heretofore. So Olaf went to him & communed with him, & asked him to prophesy about his future, whether or not he would win himself a kingdom or other good fortune. Then answered the prophet with saintly prophecy: ‘Thou wilt be a glorious King, & do glorious deeds, to faith & christening wilt thou bring many men, and thou wilt help thereby both thyself & many others. But to the end that thou shalt not doubt about this mine answer take this for a token: Hard by thy ships shalt thou meet with guile & with foemen, & thou shalt do battle; and of thy men some shall fall and thou thyself shalt be wounded. From that wound wilt thou be nigh unto death and be borne on a shield to thy ship; yet of thy hurt shalt thou be whole within a sennight and shall shortly thereafter accept Christianity.’ Then Olaf went down to the ships, & verily did meet with the warlike men who would slay him & his followers, & their combat ended even as the hermit had foretold, to wit, in such manner that Olaf was indeed borne out to his ship on a shield & likewise was whole again after a sennight. Then Olaf felt assured in his mind that it was the truth that this seer had told him, and that of a truth was he a wise soothsayer, whencesoever might he have his gift of prophecy. So Olaf a second time went unto him and held much talk with him, and questioned him closely as to whence he gat the wisdom to foretell what was to come. And the hermit saith that the God of the men that were baptized Himself causeth him to know all that He wisheth. Then recounted he to Olaf the mighty works of God, & after these persuasions Olaf assented unto Christianity, & it befell that he was there baptized, & all the men that were with him. In that place abode he a long time and learned the true Faith, and in his train bore away with him priests & other learned men.
¶ From the Isles of Scilly Olaf hied in the autumn to England, and there lay he in a certain haven & lived in peace, for England was a Christian land & now was he likewise a Christian man.
¶ Now there went throughout the land a summons to a certain Thing, that all men should come to the Thing, & when there was assemblage thither came to it a queen whose name was Gyda.[§] ¤ She was the sister of Olav Kvaran who was King of Dublin, which is in Ireland, and she had been married to a powerful earl in England who was now dead, but after him she yet ruled his dominion. ¤ Now there was a man in her dominions whose name was Alwin, a mighty champion & ‘holmgangsman.’§ ¤ Alwin had wooed Gyda, but she had made answer that she herself would make choice whom she would have among the men of her dominion, and forasmuch as she would choose herself a husband was this Thing convened. Thereto likewise came Alwin decked out in his best raiment, and many others were there apparelled also in their best. Now Olaf too was come thither, & he was clad in his bad-weather raiment, wearing a cloak exceeding rough; and he stood with his followers somewhat aloof from the others. Gyda walked hither & thither among the men, gazing at each one favoured in her eyes; but when she was come to where Olaf held his ground looked she searchingly up into his face and asked of what manner of man was he. Then did he make answer that he was Oli, and said: ‘I am not of the country born nor bred.’ Saith Gyda: ‘Wilt thou have me? Even upon that then will I choose thee.’ ‘I will not say nay to it,’ quoth he, and asked her name and lineage. ‘I am,’ said she, ‘a King’s daughter of Ireland, but I was wedded into this country, to an earl who held dominion here. Since the time that he died have I ruled the land; divers men have wooed me, but none that I would wed, & my name is Gyda.’ ¤ Youthful was she and fair, and Olaf and she communed over this matter even until they became of one accord, and thereafter was Olaf betrothed to Gyda. This was but sour in the mouth of Alwin, but there was a custom in England that when two contended about a matter they should meet in single combat, and Alwin therefore bade Olaf Tryggvason fight with him on this matter. ¤ The time and place were appointed, & on either side were there chosen twelve men. Then when they were met said Olaf unto his men that they were to do even as he did, and a great axe had he in his hand. Now as Alwin was minded to drive his sword into him Olaf struck it out of his hand, & at the second stroke Alwin himself so that he fell to the ground. Then did Olaf bind him fast, & in this manner also was treatment meted out to the men that were with Alwin, to wit, to be beaten and bound, and thereafter were taken home to Olaf’s lodging. Then did he bid Alwin depart from out the land & nevermore therein set foot again, and thereafter Olaf took possession of all his lands.
¶ So it came to pass that Olaf wedded Gyda & abode for the most part in England, but sometimes in Ireland. Once when Olaf was out on a foray, it fell that it was needful that they should foray ashore for provisions, and accordingly went his men to land and drove down a number of cattle to the shore. Then came a peasant after them & prayed Olaf give him back his cows, & Olaf bade him take his cows could he find them; ‘but let him not delay our journey.’ The peasant had with him a big cattle-dog. This dog sent he into the herd of neat whereof were being driven many hundreds, and the animal hither and thither ran among the drove, singling out as many cows as the peasant said he owned, and all of them were marked in the same manner. ¤ Now knowing that the dog had chosen rightly it seemed to them that this was passing clever, and so Olaf asked of the peasant whether he would give him the dog. ‘Willingly,’ answered he, and Olaf in exchange therefor gave him a gold ring, and the promise of his friendship. ¤ That dog was named Vigi, and it was the best of all dogs; Olaf had pleasure in him for a long time thereafter.
¶ Now it came to the ears of the King of Denmark, even to him hight Harald Gormson, that Earl Hakon had cast aside Christianity & had pillaged in the country pertaining to the King of Denmark who thereon gathered together an host, & thereafter fared to Norway. ¤ And when he was come to the realm over which Earl Hakon had rule harried he there, laying bare all the land. Then led he his host to the islets which are called Solunder. Five homesteads alone stood unburned in Lardal, in Sogn, and all the folk of the valley were fled to the mountains and forests, taking with them such of their chattels as they might carry. Thereafter the Danish King was minded to take his hosts to Iceland to avenge the mockery of the Icelanders, for it happened that they had made malicious verses about him. ¤ Now a law had been made in Iceland to the end that for every soul in the country one lampoon should be made on the Danish King, and the reason therefor was to this wise, to wit, that a ship pertaining to men of Iceland had stranded on the coast of Denmark & the Danes had taken all the cargo thereon, calling it flotsam. ¤ The man who had had the chief concern in this matter was one Birger, the King’s steward. Jests were made both on him and on the King, and this is one of them:
‘When the fight-wonted Harald rode the sea-steed from the south
In the shape of Faxe,
The slayer of Vandals as wax became altogether as impotent.
Birger by guardian sprites outcast in mare’s shape met him
As all men did behold.’
¶ Now King Harald bade a warlock betake him to Iceland in one or other guise, that he might bring him back tidings of the country. ¤ And the warlock set forth in the shape of a whale, and when he was come thither to Iceland he went along the north side of the coast, and he saw that all the mountains and hills were full of guardian spirits, some large & others small. When he was arrived at Vapnafjord there went he up and was like to have gone ashore when, lo! a great dragon came down from the valley, & in its company many serpents, toads, and vipers, and these beasts belched venom at him. So swam he away westward all alongside the land even the whole way until he was come to the mouth of the Eyjafjord, & after he had turned up this fjord towards him there came a bird so large that its wings reached the hills on either side, and with it were a number of other birds, both large and tiny. ¤ So away fared he thence, & westward along by the land to Breidafjord, and there went he up the fjord, but a great bull came towards him bellowing after a fashion that was most horrible, & in its company were a swarm of kindred spirits. ¤ Then went he away from there and swam past Reykjanes and was about to go up on Vikarseid, but a hill giant came towards him with a staff in
