Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway

13. DEATH OF HARALD GRAFELD.

Gold Harald came to the neck of land at Limfjord, and immediately challenged Harald Grafeld to battle; and although Harald had fewer men, he went immediately on the land, prepared for battle, and drew up his troops. Before the lines came together Harald Grafeld urged on his men, and told them to draw their swords. He himself advanced the foremost of the troop, hewing down on each side. So says Glum Geirason, in Grafeld's lay:—

     "Brave were thy words in battlefield,
     Thou stainer of the snow-white shield!—
     Thou gallant war-god!  With thy voice
     Thou couldst the dying man rejoice:
     The cheer of Harald could impart
     Courage and life to every heart.
     While swinging high the blood-smeared sword,
     By arm and voice we knew our lord."

There fell Harald Grafeld. So says Glum Geirason:—

     "On Limfjord's strand, by the tide's flow,
     Stern Fate has laid King Harald low;
     The gallant viking-cruiser—he
     Who loved the isle-encircling sea.
     The generous ruler of the land
     Fell at the narrow Limfjord strand.
     Enticed by Hakon's cunning speech
     To his death-bed on Limfjord's beach."

The most of King Harald's men fell with him. There also fell Herse Arinbjorn.

This happened fifteen years after the death of Hakon, Athelstan's foster-son, and thirteen years after that of Sigurd earl of Hlader. The priest Are Frode says that Earl Hakon was thirteen years earl over his father's dominions in Throndhjem district before the fall of Harald Grafeld; but, for the last six years of Harald Grafeld's life, Are Frode says the Earl Hakon and Gunhild's sons fought against each other, and drove each other out of the land by turns.