Page:The Heimskringla; or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Vol 3.djvu/222

 210 CHRONICLE OF THE SAGA XIII. Chapter IV. Death of Asbiorn and of Nereid. whole country, giving life and safety to all who were wonnded, and had them taken care of equally with his o^vn men. He then called the whole country his own, and had a choice of the best men who were in the coun- try. When they held a council among themselves after- wards, Sigurd Sigurdsson, Thorer Ingeredsson, and all the men of most understanding, advised that they should keep their forces together in Yiken, and remain there, in case Harald should return from the south ; but King Magnus would take his own way, and went north to Bergen. There he sat all mnter, and allowed his men to leave him ; on which the lendermen re- turned home to their own houses. King Harald came to Konghelle with the men who had followed him from Denmark. The lendermen and town's burgesses collected a force against him, which they drew up in a thick array above the town. King Harald landed from his ships, and sent a message to the bonders, desiring that they would not deny him his land, as he wanted no more than what of right belonged to him. Then mediators went between them ; and it came to this, that the bonders dismissed their troops, and submitted to him. Thereupon he bestowed fiefs and property on the lendermen, that they might stand by him, and paid the bonders who joined him the lawful mulcts for what they had lost. A great body of men attached themselves, therefore, to King Harald ; and he proceeded westwards to Yiken, where he gave peace to all men, except to King Mag- nus's people whom he plundered and killed wherever he found them. And when he came west to Sarps- burg, he took prisoners two of King Magnus's lender- men, Asbioun and his brother Nereid ; and gave them the choice that one should be hanged, and the other throAvn into the Sarpsburg waterfall, and they might choose as they pleased. Asbiorn chose to be thrown into the cataract, for he was the elder of the two,