Sigurd died A.D. 1155, Eystein 1157, and Inge 1161.

Other literature is "Morkinskinna" and "Fagrskinna."

Sigurd Slembe is the subject of a drama by Bjornstjerne Bjornson, translated into English by William Morton Payne, and published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, 1888.

Skalds quoted are: Kolle, Einar Skulason, and Thorbjorn Skakkaskald.


1. HISTORY OF KINGS SIGURD AND INGE.

Queen Ingerid, and with her the lendermen and the court which had
been with King Harald, resolved to send a fast-sailing vessel to
Throndhjem to make known King Harald's death, and also to desire
the Throndhjem people to take King Harald's son Sigurd for king.
He was then in the north, and was fostered by Sadagyrd Bardson.
Queen Ingerid herself proceeded eastward immediately to Viken.
Inge was the name of her son by King Harald, and he was then
fostered by Amunde Gyrdson, a grandson of Logberse. When they
came to Viken a Borgar-thing was immediately called together, at
which Inge, who was in the second year of his age, was chosen
king. This resolution was supported by Amunde and Thjostolf
Alason, together with many other great chiefs. Now when the
tidings came north to Throndhjem that King Harald was murdered,
the Throndhjem people took Sigurd, King Harald's son, to be the
king; and this resolution was supported by Ottar Birting, Peter
Saudaulfson, the brothers Guthorm of Reine, and Ottar Balle, sons
of Asolf and many other great chiefs. Afterwards the whole
nation almost submitted to the brothers, and principally because
their father was considered holy; and the country took the oath
to them, that the kingly power should not go to any other man as
long as any of King Harald's sons were alive.

2. OF SIGURD SLEMBIDJAKN.

Sigurd Slembe sailed north around Stad; and when he came to North
More, he found that letters and full powers had arrived before
him from the leaders who had given in their allegiance to
Harald's sons; so that there he got no welcome or help. As
Sigurd himself had but few people with him, he resolved to go
with them to Throndhjem, and seek out Magnus the Blind; for he
had already sent a message before him to Magnus's friends. Now
when they came to the town, they rowed up the river Nid to meet
King Magnus, and fastened their land-ropes on the shore at the
king's house; but were obliged to set off immediately, for all
the people rose against them. They then landed at Monkholm, and
took Magnus the Blind out of the cloister against the will of the
monks; for he had been consecrated a monk. It is said by some
that Magnus willingly went with them; although it was differently
reported, in order to make his cause appear better. Sigurd,
immediately after Yule (January, A.D. 1137), went forth with his
suite, expecting aid from his relations and Magnus's friends, and
which they also got. Sigurd sailed with his men out of the
fjord, and was joined afterwards by Bjorn Egilson, Gunnar of
Gimsar, Haldor Sigurdson, Aslak Hakonson, the brothers Bendikt
and Eirik, and also the court which had before been with King
Magnus, and many others. With this troop they went south to
More, and down to the mouth of Raumsdal fjord. Here Sigurd and
Magnus divided their forces, and Sigurd went immediately
westwards across the sea. King Magnus again proceeded to the
Uplands, where he expected much help and strength, and which he
obtained. He remained there the winter and all the summer (A.D.
1137), and had many people with him; but King Inge proceeded
against him with all his forces, and they met at a place called
Mynne. There was a great battle, at which King Magnus had the
most people. It is related that Thjostolf Alason carried King
Inge in his belt as long as the battle lasted, and stood under
the banner; but Thjostolf was hard pressed by fatigue and
fighting; and it is commonly said that King Inge got his ill
health there, and which he retained as long as he lived, so that
his back was knotted into a hump, and the one foot was shorter
than the other; and he was besides so infirm that he could
scarcely walk as long as he lived. The defeat began to turn upon
Magnus and his men; and in the front rank of his array fell
Haldor Sigurdson, Bjorn Egilson, Gunnar of Gimsar, and a great
number of his men, before he himself would take to his horse and
fly. So says Kolle: --

"Thy arrow-storm on Mynne's banks
Fast thinn'd the foemen's strongest ranks;
Thy good sword hewed the raven's feast
On Mynne's banks up in the East.
Shield clashed on shield, and bucklers broke
Under thy battle-axe's stroke;
While thou, uncovered, urged the fray,
Thy shield and mail-coat thrown away."

