The Sagas of the Icelanders (23 page)

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Earl Hring and his brother Adils prepared their army and set off southwards towards the moor the same night. At daybreak, Thorolf and Egil’s guards saw the army approaching. Trumpets were sounded and the troops put on their armour, then formed into two columns. Earl Alfgeir commanded one of the columns with the standard at its head. In the column were the troops he had taken with him, together with others who had joined them from the countryside. It was a much larger band than the one under Thorolf and Egil’s command.

Thorolf was equipped with a broad, thick shield and a tough helmet on his head, and was girded with a sword which he called Long, a fine and trusty weapon. He carried a thrusting-spear in his hand. Its blade was two ells long and rectangular, tapering to a point at one end but thick at the other. The shaft measured only a hand’s length below the long and thick socket which joined it to the blade, but it was exceptionally stout. There was an iron spike through the socket, and the shaft was completely clad with iron. Such spears were known as ‘scrapers of mail’.

Egil was equipped like Thorolf, girded with a sword that he called Adder and had received in Courland, an outstanding weapon. Neither of them wore a coat of mail.

They raised the standard, which Thorfinn the Strong carried. All their
troops had Viking shields and other Viking weaponry, and all the Vikings who were in the army were in their column. Thorolf and his men gathered near the wood, while Alfgeir’s went along the riverside.

Realizing that they would not be able to take Thorolf by surprise, Earl Adils and his brother began to group into two columns as well, with two standards. Adils grouped his troops to face Earl Alfgeir, and Hring against the Vikings. Then battle began, and both sides marched forward bravely.

Earl Adils pressed forward until Alfgeir yielded ground. Then they advanced all the more bravely, and it was not long before Alfgeir fled. What happened to him was that he rode away south along the moor, with a band of men with him. He rode until he approached the fortress where the king was staying.

Then Earl Alfgeir said, ‘I do not want to go to the town. We were showered with abuse the last time we returned to the king after suffering defeat at King Olaf’s hands, and King Athelstan will not think our qualities have improved on this expedition. I won’t expect him to show me any honour.’

Then he set off for the south of England and what happened on his journey was that he rode night and day until he and his men reached Earlsness
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in the west. He took a ship over the channel to France, where one side of his family came from, and he never returned to England.

Adils pursued the fleeing troops a short way at first, then returned to the site of the battle and mounted an attack.

Seeing this, Thorolf swung round to face the earl and ordered his men to bring his banner there, keep on the alert and stay close together.

‘We will edge our way towards the forest,’ he said, ‘and use it to cover us from the rear, so that they cannot attack us from all sides.’

They did so and skirted the forest. A tough battle ensued. Egil attacked Adils and they fought hard. Despite the considerable difference in numbers, more of Adils’ men were killed.

Then Thorolf began fighting so furiously that he threw his shield over his back, grabbed his spear with both hands and charged forward, hacking and thrusting to either side. Men leapt out of the way all around, but he killed many of them. He cleared a path to Earl Hring’s standard, and there was no holding him back. He killed Earl Hring’s standard-bearer and chopped down the pole. Then he drove the spear through the earl’s coat of mail, into his chest and through his body so that it came out between his shoulder blades, lifted him up on it above his own head and thrust the end into the ground. Everyone saw how the earl died on the spear, both his own men and his enemies. Then Thorolf drew his sword and hacked to either side, and his men attacked. Many British and Scots were killed then, and others turned and fled.

When Earl Adils saw his brother’s death, the heavy casualties in his ranks and the men who were fleeing, he realized that the cause was lost. He turned to flee as well and ran for the forest, where he hid with his band. All the troops who had been with them fled too. They sustained heavy casualties and they scattered far and wide across the moor. Earl Adils had thrown down his standard and no one could tell whether it was he who was fleeing, or someone else. Night soon began to fall, and Thorolf and Egil returned to their camp just as King Athelstan arrived with all his army, and they put up their tents and settled down.

Shortly afterwards, King Olaf appeared with his army. They put up their tents and settled for the night where their men had already made camp. King Olaf was told that both his earls, Hring and Adils, had been killed along with many other men.

