HAROLD THE FAIRHAIRED (860-930).
Harold was only ten years old when his father died, and the kings whom
Halfdan had conquered thought that the chance was now favorable for
recovering what they had lost. But Harold's guardian Guttorm, his
mother's brother, conducted the government with power and ability, and
assisted his nephew in his efforts to put down his enemies. A long
series of battles was fought in which Harold was usually victorious. It
was but natural that the young king, flushed with success, should
resolve to extend his domain. He knew that there was no king in Norway
whose power and resources were equal to his own, and the determination
to conquer the whole country may therefore have naturally ripened in his
mind. Snorre, however, tells a different story, and as it is a very
pretty one, it may be worth repeating.
There was a maid named Gyda, the daughter of King Erik of Hoerdaland; she
was being fostered by a rich yeoman in Valders. When Harold heard of her
beauty, he sent his men to her and asked her to become his mistress. The
maid's eyes flashed with anger while she listened to this message, and
throwing her head back proudly she answered: "Tell your master that I
will not sacrifice my maidenly honor for a king who has only a few
counties to rule over. Strange it seems to me that there is no king here
who can conquer all Norway, as King Erik has conquered Sweden and King
Gorm Denmark."[A]
[Footnote A: King Gorm had not at that time conquered Denmark.]
The messengers, amazed at her insolence, warned her to give a more
conciliatory answer. King Harold was surely good enough for her, they
thought; but she would not listen to them. When, at last, they took
their leave, she followed them out and said:
"Give this message from me to King Harold. I will promise to become his
wedded wife, on this condition, that he shall for my sake conquer all
Norway, and rule over it as freely as King Erik rules over Sweden and
King Gorm over Denmark. For only then can he be called the king of a
people."[B]
[Footnote B: Tjodkonungr.]
When the messengers returned, they advised the king to break the girl's
pride by sending them to take her by force. But the king answered: "This
maid has not spoken ill and does not deserve to be punished. On the
contrary, she deserves much thanks for her words. She has put something
into my mind, of which I wonder that it has not occurred to me before.
But this I now solemnly vow, and call God to witness who made me and
rules over all, that I will not cut or comb my hair until the day when I
shall have conquered all Norway; or if I do not, I shall die in the
attempt."
Guttorm praised Harold for these words, saying, that he had spoken like
a king.
In accordance with his promise, the young king now set about the task
which he had undertaken. He went northward with an army and conquered
Orkdale and Troendelag, the district about the Drontheim Fjord. In
Naumdale, north of Drontheim, there were two kings named Herlaug and
Rollaug. The former, when he heard of Harold's march of conquest, built
a great barrow, into which he entered with eleven of his men and had it
closed behind him. Rollaug, his brother, ordered his royal high-seat to
be carried to the top of a hill, and an earl's seat to be placed below,
at the foot of the hill. He seated himself in the royal seat, but when
he saw Harold approaching, he rolled from the king's seat into the
earl's seat, thereby declaring himself to be King Harold's vassal.
Harold tied a sword about his waist, hung a shield about his neck, and
made him Earl of Naumdale.
Wherever he went, Harold pursued the same policy. The old kings who
acknowledged his overlordship he reinstated as his earls in their former
dominions. Those who opposed him be killed or maimed. The earls were
really governors or representatives of the king's authority. They
administered justice in the king's name, and collected taxes, of which
they were entitled to keep one third on condition of entertaining sixty
warriors, subject to the king's command. Each earl had under him four or
more _hersir_ (sub-vassals), who held in fief a royal estate, of an
income of twenty marks, on condition of keeping twenty warriors ready to
serve the king. It will be seen that the feudal principle was the basis
of Harold's state. He deprived the peasants of their allodium, and
declared all land to be the property of the king. The cultivators of the
soil, from having been free proprietors, became the tenants of the king,
and in so far as they were permitted to retain their inherited estates,
derived this privilege no more from allodial but from feudal right. It
followed that the king could levy a tax on all land, and that every man
who refused to pay the tax forfeited his title. Also a personal tax,
which the peasants derisively called the nose-tax (because it was levied
in every household according to the number of noses), is said to have
been exacted by Harold, and to have caused much dissatisfaction. It is
added that many of the former kings who accepted earldoms from him,
found themselves in a better position, both financially and as to
authority, than they had been before. And this is scarcely to be
wondered at. Their royal title had conferred upon them no rights except
such as their people voluntarily conceded to them, and their chief
privilege amounted to a usage rather than a right to assume command in
war, and conduct the public sacrifices. Still it was only in rare cases
that they were willing to exchange this shadowy authority for the real
power which Harold, by right of conquest, conferred upon them.
