The Complete

Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda

Legendary Sagas of the Northland

in English Translation

FORNJÓTR hefir konungr heitit. Hann réð fyrir Gotlandi (*Jótlandi hdr.) er kallat er Finnland ok Kvenland. Þat er fyrir austan hafsbotn þann, er gengr til móts við Gandvík; þat köllum vér Helsingjabotn. Fornjótr átti þrjá syni. Hét einn Hlér, er vér köllum Ægi, annarr Logi, þriði Kári. Hann var faðir Frosta, föður Snæs ins gamla. Hans sonr hét Þorri. Hann átti tvá syni, hét annarr Nórr, en annarr Górr, dóttir hans hét Gói. Þorri var blótmaðr mikill. Hann hafði blót á hverju ári at miðjum vetri; þat kölluðu þeir Þorrablót. Af því tók mánaðrinn heiti.
   Þat var tíðenda einn vetr at Þorrablóti, at Gói hvarf í brott, ok var hennar leita farit, ok finnst hún eigi. Ok er sá mánaðr leið, lét Þorri fá at blóti ok blóta til þess, er þeir yrði vísir, hvar Gói væri niðr komin; þat kölluðu þeir Góiblót. Einskis urðu þeir vísir um hana at heldr. Þrim vetrum síðar strengdu þeir bræðr heit, at þeir skyldu hennar leita ok skipta svá leitinni, at Nórr skyldi leita um löndin, en Górr skyldi leita um útsker ok eyjar, ok fór hann á skipum. Hvárrtveggi þeira bræðra var fjölmennr. Helt Górr skipum sínum út eptir hafsbotnum og svá í Allanzhaf. Síðan kannar hann víða Svíasker ok allar eyjar, er liggja í Eystrasalti, eptir þat í Gautasker ok þaðan til Danmerkr ok kannar þar allar eyjar. Hann fann þar frændr sína, þá er komnir váru af Hlé inum gamla ór Hlésey, ok helt hann þá enn fram ferðinni ok spyrr ekki til systur sinnar.
   En Nórr, bróðir hans, beið þess, er snjó lagði á heiðar ok skíðfæri gerði gott. Eptir þat fór hann af Kvenlandi ok fyrir innan hafsbotninn, ok kómu þar, er þeir menn váru, er Lappir heita; þat er á bak Finnmörk. En Lappir vildu banna þeim yfirför, ok tókst þar bardagi, ok sá kraptr ok fjölkynngi fylgdi þeim Nór, at óvinir þeira urðu at gjalti, þegar þeir heyrðu heróp ok sá vápnum brugðit, ok lögðu Lappir á flótta. En Nórr fór þaðan vestr á Kjölu ok var lengi úti ok svá, at þeir vissu ekki til manna, ok skutu dýr ok fugla til matar sér, fóru þar til, er vötn hnigu til vestrættar af fjöllum. Þá fara þeir með vötnunum ok kómu at sjá. Þar var fyrir þeim fjörðr mikill, sem hafsbotn væri. Þar váru byggðir miklar, ok dalir stórir gengu at firðinum. Þar var safnaðr fyrir þeim, ok réðu þeir þegar til bardaga við Nór, ok fór þeira skipti eptir vana, allt fólk fell þar eða flýði, en Nórr ok hans menn gengu yfir sem lok yfir akra. Fór Nórr um allan fjörðinn ok lagði undir sik ok gerðist konungr yfir þeim heruðum, er þar lágu innan fjarðar. Nórr dvaldist þar um sumarit, þar til er snjávaði á heiðar. Þá stefndi hann upp eptir dalnum þeim, er suðr gengr af firðinum. Sá fjörðr er nú kallaðr Þrándheimr. Suma menn sína lætr hann fara it fremra um Mærina. Hann lagði undir sik, hvar sem hann fór, ok þá er hann kemr suðr yfir fjallit þat, er var fyrir sunnan dalsbotninn, sótti hann suðr eptir dölunum, þar til er hann kom at vatni miklu, er þeir kölluðu Mjörs. Þá snýr hann enn vestr á fjallit, því at honum var sagt, at menn hans höfðu farit ósigr fyrir konungi þeim, er Sókni hét. Þá kómu þeir í þat herað, er þeir kölluðu Valdres. Þaðan fóru þeir til sjóvar ok kómu í langan fjörð ok mjóvan, er nú heitir Sogn. Þar var fundr þeira Sókna, ok áttu þeir þar orrostu mikla, því at Sókna brá ekki við fjölkynngi þeira. Nórr gekk fram hart, ok skiptust þeir Sókni höggum við. Þar fell Sókni ok margt lið hans.

