HKB
King. Then did the King give him the scabbard. Now from that which is told in the lays of Hallfrod have we much knowledge & testimony concerning King Olaf Tryggvason.
|| That same autumn came back Thangbrand the priest from Iceland to King Olaf and related to him how that his journey had borne no fruit, 'for,' said he, 'the Icelanders made lampoons about me and some wished to slay me, and to my mind it cannot be expected that that country will ever be made Christian.'
At these words King Olaf waxed so hasty and wrathful that he summoned to him forthwith all the Icelanders in the town, and commanded that self-same hour that they should all be slain; but Kiartan and Gissur and Hialti and those that were of them who had made profession of the faith of Christ entered into his presence & said: 'We trow, O King, that thou wilt not go from thy word, for thou hast said that no man may make thee so wrathful but shall he have thy forgiveness an he will be baptized and abjure heathendom. Now will all the Icelanders who are here suffer themselves to be baptized, & we can well devise a means whereby Christianity may gain an entrance into Iceland. The sons of many mighty men of Iceland are here present, & their fathers will, we trow, lend their aid in this matter. But Thangbrand there, as here, ever went about masterful and manslaying, and the people there would not endure it of him.' Now the King lent an ear to these speeches, and all the men of Iceland who were there were baptized.
|| Of all men of Norway of whom record hath come down to us was King Olaf in every wise the one most skilful in manly exercises; stronger was he & more active than any other man, and many are the tales that have been written on this matter. One of these recounts how that he climbed the Smalshorn, and made fast his shield on the topmost peak; and another is of how he brought succour to one of his own body-guard who had climbed aforehand up the mountain and was come into such a plight that he could neither get up nor down, so that the King helped him by going unto him & bearing him down under his arm to the level land. King Olaf would walk from oar to oar, on the outer side of the ship while his men were rowing the 'Serpent', and with such ease could he play with three daggers that one was ever in the air and always caught he it by the hilt; with either hand could he strike equally well, and two javelins could he throw at one time. Of all men was King Olaf the lightest-hearted & of a very merry disposition; kindly was he withal & lowly-hearted; very eager in all enterprises, great in his bounty, & the foremost among those who surrounded him. Above all others was he brave in battle, but very grim when he was angered, and on his foes laid he heavy penalties; some he with fire burned, some maimed he & caused to be cast down from high rocks. For these things was he beloved by his friends, but dreaded by his foes; his furtherance was manifold for the reason that some did his will from love and friendship, and others again from fear.
|| Leif, the son of Eirik the Red, he that was the first to settle in Greenland, came even that summer over from that land unto Norway; and King Olaf sought he and from him accepted Christianity, & abode even with King Olaf the winter thereafter.