DEATH OF T HO ROLF, 113 



" They (King Harald and his men) came to Sandnes (estate 

 of Thorolf Kveldulfsson) after sunset, and saw a tent-covered 

 longship afloat in front of the bae, and knew that it belonged 

 to Thorolf. He was about to leave the country, and had let 

 his parting-ale be warmed. 1 



" The watchmen of Thorolf sat inside drinking, and nobody 

 was on the watch. The king (Harald Fairhair) surrounded 

 the hall with a circle of men; then they raised a war-cry, 

 and a blast was blown on the king's horn. When Thorolf 

 and his men heard this, they rushed for their weapons, 

 for all the weapons of every man hung above his seat. The 

 king had proclaimed at the door of the hall that women, 

 young men, old men, thralls and bondmen should go out. 

 Sigrid, wife of Thorolf, the women who were inside, and the 

 men who were allowed, w-ent out. Sigrid asked if the sons 

 of Berdlukari were there ; they both stepped forward and 

 asked what she wanted. 'Follow me to the king,' she said. 

 They did so ; and as she came to him she asked : ' Is it of any 

 use, lord, to try to reconcile you with Thorolf?' The king 

 answered: 'If Thorolf will surrender unconditionally he shall 

 be spared, but his men shall be punished according to their 

 guilt.' After that Olvir Hnufa entered the hall, and told 

 Thorolf the terms of the king. Thorolf replied quickly that 

 he would accept no hard conditions nor reconciliation from 

 the king. ' Ask him to give us leave to go out, and let it then 

 go as fate decides.' Olvir told the king the answer of Thoiolf. 

 The king said : ' You must set the hall on fire ; I will not lose 

 my men in fighting against him outside, for I think he will 

 cause us a great loss of men if he gets out, though he has fewer 

 men than we.' Then fire was set to the hall, and it burned 

 quickly, for the timber was dry and the walls tarred, and the 

 roof was thatched with birch-bark. Thorolf bade his men 

 break pff the wainscoting, get at the gable-beams, and then 

 break the weather-boards. When they got hold of the beams, 

 one of these was taken by as many men as could get hold of 

 it, and pushed out at the corner so strongly that the clamps 

 fell off outside, and the walls broke, leaving a large opening. 

 Thorolf went out first, then Thorgils gjallandi (loud-speaking), 

 and all, one after the other. A most severe fight began, and 

 for a while it was impossible to see who would win, because the 

 house protected their backs. Many of the king's men were 

 killed before the house began to burn; then the fire attacked 

 Thoiolt's men, and many of them fell. Thorolf ran forward and 



1 Ou leaving a place it was customary was such a feast that is here referred to. 

 to have a feast with one's friends. It 



VOL. II. 



