Insurrection of the yeomen. Battles at Oslo. The King's sons.

164. We must now speak of the King's sons, Sigurd Lavard and Hakon, and of the yeomen who lay on the Ryginaberg. These saw the King on the ice pursuing again and again, and thought that they yeomen must need help; so they incited each other and hastened down the rock with their force. When Sigurd Lavard and Hakon saw this, they hastened to meet them. Between the armies and close to them lay a small dale, where they met, and a hard fight took place. The Birkibeins had four hundred men, and the yeomen had twenty hundred. The yeomen pressed hard, and the Birkibeins overborned by numbers, fled down into the lanes. Sigurd Lavard betook himself to the town, and hurried with his forse into Hallvardskirk, accompanied by many others, but Hakon and Svina-Petr, with some of the force, took the way above Nunnusetr, and thence to the ice to join the King. The yeomen were not active in pursuit of the fugitives; they wished to make sure of their victory, and marched to the town in battle-array. Meeting with no resistance, they dispersed about the town, and arranged in what taverns they would drink during the evening. They also marched down to King Sverri's ships, which were drawn on shore; some wished to burn them, but others said they ought not to destroy their own treasures. In the end they marched their force up past Nunnusetr, and formed in battle-array.

King-Sverri, having just left the Tunsberg men, say the array of the yeomen, and he called to his men and bade them bear themselves well; “For it will everywhere be known,” he said, “who are the bravest. It seems to me,” said the King, “as if the yeomen whom we encountered this morning would again have a meeting with us. It is fitting that we should bear in mind against them that they slew our men. We shall stand on a level with them, and we need not climb the rock to reach them.” The King then turned to them with the force that he had, and a hard fight began. The yeomen resisted, but again there was the usual result. In the end they fled north of the town up to the Valkaberg. The King's son Hakon went after them and slew many of them; and when they saw that the main host did not pursue them, they made a stand on the Valkaberg, and there was a very hard fight. King Sverri turned south past the glens beside the Souter-sheds, and on to Hallvardskirk; and Lavard then came quickly out of the church. And the King said to him: “Thy deed are all on a par; little hope have the Birkibeins of finding a good chief were thou art. It is with thee as the verse says-

'Foremost in the feats your fathers were of old;
Unlike art thou to them.'”

Again he said: “Unlike are you to the former Birkibeins, who won the land with me against King Magnus. I seemed to be of no use to them in the battles that they waged; but they said prudence was my motive, while others said cowardice was the cause. Yet true is the saying-³¹

'If youth be coward, not with years
Does courage come.'

But now every time we fight, there am I in the front, and those who march abreast with me think themselves heroes. I thank them heartily for their support. You are not even like them; they have been victorious today, and you have been chased. Go after those yeomen now and smite them in the rear; more valiant fellows than you are have put them to flight.” The King then turned from the churchyard, and many kissed the church. And the king said: “You Birkibeins are much more devout now than before. You behave as if you must lick every church you come near. It is not your wont to pay much regard to churches.” The King then rode through the lanes; a large force accompanied him, and they caught great numbers of yeomen on the road.

As they looked north towards the Valkaberg, they beheld the brandishing of weapons I the air, and the King advanced against the band of yeomen. Some of them faced him, but others threw down their shields and sought safety in swiftness of foot. They ran as fast as they could, some along the way, others hither and thither, and thus escaped. During the whole day it happened that whenever the yeomen took to flight and ran straight off, they most got clear, and thus the greatest part of their number escaped. But yet so many fell that it was difficult to count them, and many bodies of the dead were not found until the spring.

Insurrection of the yeomen. Battles at Oslo. King Sverri sails to Bergen.

165. King Sverri summoned the whole force to Mortustokka, and when he came there he said, “Let the force sit down and rest; the serving-men will go down to the town and fetch meat and drink.” And so it was done. They set themselves to rest, staying there a long time, and many bound up their wounds. It was about the hour of nones, and as they looked over to Akrs-hagi, a great force drew together there and collected from every side; it was the host of yeomen with which they had fought that day. They crowded together on the east of the Hagi, close to the ice, and took counsel there. Some wished to return home; but the very stubborn among them thus spoke: “So little only of our force is lost, that we are no less able to fight than at the first. The Birkibeins have lost much of their force, and many must be wounded and weary; we have not to fight with those that are dead. How happened it that no man slew the King when he rose against us? If he dares it again, God knows he shall never get away; we shall never come within closer reach of him. If we go home as we are, and allow the Birkibeins to have sway over us, we shall never henceforth have a free head to stroke Let us got o work well, and stand firm, even if the Birkibeins make at us; let every man defend himself and his neighbour.” The yeomen's captains now leagued themselves all together and pledged each other by taking hands that no one would abandon the rest. Then they stood up and formed their men in battle-array, carefully settling who should protect others, who should use the sword and who the spear; and they set their bowmen together. Now they thought themselves secure against the Birkibeins.

