[分享] 「暴牙」布里基特的逆襲

西元872年，「金髮」哈拉爾（Harald Fairhair）統一挪威
為了逃避他的壓迫，許多人紛紛逃到昔德蘭群島（Shetland）與奧克尼群島（Orkney）
在當地落腳之後，回過頭去掠劫挪威沿岸。

金髮哈拉爾讓他的盟友朗納瓦德．艾斯泰因森（Rognvald Eysteinsson）前去鎮壓
在戰事中，朗納瓦德的兒子 Ivar 戰死。

做為補償，金髮哈拉爾將奧克尼群島與當地 Jarl 頭銜給予朗納瓦德
之後，他將此地位讓給他的弟弟西格德。

西格德．艾斯泰因森（Sigurd Eysteinsson）
人稱「威猛者西格德」（Sigurd the Mighty）
因此在西元875年成為奧克尼群島的首位 Jarl。

西元892年
西格德與蘇格蘭當地的皮克特人（Picts）領主
發生了一場戰鬥，意外決定了他的命運。

根據《Orkneyinga Saga》記載，
西格德與都柏林國王「白色歐拉夫」（Olaf the White）之子
「紅色索爾斯坦」（Thorstein the Red）結盟
一起攻下了蘇格蘭 Caithness 與大部分的 Argyll、Moray、Ross 這些地方。
他在 Moray 南岸建造了堡壘。

https://i.imgur.com/pxRUPHp.png

麥爾．布里基特（Máel Brigte）
人稱「暴牙布里基特」（Máel Brigte the Bucktoothed）
是 Moray 當地的「Mormaer」（蓋爾語 領主頭銜，等同於英語 Earl、北歐 Jarl）
在西格德進攻該地時，布里基特是他的主要對手。

西格德與布里基特為了解決雙方的紛爭，相約各帶四十騎赴戰
但西格德覺得這個蘇格蘭人不可信任，決定先發制人
到了約定當天，他讓每匹馬上坐兩個人，這樣他就有八十人。

布里基特看到這個情況，對手下說：

「西格德愚弄了我們，每匹馬的兩側都有兩條腿，所以他們的人數必是馬的兩倍，
儘管如此，我們必須展現出勇氣，每一個人死前都要拉對方一個人一起死！」

當蘇格蘭人準備好要迎戰時，
西格德看出他們的想法，他說：

「 現在，我要我們一半的人下馬，在我們發動攻擊時包抄他們，
而其他人盡我們所能地攻擊他們並打破他們的隊形。」

一場激烈的戰鬥就此發生
沒多久，布里基特與他的手下都死了。

西格德將布里基特的頭顱綁在他的馬鞍上，宣示勝利
他們騎馬返家，因戰事成功而興奮得滿臉脹紅。

半路上，西格德策馬前進
布里基特的暴牙在西格德的大腿上劃出一道傷口

傷口開始腫脹、壞死
威猛者西格德因而喪命。

https://i.imgur.com/B4xoaDp.jpeg

他被埋葬在奧伊克爾河（River Oykel）岸邊（Ekkialsbakki）的土丘上。

https://i.imgur.com/HxcNa91.png

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《Orkneyinga Saga》英譯原文：

5. A POISONED TOOTH

Earl Sigurd became a great ruler. He' joined forces with Thorstein the Red,
the son o f Olaf the White and Aud the Deep-Minded, and together they conquered the whole of
Caithness and a large part o f Argyll, Moray and Ross.

EarlSigurd had a stronghold built in the south of Moray. A meeting was arrangedat a certain place between him and Maelbrigte,Earl of the Scots, to settle
their differences. Each of them was to have forty men, but on the appointed daySigurd decided the Scots weren't to be trusted so he had eighty men mounted
on forty horses.

When Earl Maelbrigte realised this, he spoke to his men.
"Now," he said, "Sigurd has made fools of us. I can see two men's legs on bothflanks o f each horse, so there must be twice as many men as there are horses.Still, we must show our courage. Each of us must try to kill at least one manbefore we die ourselves.'

But as the Scots prepared themselves to face the enemy, Sigurd saw what they
had in mind. 'Now,' he said, 'I want half of our men to dismount and outflankthem when we come to blows, while the rest of us ride at them as hard as we canand break their ranks.’

And that is what happened. There was a fierce fight but it wasn't long beforeMaelbrigte and his men were dead.

Sigurd had their heads strapped to the victors' saddles to make a show of histriumph, and with that they began riding back home, flushed with their success.On the way, as Sigurd went to spur his horse, he struck his calf against
a tooth sticking out o f Maelbrigte's mouth and it gave him a scratch.
The wound began to swell and ache, and it was this that led to the death of
Sigurd the Powerful. He lies buried in a mound on the bank of the River Oykel.

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參考來源：

https://reurl.cc/DlM9v5 PDF
Orkneyinga Saga：The History of the Earls of Orkney
Hermann Palsson, Paul Edwards 1978
第30頁 5. A POISONED TOOTH

https://sacred-texts.com/neu/ice/is3/is302.htm
THE ORKNEYINGERS' SAGA（５）

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=4140574835952543&set=a.151169091559824
National Museums Scotland

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