After King Olave had married his Irish spouse Gyda, he dwelt partly
in England, partly in Ireland. While King Olave was in Ireland, it so
happened that he was engaged in a certain expedition attended by a great
naval force. When they were short of plunder, they went ashore, and drove
off a great multitude of cattle. Then a certain peasant followed them,
begging that they would return him the cows which belonged to him in the
herd they were driving away. King Olave answered, “Drive off your cows,
if you know them, and can separate them from the herd of oxen, so as not
to delay our journey; but I believe that neither you nor any one else
can do this, from among so many hundreds of oxen as we are driving.” The
peasant had a large herdsman’s dog, which he ordered to sort the herds
of oxen that were collected. The dog ran about through all the herds of
oxen, and drove off as many oxen as the peasant had said he wanted; all
these oxen were marked in the same manner, from which they inferred that
the dog had rightly distinguished them. Then the king says, “Your dog is
very sagacious, peasant! will you give me the dog?” He answered, “I will,
with pleasure.” The king immediately gave him a large gold ring, and
promised him his friendship. This dog was named Vigins, and he was of all
dogs the most sagacious and the best; that dog was long in King Olave’s
possession.