{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_17803/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_17803","id":"gutenberg_17803","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17803","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Historical Novels","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Sagas -- Translations into English"],"text":"Produced by Ted Garvin, Sankar Viswanathan, and Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team of Distributed Proofreaders\nEurope at http://dp.rastko.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                               LAXDAELA\n\n                                SAGA\n\n\n                    TRANSLATED FROM THE ICELANDIC\n\n\n                                 by\n\n\n                          MURIEL A.C. PRESS\n\n\n\n                              MDCCCXCIX\n\n                            PUBLISHED BY\n                          J.M. DENT AND CO.\n                      ALDINE HOUSE LONDON W.C.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nCHAP.\n\nI. OF KETILL FLATNOSE AND HIS DESCENDANTS, 9TH CENTURY A.D.\n\nII.  KETILL AND HIS SONS PREPARE TO LEAVE NORWAY.\n\nIII.  KETILL's SONS GO TO ICELAND.\n\nIV.  KETILL GOES TO SCOTLAND, A.D. 890.\n\nV. UNN GOES TO ICELAND, A.D. 895.\n\nVI. UNN DIVIDES HER LAND.\n\nVII.  OF THE WEDDING OF OLAF \"FEILAN,\" A.D. 920.\n\nVIII.  THE BIRTH OF HRUT, AND THORGERD'S SECOND WIDOWHOOD, A.D. 923.\n\nIX. HOSKULD'S MARRIAGE, A.D. 935.\n\nX. OF VIGA HRAPP.\n\nXI. ABOUT THORD GODDI AND THORBJORN SKRJUP.\n\nXII. HOSKULD BUYS A SLAVE WOMAN.\n\nXIII. HOSKULD RETURNS TO ICELAND, A.D. 948.\n\nXIV. THE  MURDER  OF  HALL,  INGJALD'S BROTHER.\n\nXV. THOROLF'S ESCAPE WITH ASGAUT THE THRALL.\n\nXVI. THORD BECOMES OLAF'S FOSTER FATHER, A.D. 950.\n\nXVII. ABOUT VIGA HRAPP'S GHOST, A.D. 950.\n\nXVIII. OF  THE  DROWNING  OF  THORSTEIN SWART.\n\nXIX. HRUT COMES TO ICELAND\n\nXX. MELKORKA'S MARRIAGE AND OLAF THE PEACOCK'S JOURNEY, A.D. 955\n\nXXI. OLAF THE PEACOCK GOES TO IRELAND, A.D. 955\n\nXXII. OLAF THE PEACOCK COMES HOME TO ICELAND, A.D. 957\n\nXXIII. THE MARRIAGE OF OLAF PEACOCK AND THORGERD, THE DAUGHTER OF\n         EGIL, A.D. 959\n\nXXIV. THE BUILDING OF HERDHOLT, A.D. 960\n\nXXV. ABOUT HOSKULD'S SONS\n\nXXVI. THE DEATH OF HOSKULD, A.D. 985\n\nXXVII. THE FUNERAL FEAST FOR HOSKULD\n\nXXVIII. THE BIRTH OF KJARTAN, OLAF'S SON, A.D. 978\n\nXXIX. OLAF'S SECOND JOURNEY TO NORWAY, A.D. 975\n\nXXX. ABOUT GIERMUND AND THURED, A.D. 978\n\nXXXI. THURED'S SECOND MARRIAGE, A.D. 980\n\nXXXII. OF OSVIF HELGISON\n\nXXXIII. OF GEST ODDLEIFSON AND GUDRUN'S DREAMS\n\nXXXIV. GUDRUN'S FIRST MARRIAGE, A.D. 989\n\nXXXV. GUDRUN'S SECOND MARRIAGE, A.D. 991\n\nXXXVI. ABOUT KOTKELL AND GRIMA\n\nXXXVII. ABOUT HRUT AND ELDGRIM, A.D. 995\n\nXXXVIII. THE DEATH OF STIGANDI. THORLIEK LEAVES ICELAND\n\nXXXIX. OF KJARTAN'S FRIENDSHIP FOR BOLLI\n\nXL. KJARTAN AND BOLLI VOYAGE TO NORWAY, A.D. 996\n\nXLI. BOLLI RETURNS TO ICELAND, A.D. 999\n\nXLII. BOLLI MAKES LOVE TO GUDRUN, A.D. 1000\n\nXLIII. KJARTAN COMES BACK TO ICELAND, A.D. 1001\n\nXLIV. KJARTAN COMES HOME, A.D. 1001\n\nXLV. KJARTAN MARRIES HREFNA, A.D. 1002\n\nXLVI. FEAST AT HERDHOLT AND THE LOSS OF KJARTAN'S SWORD, A.D. 1002\n\nXLVII. KJARTAN GOES TO LAUGAR, AND OF THE BARGAIN FOR TONGUE, A.D. 1003\n\nXLVIII. THE MEN OF LAUGAR AND GUDRUN PLAN AN AMBUSH FOR KJARTAN, A.D. 1003\n\nXLIX. THE DEATH OF KJARTAN\n\nL. THE END OF HREFNA. THE PEACE SETTLED, A.D. 1003\n\nLI. OSVIF'S SONS ARE BANISHED\n\nLII. THE KILLING OF THORKELL OF GOAT'S PEAK\n\nLIII. THORGERD'S EGGING, A.D. 1007\n\nLIV. HALLDOR PREPARES TO AVENGE KJARTAN\n\nLV. THE DEATH OF BOLLI\n\nLVI. BOLLI BOLLISON IS BORN, A.D. 1008\n\nLVII. ABOUT THORGILS HALLASON, A.D. 1018\n\nLVIII. THORKELL AND GRIM, AND THEIR VOYAGE ABROAD\n\nLIX. GUDRUN DEMANDS REVENGE FOR BOLLI, A.D. 1019\n\nLX. THE EGGING OF GUDRUN\n\nLXI. OF THORSTEIN THE BLACK AND LAMBI\n\nLXII. THORGILS AND HIS FOLLOWERS LEAVE HOME\n\nLXIII. THE DESCRIPTION OF HIS ENEMIES BROUGHT TO HELGI\n\nLXIV. THE DEATH OF HELGI, A.D. 1019\n\nLXV. OF GUDRUN'S DECEIT\n\nLXVI. OSVIF AND GEST DIE\n\nLXVII. THE DEATH OF THORGILS HALLASON, A.D. 1020\n\nLXVIII. GUDRUN'S MARRIAGE WITH THORKELL EYJOLFSON\n\nLXIX. THE QUARREL ABOUT GUNNAR AT THE FEAST\n\nLXX. THORLEIK GOES TO NORWAY\n\nLXXI. THE PEACE BETWEEN THE SONS OF BOLLI AND THE SONS OF OLAF, A.D. 1026\n\nLXXII. BOLLI AND THORLEIK GO ABROAD, A.D. 1029\n\nLXXIII. BOLLI'S VOYAGE\n\nLXXIV. THORKELL EYJOLFSON GOES TO NORWAY\n\nLXXV. THORKELL  AND  THORSTEIN  AND HALLDOR OLAFSON, A.D. 1026\n\nLXXVI. THE DROWNING OF THORKELL, A.D. 1026\n\nLXXVII. THE RETURN OF BOLLI, A.D. 1030\n\nLXXVIII. THE DEATH OF SNORRI, AND THE END, A.D. 1031\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAXDALE SAGA\n\n[Illustration: Map of the District of Laxdale Saga]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. I\n\n\nOf Ketill Flatnose and his Descendants, 9th Century A.D. [Sidenote:\nKetill's family] Ketill Flatnose was the name of a man. He was the son\nof Bjorn the Ungartered. Ketill was a mighty and high-born chieftain\n(hersir) in Norway. He abode in Raumsdale, within the folkland of the\nRaumsdale people, which lies between Southmere and Northmere. Ketill\nFlatnose had for wife Yngvild, daughter of Ketill Wether, who was a\nman of exceeding great worth. They had five children; one was named\nBjorn the Eastman, and another Helgi Bjolan. Thorunn the Horned was\nthe name of one of Ketill's daughters, who was the wife of Helgi the\nLean, son of Eyvind Eastman, and Rafarta, daughter of Kjarval, the\nIrish king. Unn \"the Deep-minded\" was another of Ketill's daughters,\nand was the wife of Olaf the White, son of Ingjald, who was son of\nFrodi the Valiant, who was slain by the Svertlings. Jorunn, \"Men's\nWit-breaker,\" was the name of yet another of Ketill's daughters. She\nwas the mother of Ketill the Finn, who settled on land at Kirkby. His\nson was Asbjorn, father of Thorstein, father of Surt, the father of\nSighat the Speaker-at-Law.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. II\n\nKetill and his Sons prepare to leave Norway\n\n\n[Sidenote: The tyranny of King Harald] In the latter days of Ketill\narose the power of King Harald the Fairhaired, in such a way that no\nfolkland king or other great men could thrive in the land unless he\nalone ruled what title should be theirs. When Ketill heard that King\nHarald was minded to put to him the same choice as to other men of\nmight--namely, not only to put up with his kinsmen being left\nunatoned, but to be made himself a hireling to boot--he calls together\na meeting of his kinsmen, and began his speech in this wise: \"You all\nknow what dealings there have been between me and King Harald, the\nwhich there is no need of setting forth; for a greater need besets us,\nto wit, to take counsel as to the troubles that now are in store for\nus. I have true news of King Harald's enmity towards us, and to me it\nseems that we may abide no trust from that quarter. [Sidenote:\nKetill's speech] It seems to me that there are two choices left us,\neither to fly the land or to be slaughtered each in his own seat. Now,\nas for me, my will is rather to abide the same death that my kinsmen\nsuffer, but I would not lead you by my wilfulness into so great a\ntrouble, for I know the temper of my kinsmen and friends, that ye\nwould not desert me, even though it would be some trial of manhood to\nfollow me.\" Bjorn, the son of Ketill, answered: \"I will make known my\nwishes at once. I will follow the example of noble men, and fly this\nland. For I deem myself no greater a man by abiding at home the\nthralls of King Harald, that they may chase me away from my own\npossessions, or that else I may have to come by utter death at their\nhands.\" At this there was made a good cheer, and they all thought it\nwas spoken bravely. This counsel then was settled, that they should\nleave the country, for the sons of Ketill urged it much, and no one\nspoke against it. Bjorn and Helgi wished to go to Iceland, for they\nsaid they had heard many pleasing news thereof. They had been told\nthat there was good land to be had there, and no need to pay money for\nit; they said there was plenty of whale and salmon and other fishing\nall the year round there. But Ketill said, \"Into that fishing place I\nshall never come in my old age.\" So Ketill then told his mind, saying\nhis desire was rather to go west over the sea, for there was a\nchance of getting a good livelihood. He knew lands there wide about,\nfor there he had harried far and wide.\n\n\n\n\nChap. III\n\nKetill's Sons go to Iceland\n\n\n[Sidenote: Of Bjorn in Iceland] After that Ketill made a great feast,\nand at it he married his daughter Thorunn the Horned to Helgi the\nLean, as has been said before. After that Ketill arrayed his journey\nwest over the sea. Unn, his daughter, and many others of his relations\nwent with him. That same summer Ketill's sons went to Iceland with\nHelgi, their brother-in-law. Bjorn, Ketill's son, brought his ship to\nthe west coast of Iceland, to Broadfirth, and sailed up the firth\nalong the southern shore, till he came to where a bay cuts into the\nland, and a high mountain stood on the ness on the inner side of the\nbay, but an island lay a little way off the land. Bjorn said that they\nshould stay there for a while. Bjorn then went on land with a few men,\nand wandered along the coast, and but a narrow strip of land was there\nbetween fell and foreshore. This spot he thought suitable for\nhabitation. Bjorn found the pillars of his temple washed up in a\ncertain creek, and he thought that showed where he ought to build his\nhouse. Afterwards Bjorn took for himself all the land between\nStaff-river and Lavafirth, and abode in the place that ever after was\ncalled Bjornhaven. He was called Bjorn the Eastman. [Sidenote:\nKetill's doings in Scotland] His wife, Gjaflaug, was the daughter of\nKjallak the Old. Their sons were Ottar and Kjallak, whose son was\nThorgrim, the father of Fight-Styr and Vemund, but the daughter of\nKjallak was named Helga, who was the wife of Vestar of Eyr, son of\nThorolf \"Bladder-skull,\" who settled Eyr. Their son was Thorlak,\nfather of Steinthor of Eyr. Helgi Bjolan brought his ship to the south\nof the land, and took all Keelness, between Kollafirth and Whalefirth,\nand lived at Esjuberg to old age. Helgi the Lean brought his ship to\nthe north of the land, and took Islefirth, all along between Mastness\nand Rowanness, and lived at Kristness. From Helgi and Thornunn all the\nIslefirthers are sprung.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV\n\nKetill goes to Scotland, A.D. 890\n\n\nKetill Flatnose brought his ship to Scotland, and was well received by\nthe great men there; for he was a renowned man, and of high birth.\nThey offered him there such station as he would like to take, and\nKetill and his company of kinsfolk settled down there--all except\nThorstein, his daughter's son, who forthwith betook himself to\nwarring, and harried Scotland far and wide, and was always victorious.\nLater on he made peace with the Scotch, and got for his own one-half\nof Scotland. He had for wife Thurid, daughter of Eyvind, and sister of\nHelgi the Lean. The Scotch did not keep the peace long, but\ntreacherously murdered him. [Sidenote: Of Unn the Deep-minded] Ari,\nThorgil's son, the Wise, writing of his death, says that he fell in\nCaithness. Unn the Deep-minded was in Caithness when her son Thorstein\nfell. When she heard that Thorstein was dead, and her father had\nbreathed his last, she deemed she would have no prospering in store\nthere. So she had a ship built secretly in a wood, and when it was\nready built she arrayed it, and had great wealth withal; and she took\nwith her all her kinsfolk who were left alive; and men deem that\nscarce may an example be found that any one, a woman only, has ever\ngot out of such a state of war with so much wealth and so great a\nfollowing. From this it may be seen how peerless among women she was.\nUnn had with her many men of great worth and high birth. A man named\nKoll was one of the worthiest amongst her followers, chiefly owing to\nhis descent, he being by title a \"Hersir.\" There was also in the\njourney with Unn a man named Hord, and he too was also a man of high\nbirth and of great worth. When she was ready, Unn took her ship to the\nOrkneys; there she stayed a little while, and there she married off\nGro, the daughter of Thorstein the Red. She was the mother of Greilad,\nwho married Earl Thorfinn, the son of Earl Turf-Einar, son of Rognvald\nMere-Earl. Their son was Hlodvir, the father of Earl Sigurd, the\nfather of Earl Thorfinn, and from them come all the kin of the Orkney\nEarls. After that Unn steered her ship to the Faroe Isles, and stayed\nthere for some time. [Sidenote: Unn leaves the Faroe Isles] There she\nmarried off another daughter of Thorstein, named Olof, and from her\nsprung the noblest race of that land, who are called the Gate-Beards.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. V\n\nUnn goes to Iceland, A.D. 895\n\n\nUnn now got ready to go away from the Faroe Isles, and made it known to\nher shipmates that she was going to Iceland. She had with her Olaf\n\"Feilan,\" the son of Thorstein, and those of his sisters who were\nunmarried. After that she put to sea, and, the weather being favourable,\nshe came with her ship to the south of Iceland to Pumice-Course\n(Vikrarskeid). There they had their ship broken into splinters, but all\nthe men and goods were saved. After that she went to find Helgi, her\nbrother, followed by twenty men; and when she came there he went out to\nmeet her, and bade her come stay with him with ten of her folk. She\nanswered in anger, and said she had not known that he was such a churl;\nand she went away, being minded to find Bjorn, her brother in\nBroadfirth, and when he heard she was coming, he went to meet her with\nmany followers, and greeted her warmly, and invited her and all her\nfollowers to stay with him, for he knew his sister's high-mindedness.\nShe liked that right well, and thanked him for his lordly behaviour. She\nstayed there all the winter, and was entertained in the grandest manner,\nfor there was no lack of means, and money was not spared. [Sidenote: Unn\ntakes land in Iceland] In the spring she went across Broadfirth, and\ncame to a certain ness, where they ate their mid-day meal, and since\nthat it has been called Daymealness, from whence Middlefell-strand\nstretches (eastward). Then she steered her ship up Hvammsfirth and came\nto a certain ness, and stayed there a little while. There Unn lost her\ncomb, so it was afterwards called Combness. Then she went about all the\nBroadfirth-Dales, and took to her lands as wide as she wanted. After\nthat Unn steered her ship to the head of the bay, and there her\nhigh-seat pillars were washed ashore, and then she deemed it was easy to\nknow where she was to take up her abode. She had a house built there: it\nwas afterwards called Hvamm, and she lived there. The same spring as Unn\nset up household at Hvamm, Koll married Thorgerd, daughter of Thorstein\nthe Red. Unn gave, at her own cost, the bridal-feast, and let Thorgerd\nhave for her dowry all Salmonriver-Dale; and Koll set up a household\nthere on the south side of the Salmon-river. Koll was a man of the\ngreatest mettle: their son was named Hoskuld.