Saga of Sigurd, Inge, and Eystein, the Sons of Harald

24. MIRACLE OF KING OLAF.

In the time of Harald Gille's sons, it happened that a man called
Haldor fell into the hands of the Vindland people, who took him
and mutilated him, cut open his neck, took out the tongue through
the opening, and cut out his tongue root. He afterwards sought
out the holy King Olaf, fixed his mind entirely on the holy man,
and weeping besought King Olaf to restore his speech and health.
Thereupon he immediately recovered his speech by the good king's
compassion, went immediately into his service for all his life,
and became an excellent trustworthy man. This miracle took place
a fortnight before the last Olafsmas, upon the day that Cardinal
Nikolas set foot on the land of Norway.

25. MIRACLES OF KING OLAF ON RICHARD.

In the Uplands were two brothers, men of great family, and men of
fortune, Einar and Andres, sons of Guthorm Grabard, and brothers
of King Sigurd Haraldson's mother; and they had great properties
and udal estates in that quarter. They had a sister who was very
handsome, but did not pay sufficient regard to the scandal of
evil persons, as it afterwards appeared. She was on a friendly
footing with an English priest called Richard, who had a welcome
to the house of her brothers, and on account of their friendship
for him she did many things to please him, and often to his
advantage; but the end of all this was, that an ugly report flew
about concerning this girl. When this came into the mouth of the
public all men threw the blame on the priest. Her brothers did
the same, and expressed publicly, as soon as they observed it,
that they laid the blame most on him. The great friendship that
was between the earl and the priest proved a great misfortune to
both, which might have been expected, as the brothers were silent
about their secret determination, and let nothing be observed.
But one day they called the priest to them, who went, expecting
nothing but good from them; enticed him from home with them,
saying that they intended to go to another district, where they
had some needful business, and inviting him to go with them.
They had with them a farm-servant who knew their purpose. They
went in a boat along the shore of a lake which is called Rands
lake, and landed at a ness called Skiptisand, where they went on
shore and amused themselves awhile. Then they went to a retired
place, and commanded their servant-man to strike the priest with
an axe-hammer. He struck the priest so hard that he swooned; but
when he recovered he said, "Why are ye playing so roughly with
me?" They replied, "Although nobody has told thee of it before,
thou shalt now find the consequence of what thou hast done."
They then upbraided him; but he denied their accusations, and
besought God and the holy King Olaf to judge between them. Then
they broke his leg-bones, and dragged him bound to the forest
with them; and then they put a string around his head, and put a
board under his head and shoulders, and made a knot on the
string, and bound his head fast to the board. Then the elder
brother, Einar, took a wedge, and put it on the priest's eye, and
the servant who stood beside him struck upon it with an axe, so
that the eye flew out, and fell upon the board. Then he set the
pin upon the other eye, and said to the servant, "Strike now more
softly." He did so, and the wedge sprang from the eye-stone, and
tore the eyelid loose. Then Einar took up the eyelid in his
hand, and saw that the eye-stone was still in its place; and he
set the wedge on the cheek, and when the servant struck it the
eye-stone sprang out upon the cheek-bone. Thereafter they opened
his mouth, took his tongue and cut it off, and then untied his
hands and his head. As soon as he came to himself, he thought of
laying the eye-stones in their place under the eyelids, and
pressing then with both hands as much as he could. Then they
carried him on board, and went to a farm called Saeheimrud, where
they landed. They sent up to the farm to say that a priest was
lying in the boat at the shore. While the message was going to
the farm, they asked the priest if he could talk; and he made a
noise and attempted to speak. Then said Einar to his brother,
"If he recover and the stump of his tongue grow, I am afraid he
will get his speech again." Thereupon they seized the stump with
a pair of tongs, drew it out, cut it twice, and the third time to
the very roots, and left him lying half dead. The housewife in
the farm was poor; but she hastened to the place with her
daughter, and they carried the priest home to their farm in their
cloaks. They then brought a priest, and when he arrived he bound
all his wounds; and they attended to his comfort as much as they
were able. And thus lay the wounded priest grievously handled,
but trusting always to God's grace, and never doubting; and
although he was speechless, he prayed to God in thought with a
sorrowful mind, but with the more confidence the worse he was.
He turned his thoughts also to the mild King Olaf the Saint,
God's dear favourite, of whose excellent deeds he had heard so
much told, and trusted so much more zealously on him with all his
heart for help in his necessity. As he lay there lame, and
deprived of all strength, he wept bitterly, moaned, and prayed
with a sore heart that the dear King Olaf would help him. Now
when this wounded priest was sleeping after midnight, he thought
he saw a gallant man coming to him, who spoke these words, "Thou
art ill off, friend Richard, and thy strength is little." He
thought he replied to this assentingly. Then the man accosted
him again, "Thou requirest compassion?" The priest replies, "I
need the compassion of Almighty God and the holy King Olaf." He
answered, "Thou shalt get it." Thereupon he pulled the tongue-
stump so hard that it gave the priest pain; then he stroked with
his hands his eyes, and legs, and other wounded members. Then
the priest asked who he was. He looked at him, and said, "Olaf,
come here from Throndhjem;" and then disappeared. But the priest
awoke altogether sound, and thus he spoke: "Happy am I, and
thanks be to the Almighty God and the holy King Olaf, who have
restored me!" Dreadfully mishandled as he had been, yet so
quickly was he restored from his misfortune that he scarcely
thought he had been wounded or sick. His tongue was entire; both
his eyes were in their places, and were clear-sighted; his broken
legs and every other wound were healed, or were free from pain;
and, in short, he had got perfect health. But as a proof that
his eyes had been punched out, there remained a white scar on
each eyelid, in order that this dear king's excellence might be
manifest on the man who had been so dreadfully misused.

