They rode first to the north until they reached the River Tidan; the ice there was still exposed, making it easier to proceed all the way to the Askeberga tingsite. There they camped overnight in the shelters. The next day they started off at dawn so as to reach Forsvik by evening, wanting to enter the courtyard before Emund's men discovered their approach.

   In this they were successful. Emund and his men were taken by surprise and swiftly disarmed. His retainers and others who looked capable of fighting were locked into storehouses and smithies and guarded closely by grim Norsemen. Present in the longhouse were only Emund himself, his grown son Germund, his wife Ingeborg, and three small children, as well as the house thralls that were necessary, although the visitors saw to it that none of them carried any weapons.

   It was a somber feast at which Eskil and Knut ate heartily, speaking in loud, carefree voices, while Emund and his family replied suspiciously, giving curt answers to everything that was said.

   Eskil seemed in especially good humor, and from the start he explained that he had come on business, and that they would surely succeed in reaching an agreement. After he had feasted for a while he ordered a chest of silver to be brought in. It was placed on the table between him and Emund, who brightened up a bit. The silver on the table spoke of business and not of death. And yet the conversation was sluggish.

   After they had been eating for a long time, Eskil proposed quite courteously that when they began to discuss the matter at hand, such discussions were best conducted among men, so Mistress Ingeborg and her children had the guests' permission to retire. The host family obeyed this command at once.

   When Eskil and Knut were alone with Emund, Eskil spoke simply and clearly. He said that as far as the price was concerned it might seem a bit low, for it was clear that Forsvik was worth more than fifty marks in silver; anyone could see that. Here he broke off to open his silver chest and take out the bill of sale, which he read aloud in the vernacular, but without mentioning all the names in the letter and especially not Knut Eriksson's. With this Emund was even more convinced that this matter really did concern striking a bargain, although an unfavorable one for him.

   Eskil then pointed out that the thirty marks in silver that Emund had received at Axevalla landsting, and now those words were mentioned for the first time, should be reckoned into the sale price. Those thirty marks had been intended as reconciliation, and Emund had not agreed to reconcile then, but he would be wise to do so now.

   Emund nodded that he could understand that way of thinking and replied somewhat cautiously that eighty marks in silver was still a good sum, especially as it offered reconciliation into the bargain. Eskil said that he was glad it had been easy to understand each other so far.

   But Emund was not ready to affix his seal and accept the silver until he had received certain assurances, for it did not seem safe and secure to do business with his own retainers taken prisoner by Norwegian berserkers of the most belligerent type. He could not understand why the man sitting at the table with them, the man called Knut, had anything to do with this matter, because he knew no Knut.

   Eskil now replied that he could well understand Emund's ap prehensions. But they could ease his concerns in a simple way: the next morning they would load the sleighs with Emund's family and those retainers who wanted to go along. After the sleighs had departed they would wait long enough for those who had left to reach safety before concluding the bargain. In this way Emund would not have to fear for the lives and safety of his family.

   Emund concurred but added that his own life would not be worth much the moment he was left alone at Forsvik surrounded by men who were not his friends.

   Eskil nodded thoughtfully at this and agreed that the same was true at the moment. But if Emund's kinsmen were allowed to leave alive with such a big head start that they could not be caught, then that would be much different from killing them all immediately, because an agreement was proving difficult to reach.

   Emund then said that he would agree. But he had one last thing to suggest. The silver that would pay for the purchase should travel in the same sleighs with his family.

   Eskil found that proposal unacceptable since it was not customary to pay for something one had not yet received. If Emund refused, all the silver would be lost and of no use. They agreed to meet each other halfway after wrangling for a while. Half the purchase price would leave with the morning's sleighs, and Emund would get the other half after he had confirmed the purchase with his own seal. There they left the matter, and they all retired for the night, though many at Forsvik had trouble sleeping.

   When the morning came, half of the locked-up retainers were released so that they could have breakfast and prepare the sleighs that would be needed. Then Emund said goodbye to his wife Ingeborg and his children, who as agreed would carry half of the silver which Eskil brought out to the lead sleigh and placed next to Emund's wife. The sleighs then set off across the ice of Lake Vättern.

   They waited without saying much in the longhouse until the sleighs' head start was so great that they could not be caught. Now it was time to conclude the bargain. Emund was melancholy and pale, and his left hand shook when with Eskil's help he burned his seal onto the bill of sale. The stump of his right arm, suppurating through his linen bandages, smelled terrible.

   When the bill of sale was in order, Eskil carefully rolled it up and stuffed it inside his shirt. He shoved the chest with the second half of the purchase price over toward Emund and said goodbye, explaining that for his part there was nothing more to do at Forsvik. Some of his men would stay and maintain the manor until spring, when replacements from Arnäs would come to take over.

   Then he went outside and gathered his waiting retainers from Arnäs. He mounted his horse and rode off without haste.

   But inside the longhouse no one gave any sign of allowing Emund to leave in his waiting sleigh. When such a long time passed that Eskil was no longer in sight and could no longer hear any noise from Forsvik, Elling the Strong and Egil Olafsen of Ulateig went out to the courtyard and immediately killed the retainers who were waiting for their lord and flung their bodies into the sleigh.

   When that was done they came back into the longhouse and sat down without saying a word, since nothing needed to be said. Everyone inside had heard and understood.

   Now Knut turned to Emund and spoke to him in a low voice but with cold hatred.

   "You wondered, Emund One-Hand, who I was since you did not know any Knut. I will now tell you, because I'm not an ordinary Norseman. I am Knut Eriksson, Erik Jedvardsson's son, and although you have paid your debt to Eskil Magnusson, you also have a debt owing to me."