KINGS OF K\<il.A\D. 4G5 



"Alfred the Powerful (riki) ruled over England; he was 

 the first of his kinsmen who was absolute king in the days 

 of Harald Fairhair, King of Norway. After him his sun 

 Edward was king; he was the father of Athelstan the Vic- 

 torious (the foster-father of Hakon the Good), who was king 

 after his father. There were several brothers, sons of Edward. 

 When Athelstan became king those chiefs who had lost their 

 lands through his forefathers rose against him, thinking it 

 would be easier to regain their lands from so young a king. 

 These chiefs were Bretar (Britons) and Skotar (Scots) and 

 Irar (Irish). Athelstan gathered a host, and gave pay to every 

 man, both foreigners and natives, who wanted it. The brothers 

 Thorolf and Egil were going southward past Saxland and 

 Flsemingjaland (Flandre) ; when they heard that the King of 

 England needed men, and as there was likelihood of getting 

 much property, they decided to go thither with their men. 

 They went in the autumn to the king, who received them well, 

 for he thought that their following would be a great help ; he 

 offered them pay for their service to defend his kingdom ; they 

 made an agreement and became his men. England had been 

 Christian for a long time when this happened ; the king was a 



food Christian, and was called Athelstan trufasti (constant in 

 elief). He asked Thorolf and Egil to be prime-signed, as 

 was then very usual, both among traders and those who went 

 into the service of Christians; for those who were prime-signed 

 had full intercourse with both Christians and heathens, but at 

 the same time believed what they liked best. Thorolf and 

 Egil did so at his request. They had three hundred men in 

 the service of the king " (Egil's Saga, c. 50). 



The following shows the jealousy that existed between the 

 two kings, /Ethelstan and Harald Fairhair of Norway. 



"At this time ^Ethelstan, who was named the victorious 

 and the faithful, had taken the kingdom in England. He sent 

 to Norway a messenger, who went in before King Harald and 

 handed him a sword with golden guards and hilt, and its 

 scabbard was ornamented with gold and silver, and set with 

 gems. The messenger turned the handle of the sword towards 

 the king, and said: 'Here is a sword, that King JEthelstan 

 said thou shouldst take.' The king took hold of the hilt, and 

 the messenger added: 'Thou didst take hold of this sword, as 

 our king wanted thee to. Thou shalt now be his tJn-i/n (subject ), 

 because thou didst take it by the hilt.' Harald then saw that 

 this had been done to deride him, for he did not want to be 

 the tliegn of any man. He nevertheless remembered his habit, 



VOL. n. 2 ii 