A still greater antagonism did the introduction of the feudal land
tenure arouse among the free yeomanry, who in their fierce independence
could not endure any relation of enforced obedience and subordination.
Therefore rebellions against the royal authority, on a smaller or
greater scale, were of constant occurrence during the first half of
Harold's reign, and there are even indications that they continued much
longer. Many of his provinces he had to conquer twice, and it was only
the enormous odds in his favor, and the promptness and severity of his
punishments, which at length forced the disloyal to accept his sway. It
required an energy and resolution such as his to make a nation of all
these scattered, predatory, and often mutually hostile tribes; and his
uniform and systematic policy, as well as his uncompromising sternness,
in dealing with resistance, show that he was fully conscious of the
magnitude of his task.
It would be tedious to enumerate the battles he fought and the victories
he won. With every year that passed he approached nearer to his goal--to
be the ruler of all Norway. Many of the mightiest men in the land who
had hitherto held aloof now offered him their services, and were glad to
accept honors at his hands. Among these were the earl Haakon
Grjotgardsson of Haalogaland, and Ragnvald, late earl of Moere, who was
the father of Duke Rollo of Normandy, and through William the Conqueror
the ancestor of the kings of England. Ragnvald was a brave and sagacious
man, who assisted the king with counsel and with deeds, and became his
most intimate friend and adviser.
Less readily did the men of the great Rafnista family accept Harold's
overtures. Kveld-Ulf (Night-Wolf) pleaded old age, when the king sent
messengers to him, requesting him to enter his service. This was the
more disappointing to Harold, because he had counted on Kveld-Ulf's
using the great influence which he wielded, in his favor. He sent
messengers once more and offered Kveld-Ulf's son, Bald Grim, high
dignities if he would become his vassal. But Bald Grim replied that he
would accept no dignity which would raise him in rank above his father.
Then the king's patience was exhausted, and he would have resorted to
other arguments than verbal ones, if Kveld-Ulf's brother-in-law, Oelve
Nuva, had not interceded in his behalf. Oelve finally obtained the old
chieftain's consent to have his second son Thorolf enter the king's
service if he saw fit. Thorolf was then out on a viking cruise with
Oelve's brother, Eyvind Lambe, but he was expected home in the autumn.
On their return, both accepted Harold's offer and became his men.
Thorolf particularly rose rapidly in the king's favor, on account of his
intelligence, beauty, and courtly manners. The old Kveld-Ulf, however,
looked with suspicion upon their friendship, and hinted that he expected
that nothing good would come of it.
The kings of Sweden had from of old had claims on that part of Norway
which is called Viken.[A] Also Vermeland, which since the days of Olaf
the Woodcutter had belonged to the Ynglings, was declared to be an
integral part of Sweden, and the Swedish king, Erik Eimundsson, seized
the opportunity, while Harold was occupied with his conquests in the
north, to invade the latter province, besides Ranrike and portions of
Vingulmark.
[Footnote A: Viken was the country about the present Christiania Fjord,
and was divided into Vestfold, Vingulmark, and Ranrike (the present
Bohuslen in Sweden).]
When these tidings reached Harold, he hastened southward, fined and
punished those of the peasants who had promised allegiance to his enemy,
and finally went northward to Vermeland where, by a singular
coincidence, he met the Swedish king at a great feast given by the
mighty yeoman Aake. Probably to avoid bloodshed, the two kings and their
warriors were entertained in separate buildings; but while Harold and
his men were lodged in the new mansion and made to eat and drink out of
new horns and precious dishes, Erik's party were made to enjoy their
cheer in an old building, and their horns and dishes, though artfully
wrought, were not new. When the time came for leaving, Aake brought his
son to Harold and begged him to take him into his service. At this Erik
grew very wroth and rode away. Aake hastened to accompany him; and when
asked why he had made such a difference in the entertainment, he replied
that it was because Erik was old, while Harold was young.
