Half of my fortunes with him fell:
But his two brothers, I know well,
My loss would soon repair, should they
Again in Norway bear the sway,
And to their promises should stand,
If they return to rule the land."

Ragnfred began his course in the spring after he had been a year in the Orkney Islands. He sailed from thence to Norway, and had with him fine troops and large ships. When he came to Norway he learnt that Earl Hakon was in Throndhjem; therefore he steered northwards around Stad, and plundered in South More. Some people submitted to him; for it often happens, when parties of armed men scour over a country, that those who are nearest the danger seek help where they think it may be expected. As soon as Earl Hakon heard the news of disturbance in More, he fitted out ships, sent the war-token through the land, made ready in all haste, and proceeded out of the fiord. He had no difficulty in assembling

Ragnfred and Earl Hakon met at the north corner of More; and Hakon, who had most men, but fewer ships, began the battle. The combat was severe, but heaviest on Hakon's side; and, as the custom then was, they fought bow to bow, and there was a current in the sound which drove all the ships upon the land. The earl ordered to row with the oars to the land where landing seemed easiest. When the ships were all grounded, the earl with all his men left them, and drew them up so far that the enemy might not launch them down again, and then drew up his men on a grass field, and challenged Ragnfred

in

to land. Ragnfred and his men laid their vessels in along the land, and they shot at each other a long time; but upon the land Ragnfred would not venture : and so they separated. Ragnfred sailed with his fleet. southwards around Stad; for he was much afraid the whole forces of the country would swarm around Hakon. Hakon, on his part, was not inclined to try again a battle, for he thought the difference between their ships in size was too great; so in harvest he went north to Throndhjem, and stayed there all winter [971] King Ragnfred consequently had all the country south of Stad at his mercy; namely, Fiord district, Hordaland, Sogn, Rogaland; and he had many people about him all winter. When spring approached he ordered out the people and collected a large force. By going about the districts he got many men, ships, and warlike stores sent as he required.

CHAPTER XVIII.—Another Battle between Earl Hakon and Ragnfred in Sogn.

Towards spring Earl Hakon ordered out all the men north in the country, and got many people from Halogaland and Naumudal; so that from Byrda * to Stad he had men from all the sea-coast. People flocked to him from all the Throndhjem district and from Raumsdal. It was said for certain that he had men from four great districts, and that seven

* Byrda, now Boro, in the parish of Biorn Isles, on the coast, near the mouth of the Namsen river, or Naumudal.-L.

earls followed him, and a matchless number of men. So it is said in the Vellekla :

"Hakon, defender of the land,

Armed in the North his warrior-band;
To Sogn's old shore his force he led,
And from all quarters thither sped
War-ships and men; and haste was made
By the young god of the sword-blade,
The hero-viking of the wave,
His wide domain from foes to save.

With shining keels seven kings sailed on
To meet this raven-feeding one.

When the clash came, the stunning sound

Was heard in Norway's farthest bound;

And sea-borne corpses, floating far,

Brought round the Naze news from the war."

Earl Hakon sailed then with his fleet southwards around Stad; and when he heard that King Ragnfred with his army had gone towards Sogn, he turned there also with his men to meet him: and there Ragnfred and Hakon met. Hakon came to the land with his ships, marked out a battle-field with hazel branches for King Ragnfred, and took ground for his own men in it. So it is told in the Vellekla :"In the fierce battle Ragnfred then

Met the grim foe of Vindland men ; ‡
And many a hero of great name
Fell in the sharp sword's bloody game.
The wielder of fell Narve's weapon,§
The conquering hero, valiant Hakon,
Had laid his war-ships on the strand,
And ranged his warriors on the land.”

* Sogn fiord.—L.

This marking out a champ clos for battle appears to have been common among the Northmen.-L.

Earl Hakon, from his victories over them, is called the foe of the Vindland men.-L.

§ Narve was the son of Loke; and the sword was called Narve's weapon.-L.

There was a great battle; but Earl Hakon, having by far the most people, gained the victory. It took place on the Thing-nes,* where Sogn and Hordaland meet.t

King Ragnfred fled to his ships, after 300 ‡ of his men had fallen. So it is said in the Vellekla :

"Sharp was the battle-strife, I ween,—
Deadly and close it must have been,
Before, upon the bloody plain,

Three hundred corpses of the slain

Were stretched for the black raven's prey;
And when the conquerors took their way
To the sea-shore, they had to tread
O'er piled-up heaps of foemen dead."

After this battle King Ragnfred fled from Norway; but Earl Hakon restored peace to the country, and allowed the great army which had followed him in summer to return home to the north country, and he himself remained in the south that harvest and winter [972].

CHAPTER XIX.-Earl Hakon's Marriage.

Earl Hakon married a girl called Thora, a daughter of the powerful Skage Skoptason, and very beautiful she was. They had two sons, Svein and Heming, and a daughter called Bergliot who was afterwards married to Einar Tambaskielver. Earl Hakon was much addicted to women, and had many children; among others a daughter Ragnhild, whom he

* Now called Dingenæs (in Snorre Thinganes).

Things were generally held on nesses or tongues accessible by water, as roads were not formed.-L.

That is, 320.

married to Skopte Skagason, a brother of Thora. The earl loved Thora so much that he held Thora's family in higher respect than any other people, and Skopte his brother-in-law in particular; and he gave him many great fiefs in More. Whenever they were on a cruise together, Skopte must lay his ship nearest to the earl's, and no other ship was allowed to come in between.

CHAPTER XX.-Skopte the Newsman's Death.

One summer that Earl Hakon was on a cruise, there was a ship with him of which Thorleif the Wise was steersman. In it was also Eirik, Earl Hakon's son, then about ten or eleven years old. Now in the evenings, as they came into harbour, Eirik would not allow any ship but his to lie nearest to the earl's. But when they came to the south, to More, they met Skopte the earl's brother-in-law, with a well-manned ship; and as they rowed towards the fleet, Skopte called out that Thorleif should move out of the harbour to make room for him, and should go to the roadstead. Eirik in haste took up the matter, and ordered Skopte to go himself to the roadstead. When Earl Hakon heard that his son thought himself too great to give place to Skopte, he called to them immediately that they should haul out from their berth, threatening them with chastisement if they did not. When Thorleif heard this, he ordered his men to slip their land-cable, and they did so; and Skopte laid his vessel next to the earl's