FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN
ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END*
The Saga of Grettir the Strong
Originally written in Icelandic, sometime in the early 14th Century.
Author unknown.
This electronic edition was produced, edited, and prepared by Douglas
B. Killings ([email protected]
), June 1995. Document scanning
provided by David Reid and John Servilio.
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 was a general flight. Thrand and the rest of the
vikings escaped any way they could, and sailed away westwards. They
took with them Onund and Balki and Hallvard Sugandi. Onund
recovered and went about for the rest of his life with a 
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