Page:The Heimskringla; or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Vol 1.djvu/257

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KINGS OF NORWAY.
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Sound, and sails north about to Jutland; lands at Lymfiord; plunders the Vend district; [1]burns, and lays waste, and makes desolate the country he goes over with his army. Yatte and Faste were the names of the earls whom Frode had appointed to defend the country in Denmark while he was abroad. When the earls heard that the Swedish king was laying waste Denmark, they collected an army, hastened on board their ships, and sailed by the south side to Lymfiord. They came unexpectedly upon Ottar, and the battle began immediately. The Swedes gave them a good reception, and many people fell on both sides; but as soon as men fell in the Danish army other men hastened from the country to fill their places, and also all the vessels in the neighbourhood joined them. The battle ended with the fall of Ottar and the greater part of his people. The Danes took his body, carried it to the land, laid it upon a mound of earth, and let the wild beasts and ravens tear it to pieces. Thereafter they made a figure of a crow out of wood, sent it to Sweden, and sent word with it that their king, Ottar, was no better than it; and from this he was called Ottar Yendelcrow. Thiodolf tells so of it:—

"By Danish arms the hero bold,
Ottar the Brave, lies stiff and cold.
To Vendel's plain the corpse was borne;
By eagles' claws the corpse is torn,
Spattered by ravens' bloody feet,
The wild bird's prey, the wild wolf's meat.
The Swedes have vowed revenge to take
On Frode's earls, for Ottar's sake;
Like dogs to kill them in their land,
In their own homes, by Swedish hand."

Chapter XXXII.
Of King Adils marriage.

Adils was the name of King Ottar's son and successor. lie was a long time king, became very rich, and went also for several summers on viking expe-

  1. Vendill, the part of Jutland north of Lymfiord.