HEIMSKRINGLA
History of the Kings of Norway
HEIMSKRINGLA
History of the Kings of Norway
by Snorri Sturluson
Translated with Introduction and Notes by
Lee M. Hollander
International Standard Book Number 978-0-292-73061-8
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 64-10460
Copyright © 1964 by the American-Scandinavian Foundation
Copyright © renewed 1992 by Elizabeth Hollander Nelson
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Seventh paperback printing, 2009
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Contents
Introduction
Snorri’s Foreword
The Saga of the Ynglings
Ynglinga saga
The Saga of Hálfdan the Black
Hálfdanar saga Svarta
The Saga of Harald Fairhair
Haralds saga Hárfagra
The Saga of Hákon the Good
Hákonar saga Góða
The Saga of Harald Graycloak
Haralds saga Gráfeldar
The Saga of Óláf Tryggvason
Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar
Saint Óláf’s Saga
The Saga of Magnús the Good
Magnúss saga ins Góða
The Saga of Harald Sigurtharson (Hardruler)
Haralds saga Sigurðarsonar
The Saga of Óláf the Gentle
Óláfs saga Kyrra
The Saga of Magnús Barelegs
Magnúss saga Berfoetts
The Saga of the Sons of Magnús
Magnússona saga
The Saga of Magnús the Blind and Harald Gilli
Magnúss saga Blinda ok Harald Gilla
The Saga of the Sons of Harald
Haraldssona saga
The Saga of Hákon the Broadshouldered
Hákonar saga Herðibreiðs
The Saga of Magnús Erlingsson
Magnúss saga Erlingssonar
Index
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The illustrations in this volume are by Halfdan Egedius, Christian Krohg, Gerhard Munthe, Eilif Peterssen, Erik Werenskiold, and Wilhelm Wetlesen. They are reproduced courtesy of Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Oslo, Norway.
The Seeress Chants Incantations against Vísbur
Ingjald and Gautvith Come to Svipdag the Blind
Svipdag’s Sons and Their Warriors Storm the Hall of Seven Kings
King Hogni and His Men Ride into Sweden
Hálfdan the Black Prepares for Battle
Queen Ragnhild’s Dream
King Hálfdan Breaks through the Ice
Gytha Sends King Harald’s Messengers Away
The Captive King Grýting Is Led before King Harald
The Battle of Sólskel
The Ships Made Ready at the Battle of Hafrsfjord
King Hákon Addresses the Assembly
Ásbjorn of Methalhús Answers the King
Earl Sigurth Persuades the King to Yield
King Hákon Advances against the Danes
Queen Gunnhild Incites Her Sons
Earl Hákon’s Ships at Anchor during the Night
Earl Hákon Puts the Clerics on Land
Earl Sigvaldi Makes a Vow at the Arvel
Geirmund Brings the News of the Approach of the Jómsvíkings
The Hailstorm during the Battle of Hjorunga Bay
Sigurth Búason, Thorkel Leira, and Earl Eirík
Then Sigríth Said, “This May Well Be Your Death!”
The Sorcerers Die on the Skerries
Guthröth Eiríksson’s Men Harry in Vík
The Long Serpent
The Allied Kings See Óláf Tryggvason’s Ships Sail By
“Too Soft, Too Soft Is the King’s Bow.’’
Eirík’s Men Board the Long Serpent
The Victors Return from the Battle of Svolth
King Óláf Breaks London Bridge
The King Has the Trumpets Blown
The King of Sweden Flies into a Rage
Thorgný the Lawspeaker at the Uppsala Assembly
Thórarin Shows the King His Ugly Feet
King Óláf’s Expedition to Fetch His Bride
The Farmers’ Army
King Óláf Addresses the Farmers
The King Walks through the Lines of Erling’s Men
Thórir the Hound with the Spear, Sealkiller
Thórir’s Men Return to the Ships with Their Booty
Karl of Mœr Sits Down to Count the Silver
Thórir Reveals the Ring Given Him by King Knút
Túnsberg in the Time of Saint Óláf
King Óláf Travels through the Eith Forest
Knút’s Emissary Bribes Bjorn the Marshal
“It Will Be Monday Tomorrow, Sire!”
