



Produced by Douglas B. Killings, and David Reid, and John Servilio





THE SAGA OF GRETTIR THE STRONG

GRETTIR'S SAGA

By Unknown Author


Written in Icelandic, sometime in the early 14th Century.




CHAPTER I. THE FAMILY AND EARLY WARS OF ONUND THE SON OF OFEIG


There was a man named Onund, the son of Ofeig Clumsyfoot, who was the
son of Ivar Horsetail. Onund was the brother of Gudbjorg, the mother of
Gudbrand Knob, the father of Asta, the mother of King Olaf the Saint.
His mother came from the Upplands, while his father's relations were
mostly in Rogaland and Hordland. He was a great viking and used to harry
away in the West over the sea. He was accompanied on these expeditions
by one Balki, the son of Blaeing from Sotanes, and by Orm the Wealthy.
Another comrade of theirs was named Hallvard. They had five ships, all
well equipped. They plundered the Hebrides, reaching the Barra Isles,
where there ruled a king named Kjarval, who also had five ships. These
they attacked; there was a fierce battle between them, in which Onund's
men fought with the utmost bravery. After many had fallen on both sides,
the battle ended with the king taking to flight with a single ship; the
rest were captured by Onund's force, along with much booty. They stayed
there for the winter, and spent the succeeding three summers harrying
the coasts of Ireland and Scotland, after which they returned to Norway.




CHAPTER II. THE BATTLE OF HAFRSFJORD


At that time Norway was very disturbed. Harald Shockhead, the son of
Halfdan the Black, till then king of the Upplands, was aiming at the
supreme kingship. He went into the North and fought many battles there,
in which he was always victorious. Then he marched harrying through
the territories to the South, bringing them into subjection wherever he
came. On reaching Hordland he was opposed by a motley multitude led by
Kjotvi the Wealthy, Thorir Long-chin, and Soti and King Sulki from South
Rogaland. Geirmund Swarthyskin was then away in the West, beyond the
sea, so he was not present at the battle, although Hordland belonged to
his dominion.

Onund and his party had arrived that autumn from the western seas, and
when Thorir and Kjotvi heard of their landing they sent envoys to ask
for their aid, promising to treat them with honour.

They were very anxious for an opportunity of distinguishing themselves,
so they joined Thorir's forces, and declared that they would be in the
thickest part of the battle. They met King Harald in a fjord in Rogaland
called Hafrsfjord. The forces on each side were very large, and the
battle was one of the greatest ever fought in Norway. There are many
accounts of it, for one always hears much about those people of whom the
saga is told. Troops had come in from all the country around and from
other countries as well, besides a multitude of vikings. Onund brought
his ship alongside of that of Thorir Long-chin in the very middle of the
battle. King Harald made for Thorir's ship, knowing him to be a terrible
berserk, and very brave. The fighting was desperate on either side. Then
the king ordered his berserks, the men called Wolfskins, forward. No
iron could hurt them, and when they charged nothing could withstand
them. Thorir defended himself bravely and fell on his ship fighting
valiantly. The whole ship from stem to stern was cleared and her
fastenings were cut, so that she fell out of the line of battle. Then
they attacked Onund's ship, in the forepart of which he was standing and
fighting manfully. The king's men said: "He bears himself well in the
forecastle. Let us give him something to remind him of having been in
the battle." Onund was stepping out with one foot on to the bulwark, and
as he was striking they made a thrust at him with a spear; in parrying
it he bent backwards, and at that moment a man on the forecastle of the
king's ship struck him and took off his leg below the knee, disabling
him at a blow. With him fell the greater number of his men. They carried
him to a ship belonging to a man named Thrand, a son of Bjorn and
brother of Eyvind the Easterner. He was fighting against King Harald,
and his ship was lying on the other side of Onund's. Then there