26. KING INGE AND SIGURD HOLD A THING.

King Eystein and King Sigurd had quarrelled, because King Sigurd
had killed King Eystein's court-man Harald, the Viken man, who
owned a house in Bergen, and also the priest Jon Tapard, a son of
Bjarne Sigurdson. On account of this affair, a conference to
settle it was appointed in winter in the Uplands. The two sat
together in the conference for a long time, and so much was known
of their conference that all three brothers were to meet the
following summer in Bergen. It was added, that their conference
was to the effect that King Inge should have two or three farms,
and as much income as would keep thirty men beside him, as he had
not health to be a king. When King Inge and Gregorius heard this
report, they came to Bergen with many followers. King Sigurd
arrived there a little later, and was not nearly so strong in
men. Sigurd and Inge had then been nineteen years kings of
Norway (A.D. 1155). King Eystein came later still from the south
than the other two from the north. Then King Inge ordered the
Thing to be called together on the holm by the sound of trumpet;
and Sigurd and Inge came to it with a great many people.
Gregorius had two long-ships, and at the least ninety men, whom
he kept in provisions. He kept his house-men better than other
lendermen; for he never took part in any entertainment where each
guest brings his liquor, without having all his house-men to
drink with him. He went now to the Thing in a gold-mounted
helmet, and all his men had helmets on. Then King Inge stood up,
and told the assembly what he had heard; how his brothers were
going to use him, and depose him from his kingdom; and asked for
their assistance. The assembled people made a good return to his
speech, and declared they would follow him.

27. OF GREGORIUS DAGSON.

Then King Sigurd stood up and said it was a false accusation that
King Inge had made against him and his brother, and insisted that
Gregorius had invented it; and insinuated that it would not be
long, if he had his will, before they should meet so that the
golden helmet should be doffed; and ended his speech by hinting
that they could not both live. Gregorius replied, that Sigurd
need not long so much for this, as he was ready now, if it must
be so. A few days after, one of Gregorius's house-men was killed
out upon the street, and it was Sigurd's house-men who killed
him. Gregorius would then have fallen upon King Sigurd and his
people; but King Inge, and many others, kept him back. But one
evening, just as Queen Ingerid, King Inge's mother, was coming
from vespers, she came past where Sigurd Skrudhyrna, a courtman
of King Inge, lay murdered. He was then an old man, and had
served many kings. King Sigurd's courtmen, Halyard Gunnarson,
and Sigurd, a son of Eystein Trafale, had killed him; and people
suspected it was done by order of King Sigurd. She went
immediately to King Inge, and told him he would be a little king
if he took no concern, but allowed his court-men to be killed,
the one after the other, like swine. The king was angry at her
speech; and while they were scolding about it, came Gregorius in
helmet and armour, and told the king not to be angry, for she was
only saying the truth. "And I am now," says he, "come to thy
assistance, if thou wilt attack King Sigurd; and here we are,
above 100 men in helmets and armour, and with them we will attack
where others think the attack may be worst." But the most
dissuaded from this course, thinking that Sigurd would pay the
mulct for the slaughter done. Now when Gregorius saw that there
would be no assault, he accosted King Inge thus: "Thou wilt
frighten thy men from thee in this way; for first they lately
killed my house-man, and now thy court-man, and afterwards they
will chase me, or some other of thy lendermen whom thou wouldst
feel the loss of, when they see that thou art indifferent about
such things; and at last, after thy friends are killed, they will
take the royal dignity from thee. Whatever thy other lendermen
may do, I will not stay here longer to be slaughtered like an ox;
but Sigurd the king and I have a business to settle with each
other to-night, in whatever way it may turn out. It is true that
there is but little help in thee on account of thy ill health,
but I should think thy will should not be less to hold thy hand
over thy friends, and I am now quite ready to go from hence to
meet Sigurd, and my banner is flying in the yard."

Then King Inge stood up, and called for his arms, and ordered
every man who wished to follow him to get ready, declaring it was
of no use to try to dissuade him; for he had long enough avoided
this, but now steel must determine between them.