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King Athelstan had settled for the night in the fortress mentioned earlier where he had heard about the battle on the moor. He and his whole army made ready at once and went north along the moor, where they heard clear accounts of the outcome of the battle. Thorolf and Egil went to meet the king, and he thanked them for their courage and the victory they had won, pledging them his total friendship. They remained there together for the night.

King Athelstan woke his men early the next morning. He spoke to his leaders and described how his troops were to be arranged. He ordered his band to lead the way, spearheaded by the finest fighters, and put Egil in command of it.

‘Thorolf will stay with his men and some others that I will place there,’ he said. ‘This will be our second column and he will be in charge of it, because the Scots tend to break ranks, run back and forth and appear in different places. They often prove dangerous if you do not keep on the alert, but retreat if you confront them.’

Egil answered the king, ‘I do not want to be separated from Thorolf in battle, but I think we should be assigned where we are needed the most and the fighting is the heaviest.’

Thorolf said, ‘Let the king decide where he wants to assign us. We will support him as he wishes. I can take the place you have been assigned, if you want.’

Egil said, ‘You can decide, but this is an arrangement I will live to regret.’

The men formed columns as the king had ordered and raised the standards. The king’s column stood on the plain and faced towards the river, and Thorolf’s skirted the forest above it.

King Olaf saw that Athelstan had arranged his troops, and he began doing the same. He formed two columns as well, and moved his standard and the column that he commanded, to face King Athelstan and his men. Both armies were so big that it was impossible to tell which was the larger. King Olaf’s other column moved closer to the forest to face the men who were under Thorolf’s command. It was led by Scottish earls and was very large, mostly consisting of Scots.

Then the troops clashed and a great battle soon ensued. Thorolf advanced bravely and had his standard carried along the side of the forest, intending to approach the king’s men from their vulnerable side. He and his men were holding their shields in front of them, using the forest as cover to their right. Thorolf advanced so far that few of his men were in front of him, and when he was least expecting it, Earl Adils and his men ran out of the forest. Thorolf was stabbed with many spears at once and died there beside the forest. Thorfinn, his standard-bearer, retreated to where the troops were closer together, but Adils attacked them and a mighty battle ensued. The Scots let out a cry of victory when they had felled the leader.

When Egil heard their cry and saw Thorolf’s standard being withdrawn, he sensed that Thorolf could not be following it. He then ran out between the columns, and as soon as he met his men he found out what had happened. He urged them to show great courage, and led the way. Holding his sword Adder, he advanced bravely and chopped to either side, and killed many men. Thorfinn carried the standard directly behind Egil, and the rest of the men followed it. A fierce battle took place, and Egil fought on until he came to Earl Adils. They exchanged a few blows before Adils was killed, and many men around him too, and when he died the troops he had led fled the field. Egil and his men pursued them, killing everyone they could catch, and it was pointless for anyone to ask for his life to be spared. The Scottish earls did not remain very long when they saw their companions fleeing, and ran away themselves.

Egil and his men headed for the king’s column, came upon them from
their vulnerable side and soon inflicted heavy casualties. The formation broke up and disintegrated. Many of Olaf’s men fled, and the Vikings let out a cry of victory. When King Athelstan sensed that King Olaf’s column was giving way, he urged his own men forward and had his standard brought forward, launching such a fierce assault that they broke ranks and suffered heavy losses. King Olaf was killed there, along with the majority of his men, because all those who fled were killed if they were caught. King Athelstan won a great victory there.

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King Athelstan left the scene of the battle and his men pursued those who had fled. He rode back to the fortress without stopping for the night until he reached it, while Egil pursued the fleeing troops for a long time, killing every one of them that he caught. Then he returned to the scene of the battle with his band of men and found his dead brother Thorolf. He picked up his body and washed it, then dressed the corpse according to custom. They dug a grave there and buried Thorolf in it with his full weaponry and armour. Egil clasped a gold ring on to each of his arms before he left him, then they piled rocks over the grave and sprinkled it with earth. Then Egil spoke a verse:

And he spoke another verse:

Then Egil went with his band of men to see King Athelstan, and approached him where he was sitting and drinking. There was much revelry. And when the king saw Egil arrive, he gave an order to clear the lower bench for his men, and told Egil to sit in the high seat there, facing him.

