¶ In great love dwelt Ulf Uspakson with King Harald; a very wise man was he, eloquent, strong, large-hearted, & resourceful. King Harald created him his marshal and gave him in wedlock Jorun the daughter of Thorberg whose daughter, to wit Thora, was wife to King Harald. The children of Ulf and Jorun were Joan the Strong of Rasvold, & Brigida, the mother of Sheep-Wolf, who was the father of Peter Burden-Swain[§] who again was the father of Ulf Fly and of the other brothers and sisters of this latter. The son of Joan the Strong was Erling, he that was the father of Archbishop Eystein and his brothers. ¤ King Harald gave Ulf the Marshal the rights of a feudatory and a grant of twelve marks with more than half a folkland in Throndhjem; this according to Stein Herdison in the lay of Ulf.
¶ Now it came to pass that King Magnus Olafson had caused the church of Saint Olaf[§] to be builded in Nidaros on the self-same spot whereon his father’s body had rested for a night, and this spot was then above the town; there too builded he the King’s-House. ¤ The church was not finished when the King died. Harald completed that which was lacking to the church, and in the yard thereof laid he the foundation of a stone hall, but this was not ready before he set to work to build the church of Saint Mary up on the sand-bank, nigh the spot where the holy body of the King lay buried that first winter after his death. ¤ It was a great minster and so firmly was it builded with lime that it scarce could be broken when Archbishop Eystein had it pulled down. ¤ In the church of Saint Olaf were preserved ye relics of King Olaf[§] whiles the church of St. Mary was abuilding. ¤ King Harald builded a King’s-House below the church of Mary, by the river, where it now stands; & the hall which he had builded before, dedicated he to the church of Saint Gregory.[§]
¶ A certain man there was named Ivar the White, who was a bold feudatory; his seat lay in the Uplands, and himself was a grandson of Earl Hakon the Great. In appearance was Ivar exceeding comely. The son of Ivar was named Hakon, and it hath been said of him that he surpassed all the men in Norway at that time for strength and courage & ability; he was much in warfare in his youth & made great advancement for himself, and later was he a very famous man.
¶ Einar Thamberskelfir was the most powerful of the feudatories in Throndhjem; little friendship throve there betwixt himself & Harald, natheless retained he the land-dues which had pertained to him during the lifetime of Magnus. ¤ Einar was an exceedingly wealthy man; he was wedded to Bergliot daughter of Earl Hakon, as hath been writ before. Eindrid, their son, was now full-grown, and had to wife Sigrid the daughter of Ketil Calf and of Gunhild, the niece of King Harald through her mother. ¤ Eindrid inherited fairness and beauty from the kindred of his mother, to wit, Earl Hakon and his sons; and from his father, Einar, gat he height and strength and the craft which Einar had above all other men; a very hearty man was Eindrid withal.
¶ Orm was the name of a certain Earl in the Uplands, and his mother was Ragnhild the daughter of Earl Hakon the Great. This Orm was a very excellent man. ¤ In those days Aslak Erlingson lived eastward at Soli in Jadar; he had to wife Sigrid the daughter of Earl Svein Hakonson. ¤ Gunhild, another daughter to Earl Svein, was wedded to the Danish King Svein Ulfson. This anent the offspring in Norway of Earl Hakon at that time, and moreover anent many other bold men; all of the line of Earl Hakon were more comely than other folk and the most of them were very able men, but all were brave.
¶ King Harald loved power, & this grew according as he took root in the land; to so great an extent did it wax that in the case of most men it bootless was to speak against him, or to bring forward other matters than those which were to his mind. Thus saith Thiodolf the Skald:
‘The men of the war-wont chieftain
All humble have to sit or stand
There in such place as the stern king desireth;
Before the filler of ravens bend many men,