Tostig Thorfinnsson

“ Then Gamel Beorn began. But much as Harold had feared and foreboded as to the causes of complaint which Tostig had given to the Northumbrians, all fear, all foreboding, fell short of the horrors now deliberately unfolded; not only extortion of tribute the most rapacious and illegal, but murder the fiercest and most foul. Thegns of high birth, without offence or suspicion, but who had either excited Tostig’s jealousy, or resisted his exactions, had been snared under peaceful pretexts into his castle 213, and butchered in cold blood by his house-carles. ”

“ Githa his wife, the Dane, a woman with a haughty but noble spirit, imperfect education, and some of the wild and lawless blood derived from her race of heathen sea-kings, was more fitted to stir their ambition and inflame their fancies, than curb their tempers and mould their hearts.
We have seen the career of Sweyn; but Sweyn was an angel of light compared to his brother Tostig. He who can be penitent has ever something lofty in his original nature; but Tostig was remorseless as the tiger, as treacherous and as fierce. ”

“ Hardrada was easily persuaded; he loved to be where blows rained heavily, where dangers hemmed him in—he seemed to breathe more freely where the current of air was stirred by the struggle of arms,—so promised that, as soon as the ice melted and liberated his fleet, he would set sail for England.18
Impatient to commence the attack, Tostig landed upon the northern coast of England, at the head of such adventurers as he could muster, and began to pillage the towns and villages north of the Humber. ”

“ EDWARD. Tostig says true; my son, thou art too hard, Not stagger'd by this ominous earth and heaven: But heaven and earth are threads of the same loom, Play into one another, and weave the web That may confound thee yet. HAROLD. Nay, I trust not, For I have served thee long and honestly. EDWARD. I know it, son; I am not thankless: thou Hast broken all my foes, lighten'd for me The weight of this poor crown, and left me time And peace for prayer to gain a better one. Twelve years of service! England loves thee for it. Thou art the man to rule her! ALDWYTH (aside) . So, not Tostig! ”

“ No other Englishman appears to have been so beloved by Eadward as Tostig, the brother of Harold. This stern and violent man gained great influence over the weak king, who in spite of his saintliness was spiteful and cruel when any one offended him, and must therefore have been glad to find a counsellor and companion as unscrupulous as he was himself when his passion was roused, and of a far stronger will than his own. ”

“ Henry of Huntingdon, evidently representing a popular tradition wholly opposed to facts, says under the year 1064 that Tostig, whom he describes as older than Harold, was jealous of the king's affection for his brother, that one day while Harold was acting as the king's cupbearer at Windsor Tostig kept pulling his brother's hair, and the king thereupon uttered his prophecy ”

“ And how is our Earl’s brother Tostig esteemed by the Northmen? It must be hard to please those who had Siward of the strong arm for their Earl before.”
“Why, at first, when (at Siward’s death in the wars for young Malcolm) Harold secured to Tostig the Northumbrian earldom, Tostig went by his brother’s counsel, and ruled well and won favour. Of late I hear that the Northmen murmur. Tostig is a man indeed dour and haughty.” ”

“ Remember how closely he is connected with Tostig, your ambitious brother. Have you no fear that Tostig himself, earl of the most warlike part of the kingdom, will not only do his best to check the popular feeling in your favour, but foment every intrigue to detain you here, and leave himself the first noble in the land? As for other leaders, save Gurth (who is but your own vice earl) , who is there that will not rejoice at the absence of Harold? ”

“ By stern and cruel measures Tostig introduced a certain amount of order into the wild northern district under his rule; this severity made him exceedingly unpopular, and in 1065 Northumbria broke into open revolt. Declaring Tostig an outlaw and choosing Morkere in his stead, the rebels marched southwards and were met at Oxford by Earl Harold, who, rather against the will of the king, granted their demands. Tostig sailed to Flanders and thence to Normandy, where he offered his services to Duke William, who was related to his wife and who was preparing for his invasion of England. ”

