twenty-seven years, and over Denmark and
England together twenty-four years, and also over Norway for
seven years. King Canute's son Harald was then made king in
England. The same winter (A.D. 1036) King Svein, Alfifa's son,
died in Denmark. Thiodolf the skald made these lines concerning
King Magnus: --

"Through Sweden's dirty roads the throng
Followed the king in spearmen strong.
Svein doth fly, in truth afraid,
And partly by his men betrayed;
Flying to Denmark o'er the sea,
He leaves the land quite clear to thee."

Bjarne Gullbrarskald composed the following lines concerning Kalf
Arnason: --

"By thee the kings got each his own, --
Magnus by thee got Norway's throne;
And Svein in Denmark got a seat,
When out of Norway he was beat.
Kalf! It was you who showed the way
To our young king, the battle-lover, --
From Russia to his father's sway
You showed the way, and brought him over."

King Magnus ruled over Norway this winter (A.D. 1036), and
Hardaknut over Denmark.

7. RECONCILIATION BETWEEN HARDAKNUT AND KING MAGNUS.

The following spring (A.D. 1036) the kings on both sides ordered
out a levy, and the news was that they would have a battle at the
Gaut river; but when the two armies approached each other, the
lendermen in the one army sent messengers to their connections
and friends in the other; and it came to a proposal for a
reconciliation between the two kings, especially as, from both
kings being but young and childish, some powerful men, who had
been chosen in each of the countries for that purpose, had the
rule of the country on their account. It thus was brought about
that there was a friendly meeting between the kings, and in this
meeting a peace was proposed; and the peace was to be a brotherly
union under oath to keep the peace towards each other to the end
of their lives; and if one of them should die without leaving a
son, the longest liver should succeed to the whole land and
people. Twelve of the principal men in each kingdom swore to the
kings that this treaty should be observed, so long as any one of
them was in life. Then the kings separated, and each returned
home to his kingdom; and the treaty was kept as long as both
lived.

8. OF QUEEN ASTRID.

Queen Astrid, who had been married to King Olaf the Saint, came
to Norway with King Magnus her stepson, as before related, and
was held by him deservedly in great honour and esteem. Then came
also Alfhild, King Magnus's mother, to the court, and the king
received her with the greatest affection, and showed her great
respect. But it went with Alfhild, as it does with many who come
to power and honour, that pride keeps pace with promotion. She
was ill pleased that Queen Astrid was treated with more respect,
had a higher seat, and more attention. Alfhild wanted to have a
seat next to the king, but Astrid called Alfhild her slave-woman,
as indeed she had formerly been when Astrid was queen of Norway
and King Olaf ruled the land, and therefore would on no account
let her have a seat beside her, and they could not lodge in the
same house.

9. OF SIGVAT THE SKALD.

Sigvat the skald had gone to Rome, where he was at the time of
the battle of Stiklestad.

He was on his way back from the South when he heard tidings of
King Olaf's fall, which gave him great grief. He then sang
these lines: --

"One morning early on a hill,
The misty town asleep and still,
Wandering I thought upon the fields.
Strewed o'er with broken mail and shields,
Where our king fell, -- our kind good king,
Where now his happy youthful spring?
My father too! -- for Thord was then
One of the good king's chosen men."

One day Sigvat went through a village, and heard a husband
lamenting grievously over the loss of his wife, striking his
breast, tearing his clothes, weeping bitterly, and saying he
wanted to die; and Sigvat sang these lines: --

"This poor man mourns a much-loved wife,
Gladly would he be quit of life.
Must love be paid for by our grief?
The price seems great for joy so brief.
But the brave man who knows no fear
Drops for his king a silent tear,
And feels, perhaps, his loss as deep
As those who clamour when they weep."

Sigvat came home to Norway to the Throndhjem country, where he
had a farm and children. He came from the South along the coast
in a merchant vessel, and as they lay in Hillarsund they saw a
great many ravens flying about. Then Sigvat said: --

"I see here many a croaking raven
Flying about the well-known haven:
When Olaf's ship was floating here,
They knew that food for them was near;
When Olaf's ship lay here wind-bound,
Oft screamed the erne o'er Hillar sound,
Impatient for the expected prey,
And wont to follow to the fray."

When Sigvat came north to the town of Throndhjem King Svein was
there before him. He invited Sigvat to stay with him, as Sigvat
had formerly been with his father King Canute the Great; but
Sigvat said he would first go home to his farm. One day, as
Sigvat was walking in the street, he saw the king's men at play,
and he sang: --

"One day before I passed this way,
When the king's guards were at their play,
Something there was -- I need not tell --
That made me pale, and feel unwell.
Perhaps it was I thought, just then,
How noble Olaf with his men,
In former days, I oft have seen
In manly games upon this green."

Sigvat then went to his farm; and as he heard that many men
upbraided him with having deserted King Olaf, he made these
verses: --

"May Christ condemn me still to burn
In quenchless fire, if I did turn,
And leave King Olaf in his need, --
My soul is free from such base deed.
I was at Rome, as men know well
Who saw me there, and who can tell
That there in danger I was then:
The truth I need not hide from men."

Sigvat was ill at ease in his home. One day he went out and
sang: --

"While Olaf lived, how smiled the land!
Mountain and cliff, and pebbly strand.
All Norway then, so fresh, so gay,
On land or sea, where oft I lay.
But now to me all seems so dready,
All black and dull -- of life I'm weary;
Cheerless to-day, cheerless to-morrow --
Here in the North we have great sorrow."

Early in winter Sigvat went westward over the ridge of the
country to Jamtaland, and onwards to Helsingjaland, and came to
Svithjod. He went immediately to Queen Astrid, and was with her
a long time, and was a welcome guest. He was also with her
brother King Emund, and received from him ten marks of proved
silver, as is related in the song of Canute. Sigvat always
inquired of the merchants who traded to Novgorod if they could
tell him any news of Magnus Olafson. Sigvat composed these lines
at that time: --

"I ask the merchant oft who drives
His trade to Russia, `How he thrives,
Our noble prince? How lives he there?
And still good news -- his praise -- I hear.
To little birds, which wing their way
Between the lands, I fain would say,
How much we long our prince to see,
They seem to hear a wish from me."