THE BURNING OF FRAKORK.
ON one occasion Swein, Asleif’s son, asked Earl Rögnvald to give him
troops and ships to take vengeance on Olvir and Frákork for the burning
of his father Olaf.
The Earl said: “Do you not think, Swein, that Olvir and that old hag
Frákork, who is good for nothing, will scarcely be able to do us any
harm now?”
Swein replied: “They will always be mischievous while they live; and I
expected something else when I did great things for you, than that you
would refuse me this.”
The Earl replied: “What will you be satisfied with?”
Swein said: “Two ships well equipped.”
The Earl said he should have what he wished.
Then he made preparations for going. When he was ready he sailed south
to Borgarfiord,[354] and had a northwest wind to Dúfeyrar,[355] which is
a trading-place in Scotland. From there he passed Moray to
Ekkialsbakki,[356] and from there he went to Earl Maddad at Atjöklar
(Athole). He gave Swein guides who knew the way across mountains and
forests wherever Swein wished to go; and he went through the interior of
the country, over mountains and through woods, away from all
habitations, and came down in Hjálmundal,[357] near the middle of
Sutherland. Olvir and Frákork had had spies wherever they thought they
might expect enemies from the Orkneys, but this way they did not expect
any. They did not, therefore, perceive the enemy till Swein and his men
were in a certain slope behind the house. Olvir Rosta met them there
with sixty men, and the fight began immediately. There was little
resistance on the part of Olvir’s men, and they retreated towards the
houses, because they could not reach the wood. A great many were killed,
and Olvir ran to Hjálmundal’s river, and then up on the mountains. After
that he went to Scotland’s Firth (on the west coast), and from there to
the Sudreyar (Hebrides), and he is not mentioned further in this Saga.
When Olvir escaped, Swein and his men approached the houses, and
plundered everything. Then they burnt the houses, with all the inmates,
and there Frákork perished. Swein and his men committed many ravages in
Sutherland before they went to their ships. After that they were out on
raids during the summer, and ravaged in Scotland.
In the autumn Swein came to Earl Rögnvald in the Orkneys, and was well
received. Then he crossed over to Ness (Caithness), and spent the winter
in Dungalsbæ. At this time Swein received a message from Höldbodi, in
the Sudreyar, that he should come and help him, because Höld from
Bretland had been there, driven him from his estates, and taken much
booty. The messenger was named Hródbjart (Robert), of English descent.
When Swein received the message, he quickly left for the Orkneys, and
called on Earl Rögnvald, and requested him to give him troops and ships.
The Earl asked Swein what he was going to do then. He said that he had
received a message from a man whom he ought least of all to refuse, and
who had proved his best friend in his greatest need, and when most
others were his enemies.
The Earl said: “It is well if you part good friends, but most of those
Sudreyarmen are treacherous. You must, however, act a manly part, and I
will give you two ships fully manned.”
Swein was well pleased with this, and went to the Sudreyar, but did not
find Höldbodi till he came to the Isle of Man, because the latter had
fled thither. When Swein came to the Isle of Man, Höldbodi was very glad
to see him. The British Höld had plundered and killed men, to a large
extent in the Isle of Man as well as in the Sudreyar. He had killed a
nobleman named Andrew, who left a widow by name Ingirid, and a son by
name Sigurd. Ingirid was wealthy, and had large estates. Höldbodi
advised Swein to woo her; and when he proposed marriage, she made it a
condition of her acceptance that he should avenge her late husband
Andrew.
Swein replied: “I may inflict some loss on the British, but we cannot
know how we may succeed in manslaying.”
Then Swein and Höldbodi went out on an expedition with five ships. They
plundered in Bretland, landing at a place called Jarlsness,[358] and
committing great ravages. One morning they went into a certain village,
and met with a little resistance. The inhabitants fled from the village,
and Swein and his men plundered everything, and burnt six homesteads
before dinner. An Icelander, named Eirík was with Swein, and sang the
following:
Half-a-dozen homesteads burning,
Half-a-dozen households plundered:
This was Swein’s work of a morning—
This his vengeance; coals he lent them.
After this they went to their ships. They were out reiving all the
summer, and obtained much booty, but Höld fled into an island called
Lund,[359] where there was a strong place. Swein besieged it for some
time, to no purpose. In the autumn they went back to the Isle of Man.