Heimskringla, the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway

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Author: Snorri Sturluson

50. About Earl Hakon.

Earl Hakon ruled over the whole outer part of Norway that lies on the sea, and had thus sixteen districts under his sway. The arrangement introduced by Harald Harfager, that there should be an earl in each district, was afterward continued for a long time; and thus Earl Hakon had sixteen earls under him. So says the "Vellekla": —

"Who before has ever known
Sixteen earls subdued by one?
Who has seen all Norway’s land
Conquered by one brave hero’s hand?
It will be long in memory held,
How Hakon ruled by sword and shield.
When tales at the viking’s mast go round,
His praise will every mouth resound."

While Earl Hakon ruled over Norway there were good crops in the land, and peace was well preserved in the country among the bondes. The Earl, for the greater part of his lifetime, was therefore much beloved by the bondes; but it happened, in the longer course of time, that the earl became very intemperate in his intercourse with women, and even carried it so far that he made the daughters of people of consideration be carried away and brought home to him; and after keeping them a week or two as concubines, he sent them home. He drew upon himself the indignation of me relations of these girls; and the bondes began to murmur loudly, as the Throndhjem people have the custom of doing when anything goes against their judgment.

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Chicago: Snorri Sturluson, "50. About Earl Hakon.," Heimskringla, the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway, ed. CM01B10.Txt - 149 Kb, CM01B10.Zip - 56 Kb and trans. Stanley Young in Heimskringla, the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway (New York: The Modern Library Publishers, 1918), Original Sources, accessed April 25, 2024, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LJ78STGF77H19MK.

MLA: Sturluson, Snorri. "50. About Earl Hakon." Heimskringla, the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway, edited by CM01B10.Txt - 149 Kb, CM01B10.Zip - 56 Kb, and translated by Stanley Young, in Heimskringla, the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway, New York, The Modern Library Publishers, 1918, Original Sources. 25 Apr. 2024. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LJ78STGF77H19MK.

Harvard: Sturluson, S, '50. About Earl Hakon.' in Heimskringla, the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway, ed. and trans. . cited in 1918, Heimskringla, the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway, The Modern Library Publishers, New York. Original Sources, retrieved 25 April 2024, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LJ78STGF77H19MK.