“ So William says, and he is a fox. Tostig is a hothead; he cannot govern himself, so of course he cannot rule others. He was made lord of the Northumbrians because of his royal blood, but they were men, not thralls, and presently told him that his health would be better in another land. Then he looked to Harold to help him with an army, but Harold found the Northumbrians were so much in the right of it that Tostig's rule was over, for help him he could not with any show of justice. Now, then, Tostig is sailing with the King of Norway, to raid the northern coasts. ”

“ Wherefore, best for the small man to rule by the light of his own little sense, nor venture to count on the luck of great Canute;—for luck but goes with the great.”
“Thine answer,” said Tostig, with a bitter sneer, “is not what I expected from an uncle and warrior. But other chiefs may be found less afraid of the luck of high deeds.”
“So,” saith the Norwegian chronicler, “not just the best friends, the Earl left the King,” and went on in haste to Harold Hardrada of Norway. ”

“ Thou swarest falsely by our blessed bones, We give our voice against thee out of heaven! Sanguelac! Sanguelac! The arrow! the arrow! HAROLD (starting up, battle-axe in hand.) Away! My battle-axe against your voices. Peace! The king's last word—'the arrow!' I shall die— I die for England then, who lived for England— What nobler? men must die. I cannot fall into a falser world— I have done no man wrong. Tostig, poor brother, Art thou so anger'd? Fain had I kept thine earldom in thy hands Save for thy wild and violent will that wrench'd All hearts of freemen from thee. ”

“ He has made himself, as it were, a want to the nation, a thing necessary to it; he has identified himself with his age, and in the wreath or the crown on his brow, the age itself seems to put forth its flower.
Tostig, lodging apart from Harold in a fort near the gate of Oxford, took slight pains to conciliate foes or make friends; trusting rather to his representations to Edward, (who was wroth with the rebellious House of Algar,) of the danger of compromising the royal dignity by concessions to armed insurgents.
It was but three days before that for which the Witan was summoned ”

“ Tostig fell there, and only a few fled to their ships, protected by a brave Norseman, who stood alone to guard Stamford bridge, then only consisting of a few planks, till an Englishman crept under, thrust up his spear, and slew him from below.
However, Harold’s condition was too critical to allow of his wasting his strength on a defeated foe; he allowed Hardrada’s son to return unmolested to Norway with his fleet and the remains of his army, and he gave great offence to his men by not sharing the plunder of the camp with them. ”

“ In the battle of life the arrows we neglect to pick up, Fate, our foe, will store in her quiver; we have armed her ourselves with the shafts—the more need to beware with the shield. Wherefore, if thou survivest me, and if, as I forebode, dissension break out between Harold and Tostig, I charge thee by memory of our love, and reverence for my grave, to deem wise and just all that Harold deems just and wise. For when Godwin is in the dust, his House lives alone in Harold. ”

“ Godwin placed his hand on Harold's head, and the tears came to those close cold eyes.
"Thou knowest by nature what I have learned by art. Go, and prosper.
Be it as thou wilt."
"He takes thy post, Sweyn—thou art the elder," said Tostig, to the wild form by his side.
"There is guilt on my soul, and woe in my heart," answered Sweyn, moodily. "Shall Esau lose his birthright, and Cain retain it?" ”

“ According to a doubtful authority his head was brought to Harold (Liber de Hyda, p. 292) ; his body was identified by a mark between the shoulders, and was buried at York (Will. Malm. Gesta Regum, iii. c. 252) . Skuli and Ketil, his sons, had been left with the ships; they returned to Norway, were highly favoured by King Olaf, received lands from him and left children. Tostig's widow, Judith, married for her second husband Welf, duke of Bavaria ('Historia Welforum, ed. Pertz, c. 13; Recueil des Historiens, xi. 644) . ”

“ As soon as the horses were [265] cared for and supper was eaten, he was glad enough to get into bed.
"I do believe there is nothing else in all the world," he said, "that will tire a fellow out like a great battle. Father Brian was right, though, about the trap that was set for King Hardrada. Those two English earls, Edwin and Morcar, knew well enough that Harold was coming, and they had everything ready when he got here. Hardrada ought to have watched. He knew he was dealing with his enemies. So did Tostig, and I believe he suspected something." ”

