¶ Now the Wendish King Burizlaf did make complaint to his son-in-law, Earl Sigvaldi, because the pact had been broken which Sigvaldi had made between King Burizlaf and King Svein: to wit, that King Burizlaf should have Tyri Haraldsdottir, King Svein’s sister, to wife; for this marriage had never come about, inasmuch as Tyri had said shortly ‘Nay’ to wedding a heathen and an old man to boot. King Burizlaf now sent word unto the Earl that he would demand the fulfilment of the pact, & bade the Earl go to Denmark & bring Queen Tyri to him. ¤ Then did Earl Sigvaldi hie him on his journey, and laid he the matter before the Danish King; and by his fair words came he even so far that into his hands gave King Svein his sister Tyri. With her went certain women to bear her company & do her service, & her foster-father, whose name was Ozur Agason, a wealthy man; & sundry other men withal. It was agreed between the King & the Earl that Tyri should have the estates in Wendland which had belonged to Queen Gunnhild, and that she should be given other great lands in dowry. ¤ Tyri wept sorely and departed very much against her will; but natheless when she and the Earl were come to Wendland was she wedded, & so King Burizlaf had Queen Tyri to wife. ¤ But ever so long as she was among heathens would she take neither meat nor drink from them, and in this wise was it for a sennight. Then right so one night fled away Queen Tyri and Ozur in the darkness unto the forests; and of this their journey it is briefest to recount that they attained Denmark, but there durst Tyri by no means remain inasmuch as her brother King Svein would, an he knew where she lay, have sent her back again to Wendland. ¤ So faring ever by stealth went they to Norway, and Tyri made no stay until she was come to King Olaf, who made her welcome, and gave them high entertainment. To the King Tyri told of her troubles, and begged counsel of him and sanctuary in his kingdom. Now Tyri had a smooth tongue in her head, and the King liked her converse well; moreover he saw that she was passing fair, & it entered into his mind that this would be a good marriage, and he turned the talking thereunto and asked her whether she would not have him to husband. But with her fortunes at the pass at which they now lay seemed it a hard thing to her to judge; yet on the other hand plainly perceived she how good a marriage it would be to wed with so famous a King, and therefore entreated she him that he should make decision on the matter for her. Thereafter, when this thing had been duly discussed, took King Olaf Queen Tyri in wedlock; and they were abed in the autumn when King Olaf was come north from Halogaland. ¤ That winter abode King Olaf and Queen Tyri in Nidaros. ¤ Now in the spring-time thereafter oft-times did Tyri make plaint to King Olaf, and cried bitterly thereover, because albeit had she such great possessions in Wendland yet had she none in this country, and that she should have such deemed she but seemly for a Queen; & thinking that by fair words would she get her own prayed she him on this matter, and said that so great was the friendship between King Burizlaf & Olaf that even so soon as they should meet would the King give Olaf all he asked for. But when the friends to King Olaf came to know after what fashion was the manner of talking of Tyri with one consent gave they all counsel to him to refrain from such a course. One day early in the spring, so it is said, as the King was walking in the street came a man towards him from the market-place bearing many sticks of angelica, which same were wondrous big, seeing that it was early in the spring-tide. And the King took a large stick of angelica in his hand & went home therewith to the lodging of Queen Tyri. Now Tyri sat a-weeping in her hall even as the King came in, but he said to her: ‘Here is a great stalk of angelica for thee.’ Aside thrust Tyri it with her hand, and said: ‘Greater gifts gave Harald Gormson to me, but lesser feared he than thou dost to leave his land and seek his own, and the token thereof is that fared he hither to Norway and laid waste the greater part of this land and took to himself all taxes and dues; but durst thou not fare through the Danish realm for fear of my brother King Svein.’ Then up sprang King Olaf at these words, & called out loudly, and swore withal: ‘Never will I go in fear of thy brother King Svein, and whensoever we meet shall he be the one to give way.’
¶ Not long after these things summoned King Olaf a Thing in the town, and made known to all the people that in the summer would he send an host out of the country, and that it was his will to levy ships & men from each county, & therewith did he make it known how many ships he should require from the fjord there. ¤ Then sent he messengers inland both northwards and southwards, and along the coast on the outside of the islands and inside them along the land, and called men to arms. ¤ Thereafter did King Olaf launch the ‘Long Serpent’ & all his other ships great & small; and the ‘Long Serpent’ he himself steered, and when men were taken for a crew, with so much care was choice made that on the ‘Long Serpent’ was there no man older than sixty nor younger than twenty. All were chosen with the utmost care for their strength and courage, & the first taken were King Olaf’s body-guard, for composed it was of the stoutest & boldest men both from home and abroad.