Egil sat down and put his shield at his feet. He was wearing a helmet and laid his sword across his knees, and now and again he would draw it half-way out of the scabbard, then thrust it back in. He sat upright, but with his head bowed low. Egil had very distinctive features, with a wide forehead, bushy brows and a nose that was not long but extremely broad. His upper jaw was broad and long, and his chin and jawbones were exceptionally wide. With his thick neck and stout shoulders, he stood out from other men. When he was angry, his face grew harsh and fierce. He was well built and taller than other men, with thick wolf-grey hair, although he had gone bald at an early age. When he was sitting in this particular scene, he wrinkled one eyebrow right down on to his cheek and raised the other up to the roots of his hair. Egil had dark eyes and was swarthy. He refused to drink even when served, but just raised and lowered his eyebrows in turn.

King Athelstan was sitting in the high seat, with his sword laid across his knees too. And after they had been sitting there like that for a while, the king unsheathed his sword, took a fine, large ring from his arm and slipped it over the point of the sword, then stood up and walked across the floor and handed it over the fire to Egil. Egil stood up, drew his sword and walked out on to the floor. He put his sword through the ring and pulled it towards him, then went back to his place. The king sat down in his high seat. When Egil sat down, he drew the ring on to his arm, and his brow went back to normal. He put down his sword and helmet and took the drinking-horn that was served to him, and finished it. Then he spoke a verse:

From then onwards, Egil drank his full share and spoke to the others.

Afterwards, the king had two chests brought in, carried by two men each. They were both full of silver.

The king said, ‘These chests are yours, Egil. And if you go to Iceland, you will present this money to your father, which I am sending him as compensation for the death of his son. Share some of the money with Thorolf’s kinsmen, those you regard as the best. Take compensation for your brother from me here, land or wealth, whichever you prefer, and if you wish to stay with me for longer I will grant you any honour and respect that you care to name yourself.’

Egil accepted the money and thanked the king for his gift and friendship. From then on he began to cheer up, and spoke a verse:

Afterwards the men who were thought likely to survive had their wounds dressed.

Egil remained with King Athelstan for the winter after Thorolf’s death, and earned great respect from him. All the men who had been with the brothers and survived the battle stayed with him. Egil composed a drapa in praise of the king which includes the following verse:

This is the refrain in the drapa:

As a reward for his poetry, Athelstan gave Egil two more gold rings weighing a mark each, along with an expensive cloak that the king himself had worn.

When spring came, Egil announced to the king that he intended to leave for Norway that summer and find out about the situation of Asgerd, ‘who was my brother Thorolf’s wife. They have amassed plenty of wealth, but I do not know whether any of their children are still alive. I must provide for them if they are alive, but shall inherit everything if Thorolf has died childless.’

The king said, ‘While it is your decision, of course, to leave here if you feel you have duties to attend to, Egil, I would prefer you to do otherwise; stay here permanently and accept anything you care to name.’

Egil thanked the king for this offer: ‘I must leave immediately,’ he said, ‘as is my duty. But I am more likely than not to return to collect what you have promised me, when I can arrange it.’

The king invited him to do so. Then Egil made ready to leave with his men, although many remained behind with the king. Egil had a great longship with a hundred men or more on board. And when he was ready to set off and a fair wind got up, he put out to sea. He and King Athelstan parted in great friendship. He asked Egil to come back as quickly as he possibly could. Egil said he would do so.

Then Egil headed for Norway, and when he reached land he sailed straight to Fjordane. He was told that Thorir the Hersir had died and that his son Arinbjorn had succeeded to his titles and become one of the king’s men. Egil went to meet Arinbjorn and was well received by him. Arinbjorn invited him to stay there, and Egil accepted the offer. He had his ship pulled up on the beach, and his men were given places to stay. Arinbjorn took Egil and eleven other men into his house, and he spent the winter with him.