to the Hebrides, plundered there, and slew many vikings who formerly had had men-at-arms under them. Many a battle was fought, and King Harald was always victorious. He then plundered far and wide in Scotland itself, and had a battle there. When he was come westward as far as the Isle of Man, the report of his exploits on the land had gone before him; for all the inhabitants had fled over to Scotland, and the island was left entirely bare both of people and goods, so that King Harald and his men made no booty when they landed. So says Hornklofe:—
"The wise, the noble king, great Harald,
Whose band so freely scatters gold,
Led many a northern shield to war
Against the town upon the shore.
The wolves soon gathered on the sand.
Of that sea-shore; for Harald's hand
The Scottish army drove away,
And on the coast left wolves a prey>"
In this war fell Ivar, a son of Rognvald, Earl of More; and King Harald gave Rognvald, as a compensation for the loss, the Orkney and Shetland isles, when he sailed from the West; but Rognvald immediately gave both these countries to his brother Sigurd, who remained behind them; and King Harald, before sailing eastward, gave Sigurd the earldom of them. Thorstein the Red, a son of Olaf the White, and Aude the Wealthy, entered into partnership with him; and after plundering in Scotland, they subdued Caithness and Sutherland, as far as Ekjalsbakki [1] Earl Sigurd killed Melbrigda-Tonn, a Scotch earl, and hung his head to his stirrup-leather; but the calf of his leg was scratched by the teeth, which were sticking out from the head, and the wound caused
- ↑ Ekkjalshakki, the Ekkial, is now the Oickel, a river falling into the Frith of Dornoch; and the banks or braes on its borders are the Ekkjalshakki of the saga—not the Ochil hills, as some have imagined; and the burial mound may be still remaining possibly.
