CHAPTER XCVII
EARL ERLEND’S DEATH.
Five nights before Christmas, Swein, Asleif’s son, went east to Sandvik,[[423]] to his kinswoman Sigríd, because he had to make peace between her and her neighbour by name Björn. Before he went away he told Earl Erlend to sleep on board by night, and not to be less on his guard that he himself was absent. Swein spent one night with his kinswoman Sigríd. A tenant and dear friend of Sigríd’s, by name Gisl, asked Swein to stay with him, as he had been brewing ale, and wished to entertain him. When they came to Gisl they were told that Earl Erlend had not gone on board that night; and as soon as Swein heard it, he sent Margad, Grim’s son, and two other men to the Earl, and asked him to pay heed to his advice, although he had not done so the preceding night, and then he added: “I suspect that I shall not have long to provide for this Earl.”
Margad and his companions found Earl Erlend, and told him Swein’s words. The Earl’s men said: “He is a strange man; sometimes he is afraid of nothing, at other times he is so frightened that he does not know where to look for shelter to himself or others.” They said they would sleep quietly on shore, and not go on board. The Earl said they should do as Swein advised them, and he went on board with four-and-twenty men; the others slept at a house. Margad went to another creek, not far away. This very night the Earls Rögnvald and Harald surprised Earl Erlend, and neither the watchmen who kept guard on the island nor those on board the ship perceived them until they were climbing on board. A man named Orm and another Ufi were in the forepart of the Earl’s ship. Ufi jumped up and tried to rouse the Earl, but could not, for he was dead-drunk. Then he took him in his arms, and jumped overboard with him into a boat alongside the ship, and Orm jumped overboard on the other side, and escaped on shore. There Earl Erlend was slain, and most of those on board. Margad and his men were awakened during the night by the battle-cry, and took to their oars, and rowed round the headland. It was clear moonlight, and they saw when the Earls went away; and they felt sure that fate had decided between them. They rowed away first to Rennadal (Rendale), and sent men to Swein, Asleif’s son, to tell him what they had seen. Earl Harald wished to give Earl Erlend’s men peace, but Earl Rögnvald wished to wait, in order to know whether the Earl’s body would be found or not. The body was found two nights before Yule. A spear was seen standing in a heap of seaweed; and that spear was fast in Earl Erlend’s body.[[424]] Then it was brought to church, and peace was given to the Earl’s men, as well as to four of Swein’s men who had been taken.
A man named Jón Vœng was a sister’s son of that Jón Vœng who was mentioned before.[[425]] He had been with Hákon Karl, and had a child by his sister; then he ran away, and was with Anakol on piratical expeditions; but now he was with Erlend, yet he was not in the battle. All Erlend’s men went to Kirkiuvag, and took refuge in St. Magnus’s church. The Earls went there, and a meeting for peace-making was held in the church. The Earls would not pardon Jón until he promised to marry the woman. All the men swore oaths of fealty to the Earls, and Jón Vœng became Earl Harald’s steward.
CHAPTER XCVIII
SWEIN SLAYS ERLEND.
After Earl Erlend’s death Swein, Asleif’s son, went to Rennadal (Rendale), and there he saw Margad, who was able to give him all the tidings of what happened in Daminsey. Then Swein went to Hrólfsey (Rousay), and arrived there at high-water. He and his men brought all the tackle of the ships on shore, and placed it in safety. They divided themselves among the farms, and kept watch on the movements of the Earls and other chiefs. Swein, Asleif’s son, mounted the hill with five men, and went down to the sea on the other side; they hid themselves at the homestead in the darkness, and heard a great talking. There were Thorfinn, his son Ogmund, and their brother-in-law Erlend.[[426]] He boasted of having given Earl Erlend the death-blow, and all of them were declaring they had done right well. When Swein heard this, he and his companions went in upon them. Swein was quickest, and immediately dealt Erlend a death-blow. They took Thorfinn prisoner, and brought him away; but Ogmund was wounded. Swein went to Thingavöll,[[427]] to his father’s brother Helgi; and there they spent the first days of Yule in hiding. Earl Rögnvald went to Daminsey, but Earl Harald was at Kirkiuvag during Yule-tide. Earl Rögnvald sent men to Thingavöll, to Helgi, and asked him to tell his kinsman Swein, if he knew anything of his whereabouts, that Earl Rögnvald invited him to spend the Yule with him, and he would try to make peace between him and Earl Harald. When Swein received this message, he went to Earl Rögnvald, and remained with him during the rest of the Yule-tide, and was well treated.
CHAPTER XCIX
OF EARL HARALD AND SWEIN, ASLEIF’S SON.
After Christmas a meeting was appointed to make peace between the Earls and Swein, when they should finally settle all matters about which reconciliation had been made. When they met, Earl Rögnvald took great pains to make peace between them. Others, however, who were not Swein’s friends or kinsmen, spoke against him, saying that he would always be causing disturbances if he were not expelled from the Islands. At last, however, they agreed upon this—that Swein should pay a mark of gold to each of the Earls, and should keep one-half of his estates and a good long-ship.
When Swein heard the award, he replied: “Our agreement will be good only in case I am not oppressed.”
Earl Rögnvald would not accept the payment from Swein, saying that he would in no way oppress him, as he considered his faithfulness and friendship worth more than money.