Northwest on the island of Magerøya, not far from the North Cape, lies Gjesvær, an old fishing village and the only place in the region of Finnmark known from the Viking ages. Back then the place was called Geirsver.
Gjesvær is described in the stories of the Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson about the Viking raids to sea. At the end of the tenth and beginning of the eleventh century, Vikings left on commercial and pirating raids along the coastline of Bjarmaland, being northwest Russia today, and down into the White Sea. On the returning journey Gjesvær was the first harbour and it became known as the northernmost place in Norway.
In the King Sagas of Snorri is written that King Olaf the Holy during the spring of 1026 sent his trusted bodyguard Karle and his brother Gunnstein to Bjarmeland to do commerce. The king gave them a longship with a crew of 25 men. The mighty Viking chieftain Tore Hund from the island of Bjarkøy heard of their plan. He sent a message to Karle where he announced that also he had intentions of going northeast to Bjarmaland and suggested they go together.
Karle and Gunnstein were not enthusiastic about the plan, but they did not refuse him to follow them, because the Viking chieftain had a great ship with 80 men on board. Tore Hund was additionally famous for being a good navigator, and he had visited in Bjarmaland several times before.
Across bright summer nights and days they could sail nonstop as long as the wind blew in their sails. In Bjarmaland they made good trades with furs and leather from beaver and sables. Before setting sail for home, they attacked a couple of large farms on the tundra fields and left with everything that had any value.
On their journey home they anchored on the coast of Murmansk and went ashore to plunder the sacred burial site of the Bjarmians.
They discovered a figure which resembled the Finnish-Russian god Jomala. Around its neck hung a very valuable gold necklace. They took it along with other costly things before they took off. Karle said the valuable golden necklace should be a gift for King Olaf the Holy.
Chieftain Tore Hund was of a different opinion. He felt himself to have been the grand strategist behind the raid and that the necklace therefore rightfully belonged to him. Tore wanted them to split the bounty before returning home, but Karle would not let himself be convinced.
Karle set sail in a hurry and went west and down along the coast in his smaller, but somewhat faster ship. The king's men were far off to sea before Tore Hund had set his sails. The race at sea, which would last until they reached Gjesvær, had begun. They ended up shipping into the harbour of Gjesvær simultaneously. Tore Hund anchored on the inside of the harbour, Karle further out.
Tore Hund and his men went ashore to put up tents. Just after they were finished, he called for Karle and his brother Gunnstein, and asked them to come ashore. As the brothers and some of their men arrived, Tore Hund began to speak regarding the gold necklace and the other treasures, which he felt should be split justly now. Karle tried to avoid the question and replied that it could impossibly be that urgent. Tore Hund, on the other hand, said it was not customary to delay such affairs until one reached home.
Angered words passed between the two Vikings, but an agreement was not found. He had already started to walk away, but suddenly Tore Hund turned around and asked his people to wait. He faced Karle and spoke in a harsh voice:
-I must speak to you privately !
Karle walked towards him. When they met, Tore pierced him with his spear and growled:
-Here you shall feel a true man from the island of Bjarkøy, Karle, and I think you will feel the spear, too.
Karle died instantly from the deep wound. Gunnstein carried the body of his brother back onto the ship, left Gjesvær and set sails to sea. Chieftain Tore Hund and his men chased after them and soon caught up with Gunnstein's ship. Gunnstein finally realized the battle was already lost. He was inferior to Tore Hund. Gunnstein drove the ship into the stones near the shore and ran away on foot. Tore Hund took the beautiful gold necklace and the rest of the valuable treasures on board the abandoned ship and sunk it into the sea. Then he sailed onwards south and home to the island of Bjarkøy.