“So am I called in the west,” he said, “and I am here with two ships of twenty benches, well manned considering our means, and I wish now to join in this expedition with you, if you will accept my assistance; all my men and I myself are in God’s power and yours, my lord, on account of my great misdeeds by which I have offended you.”
In the meantime some men gathered together and listened to their conversation.
“It is true, Earl Thorfinn” (said the King), “that I intended, in case we should meet, that you should not have to tell of our parting, but now matters stand so that it does not become my dignity to have you slain, and you shall go with me now, but the terms of our reconciliation I will declare when I am more at leisure.”
Earl Thorfinn thanked the King and returned to his ship. The King stayed a long time in Seley, and men gathered to him from Vík;[[275]] for he intended to sail to Jutland when he obtained a fair wind. Thorfinn was often in conversation with the King, who treated him in a friendly manner, and had him frequently present at his councils.
One day the Earl went on board the King’s ship, and went up to the poop. The King asked him to sit down. The Earl sat down, and they both drank together and were merry. A tall brave-looking man, dressed in a red tunic, came to the poop and saluted the King, who received his greeting graciously. He was one of the King’s henchmen. He said: “I have come to see you, Earl Thorfinn.”
“What is your business with me?” said the Earl.
“I wish to know what compensation you intend to give me for my brother who was killed by your orders out west in Kirkiuvag (Kirkwall), along with others of King Magnus’s henchmen.”
“Have you never heard,” said the Earl, “that it is not my wont to pay money for the men whom I cause to be killed?”
“I have nothing to do with how you have treated other people, if you pay the manbote for him for whom it devolves on me to seek compensation. I also lost some money there myself, and was shamefully treated. It is more binding on me than any one else to seek redress for my brother and myself, and therefore I now demand it. The King may remit offences committed against himself, even if he thinks it of no importance that his henchmen are led out and slaughtered like sheep.”
The Earl answered: “I understand it to be to my advantage here that I am not in your power. Are not you the man to whom I gave quarter there?”