"Thou must indeed remember that thou art my man," said King Erik.
"When thou sayest that I am thy man," answered the yeoman, "then I may
say with equal right that thou art my man."
This answer so angered the king that he drew his sword and killed Aake.
Harold, when he heard of his death, pursued his slayer but did not
succeed in overtaking him.
The princes and chieftains who had opposed Harold had, so far,
accomplished nothing but their own ruin. Those who still retained their
lands concluded that separately they could never hope to prevail
against him, and they therefore united and met the conqueror in 872 with
a great fleet in the Hafrs-Fjord.[A] The war-horns were blown, and King
Harold's ship was foremost, wherever the fight was hottest. In its prow
stood Thorolf, the son of Kveld-Ulf, who fought with splendid bravery,
and the brothers Oelve Nuva and Eyvind Lambe. The issue seemed long
doubtful, and many of the king's best men were slain; spears and stones
rained down in showers, and the arrows flew hissing through the air. At
last, Harold's _berserks_, seized with a wild fury, stormed forward, and
boarded the enemies' ships. The carnage was terrible, and one by one the
chieftains fell or fled. King Harold here won (as the sagas relate) one
of the greatest battles that was ever fought in Norway; and there was
from this day no longer any formidable opposition to him. Among the many
who were wounded at Hafrs-Fjord was Thorolf, and in fact all who had
stood before the mast in the king's ship, except the _berserks_. The
scald Thorbjoern Hornklove made a song about the victory, fragments of
which are still extant.
[Footnote A: Hafrs-Fjord is a little fjord in Jaederen, west of the
present city of Stavanger]
At a feast which shortly after the battle was given in his honor,
Harold's hair was cut by Ragnvald, the earl of Moere, and all marvelled
at its beauty. While he had formerly been called Harold Lufa, _i. e._,
the Frowsy-headed, he was now named Harold the Fairhaired. Having now
accomplished what he had set out to do, he married Gyda. The romance is,
however, spoiled by the fact that he had some years before married
Aasa, the daughter of the earl, Haakon [A] Grjotgardsson, and had by her
three sons--Halfdan the White, Halfdan the Swarthy, and Sigfrid. The
sons Gyda bore him were named Guttorm, Haarek, and Gudroed.
[Footnote A: The letter _aa_ in Norwegian (Icelandic _a_) is pronounced
like the English _aw_ in _hawk_. Haakon is therefore pronounced Hawkon;
Aasa, Awsa, etc. The modern Icelanders pronounce the sound like _ou_ in
_out_, _rout_. They say Houkon, Hourek, etc.]
In his relations with men Harold was no more faithful than in his
relations with women. He was a man of indomitable will and courage,
sagacious and far-seeing; shunning no means for the accomplishment of
his ends. He could not, however, endure the characteristics in others
which he valued in himself. When his jealousy was once aroused, it was
not easily again allayed. As is the manner of tyrants, he was apt to
humiliate those the most whom he had most exalted, and his suspicion
often fell upon those who least deserved it. The first victim of his
jealousy was Thorolf, the son of Kveld-Ulf, who, after the battle of
Hafrs-Fjord, had stood especially high in his favor.
Thorolf had by a wealthy marriage and by inheritance accumulated a large
fortune and lived in princely style. His liberality and winning exterior
made him hosts of friends, and his thrift and ability procured him the
means to practise a magnificent hospitality. The king had made him his
_sysselmand_, or bailiff, in Haalogaland, and Thorolf particularly
distinguished himself by the energy and shrewdness which he displayed
in collecting the tax from the Finns, who, as a rule, were not anxious
to make contributions to the royal treasury. During a journey which
Harold made through Haalogaland, Thorolf made a feast for him, the
splendor of which had never been equalled in those parts of the country.
There were in all eight hundred guests--five hundred of whom Thorolf had
invited, while three hundred were the attendants of the king. To the
astonishment of his host, Harold sat, dark and silent, in the high-seat,
and seemed ill-pleased with the efforts that were made to entertain him.