“ Hako, grandson of Earl Godwin, hostage to William of Normandy. Halfdan, brother of St. Olaf, story of his childhood. Haro, supposed origin of the cry. Harold Bluetooth, his support of Richard the Fearless. Harold Hardrada, Tostig seeks his alliance against Harold of England; stories of his childhood, succeeds to the crown of Norway; accepts Tostig’s invitation to invade England; Killed at Stamford bridge. Harold Harefoot, crowned King of England. ”

“ Dissension and strife in our house have they wrought already; and if the feuds between Harold and me have sown grey in thy locks, thank thyself when, flushed with vain soothsayings for thy favoured Harold, thou saidst, in the hour of our first childish broil, 'Strive not with Harold; for his brothers will be his men.'"
"Falsify the prediction," said Godwin, calmly; "wise men may always make their own future, and seize their own fates. Prudence, patience, labour, valour; these are the stars that rule the career of mortals."
Tostig made no answer ”

“ Thorfinn next claimed two trithings of Orkney from his nephew Ragnvald, who demurred to giving up what the Norse king had conferred on him, but, finding he could not cope with Thorfinn's Orkney, Caithness and Scottish forces, Ragnvald fled to King Magnus, who gave him a force of picked men, and bade Kalf Arnason also to help him, although Kalf was Thorfinn's friend, and near connection by marriage. ”

“ But when Thorstein spoke in this outrageous manner, Halldor leapt up so suddenly that the brooch was torn from his cloak, and said, "Something else will happen before I utter that which is not my will."
"What is that?" said Thorstein.
"A poleaxe will stand on your head from one of the worst of men, and thus cast down your insolence and unfairness."
Thorkell answered, "That is an evil prophecy, and I hope it will not be fulfilled; and now I think there is ample cause why you, Halldor, should give up your land and have nothing for it." ”

“ While they were in Vinland, Thorfinn and his companions had many battles with the natives, or Skraellings, and once Freydis, being with them, fought fiercely, killing many natives with her own hand. After spending three years in Vinland, Thorfinn and Gudrid went to Iceland, and remained there the rest of their lives, and the little boy, Snorri, lived and grew to manhood, and among his descendants was the great Danish sculptor, Thorwaldsen. ”

“ King Olaf, Harald’s son, received no homage from Earl Thorfinn after he made the treaty with him and Brúsi.
Earl Thorfinn now became a powerful chief. He was a man of very large stature, uncomely, sharp-featured, dark-haired, and sallow and swarthy in his complexion. Yet he was a most martial-looking man, and of great energy; greedy of wealth and of renown; bold and successful in war, and a great strategist. ”

“ EARL THORFINN SUBDUES THE ISLANDS. Now it is to be told of Earl Thorfinn that on the morning after the battle he sent boats to all the islands to search for the fugitives. Many were killed, and some were pardoned. Earl Thorfinn subdued all the Islands, and made all the inhabitants his subjects, even those who had sworn allegiance to Earl Rögnvald. Thorfinn then fixed his residence in the Orkneys, keeping a great number of men about him; he imported provisions from Caithness, and sent Kálf Arnason to the Sudreyar (Hebrides) , and ordered him to remain and maintain his authority there. ”

“ While at Brattahlid, he was the guest of Lief, with whom he spent the winter. There was much feasting, especially at Yule-time, and some love-making besides, for Thorfin married Gudrid, widow of Thorstein, before spring came. They spoke much about Vinland, and finally they resolved on a voyage thither. Accordingly they got together a company of one hundred and sixty, of whom five were women, Gudrid being one. “Then,” according to the saga, “they made an agreement with Karlsefne that each should have equal share they made of gain. ”

“ Thorfinn on his return presents him with the short-sword and becomes his fast friend. He has plenty of opportunity: for Grettir, as usual, neither entirely by his own fault nor entirely without it, owing to his sulky temper and sour tongue, successively slays three brothers, being in the last instance saved only with the greatest difficulty by Thorfinn, his own half-brother Thorstein Dromond, and others, from the wrath of Swein, Jarl of the district. So that by the time when he can return to [Pg 354] Iceland, he has made Norway too hot to hold him ”