But Magnus commanded:
‘Let the shrine be opened at once. I fear no man alive or dead.’
So his will was done and when the jewelled shrine was opened, all saw the body of holy Olaf lying incorrupt and fair as if alive. Magnus touched it with his hands, but was suddenly seized with a great fear. He went away in haste, but took with him the lovely crystal cup that lay beside the Saint.
The next night in his sleep he had a vision of King Olaf, majestic and stern, who said to him:
‘Choose, I tell you, one of two things, either to lose your kingdom and life within thirty days, or to leave Norway and never see it again.’
Magnus awoke and called his chiefs and great men to tell them of his vision.
‘Oh king,’ they cried in fear. ‘Leave Norway with all speed, and keep thy life and kingship.’
So Magnus, who was the last of our great Sea Kings, got together a fleet of 160 long ships, each with twenty or thirty rowers’ benches, and with bows carved in the shape of dragons. He loved the sea, and, like a true Viking, he used to say:
‘I will never sleep under a sooty rafter nor drink in the chimney corner.’
Away he sailed to the Orkneys; he conquered them and all the Western Islands, and came to Mann. He put in at Saint Patrick’s Isle and went to see the site of the Battle of Santwat near Peel, which had been fought three days before between the Manx of north and south. The beauty of our island pleased his eyes and he chose it for his dwelling-place. He made the men of Galloway cut timber and bring it over to make three forts for him. In one of them, near Douglas, he placed the Cup of Peace, which he knew would be well guarded by the Lhiannan Shee, the Peace Fairy who never left it.