After this Audunn put to sea and made Norway, and had his
merchandise brought ashore, and that was a more laborious task than
it had been last time he was in Norway. Then he went into the
presence of King Haraldr, wishing to fulfil the promise he had given
him before he went to Denmark. Audunn gave the King a friendly
greeting, which he accepted warmly.
Sit down, said the King, and drink with us, and so Audunn did. Then
King Haraldr asked: What reward did King Sveinn give you for the
bear?
Audunn answered: This, my Lord, that he accepted him from me.
I would have given you that, said the King, but what else did he
give you?
Audunn said: He gave me silver to make a pilgrimage to Rome, but
King Haraldr said:
King Sveinn gives many people silver for pilgrimages and for other
things, even if they do not bring him valuable gifts. What more did
he do for you?
He offered to make me his cup-bearer and to give me great honours.
That was a good offer, said the King, but he must have given you
still more.
Audunn said: He gave me a merchantman with a cargo of wares most
profitable for the Norway trade.
That was generous, said the King, but I would have rewarded you as
well as that. Did he give you anything else?
Audunn said: He gave me a leather purse full of silver, and said
that I would still not be penniless if I kept it, even if my ship
were wrecked off Iceland.
The King said: That was magnificent, and more than I should have
done. I would have thought my debt discharged if I had given you the
ship. Did he give you anything else?
Certainly he gave me something else, my Lord, said Audunn; he gave
me this ring which I am wearing on my arm, and said that I might
chance to lose all my property, and yet not be destitute if I had
this ring. But he advised me not to part with it unless I were under
such an obligation to some noble man that I wished to give it to
him. And now I have come to the right man, for it was in your power
to take from me both my bear and my life, but you allowed me to go
to Denmark in peace when others could not go there.
The King received the gift graciously and gave Audunn fine presents
in exchange before they parted. Audunn laid out his merchandise on
his voyage to Iceland, and sailed out that same summer, and people
thought him the luckiest of men.
From this man Audunn was descended Thorsteinn Gyduson. [Footnote:
Thorsteinn Gyduson was drowned in the year 1190. Unless
interpolated, the allusion to him shows that the story was written
after that date.]