Fire the Scottish kingdom ravaged—
All reduced to smoking ashes;
Great the mischief done that summer
By the mighty Slaughter-Teacher;
Three times were the luckless Scotsmen
By the Prince completely vanquished.
After this Thorfinn went through Scotland to the north, till he reached his ships, and subdued the country wherever he went, and did not stop till he came to Caithness, where he spent the winter; but every season after this he went out on expeditions, and plundered in the summer time with all his men.
CHAPTER VII
OF THE FAMOUS DEEDS OF EARL THORFINN.
Earl Thorfinn made himself famous in the Orkneys by entertaining his own men and many other men of note throughout the winter, so that no one had to go to inns—providing food and drink at his own charges, in the same manner as chiefs in other countries, Kings, and Earls entertain their henchmen and guests at Christmas time. About this time Earl Brúsi died, and Earl Thorfinn took possession of all the islands. But of Rögnvald, Brúsi’s son, it is said that he was in the battle of Stiklestad[[257]] when King Olaf was killed. Rögnvald escaped, with other fugitives, and carried away King Olaf’s brother, Harald Sigurdson, who was dangerously wounded, and brought him to a small Bondi to be cured; but he himself crossed the Kjöl,[[258]] and went to Jamtaland, and thence to Sweden to see King Onund. Harald stayed with the Bondi until he had recovered from his wounds. The Bondi then gave him his son as an attendant, and he went through Jamtaland to Sweden secretly. At their parting, which took place in a certain copse, Harald sang:
Though now thus here and there I’m hunted