Gauka-Thórir and Afra-Fasti Meet the King
Bishop Sigurth Addresses the Farmers
Magnús the Good Meets Hortha-Knút
Magnús’ Men Put Farms to the Torch in Seeland
Harald Storms a Walled City
When It Dawns They See the Danish Fleet
Saint Óláf and the Cripple Walk over London Bridge
Thormóth Eindrithason Slays Hall on the Ice
Egil Is Hanged
At Sunrise Magnús and His Men Go on Land
The Kings Ride to Jordan
King Sigurth and His Men Ride into Miklagarth
Horsemen Guard the Farm
Sigurth Leaves the King
The People Flee from Konungahella
The Priests Are Set Adrift
Hreithar Grotgarthsson Seeks to Rescue King Magnús
Símun Skálp Discovers King Eystein
King Ingi Reconciles Erling and Grégóríús
Erling and His Men Wade the River
King Magnús Erlingsson Receives Homage
The Birchlegs Attack Níkolás’ Residence
LIST OF MAPS
Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and the Baltic Countries)
The Trondheim District
Nitharós (about 1200)
The British Isles
Bergen (about 1200)
Oslo (about 1200)
Introduction
In Snorri Sturluson the northern world has had a historian who in many ways can be compared with Thucydides and in some is in nowise inferior to his Greek counterpart. And considering the great disparity in general culture and intellectual advancement between his times and Periclean Greece we may marvel all the more at Snorri’s genius. His work is unique in European historiography in presenting us with a continuous account of a nation’s history from its beginnings in the dim prehistoric past down into the High Middle Ages.
The protagonists of both “nature” and “nurture” as influence on the development of a man will find support in the ancestry and the upbringing of Snorri. He was born in 1179 (or 1178) at Hvamm in western Iceland. His father, Sturla Thortharson,1 was a shrewd and grasping landholder, descended in a direct line from that canny leader, Snorri the Priest, who in many ways played a dominant part in early Icelandic affairs. Snorri’s mother, Guthný, was the daughter of Bothvar Thortharson, who reckoned among his ancestors the redoubted fighter and great poet, Egi
l Skallagrímsson, as well as the lawspeaker and able skald, Markús Skeggjason; while on the spindle side she was likewise a descendant of Snorri the Priest. So much for his ancestry.
While Snorri was still a child of three or four there occurred an incident which was to have a decisive influence on his life and career. As we are told in the Sturlunga saga, that rather chaotic but most informative chronicle of the internecine struggles in Iceland during the thirteenth century, a dispute had arisen about an inheritance between a certain priest, Pál Sölveson, and Bothvar. The latter’s case was being argued by Sturla when, exasperated by the lengthy wrangling, Thorbjorg, Pál’s wife, rushed at Sturla with a knife, exclaiming, “Why shouldn’t I make you like him you most want to be like, and that is Óthin,”2 and with that she aimed at Sturla’s eye; but persons standing near pushed her so that the blow struck Sturla on the cheek, inflicting a big wound. A fight appeared imminent between the two parties, but Sturla ordered his followers to put up their swords, proposing that Pál agree to pay a compensation for his wife’s attack—which he set so high that it would have beggared Pál.3 But later, through the intercession of the great Jón [Jóan] Loptsson, it was lowered considerably. To mollify Sturla, Jón offered to foster his youngest son, Snorri, at his estate of Oddi.
Now to grasp the import of this offer we must bear in mind that he who offered fosterage to another man’s child thereby acknowledged himself inferior in rank. As a fact Jón Loptsson was at the time the most powerful as well as the most high-born chieftain in Iceland. Jon’s father, Lopt Sæmundarson, had married a daughter of King Magnús Barelegs of Norway;4 and his grandfather, Sæmund, a kinsman of the Earl of Mœr, enjoyed an almost legendary respect for his wisdom and for the learning he had acquired when studying in France. Oddi, the family estate in south Iceland, had since Sæmund’s time been the seat of the highest culture the island could boast of, and functioned informally as a kind of school for clerics. It was a place where a knowledge of the common law of the land was handed down and in whose atmosphere the study of history, of skaldship, and of course of Latin, were cultivated.
