can make all Norway his own and be the sole lord thereof, as King
Erik in Sweden, and King Gorm in Denmark. Give this message to
King Harald, and tell him that I will only promise to be his wedded
wife on this condition, that he will for my sake lay under him all
Norway. For only then can he be accounted the king of a people."

"Now these words of Gyda were taken duly to the king, and they
awakened in his mind a thought which had never before occurred to
him, and he said, in the presence of many men: 'This oath do I now
solemnly make, and swear before that God who made me and rules over
all things, that never more will I cut my hair nor comb it until
the day when I have conquered all Norway, and have made myself the
sole ruler of the Northmen. And if I do not fulfil my vow, I shall
die in the attempt.'"

"Spoken like a true king!" interrupted Allogia. "I trust, for the
proud maiden's sake, that he did not take long to fulfil his vow."

"Ten long years it took him," returned Sigurd. "Northward he sallied
with a vast army and conquered Orkadale, Trondelag, and Naumdale,
and all the country about Thrandheim, making himself the overlord
of all the old kings who thereafter became his earls and vassals.
Those who would not be subdued he killed or maimed. He made new laws,
took from the peasants their odal estates, and declared all land
to be the king's property. Many of the conquered people rebelled
against his rule and his strict feudal laws, and some of his
provinces had to be conquered twice over. But with every year he
came nearer to his goal, and those who opposed him only brought
about their own ruin.