Page:The Heimskringla; or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Vol 3.djvu/76

 64 CHRONICLE OF THE SAGA IX. Chapter LXVII. Of King Harald. Chapter LXVIII. Finn A me- son gets quarter. Thereupon Karl set a table before them, and Yan- draade sat down between them. They ate for a while, and then went out. The horse was saddled, and Karl's son ready to follow him with another horse. They rode away to the forest ; and the earl's men returned to the boat, rowed to the earl's ship, and told the success of their expedition. King Harald and his men followed the fugitives only a short way, and rowed back to the place where the deserted ships lay. Then the battle-place was ransacked, and in King Swend's ship was found a heap of dead men ; but the king's body was not found, although people believed for certain that he had fallen. Then King Harald had the greatest attention paid to the dead of his men, and had the wounds of the living bound up. The dead bodies of Swend's men were brought to the land, and he sent a message to the peasants to come and bury them. Then he let the booty be divided, and this took up some time. The news came now that King Swend had come to Sea- land, and that all who had escaped from the battle had joined him, along with many more, and that he had a great force. Earl Finn Arneson was taken prisoner in the battle, as before related ; and when he was led before King Harald, the king was very merry, and said, " Finn, we meet liere now, and we met last in Norway. The Danish court has not stood very firmly by thee ; and it will be a troublesome business for Northmen to drag thee, a blind old man, with them, and preserve thy life." The earl replies, " The Northmen iind it very diffi- cult now to conquer, and it is all the worse that thou hast the command of them." Then said King Harald, " Wilt thou accept of life and safety, although thou hast not deserved it?" The earl replies, " Not from thee, thou dog."