The Birkibens perceived that the yeomen made ready for battle. And the King stood up and said: “The proverb may be very truly applied to these yeomen, 'He that has the worse case is slow to withdraw.' It seems to me as if they were again ready for battle, and we Birkibeins have to see that they cause no wavering among us. Let us go and meet them, and raise such a storm about them that they will wish themselves at home rather than have to do with us any longer. Make a last effort, throw the basket after the bread, and act as if you were fresh.” Then he had the war-blast blown, and went down with his men on the ice. The Birkibeins made a fierce onset. The yeomen withstood it valiantly, and there was a great battle. The king himself rode forward against the yeomen's line to make it give way; when he failed here, he rode against there, so that he was seen in various palces. The yeomen knew the King full well, and called one to another, “Slay him! Smite him! Spear Him! Kill the horse under him.” That was said, but not done. After fight had lasted a while, its end is told in yielding of the yeomen's line. Their force broke up and were of no avail against the spear thrusts of the Birkibeins. The yeomen had trodden the snow hard where they drew up their line, and when the Birkibeins came upon the hard snow by their side there was no fulfillment of the promise that the yeomen had made in their league. For so it was, that the very men who had said they would never separate now fled every one his own way.

When the yeomen's host all to flight, they spread themselves on every side, and fled away in directions without number. The Birkibeins, divided into small bodies for the pursuit, followed hard after and slew a great multitude of them. Away on the Hagi was a thicket of brushwood, into which Ali Hallvardsson rode, and a few men with him. He was dressed quite in the same manner as the King. The yeomen came around him of a sudden, and slew him, giving him a mortal blow on the neck under the ear. They stripped him of his armour, and then raised a loud shout, crying out that the King was slain. The Birkibeins hear it, and relaxed their pursuit. Soon the rumour spread abroad both among the Birkibeins and yeomen, and the companies of the two forces gathered again. When the King heard it, he ordered a was-blast be blown, and rode forward boldly; and the yeomen discovered that they had a smaller steak on the spit then they imagined. The Birkibeins pushed forward through the brushwood, the King's standard first and foremost. Then they passed over some meadows, and found a great force of yeomen collected on a hill. They made a rush upon them at once, and there was a hard fight, in which many took part, for men of both hosts thronged to the spot. The yeomen again became very toothsore as before, tired of the fight, and wished themselves at home. They ran in all directions; the Birkibeins pursued them until nightfall, and slew all they overtook.

During the day King Sverri gave quarter to every one who came to him and asked for it. Thorfid Blindi was taken, and the King gave him quarter. There was one yeoman taken tree times in the day, and the king gave him quarter each time; and each time he escaped to the yeomen and joined in the fight. A fourth time he was taken, and slain. In the evening the King went back to the town, and on all the ways leading to it he set watches for the night. The next morning he summoned an Assembly, thanked the townsmen for their help, and his own men for their support and fellowship. He addressed them in man y fair words, and related good and bygone incidents of them, and evil incidents of the yeomen. “We were fortunate, “he said, “that this multitude did not rush upon us all at once. Such odds will not come often against us. Scarcely an example will be found, I believe, where a force, no larger than we had, has fought against such a crowd. And now I wish to have a passage cut through the ice to the open sea, so that our ships may float. Four men shall cut a fathom in length and four fathoms in breadth, and clear away the loose ice after them; so shall the work be continued day by day until the sea is reached.” Then the King had a measuring line laid upon the ice, and men were counted out for the work-Guardsmen, townsmen, and merchants-so that it was finished in a few days. As soon as might be, the King floated the ships and moved them from the town; then he made them ready and sailed away out of the fiord into the Vik, and thence north to Bergen, where he arrived on Easter eve. This was the second time that the townspeople were all glad to see him, and especially so, as they had heard a rumour that the Bagals were on their way from the north and intended to arrive soon at the town.