And also this: --

"The king to heaven belonging fled,
When thou, in war's quick death-game bred,
Unpanzered, shieldless on the plain
His heavy steel-clad guards hadst slain.
The painted shield, and steel-plate mail,
Before thy fierce attack soon fail,
To Magnus who belongs to heaven,
Was no such fame in battle given."

Magnus fled eastward to Gautland, and then to Denmark. At that
time there was in Gautland an earl, Karl Sonason, who was a great
and ambitious man. Magnus the Blind and his men said, wherever
they happened to meet with chiefs, that Norway lay quite open to
any great chieftain who would attack it; for it might well be
said there was no king in the country, and the kingdom was only
ruled by lendermen, and, among those who had most sway, there
was, from mutual jealousy, most discord. Now Karl, being
ambitious of power, listens willingly to such speeches; collects
men, and rides west to Viken, where many people, out of fear,
submit to him. When Thjostolf Alason and Amunde heard of this,
they went with the men they could get together, and took King
Inge with them. They met Earl Karl and the Gautland army
eastward in Krokaskog, where there was a great battle and a great
defeat, King Inge gaining the victory. Munan Ogmundson, Earl
Karl's mother's brother, fell there. Ogmund, the father of
Munan, was a son of Earl Orm Eilifson, and Sigrid, a daughter of
Earl Fin Arnason. Astrid, Ogrnund's daughter, was the mother of
Earl Karl. Many others of the Gautland people fell at Krokaskog;
and the earl fled eastward through the forest. King Inge pursued
them all the way out of the kingdom; and this expedition turned
out a great disgrace to them. So says Kolle: --

"I must proclaim how our great lord
Coloured deep red his ice-cold sword;
And ravens played with Gautland bones,
And wolves heard Gautlanders' last groans.
Their silly jests were well repaid, --
In Krokaskog their laugh was laid:
Thy battle power was then well tried,
And they who won may now deride."

3. KING EIRIK'S EXPEDITION TO NORWAY.

Magnus the Blind then went to Denmark to King Eirik Eimune, where
he was well received. He offered the king to follow him if he
would invade Norway with a Danish army, and subdue the country;
saying, that if he came to Norway with his army, no man in Norway
would venture to throw a spear against him. The king allowed
himself to be moved by Magnus's persuasions, ordered a levy, and
went north to Norway with 200 ships; and Magnus and his men were
with him on this expedition. When they came to Viken, they
proceeded peacefully and gently on the east side of the fjord;
but when the fleet came westward to Tunsberg, a great number of
King Inge's lendermen came against them. Their leader was
Vatnorm Dagson, a brother of Gregorius. The Danes could not land
to get water without many of them being killed; and therefore
they went in through the fjord to Oslo, where Thjostolf Alason
opposed them. It is told that some people wanted to carry the
holy Halvard's coffin out of the town in the evening when the
fleet was first observed, and as many as could took hold of it;
but the coffin became so heavy that they could not carry it over
the church floor. The morning after, however, when they saw the
fleet sailing in past the Hofud Isle, four men carried the coffin
out of the town, and Thjostolf and all the townspeople followed
it.

