my presence last winter that he would slay thee
could he but find occasion to do so. Now will I bring Norway under thy
sway and slay Gold Harald, if thou wilt promise easy absolution at thy
hands for the deed.

Then will I be thine earl, and bind myself by oath that with thy might
to be my aid I will bring Norway under subjection under thee, and
thereafter hold lands under thy dominion & pay thee tribute. Then wilt
thou be a greater king than thy father was, inasmuch as thou shalt hold
sway over two great peoples.'

Thus was this covenanted betwixt the King and the Earl; and Hakon set
out with his men to seek Gold Harald.

|| Gold Harald came to Hals in Limfjord, and forthwith offered battle to
Harald Grey-cloak; and Harald, albeit to him were fewer men, went
ashore, made him ready for battle & set his host in array. But or ever
the onset took place Harald Grey-cloak spoke cheering words to his men,
bade them draw their swords, and rushing first into the fray smote on
either side. Thus saith Glum Geirason in Grey-cloak's lay:

'Brave words spake the swordsman,
He that dared to dye the grass sward of battle
With the blood of the foe;
And when Harald bade his men ply the swords in the strife,
His manly words did them mightily encourage.'

|| There fell Harald Grey-cloak. Thus saith Glum Geirason:

'The bearer of the shield,
He that clave longest to the ship,
In death lay stretched
On the broad marge of Limfjord;
On the sands at Hals
Fell the bounteous chieftain;
It was his glib-tongued kinsman
That wrought the deed.'

|| There fell with King Harald the greater number of his men; there,
likewise, fell Arinbiorn the 'hersir.' Fifteen winters had passed since
the fall of Hakon, he that was foster-son to Adalstein, and thirteen
since the fall of Sigurd the Earl of Ladir. The priest Ari Thorgilson
saith that Earl Hakon was for thirteen winters ruler of his heritage in
Throndhjem before the death of Harald Grey-cloak; & that during the last
six winters of Harald Grey-cloak's life, saith Ari, the sons of Gunnhild
and Hakon fought against one another, & in turn fled the country.

|| Earl Hakon and Gold Harald met not long after the fall of Harald
Grey-cloak, & straightway Earl Hakon joined battle with Gold Harald.
Therein Hakon gained the victory; moreover Harald was taken prisoner,
and Hakon had him hanged upon the gallows. Thereafter fared Hakon to the
Danish King, and easily mad