Page:The Heimskringla; or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Vol 3.djvu/169

 KINGS OF NORWAY. 157 patriarch, there was taken a splinter oiF the holy cross ; sa ga x h. and on this holy relic both made oath, that this wood was of the holy cross upon which God himself had been tortured. Then this holy relic was given to King Sigurd ; with the condition that he, and twelve other men with him, should swear to promote Chris- tianity with all his power, and erect an archbishop's seat in Norway if he could; and also that the cross should be kept where the holy King Olaf reposed, and that he should introduce tithes, and also pay them himself. After this King Sigurd returned to his ships at Acre ; and then King Baldwin prepared to go to Syria, to a town called Saet, which some think had been Sidon. This castle, which belonged to the hea- thens, he wished to conquer, and lay under the Chris- tians. On this expedition King Sigurd accompanied him with all his men, and sixty ships; and after the kings had besieged the town some time it surrendered, and they took possession of it, and of a great treasure of money; and their men found other booty. King Sigurd made a present of his share to King Baldwin. So says Halldor Skualldre : — '^ He who for wolves provides the feast Seized on the city in the East, The heathen nest ; and honour drew. And gold to give, from those he slew." Einar Skuleson also tells of it : — "^ The Norsemen's king, the scalds relate, Has ta'en the heathen town of Saet : The slinging engine with dread noise Gables and roofs with stones destroys. The town wall totters too, — it falls; The Norsemen mount the blackened walls. He who stains red the raven's bill Has won, — the town lies at his will." Thereafter King Sigurd went to his ships, and made ready to leave Palestine. They sailed north to the island Cyprus ; and King Sigurd staid there a while, and then went to the Greek country, and came to the