4. THE TOWN OF OSLO BURNT.

King Eirik and his army advanced against the town; and some of
his men hastened after Thjostolf and his troop. Thjostolf threw
a spear at a man named Askel, which hit him under the throat, so
that the spear point went through his neck; and Thjostolf thought
he had never made a better spear-cast, for, except the place he
hit, there was nothing bare to be seen. The shrine of St.
Halvard, was taken up to Raumarike, where it remained for three
months. Thjostolf went up to Raumarike, and collected men during
the night, with whom he returned towards the town in the morning.
In the meantime King Eirik set fire to Halvard's church, and to
the town, which was entirely burnt. Thjostolf came soon after to
the town with the men he had assembled, and Eirik sailed off with
his fleet; but could not land anywhere on that side of the fjord,
on account of the troops of the lendermen who came down against
them; and wherever they attempted a landing, they left five or
six men or more upon the strand. King Inge lay with a great
number of people into Hornborusund, but when he learned this, he
turned about southwards to Denmark again. King Inge pursued him,
and took from him all the ships he could get hold of; and it was
a common observation among people, that never was so poor an
expedition made with so great an armament in another king's
dominions. King Eirik was ill pleased at it, and thought King
Magnus and his men had been making a fool of him by encouraging
him to undertake this expedition, and he declared he would never
again be such friends with them as before.

5. OF SIGURD SLEMBIDJAKN.

Sigurd Slembidjakn came that summer from the West sea to Norway,
where he heard of his relation King Magnus's unlucky expedition;
so he expected no welcome in Norway, but sailed south, outside
the rocks, past the land, and set over to Denmark, and went into
the Sound. He fell in with some Vindland cutters south of the
islands, gave them battle, and gained the victory. He cleared
eight ships, killing many of the men, and he hanged the others.

He also had a battle off the Island Mon with the Vindland men,
and gained a victory. He then sailed from the south and came to
the eastern arm of the Gaut river, and took three ships of the
fleet of Thorer Hvinantorde, and Olaf, the son of Harald Kesia,
who was Sigurd's own sister's son; for Ragnhild, the mother of
Olaf, was a daughter of King Magnus Barefoot. He drove Olaf up
the country.

Thjostolf was at this time in Konungahella, and had collected
people to defend the country, and Sigurd steered thither with his
fleet. They shot at each other, but he could not effect a
landing; and, on both sides, many were killed and many wounded.
Ulfhedin Saxolfson, Sigurd's forecastle man, fell there. He was
an Icelander, from the north quarter. Sigurd continued his
course northwards to Viken and plundered far and wide around.
Now when Sigurd lay in a harbour called Portyrja on Limgard's
coast, and watched the ships going to or coming from Viken to
plunder them, the Tunsberg men collected an armed force against
him, and came unexpectedly upon them while Sigurd and his men
were on shore dividing their booty. Some of the men came down
from the land, but some of the other party laid themselves with
their ships right across the harbour outside of them. Sigurd ran
up into his ship, and rowed out against them. Vatnorm's ship was
the nearest, and he let his ship fall behind the line, and Sigurd
rowed clear past, and thus escaped with one ship and the loss of
many men. This verse was made upon Vatnorm : --

"The water serpent, people say,
From Portyrja slipped away."

6. THE MURDER OF BEINTEIN.

Sigurd Slembidjakn sailed from thence to Denmark; and at that
time a man was lost in his ship, whose name was Kolbein
Thorliotson of Batald. He was sitting in a boat which was made
fast to the vessel, and upset because she was sailing quickly.
When they came south to Denmark, Sigurd's ship itself was cast
away; but he got to Alaborg, and was there in winter. The summer
after (A.D. 1138) Magnus and Sigurd sailed together from the
south with seven ships, and came unexpectedly in the night to
Lister, where they laid their ships on the land. Beintein
Kolbeinson, a court-man of King Inge, and a very brave man, was
there. Sigurd and his men jumped on shore at daylight, came
unexpectedly on the people, surrounded the house, and were
setting fire to the buildings; but Beintein came out of a store-
house with his weapons, well armed, and stood within the door
with drawn sword, his shield before him, helmet on, and ready to
defend himself. The door was somewhat low. Sigurd asked which
of his lads had most desire to go in against Beintein, which he
called brave man's work; but none was very hurried to make ready
for it. While they were discussing this matter Sigurd rushed
into the house, past Beintein. Beintein struck at him, but
missed him. Sigurd turned instantly on Beintein; and after
exchanging blows, Sigurd gave him his death-stroke, and came out
presently bearing his head in his hands.

