The heathens took prisoner a young man of Danish family and carried him
to Vindland, where he was in fetters along with other prisoners. In
the day-time he was alone in irons, without a guard; but at night a
peasant's son was beside him in the chain, that he might not escape from
them. This poor man never got sleep or rest from vexation and sorrow,
and considered in many ways what could help him; for he had a great
dread of slavery, and was pining with hunger and torture. He could not
again expect to be ransomed by his friends, as they had already restored
him twice from heathen lands with their own money; and he well knew that
it would be difficult and expensive for them to submit a third time to
this burden. It is well with the man who does not undergo so much in the
world as this man knew he had suffered. He saw but one way; and that
was to get off and escape if he could. He resolved upon this in the
night-time, killed the peasant, and cut his foot off after killing him,
and set off to the forest with the chain upon his leg. Now when the
people knew this, soon after daylight in the morning, they pursued him
with two dogs accustomed to trace any one who escaped, and to find him
in the forest however carefully he might be concealed. They got him
into their hands and beat him, and did him all kinds of mischief; and
dragging him home, left barely alive, and showed him no mercy. They
tortured him severely; put him in a dark room, in which there lay
already sixteen Christian men; and bound him both with iron and other
tyings, as fast as they could. Then he began to think that the
misery and pain he had endured before were but shadows to his present
sufferings. He saw no man before his eyes in this prison who would beg
for mercy for him; no one had compassion on his wretchedness, except
the Christian men who lay bound with him, who sorrowed with him, and
bemoaned his fate together with their own misfortunes and helplessness.
One day they advised him to make a vow to the holy King Olaf, to devote
himself to some office in his sacred house, if he, by God's compassion
and Saint Olaf's prayers could get away from this prison. He gladly
agreed to this, and made a vow and prepared himself for the situation
they mentioned to him. The night after he thought in his sleep that he
saw a man, not tall, standing at his side, who spoke to him thus, "Here,
thou wretched man, why dost thou not get up?"