"I am King Olaf, on whom thou hast called."
"Oh, my good lord! gladly would I raise myself; but I lie bound with
iron and with chains on my legs, and also the other men who lie here."
Thereupon the king accosts him with the words, "Stand up at once and be
not afraid; for thou art loose."
He awoke immediately, and told his comrades what, had appeared to him in
his dream. They told him to stand up, and try if it was true. He stood
up, and observed that he was loose. Now said his fellow-prisoners, this
would help him but little, for the door was locked both on the inside
and on the outside. Then an old man who sat there in a deplorable
condition put in his word, and told him not to doubt the mercy of the
man who had loosened his chains; "For he has wrought this miracle on
thee that thou shouldst enjoy his mercy, and hereafter be free, without
suffering more misery and torture. Make haste, then, and seek the door;
and if thou are able to slip out, thou art saved."
He did so, found the door open, slipped out, and away to the forest. As
soon as the Vindland people were aware of this they set loose the dogs,
and pursued him in great haste; and the poor man lay hid, and saw well
where they were following him. But now the hounds lost the trace when
they came nearer, and all the eyes that sought him were struck with a
blindness, so that nobody could find him, although he lay before their
feet; and they all returned home, vexed that they could not find him.
King Olaf did not permit this man's destruction after he had reached the
forest, and restored him also to his health and hearing; for they had so
long tortured and beaten him that he had become deaf. At last he came
on board of a ship, with two other Christian men who had been long
afflicted in that country. All of them worked zealously in this vessel,
and so had a successful flight. Then he repaired to the holy man's
house, strong and fit to bear arms. Now he was vexed at his vow, went
from his promise to the holy king, ran away one day, and came in the
evening to a bonde who gave him lodging for God's sake. Then in the
night he saw three girls coming to him; and handsome and nobly dressed
were they. They spoke to him directly, and sharply reprimanded him for
having been so bold as to run from the good king who had shown so much
compassion to him, first in freeing him from his irons, and then from
the prison; and yet he had deserted the mild master into whose service
he had entered. Then he awoke full of terror, got up early, and told the
house-father his dream. The good man had nothing so earnest in life as
to send him-back to the holy place. This miracle was first written down
by a man who himself saw the man, and the marks of the chains upon his
body.