Page:The Heimskringla; or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Vol 3.djvu/223

 KINGS OF NORWAY. 211 and this death appeared the most dreadful; and so saga xm. it was done. Halldor Skualldre tells of this : — " Asbiorn, who opposed the king. O'er the wild cataract they fling: Nereid, who opposed the king. Must on Hagbart's high tree swing. The king gives food in many a way To foul-mouthed beasts and birds of prey : The generous men who dare oppose Are treated as the worst of foes." Thereafter King Harald proceeded north to Tuns- berg, where he was well received, and a large force gathered to him. When King Magnus, who was in Bergen, heard Chapter these tidings, he called together all the chiefs who of the were in the town, and asked them their counsel, and counsels m. n- r' proposed, what they should now do. Then Sigurd Sigurdsson said, " Here I can give a good advice. Let a ship be manned with good men, and put me, or any other lenderman, to command it; send it to thy relation King Harald, and offer him peace according to the conditions upright men may determine upon, and offer him the half of the kingdom. It appears to me probable that King Harald, by the words and counsel of good men, may accept this offer, and thus there may be a peace established between you." Then King Magnus replied, " This proposal I will not accept of; for of what advantage would it be, after we have gained the whole kingdom in summer, to give away the half of it now? Give us some other counsel." Then Sigurd Sigurdsson answered, " It appears to me, sire, that your lendermen who in autumn asked your leave to return home will now sit at home, and . will not come to you. At that time it was much against my advice that you dispersed so entirely the people we had collected; for I could well suppose that Harald would come back to Yiken as soon as he heard p 2