Heimskringla [372]
fjord, and was joined afterwards by Bjorn Egilson, Gunnar of Gimsar, Haldor Sigurdson, Aslak Hakonson, the brothers Bendikt and Eirik, and also the court which had before been with King Magnus, and many others. With this troop they went south to More, and down to the mouth of Raumsdal fjord. Here Sigurd and Magnus divided their forces, and Sigurd went immediately westwards across the sea. King Magnus again proceeded to the Uplands, where he expected much help and strength, and which he obtained. He remained there the winter and all the summer (A.D. 1137), and had many people with him; but King Inge proceeded against him with all his forces, and they met at a place called Mynne. There was a great battle, at which King Magnus had the most people. It is related that Thjostolf Alason carried King Inge in his belt as long as the battle lasted, and stood under the banner; but Thjostolf was hard pressed by fatigue and fighting; and it is commonly said that King Inge got his ill health there, and which he retained as long as he lived, so that his back was knotted into a hump, and the one foot was shorter than the other; and he was besides so infirm that he could scarcely walk as long as he lived. The defeat began to turn upon Magnus and his men; and in the front rank of his array fell Haldor Sigurdson, Bjorn Egilson, Gunnar of Gimsar, and a great number of his men, before he himself would take to his horse and fly. So says Kolle: --
"Thy arrow-storm on Mynne's banks Fast thinn'd the foemen's strongest ranks; Thy good sword hewed the raven's feast On Mynne's banks up in the East. Shield clashed on shield, and bucklers broke Under thy battle-axe's stroke; While thou, uncovered, urged the fray, Thy shield and mail-coat thrown away."
And also this: --
"The king to heaven belonging fled, When thou, in war's quick death-game bred, Unpanzered, shieldless on the plain His heavy steel-clad guards hadst slain. The painted shield, and steel-plate mail, Before thy fierce attack soon fail, To Magnus who belongs to heaven,
Was no such fame in battle given."
Magnus fled eastward to Gautland, and then to Denmark. At that time there was in Gautland an earl, Karl Sonason, who was a great and ambitious man. Magnus the Blind and his men said, wherever they happened to meet with chiefs, that Norway lay quite open to any great chieftain who would attack it; for it might well be said there was no king in the country, and the kingdom was only ruled by lendermen, and, among those who had most sway, there was, from mutual jealousy, most discord. Now Karl, being ambitious of power, listens willingly to such speeches; collects men, and rides west to Viken, where many people, out of fear, submit to him. When Thjostolf Alason and Amunde heard of this, they went with the men they could get together, and took King Inge with them. They met Earl Karl and the Gautland army eastward in Krokaskog, where there was a great battle and a great defeat, King Inge gaining the victory. Munan Ogmundson, Earl Karl's mother's brother, fell there. Ogmund, the father of Munan, was a son of Earl Orm Eilifson, and Sigrid, a daughter of Earl Fin Arnason. Astrid, Ogrnund's daughter, was the mother of Earl Karl. Many others of the Gautland people fell at Krokaskog; and the earl fled eastward through the forest. King Inge pursued them all the way out of the kingdom; and this expedition turned out a great disgrace to them. So says Kolle: --
"I must proclaim how our great lord Coloured deep red his ice-cold sword; And ravens played with Gautland bones, And wolves heard Gautlanders' last groans. Their silly jests were well repaid, -- In Krokaskog their laugh was laid: Thy battle power was then well tried, And they who won may now deride."
3. KING EIRIK'S EXPEDITION TO NORWAY.
Magnus the Blind then went to Denmark to King Eirik Eimune, where he was well received. He offered the king to follow him if he would invade Norway with
"Thy arrow-storm on Mynne's banks Fast thinn'd the foemen's strongest ranks; Thy good sword hewed the raven's feast On Mynne's banks up in the East. Shield clashed on shield, and bucklers broke Under thy battle-axe's stroke; While thou, uncovered, urged the fray, Thy shield and mail-coat thrown away."
And also this: --
"The king to heaven belonging fled, When thou, in war's quick death-game bred, Unpanzered, shieldless on the plain His heavy steel-clad guards hadst slain. The painted shield, and steel-plate mail, Before thy fierce attack soon fail, To Magnus who belongs to heaven,
Was no such fame in battle given."
Magnus fled eastward to Gautland, and then to Denmark. At that time there was in Gautland an earl, Karl Sonason, who was a great and ambitious man. Magnus the Blind and his men said, wherever they happened to meet with chiefs, that Norway lay quite open to any great chieftain who would attack it; for it might well be said there was no king in the country, and the kingdom was only ruled by lendermen, and, among those who had most sway, there was, from mutual jealousy, most discord. Now Karl, being ambitious of power, listens willingly to such speeches; collects men, and rides west to Viken, where many people, out of fear, submit to him. When Thjostolf Alason and Amunde heard of this, they went with the men they could get together, and took King Inge with them. They met Earl Karl and the Gautland army eastward in Krokaskog, where there was a great battle and a great defeat, King Inge gaining the victory. Munan Ogmundson, Earl Karl's mother's brother, fell there. Ogmund, the father of Munan, was a son of Earl Orm Eilifson, and Sigrid, a daughter of Earl Fin Arnason. Astrid, Ogrnund's daughter, was the mother of Earl Karl. Many others of the Gautland people fell at Krokaskog; and the earl fled eastward through the forest. King Inge pursued them all the way out of the kingdom; and this expedition turned out a great disgrace to them. So says Kolle: --
"I must proclaim how our great lord Coloured deep red his ice-cold sword; And ravens played with Gautland bones, And wolves heard Gautlanders' last groans. Their silly jests were well repaid, -- In Krokaskog their laugh was laid: Thy battle power was then well tried, And they who won may now deride."
3. KING EIRIK'S EXPEDITION TO NORWAY.
Magnus the Blind then went to Denmark to King Eirik Eimune, where he was well received. He offered the king to follow him if he would invade Norway with