threatened to cause trouble. Nor did he by any means get his death
from these sons of Eric at this time, or till long afterwards at all,
from one of their kin, as it chanced. On the contrary, he fled to
Denmark now, and by and by managed to come back, to their cost.

Among their other chief victims were two cousins of their own, Tryggve
and Gudrod, who had been honest under-kings to the late head-king,
Hakon the Good; but were now become suspect, and had to fight for
their lives, and lose them in a tragic manner. Tryggve had a son,
whom we shall hear of. Gudrod, son of worthy Bjorn the Chapman, was
grandfather of Saint Olaf, whom all men have heard of,--who has a
church in Southwark even, and another in Old Jewry, to this hour. In
all these violences, Gunhild, widow of the late king Eric, was
understood to have a principal hand. She had come back to Norway with
her sons; and naturally passed for the secret adviser and Maternal
President in whatever of violence went on; always reckoned a fell,
vehement, relentless personage where her own interests were concerned.
Probably as things settled, her influence on affairs grew less. At
least one hopes so; and, in the Sagas, hears less and less of her, and
before long nothing.

Harald, the head-king in this Eric fraternity, does not seem to have
been a bad man,--the contrary indeed; but his position was untowardly,
full of difficulty and contradictions. Whatever Harald could
accomplish for behoof of Christianity, or real benefit to Norway, in
these cross circumstances, he seems to have done in a modest and
honest manner. He got the name of _Greyfell_ from his people on a
very trivial account, but seemingly with perfect good humor on their
part. Some Iceland trader had brought a cargo of furs to Trondhjem
(Lade) for sale; sale being slacker than the Icelander wished, he