¶ Wolf the Red was the name of the man who bore the banner of King Olaf, and his place was in the prow of the ‘Serpent’; there likewise were Kolbiorn the Marshal, Thorstein Ox-foot and Vikar of Tiundaland, the brother of Arnliot Gellini. Of the forecastle in the prow were Vak Raumason of the River, Bersi the Strong, On the Archer of Jamtaland, Thrond the Stout from Thelemark and Othyrmi his brother; and the Halogalanders Thrond Squint-eye, Ogmund Sande, Lodvir the Long, from Saltvik, and Harek the Keen. ¤ From Inner Throndhjem were there Ketil the Tall, Thorfin Eisli, and Havard and his brothers from Orkadal. Those manning the forehold were Biorn of Studla, Thorgrim Tiodolfson of Hvin, Asbiorn & Orm, Thord of Niardalang, Thorstein the White of Oprostad, Anor of More, Hallstein and Hawk from the Fjords, Eyvind Snak, Bergthor Bestil, Hallkel of Fialir, Olaf the Boy, Arnfin of Sogn, Sigurd Bild, Einar the Hordalander and Fin, Ketil the Rogalander, and Griotgard the Quick. In the main-hold were Einar Tamberskelfir, deemed by the others less able than they for then was he but eighteen winters old, Hallstein Hlifarson, Thorolf, Ivar Smetta, and Orm Skoganef. ¤ Many other men of valour were there on the ‘Serpent’ though we cannot name them; eight were there to a half-berth, and chosen man by man. It was a common saying that the crew of the ‘Serpent’ was for goodliness, strength, and boldness, as much above other men as the ‘Serpent’ herself was above other ships. ¤ Thorkel Nefia, own brother to the King, steered the ‘Short Serpent,’ and Thorkel Dydril and Jostein, they that were uncles to him on the side of his mother, commanded the ‘Crane’; right well manned were these twain ships. Moreover had King Olaf eleven great ships from Throndhjem, ships of twenty benches, two smaller ships and victuallers.
¶ When King Olaf had completed the equipping of his fleet at Nidaros, appointed he men throughout the whole of the district of Throndhjem to be stewards collecting revenue, and annalists. He then sent to Iceland Gizur the White & Hialti Skeggison to convert that country to Christianity, and sent he with them that priest whose name is Thormod and other consecrated men, but kept back with him as hostages the four men of Iceland they that he deemed to be of greatest mark, to wit, Kiartan Olafson, Halldor Gudmundson, Kolbein Thordson and Sverting Runolfson; and it is said of the journey of Gizur & Hialti that they were come unto Iceland or ever the meeting of the Althing & were present at the Thing, and thereat was baptism legalized in Iceland and that summer all folk were brought into the true fold.
¶ The same spring likewise sent King Olaf Leif Eirikson to Greenland to convert the people, and fared he thither that summer. On the main found he the crew of a ship who were lying helpless on a wreck, and thereafter he discovered Vineland the Good,[§] yet came he the same summer to Greenland; and with him had he a priest and teachers, and he took up his abode at Brattalid with his father Eirik. Thereafter did men call him Leif the Lucky; but Eirik, his father, said that the one thing was a set-off to the other: on the one hand was the saving of the ship’s crew by Leif & on the other the bringing to Greenland of that ‘juggler,’ to wit, the priest.
¶ Then took King Olaf his host southward following the coast, and many of his friends flocked to him, mighty men, who were bravely furnished for an expedition with the King. The first man of these was own brother-in-law to himself, Erling Skialgson with his large ‘skeid’[§] wherein were thirty benches, and right well manned was she withal. There came also to him his brothers-in-law Hyrning and Thorgeir, each steering a large ship. Many other mighty men accompanied him, so that when he left the country had he thirty long-ships. King Olaf sailed south through Eyrasund, off the coasts of Denmark, and in due course came he to Wendland. ¤ There appointed he a tryst with King Burizlaf, and the Kings met and spake together of the possessions claimed of King Olaf, and all the talk between them went in kindly wise and the claims whereof King Olaf deemed himself to have rights there were fully ordered. ¤ Abode he there a long while during the summer, and saw many of his friends.
¶ As hath been related ere this, King Svein Two-beard had wedded Sigrid the Haughty, & Sigrid was King Olaf’s greatest foe, the reason therefor being how King Olaf had broken his troth with her, as has been afore set in fair script, and how he had smote her on the face. ¤ Sigrid incited King Svein to do battle with King Olaf Tryggvason, saying pretext enough was it that he had wedded the own sister to Svein, she Tyri, without his leave: ‘And never would thy forefathers have suffered such a thing.’ Such words as these had Queen Sigrid ever on her lips, and so far went she with her persuasions that King Svein was full willing to do battle with Olaf. So early in spring-tide sent King Svein men east to Sweden, to Olaf the Swedish King, he that was his step-son, & to Earl Eirik, to tell them that Olaf King of Norway had his fleet abroad, and thought of faring to Wendland come summer; another message took they likewise, namely that the Swedish King and the Earl should call out their hosts and go to meet King Svein, and that then altogether they should get their battle over against King Olaf. Now the King of Sweden and Eirik the Earl were ready and eager for this venture, so mustered they a large fleet in Sweden, and with the ships thereof went south to Denmark and came thither at the time when King Olaf had already sailed east. Of this speaketh Halldor in the song he made about Earl Eirik:
‘Crusher of Kings who battles loved,
From out of Sweden called,