King Sverri's encounter with the Bagals at Bergen.

166. On Easter day, soon after sunrise, the watchmen saw the cutters of the Bagals off Hegraness; they were rowing from the north direct to the town. The watchmen blew their trumpets and roused the host, and the Birkibeins pulled down the awnings straightway. The King bade them not be too eager for the booty, but to let the Bagals row into the bay. The high docks were not in position on the King's ships and the Bagals supposed them to be merchant-ships when they saw them. But when they ran into the bay, another sight stared them in the face, for the Birkibeins had already turned their ships seaward, seated themselves at the oars and were rowing furiously toward them. The Baga;s recognized the Sigrfluga, King Sverri's banner, and Andvaka, his trumpet, and they all took one way: they backed the oars on the starboard side, and pulled their hardest on the larboard side, and so turned away south. But before the Bagals had quite turned all their ships, the IBrkibeins rowed into tow of their cutters, which instantly capsized. Both fleets now roed as fast as they could. The Bagals, when the others came near, ran some of their ships ashore at Grafdale; the young King and Hreidar with some of the ships ran into Gygisvik, and others turned yet farther south. The Birkibeins pursued and slew many of them. King Sverri rowed into Gygisvik, took the Bagals' ships that were there, and slew many men; but their chiefs escaped. The King then sailed back to the town; and the Bagals, collecting themselves together, found their way east to the Vik. The yeomen welcomed them heartily, and their joined their quarrels against the king into one.

King Sverri Visits the Yeomen of the Vik.

167. King Sverri tarried for a time in Bergen, and summoned troops and levies from the districts; and he set out in the spring with a great host. He had many large ships; the great Hofda-buza was then with him. He sailed south, coastwise, and east to Vik; and when he reached the Vik and Tunsberg he came upon the Bagals. Hreidar Sendiman and a large company sat there to defend the land against the Birkibeins, on the part of the Vest-fyldir. They had settled on the rock, and raised much on it for its defense-two blockhouses, one on the north side of the rock, and the other on the south, over the lane which leads up from Lanfranskirk. King Sverri did not delay at Tunsberg at this time; but he said, as his men rowed away from the town, “However highly you Bagals esteem the rock now, you will think just as ill of it some day.” King Sverri then sailed east into the Vik, and the yeomen had gatherings everywhere to oppose him, thane and thrall together. The King and his men came nowhere on the mainland but the yeomen slew some of them or shot at them wherever they appeared. They yeomen had with them at this time Sigurd Earlsson, Hallvard Bratti, Lodin Paslsson, Amundi Burst, and many captains of companies besides. The King sailed east, coastwise, as far as Konungahella. Here he summoned as Assembly of the yeomen, and as the King had a large force, and there were no yeomen who had marched against the King to Oslo, they came to the Assembly. The King then demanded a levy and the district war-tax and found many reasons for other charges. The yeomen submitted to all the imposts, for they had no other means of dealing with the King. The King then turned back an held an Assembly of the yeomen in Ordost. He made the same demands from them and thus spoke: “I will ask you yeomen for the loan of all the horses here in the island. We wish to use them, but you may appoint men to look after them and bring them back when we have had them. If you do this of good-will, you will have our thanks; but be that so or not, we must have them.” The yeomen yielded their horses; and the same thing happened in Thiorn and other islands. They carried [the horses] with them north into the Vik, and the crowd of yeomen ever kept pace with them on land.

When King Sverri came north to Sotaness he turned from the road towards the land and came to anchor at a place named Tharfa. The Bagals had a host here, and the king would not at first allow his men to land. The Bagals then marched inland to join the yeomen's host, and they held an Assembly together at Forskirk, where they discussed their plans. The yeomen were eager to march against the King and fight with him; “If not,” they said, “he will burn the homesteads.” They decided to fight, and so the Assembly ended. All in a body turned to march against the King, and Sigurd Earlsson set up his standard.

Battle with the Bagals and yeomen at Skarfsteads, in the Vik.

