Olaf Tryggvason and the Pigsty, by Snorro Sturluson

❰

1 2

❱

HE answered, “I was at Lade, and Olaf Tryggvason was laying a gold ring about my neck.” The earl says, “It will be a red ring Olaf will lay about thy neck if he catches thee. Take care of that. From me thou shalt enjoy all that is good, therefore betray me not.”

They then kept themselves awake both; the one, as it were, watching upon the other. Towards day the earl suddenly dropped asleep; but his sleep was so unquiet that he drew his heels under him, and raised his neck, as if going to rise, and screamed dreadfully high. On this Karker, dreadfully alarmed, drew a large knife out of his belt, and killed Earl Hakon. Then Karker cut off the earl’s head, and ran away.

Late in the day he came to Lade, where he delivered the earl’s head to King Olaf, and told all these circumstances of his own and Earl Hakon’s doings. Olaf had him taken out and beheaded.*

by Snorro Sturluson 1179-1241

tr. Samuel Laing (abridged)

From The Heimskringla; or Chronicle of the Kings of Norway by Snorro Sturluson (1179-1241), translated by Samuel Laing. Abridged.

On the principle that one should never trust a traitor: Olaf’s promise of reward applied only to those who were loyal through-and-through. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) retold the story very faithfully in verse, through the eyes of Thora: see ‘Thora of Rimol’.

Précis

Neither Hakon nor Karker dared sleep, for fear that the other might take the opportunity for murder. But eventually Hakon dozed off, and when he cried out in his sleep a nervous Karker knifed him to death. Karker took Hakon’s head as a trophy to Olaf; however, Norway’s new king rewarded the traitor with summary execution.

Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Sevens

Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.

Why were Hakon and Kerker unable to sleep?

Jigsaws

Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.

Hakon and Karker were afraid to sleep. Hakon thought Karker meant to kill him. Karker thought Hakon meant to kill him.

Précis

Questions for Critics

Sevens

Jigsaws

Tags

Read Next