Gudrod, a son of Eirik Bloodaxe and Gunhild, had been ravaging in the
west countries ever since he fled from Norway before the Earl Hakon. But
the summer before mentioned (A.D. 999), where King Olaf Trygvason had
ruled four years over Norway, Gudrod came to the country, and had many
ships of war with him. He had sailed from England; and when he thought
himself near to the Norway coast, he steered south along the land, to
the quarter where it was least likely King Olaf would be. Gudrod sailed
in this way south to Viken; and as soon as he came to the land he began
to plunder, to subject the people to him, and to demand that they should
accept of him as king. Now as the country people saw that a great army
was come upon them, they desired peace and terms. They offered King
Gudrod to send a Thing-message over all the country, and to accept of
him at the Thing as king, rather than suffer from his army; but
they desired delay until a fixed day, while the token of the Thing's
assembling was going round through the land. The king demanded
maintenance during the time this delay lasted. The bondes preferred
entertaining the king as a guest, by turns, as long as he required it;
and the king accepted of the proposal to go about with some of his men
as a guest from place to place in the land, while others of his men
remained to guard the ships. When King Olaf's relations, Hyrning and
Thorgeir, heard of this, they gathered men, fitted out ships, and went
northwards to Viken. They came in the night with their men to a place at
which King Gudrod was living as a guest, and attacked him with fire and
weapons; and there King Gudrod fell, and most of his followers. Of those
who were with his ships some were killed, some slipped away and fled to
great distances; and now were all the sons of Eirik and Gunhild dead.