hall try if I cannot give thee aid
that will be more to the purpose than Thorfin can get from the Scottish
king. If thou wilt not accept of these terms, then will I win back my
udal property there in the West, as our forefathers and relations of old
possessed it."

The earl carefully considered this speech, laid it before his friends,
and demanded their advice if he should agree to it, and enter into such
terms with King Olaf and become his vassal. "But I do not see what my
lot will be at my departure if I say no; for the king has clearly enough
declared his claim upon Orkney; and from his great power, and our being
in his hands, it is easy for him to make our destiny what he pleases."

Although the earl saw that there was much to be considered for and
against it he chose the condition to deliver himself and his dominion
into the king's power. Thereupon the king took the earl's power, and
the government over all the earl's lands, and the earl became his vassal
under oath of fealty.

106. THE EARL'S AGREEMENT TO THE KING'S TERMS.

Thorfin the earl heard that his brother Bruse had gone east to King Olaf
to seek support from him; but as Thorfin had been on a visit to King
Olaf before, and had concluded a friendship with him, he thought his
case would stand well with the king, and that many would support it; but
he believed that many more would do so if he went there himself. Earl
Thorfin resolved, therefore, to go east himself without delay; and he
thought there would be so little difference between the time of his
arrival and Bruse's, that Bruse's errand could not be accomplished
before he came to King Olaf. But it went otherwise than Earl Thorfin had
expected; for when he came to the king the agreement between the king
and Bruse was already concluded and settled, and Earl Thorfin did not
know a word about Bruse's having surrendered his udal domains until he
came to King Olaf. As soon as Earl Thorfin and King Olaf met, the king
made the same demand upon the kingdom of Orkney that he had done to Earl
Bruse, and required that Thorfin should voluntarily deliver over to the
king that part of the country which he had possessed hitherto. The earl
answered in a friendly and respectful way, that the king's friendship
lay near to his heart: "And if you think, sire, that my help against
other chiefs can be of use, you have already every claim to it; but I
cannot be your vessel for service, as I am an earl of the Scottish k