This was the first act in the drama which Earl Haakon had planned. The second contained a surprise. The earl went to Harold Bluetooth, and represented to him that his nephew, as king of Norway, would become a more dangerous rival than he had been before; and frankly offered to kill him, if the king would promise not to avenge his death. Furthermore, he demanded, as his reward, the kingdom of Norway in fief, under the overlordship of the king. All this seemed very tempting to Harold Bluetooth; and like all weak and vicious men, he made objections only for the purpose of having them overcome. In the end he gave his consent; and Gold-Harold was immediately attacked and killed by Earl Haakon. With a large army the two conspirators now sailed for Norway, and won the whole country without striking a blow. So great was the hatred of Gunhild and her sons, that not a man drew his sword in their defence. The two surviving brothers, Gudröd and Ragnfred, made a pretence of resistance, rallying a few followers about them; but did not venture to give battle. Seeing the hopelessness of their cause, they fled with their mother to the Orkneys (965). Ragnfred, however, returned the following year with a considerable fleet, largely made up of vikings who had gathered about him, and fought an indicisive battle with Earl Haakon. He even succeeded in reconquering four of the northwestern shires. For nearly a year Haakon made no effort to expel him. It was not until the spring of 967, that he felt himself strong enough to appeal to arms once more; and this time Ragnfred and his brother Gudröd, who in the meantime had joined him, were defeated at Dingeness, and driven into exile. According to the most reliable accounts, they went to Scotland, but continued for several years to harass the coast of Norway by sudden attacks. They were, however, no longer sufficiently formidable to cause the earl any serious inconvenience, although he was not slow to seize upon their attacks as a pretext for discontinuing the payment of the tax which he had pledged to the Danish king. Gunhild died, in all probability, either in Scotland or the Orkneys, although one of the sagas relates, that she was enticed to Denmark by Harold Bluetooth, under promise of marriage, and at his command drowned in a swamp [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER IX. EARL HAAKON (970-995).