Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway

18. BATTLE BETWEEN HAKON AND RAGNFRED.

Towards spring Earl Hakon ordered out all the men north in the country; and got many people from Halogaland and Naumudal; so that from Bryda to Stad he had men from all the sea-coast. People flocked to him from all the Throndhjem district and from Raumsdal. It was said for certain that he had men from four great districts, and that seven earls followed him, and a matchless number of men. So it is said in the "Vellekla":—

     "Hakon, defender of the land,
     Armed in the North his warrior-band
     To Sogn's old shore his force he led,
     And from all quarters thither sped
     War-ships and men; and haste was made
     By the young god of the sword-blade,
     The hero-viking of the wave,
     His wide domain from foes to save.
     With shining keels seven kings sailed on
     To meet this raven-feeding one.
     When the clash came, the stunning sound
     Was heard in Norway's farthest bound;
     And sea-borne corpses, floating far,
     Brought round the Naze news from the war."

Earl Hakon sailed then with his fleet southwards around Stad; and when he heard that King Ragnfred with his army had gone towards Sogn, he turned there also with his men to meet him: and there Ragnfred and Hakon met. Hakon came to the land with his ships, marked out a battle-field with hazel branches for King Ragnfred, and took ground for his own men in it. So it is told in the "Vellekla":—

     "In the fierce battle Ragnfred then
     Met the grim foe of Vindland men;
     And many a hero of great name
     Fell in the sharp sword's bloody game.
     The wielder of fell Narve's weapon,
     The conquering hero, valiant Hakon
     Had laid his war-ships on the strand,
     And ranged his warriors on the land."

There was a great battle; but Earl Hakon, having by far the most people, gained the victory. It took place on the Thinganes, where Sogn and Hordaland meet.

King Rangfred fled to his ships, after 300 of his men had fallen. So it is said in the "Vellekla":—

     "Sharp was the battle-strife, I ween,—
     Deadly and close it must have been,
     Before, upon the bloody plain,
     Three hundred corpses of the slain
     Were stretched for the black raven's prey;
     And when the conquerors took their way
     To the sea-shore, they had to tread
     O'er piled-up heaps of foemen dead."

After this battle King Ragnfred fled from Norway; but Earl Hakon restored peace to the country, and allowed the great army which had followed him in summer to return home to the north country, and he himself remained in the south that harvest and winter (A.D. 972).