I’m still researching my book on Haakon the Good. It occurred to me that I possess a resource most English-speaking scholars don’t have access to – the Norwegian translation of Flatøybok, published by my friends at Saga Bok in Norway. In it I came upon a fuller version of a story that Snorri Sturlusson only mentions in passing in Heimskringla. Which also involves Erling’s family. Had I known this story when I wrote my Erling books, I might have changed a couple lines.
The Tale of Sigurd the Slobberer
It is said that when the sons of Gunnhild [widow of King Erik Bloodaxe] ruled in Norway, King Sigurd Sleva (the Slobberer, though I’ve also seen it translated “Sleeve”) sat in Hordaland. He was manly in appearance, and a great spendthrift. Lightminded and inconstant he was, and fond of women, nor was he careful about it.
Torkjell Klypp was the name of a man, a rich hersir in Hordaland; he was the son of Thord Horda-Kaaresson. He was a fearless and strong fellow, and an outstanding man. His wife was named Aalov; she was beautiful and honorable.
It is said that one day King Sigurd Sleva sent him a summons to come and see him, and he did so. Then the king said: “It has come about that there is a voyage west to England to be made, and I want to send you to meet King Adalraad (Ethelred the Unready) and collect tribute from him. Such men as you are best fitted to carry out errands suitable to great men.”
Torkjell answered, “Isn’t it true that you have already sent your own men on such errands, and that they’ve had no success?”
“That is true,” said the king, “but I think you’ll have better success in this matter than they, useless as they were.”
Torkjell answered, “Then it looks as if it is my duty to travel, and I will not make excuses, even if others have had so little luck in the errand.”
Afterward Torkjell set out and went west to England with a good following, met King Adalraad and greeted him. The king received him well and asked who was the leader of this group. Torkjell then explained who he was. The king said, “Of you I have heard that you have a good reputation. Be welcome among us.”
After that Torkjell was with the king over the winter. One day he said to the king: “This is how things stand, my lord, with this journey of mine, that King Sigurd Sleva has sent me to you to collect tribute. And I hope that you can find a good solution for this.”
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This is very interesting -thank you!
Thanks to the excellent index in the Monsen-Smith Heimskringla translation I quickly checked all the Sigurd Sleva references – “mentions in passing” indeed, with a very different impression – e.g., of the scene illustrated by Christian Krohg, whom I had not followed up, nor Halvdan Egedius and Erik Werenskiold, for that matter. In his review of that translation, Lee Hollander says “All the woodcuts are from the Nationaludgave […] and hence for the most part excellent” while Bruce Dickins in his says “These cuts, the work of several distinguished Norwegian artists, have more than average merit”, while Monsen in his introduction calls Egedius “an artist of rare talent”, speaks of Werenskiold’s “brilliant style and conception” as having “been much valued”, and says Krohg’s “drawings are masterpieces of their kind”. I must say,I would never have expected their paintings on the basis of these illustrations, but like as much as I’ve seen of those thanks to Wikipedia, at least in terms of style(s). But the English Wikipedia articles give me no immediate detailed sense of any of their politics.
This Norwegian edition of Heimskringla (I have a copy of the cheap version) was published expressly for the purpose of promoting Norwegian independence, and almost every Norwegian home had a copy, on a shelf right next to the Bible and Pontoppidan’s Explanation of the Catechism. The illustrations have become beloved cultural icons, and I’m very fond of some of them (particularly those of Kittelsen and Werenskjold). But Krohg’s look slapdash and crude to me, and I don’t believe he took much time over them. I don’t know for a fact that he was a Communist, but he was definitely part of the Venstre (Left) and he worked for the left-wing newspaper “Verdens Gang.” His paintings have some beauty, but his ideas of human beauty were rather Bolshevik — big, stout men and women. Sturdy workers.
Thanks for all this detail beyond Wikipedia, which I would not know how to go looking for with any ease (e.g., no English biography of Christian Krohg turns up when I search for his name in the Internet Archive)! Wow – a Norwegian Heimskringla next to the Bible! (I have found a scan of a 1900 edition of “Explanation of Luther’s Small Catechism. Based on Dr. Erick Pontoppidan” by Harold Ulrik Sverdrup, “Abridged Edition” translated by Emil Gunerius Lund – but would not have known to look for it!)
Whew! I just ran into the wild and scary 1872 painting Åsgårdsreien by another hitherto unfamiliar Norwegian artist, Peter Nicolai Arbo . It’s Wikipedia article says it’s indebted to a poem by Johan Sebastian Welhaven (also unknown to me!).
I’m not a great fan of Arbo, who epitomized stylized Victorian romanticism — though he’s better at mythology than history. (In his defense, he didn’t have a lot of good archaeology to guide him.) Asgardsreien is pretty effective, though.