iken, just as he had come
from Gautland; of which I shall speak hereafter in this story of King
Olaf. Towards the end of autumn King Olaf repaired north to Throndhjem,
and went with his people to Nidaros, where he ordered a winter residence
to be prepared for him. The winter (A.D. 1027) that he passed here in
the merchant-town of Nidaros was the thirteenth year of his reign.

ENDNOTES: (1) Nefgildi (nef=nose), a nose-tax or poll-tax payable to the
king. This ancient "nose-tax" was also imposed by the
Norsemen on conquered countries, the penalty for defaulters
being the loss of their nose.
(2) Wadmal was the coarse woollen cloth made in Iceland, and so
generally used for clothing that it was a measure of value
in the North, like money, for other commodities.--L.

147. OF THE JAMTALAND PEOPLE.

There was once a man called Ketil Jamte, a son of Earl Onund of Sparby,
in the Throndhjem district. He fled over the ridge of mountains from
Eystein Illrade, cleared the forest, and settled the country now called
the province of Jamtaland. A great many people joined him from the
Throndhjem land, on account of the disturbances there; for this King
Eystein had laid taxes on the Throndhjem people, and set his dog, called
Saur, to be king over them. Thorer Helsing was Ketil's grandson, and he
colonised the province called Helsingjaland, which is named after him.
When Harald Harfager subdued the kingdom by force, many people fled out
of the country from him, both Throndhjem people and Naumudal people,
and thus new settlements were added to Jamtaland; and some settlers went
even eastwards to Helsingjaland and down to the Baltic coast, and all
became subjects of the Swedish king. While Hakon Athelstan's foster-son
was over Norway there was peace, and merchant traffic from Throndhjem to
Jamtaland; and, as he was an excellent king, the Jamtalanders came from
the east to him, paid him scat, and he gave them laws and administered
justice. They would rather submit to his government than to the Swedish
king's, because they were of Norwegian race; and all the Helsingjaland
people, who had their descent from the north side of the mountain ridge,
did the same. This continued long after those times, until Olaf the
Thick and the Swedish king Olaf quarrelled about the boundaries. Then
the Jamtaland and Helsingjaland people went back to the Swedish king;
and then the forest of Eid was the eastern boundary of the