Toward the end of the feast he repressed his ill-humor, however, and
when his host at parting presented him with a large dragon-ship with
complete equipment, he seemed much pleased. Nevertheless, it was not
long before he deprived him of his office as royal bailiff, then
espoused the cause of his enemies, and used all sorts of contemptible
slanders as a pretext for attacking him on his estate, Sandness, and
burning his house. When Thorolf broke out through the burning wall, he
was received with a hail-storm of spears. Seeing the king he rushed
toward him, with drawn sword, and cut down his banner-bearer; then, when
his foe was almost within reach of his sword, fell, crying: "By three
steps only I failed." It was said that Harold himself gave him his
death-wound, and he later avowed himself as his slayer to the old
Kveld-Ulf. When he saw his former friend lying dead at his feet, he
looked sadly at him; and when a man passed him who was busy bandaging a
slight wound, he said: "That wound Thorolf did not give thee; for
differently did weapons bite in his hands. It is a great pity that such
men must perish."
When Kveld-Ulf heard of his son's death, his grief was so great that he
had to go to bed. But when he heard that it was the king who had slain
him, and that he had fallen prone at his slayer's feet, he got up and
was well content. For when a dying man fell on his face, it was a sign
that he would be avenged. In the meanwhile, being far from powerful
enough to attack Harold openly, the old man gathered all his family and
his goods and set out for Iceland; but lingered long along the coast of
Norway, in the hope of finding some one of Harold's race upon whom he
could wreak vengeance. In this he was successful. The two sons of
Guttorm, Harold's uncle and former guardian, were sailing northward with
two of the king's men. These Bald Grim and Kveld-Ulf attacked, killed
the king's cousins, and captured the ship. Then, wild with exultation,
Bald Grim mounted the prow and sang:
Now is the Hersir's vengeance
On the king fulfilled.
Wolf and eagle tread on
Yngling's children.
Seaward swept flew Halvard's
Lacerated corpse,
And the eagle's beak
Tears Snarfare's wounds.
From that time forth, there was a blood-feud between the Yngling race
and Kveld-Ulf's descendants, and the famous saga of Egil, Bald Grim's
son, tells of a long chain of bloody deeds which all had their origin in
the king's treachery to Thorolf.
Kveld-Ulf and Bald Grim were not the only chieftains who sought refuge
abroad from Harold's oppression. After the battle of Hafrs-Fjord, when
the king proceeded with uncompromising rigor to enforce the feudal
system, several thousand men, many of whom belonged to the noblest
families of the land, crossed the sea, and found new homes in the
Orkneys and the Hebrides, whence again many found their way to Iceland.
A great number also sailed direct for the latter country, and the
so-called Landnama book (the Domesday Book of Iceland) has preserved the
names, and, at times, bits of the history of the most important original
settlers. Much as we may sympathize with the indomitable spirit which
made these men sacrifice home and country for a principle, there is also
another view of the case which has to be considered. Harold the
Fairhaired was founding a state, which would support a higher
civilization than could possibly be developed among a loose
agglomeration of semi-hostile tribes. The idea of a national unity,
which was the inspiration of his work, required the enforcement of an
organic system which to the independent chieftains must have appeared
extremely oppressive. The payment of taxes, which to the citizen of the
modern state is not apt to appear humiliating, seemed to the Norse
chieftains unworthy of a freeman. When Harold commanded them to refrain
from robbing and plundering expeditions within the confines of his
kingdom, they felt outraged, and could see no reason why they should
submit to such unwarrantable curtailment of time-honored privileges.
One of them, Rolf, or Rollo, son of the king's friend, Ragnvald, Earl of
Moere, defied the order, made _strand-hug_ [A] in Viken, and was declared
an outlaw. Neither his father's influence, nor his mother's prayers,
could save him. Just on account of his high birth, Harold was determined
to make an example of him.
[Footnote A: Strand-hug was an enforced provisioning of the viking fleet
from the nearest inhabited country. It was the common practice of
vikings to make strand-hug, wherever they might happen to be.]
Rollo is known in the Norse sagas as Rolf the Walker, because he was so
tall and heavy that no horse could carry him. With a large number of
followers he sailed southward to France, and after having harried the
country for several years, made in 912 a compromise with King Charles
the Simple, by which he was to accept Christianity and receive a large
province in fief for himself and his descendants. This province was
named Normandy; and has played a large role in the history of the world.