168. King Sverri went from the ships to land and told his force that he would seek an encounter with Bagals or yeomen, whichever came in his way; declaring that he had been tossed quite long enough in sight of land, and had obtained form the yeomen nothing of his due. He divided his force, left one part to watch the ships, and the other, which was the greater portion of his force, marched inland. They used what horses they had, and some of the men were on foot. They marched through the day, and found the homesteads all abandoned by the yeomen. About the hour of nones the King came to a certain rock, where he halted and said, “We must turn back again and we will burn every homestead on our way,” Shortly afterwards a man came to the King and called out, “The yeomen's host is now marching down the dale to the north of the Rock.” And the King said, “Our plan must be to go there and encounter them, and see how matters turn.” He had the war-blast blown; the force came around him, company marching in the van. When the yeomen saw them, they threw off their wallets, seized their weapons, and marched to meet them; and the two armies met where on the one hand was a certain wood, and on the other a small muddy brook. And there were some cornfields near. As soon as the King came up he rode to attack the enemy, the foremost of whom were the followers of Sigurd Earlsson with his standard, though he himself was nowhere near. There was a hard fight; but when the King's men drew together quicker than the yeomen expected, these debated which would be the better plan, to go forward or backward. The company of the Bagals which was in front were almost all slain, and the standard was hewed down. The yeomen were now all firmly resolved to shun the Birkibeins, and the whole host of them took to flight. The Birkibeins pursued, and slew many of them, and in the evening they returned to the ships. This battle was fought close to the homestead called Skarfsteads.

King Sverri burns homesteads in the Vik. Skirmish with the Bagals at Sandafiord.

169. King Sverri removed his host and turned north into the Vik. He came to anchor in the fiord called Harnesfiord, and sent a command to the yeomen that they should come and reconcile themselves to him. Some came to be reconciled, some not; the more part east of the river [Raum-Elf] over Agdi came not, for they trusted that the Bagals would come to their aid, After the King had waited for a time, he marched into the peopled district in the north and all the folk there had fled form their houses, after he had gone a long way, and the day was declining, the King said they must turn back. “ My son Hakon shall march down on the other side of the settlement with a part of the force,” he said; “and we will go on this side, and burn, on and the other, all the homesteads.” They set fire to the buildings and burnt every one on their march; many large homesteads were burnt. They burnt at this time, the Great Dale, which Havard Bondi owned. In the evening a boy ran out of the wood to the King and said, “For God's sake, Sire, don't burn my father's house here in front.” “We will certainly not burn his house,” answered the King, “since you ask us; and no man's would have been burnt this day if the yeomen had been at home and sued for peace. Tell them that not another shall be burnt henceforth.” Then King then marched to his ships, and the next day they yeomen came and pledged themselves to pay a fine. All the folk then submitted to him and paid fines.

After the king had done there what he wished, he sailed north over the Fold and anchored in Hafsteins-sound, and thence sailed into Grindholma-sound. In the evening he heard that the Bagals, having taken ship at Tunsberg, had sailed out into Hafsteins-sound, and he rowed after them north of Tunna, and darkness then came on. The King sailed to Tunna, and lay during the night at Hrafnsvoe; the Bagals lay a little further south, close by the strand. As soon as it was dawn the King rowed with his cutters and fleet ships to seek the Bagals, but they had sailed out to sea before day. The King pursued them; and when the Bagals saw that the Birkibeins' ships gained on them, and that they could no escape, they turned to land. One of their ships, a galley, steered by Sæbiorn Lim, rowed to Tunnaskaga, and the Birkibiens rowed after him. Sæbiorn escaped and another man, all their others were slain, and the Birkibeins seized the galley and all that was on it. The Bagals turned with seven cutters north Oxney into Sandafiord, to a creek called Heslivbik, on its north [west] side. They ran their ships to land and sprang on shore. King Sverri fell on them and slew very many, seized their ships and all that was in them. The Bagals fled inland, and the King turned back to Tunsberg, where he remained for a time.

King Sverri passes the winter in Bergen.

170. Shortly after, the King sailed on his voyage north; but when he reached Partyria he turned back to the Vik with a few cutters and fleet ships, intending to cut off whatever Bagals he caught. He sailed day and night, expecting that the Bagals would make for the market towns as soon as they through he had left the Vik. The King sailed first to Tunsberg and slew seven men of the bagels. Then he sailed to Oslo, where he also slew several men. Afterwards he sailed back to his fleet, and came up with the large ships in Askeyiar-sound, north on Limsgards-side. King Sverri then sailed with his fleet north to Bergen, and now permitted the troops of the levy to return home. During the winter he abode in Bergen. The Bagals abode in the Vik, whence they drew tax and tribute.