befell

• Thus saith Stuf the Skald Falster was wasted, and to its folk Mischance befell (so I heard The raven his fill ate But rapine feared the Danes each year Ever since the death of King Magnus had King Svein ruled the whole of the Danish realm; remained he at peace during the winters, but by summer went he out with his host & did threaten to journey north with the Danish host, and there do no less harm than Harald had done in Denmark. —  The Sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and of Harald The Tyrant (Harald Haardraade)
• Now once it befell, when spring was drawing nigh, that some men were sitting drinking, & their talk was yet again of the battle of the Niz; and men lauded greatly Earl Hakon, but a few praised others no less When they had been talking thus a while a man answered: 'Mayhap other men besides Earl Hakon fought boldly outside the Niz, yet nevertheless methinks no one can have had the luck he had They said it was no doubt his greatest luck that he had routed many of the Danes. —  The Sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and of Harald The Tyrant (Harald Haardraade)
• Thus it befell, as oft is said, that 'many are the King's ears.' —  The Sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and of Harald The Tyrant (Harald Haardraade)
• But it so befell--happily enough for the United States and for Mr. Adams, as it afterwards turned out--that the Spanish government refused to ratify. —  John Quincy Adams American Statesmen Series
• But as he went on and no evil fate befell, his fear died, and only curiosity remained--a curiosity so lively that it fixed eagerly upon the stretch of the surf behind him, upon his own footsteps left on the soft sand, upon the sand-hills that he had passed, although they were almost the same as the sand-hills that were before. —  The Mermaid A Love Tale

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