It is told of Rollo that when he was requested to kiss the king's foot
in token of fealty, he answered: "I will never bend my knee before any
man; nor will I kiss any one's foot." After much persuasion, however, he
permitted one of his men to perform the act of homage for him. His proxy
stalked sullenly forward, and pausing before the king, who was on
horse-back, seized his foot and lifted it to his lips. By this manoeuvre,
the king came to make a somersault, at which there was great laughter
among the Norsemen. Rollo did literally, like the poor boy in the fairy
tale, marry the princess and get half the kingdom. For, it is told,
that Charles gave him for a bride his daughter Gisla, who, however, died
childless. He ruled his duchy with a rod of iron; and he must have
learned a useful lesson from King Harold, for it is said that he
restrained robbery with a firm hand, and hanged the robbers. So great
was the public security in his day, that the peasants could leave their
ploughs and tools in the field over night without fear of losing them.
Rollo's son was William Longsword, who was the father of Richard the
Fearless, who again had a son of his own name. This latter Richard,
surnamed the Good, had a son named Rollo, or Robert [A] the Magnificent,
who was the father of William the Conqueror.
[Footnote A: The first Duke Rollo had, when he was baptized, assumed the
name Robert.]
The emigration of the discontented yeomen and chieftains removed the
last obstacle to the organization of Harold's feudal state. According to
an approximately accurate calculation, about eight hundred heads of
families went with their households to Iceland, to the Scottish isles,
and to Jemteland, leaving behind them estates which were promptly
confiscated by the king. Those who endeavored to sell their lands met
with small success; for to buy the property of emigrants was considered
as an act hostile to the king. Great wealth was thus accumulated in
Harold's hands, and the means of rewarding his friends at the expense of
his enemies were at his disposal. The emigrants were, therefore, doubly
instrumental in cementing the state which they had endeavored to
destroy. A large number of officials were needed to superintend the
great landed estates, and Harold chose these from his immediate
dependents. The so-called Aarmaend were merely superintendents or
stewards, who took charge of the crown lands, and forwarded to the king
his share of the income. They were often thralls or freedmen, and were
looked down upon by the yeomanry as their inferiors. The earls, on the
other hand, who belonged to the old tribal aristocracy, held their land
in fief, and were, in a limited sense, proprietors, though their sons
could not, by any absolute right, claim to inherit them. It was,
however, the custom to continue such estates from father to son. The
third class of property was the land which the yeomanry had formerly
held by allodial right, and which they now held with as much security
and right of inheritance, as the king's nominal tenants. As long as they
paid their taxes, it was of course in the king's interest to leave them
unmolested.
It was natural that with his great wealth Harold should keep a court of
exceptional splendor. He was fond of song and story and always kept
scalds about him who sang his praise and glorified his deeds. He could
be generous when the occasion demanded, and would then scatter his gold
with royal liberality. But in little things he was reputed to be mean;
and it was a common complaint among his courtiers that they did not get
enough to eat. Some legends recounted by Snorre show that with all his
stern inflexibility toward men, he was easily deceived by women. Thus,
it is related that once, while he was at a Yule-tide feast, in
Guldbrandsdale, a Finn came to him and persuaded him to accompany him
to his tent. There he showed the king a girl named Snefrid, whose beauty
made a great impression upon him. He chatted with her for a while; then
drank a goblet of mead which the Finn brought him. No sooner had he
swallowed the liquid than he became so enamoured of Snefrid that he
refused to leave her, and demanded that she should that very day become
his wife. He loved her with such abandonment and passion that he
neglected the government and lived only for her. She bore him five sons
in rapid succession, and then died. Harold's grief knew no bounds. He
refused to have her buried, but sat staring at her beautiful corpse,
night and day. For, oddly enough, it is told that Snefrid's beauty
remained unchanged after death, and there was no sign of decay. All the
king's men feared that he had lost his reason, and one of them finally
persuaded him, on some pretext, to have the corpse moved. But the very
instant it was touched, the most hideous change occurred. The flesh
turned blue, and a terrible stench filled the room. The king then
recovered his reason, and ordered the body to be burned. But when it was
placed on the pyre, snakes, adders, toads, and horrible creeping things
teemed in and about it, so that no one could endure the sight of it.