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VI\n\nUnn Divides her Land\n\n\nAfter that Unn gave to more men parts of her land-take. To Hord she\ngave all Hord-Dale as far as Skramuhlaups River. [Sidenote: Her\nfollowers] He lived at Hordabolstad (Hord-Lair-Stead), and was a man\nof the greatest mark, and blessed with noble offspring. His son was\nAsbjorn the Wealthy, who lived in Ornolfsdale, at Asbjornstead, and\nhad to wife Thorbjorg, daughter of Midfirth-Skeggi. Their daughter was\nIngibjorg, who married Illugi the Black, and their sons were Hermund\nand Gunnlaug Worm-tongue. They are called the Gilsbecking-race. Unn\nspoke to her men and said: \"Now you shall be rewarded for all your\nwork, for now I do not lack means with which to pay each one of you\nfor your toil and good-will. You all know that I have given the man\nnamed Erp, son of Earl Meldun, his freedom, for far away was it from\nmy wish that so high-born a man should bear the name of thrall.\"\nAfterwards Unn gave him the lands of Sheepfell, between Tongue River\nand Mid River. His children were Orm and Asgeir, Gunbjorn, and\nHalldis, whom Alf o' Dales had for wife. To Sokkolf Unn gave\nSokkolfsdale, where he abode to old age. Hundi was the name of one of\nher freedmen. He was of Scottish kin. To him she gave Hundidale. Osk\nwas the name of the fourth daughter of Thorstein the Red. She was the\nmother of Thorstein Swart, the Wise, who found the \"Summer eeke.\"\nThorhild was the name of a fifth daughter of Thorstein. She was the\nmother of Alf o' Dales, and many great men trace back their line of\ndescent to him. His daughter was Thorgerd, wife of Ari Marson of\nReekness, the son of Atli, the son of Ulf the Squinter and Bjorg,\nEyvond's daughter, the sister of Helgi the Lean. From them come all\nthe Reeknessings. Vigdis was the name of the sixth daughter of\nThorstein the Red. From her come the men of Headland of Islefirth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VII\n\nOf the Wedding of Olaf \"Feilan,\" A.D. 920\n\n\nOlaf \"Feilan\" was the youngest of Thorstein's children. He was a tall\nman and strong, goodly to look at, and a man of the greatest mettle.\nUnn loved him above all men, and made it known to people that she was\nminded to settle on Olaf all her belongings at Hvamm after her day.\n[Sidenote: Unn's advice to Olaf] Unn now became very weary with old\nage, and she called Olaf \"Feilan\" to her and said: \"It is on my mind,\nkinsman, that you should settle down and marry.\" Olaf took this well,\nand said he would lean on her foresight in that matter. Unn said: \"It\nis chiefly in my mind that your wedding-feast should be held at the\nend of the summer, for that is the easiest time to get in all the\nmeans needed, for to me it seems a near guess that our friends will\ncome hither in great numbers, and I have made up my mind that this\nshall be the last bridal feast arrayed by me.\" Olaf answered: \"That is\nwell spoken; but such a woman alone I mean to take to wife who shall\nrob thee neither of wealth nor rule (over thine own).\" [Sidenote:\nOlaf's wedding] That same summer Olaf \"Feilan\" married Alfdis. Their\nwedding was at Hvamm. Unn spent much money on this feast, for she let\nbe bidden thereto men of high degree wide about from other parts. She\ninvited Bjorn and Helgi \"Bjolan,\" her brothers, and they came with\nmany followers. There came Koll o' Dales, her kinsman-in-law, and Hord\nof Hord-Dale, and many other great men. The wedding feast was very\ncrowded; yet there did not come nearly so many as Unn had asked,\nbecause the Islefirth people had such a long way to come. Old age fell\nnow fast upon Unn, so that she did not get up till mid-day, and went\nearly to bed. No one did she allow to come to her for advice between\nthe time she went to sleep at night and the time she was aroused, and\nshe was very angry if any one asked how it fared with her strength. On\nthis day Unn slept somewhat late; yet she was on foot when the guests\ncame, and went to meet them and greeted her kinsfolk and friends with\ngreat courtesy, and said they had shown their affection to her in\n\"coming hither from so far, and I specially name for this Bjorn and\nHelgi, but I wish to thank you all who are here assembled.\" After that\nUnn went into the hall and a great company with her, and when all\nseats were taken in the hall, every one was much struck by the\nlordliness of the feast. Then Unn said: \"Bjorn and Helgi, my brothers,\nand all my other kindred and friends, I call witnesses to this, that\nthis dwelling with all its belongings that you now see before you, I\ngive into the hands of my kinsman, Olaf, to own and to manage.\"\n[Sidenote: Unn's death] After that Unn stood up and said she would go\nto the bower where she was wont to sleep, but bade every one have for\npastime whatever was most to his mind, and that ale should be the\ncheer of the common folk. So the tale goes, that Unn was a woman both\ntall and portly. She walked at a quick step out along the hall, and\npeople could not help saying to each other how stately the lady was\nyet. They feasted that evening till they thought it time to go to bed.\nBut the day after Olaf went to the sleeping bower of Unn, his\ngrandmother, and when he came into the chamber there was Unn sitting\nup against her pillow, and she was dead. Olaf went into the hall after\nthat and told these tidings. Every one thought it a wonderful thing,\nhow Unn had upheld her dignity to the day of her death. So they now\ndrank together Olaf's wedding and Unn's funeral honours, and the last\nday of the feast Unn was carried to the howe (burial mound) that was\nmade for her. She was laid in a ship in the cairn, and much treasure\nwith her, and after that the cairn was closed up. Then Olaf \"Feilan\"\ntook over the household of Hvamm and all charge of the wealth there,\nby the advice of his kinsmen who were there. When the feast came to an\nend Olaf gave lordly gifts to the men most held in honour before they\nwent away. Olaf became a mighty man and a great chieftain. He lived at\nHvamm to old age. [Sidenote: Olaf's children] The children of Olaf and\nAlfdis were Thord Yeller, who married Hrodny, daughter of Midfirth\nSkeggi; and their sons were, Eyjolf the Grey, Thorarin Fylsenni, and\nThorkell Kuggi. One daughter of Olaf Feilan was Thora, whom Thorstein\nCod-biter, son of Thorolf Most-Beard, had for wife; their sons were\nBork the Stout, and Thorgrim, father of Snori the Priest. Helga was\nanother daughter of Olaf; she was the wife of Gunnar Hlifarson; their\ndaughter was Jofrid, whom Thorodd, son of Tongue-Odd, had for wife,\nand afterwards Thorstein, Egil's son. Thorunn was the name of yet one\nof his daughters. She was the wife of Herstein, son of Thorkell\nBlund-Ketill's son. Thordis was the name of a third daughter of Olaf:\nshe was the wife of Thorarin, the Speaker-at-Law, brother of Ragi. At\nthat time, when Olaf was living at Hvamm, Koll o' Dales, his\nbrother-in-law, fell ill and died. Hoskuld, the son of Koll, was young\nat the time of his father's death: he was fulfilled of wits before the\ntale of his years. Hoskuld was a hopeful man, and well made of body.\nHe took over his father's goods and household. The homestead where\nKoll lived was named after him, being afterwards called Hoskuldstead.\nHoskuld was soon in his householding blessed with friends, for that\nmany supports stood thereunder, both kinsmen and friends whom Koll had\ngathered round him. [Sidenote: Thorgerd's second marriage] Thorgerd,\nThorstein's daughter, the mother of Hoskuld, was still a young woman\nand most goodly; she did not care for Iceland after the death of Koll.\nShe told Hoskuld her son that she wished to go abroad, and take with\nher that share of goods which fell to her lot. Hoskuld said he took it\nmuch to heart that they should part, but he would not go against her\nin this any more than in anything else. After that Hoskuld bought the\nhalf-part in a ship that was standing beached off Daymealness, on\nbehalf of his mother. Thorgerd betook herself on board there, taking\nwith her a great deal of goods. After that Thorgerd put to sea and had\na very good voyage, and arrived in Norway. Thorgerd had much kindred\nand many noble kinsmen there. They greeted her warmly, and gave her\nthe choice of whatever she liked to take at their hands. Thorgerd was\npleased at this, and said it was her wish to settle down in that land.\nShe had not been a widow long before a man came forward to woo her.\nHis name was Herjolf; he was a \"landed man\" as to title, rich, and of\nmuch account. Herjolf was a tall and strong man, but he was not fair\nof feature; yet the most high-mettled of men, and was of all men the\nbest skilled at arms. Now as they sat taking counsel on this matter,\nit was Thorgerd's place to reply to it herself, as she was a widow;\nand, with the advice of her relations, she said she would not refuse\nthe offer. So Thorgerd married Herjolf, and went with him to his home,\nand they loved each other dearly. Thorgerd soon showed by her ways\nthat she was a woman of the greatest mettle, and Herjolf's manner of\nlife was deemed much better and more highly to be honoured now that he\nhad got such an one as she was for his wife.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VIII\n\nThe Birth of Hrut and Thorgerd's Second Widowhood, A.D. 923\n\n\n[Sidenote: Thorgerd returns to Iceland] Herjolf and Thorgerd had not\nlong been together before they had a son. The boy was sprinkled with\nwater, and was given the name of Hrut. He was at an early age both big\nand strong as he grew up; and as to growth of body, he was goodlier\nthan any man, tall and broad-shouldered, slender of waist, with fine\nlimbs and well-made hands and feet. Hrut was of all men the fairest of\nfeature, and like what Thorstein, his mother's father, had been, or\nlike Ketill Flatnose. And all things taken together, he was a man of\nthe greatest mettle. Herjolf now fell ill and died, and men deemed\nthat a great loss. After that Thorgerd wished to go to Iceland to\nvisit Hoskuld her son, for she still loved him best of all men, and\nHrut was left behind well placed with his relations. Thorgerd arrayed\nher journey to Iceland, and went to find Hoskuld in his home in\nSalmonriver-Dale. He received his mother with honour. She was\npossessed of great wealth, and remained with Hoskuld to the day of her\ndeath. A few winters after Thorgerd came to Iceland she fell sick and\ndied. Hoskuld took to himself all her money, but Hrut his brother\nowned one-half thereof.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IX\n\nHoskuld's Marriage, A.D. 935\n\n\n[Sidenote: Of Jorunn Bjorn's daughter] At this time Norway was ruled\nby Hakon, Athelstan's fosterling. Hoskuld was one of his bodyguard,\nand stayed each year, turn and turn about, at Hakon's court, or at his\nown home, and was a very renowned man both in Norway and in Iceland.\nBjorn was the name of a man who lived at Bjornfirth, where he had\ntaken land, the firth being named after him. This firth cuts into the\nland north from Steingrim's firth, and a neck of land runs out between\nthem. Bjorn was a man of high birth, with a great deal of money: Ljufa\nwas the name of his wife. Their daughter was Jorunn: she was a most\nbeautiful woman, and very proud and extremely clever, and so was\nthought the best match in all the firths of the West. Of this woman\nHoskuld had heard, and he had heard besides that Bjorn was the\nwealthiest yeoman throughout all the Strands. Hoskuld rode from home\nwith ten men, and went to Bjorn's house at Bjornfirth. He was well\nreceived, for to Bjorn his ways were well known. [Sidenote: Hoskuld\nmarries Jorunn] Then Hoskuld made his proposal, and Bjorn said he was\npleased, for his daughter could not be better married, yet turned the\nmatter over to her decision. And when the proposal was set before\nJorunn, she answered in this way: \"From all the reports I have heard\nof you, Hoskuld, I cannot but answer your proposal well, for I think\nthat the woman would be well cared for who should marry you; yet my\nfather must have most to say in this matter, and I will agree in this\nwith his wishes.\" And the long and short of it was, that Jorunn was\npromised to Hoskuld with much money, and the wedding was to be at\nHoskuldstead. Hoskuld now went away with matters thus settled, and\nhome to his abode, and stays now at home until this wedding feast was\nto be held. Bjorn came from the north for the wedding with a brave\ncompany of followers. Hoskuld had also asked many guests, both friends\nand relations, and the feast was of the grandest. Now, when the feast\nwas over each one returned to his home in good friendship and with\nseemly gifts. Jorunn Bjorn's daughter sits behind at Hoskuldstead, and\ntakes over the care of the household with Hoskuld. It was very soon\nseen that she was wise and well up in things, and of manifold\nknowledge, though rather high-tempered at most times. Hoskuld and she\nloved each other well, though in their daily ways they made no show\nthereof. Hoskuld became a great chieftain; he was mighty and pushing,\nand had no lack of money, and was thought to be nowise less of his\nways than his father, Koll. [Sidenote: Hoskuld's children] Hoskuld and\nJorunn had not been married long before they came to have children. A\nson of theirs was named Thorliek. He was the eldest of their children.\nBard was another son of theirs. One of their daughters was called\nHallgerd, afterwards surnamed \"Long-Breeks.\" Another daughter was\ncalled Thurid. All their children were most hopeful. Thorliek was a\nvery tall man, strong and handsome, though silent and rough; and men\nthought that such was the turn of his temper, as that he would be no\nman of fair dealings, and Hoskuld often would say, that he would take\nvery much after the race of the men of the Strands. Bard, Hoskuld's\nson, was most manly to look at, and of goodly strength, and from his\nappearance it was easy to see that he would take more after his\nfather's people. Bard was of quiet ways while he was growing up, and a\nman lucky in friends, and Hoskuld loved him best of all his children.\nThe house of Hoskuld now stood in great honour and renown. About this\ntime Hoskuld gave his sister Groa in marriage to Velief the Old, and\ntheir son was \"Holmgang\"-Bersi.