The king replies, "It may be with regard to this man very differently, and if he is belied in any respect he must be a good man; and if not, he is the boldest I have ever met with: and Ibelieve this is the case, and that he will bear witness to it himself."At the desire of the people, the king took Sigurd's obligation to take the iron ordeal; he should come the following day to Lygra, where the bishop should preside at the ordeal; and so the Thing closed.The king went back to Lygra, and Sigurd and his comrades to their ship.
As soon as it began to be dark at night Sigurd said to his ship's people."To say the truth, we have come into a great misfortune;for a great lie is got up against us, and this king is a deceitful, crafty man.Our fate is easy to be foreseen where he rules; for first he made Thoralf be slain, and then made us the misdoers, without benefit of redemption by fine.For him it is an easy matter to manage the iron ordeal, so that I fear he will come ill off who tries it against him.Now there is coming a brisk mountain breeze, blowing right out of the sound and off the land; and it is my advice that we hoist our sail, and set out to sea.Let Thrand himself come with his wool to market another summer; but if I get away, it is my opinion I shall never think of coming to Norway again."His comrades thought the advice good, hoisted their sail, and in the night-time took to the open sea with all speed.They did not stop until they came to Farey, and home to Gata.Thrand was ill-pleased with their voyage, and they did not answer him in a very friendly way; but they remained at home, however, with Thrand.
The morning after, King Olaf heard of Sigurd's departure, and heavy reports went round about this case; and there were many who believed that the accusation against Sigurd was true, although they had denied and opposed it before the king.King Olaf spoke but little about the matter, but seemed to know of a certainty that the suspicion he had taken up was founded in truth.The king afterwards proceeded in his progress, taking up his abode where it was provided for him.
146.OF THE ICELANDERS.
King Olaf called before him the men who had come from Iceland, Thorod Snorrason, Geller Thorkelson, Stein Skaptason, and Egil Halson, and spoke to them thus: -- "Ye have spoken to me much in summer about making yourselves ready to return to Iceland, and Ihave never given you a distinct answer.Now I will tell you what my intention is.Thee, Geller, I propose to allow to return, if thou wilt carry my message there; but none of the other Icelanders who are now here may go to Iceland before I have heard how the message which thou, Geller, shalt bring thither has been received."When the king had made this resolution known, it appeared to those who had a great desire to return, and were thus forbidden, that they were unreasonably and hardly dealt with, and that they were placed in the condition of unfree men.In the meantime Geller got ready for his journey, and sailed in summer (A.D.
1026) to Iceland, taking with him the message he was to bring before the Thing the following summer (A.D.1027).The king's message was, that he required the Icelanders to adopt the laws which he had set in Norway, also to pay him thane-tax and nose-tax (1); namely, a penny for every nose, and the penny at the rate of ten pennies to the yard of wadmal (2).At the same time he promised them his friendship if they accepted, and threatened them with all his vengeance if they refused his proposals.
The people sat long in deliberation on this business; but at last they were unanimous in refusing all the taxes and burdens which were demanded of them.That summer Geller returned back from Iceland to Norway to King Olaf, and found him in autumn in the east in Viken, just as he had come from Gautland; of which Ishall speak hereafter in this story of King Olaf.Towards the end of autumn King Olaf repaired north to Throndhjem, and went with his people to Nidaros, where he ordered a winter residence to be prepared for him.The winter (A.D.1027) that he passed here in the merchant-town of Nidaros was the thirteenth year of his reign.
ENDNOTES:
(1) Nefgildi (nef=nose), a nose-tax or poll-tax payable to the king.This ancient "nose-tax" was also imposed by the Norsemen on conquered countries, the penalty for defaulters being the loss of their nose.
(2) Wadmal was the coarse woollen cloth made in Iceland, and so generally used for clothing that it was a measure of value in the North, like money, for other commodities.-- L.
147.OF THE JAMTALAND PEOPLE.
There was once a man called Ketil Jamte, a son of Earl Onund of Sparby, in the Throndhjem district.He fled over the ridge of mountains from Eystein Illrade, cleared the forest, and settled the country now called the province of Jamtaland.A great many people joined him from the Throndhjem land, on account of the disturbances there; for this King Eystein had laid taxes on the Throndhjem people, and set his dog, called Saur, to be king over them.Thorer Helsing was Ketil's grandson, and he colonised the province called Helsingjaland, which is named after him.When Harald Harfager subdued the kingdom by force, many people fled out of the country from him, both Throndhjem people and Naumudal people, and thus new settlements were added to Jamtaland; and some settlers went even eastwards to Helsingjaland and down to the Baltic coast, and all became subjects of the Swedish king.