They took all the goods that were in the farm-house, carried the
booty to their ships, and sailed away. When King Inge and his
friends, and also Kolbein's sons, Sigurd and Gyrd, the brothers
of Beintein, heard of Beintein's murder, the king sent a great
force against Sigurd Slembe and his followers; and also travelled
himself, and took a ship from Hakon Paulson Pungelta, who was a
daughter's son of Aslak, a son of Erling Skjalgson of Sole, and
cousin of Hakon Mage. King Inge drove Hakon and his followers up
the country, and took all their gear. Sigurd Stork, a son of
Eindride of Gautdal, and his brother, Eirik Hael, and Andres
Kelduskit, son of Grim of Vist, all fled away into the fjords.
But Sigurd Slembe, Magnus the Blind and Thorieif Skiappa sailed
outside the isles with three ships north to Halogaland; and
Magnus was in winter (A.D. 1139) north in Bjarkey Isle with
Vidkun Jonson. But Sigurd had the stem and stern-post of his
ship cut out, made a hole in her, and sank her in the inner part
of Egisfjord, and thereafter he passed the winter at Tialdasund
by Gljufrafjord in Hin. Far up the fjord there is a cave in the
rock; in that place Sigurd sat with his followers, who were above
twenty men, secretly, and hung a grey cloth before the mouth of
the hole, so that no person could see them from the strand.
Thorleif Skiappa, and Einar, son of Ogmund of Sand, and of
Gudrun, daughter of Einar Arason of Reikiaholar, procured food
for Sigurd during the winter. It is said that Sigurd made the
Laplanders construct two boats for him during the winter up in
the fjord; and they were fastened together with deer sinews,
without nails, and with twigs of willow instead of knees, and
each boat could carry twelve men. Sigurd was with the Laplanders
while they were making the boats; and the Laplanders had good
ale, with which they entertained Sigurd. Sigurd made these lines
on it: --

"In the Lapland tent
      Brave days we spent.
      Under the grey birch tree;
In bed or on bank
      We knew no rank,
      And a merry crew were we.

"Good ale went round
      As we sat on the ground,
      Under the grey birch tree;
And up with the smoke
      Flew laugh and joke,
      And a merry crew were we."

These boats were so light that no ship could overtake them in the
water, according to what was sung at the time: --

"Our skin-sewed Fin-boats lightly swim,
Over the sea like wind they skim.
Our ships are built without a nail;
Few ships like ours can row or sail."

In spring Sigurd and Magnus went south along the coast with the
two boats which the Laplanders had made; and when they came to
Vagar they killed Svein the priest and his two sons.

7. OF SIGURD'S SLEMBE'S CAMPAIGN.

Thereafter Sigurd came south to Vikar, and seized King Sigurd's
lendermen, William Skinnare and Thorald Kept, and killed them
both. Then Sigurd turned south-wards along the coast, and met
Styrkar Glaesirofa south of Byrda, as he was coming from the
south from the town of Nidaros, and killed him. Now when Sigurd
came south to Valsnes, he met Svinagrim outside of the ness, and
cut off his right hand. From thence he went south to More, past
the mouth of the Throndhjem fjord, where they took Hedin Hirdmage
and Kalf Kringluauge. They let Hedin escape, but killed Kalf.
When King Sigurd, and his foster-father, Sadagyrd, heard of
Sigurd Slembidjakn's proceedings, and what he was doing, they
sent people to search for him; and their leader was Jon Kauda, a
son of Kalf Range. Bishop Ivar's brother, and besides the priest
Jon Smyril. They went on board the ship the Reindeer, which had
twenty-two rowing benches, and was one of the swiftest sailing
vessels, to seek Sigurd; but as they could not find him, they
returned north-wards with little glory; for people said that they
had got sight of Sigurd and his people, and durst not attack
them. Afterwards Sigurd proceeded southwards to Hordaland, and
came to Herdla, where Einar, a son of Laxapaul, had a farm; and
went into Hamar's fjord, to the Gangdaga-thing. They took all
the goods that were at the farm, and a long-ship of twenty-two
benches which belonged to Einar; and also his son, four years
old, who was living with one of his labouring people. Some
wanted to kill the boy, but others took him and carried him with
them. The labouring man said, "It will not be lucky for you to
kill the child; and it will be of no use to you to carry him
away, for it is my son, and not Einar's." And on his word they
let the boy remain, and went away. When Einar came home he gave
the labourer money to the value of two ore of gold, and thanked
him for his clever invention, and promised him his constant
friendship. So says Eirik Odson, who first wrote down this
relation; and he heard himself Einar Paulson telling these
circumstances in Bergen. Sigurd then went southward along the
coast all the way east to Viken, and met Fin Saudaulfson east at
Kvildar, as he was engaged in drawing in King Inge's rents and
duties, and hanged him. Then they sailed south to Denmark.