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. X\n\nOf Viga Hrapp\n\n\nHrapp was the name of a man who lived in Salmon-river-Dale, on the\nnorth bank of the river on the opposite side to Hoskuldstead, at the\nplace that was called later on Hrappstead, where there is now waste\nland. [Sidenote: Of Hrapp and Vigdis] Hrapp was the son of Sumarlid,\nand was called Fight-Hrapp. He was Scotch on his father's side, and\nhis mother's kin came from Sodor, where he was brought up. He was a\nvery big, strong man, and one not willing to give in even in face of\nsome odds; and for the reason that was most overbearing, and would\nnever make good what he had misdone, he had had to fly from\nWest-over-the-sea, and had bought the land on which he afterwards\nlived. His wife was named Vigdis, and was Hallstein's daughter; and\ntheir son was named Sumarlid. Her brother was named Thorstein Surt; he\nlived at Thorsness, as has been written before. Sumarlid was brought\nup there, and was a most promising young man. Thorstein had been\nmarried, but by this time his wife was dead. He had two daughters, one\nnamed Gudrid, and the other Osk. Thorkell trefill married Gudrid, and\nthey lived in Svignaskard. He was a great chieftain, and a sage of\nwits; he was the son of Raudabjorn. Osk, Thorstein's daughter, was\ngiven in marriage to a man of Broadfirth named Thorarin. He was a\nvaliant man, and very popular, and lived with Thorstein, his\nfather-in-law, who was sunk in age and much in need of their care.\nHrapp was disliked by most people, being overbearing to his\nneighbours; and at times he would hint to them that theirs would be a\nheavy lot as neighbours, if they held any other man for better than\nhimself. All the goodmen took one counsel, and went to Hoskuld and\ntold him their trouble. Hoskuld bade them tell him if Hrapp did any\none any harm, \"For he shall not plunder me of men or money.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XI\n\nAbout Thord Goddi and Thorbjorn Skrjup\n\n\n[Sidenote: Thord Goddi and his wife Vigdis] Thord Goddi was the name\nof a man who lived in Salmon-river-Dale on the northern side of the\nriver, and his house was Vigdis called Goddistead. He was a very\nwealthy man; he had no children, and had bought the land he lived on.\nHe was a neighbour of Hrapp's, and was very often badly treated by\nhim. Hoskuld looked after him, so that he kept his dwelling in peace.\nVigdis was the name of his wife. She was daughter of Ingjald, son of\nOlaf Feilan, and brother's daughter of Thord Yeller, and sister's\ndaughter of Thorolf Rednose of Sheepfell. This Thorolf was a great\nhero, and in a very good position, and his kinsmen often went to him\nfor protection. Vigdis had married more for money than high station.\nThord had a thrall who had come to Iceland with him, named Asgaut. He\nwas a big man, and shapely of body; and though he was called a thrall,\nyet few could be found his equal amongst those called freemen, and he\nknew well how to serve his master. Thord had many other thralls,\nthough this one is the only one mentioned here. Thorbjorn was the name\nof a man. He lived in Salmon-river-Dale, next to Thord, up valley away\nfrom his homestead, and was called Skrjup. He was very rich in\nchattels, mostly in gold and silver. [Sidenote: Houskuld goes abroad]\nHe was an huge man and of great strength. No squanderer of money on\ncommon folk was he. Hoskuld, Dalakoll's son, deemed it a drawback to\nhis state that his house was worse built than he wished it should be;\nso he bought a ship from a Shetland man. The ship lay up in the mouth\nof the river Blanda. That ship he gets ready, and makes it known that\nhe is going abroad, leaving Jorunn to take care of house and children.\nThey now put out to sea, and all went well with them; and they hove\nsomewhat southwardly into Norway, making Hordaland, where the\nmarket-town called Biorgvin was afterwards built. Hoskuld put up his\nship, and had there great strength of kinsmen, though here they be not\nnamed. Hakon, the king, had then his seat in the Wick. Hoskuld did not\ngo to the king, as his kinsfolk welcomed him with open arms. That\nwinter all was quiet (in Norway).\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XII\n\nHoskuld Buys a Slave Woman\n\n\nThere were tidings at the beginning of the summer that the king went\nwith his fleet eastward to a tryst in Brenn-isles, to settle peace for\nhis land, even as the law laid down should be done every third summer.\nThis meeting was held between rulers with a view to settling such\nmatters as kings had to adjudge--matters of international policy\nbetween Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. It was deemed a pleasure trip to\ngo to this meeting, for thither came men from well-nigh all such lands\nas we know of. Hoskuld ran out his ship, being desirous also to go to\nthe meeting; moreover, he had not been to see the king all the winter\nthrough. There was also a fair to be made for. At the meeting there\nwere great crowds of people, and much amusement to be got--drinking,\nand games, and all sorts of entertainment. Nought, however, of great\ninterest happened there. Hoskuld met many of his kinsfolk there who\nwere come from Denmark. [Sidenote: Of Gilli the Russian] Now, one day\nas Hoskuld went out to disport himself with some other men, he saw a\nstately tent far away from the other booths. Hoskuld went thither, and\ninto the tent, and there sat a man before him in costly raiment, and a\nRussian hat on his head. Hoskuld asked him his name. He said he was\ncalled Gilli: \"But many call to mind the man if they hear my\nnickname--I am called Gilli the Russian.\" Hoskuld said he had often\nheard talk of him, and that he held him to be the richest of men that\nhad ever belonged to the guild of merchants. [Sidenote: The bargain\nfor the slave woman] Still Hoskuld spoke: \"You must have things to\nsell such as we should wish to buy.\" Gilli asked what he and his\ncompanions wished to buy. Hoskuld said he should like to buy some\nbonds-woman, \"if you have one to sell.\" Gilli answers: \"There, you mean\nto give me trouble by this, in asking for things you don't expect me\nto have in stock; but it is not sure that follows.\" Hoskuld then saw\nthat right across the booth there was drawn a curtain; and Gilli then\nlifted the curtain, and Hoskuld saw that there were twelve women\nseated behind the curtain. So Gilli said that Hoskuld should come on\nand have a look, if he would care to buy any of these women. Hoskuld\ndid so. They sat all together across the booth. Hoskuld looks\ncarefully at these women. He saw a woman sitting out by the skirt of\nthe tent, and she was very ill-clad. Hoskuld thought, as far as he\ncould see, this woman was fair to look upon. Then said Hoskuld, \"What\nis the price of that woman if I should wish to buy her?\" Gilli\nreplied, \"Three silver pieces is what you must weigh me out for her.\"\n\"It seems to me,\" said Hoskuld, \"that you charge very highly for this\nbonds-woman, for that is the price of three (such).\" Then Gilli said,\n\"You speak truly, that I value her worth more than the others. Choose\nany of the other eleven, and pay one mark of silver for her, this one\nbeing left in my possession.\" Hoskuld said, \"I must first see how much\nsilver there is in the purse I have on my belt,\" and he asked Gilli to\ntake the scales while he searched the purse. [Sidenote: Of the dumb\nslave woman] Gilli then said, \"On my side there shall be no guile in\nthis matter; for, as to the ways of this woman, there is a great\ndrawback which I wish, Hoskuld, that you know before we strike this\nbargain.\" Hoskuld asked what it was. Gilli replied, \"The woman is\ndumb. I have tried in many ways to get her to talk, but have never\ngot a word out of her, and I feel quite sure that this woman knows not\nhow to speak.\" Then, said Hoskuld, \"Bring out the scales, and let us\nsee how much the purse I have got here may weigh.\" Gilli did so, and\nnow they weigh the silver, and there were just three marks weighed.\nThen said Hoskuld, \"Now the matter stands so that we can close our\nbargain. You take the money for yourself, and I will take the woman. I\ntake it that you have behaved honestly in this affair, for, to be\nsure, you had no mind to deceive me herein.\" Hoskuld then went home to\nhis booth. That same night Hoskuld went into bed with her. The next\nmorning when men got dressed, spake Hoskuld, \"The clothes Gilli the\nRich gave you do not appear to be very grand, though it is true that\nto him it is more of a task to dress twelve women than it is to me to\ndress only one.\" After that Hoskuld opened a chest, and took out some\nfine women's clothes and gave them to her; and it was the saying of\nevery one that she looked very well when she was dressed. But when the\nrulers had there talked matters over according as the law provided,\nthis meeting was broken up. Then Hoskuld went to see King Hakon, and\ngreeted him worthily, according to custom. The king cast a side glance\nat him, and said, \"We should have taken well your greeting, Hoskuld,\neven if you had saluted us sooner; but so shall it be even now.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XIII\n\nHoskuld Returns to Iceland, A.D. 948\n\n\n[Sidenote: King Hakon bids Hoskuld farewell] After that the king\nreceived Hoskuld most graciously, and bade him come on board his\nown ship, and \"be with us so long as you care to remain in Norway.\"\nHoskuld answered: \"Thank you for your offer; but now, this summer, I\nhave much to be busy about, and that is mostly the reason I was so\nlong before I came to see you, for I wanted to get for myself\nhouse-timber.\" The king bade him bring his ship in to the Wick, and\nHoskuld tarried with the king for a while. The king got house-timber\nfor him, and had his ship laden for him. Then the king said to\nHoskuld, \"You shall not be delayed here longer than you like, though\nwe shall find it difficult to find a man to take your place.\" After\nthat the king saw Hoskuld off to his ship, and said: \"I have found you\nan honourable man, and now my mind misgives me that you are sailing\nfor the last time from Norway, whilst I am lord over that land.\" The\nking drew a gold ring off his arm that weighed a mark, and gave it to\nHoskuld; and he gave him for another gift a sword on which there was\nhalf a mark of gold. Hoskuld thanked the king for his gifts, and for\nall the honour he had done him. [Sidenote: Hoskuld's arrival in\nIceland] After that Hoskuld went on board his ship, and put to sea.\nThey had a fair wind, and hove in to the south of Iceland; and after\nthat sailed west by Reekness, and so by Snowfellness in to Broadfirth.\nHoskuld landed at Salmon-river-Mouth. He had the cargo taken out of\nhis ship, which he took into the river and beached, having a shed\nbuilt for it. A ruin is to be seen now where he built the shed. There\nhe set up his booths, and that place is called Booths'-Dale. After\nthat Hoskuld had the timber taken home, which was very easy, as it was\nnot far off. Hoskuld rode home after that with a few men, and was\nwarmly greeted, as was to be looked for. He found that all his\nbelongings had been kept well since he left. Jorunn asked, \"What woman\nthat was who journeyed with him?\" Hoskuld answered, \"You will think I\nam giving you a mocking answer when I tell you that I do not know her\nname.\" Jorunn said, \"One of two things there must be: either the talk\nis a lie that has come to my ears, or you must have spoken to her so\nmuch as to have asked her her name.\" Hoskuld said he could not gainsay\nthat, and so told her the truth, and bade that the woman should be\nkindly treated, and said it was his wish she should stay in service\nwith them. Jorunn said, \"I am not going to wrangle with the mistress\nyou have brought out of Norway, should she find living near me no\npleasure; least of all should I think of it if she is both deaf and\ndumb.\" Hoskuld slept with his wife every night after he came home,\nand had very little to say to the mistress. [Sidenote: Melkorka's\nhistory discovered] Every one clearly saw that there was something\nbetokening high birth in the way she bore herself, and that she was no\nfool. Towards the end of the winter Hoskuld's mistress gave birth to a\nmale child. Hoskuld was called, and was shown the child, and he\nthought, as others did, that he had never seen a goodlier or a more\nnoble-looking child. Hoskuld was asked what the boy should be called.\nHe said it should be named Olaf, for Olaf Feilan had died a little\ntime before, who was his mother's brother. Olaf was far before other\nchildren, and Hoskuld bestowed great love on the boy. The next summer\nJorunn said, \"That the woman must do some work or other, or else go\naway.\" Hoskuld said she should wait on him and his wife, and take care\nof her boy besides. When the boy was two years old he had got full\nspeech, and ran about like children of four years old. Early one\nmorning, as Hoskuld had gone out to look about his manor, the weather\nbeing fine, and the sun, as yet little risen in the sky, shining\nbrightly, it happened that he heard some voices of people talking; so\nhe went down to where a little brook ran past the home-field slope,\nand he saw two people there whom he recognised as his son Olaf and his\nmother, and he discovered she was not speechless, for she was talking\na great deal to the boy. Then Hoskuld went to her and asked her her\nname, and said it was useless for her to hide it any longer. She said\nso it should be, and they sat down on the brink of the field.\n[Sidenote: Of Melkorka's family] Then she said, \"If you want to know\nmy name, I am called Melkorka.\" Hoskuld bade her tell him more of her\nkindred. She answered, \"Myr Kjartan is the name of my father, and he\nis a king in Ireland; and I was taken a prisoner of war from there\nwhen I was fifteen winters old.\" Hoskuld said she had kept silence far\ntoo long about so noble a descent. After that Hoskuld went on, and\ntold Jorunn what he had just found out during his walk. Jorunn said\nthat she \"could not tell if this were true,\" and said she had no\nfondness for any manner of wizards; and so the matter dropped. Jorunn\nwas no kinder to her than before, but Hoskuld had somewhat more to say\nto her. A little while after this, when Jorunn was going to bed,\nMelkorka was undressing her, and put her shoes on the floor, when\nJorunn took the stockings and smote her with them about the head.\nMelkorka got angry, and struck Jorunn on the nose with her fist, so\nthat the blood flowed. Hoskuld came in and parted them. After that he\nlet Melkorka go away, and got a dwelling ready for her up in\nSalmon-river-Dale, at the place that was afterwards called\nMelkorkastad, which is now waste land on the south of the Salmon\nriver. Melkorka now set up household there, and Hoskuld had everything\nbrought there that she needed; and Olaf, their son, went with her. It\nwas soon seen that Olaf, as he grew up, was far superior to other men,\nboth on account of his beauty and courtesy.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XIV\n\nThe Murder of Hall, Ingjald's Brother\n\n\n[Sidenote: The fishing at Bjorn isles] Ingjald was the name of a man.