Then Harold comprehended that he had been the victim of sorcery; and he
grew so angry that he chased away from him the children Snefrid had
borne him. And yet, strangely enough, it was this branch which endured
the longest, and from which a long line of kings descended. The names
of Snefrid's sons were Sigurd Rise (Giant), Gudroed Ljome, Halfdan
Haalegg (Longlegs), and Ragnvald Rettilbeine.
The only one of King Harold's wives who was of royal birth was Ragnhild,
the daughter of King Erik the Younger in South Jutland. She replied,
when he first sent messengers to woo her, that she would not marry the
mightiest king in all the world, if she had to put up with one thirtieth
part of his affection. To a second message she replied that she would
marry King Harold if he would put away all his other wives. This he
consented to do, and made Ragnhild his queen. She lived, however, only
three years after her marriage; and Harold then took back several of his
former wives and mistresses. Ragnhild had left him one son, Erik, whom
he loved the most of all his children.
Marriage was entirely a civil contract during the days of Germanic
paganism and was in no wise associated with religion or religious
ceremonies. It was an easy thing for a husband to obtain a divorce from
his wife, but it was customary to go through with this formality before
marrying a second. Open polygamy, as practised by Harold, was contrary
to custom and must have been regarded with reprobation by the people.
For all that, Harold was, during the latter part of his reign, a popular
ruler and well beloved both by yeomanry and chieftains.
As his children grew up, Harold began to reap some of the disadvantages
of his scattered family relations. His sons, having different mothers,
and having been fostered by yeomen in different parts of the country,
could scarcely be strongly conscious of their kinship. They were jealous
of each other, and particularly jealous of the mighty earls who sat like
little kings upon their estates ruling over land and people. It was to
give vent to this feeling that Halfdan Longlegs and Gudroed Ljome,
without any warning, attacked Ragnvald, the Earl of Moere, and burned him
up with sixty of his men. When Harold heard of this dastardly deed, he
gathered an army and resolved to punish his sons. Gudroed, who had taken
possession of the earldom after Ragnvald, surrendered without fighting,
while Halfdan Longlegs sailed with three ships for the Orkneys, where he
chased away Turf-Einar, the son of the Earl of Moere, and made himself
king of the islands. Turf-Einar returned, however, surprised Halfdan,
and put him to death in a barbarous manner. Although Halfdan had been a
rebel against the king's authority, and Turf-Einar in slaying him had
avenged his own father, Harold had no choice but to wreak vengeance upon
the slayer of his son. He accordingly sailed with a fleet for the
Orkneys, opened negotiations with Turf-Einar, and accepted as
"blood-atonement" sixty marks in gold. Whether it was on the same
occasion that he made a cruise to Scotland, harrying the coast, is
perhaps, doubtful. His chief purpose, as on a previous cruise in the
same waters, was to break up the various nests of vikings, who from this
convenient retreat made frequent attacks upon the coast of Norway during
the summer months.
A fertile cause of disagreement among Harold's sons was their jealousy
of Erik, whom their father conspicuously favored. When he was twelve
years old, Erik was given five ships to command, and with a choice crew
went on viking cruises. Much did the old king delight in hearing the
tales of his prowess, and the daring enterprises in which he had played
a part. The ominous surname "Blod-Oexe" (Blood-Axe) which the lad
acquired by his deeds in battle only endeared him the more to his
father. It was his love of this favorite son which induced him in his
fiftieth year (900) to commit an act, whereby he virtually undid the
great work of his life and brought misery upon unborn generations. He
called a _thing_ or general assembly of the people, probably at
Eidsvold, and made all his sons kings, on condition that they should,
after his death, acknowledge Erik as their overlord. To each he gave a
province to govern, permitting him to keep one third of the revenues for
himself, leaving one third for the earls, and sending one third to the
sovereign. The royal title should be inherited by all his direct
descendants in the male line, legitimate or illegitimate birth making no
difference. To the sons of his daughters he gave earldoms. In this
disastrous act of Harold, making no distinction between legitimate and
illegitimate children, lies the germ of the civil wars and terrible
internecine conflicts which ravaged the kingdom he had established and
exhausted its powers, until for four hundred years it sank out of sight,
and its name seemed to have been blotted out from among the nations. It
seems incredible that the wisdom and energy which had built up a great
state could be coupled with the unwisdom and the weakness which in the
end broke it down again. Harold evidently looked upon the royal office
as a piece of personal property which he had by his sword acquired, and
which all his male descendants had an equal right to inherit. At the
same time he must, after the experience he had had with his sons, have
known them too well to suppose that they would peacefully acquiesce in
his decision, living together in fraternal unity. If he cherished any
illusion, Erik lost no time in dispelling it. He first killed Ragnvald
Rettilbeine, the son of Snefrid, because he was said to be a sorcerer.
