The night after they all slept in peace. The following morning, when the king was dressed, he had the early mass sung before him; and when the mass was over, ordered to sound the trumpets for a House Thing upon which all his men left the ships to come up to the Thing. When the Thing was seated, the king stood up, and spoke thus:-"We held a Thing at Frosta, and there I invited the bondes to allow themselves to be baptized; but they, on the other hand, invited me to offer sacrifice to their gods, as King Hakon, Athelstan's foster-son, had done; and thereafter it was agreed upon between us that we should meet at Mærin, and there make a great sacrifice. Now if I, along with you, shall turn again to making sacrifice, then will I make the greatest of sacrifices that are in use; and I will sacrifice men. But I will not select slaves or malefactors for this, but will take the greatest men only to be offered to the gods; and for this I select Orm Lygra of Medalhus, Styrkar of Gimsar, Kar of Gryting, Asbiorn Thorbergson of Varnes, Orm of Lyxa, Haldor of Skerdingsstedia ;" and besides these he named five others of the principal men. All these, he said, he would offer in sacrifice to the gods for peace and a fruitful season; and ordered them to be laid hold of immediately. Now when the bondes saw that they were not strong enough to make head against the king, they asked for peace, and submitted wholly to the king's pleasure. So it was settled that all the bondes who had come there should be baptized, and should take an oath to the king to hold by the right

faith, and to renounce sacrifice to the gods. The king then kept all these men as hostages who came to his feast, until they sent him their sons, brothers, or other near relations.

CHAPTER LXXV.-Of the Thing in Throndhjem.

King Olaf went in with all his forces into the Throndhjem country; and when he came to Mærin all among the chiefs of the Throndhjem people who were most opposed to Christianity were assembled, and had with them all the great bondes who had before made sacrifice at that place. There was thus a greater multitude of bondes than there had been at the Frosta-Thing. Now the king let the people be summoned to the Thing, where both parties met armed; and when the Thing was seated the king made a speech, in which he told the people to go over to Christianity. Jarnskegge replies on the part of bondes, and says that the will of the bondes is now, as formerly, that the king should not break their laws. "We want, king," said he, "that thou shouldst offer sacrifice, as other kings before thee have done." All the bondes applauded his speech with a loud shout, and said they would have all things according to what Skegge said. Then the king said he would go into the temple of their gods with them, and see what the practices were when they sacrificed. The bondes thought well of this proceeding, and both parties went to the temple.

CHAPTER LXXVI.-The Throndhjem People Baptized.

Now King Olaf entered into the temple with some few of his men and a few bondes; and when the king came to where their gods were, Thor, as the most considered among their gods, sat there adorned with gold and silver. The king lifted up his goldinlaid axe which he carried in his hands, and struck Thor so that the image rolled down from its seat. Then the king's men turned to and threw down all the gods from their seats; and while the king was in the temple, Jarnskegge was killed outside of the temple doors, and the king's men did it. When the king came forth out of the temple he offered the bondes two conditions,-that all should accept of Christianity forthwith, or that they should fight with him. But as Skegge was killed, there was no leader in the bondes' army to raise the banner against King Olaf; so they took the other condition, to surrender to the king's will and obey his order. Then King Olaf had all the people present baptized, and took hostages from them for their remaining true to Christianity; and he sent his men round to every district, and no man in the Throndhjem country opposed Christianity, but all people took baptism.

CHAPTER LXXVII.—Of the Building of the Town in the
Throndhjem Country.

King Olaf with his people went out to Nidaros, and made houses on the flat side of the river Nid,

В

which he raised to be a merchant town, and gave people ground to build houses upon. The king's house he had built just opposite the ships' creek; and he transported to it, in harvest, all that was necessary for his winter residence, and had many people about him there.

CHAPTER LXXVIII.-King Olaf's Marriage.

King Olaf appointed a meeting with the relations of Jarnskegge, and offered them the compensation or penalty for his bloodshed; for there were many bold men who had an interest in that business. Jarnskegge had a daughter called Gudrun; and at last it was agreed upon between the parties that the king should take her in marriage. When the wedding-day came King Olaf and Gudrun went to bed together. As soon as Gudrun, the first night they lay together, thought the king was asleep, she drew a knife, with which she intended to run him through; but the king saw it, took the knife from her, got out of bed, and went to his men, and told them what had happened. Gudrun also took her clothes, and went away along with all her men who had followed her thither. Gudrun never came into the king's bed again.

CHAPTER LXXIX.-Building of the Ship Crane.

The same autumn [998] King Olaf laid the keel of a great long-ship out on the strand at the river

Nid. It was a snekke;

and he employed many carpenters upon her, so that early in winter the vessel was ready. It had thirty benches for rowers, was high in stem and stern, but was not broad. The king called this ship Tranan (the Crane). After Jarnskegge's death his body was carried to Yrjar, and lies there in the Skegge mound on Austrat.†

CHAPTER LXXX.—Thangbrand the Priest goes to Iceland.

When King Olaf Trygveson had been two years king of Norway [997], there was a Saxon priest in his house who was called Thangbrand, a passionate, ungovernable man, and a great man-slayer; but he was a good scholar, and a clever man. The king would not have him in his house upon account of his misdeeds; but gave him the errand to go to Iceland, and bring that land to the Christian faith.‡ The king gave him a merchant vessel; and, as far as we know of this voyage of his, he landed first in Iceland at Eastfiord, in the southern Alptafiord, and passed the winter in the house of Hal of Sida. Thangbrand proclaimed Christianity in Iceland, and on his persuasion Hal and all his house people,

* A snekke (Icelandic snekkja) appears to have been a denomination of one class of longships or ships of war. The word snek is still used in the north of Scotland for quick, nimble; and the word snekkja probably denoted the qualities we understand by a cutter or fast vessel. A dragon appears to have been applied to a heavier class of ships of war. The ships of burden, last-ships, appear to have been built on a different model.-L.

+ Now Osteraad, where there still is a great mound called Skegge's Mound.

Bishop Fredrik and Thorvald Kodranson had already preached Christianity in Iceland during the years 981-986.