\nHe lived in Sheepisles, that lie out in Broadfirth. He was called\nSheepisles' Priest. He was rich, and a mighty man of his hand. Hall\nwas the name of his brother. He was big, and had the makings of a man\nin him; he was, however, a man of small means, and looked upon by most\npeople as an unprofitable sort of man. The brothers did not usually\nagree very well together. Ingjald thought Hall did not shape himself\nafter the fashion of doughty men, and Hall thought Ingjald was but\nlittle minded to lend furtherance to his affairs. There is a fishing\nplace in Broadfirth called Bjorn isles. These islands lie many\ntogether, and were profitable in many ways. At that time men went\nthere a great deal for the fishing, and at all seasons there were a\ngreat many men there. Wise men set great store by people in outlying\nfishing-stations living peacefully together, and said that it would be\nunlucky for the fishing if there was any quarrelling; and most men\ngave good heed to this. It is told how one summer Hall, the brother of\nIngjald, the Sheepisles' Priest, came to Bjorn isles for fishing.\n[Sidenote: Thorolf's quarrel] He took ship as one of the crew with a\nman called Thorolf. He was a Broadfirth man, and was well-nigh a\npenniless vagrant, and yet a brisk sort of a man. Hall was there for\nsome time, and palmed himself off as being much above other men. It\nhappened one evening when they were come to land, Hall and Thorolf,\nand began to divide the catch, that Hall wished both to choose and to\ndivide, for he thought himself the greater man of the two. Thorolf\nwould not give in, and there were some high words, and sharp things\nwere said on both sides, as each stuck to his own way of thinking. So\nHall seized up a chopper that lay by him, and was about to heave it at\nThorolf's head, but men leapt between them and stopped Hall; but he\nwas of the maddest, and yet unable to have his way as at this time.\nThe catch of fish remained undivided. Thorolf betook himself away that\nevening, and Hall took possession of the catch that belonged to them\nboth, for then the odds of might carried the day. Hall now got another\nman in Thorolf's place in the boat, and went on fishing as before.\nThorolf was ill-contented with his lot, for he felt he had come to\nshame in their dealings together; yet he remained in the islands with\nthe determination to set straight the humble plight to which he had\nbeen made to bow against his will. [Sidenote: Hall's death] Hall, in\nthe meantime, did not fear any danger, and thought that no one would\ndare to try to get even with him in his own country. So one\nfair-weather day it happened that Hall rowed out, and there were three\nof them together in the boat. The fish bit well through the day, and\nas they rowed home in the evening they were very merry. Thorolf kept\nspying about Hall's doings during the day, and is standing in the\nlanding-place when Hall came to land. Hall rowed in the forehold of\nthe boat, and leapt overboard, intending to steady the boat; and as he\njumped to land Thorolf happens to be standing near, and forthwith hews\nat him, and the blow caught him on his neck against the shoulder, and\noff flew his head. Thorolf fled away after that, and Hall's followers\nwere all in a flurried bustle about him. The story of Hall's murder\nwas told all over the islands, and every one thought it was indeed\ngreat news; for the man was of high birth, although he had had little\ngood luck. Thorolf now fled from the islands, for he knew no man there\nwho would shelter him after such a deed, and he had no kinsmen he\ncould expect help from; while in the neighbourhood were men from whom\nit might be surely looked for that they would beset his life, being\nmoreover men of much power, such as was Ingjald, the Sheepisles'\nPriest, the brother of Hall. [Sidenote: Thorolf's flight] Thorolf got\nhimself ferried across to the mainland. He went with great secrecy.\nNothing is told of his journey, until one evening he came to\nGoddistead. Vigdis, the wife of Thord Goddi, was some sort of relation\nto Thorolf, and on that account he turned towards that house. Thorolf\nhad also heard before how matters stood there, and how Vigdis was\nendowed with a good deal more courage than Thord, her husband. And\nforthwith the same evening that Thorolf came to Goddistead he went to\nVigdis to tell her his trouble, and to beg her help. Vigdis answered\nhis pleading in this way: \"I do not deny our relationship, and in this\nway alone I can look upon the deed you have done, that I deem you in\nno way the worser man for it. Yet this I see, that those who shelter\nyou will thereby have at stake their lives and means, seeing what\ngreat men they are who will be taking up the blood-suit. And Thord,\"\nshe said, \"my husband, is not much of a warrior; but the counsels of\nus women are mostly guided by little foresight if anything is wanted.\nYet I am loath to keep aloof from you altogether, seeing that, though\nI am but a woman, you have set your heart on finding some shelter\nhere.\" After that Vigdis led him to an outhouse, and told him to wait\nfor her there, and put a lock on the door. Then she went to Thord, and\nsaid, \"A man has come here as a guest, named Thorolf. He is some sort\nof relation of mine, and I think he will need to dwell here some long\ntime if you will allow it.\" Thord said he could not away with men\ncoming to put up at his house, but bade him rest there over the next\nday if he had no trouble on hand, but otherwise he should be off at\nhis swiftest. [Sidenote: Vigdis takes in Thorolf] Vigdis answered, \"I\nhave offered him already to stay on, and I cannot take back my word,\nthough he be not in even friendship with all men.\" After that she\ntold Thord of the slaying of Hall, and that Thorolf who was come there\nwas the man who had killed him. Thord was very cross-grained at this,\nand said he well knew how that Ingjald would take a great deal of\nmoney from him for the sheltering that had been given him already,\nseeing that doors here have been locked after this man. Vigdis\nanswered, \"Ingjald shall take none of your money for giving one\nnight's shelter to Thorolf, and he shall remain here all this winter\nthrough.\" Thord said, \"In this manner you can checkmate me most\nthoroughly, but it is against my wish that a man of such evil luck\nshould stay here.\" Still Thorolf stayed there all the winter. Ingjald,\nwho had to take up the blood-suit for his brother, heard this, and so\narrayed him for a journey into the Dales at the end of the winter, and\nran out a ferry of his whereon they went twelve together. They sailed\nfrom the west with a sharp north-west wind, and landed in\nSalmon-river-Mouth in the evening. They put up their ferry-boat, and\ncame to Goddistead in the evening, arriving there not unawares, and\nwere cheerfully welcomed. Ingjald took Thord aside for a talk with\nhim, and told him his errand, and said he had heard of Thorolf, the\nslayer of his brother, being there. [Sidenote: Ingjald's bargain with\nThord] Thord said there was no truth in that. Ingjald bade him not to\ndeny it. \"Let us rather come to a bargain together: you give up the\nman, and put me to no toil in the matter of getting at him. I have\nthree marks of silver that you shall have, and I will overlook the\noffences you have brought on your hands for the shelter given to\nThorolf.\" Thord thought the money fair, and had now a promise of\nacquittal of the offences for which he had hitherto most dreaded and\nfor which he would have to abide sore loss of money. So he said, \"I\nshall no doubt hear people speak ill of me for this, none the less\nthis will have to be our bargain.\" They slept until it wore towards\nthe latter end of the night, when it lacked an hour of day.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XV\n\nThorolf's Escape with Asgaut the Thrall\n\n\nIngjald and his men got up and dressed. Vigdis asked Thord what his\ntalk with Ingjald had been about the evening before. Thord said they\nhad talked about many things, amongst others how the place was to be\nransacked, and how they should be clear of the case if Thorolf was not\nfound there. \"So I let Asgaut, my thrall, take the man away.\" Vigdis\nsaid she had no fondness for lies, and said she should be very loath\nto have Ingjald sniffing about her house, but bade him, however, do as\nhe liked. After that Ingjald ransacked the place, and did not hit upon\nthe man there. [Sidenote: The flight of Thorolf and Asgaut] At that\nmoment Asgaut came back, and Vigdis asked him where he had parted with\nThorolf. Asgaut replied, \"I took him to our sheephouses as Thord told\nme to.\" Vigdis replied, \"Can anything be more exactly in Ingjald's way\nas he returns to his ship? nor shall any risk be run, lest they should\nhave made this plan up between them last night. I wish you to go at\nonce, and take him away as soon as possible. You shall take him to\nSheepfell to Thorolf; and if you do as I tell you, you shall get\nsomething for it. I will give you your freedom and money, that you may\ngo where you will.\" Asgaut agreed to this, and went to the sheephouse\nto find Thorolf, and bade him get ready to go at once. At this time\nIngjald rode out of Goddistead, for he was now anxious to get his\nmoney's worth. As he was come down from the farmstead (into the plain)\nhe saw two men coming to meet him; they were Thorolf and Asgaut. This\nwas early in the morning, and there was yet but little daylight.\nAsgaut and Thorolf now found themselves in a hole, for Ingjald was on\none side of them and the Salmon River on the other. The river was\nterribly swollen, and there were great masses of ice on either bank,\nwhile in the middle it had burst open, and it was an ill-looking river\nto try to ford. Thorolf said to Asgaut, \"It seems to me we have two\nchoices before us. One is to remain here and fight as well as valour\nand manhood will serve us, and yet the thing most likely is that\nIngjald and his men will take our lives without delay; and the other\nis to tackle the river, and yet that, I think, is still a somewhat\ndangerous one.\" Asgaut said that Thorolf should have his way, and he\nwould not desert him, \"whatever plan you are minded to follow in this\nmatter.\" [Sidenote: The crossing of the river] Thorolf said, \"We will\nmake for the river, then,\" and so they did, and arrayed themselves as\nlight as possible. After this they got over the main ice, and plunged\ninto the water. And because the men were brave, and Fate had ordained\nthem longer lives, they got across the river and upon the ice on the\nother side. Directly after they had got across, Ingjald with his\nfollowers came to the spot opposite to them on the other side of the\nriver. Ingjald spoke out, and said to his companions, \"What plan shall\nwe follow now? Shall we tackle the river or not?\" They said he should\nchoose, and they would rely on his foresight, though they thought the\nriver looked impassable. Ingjald said that so it was, and \"we will\nturn away from the river;\" and when Thorolf and Asgaut saw that\nIngjald had made up his mind not to cross the river, they first wring\ntheir clothes and then make ready to go on. They went on all that day,\nand came in the evening to Sheepfell. They were well received there,\nfor it was an open house for all guests; and forthwith that same\nevening Asgaut went to see Thorolf Rednose, and told him all the\nmatters concerning their errand, \"how Vigdis, his kinswoman, had sent\nhim this man to keep in safety.\" Asgaut also told him all that had\nhappened between Ingjald and Thord Goddi; therewithal he took forth\nthe tokens Vigdis had sent. Thorolf replied thus, \"I cannot doubt\nthese tokens. I shall indeed take this man in at her request. I\nthink, too, that Vigdis has dealt most bravely with this matter and it\nis a great pity that such a woman should have so feeble a husband. And\nyou, Asgaut, shall dwell here as long as you like.\" Asgaut said he\nwould tarry there for no length of time. Thorolf now takes unto him\nhis namesake, and made him one of his followers; and Asgaut and they\nparted good friends, and he went on his homeward journey. [Sidenote:\nIngjald returns to Thord] And now to tell of Ingjald. He turned back\nto Goddistead when he and Thorolf parted. By that time men had come\nthere from the nearest farmsteads at the summons of Vigdis, and no\nfewer than twenty men had gathered there already. But when Ingjald and\nhis men came to the place, he called Thord to him, \"You have dealt in\na most cowardly way with me, Thord,\" says he, \"for I take it to be the\ntruth that you have got the man off.\" Thord said this had not happened\nwith his knowledge; and now all the plotting that had been between\nIngjald and Thord came out. Ingjald now claimed to have back his money\nthat he had given to Thord. [Sidenote: The returning of the money]\nVigdis was standing near during this talk, and said it had fared with\nthem as was meet, and prayed Thord by no means to hold back this\nmoney, \"For you, Thord,\" she said, \"have got this money in a most\ncowardly way.\" Thord said she must needs have her will herein. After\nthat Vigdis went inside, and to a chest that belonged to Thord, and\nfound at the bottom a large purse. She took out the purse, and went\noutside with it up to where Ingjald was, and bade him take the money.\nIngjald's brow cleared at that, and he stretched out his hand to take\nthe purse. Vigdis raised the purse, and struck him on the nose with\nit, so that forthwith blood fell on the earth. Therewith she\noverwhelmed him with mocking words, ending by telling him that\nhenceforth he should never have the money, and bidding him go his way.\nIngjald saw that his best choice was to be off, and the sooner the\nbetter, which indeed he did, nor stopped in his journey until he got\nhome, and was mightily ill at ease over his travel.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XVI\n\nThord becomes Olaf's Foster Father, A.D. 950\n\n\nAbout this time Asgaut came home. Vigdis greeted him, and asked him\nwhat sort of reception they had had at Sheepfell. He gave a good\naccount of it, and told her the words wherewith Thorolf had spoken out\nhis mind. [Sidenote: The reward of Asgaut] She was very pleased at\nthat. \"And you, Asgaut,\" she said, \"have done your part well and\nfaithfully, and you shall now know speedily what wages you have worked\nfor. I give you your freedom, so that from this day forth you shall\nbear the title of a freeman. Therewith you shall take the money that\nThord took as the price for the head of Thorolf, my kinsman, and now\nthat money will be better bestowed.\" Asgaut thanked her for her gift\nwith fair words. The next summer Asgaut took a berth in Day-Meal-Ness,\nand the ship put to sea, and they came in for heavy gales, but not a\nlong sea-voyage, and made Norway. After that Asgaut went to Denmark\nand settled there, and was thought a valiant and true man. And\nherewith comes to an end the tale of him. But after the plot Thord\nGoddi had made up with Ingjald, the Sheepisles priest, when they made\nup their minds to compass the death of Thorolf, Vigdis' kinsman, she\nreturned that deed with hatred, and divorced herself from Thord Goddi,\nand went to her kinsfolk and told them the tale. Thord Yeller was not\npleased at this; yet matters went off quietly. Vigdis did not take\naway with her from Goddistead any more goods than her own heirlooms.