8. OF KING INGE'S LETTER TO KING SIGURD.

The people of Viken and of Bergen complained that it was wrong
for King Sigurd and his friends to be sitting quietly north in
the town of Nidaros, while his father's murderer was cruising
about in the ordinary passage at the mouth of the Throndhjem
fjord; and King Inge and his people, on the other hand, were in
Viken in the midst of the danger, defending the country and
holding many battles. Then King Inge sent a letter north to the
merchant-town Nidaros, in which were these words: "King Inge
Haraldson sends his brother King Sigurd, as also Sadagyrd, Ogmund
Svipte, Ottar Birting, and all lendermen, court-men, house-
people, and all the public, rich and poor, young and old, his own
and God's salutation. The misfortune is known to all men that on
account of our childhoods -- thou being five, and I but three
years of age -- we can undertake nothing without the counsel of
our friends and other good men. Now I and my men think that we
stand nearer to the danger and necessity common to us both, than
thou and thy friends; therefore make it so that thou, as soon as
possible, come to me, and as strong in troops as possible, that
we may be assembled to meet whatever may come. He will be our
best friend who does all he can that we may be united, and may
take an equal part in all things. But if thou refuse, and wilt
not come after this message which I send thee in need, as thou
hast done before, then thou must expect that I will come against
thee with an armament; and let God decide between us; for we are
not in a condition to sit here at so great an expense, and with
so numerous a body of troops as are necessary here on account of
the enemy, and besides many other pressing charges, whilst thou
hast half of all the land-tax and other revenues of Norway. Live
in the peace of God!"

9. OTTAR BIRTING'S SPEECH.

Then Ottar Birting stood up in the Thing, and first of all
answered thus: "This is King Sigurd's reply to his brother King
Inge -- that God will reward him for his good salutation, and
likewise for the trouble and burden which he and his friends have
in this kingdom, and in matters of necessity which effect them
both. Although now some think there is something sharp in King
Inge's message to his brother Sigurd, yet he has in many respects
sufficient cause for it. Now I will make known to you my
opinion, and we will hear if King Sigurd and the other people of
power will agree to it; and it is, that thou, King Sigurd, make
thyself ready, with all the people who will follow thee, to
defend thy country; and go as strong in men as possible to thy
brother King Inge as soon as thou art prepared, in order to
assist each other in all things that are for the common good; and
may God Almighty strengthen and assist you both! Now, king, we
will have thy words."

Peter, a son of Saudaulf, who was afterwards called Peter
Byrdarsvein, bore King Sigurd to the Thing. Then the king said,
"Ye must know that, if I am to advise, I will go as soon as
possible to my brother King Inge." Then others spoke, one after
the other; but although each began his speech in his own way, he
ended with agreeing to what Ottar Birting had proposed; and it
was determined to call together the war-forces, and go to the
east part of the country. King Sigurd accordingly went with
great armament east to Viken, and there he met his brother King
Inge.