There was a king named Fornjot. He reigned over the lands that we now know as Finland and Kvenland. That is to the east of the gulf that lies across from the White Sea; we call that the Gulf of Bothnia. Fornjot had three sons. One was named Hler, who we call Ægir, the second Logi, and the third Kari. He was the father of Frosti, father of Snær the Old. Snær’s son was named Thorri. Thorri had two sons; the one named Nor, and the other Gor; his daughter was named Goi. Thorri was a great man for sacrifices. He held a sacrifice every year at midwinter; they called that Thorrablot, from which the month[1] took

 its name. It was the news one winter at Thorrablót that Goi had disappeared, and a search for her was begun, but she was not found. And when that month had passed, Thorri prepared a feast and sacrifice for this, that they should discover where Goi had gone; they called that Goiblot. But they discovered nothing more about her. Four winters later the brothers swore an oath that they would search for her. They arranged the search so that Nor would search for her on land, but Gor should search around the outlying reefs and islands, and he went by ship. Both the brothers were accompanied by many people. Gor led his ships out along the Gulf and so into the Aaland Sea. Afterwards he explored widely the Svia Skerries and all the islands that lie in the Baltic Sea, and then on to the Elfar Skerries and then to Denmark where he explored every island. There he found his kinsmen, who were descended from Hler the Old of Hlésey, and then he journeyed on, but he found nothing of his sister. But Nor, his brother, waited until snow lay on the moors so he could travel on snow-shoes. He went out from Kvenland and skirted the Gulf, and came to that place inhabited by the men called Lapps; that is beyond Finnmark. But the Lapps wished to forbid their passage, and fought with them there, but such was the power and magic of Nor that their enemies turned mad with terror as soon as they heard the war-whoop and saw weapons drawn, and Nor’s folk put the Lapps to flight. But Nor went thence westward to the Kjolen Mountains and for a long time they knew nothing of men, but shot beasts and birds to feed to themselves, until they came to a place where the rivers flowed west of the mountains. Then they followed the water and came to the sea. There was a great fjord ahead of them, as big as a gulf. There were large settlements, and great valleys coming up from the fjord. There they met a host of people who immediately fought with Nor, and it went as it had done before; all the people fell there or fled, but Nor and his men spread like weeds through a field. Nor went about all the fjords and conquered them and became king over the area east of the fjords. He dwelled there for the summer, until it began to snow on the moors. Then he went up along the valleys that run south from the fjord. That fjord is now called Trondheim. Some of his men he sent south through More. He conquered everywhere, wherever he went, and then he came over the mountain that was south of the head of the valley; he went south along the dale, and there he came to that great water that they called the Mjosen. Then he went west over the mountain, because he had heard that his men had been defeated by a king called Sokni, and they came to the district then called Valders. From there they went to the beach and came to a long and narrow fjord, now named Sogn. There they met Sokni, and they had there a great fight, and Sokni was unaffected by their magic. Nor fought hard, and in the end he cut Sokni down. There fell Sokni and much of his army.

      Nor went along the fjord that branches to the north of Sogni. Sokni had ruled over there, it is now named Sokna Dale. Nor lived there a long time, and it is now named Norafjord. Gor, his brother, came to meet with him there, and he had had no word of Goi anywhere. Gor had conquered all outer lands as he came from the south, and the brothers divided the land between them. Nor had all the mainland, but Gor was to have all the islands where a ship with a fixed rudder could sail between them and the mainland. After that Nor went to Uppland and came to the place that is now named Heidmark. The king who reigned there was named Hrolf of Bjarg. He was the son of Svadi the giant, from Dovre Fell in the north. Hrolf had abducted Goi daughter of Thorri from Kvenland. He went immediately to meet with Nor and challenged him to single combat. They fought long, without either being wounded. Then they became reconciled, and Nor married Hrolf’s sister, but Hrolf married Goi. From there Nor went back north to the kingdom that he had conquered. He called that Norway. He ruled that kingdom while he lived, and his sons succeeded him, but they divided the land between them, and so the kingdom diminished as kings became numerous and divided it into districts.

     Gor ruled the islands and was called a sea-king. His sons were Heiti and Beiti. They were sea-kings and greatly overbearing men. They often attacked the kingdom of Nor's son, and they fought many battles in which now one side won, now the other. Beiti sailed up Trondheim Fjord and harried there. He anchored at the place that is now named Beitisær or Beitistad. There he had a ship dragged inland out of Beitistad and north over Eiskrueid; there he went to Naumdal from the north. He sat in the after-deck and held the tiller and claimed all that land to larboard, where there were many settlements.

 Heiti, Gor's son, was the father of Sveidi the sea-king, father of Halfdan the Old, father of Ivar Earl of Uppland, father of Eystein the Clatterer, father of the good adviser Earl Rögnvald the powerful.