\nThe men of Hvamm let it out that they meant to have for themselves\none-half of the wealth that Thord was possessed of. And on hearing\nthis he becomes exceeding faint-hearted, and rides forthwith to see\nHoskuld to tell him of his troubles. Hoskuld said, \"Times have been\nthat you have been terror-struck, through not having with such\noverwhelming odds to deal.\" Then Thord offered Hoskuld money for his\nhelp, and said he would not look at the matter with a niggard's eye.\nHoskuld said, \"This is clear, that you will not by peaceful consent\nallow any man to have the enjoyment of your wealth.\" Answers Thord,\n\"No, not quite that though; for I fain would that you should take\nover all my goods. That being settled, I will ask to foster your son\nOlaf, and leave him all my wealth after my days are done; for I have\nno heir here in this land, and I think my means would be better\nbestowed then, than that the kinsmen of Vigdis should grab it.\"\n[Sidenote: Thord goes to Hoskuld] To this Hoskuld agreed, and had it\nbound by witnesses. This Melkorka took heavily, deeming the fostering\ntoo low. Hoskuld said she ought not to think that, \"for Thord is an\nold man, and childless, and I wish Olaf to have all his money after\nhis day, but you can always go to see him at any time you like.\"\nThereupon Thord took Olaf to him, seven years old, and loved him very\ndearly. Hearing this, the men who had on hand the case against Thord\nGoddi thought that now it would be even more difficult than before to\nlay claim to the money. Hoskuld sent some handsome presents to Thord\nYeller, and bade him not be angry over this, seeing that in law they\nhad no claim on Thord's money, inasmuch as Vigdis had brought no true\ncharges against Thord, or any such as justified desertion by her.\n\"Moreover, Thord was no worse a man for casting about for counsel to\nrid himself of a man that had been thrust upon his means, and was as\nbeset with guilt as a juniper bush is with prickles.\" But when these\nwords came to Thord from Hoskuld, and with them large gifts of money,\nthen Thord allowed himself to be pacified, and said he thought the\nmoney was well placed that Hoskuld looked after, and took the gifts;\nand all was quiet after that, but their friendship was rather less\nwarm than formerly. [Sidenote: Olaf surnamed the Peacock] Olaf grew up\nwith Thord, and became a great man and strong. He was so handsome that\nhis equal was not to be found, and when he was twelve years old he\nrode to the Thing meeting, and men in other countrysides looked upon\nit as a great errand to go, and to wonder at the splendid way he was\nmade. In keeping herewith was the manner of Olaf's war-gear and\nraiment, and therefore he was easily distinguished from all other men.\nThord got on much better after Olaf came to live with him. Hoskuld\ngave Olaf a nickname, and called him Peacock, and the name stuck to\nhim.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XVII\n\nAbout Viga Hrapp's Ghost, A.D. 950\n\n\nThe tale is told of Hrapp that he became most violent in his\nbehaviour, and did his neighbours such harm that they could hardly\nhold their own against him. But from the time that Olaf grew up Hrapp\ngot no hold of Thord. Hrapp had the same temper, but his powers waned,\nin that old age was fast coming upon him, so that he had to lie in\nbed. [Sidenote: Hrapp's death] Hrapp called Vigdis, his wife, to him,\nand said, \"I have never been of ailing health in life,\" said he, \"and\nit is therefore most likely that this illness will put an end to our\nlife together. Now, when I am dead, I wish my grave to be dug in the\ndoorway of my fire hall, and that I be put: thereinto, standing there\nin the doorway; then I shall be able to keep a more searching eye on\nmy dwelling.\" After that Hrapp died, and all was done as he said, for\nVigdis did not dare do otherwise. And as evil as he had been to deal\nwith in his life, just so he was by a great deal more when he was\ndead, for he walked again a great deal after he was dead. People said\nthat he killed most of his servants in his ghostly appearances. He\ncaused a great deal of trouble to those who lived near, and the house\nof Hrappstead became deserted. Vigdis, Hrapp's wife, betook herself\nwest to Thorstein Swart, her brother. He took her and her goods in.\nAnd now things went as before, in that men went to find Hoskuld, and\ntold him all the troubles that Hrapp was doing to them, and asked him\nto do something to put an end to this. Hoskuld said this should be\ndone, and he went with some men to Hrappstead, and has Hrapp dug up,\nand taken away to a place near to which cattle were least likely to\nroam or men to go about. After that Hrapp's walkings-again abated\nsomewhat. Sumarlid, Hrapp's son, inherited all Hrapp's wealth, which\nwas both great and goodly. Sumarlid set up household at Hrappstead the\nnext spring; but after he had kept house there for a little time he\nwas seized of frenzy, and died shortly afterwards. [Sidenote:\nThorstein Swart leaves home] Now it was the turn of his mother,\nVigdis, to take there alone all this wealth; but as she would not go\nto the estate of Hrappstead, Thorstein Swart took all the wealth to\nhimself to take care of. Thorstein was by then rather old, though\nstill one of the most healthy and hearty of men.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XVIII\n\nOf the Drowning of Thorstein Swart\n\n\nAt that time there rose to honour among men in Thorness, the kinsmen\nof Thorstein, named Bork the Stout and his brother, Thorgrim. It was\nsoon found out how these brothers would fain be the greatest men\nthere, and were most highly accounted of. And when Thorstein found\nthat out, he would not elbow them aside, and so made it known to\npeople that he wished to change his abode, and take his household to\nHrappstead, in Salmon-river-Dale. Thorstein Swart got ready to start\nafter the spring Thing, but his cattle were driven round along the\nshore. Thorstein got on board a ferry-boat, and took twelve men with\nhim; and Thorarin, his brother-in-law, and Osk, Thorstein's daughter,\nand Hild, her daughter, who was three years old, went with them too.\nThorstein fell in with a high south-westerly gale, and they sailed up\ntowards the roosts, and into that roost which is called\nCoal-chest-Roost, which is the biggest of the currents in Broadfirth.\n[Sidenote: The wreck] They made little way sailing, chiefly because\nthe tide was ebbing, and the wind was not favourable, the weather\nbeing squally, with high wind when the squalls broke over, but with\nlittle wind between whiles. Thorstein steered, and had the braces of\nthe sail round his shoulders, because the boat was blocked up with\ngoods, chiefly piled-up chests, and the cargo was heaped up very high;\nbut land was near about, while on the boat there was but little way,\nbecause of the raging current against them. Then they sailed on to a\nhidden rock, but were not wrecked. Thorstein bade them let down the\nsail as quickly as possible, and take punt poles to push off the ship.\nThis shift was tried to no avail, because on either board the sea was\nso deep that the poles struck no bottom; so they were obliged to wait\nfor the incoming tide, and now the water ebbs away under the ship.\nThroughout the day they saw a seal in the current larger by much than\nany others, and through the day it would be swimming round about the\nship, with flappers none of the shortest, and to all of them it seemed\nthat in him there were human eyes. Thorstein bade them shoot the seal,\nand they tried, but it came to nought. [Sidenote: Gudmund's story] Now\nthe tide rose; and just as the ship was getting afloat there broke\nupon them a violent squall, and the boat heeled over, and every one on\nboard the boat was drowned, save one man, named Gudmund, who drifted\nashore with some timber. The place where he was washed up was\nafterwards called Gudmund's Isles. Gudrid, whom Thorkell Trefill had\nfor wife, was entitled to the inheritance left by Thorstein, her\nfather. These tidings spread far and near of the drowning of Thorstein\nSwart, and the men who were lost there. Thorkell sent straightway for\nthe man Gudmund, who had been washed ashore, and when he came and met\nThorkell, he (Thorkell) struck a bargain with him, to the end that he\nshould tell the story of the loss of lives even as he (Thorkell) was\ngoing to dictate it to him. Gudmund agreed. Thorkell now asked him to\ntell the story of this mishap in the hearing of a good many people.\nThen Gudmund spake on this wise: \"Thorstein was drowned first, and\nthen his son-in-law, Thorarin\"--so that then it was the turn of Hild\nto come in for the money, as she was the daughter of Thorarin. Then he\nsaid the maiden was drowned, because the next in inheritance to her\nwas Osk, her mother, and she lost her life the last of them, so that\nall the money thus came to Thorkell Trefill, in that his wife Gudrid\nmust take inheritance after her sister. Now this tale is spread abroad\nby Thorkell and his men; but Gudmund ere this had told the tale in\nsomewhat another way. [Sidenote: The ordeal] Now the kinsmen of\nThorarin misdoubted this tale somewhat, and said they would not\nbelieve it unproved, and claimed one-half of the heritage against\nThorkell; but Thorkell maintained it belonged to him alone, and bade\nthat ordeal should be taken on the matter, according to their custom.\nThis was the ordeal at that time, that men had had to pass under\n\"earth-chain,\" which was a slip of sward cut loose from the soil, but\nboth ends thereof were left adhering to the earth, and the man who\nshould go through with the ordeal should walk thereunder. Thorkell\nTrefill now had some misgivings himself as to whether the deaths of\nthe people had indeed taken place as he and Gudmund had said the\nsecond time. Heathen men deemed that on them rested no less\nresponsibility when ceremonies of this kind had to be gone through\nthan Christian men do when ordeals are decreed. He who passed under\n\"earth-chain\" cleared himself if the sward-slip did not fall down upon\nhim. Thorkell made an arrangement with two men that they should feign\nquarrelling over something or another, and be close to the spot when\nthe ordeal was being gone through with, and touch the sward-slip so\nunmistakably that all men might see that it was they who knocked it\ndown. After this comes forward he who was to go through with the\nordeal, and at the nick of time when he had got under the\n\"earth-chain,\" these men who had been put up to it fall on each other\nwith weapons, meeting close to the arch of the sward-slip, and lie\nthere fallen, and down tumbles the \"earth-chain\", as was likely\nenough. Then men rush up between them and part them, which was easy\nenough, for they fought with no mind to do any harm. Thorkell Trefill\nthen asked people as to what they thought about the ordeal, and all\nhis men now said that it would have turned out all right if no one\nhad spoilt it. Then Thorkell took all the chattels to himself, but the\nland at Hrapstead was left to lie fallow.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XIX\n\nHrut Comes to Iceland\n\n\nNow of Hoskuld it is to be told that his state is one of great honour,\nand that he is a great chieftain. [Sidenote: Hrut in Norway] He had in\nhis keep a great deal of money that belonged to his (half) brother,\nHrut, Herjolf's son. Many men would have it that Hoskuld's means would\nbe heavily cut into if he should be made to pay to the full the\nheritage of his (Hrut's) mother. Hrut was of the bodyguard of King\nHarald, Gunnhild's son, and was much honoured by him, chiefly for the\nreason that he approved himself the best man in all deeds of manly\ntrials, while, on the other hand, Gunnhild, the Queen, loved him so\nmuch that she held there was not his equal within the guard, either in\ntalking or in anything else. Even when men were compared, and noblemen\ntherein were pointed to, all men easily saw that Gunnhild thought that\nat the bottom there must be sheer thoughtlessness, or else envy, if\nany man was said to be Hrut's equal. [Sidenote: Hrut comes to Iceland]\nNow, inasmuch as Hrut had in Iceland much money to look after, and\nmany noble kinsfolk to go and see, he desired to go there, and now\narrays his journey for Iceland. The king gave him a ship at parting,\nand said he had proved a brave man and true. Gunnhild saw Hrut off to\nhis ship, and said, \"Not in a hushed voice shall this be spoken, that\nI have proved you to be a most noble man, in that you have prowess\nequal to the best man here in this land, but are in wits a long way\nbefore them\". Then she gave him a gold ring and bade him farewell.\nWhereupon she drew her mantle over her head and went swiftly home.\nHrut went on board his ship, and put to sea. He had a good breeze, and\ncame to Broadfirth. He sailed up the bay, up to the island, and,\nsteering in through Broadsound, he landed at Combness, where he put\nhis gangways to land. The news of the coming of this ship spread\nabout, as also that Hrut, Herjolf's son, was the captain. Hoskuld gave\nno good cheer to these tidings, and did not go to meet Hrut. Hrut put\nup his ship, and made her snug. He built himself a dwelling, which\nsince has been called Combness. Then he rode to see Hoskuld, to get\nhis share of his mother's inheritance. Hoskuld said he had no money to\npay him, and said his mother had not gone without means out of Iceland\nwhen she met with Herjolf. Hrut liked this very ill, but rode away,\nand there the matter rested. All Hrut's kinsfolk, excepting Hoskuld,\ndid honour to Hrut. [Sidenote: Hoskuld's treatment of Hrut] Hrut now\nlived three winters at Combness, and was always demanding the money\nfrom Hoskuld at the Thing meetings and other law gatherings, and he\nspoke well on the matter. And most men held that Hrut had right on his\nside. Hoskuld said that Thorgerd had not married Herjolf by his\ncounsel, and that he was her lawful guardian, and there the matter\ndropped. That same autumn Hoskuld went to a feast at Thord Goddi's,\nand hearing that, Hrut rode with twelve men to Hoskuldstead and took\naway twenty oxen, leaving as many behind. Then he sent some men to\nHoskuld, telling them where he might search for the cattle. Hoskuld's\nhouse-carles sprang forthwith up, and seized their weapons, and words\nwere sent to the nearest neighbours for help, so that they were a\nparty of fifteen together, and they rode each one as fast as they\npossibly could. Hrut and his followers did not see the pursuit till\nthey were a little way from the enclosure at Combness. And forthwith\nhe and his men jumped off their horses, and tied them up, and went\nforward unto a certain sandhill. Hrut said that there they would make\na stand, and added that though the money claim against Hoskuld sped\nslowly, never should that be said that he had run away before his\nthralls. [Sidenote: Hrut's fight] Hrut's followers said that they had\nodds to deal with. Hrut said he would never heed that; said they\nshould fare all the worse the more they were in number. The men of\nSalmon-river-Dale now jumped off their horses, and got ready to fight.