KIXG OLAF OBLIGED TO WITXESX IIHATIIHX 1UTEX. 467 



asked him to eat flesh (horseflesh, another text) ; the king 

 would l>y no means do it. Then they asked him to drink the 

 broth, which he would not. Then they asked him to eat the 

 grease [fat of the soup ; another text, the blood], and he would 

 not. Thereupon they were going to attack him. Sigurd tried 

 to reconcile them, and asked the bcendr to stop the tumult ; 

 he said the king was going to open his mouth over tin- 

 handle of the kettle where the steam of the horseflesh-broth 

 had made it greasy. The king went to it and wrapped a linen 

 cloth round the handle, and opened his mouth over it. Then 

 he went to his seat, and none of them, bcendr or king, liked 

 it well " (Fornmanna Sogur, i., c. 22, 23). 



" King Olaf went with his men after Yule to Thrandheim. 

 Kjartan, Bolli and Halfred Ottarsson were with him, and many 

 Icelanders ; and he had a large and fine host. When he came 

 to Mceri those chiefs of the Thrands who were most opposed to 

 Christianity were there, and with them all the great bcendr who 

 had before been accustomed to keep up the sacrifices there ; a 

 great crowd was present, and, as had been agreed upon at the 

 Frostathing, a Thin;/ was summoned, and both parties went 

 fully armed to it. At first there was noise and tumult ; but 

 when it subsided, and a hearing could be got, King Olaf bade 

 the bcendr be christianized, as he had done before. Jarn- 

 skeggi (Iron-beard) answered on behalf of the bcendr as before, 

 and said : ' Now, as before, king, we do not want thee to 

 break our laws; it is our will, king, that thou sacrificest like 

 other kings have done here in the country before thee and 

 other chiefs of the Thrands, .Sigurd Hlada jarl, and Hakon jarl 

 (the great), who before t-hee was chief over the greater part of 

 this country ; he was a famous man on account of his wisdom 



! 



and bravery, though he had not king's name ; for long his 

 rule was very well liked, and he did not lose it through 

 preaching such lawlessness that no one should believe in 

 the god he liked ; nor did his father. Hakon Adalsteinst'ostri 

 has been the only one who brought this forward ; the Thrands 

 got bitter and threatened him if he continued this, and after 

 the persuading of Sigurd jarl and other friends of his he 

 thought right to give in to the bcendr ; the only thing that will 

 do for thee is to act as we told thee before this winter, for we 

 have not changed our mind since about the belief.' The Ixenclr 

 cheered loudly the speech of Skeggi, and said they wanted it 

 all to be as he had said. Then the king said : ' I will do as we 

 agreed to at the Thing of Frosta ; I will now enter the temple, 

 and see your proceedings and the preparing of the sacrifice.' 

 The bcendr were well pleased, and went to the temple. The 

 king went in with a few of his men ad some of the bcendr. All 



2 H 2 



