There was once a man called Ketil Jamte, a son of Earl Onund of Sparby,
in the Throndhjem district. He fled over the ridge of mountains from
Eystein Illrade, cleared the forest, and settled the country now called
the province of Jamtaland. A great many people joined him from the
Throndhjem land, on account of the disturbances there; for this King
Eystein had laid taxes on the Throndhjem people, and set his dog, called
Saur, to be king over them. Thorer Helsing was Ketil's grandson, and he
colonised the province called Helsingjaland, which is named after him.
When Harald Harfager subdued the kingdom by force, many people fled out
of the country from him, both Throndhjem people and Naumudal people,
and thus new settlements were added to Jamtaland; and some settlers went
even eastwards to Helsingjaland and down to the Baltic coast, and all
became subjects of the Swedish king. While Hakon Athelstan's foster-son
was over Norway there was peace, and merchant traffic from Throndhjem to
Jamtaland; and, as he was an excellent king, the Jamtalanders came from
the east to him, paid him scat, and he gave them laws and administered
justice. They would rather submit to his government than to the Swedish
king's, because they were of Norwegian race; and all the Helsingjaland
people, who had their descent from the north side of the mountain ridge,
did the same. This continued long after those times, until Olaf the
Thick and the Swedish king Olaf quarrelled about the boundaries. Then
the Jamtaland and Helsingjaland people went back to the Swedish king;
and then the forest of Eid was the eastern boundary of the land, and the
mountain ridge, or keel of the country, the northern: and the Swedish
king took scat of Helsingjaland, and also of Jamtaland. Now, thought the
king of Norway, Olaf, in consequence of the agreement between him and
the Swedish king, the scat of Jamtaland should be paid differently than
before; although it had long been established that the Jamtaland people
paid their scat to the Swedish king, and that he appointed officers over
the country. The Swedes would listen to nothing, but that all the land
to the east of the keel of the country belonged to the Swedish king.
Now this went so, as it often happens, that although the kings were
brothers-in-law and relations, each would hold fast the dominions which
he thought he had a right to. King Olaf had sent a message round in
Jamtaland, declaring it to be his will that the Jamtaland people should
be subject to him, threatening them with violence if they refused; but
the Jamtaland people preferred being subjects of the Swedish king.