\nHrut bade his men not trouble themselves about the odds, and goes for\nthem at a rush. Hrut had a helmet on his head, a drawn sword in one\nhand and a shield in the other. He was of all men the most skilled at\narms. Hrut was then so wild that few could keep up with him. Both\nsides fought briskly for a while; but the men of Salmon-river-Dale\nvery soon found that in Hrut they had to deal with one for whom they\nwere no match, for now he slew two men at every onslaught. After that\nthe men of Salmon-river-Dale begged for peace. Hrut replied that they\nshould surely have peace. All the house-carles of Hoskuld who were yet\nalive were wounded, and four were killed. Hrut then went home, being\nsomewhat wounded himself; but his followers only slightly or not at\nall, for he had been the foremost in the fight. The place has since\nbeen called Fight-Dale where they fought. After that Hrut had the\ncattle killed. Now it must be told how Hoskuld got men together in a\nhurry when he heard of the robbery and rode home. Much at the same\ntime as he arrived his house-carles came home too, and told how their\njourney had gone anything but smoothly. Hoskuld was wild with wrath at\nthis, and said he meant to take at Hrut's hand no robbery or loss of\nlives again, and gathered to him men all that day. Then Jorunn, his\nwife, went and talked to him, and asked him what he had made his mind\nup to. He said, \"It is but little I have made up my mind to, but I\nfain would that men should oftener talk of something else than the\nslaying of my house-carles\". [Sidenote: Jorunn's good advice] Jorunn\nanswered, \"You are after a fearful deed if you mean to kill such a man\nas your brother, seeing that some men will have it that it would not\nhave been without cause if Hrut had seized these goods even before\nthis; and now he has shown that, taking after the race he comes from,\nhe means no longer to be an outcast, kept from what is his own. Now,\nsurely he cannot have made up his mind to try his strength with you\ntill he knew that he might hope for some backing-up from the more\npowerful among men; for, indeed, I am told that messages have been\npassing in quiet between Hrut and Thord Yeller. And to me, at least,\nsuch matters seem worthy of heed being paid to them. No doubt Thord\nwill be glad to back up matters of this kind, seeing how clear are the\nbearings of the case. Moreover you know, Hoskuld, that since the\nquarrel between Thord Goddi and Vigdis, there has not been the same\nfond friendship between you and Thord Yeller as before, although by\nmeans of gifts you staved off the enmity of him and his kinsmen in the\nbeginning. I also think, Hoskuld,\" she said, \"that in that matter,\nmuch to the trial of their temper, they feel they have come off worst\nat the hands of yourself and your son, Olaf. Now this seems to me the\nwiser counsel: to make your brother an honourable offer, for there a\nhard grip from greedy wolf may be looked for. I am sure that Hrut will\ntake that matter in good part, for I am told he is a wise man, and he\nwill see that that would be an honour to both of you.\" Hoskuld quieted\ndown greatly at Jorunn's speech, and thought this was likely to be\ntrue. [Sidenote: Hoskuld and Hrut become friends] Then men went\nbetween them who were friends of both sides, bearing words of peace\nfrom Hoskuld to Hrut. Hrut received them well, and said he would\nindeed make friends with Hoskuld, and added that he had long been\nready for their coming to terms as behoved kinsmen, if but Hoskuld had\nbeen willing to grant him his right. Hrut also said he was ready to do\nhonour to Hoskuld for what he on his side had misdone. So now these\nmatters were shaped and settled between the brothers, who now take to\nliving together in good brotherhood from this time forth. Hrut now\nlooks after his homestead, and became mighty man of his ways. He did\nnot mix himself up in general things, but in whatever matter he took a\npart he would have his own way. Hrut now moved his dwelling, and abode\nto old age at a place which now is called Hrutstead. He made a temple\nin his home-field, of which the remains are still to be seen. It is\ncalled Trolls' walk now, and there is the high road. Hrut married a\nwoman named Unn, daughter of Mord Fiddle. Unn left him, and thence\nsprang the quarrels between the men of Salmon-river-Dale and the men\nof Fleetlithe. Hrut's second wife was named Thorbjorg. She was Armod's\ndaughter. Hrut married a third wife, but her we do not name. Hrut had\nsixteen sons and ten daughters by these two wives. And men say that\none summer Hrut rode to the Thing meeting, and fourteen of his sons\nwere with him. Of this mention is made, because it was thought a sign\nof greatness and might. All his sons were right goodly men.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XX\n\nMelkorka's Marriage and Olaf the Peacock's Journey, A.D. 955\n\n\n[Sidenote: Of Thorliek Hoskuldson] Hoskuld now remained quietly at\nhome, and began now to sink into old age, and his sons were now all\ngrown up. Thorliek sets up household of his own at a place called\nCombness, and Hoskuld handed over to him his portion. After that he\nmarried a woman named Gjaflaug, daughter of Arnbjorn, son of Sleitu\nBjorn, and Thordaug, the daughter of Thord of Headland. It was a noble\nmatch, Gjaflaug being a very beautiful and high-minded woman. Thorliek\nwas not an easy man to get on with, but was most warlike. There was\nnot much friendship between the kinsmen Hrut and Thorliek. Bard\nHoskuld's son stayed at home with his father, looked after the\nhousehold affairs no less than Hoskuld himself. The daughters of\nHoskuld do not have much to do with this story, yet men are known who\nare descended from them. Olaf, Hoskuld's son, was now grown up, and\nwas the handsomest of all men that people ever set eyes on. He arrayed\nhimself always well, both as to clothes and weapons. Melkorka, Olaf's\nmother, lived at Melkorkastead, as has been told before. Hoskuld\nlooked less after Melkorka's household ways than he used to do, saying\nthat that matter concerned Olaf, her son. Olaf said he would give her\nsuch help as he had to offer her. [Sidenote: Melkorka's plans]\nMelkorka thought Hoskuld had done shamefully by her, and makes up her\nmind to do something to him at which he should not be over pleased.\nThorbjorn Skrjup had chiefly had on hand the care of Melkorka's\nhousehold affairs. He had made her an offer of marriage, after she had\nbeen an householder for but a little while, but Melkorka refused him\nflatly. There was a ship up by Board-Ere in Ramfirth, and Orn was the\nname of the captain. He was one of the bodyguard of King Harald,\nGunnhild's son. Melkorka spoke to Olaf, her son, and said that she\nwished he should journey abroad to find his noble relations, \"For I\nhave told the truth that Myrkjartan is really my father, and he is\nking of the Irish and it would be easy for you betake you on board the\nship that is now at Board-Ere.\" Olaf said, \"I have spoken about it to\nmy father, but he seemed to want to have but little to do with it; and\nas to the manner of my foster-father's money affairs, it so happens\nthat his wealth is more in land or cattle than in stores of islandic\nmarket goods.\" [Sidenote: Melkorka's marriage] Melkorka said, \"I\ncannot bear your being called the son of a slave-woman any longer; and\nif it stands in the way of the journey, that you think you have not\nenough money, then I would rather go to the length even of marrying\nThorbjorn, if then you should be more willing than before to betake\nyourself to the journey. For I think he will be willing to hand out to\nyou as much wares as you think you may need, if I give my consent to\nhis marrying me. Above all I look to this, that then Hoskuld will like\ntwo things mightily ill when he comes to hear of them, namely, that\nyou have gone out of the land, and that I am married.\" Olaf bade his\nmother follow her own counsel. After that Olaf talked to Thorbjorn as\nto how he wished to borrow wares of him, and a great deal thereof.\nThorbjorn answered, \"I will do it on one condition, and that is that I\nshall marry Melkorka for them; it seems to me, you will be as welcome\nto my money as to that which you have in your keep.\" Olaf said that\nthis should then be settled; whereupon they talked between them of\nsuch matters as seemed needful, but all these things they agreed\nshould be kept quiet. Hoskuld wished Olaf to ride with him to the\nThing. Olaf said he could not do that on account of household affairs,\nas he also wanted to fence off a grazing paddock for lambs by Salmon\nRiver. Hoskuld was very pleased that he should busy himself with the\nhomestead. Then Hoskuld rode to the Thing; but at Lambstead a wedding\nfeast was arrayed, and Olaf settled the agreement alone. Olaf took out\nof the undivided estate thirty hundred ells' worth of wares, and\nshould pay no money for them.[1] Bard, Hoskuld's son, was at the\nwedding, and was a party with them to all these doings. [Sidenote:\nOlaf goes to Norway] When the feast was ended Olaf rode off to the\nship, and found Orn the captain, and took berth with him. Before Olaf\nand Melkorka parted she gave him a great gold finger-ring, and said,\n\"This gift my father gave me for a teething gift, and I know he will\nrecognise it when he sees it.\" She also put into his hands a knife and\na belt, and bade him give them to her nurse: \"I am sure she will not\ndoubt these tokens.\" And still further Melkorka spake, \"I have fitted\nyou out from home as best I know how, and taught you to speak Irish,\nso that it will make no difference to you where you are brought to\nshore in Ireland.\" After that they parted. There arose forthwith a\nfair wind, when Olaf got on board, and they sailed straightway out to\nsea.\n\n[Footnote 1: One hundred = 120 X 30 = 3600 x 120 = 432,000 ells\naltogether.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXI\n\nOlaf the Peacock goes to Ireland, A.D. 955\n\n\nNow Hoskuld came back from the Thing and heard these tidings, and was\nvery much displeased. But seeing that his near akin were concerned in\nthe matter, he quieted down and let things alone. Olaf and his\ncompanions had a good voyage, and came to Norway. Orn urges Olaf to go\nto the court of King Harald, who, he said, bestowed goodly honour on\nmen of no better breeding than Olaf was. Olaf said he thought he would\ntake that counsel. Olaf and Orn now went to the court, and were well\nreceived. The king at once recognised Olaf for the sake of his\nkindred, and forthwith bade him stay with him. Gunnhild paid great\nheed to Olaf when she knew he was Hrut's brother's son; but some men\nwould have it, that she took pleasure in talking to Olaf without his\nneeding other people's aid to introduce him. [Sidenote: Olaf wishes to\nleave Norway] As the winter wore on, Olaf grew sadder of mood. Orn\nasked him what was the matter of his sorrow? Olaf answered, \"I have on\nhand a journey to go west over the sea; and I set much store by it and\nthat you should lend me your help, so that it may be undertaken in the\ncourse of next summer.\" Orn bade Olaf not set his heart on going, and\nsaid he did not know of any ships going west over the sea. Gunnhild\njoined in their talk, and said, \"Now I hear you talk together in a\nmanner that has not happened before, in that each of you wants to have\nhis own way!\" Olaf greeted Gunnhild well, without letting drop their\ntalk. After that Orn went away, but Gunnhild and Olaf kept conversing\ntogether. Olaf told her of his wish, and how much store he set by\ncarrying it out, saying he knew for certain that Myrkjartan, the king,\nwas his mother's father. Then Gunnhild said, \"I will lend you help for\nthis voyage, so that you may go on it as richly furnished as you\nplease.\" Olaf thanked her for her promise. Then Gunnhild had a ship\nprepared and a crew got together, and bade Olaf say how many men he\nwould have to go west over the sea with him. Olaf fixed the number at\nsixty; but said that it was a matter of much concern to him, that such\na company should be more like warriors than merchants. She said that\nso it should be; and Orn is the only man mentioned by name in company\nwith Olaf on this journey. The company were well fitted out.\n[Sidenote: Olaf's voyage] King Harald and Gunnhild led Olaf to his\nship, and they said they wished to bestow on him their good-luck over\nand above other friendship they had bestowed on him already. King\nHarald said that was an easy matter; for they must say that no\ngoodlier a man had in their days come out of Iceland. Then Harald the\nking asked how old a man he was. Olaf answered, \"I am now eighteen\nwinters.\" The king replied, \"Of exceeding worth, indeed, are such men\nas you are, for as yet you have left the age of child but a short way\nbehind; and be sure to come and see us when you come back again.\" Then\nthe king and Gunnhild bade Olaf farewell. Then Olaf and his men got on\nboard, and sailed out to sea. They came in for unfavourable weather\nthrough the summer, had fogs plentiful, and little wind, and what\nthere was was unfavourable; and wide about the main they drifted, and\non most on board fell \"sea-bewilderment.\" But at last the fog lifted\nover-head; and the wind rose, and they put up sail. Then they began to\ndiscuss in which direction Ireland was to be sought; and they did not\nagree on that. Orn said one thing, and most of the men went against\nhim, and said that Orn was all bewildered: they should rule who were\nthe greater in number. Then Olaf was asked to decide. He said, \"I\nthink we should follow the counsel of the wisest; for the counsels of\nfoolish men I think will be of all the worse service for us in the\ngreater number they gather together.\" And now they deemed the matter\nsettled, since Olaf spake in this manner; and Orn took the steering\nfrom that time. [Sidenote: They get to Ireland] They sailed for days\nand nights, but always with very little wind. One night the watchmen\nleapt up, and bade every one wake at once, and said they saw land so\nnear that they had almost struck on it. The sail was up, but there was\nbut little wind. Every one got up, and Orn bade them clear away from\nthe land, if they could. Olaf said, \"That is not the way out of our\nplight, for I see reefs all about astern; so let down the sail at\nonce, and we will take our counsel when there is daylight, and we know\nwhat land this is.\" Then they cast anchors, and they caught bottom at\nonce. There was much talk during the night as to where they could be\ncome to; and when daylight was up they recognised that it was Ireland.