We do not know why Jón offered fosterage to Snorri in preference to his two (legitimate) older brothers, Thord and Sigvat. Is it possible that he discerned signs of unusual precocity in a child so young? It is tempting to think so. But we may take it for granted that, with so wise and responsible a foster father, the child, and then the youth, early imbibed the respect for learning and culture prevailing at Oddi. And we may be certain that his knowledge of the law, his grasp of history, his profound insight into the nature of skaldship, were derived from instruction there.
When Jón Loptsson died (1197) Snorri, then about nineteen, seems to have continued living at Oddi. Snorri’s own father had died, and his widow—from all we can infer, a gifted but extravagant woman—had run through Snorri’s share of his patrimony. To set the young man up in the world, a marriage was arranged for him with Herdís, only child of Bersi the Wealthy; and when he died a few years later, Snorri moved with her to Bersi’s estate of Borg, which was also the ancestral home of Snorri’s family. Meanwhile Snorri had with all the impetuousness of youth plunged into the politics of his time and had quickly amassed a fortune, most likely in the same unscrupulous and ruthless manner he exhibited in his later dealings. With the inheritance from Bersi went the possession of a goðorð (gothi-dom), to which in the course of time others were added, so that Snorri soon became a powerful chieftain. The institution of the goði was peculiar to Iceland. It had come down from heathen times—Christianity had been adopted in 1000 A.D. by resolution of the Althing—and survived till after the middle of the thirteenth century when it was superseded by royal subordinates. The goði (or temple priest) had both religious and secular prerogatives and duties. His office could be inherited or bought and sold or held in partnership, even loaned. The farmers and cotters of his bailiwick, known as his thingmen, had to pay toll to the temple and, later, to the church, and render the goði services. All their minor disputes were referred to him for settlement; and he on his part, like a feudal lord, afforded them protection.
In all likelihood Snorri’s marriage to Herdís was only a cold-blooded means of acquiring wealth. In the year 1206 he left her in Borg, with what arrangements we know not. She had borne him a son and a daughter. He himself moved to the estate of Reykjarholt, some twenty-five miles to the east of Borg. He had acquired this property by an agreement with the priest Magnús Pálsson, who then put himself and his family under Snorri’s protection. Snorri is said to have been skilful in all he undertook. To this day one may see one of his improvements on this estate, a walled circular basin, some three feet deep and about twelve feet across, which is filled with water from one of the many hot springs in the Reykja Valley. No doubt it was originally roofed over so that it could be used at any time.
That Snorri as a comparatively young man was elected lawspeaker for the Althing, the yearly general assembly, bespeaks the respect of his peers for his ability. He occupied this responsible post during two periods, from 1215 to 1218 (when he went abroad), and then again from 1222 to 1231. As the laws were not written to begin with, the lawspeaker’s duties involved pronouncing the letter of the law in any case of doubt; and in Iceland, in particular, reciting the body of the law once a year before the assembled Althing. Needless to say, especially considering the inveterate propensity of Icelanders for litigation, an intimate knowledge of the law offered manifold opportunities for enriching one’s self by taking advantage of the subtleties, the ambiguities, the dodges of the law. And Snorri seems to have made good use of this advantage—and made many enemies thereby. The years while he lived at Reykjarholt were filled with feuding in which Snorri was by no means always the gainer.
At a somewhat later time Snorri entered into a “community ownership” with Hallveig, widowed daughter of Orm, reputed to have been the richest woman in Iceland at that time, and “received into custody the property of her sons, Klæng and Orm, eight-hundred hundreds (ounces of silver). Then Snorri had far greater wealth than any other man in Iceland.”5 Not that he had lived without concubines, both at Borg and Reykjarholt—that was fairly common practice during the Sturlung Period, nor was it particularly frowned upon. At least three are mentioned by name, and he engendered a number of children with them.
