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,