10. FALL OF MAGNUS THE BLIND.

The same autumn (A.D. 1139) Sigurd Slembe and Magnus the Blind
came from Denmark with thirty ships, manned both with Danes and
Northmen. It was near to winter. When the kings heard of this,
they set out with their people eastwards to meet them. They met
at Hvalar, near Holm the Grey, the day after Martinmas, which was
a Sunday. King Inge and King Sigurd had twenty ships, which were
all large. There was a great battle; but, after the first
assault, the Danes fled home to Denmark with eighteen ships. On
this Sigurd's and Magnus's ships were cleared; and as the last
was almost entirely bare of men, and Magnus was lying in his bed,
Hreidar Griotgardson, who had long followed him, and been his
courtman, took King Magnus in his arms, and tried to run with him
on board some other ship. But Hreidar was struck by a spear,
which went between his shoulders; and people say King Magnus was
killed by the same spear. Hreidar fell backwards upon the deck,
and Magnus upon him; and every man spoke of how honourably he had
followed his master and rightful sovereign. Happy are they who
have such praise! There fell, on King Magnus's ship, Lodin
Saupprud of Linustadar, Bruse Thormodson; and the forecastle-men
to Sigurd Slembidjakn, Ivar Kolbeinson and Halyard Faeger, who
had been in Sigurd Slembe's fore-hold. This Ivar had been the
first who had gone in, in the night, to King Harald, and had laid
hands on him. There fell a great number of the men of King
Magnus and Sigurd Slembe, for Inge's men let not a single one
escape if they got hold of him; but only a few are named here.
They killed upon a holm more than forty men, among whom were two
Icelanders -- the priest Sigurd Bergthorson, a grandson of Mas;
the other Clemet, a son of Are Einarson. But three Icelanders
obtained their lives: namely, Ivar Skrauthanke, a son of Kalf
Range, and who afterwards was bishop of Throndhjem, and was
father of the archbishop Eirik. Ivar had always followed King
Magnus, and he escaped into his brother Jon Kauda's ship. Jon
was married to Cecilia, a daughter of Gyrd Bardson, and was then
in King Inge's and Sigurd's armament. There were three in all
who escaped on board of Jon's ship. The second was Arnbjorn
Ambe, who afterwards married Thorstein's daughter in Audsholt;
the third was Ivar Dynta, a son of Stare, but on the mother's
side of a Throndhjem family, -- a very agreeable man. When the
troops came to know that these three were on board his ship, they
took their weapons and assaulted the vessel, and some blows were
exchanged, and the whole fleet had nearly come to a fight among
themselves; but it came to an agreement, so that Jon ransomed his
brothers Ivar and Arnbjorn for a fixed sum in ransom, which,
however, was afterwards remitted. But Ivar Dynta was taken to
the shore, and beheaded; for Sigurd and Gyrd, the sons of
Kolbein, would not take any mulct for him, as they knew he had
been at their brother Beintein's murder. Ivar the bishop said,
that never was there anything that touched him so nearly, as
Ivar's going to the shore under the axe, and turning to the
others with the wish that they might meet in joy here-after.
Gudrid Birger's daughter, a sister of Archbishop Jon, told Eirik
Odson that she heard Bishop Ivar say this.

