Norse Legends - Snorri Sturluson

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with her. They had a son by their marriage called Halfdan; and the autumn that Halfdan was a year old Gudrod went upon a round of feasts. He lay with his ship in Stiflesund, where they had been drinking hard, so that the king was very tipsy. In the evening, about dark, the king left the ship; and when he had got to the end of the gangway from the ship to the shore, a man ran against him, thrust a spear through him, and killed him. The man was instantly put to death, and in the morning when it was light the man was discovered to be Aasa's page-boy: nor did she conceal that it was done by her orders. Thus tells Thjodolf of it: --

      "Gudrod is gone to his long rest,

      Despite of all his haughty pride --

      A traitor's spear has pierced his side:

      For Aasa cherished in her breast

      Revenge; and as, by wine opprest,

      The hero staggered from his ship,

      The cruel queen her thrall let slip

      To do the deed of which I sing:

      And now the far-descended king,

      At Stiflesund, in the old bed

      Of the old Gudrod race, lies dead."

      52. Of King Olaf's Death.

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      Olaf came to the kingdom after his father. He was a great warrior, and an able man; and was besides remarkably handsome, very strong and large of growth. He had Westfold; for King Alfgeir took all Vingulmark to himself, and placed his son Gandalf over it. Both father and son made war on Raumarike, and subdued the greater part of that land and district. Hogne was the name of a son of the Upland king, Eystein the Great, who subdued for himself the whole of Hedemark, Toten, and Hadeland. Then Vermeland fell off from Gudrod's sons, and turned itself, with its payment of scatt, to the Swedish king. Olaf was about twenty years old when Gudrod died; and as his brother Halfdan now had the kingdom with him, they divided it between them; so that Olaf got the eastern and Halfdan the southern part. King Olaf had his main residence at Geirstad. There he died of a disease in his foot, and was laid under a mound at Geirstad. So sings Thjodolf: --

      "Long while this branch of Odin's stem

      Was the stout prop of Norway's realm;

      Long while King Olaf with just pride

      Ruled over Westfold far and wide.

      At length by cruel gout oppressed,

      The good King Olaf sank to rest:

      His body now lies under ground,

      Buried at Geirstad, in the mound."

      53. Of Rognvald the Mountain-high.

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      Rognvald was the name of Olaf's son who was king of Westfold after his father. He was called "Mountain-high," and Thjodolf of Hvina composed for him the "Ynglinga-tal", in which he says: --

      "Under the heaven's blue dome, a name

      I never knew more true to fame

      Than Rognvald bore; whose skilful hand

      Could tame the scorners of the land, --

      Rognvald, who knew so well to guide

      The wild sea-horses through the tide:

      The "Mountain-high" was the proud name

      By which the king was known to fame."

      Halfdan the Black Saga

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       1. HALFDAN FIGHTS WITH GANDALF AND SIGTRYG.

       2. BATTLE BETWEEN HALFDAN AND EYSTEIN.

       3. HALFDAN'S MARRIAGE

       4. HALFDAN'S STRIFE WITH GANDALF'S SONS.

       5. HALFDAN'S MARRIAGE WITH HJORT'S DAUGHTER.

       6. OF RAGNHILD'S DREAM.

       7. OF HALFDAN'S DREAM.

       8. HALFDAN'S MEAT VANISHES AT A FEAST

       9. HALFDAN S DEATH.

      1. HALFDAN FIGHTS WITH GANDALF AND SIGTRYG.

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      Halfdan was a year old when his father was killed, and his mother Asa set off immediately with him westwards to Agder, and set herself there in the kingdom which her father Harald had possessed. Halfdan grew up there, and soon became stout and strong; and, by reason of his black hair, was called Halfdan the Black. When he was eighteen years old he took his kingdom in Agder, and went immediately to Vestfold, where he divided that kingdom, as before related, with his brother Olaf. The same autumn he went with an army to Vingulmark against King Gandalf. They had many battles, and sometimes one, sometimes the other gained the victory; but at last they agreed that Halfdan should have half of Vingulmark, as his father Gudrod had had it before. Then King Halfdan proceeded to Raumarike, and subdued it. King Sigtryg, son of King Eystein, who then had his residence in Hedemark, and who had subdued Raumarike before, having heard of this, came out with his army against King Halfdan, and there was great battle, in which King Halfdan was victorious; and just as King Sigtryg and his troops were turning about to fly, an arrow struck him under the left arm, and he fell dead. Halfdan then laid the whole of Raumarike under his power. King Eystein's second son, King Sigtryg's brother, was also called Eystein, and was then king in Hedemark. As soon as Halfdan had returned to Vestfold, King Eystein went out with his army to Raumarike, and laid the whole country in subjection to him.

      2. BATTLE BETWEEN HALFDAN AND EYSTEIN.

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      When King Halfdan heard of these disturbances in Raumarike, he again gathered his army together; and went out against King Eystein. A battle took place between them, and Halfdan gained the victory, and Eystein fled up to Hedemark, pursued by Halfdan. Another battle took place, in which Halfdan was again victorious; and Eystein fled northwards, up into the Dales to the herse Gudbrand. There he was strengthened with new people, and in winter he went towards Hedemark, and met Halfdan the Black upon a large island which lies in the Mjosen lake. There a great battle was fought, and many people on both sides were slain, but Halfdan won the victory. There fell Guthorm, the son of the herse Gudbrand, who was one of the finest men in the Uplands. Then Eystein fled north up the valley, and sent his relation Halvard Skalk to King Halfdan to beg for peace. On consideration of their relationship, King Halfdan gave King Eystein half of Hedemark, which he and his relations had held before; but kept to himself Thoten, and the district called Land. He likewise appropriated

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