\nOrn said, \"I don't think we have come to a good place, for this is far\naway from the harbours or market-towns, whose strangers enjoy peace;\nand we are now left high and dry, like sticklebacks, and near enough,\nI think, I come to the laws of the Irish in saying that they will lay\nclaim to the goods we have on board as their lawful prize, for as\nflotsam they put down ships even when sea has ebbed out shorter from\nthe stern (than here).\" Olaf said no harm would happen, \"But I have\nseen that to-day there is a gathering of men up inland; so the Irish\nthink, no doubt, the arrival of this ship a great thing. During the\nebb-tide to-day I noticed that there was a dip, and that out of the\ndip the sea fell without emptying it out; and if our ship has not been\ndamaged, we can put out our boat and tow the ship into it.\" There was\na bottom of loam where they had been riding at anchor, so that not a\nplank of the ship was damaged. [Sidenote: The Irish] So Olaf and his\nmen tow their boat to the dip, cast anchor there. Now, as day drew on,\ncrowds drifted down to the shore. At last two men rowed a boat out to\nthe ship. They asked what men they were who had charge of that ship,\nand Olaf answered, speaking in Irish, to their inquiries. When the\nIrish knew they were Norwegians they pleaded their law, and bade them\ngive up their goods; and if they did so, they would do them no harm\ntill the king had sat in judgment on their case. Olaf said the law\nonly held good when merchants had no interpreter with them. \"But I can\nsay with truth these are peaceful men, and we will not give ourselves\nup untried.\" The Irish then raised a great war-cry, and waded out into\nthe sea, and wished to drag the ship, with them on board, to the\nshore, the water being no deeper than reaching up to their armpits, or\nto the belts of the tallest. But the pool was so deep where the ship\nwas floating that they could not touch the bottom. Olaf bade the crew\nfetch out their weapons, and range in line of battle from stem to\nstern on the ship; and so thick they stood, that shield overlapped\nshield all round the ship, and a spear-point stood out at the lower\nend of every shield. Olaf walked fore to the prow, and was thus\narrayed: he had a coat of mail, and a gold-reddened helmet on his\nhead; girt with a sword with gold-inlaid hilt, and in his hand a\nbarbed spear chased and well engraved. A red shield he had before him,\non which was drawn a lion in gold. When the Irish saw this array fear\nshot through their hearts, and they thought it would not be so easy a\nmatter as they had thought to master the booty. So now the Irish break\ntheir journey, and run all together to a village near. [Sidenote: Olaf\nmeets Myrkjartan] Then there arose great murmur in the crowd, as they\ndeemed that, sure enough, this must be a warship, and that they must\nexpect many others; so they sent speedily word to the king, which was\neasy, as he was at that time a short way off, feasting. Straightway he\nrides with a company of men to where the ship was. Between the land\nand the place where the ship lay afloat the space was no greater than\nthat one might well hear men talking together. Now Olaf stood forth in\nthe same arrayal whereof is written before, and men marvelled much how\nnoble was the appearance of the man who was the captain of the ship.\nBut when the shipmates of Olaf see how a large company of knights\nrides towards them, looking a company of the bravest, they grow\nhushed, for they deemed here were great odds to deal with. But when\nOlaf heard the murmur which went round among his followers, he bade\nthem take heart, \"For now our affairs are in a fair way; the Irish are\nnow greeting Myrkjartan, their king.\" Then they rode so near to the\nship, that each could hear what the other said. [Sidenote: Their talk\ntogether] The king asked who was the master of the ship. Olaf told his\nname, and asked who was the valiant-looking knight with whom he then\nwas talking. He answered, \"I am called Myrkjartan.\" Olaf asked, \"Are\nyou then a king of the Irish?\" He said he was. Then the king asked\nOlaf for news commonly talked of, and Olaf gave good answers as to all\nnews he was asked about. Then the king asked whence they had put to\nsea, and whose men they were. And still the king asked, more\nsearchingly than before, about Olaf's kindred, for the king found that\nthis man was of haughty bearing, and would not answer any further than\nthe king asked. Olaf said, \"Let it be known to you that we ran our\nship afloat from the coast of Norway, and these are of the bodyguard\nof King Harald, the son of Gunnhild, who are here on board. And as for\nmy race, I have, sire, to tell you this, that my father lives in\nIceland, and is named Hoskuld, a man of high birth; but of my mother's\nkindred, I think you must have seen many more than I have. For my\nmother is called Melkorka, and it has been told me as a truth that she\nis your daughter, king. Now, this has driven me upon this long\njourney, and to me it is a matter most weighty what answer you give in\nmy case.\" The king then grew silent, and had a converse with his men.\nThe wise men asked the king what might be the real truth of the story\nthat this man was telling. The king answered, \"This is clearly seen\nin this Olaf, that he is high-born man, whether he be a kinsman of\nmine or not, as well as this, that of all men he speaks the best of\nIrish.\" [Sidenote: Melkorka's tokens accepted] After that the king\nstood up, and said, \"Now I will give answer to your speech, in so far\nas we grant to you and all your shipmates peace; but on the kinship\nyou claim with us, we must talk more before I give answer to that.\"\nAfter that they put out their gangways to the shore, and Olaf and his\nfollowers went on land from the ship; and the Irish now marvel much\nhow warrior-like these men are. Olaf greeted the king well, taking off\nhis helmet and bowing to the king, who welcomes Olaf with all\nfondness. Thereupon they fall to talking together, Olaf pleading his\ncase again in a speech long and frank; and at the end of his speech he\nsaid he had a ring on his hand that Melkorka had given him at parting\nin Iceland, saying \"that you, king, gave it her as a tooth gift.\" The\nking took and looked at the ring, and his face grew wondrous red to\nlook at; and then the king said, \"True enough are the tokens, and\nbecome by no means less notable thereby that you have so many of your\nmother's family features, and that even by them you might be easily\nrecognised; and because of these things I will in sooth acknowledge\nyour kinship, Olaf, by the witnessing of these men that here are near\nand hear my speech. And this shall also follow that I will ask you to\nmy court, with all your suite, but the honour of you all will depend\nthereon of what worth as a man I find you to be when I try you more.\"\nAfter that the king orders riding-horses to be given to them, and\nappoints men to look after their ship, and to guard the goods\nbelonging to them. The King now rode to Dublin, and men thought this\ngreat tidings, that with the king should be journeying the son of his\ndaughter, who had been carried off in war long ago when she was only\nfifteen winters old. [Sidenote: Melkorka's foster-mother] But most\nstartled of all at these tidings was the foster-mother of Melkorka,\nwho was then bed-ridden, both from heavy sickness and old age; yet she\nwalked with no staff even to support her, to meet Olaf. The king said\nto Olaf, \"Here is come Melkorka's foster-mother, and she will wish to\nhear all the tidings you can tell about Melkorka's life.\" Olaf took\nher with open arms, and set the old woman on his knee, and said her\nfoster-daughter was well settled and in a good position in Iceland.\nThen Olaf put in her hands the knife and the belt, and the old woman\nrecognised the gifts, and wept for joy, and said it was easy to see\nthat Melkorka's son was one of high mettle, and no wonder, seeing what\nstock he comes of. The old woman was strong and well, and in good\nspirits all that winter. The king was seldom at rest, for at that time\nthe lands in the west were at all times raided by war-bands. The king\ndrove from his land that winter both Vikings and raiders. [Sidenote:\nOlaf's life in Ireland] Olaf was with his suite in the king's ship,\nand those who came against them thought his was indeed a grim company\nto deal with. The king talked over with Olaf and his followers all\nmatters needing counsel, for Olaf proved himself to the king both\nwise and eager-minded in all deeds of prowess. But towards the latter\nend of the winter the king summoned a Thing, and great numbers came.\nThe king stood up and spoke. He began his speech thus: \"You all know\nthat last autumn there came hither a man who is the son of my\ndaughter, and high-born also on his father's side; and it seems to me\nthat Olaf is a man of such prowess and courage that here such men are\nnot to be found. Now I offer him my kingdom after my day is done, for\nOlaf is much more suitable for a ruler than my own sons.\" Olaf thanked\nhim for this offer with many graceful and fair words, and said he\nwould not run the risk as to how his sons might behave when Myrkjartan\nwas no more; said it was better to gain swift honour than lasting\nshame; and added that he wished to go to Norway when ships could\nsafely journey from land to land, and that his mother would have\nlittle delight in life if he did not return to her. The king bade Olaf\ndo as he thought best. Then the Thing was broken up. [Sidenote: Olaf\ncomes to Norway again] When Olaf's ship was ready, the king saw him\noff on board; and gave him a spear chased with gold, and a\ngold-bedecked sword, and much money besides. Olaf begged that he might\ntake Melkorka's foster-mother with him; but the king said there was no\nnecessity for that, so she did not go. Then Olaf got on board his\nship, and he and the king parted with the greatest friendship. Then\nOlaf sailed out to sea. They had a good voyage, and made land in\nNorway; and Olaf's journey became very famous. They set up their\nship; and Olaf got horses for himself, and went, together with his\nfollowers, to find King Harald.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXII\n\nOlaf the Peacock comes Home to Iceland, A.D. 957\n\n\nOlaf Hoskuldson then went to the court of King Harald. The king gave\nhim a good welcome, but Gunnhild a much better. With many fair words\nthey begged him to stay with them, and Olaf agreed to it, and both he\nand Orn entered the king's court. King Harald and Gunnhild set so\ngreat a store by Olaf that no foreigner had ever been held in such\nhonour by them. Olaf gave to the king and Gunnhild many rare gifts,\nwhich he had got west in Ireland. King Harald gave Olaf at Yule a set\nof clothes made out of scarlet stuff. So now Olaf stayed there quietly\nall the winter. [Sidenote: Olaf goes home] In the spring, as it was\nwearing on, Olaf and the king had a conversation together, and Olaf\nbegged the king's leave to go to Iceland in the summer, \"For I have\nnoble kinsfolk there I want to go and see.\" The king answered, \"It\nwould be more to my mind that you should settle down with us, and take\nwhatever position in our service you like best yourself.\" Olaf\nthanked the king for all the honour he was offering him, but said he\nwished very much to go to Iceland, if that was not against the king's\nwill. The king answered, \"Nothing shall be done in this in an\nunfriendly manner to you, Olaf. You shall go out to Iceland in the\nsummer, for I see you have set your heart on it; but neither trouble\nnor toil shall you have over your preparations, for I will see after\nall that,\" and thereupon they part talking. King Harald had a ship\nlaunched in the spring; it was a merchant ship, both great and good.\nThis ship the king ordered to be laden with wood, and fitted out with\nfull rigging. When the ship was ready the king had Olaf called to him,\nand said, \"This ship shall be your own, Olaf, for I should not like\nyou to start from Norway this summer as a passenger in any one else's\nship.\" Olaf thanked the king in fair words for his generosity. After\nthat Olaf got ready for his journey; and when he was ready and a fair\nwind arose, Olaf sailed out to sea, and King Harald and he parted with\nthe greatest affection. That summer Olaf had a good voyage. He brought\nhis ship into Ramfirth, to Board-Ere. The arrival of the ship was soon\nheard of, and also who the captain was. Hoskuld heard of the arrival\nof Olaf, his son, and was very much pleased, and rode forthwith north\nto Hrutafjord with some men, and there was a joyful meeting between\nthe father and son. Hoskuld invited Olaf to come to him, and Olaf said\nhe would agree to that; so he set up his ship, but his goods were\nbrought (on horseback) from the north. And when this business was\nover Olaf himself rode with twelve men home to Hoskuldstead, and\nHoskuld greeted his son joyfully, and his brothers also received him\nfondly, as well as all his kinsfolk; but between Olaf and Bard was\nlove the fondest. [Sidenote: Melkorka receives Olaf] Olaf became very\nrenowned for this journey; and now was proclaimed the descent of Olaf,\nthat he was the daughter's son of Myrkjartan, king of Ireland. The\nnews of this spread over the land, as well as of the honour that\nmighty men, whom he had gone to see, had bestowed on him. Melkorka\ncame soon to see Olaf, her son, and Olaf greeted her with great joy.\nShe asked about many things in Ireland, first of her father and then\nof her other relations. Olaf replied to everything she asked. Then she\nasked if her foster-mother still lived. Olaf said she was still alive.\nMelkorka asked why he had not tried to give her the pleasure of\nbringing her over to Iceland. Olaf replied, \"They would not allow me\nto bring your foster-mother out of Ireland, mother.\" \"That may be so,\"\nshe replied, and it could be seen that this she took much to heart.\nMelkorka and Thorbjorn had one son, who was named Lambi. He was a tall\nman and strong, like his father in looks as well as in temper.\n[Sidenote: Hoskuld's advice to Olaf] When Olaf had been in Iceland a\nmonth, and spring came on, father and son took counsel together. \"I\nwill, Olaf,\" said Hoskuld, \"that a match should be sought for you, and\nthat then you should take over the house of your foster-father at\nGoddistead, where still there are great means stored up, and that\nthen you should look after the affairs of that household under my\nguidance.\" Olaf answered, \"Little have I set my mind on that sort of\nthing hitherto; besides, I do not know where that woman lives whom to\nmarry would mean any great good luck to me. You must know I shall look\nhigh for a wife. But I see clearly that you would not have broached\nthis matter till you had made up your mind as to where it was to end.