At that time Norway was very disturbed. Harald Shockhead, the son of
Halfdan the Black, till then king of the Upplands, was aiming at the
supreme kingship. He went into the North and fought many battles there,
in which he was always victorious. Then he marched harrying through
the territories to the South, bringing them into subjection wherever he
came. On reaching Hordland he was opposed by a motley multitude led by
Kjotvi the Wealthy, Thorir Long-chin, and Soti and King Sulki from South
Rogaland. Geirmund Swarthyskin was then away in the West, beyond the
sea, so he was not present at the battle, although Hordland belonged to
his dominion.
Onund and his party had arrived that autumn from the western seas, and
when Thorir and Kjotvi heard of their landing they sent envoys to ask
for their aid, promising to treat them with honour.
They were very anxious for an opportunity of distinguishing themselves,
so they joined Thorir's forces, and declared that they would be in the
thickest part of the battle. They met King Harald in a fjord in Rogaland
called Hafrsfjord. The forces on each side were very large, and the
battle was one of the greatest ever fought in Norway. There are many
accounts of it, for one always hears much about those people of whom the
saga is told. Troops had come in from all the country around and from
other countries as well, besides a multitude of vikings. Onund brought
his ship alongside of that of Thorir Long-chin in the very middle of the
battle. King Harald made for Thorir's ship, knowing him to be a terrible
berserk, and very brave. The fighting was desperate on either side. Then
the king ordered his berserks, the men called Wolfskins, forward. No
iron could hurt them, and when they charged nothing could withstand
them. Thorir defended himself bravely and fell on his ship fighting
valiantly. The whole ship from stem to stern was cleared and her
fastenings were cut, so that she fell out of the line of battle. Then
they attacked Onund's ship, in the forepart of which he was standing and
fighting manfully. The king's men said: "He bears himself well in the
forecastle. Let us give him something to remind him of having been in
the battle." Onund was stepping out with one foot on to the bulwark, and
as he was striking they made a thrust at him with a spear; in parrying
it he bent backwards, and at that moment a man on the forecastle of the
king's ship struck him and took off his leg below the knee, disabling
him at a blow. With him fell the greater number of his men. They carried
him to a ship belonging to a man named Thrand, a son of Bjorn and
brother of Eyvind the Easterner. He was fighting against King Harald,
and his ship was lying on the other side of Onund's. Then there was a
general flight. Thrand and the rest of the vikings escaped any way they
could, and sailed away westwards. They took with them Onund and Balki
and Hallvard Sugandi. Onund recovered and went about for the rest of his
life with a wooden leg, wherefore he was called Onund Treefoot as long
as he lived.