Next he attacked his brother Bjoern the Merchant (Farmand) because he
declined to pay him tribute, killed him and plundered his house. Halfdan
the Swarthy (Svarte) in Drontheim resolved to avenge this outrage,
concluding that none of Harold's sons were safe, as long as Erik was
permitted, with impunity, to take the law into his own hands. While Erik
was feasting at the farm, Selven, Halfdan surrounded the house and set
fire to it. Erik succeeded in escaping with four men, and he hastened
southward to complain to his father. King Harold, it is told, was
greatly incensed, collected his fleet and sailed to Drontheim, where
Halfdan, though with an inferior force, stood ready to meet him. The
battle was about to begin, when the scald, Guttorm Sindre, reminded the
two kings of a promise they had made him. Once he had sung a song in
their honor, and as he refused all the gifts they offered him, they both
swore that whatever he should ask of them, they would fulfil. "Now," he
said, "I have come to claim the guerdon of my song."
Hard as it was, they could not break their royal promise. Peace was
made, and father and son separated. Halfdan was permitted to keep his
province, but had to vow solemnly that he would henceforth make no
hostile demonstration against Erik. For all that the hatred between the
two lasted, though curbed for a while by the fear of the king.
[Illustration: GILT BUCKLE FOUND AT SKEDEMO IN NEDENES AMT.]
When Harold was nearly seventy years old, he took for his mistress Thora
of Moster, who on account of her great height was surnamed Moster-stang
(Moster-pole). She bore him a son who was named Haakon. Much
dissatisfaction was there among the king's other sons when this
late-comer made his appearance, and he would probably not have grown to
manhood, if an incident had not occurred which removed him beyond their
reach. The story told by Snorre in this connection is full of interest,
but sounds incredible. Once, it is told, messengers arrived from King
Ethelstan in England, bringing a precious sword to King Harold, who
accepted it and returned thanks.
"Now," said the messengers, "thou hast taken the sword, as our king
wished, and thou art therefore his sword-taker or vassal."
Harold was angry at having been thus tricked, but did not molest the
messengers. The next year, however, he sent his young son Haakon with an
embassy to Ethelstan. They found the king in London, and were well
received by him. The spokesman of the embassy then placed the boy,
Haakon, on Ethelstan's knee, saying, "King Harold begs thee to foster
this child of his servant-maid."
Ethelstan angrily drew his sword, as if he would kill the child; but the
spokesman said: "Now that thou hast once put him upon thy knee, thou
mayst murder him, if it please thee; but thereby hast thou not slain all
King Harold's sons."
To foster another man's child was in Norway regarded as an
acknowledgment of inferiority; and Harold had thus repaid Ethelstan in
his own coin. There are, however, several circumstances which make the
story suspicious. In the first place Ethelstan and his ancestors had had
too severe an experience of Norsemen and Danes to wish to challenge the
mightiest of them by a wanton insult; and again, it is more credible
that Harold sent his youngest son out of the country for his own
safety,[A] than in order to play an undignified trick upon a foreign
king. At all events, Haakon was treated with the greatest kindness by
the English king, and won his affection.
[Footnote A: See Munch, i., 591.]
When Harold the Fairhaired was eighty years old, he felt no longer able
to bear the burden of the government. He therefore led Erik to his royal
high-seat, and abdicated in his favor. Three years later he died (933),
after having ruled over Norway for seventy-three years.
[Illustration]