11. SIGURD SLEMBE TAKEN PRISONER.

A man called Thrand Gialdkere was the steersman of King Inge's
ship. It was come so far, that Inge's men were rowing in small
boats between the ships after those who were swimming in the
water, and killed those they could get hold of. Sigurd Slembe
threw himself overboard after his ship had lost her crew,
stripped off his armour under the water, and then swam with his
shield over him. Some men from Thrand's vessel took prisoner a
man who was swimming, and were about to kill him; but he begged
his life, and offered to tell them where Sigurd Slembe was, and
they agreed to it. Shields and spears, dead men, weapons, and
clothes, were floating all around on the sea about the ships, "Ye
can see," said he, "a red shield floating on the water; he is
under it." They rowed to it immediately, took him, and brought
him on board of Thrand's ship. Thrand then sent a message to
Thjostolf, Ottar, and Amunde. Sigurd Slembe had a tinder box on
him; and the tinder was in a walnut-shell, around which there was
wax. This is related, because it seems an ingenious way of
preserving it from ever getting wet. He swam with a shield over
him, because nobody could know one shield from another where so
many were floating about; and they would never have hit upon him,
if they had not been told where he was. When Thrand came to the
land with Sigurd, and it was told to the troops that he was
taken, the army set up a shout of joy. When Sigurd heard it he
said, "Many a bad man will rejoice over my head this day." Then
Thjostolf Alason went to where Sigurd was sitting, struck from
his head a silk hat with silver fringes, and said. "Why wert thou
so impudent, thou son of a slave! to dare to call thyself King
Magnus Barefoot's son?"

Sigurd replied, "Presume not to compare my father to a slave; for
thy father was of little worth compared to mine."

Hal, a son of the doctor Thorgeir Steinson, King Inge's court-
man, was present at this circumstance, and told it to Eirik
Odson, who afterwards wrote these relations in a book, which he
called "Hryggjarstykke". In this book is told all concerning
Harald Gille and his sons, and Magnus the Blind, and Sigurd
Slembidjakn, until their deaths. Eirik was a sensible man, who
was long in Norway about that time. Some of his narratives he
wrote down from Hakon Mage's account; some were from lendermen of
Harald's sons, who along with his sons were in all this feud, and
in all the councils. Eirik names, moreover, several men of
understanding and veracity, who told him these accounts, and were
so near that they saw or heard all that happened. Something he
wrote from what he himself had heard or seen.

12. TORTURE OF SIGURD SLEMBE.

Hal says that the chiefs wished to have Sigurd killed instantly;
but the men who were the most cruel, and thought they had
injuries to avenge, advised torturing him; and for this they
named Beintein's brothers, Sigurd and Gyrd, the sons of Kolbein.
Peter Byrdarsvein would also avenge his brother Fin. But the
chiefs and the greater part of the people went away. They broke
his shin-bones and arms with an axe-hammer. Then they stripped
him, and would flay him alive; but when they tried to take off
the skin, they could not do it for the gush of blood. They took
leather whips and flogged him so long, that the skin was as much
taken off as if he had been flayed. Then they stuck a piece of
wood in his back until it broke, dragged him to a tree and hanged
him; and then cut off his head, and brought the body and head to
a heap of stones and buried them there. All acknowledge, both
enemies and friends, that no man in Norway, within memory of the
living, was more gifted with all perfections, or more
experienced, than Sigurd, but in some respects he was an unlucky
man. Hal says that he spoke little, and answered only a few, and
in single words, under his tortures, although they spoke to him.
Hal says further, that he never moved when they tortured him,
more than if they were striking a stock or a stone. This Hal
alleged as proof that he was a brave hero, who had courage to
endure tortures; for he still held his tongue, and never moved
from the spot. And farther he says, that he never altered his
voice in the least, but spoke with as much ease as if he was
sitting at the ale-table; neither speaking higher nor lower, nor
in a more tremulous voice than he was used to do. He spoke until
he gave up the ghost, and sang between whiles parts of the Psalm-
book, and which Hal considered beyond the powers and strength of
ordinary men. And the priest who had the church in the
neighbourhood let Sigurd's body be transported thither to the
church. This priest was a friend of Harald's sons: but when they
heard it they were angry at him, had the body carried back to
where it had been, and made the priest pay a fine. Sigurd's
friends afterwards came from Denmark with a ship for his body,
carried it to Alaborg, and interred it in Mary church in that
town. So said Dean Ketil, who officiated as priest at Mary
church, to Eirik; and that Sigurd was buried there. Thjostolf
Alason transported Magnus the Blind's body to Oslo, and buried it
in Halvard's church, beside King Sigurd his father. Lodin
Saupprud was transported to Tunsberg; but the others of the slain
were buried on the spot.

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