4: Harald Greyfell and Brothers
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Eric's sons, four or five of them, with a Harald at the top, now at
once got Norway in hand, all of it but Trondhjem, as king and
under-kings; and made a severe time of it for those who had been, or
seemed to be, their enemies. Excellent Jarl Sigurd, always so useful
to Hakon and his country, was killed by them; and they came to repent
that before very long. The slain Sigurd left a son, Hakon, as Jarl,
who became famous in the northern world by and by. This Hakon, and
him only, would the Trondhjemers accept as sovereign. "Death to him,
then," said the sons of Eric, but only in secret, till they had got
their hands free and were ready; which was not yet for some years.
Nay, Hakon, when actually attacked, made good resistance, and
threatened to cause trouble. Nor did he by any means get his death
from these sons of Eric at this time, or till long afterwards at all,
from one of their kin, as it chanced. On the contrary, he fled to
Denmark now, and by and by managed to come back, to their cost.
Among their other chief victims were two cousins of their own, Tryggve
and Gudrod, who had been honest under-kings to the late head-king,
Hakon the Good; but were now become suspect, and had to fight for
their lives, and lose them in a tragic manner. Tryggve had a son,
whom we shall hear of. Gudrod, son of worthy Bjorn the Chapman, was
grandfather of Saint Olaf, whom all men have heard of,—who has a
church in Southwark even, and another in Old Jewry, to this hour. In
all these violences, Gunhild, widow of the late king Eric, was
understood to have a principal hand. She had come back to Norway with
her sons; and naturally passed for the secret adviser and Maternal
President in whatever of violence went on; always reckoned a fell,
vehement, relentless personage where her own interests were concerned.
Probably as things settled, her influence on affairs grew less. At
least one hopes so; and, in the Sagas, hears less and less of her, and
before long nothing.
Harald, the head-king in this Eric fraternity, does not seem to have
been a bad man,—the contrary indeed; but his position was untowardly,
full of difficulty and contradictions. Whatever Harald could
accomplish for behoof of Christianity, or real benefit to Norway, in
these cross circumstances, he seems to have done in a modest and
honest manner. He got the name of Greyfelli/> from his people on a
very trivial account, but seemingly with perfect good humor on their
part. Some Iceland trader had brought a cargo of furs to Trondhjem
(Lade) for sale; sale being slacker than the Icelander wished, he
presented a chosen specimen, cloak, doublet, or whatever it was, to
Harald; who wore it with acceptance in public, and rapidly brought
disposal of the Icelander's stock, and the surname of Greyfell to
himself. His under-kings and he were certainly not popular, though I
almost think Greyfell himself, in absence of his mother and the
under-kings, might have been so. But here they all were, and had
wrought great trouble in Norway. "Too many of them," said everybody;
"too many of these courts and court people, eating up any substance
that there is." For the seasons withal, two or three of them in
succession, were bad for grass, much more for grain; no herring came
either; very cleanness of teeth was like to come in Eyvind
Skaldaspillir's opinion. This scarcity became at last their share of
the great Famine Of A.D. 975, which desolated Western Europe (see the
poem in the Saxon Chronicle). And all this by Eyvind Skaldaspillir,
and the heathen Norse in general, was ascribed to anger of the heathen
gods. Discontent in Norway, and especially in Eyvind Skaldaspillir,
seems to have been very great.
Whereupon exile Hakon, Jarl Sigurd's son, bestirs himself in Denmark,
backed by old King Blue-tooth, and begins invading and encroaching in
a miscellaneous way; especially intriguing and contriving plots all
round him. An unfathomably cunning kind of fellow, as well as an
audacious and strong-handed! Intriguing in Trondhjem, where he gets
the under-king, Greyfell's brother, fallen upon and murdered;
intriguing with Gold Harald, a distinguished cousin or nephew of King
Blue-tooth's, who had done fine viking work, and gained, such wealth
that he got the epithet of "Gold," and who now was infinitely desirous
of a share in Blue-tooth's kingdom as the proper finish to these
sea-rovings. He even ventured one day to make publicly a distinct
proposal that way to King Harald Blue-tooth himself; who flew into
thunder and lightning at the mere mention of it; so that none durst
speak to him for several days afterwards. Of both these Haralds Hakon
was confidential friend; and needed all his skill to walk without
immediate annihilation between such a pair of dragons, and work out
Norway for himself withal. In the end he found he must take solidly
to Blue-tooth's side of the question; and that they two must provide a
recipe for Gold Harald and Norway both at once.
"It is as much as your life is worth to speak again of sharing this
Danish kingdom," said Hakon very privately to Gold Harald; "but could
not you, my golden friend, be content with Norway for a kingdom, if
one helped you to it?"
"That could I well," answered Harald.
"Then keep me those nine war-ships you have just been rigging for a
new viking cruise; have these in readiness when I lift my finger!"
That was the recipe contrived for Gold Harald; recipe for King
Greyfell goes into the same vial, and is also ready.
Hitherto the Hakon-Blue-tooth disturbances in Norway had amounted to
but little. King Greyfell, a very active and valiant man, has
constantly, without much difficulty, repelled these sporadic bits of
troubles; but Greyfell, all the same, would willingly have peace with
dangerous old Blue-tooth (ever anxious to get his clutches over Norway
on any terms) if peace with him could be had. Blue-tooth, too,
professes every willingness; inveigles Greyfell, he and Hakon do; to
have a friendly meeting on the Danish borders, and not only settle all
these quarrels, but generously settle Greyfell in certain fiefs which
he claimed in Denmark itself; and so swear everlasting friendship.
Greyfell joyfully complies, punctually appears at the appointed day in
Lymfjord Sound, the appointed place. Whereupon Hakon gives signal to
Gold Harald, "To Lymfjord with these nine ships of yours, swift!"
Gold Harald flies to Lymfjord with his ships, challenges King Harald
Greyfell to land and fight; which the undaunted Greyfell, though so
far outnumbered, does; and, fighting his very best, perishes there, he
and almost all his people. Which done, Jarl Hakon, who is in
readiness, attacks Gold Harald, the victorious but the wearied; easily
beats Gold Harald, takes him prisoner, and instantly hangs and ends
him, to the huge joy of King Blue-tooth and Hakon; who now make
instant voyage to Norway; drive all the brother under-kings into rapid
flight to the Orkneys, to any readiest shelter; and so, under the
patronage of Blue-tooth, Hakon, with the title of Jarl, becomes ruler
of Norway. This foul treachery done on the brave and honest Harald
Greyfell is by some dated about A.D. 969, by Munch, 965, by others,
computing out of Snorro only, A.D. 975. For there is always an
uncertainty in these Icelandic dates (say rather, rare and rude
attempts at dating, without even an "A.D." or other fixed "year one"
to go upon in Iceland), though seldom, I think, so large a discrepancy
as here.
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