Winter in subarctic Iceland with its darkness and inclement weather and long periods of enforced idleness always has been the time when people gave themselves up most to the cultural activities for which the short and hectic summer months offered little leisure. No doubt it was so, too, in Snorri’s time; and there is no doubt, either, that Snorri kept up the interests awakened and fostered in him during his youth at Oddi. We hear that he composed a poem now lost, but most likely adulatory, about the Norwegian Earl Hákon Galinn, a nephew of King Sverri, and was rewarded with the gift of a sword, a shield, and a coat of mail, together with an invitation to visit this influential lord. And probably nothing would have suited the ambitious young chieftain better than a chance to get his hands into the larger affairs of the continent. Poems reportedly composed by him about Kings Sverri and Ingi also indicate attempts to insinuate himself into the graces of the royal house of Norway. But the earl died in 1214, and Snorri’s plans had to be postponed, especially since most likely he knew that he was selected as the lawspeaker for the following year.
In this connection it is well to bear in mind that though separated from the motherland Norway by broad and stormy seas, for over three hundred years attachment to it never waned in Iceland. The language had scarcely changed, bonds of kinship in Norway were kept intact, intellectual and commercial relations were never interrupted. Young Icelanders of birth in surprising numbers took passage to the “old country” to acquire a knowledge of the world, and returned enriched with experience, incidentally having sold their cargoes of wool and homespun for good money and things not readily obtainable at home. They brought back with them news of changes abroad—news told and avidly listened to
at meetings of the Althing and the local assemblies. For one like Snorri, raised in a family that boasted of royal connections, the pageant of contemporary history would naturally rouse interest in what had happened in bygone times and would stimulate a desire to write a connected history of the motherland.
The opportunity for travel came at last in 1218, when Snorri was forty and at the height of his powers. At that time Hákon the Fourth of Norway, the grandson of the adventurer king, Sverri, and then a boy of thirteen, had ascended the throne. The affairs of state were conducted for him by his uncle, Earl Skúli, as regent; and it was to him Snorri attached himself. It may have been a case of like to like, Skúli resembling Snorri in his ambitious, unscrupulous—and indecisive—disposition. One can imagine the two travelling together about the countryside of southern Norway on government errands, with the lively commercial town of Túnsberg (Tönsberg), at that time serving as the royal residence, as their headquarters, Snorri eagerly absorbing and storing in his mind the amazing information about topography and local history which was to stand him in such good stead later. In late summer Snorri by himself made a side trip to visit the lawspeaker of (Swedish) West Gaut-land (Götland), who had married the widow of Earl Hákon. We can think of him as travelling in the footsteps of Skald Sigvat two hundred years before him, going by way of Oslo, Sarpsborg, the Eidskog Forest, till reaching Skara (near Lake Vänern), and gathering there and on the way that detailed information about Swedish conditions exhibited in the seventy-seventh chapter of his Óláfs saga Helga. In the fall he returned, possibly by boat down the lordly Gaut Elf River (Göta Elf River) to Konungahella where he took ship for Trondheim to rejoin the king and Earl Skúli. If the trip was accomplished leisurely, sailing only in the daytime, Snorri could have been afforded an insight into the fantastically complicated coast line of western Norway.
In the spring following (1220) the court journeyed south to Bergen. Snorri had made himself very useful, among other ways, by composing a bloody altercation between Icelanders and the townsmen of Bergen which had assumed dangerous proportions, almost threatening war. For that, the king rewarded him by conferring on him the title of “landed-man” (approximately “baron”). Even before that, both the king and Earl Skúli had appointed him skutilsveinn (approximately “chamberlain”). For the home journey, Skúli presented him with a ship and “fifteen lordly gifts,” after Snorri had composed a poem about him, now lost except for the refrain.