When King Magnus came to the Orkneys, he seized the Earls Paul and Erlend, and sent them east to Norway, but placed his son Sigurd over the Isles, and gave him counsellors. King Magnus went to the Sudreyar (Hebrides), accompanied by Magnus and Erling, the sons of Earl Erlend, and Hákon, Paul’s son. But when King Magnus came to the Islands, he began hostilities first at Liódhús (Lewis), and gained a victory there. In this expedition he subdued the whole of the Sudreyar, and seized Lögman, the son of Gudröd, King of the Western Islands. Thence he went to Bretland (Wales), and fought a great battle in Anglesea Sound with two British chiefs[[289]]—Hugh the Stout and Hugh the Bold. When the men took up their arms and buckled for the fight, Magnus, Erlend’s son, sat down on the foredeck, and did not take his arms. The King asked why he did not do so. He said he had nothing against any one there, and would not therefore fight.

The King said: “Go down below, and do not lie among other people’s feet if you dare not fight, for I do not believe that you do this from religious motives.”

Magnus took a psalter and sang during the battle, and did not shelter himself. The battle was long and fiercely contested, and both swords and missiles were used. For a long time the result of the battle was doubtful. King Magnus shot from a bow, and a man from Hálogaland[[290]] was with him. Hugh the Bold fought valiantly. He had a suit of armour which covered him entirely, except his eyes. King Magnus ordered the man from Hálogaland to shoot at the same time as he did, and they shot both at once. One of the arrows struck the nose-piece of the helmet, and the other pierced the eye, and that was said to be the king’s arrow.

CHAPTER XXX
KALI’S DEATH.

After Hugh’s death the British (Normans) fled, and King Magnus obtained a great victory. He lost there many brave men, and many others were wounded. Kali had received many wounds, but none mortal. After the battle King Magnus sailed from the south along the coasts of Bretland and Scotland, having conquered all the Sudreyar and Anglesea, which is one-third of Bretland.

King Magnus had appointed Magnus, Erlend’s son, as one of the waiters at his table, and he performed continually the duties of that office; but after the battle in Anglesea Sound the king showed that Magnus had incurred his serious displeasure. He had not been wounded, although he had not sheltered himself. During the night he stole away from the King, and hid himself for some time in the woods, while the King’s men made a search for him. Magnus made his way to the court of Malcolm,[[291]] the King of Scots, and remained there a while. For some time he was with a certain bishop in Bretland. He was also in England; but he did not come to the Orkneys while King Magnus was alive.

King Magnus held northward, along the coasts of Scotland, and messengers came to him from Malcolm, the King of Scots, to ask for peace. They said that the King of Scots was willing to give him all the islands lying west of Scotland, between which and the mainland he could pass in a vessel with the rudder shipped. Thereupon King Magnus landed in Satiri (Kintyre), and had a boat drawn across the neck (isthmus) of Satiri,[[292]] he himself holding the helm, and thus he gained possession of the whole of Satiri, which is better than the best island of the Sudreyar, Man excepted. It is in the west of Scotland, and on the land side there is a narrow isthmus, across which vessels are frequently drawn. Thence King Magnus went to the Sudreyar, and sent his men into Scotland’s Fiord.[[293]] They rowed in along one coast and out along another, and thus took possession of all the islands west of Scotland.

Then the King made it known that he was going to spend the winter in the Sudreyar, but gave permission to those who had most urgent business to go home. When the troops knew this, they all wished to go home, and murmured greatly at being longer detained. The King then held a council with his advisers, and looked at the wounds of his men. He saw Kali, and asked about his wounds. Kali said they did not heal well, and that he did not know what the end would be. The King asked for his advice. Kali said: “Is it not so that your friends are now failing you?” The King said he did not think so. Kali asked him to hold a wapinschaw, and thus to ascertain the number of his troops. This the King did; then he missed many men. This he told to Kali. Then Kali sang:

How do thy great chiefs repay thee

For the bounties lavished on them?