Hakon of Rogen's Saga

3

GUNHILD need not have feared the coming of Thora, for she was like a summer wind, from her came no warning of winter snow; and yet, she would be the cause of many men's deaths. Maybe Rogen is too far north for more than the promise of spring; and maybe the dark winter isits natural garment. We all knew that as a suitor my father had not been wholly welcome by Magnus Thorsen; else he would have been given his bride long since. Yet he had always been treated politely and each time given hope that soon — perhaps next spring — Magnus would force himself to part with his daughter. Magnus was a widower . Five years before, his two sons had set out on an expedition to Iceland with Knud the Strong, and none of them had ever been heard of again. Thora was the younger of Magnus' two daughters, and he claimed to love her above all else. When my father arrived in Tronhjem for the fourth time, accompanied by twice as many men as had ever come with him before, Magnus did not invite him to sleep in his hall. My father and his men camped near where their boat had been beached, and Magnus sold them food at winter prices, but my father acted as if 15 3 he had not noticed these deliberate insults. Finally Magnus invited my father to partake of a meal, but he did not treat him as one should a guest of honor. He seated him at the far end of the long table, next to one of his freemen. Again my father took no notice of the insult. This irritated Magnus, and he started to bait my father. "Olaf Sigurdson, is it true that where you come from people are so poor that they must live all winter on dried fish?" "You have lent your ears to slanderous tales," my father replied. "In Rogen we live in winter on hay and the bark of trees. I understand that here in Tronhjem men are fed like babes that have no teeth, and that old women chew their food for them." Magnus grew pale, for he was a man much older than my father, and had indeed few teeth left in his mouth; and certainly not enough strength in his arms to challenge my father to single combat. "Go with peace, Olaf Sigurdson." Then turning to one of his men, he added, "That it shall not be said that anyone left Magnus Thorsen's house as poor as he came, gave him a chicken to take home with him. He can slaughter it to hisgods at the Midwinter Feast." Magnus believed in the new god, my father in the old. It was customary at the Midwinter Feast to sacrifice an ox to Odin; and therefore the gift of a chicken was an insult not only to my father, but to his god as well. My father rose, grasping the handle of his sword, he made his way to the door; then he turned swiftly and 16 stared for a moment at the people seated at the table, as if he wanted to remember every face. Then he spoke this verse: "The cock crows loud When it isold But iron will rust And blood grow cold." Without another word, he departed. When he returned to his boat, he gave the order to sail. To any observer — and there were many of Magnus' men about — it appeared as if he were getting ready for the trip to Rogen. He sailed straight out to sea, and while the boat was still visible from land he set the course due north. This was, however, only a ruse to fool Magnus and his men; once well out of their sight, my father had the sail furled and they rowed for shore. The boat was beached at a cove that was a fairly long walk from Magnus' hall, and here they waited until evening ; then, leaving ten men to guard the boat, my father and thirty men set out to avenge the honor of their gods. Of the actual fighting at Magnus' hall, I have never heard a believable account. My father never spoke of it, and those of his companions who did, boasted so much — each of his own personal valor — that I would blush to retell their tales. Magnus escaped, it is said, in his...