Page:The Heimskringla; or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Vol 2.djvu/342

 334 CHRONICLE OF THE saga vii. king's blood came on Thorer's hand, and ran up be- tween his fingers to where he had been wounded, and the wound grew up so speedily that it did not require to be bound up. This circumstance was testified by Thorer himself when King Olaf 's holiness came to be generally known among the people ; and Thorer Hund was among the first of the king's powerful opponents who endeavoured to spread abroad the king's sanctity. Chapter Kalf Arneson searched for his brothers who had CCXLIII of Kaif ' fallen, and found Thorberg and Finn. It is related tochers.' 8 tnat Finn threw his dagger at him, and wanted to kill him, giving him hard words, and calling him a faithless villain, and a traitor to his king. Kalf did not regard it, but ordered Finn and Thorberg to be carried away from the field. AVhen their wounds were examined the}' were found not to be deadly, and they had fallen from fatigue, and under the weight of their weapons. Thereafter Kalf tried to bring his brothers down to a ship, and w r ent himself with them. As soon as he was gone the whole bonder-army, having their homes in the neighbourhood, went off also, excepting those who had friends or relations to look after, or the bodies of the slain to take care of. The wounded were taken home to the farms, so that every house was full of them ; and tents were erected over some. But wonderful as was the number col- lected in the bonder-army, no less wonderful was the haste with which this vast body was dispersed when it was once free ; and the cause of this was, that the most of the people gathered together from the country places were longing for their homes. ccxliv Tlle k° n(lers who had their homes in Yaerdal went of the peal to the chiefs Harek and Thorer, and complained of v^rdai their dist ress, saying, " The fugitives Avho have escaped from the battle have proceeded up over the valley of Yaerdal, and are destroying our habitations, and there is no safety for us to travel home so lon£ as they are