\"\nHoskuld said, \"You guess that right. There is a man named Egil. He is\nSkallagrim's son. He lives at Borg, in Borgarfjord. This Egil has a\ndaughter who is called Thorgerd, and she is the woman I have made up\nmy mind to woo on your behalf, for she is the very best match in all\nBorgarfjord, and even if one went further afield. Moreover, it is to\nbe looked for, that an alliance with the Mere-men would mean more\npower to you.\" [Sidenote: Olaf's proposal] Olaf answered, \"Herein I\nshall trust to your foresight, for if this match were to come off it\nwould be altogether to my liking. But this you must bear in mind,\nfather, that should this matter be set forth, and not come off, I\nshould take it very ill.\" Hoskuld answered, \"I think I shall venture\nto bring the matter about.\" Olaf bade him do as he liked. Now time\nwears on towards the Thing. Hoskuld prepares his journey from home\nwith a crowded company, and Olaf, his son, also accompanies him on the\njourney. They set up their booth. A great many people were there. Egil\nSkallagrim's son was at the Thing. Every one who saw Olaf remarked\nwhat a handsome man he was, and how noble his bearing, well arrayed as\nhe was as to weapons and clothes.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXIII\n\nThe Marriage of Olaf Peacock and Thorgerd, the Daughter of Egil, A.D.\n959\n\n\nIt is told how one day the father and son, Hoskuld and Olaf, went\nforth from their booth to find Egil. Egil greeted them well, for he\nand Hoskuld knew each other very well by word of mouth. Hoskuld now\nbroaches the wooing on behalf of Olaf, and asks for the hand of\nThorgerd. She was also at the Thing. Egil took the matter well, and\nsaid he had always heard both father and son well spoken of, \"and I\nalso know, Hoskuld,\" said Egil, \"that you are a high-born man and of\ngreat worth, and Olaf is much renowned on account of his journey, and\nit is no wonder that such men should look high for a match, for he\nlacks neither family nor good looks; but yet this must be talked over\nwith Thorgerd, for it is no man's task to get Thorgerd for wife\nagainst her will.\" Hoskuld said, \"I wish, Egil, that you would talk\nthis over with your daughter.\" Egil said that that should be done.\n[Sidenote: Thorgerd's refusal] Egil now went away to find his\ndaughter, and they talked together. Egil said, \"There is here a man\nnamed Olaf, who is Hoskuld's son, and he is now one of the most\nrenowned of men. Hoskuld, his father, has broached a wooing on behalf\nof Olaf, and has sued for your hand; and I have left that matter\nmostly for you to deal with. Now I want to know your answer. But it\nseems to me that it behoves you to give a good answer to such a\nmatter, for this match is a noble one.\" Thorgerd answered, \"I have\noften heard you say that you love me best of all your children, but\nnow it seems to me you make that a falsehood if you wish me to marry\nthe son of a bonds-woman, however goodly and great a dandy he may be.\"\nEgil said, \"In this matter you are not so well up, as in others. Have\nyou not heard that he is the son of the daughter of Myrkjartan, king\nof Ireland? so that he is much higher born on his mother's side than\non his father's, which, however, would be quite good enough for us.\"\nThorgerd would not see this; and so they dropped the talk, each being\nsomewhat of a different mind. The next day Egil went to Hoskuld's\nbooth. Hoskuld gave him a good welcome, and so they fell a-talking\ntogether. Hoskuld asked how this wooing matter had sped. Egil held out\nbut little hope, and told him all that had come to pass. Hoskuld said\nit looked like a closed matter, \"Yet I think you have behaved well.\"\nOlaf did not hear this talk of theirs. After that Egil went away. Olaf\nnow asks, \"How speeds the wooing?\" Hoskuld said, \"It pointed to slow\nspeed on her side.\" [Sidenote: Olaf proposes himself] Olaf said, \"It\nis now as I told you, father, that I should take it very ill if in\nanswer (to the wooing) I should have to take shaming words, seeing\nthat the broaching of the wooing gives undue right to the wooed. And\nnow I shall have my way so far, that this shall not drop here. For\ntrue is the saw, that 'others' errands eat the wolves'; and now I\nshall go straightway to Egil's booth.\" Hoskuld bade him have his own\nway. Olaf now dressed himself in this way, that he had on the scarlet\nclothes King Harald had given him, and a golden helmet on his head,\nand the gold-adorned sword in his hand that King Myrkjartan had given\nhim. Then Hoskuld and Olaf went to Egil's booth. Hoskuld went first,\nand Olaf followed close on his heels. Egil greeted him well, and\nHoskuld sat down by him, but Olaf stood up and looked about him. He\nsaw a woman sitting on the dais in the booth, she was goodly and had\nthe looks of one of high degree, and very well dressed. He thought to\nhimself this must be Thorgerd, Egil's daughter. Olaf went up to the\ndais and sat down by her. Thorgerd greeted the man, and asked who he\nwas. Olaf told his own and his father's name, and \"You must think it\nvery bold that the son of a slave should dare to sit down by you and\npresume to talk to you!\" She said, \"You cannot but mean that you must\nbe thinking you have done deeds of greater daring than that of talking\nto women.\" [Sidenote: Thorgerd accepts Olaf] Then they began to talk\ntogether, and they talked all day. But nobody heard their\nconversation. And before they parted Egil and Hoskuld were called to\nthem; and the matter of Olaf's wooing was now talked over again, and\nThorgerd came round to her father's wish. Now the affair was all\neasily settled and the betrothal took place. The honour was conceded\nto the Salmon-river-Dale men that the bride should be brought home to\nthem, for by law the bride-groom should have gone to the bride's home\nto be married. The wedding was to take place at Hoskuldstead when\nseven weeks summer had passed. After that Egil and Hoskuld separated.\nThe father and son rode home to Hoskuldstead, and all was quiet the\nrest of the summer. After that things were got ready for the wedding\nat Hoskuldstead, and nothing was spared, for means were plentiful. The\nguests came at the time settled, and the Burgfirthmen mustered in a\ngreat company. Egil was there, and Thorstein, his son. The bride was\nin the journey too, and with her a chosen company out of all the\ncountryside. Hoskuld had also a great company awaiting them. The feast\nwas a brave one, and the guests were seen off with good gifts on\nleaving. Olaf gave to Egil the sword, Myrkjartan's gift, and Egil's\nbrow brightened greatly at the gift. Nothing in the way of tidings\nbefell, and every one went home.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXIV\n\nThe Building of Herdholt, A. D. 960\n\n\nOlaf and Thorgerd lived at Hoskuldstead and loved each other very\ndearly; it was easily seen by every one that she was a woman of very\nhigh mettle, though she meddled little with every-day things, but\nwhatever Thorgerd put her hand to must be carried through as she\nwished. Olaf and Thorgerd spent that winter turn and turn about at\nHoskuldstead, or with Olaf's foster-father. In the spring Olaf took\nover the household business at Goddistead. [Sidenote: Thord's death]\nThe following summer Thord fell ill, and the illness ended in his\ndeath. Olaf had a cairn raised over him on the ness that runs out into\nthe Salmon-river and is called Drafn-ness, with a wall round which is\ncalled Howes-garth. After that liegemen crowded to Olaf and he became\na great chieftain. Hoskuld was not envious of this, for he always\nwished that Olaf should be consulted in all great matters. The place\nOlaf owned was the stateliest in Salmon-river-Dale. [Sidenote: The new\nhouse built] There were two brothers with Olaf, both named An. One was\ncalled An the White and the other An the Black. They had a third\nbrother who was named Beiner the Strong. These were Olaf's smiths, and\nvery valiant men. Thorgerd and Olaf had a daughter who was named\nThurid. The land that Hrapp had owned all lay waste, as has been told\nbefore. Olaf thought that it lay well and set before his father his\nwishes on the matter; how they should send down to Trefill with this\nerrand, that Olaf wished to buy the land and other things thereto\nbelonging at Hrappstead. It was soon arranged and the bargain settled,\nfor Trefill saw that better was one crow in the hand than two in the\nwood. The bargain arranged was that Olaf should give three marks of\nsilver for the land; yet that was not fair price, for the lands were\nwide and fair and very rich in useful produce, such as good salmon\nfishing and seal catching. There were wide woods too, a little further\nup than Hoskuldstead, north of the Salmon-river, in which was a space\ncleared, and it was well-nigh a matter of certainty that the flocks of\nOlaf would gather together there whether the weather was hard or mild.\nOne autumn it befell that on that same hill Olaf had built a dwelling\nof the timber that was cut out of the forest, though some he got\ntogether from drift-wood strands. This was a very lofty dwelling. The\nbuildings stood empty through the winter. The next spring Olaf went\nthither and first gathered together all his flocks which had grown to\nbe a great multitude; for, indeed, no man was richer in live stock in\nall Broadfirth. Olaf now sent word to his father that he should be\nstanding out of doors and have a look at his train as he was moving to\nhis new home, and should give him his good wishes. Hoskuld said so it\nshould be. Olaf now arranged how it should be done. He ordered that\nall the shiest of his cattle should be driven first and then the\nmilking live stock, then came the dry cattle, and the pack horses came\nin the last place; and men were ranged with the animals to keep them\nfrom straying out of straight line. When the van of the train had got\nto the new homestead, Olaf was just riding out of Goddistead and there\nwas nowhere a gap breaking the line. Hoskuld stood outside his door\ntogether with those of his household. [Sidenote: The naming of\nHerdholt] Then Hoskuld spake, bidding Olaf his son welcome and abide\nall honour to this new dwelling of his, \"And somehow my mind forebodes\nme that this will follow, that for a long time his name will be\nremembered.\" Jorunn his wife said, \"Wealth enough the slave's son has\ngot for his name to be long remembered.\" At the moment that the\nhouse-carles had unloaded the pack horses Olaf rode into the place.\nThen he said, \"Now you shall have your curiosity satisfied with regard\nto what you have been talking about all the winter, as to what this\nplace shall be called; it shall be called Herdholt.\" Every one thought\nthis a very happy name, in view of what used to happen there.[2] Olaf\nnow sets up his household at Herdholt, and a stately one it soon\nbecame, and nothing was lacking there. And now the honour of Olaf\ngreatly increased, there being many causes to bring it about: Olaf was\nthe most beloved of men, for whatever he had to do with affairs of\nmen, he did so that all were well contented with their lot. His father\nbacked him up very much towards being a widely honoured man, and Olaf\ngained much in power from his alliance with the Mere-men. Olaf was\nconsidered the noblest of all Hoskuld's sons. The first winter that\nOlaf kept house at Herdholt, he had many servants and workmen, and\nwork was divided amongst the house-carles; one looked after the dry\ncattle and another after the cows. The fold was out in the wood, some\nway from the homestead. [Sidenote: Hrapp's ghost] One evening the man\nwho looked after the dry cattle came to Olaf and asked him to make\nsome other man look after the neat and \"set apart for me some other\nwork.\" Olaf answered, \"I wish you to go on with this same work of\nyours.\" The man said he would sooner go away. \"Then you think there is\nsomething wrong,\" said Olaf. \"I will go this evening with you when you\ndo up the cattle, and if I think there is any excuse for you in this I\nwill say nothing about it, but otherwise you will find that your lot\nwill take some turn for the worse.\" Olaf took his gold-set spear, the\nking's gift, in his hand, and left home, and with him the house-carle.\nThere was some snow on the ground. They came to the fold, which was\nopen, and Olaf bade the house-carle go in. \"I will drive up the cattle\nand you tie them up as they come in.\" The house-carle went to the\nfold-door. And all unawares Olaf finds him leaping into his open arms.\nOlaf asked why he went on so terrified? He replied, \"Hrapp stands in\nthe doorway of the fold, and felt after me, but I have had my fill of\nwrestling with him.\" Olaf went to the fold door and struck at him\nwith his spear. Hrapp took the socket of the spear in both hands and\nwrenched it aside, so that forthwith the spear shaft broke. Olaf was\nabout to run at Hrapp but he disappeared there where he stood, and\nthere they parted, Olaf having the shaft and Hrapp the spear-head.\nAfter that Olaf and the house-carle tied up the cattle and went home.\nOlaf saw the house-carle was not to blame for his grumbling. The next\nmorning Olaf went to where Hrapp was buried and had him dug up. Hrapp\nwas found undecayed, and there Olaf also found his spear-head. After\nthat he had a pyre made and had Hrapp burnt on it, and his ashes were\nflung out to sea. After that no one had any more trouble with Hrapp's\nghost.\n\n[Footnote 2: _i.e._, in view of the fact stated above that Olaf's\nflocks would always be gathering there.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXV\n\nAbout Hoskuld's Sons\n\n\n[Sidenote: Of Thorliek Hoskuldson] Now Hoskuld's sons shall be told\nabout. Thorliek, Hoskuld's son, had been a great seafarer, and taken\nservice with men in lordly station when he was on his merchant voyages\nbefore he settled down as a householder, and a man of mark he was\nthought to be. He had also been on Viking raids, and given good\naccount of himself by reason of his courage. Bard, Hoskuld's son, had\nalso been a seafarer, and was well accounted of wherever he went, for\nhe was the best of brave men and true, and a man of moderation in all\nthings. Bard married a Broadfirth woman, named Astrid, who came of a\ngood stock. Bard's son was named Thorarin, and his daughter Gudney,\nwho married Hall, the son of Fight Styr, and from them are descended\nmany great families. Hrut, Herjolf's son, gave a thrall of his, named\nHrolf, his freedom, and with it a certain amount of money, and a\ndwelling-place where his land joined with Hoskuld's. [Sidenote: Hrut's\nquarrel with Thorliek] And it lay so near the landmark that Hrut's\npeople had made a mistake in the matter, and settled the freedman down\non the land belonging to Hoskuld. He soon gained there much wealth.\nHoskuld took it very much to heart that Hrut should have placed his\nfreedman right up against his ear, and bade the freedman pay him money\nfor the lands he lived on \"for it is mine own.\" The freedman went to\nHrut and told him all they had spoken together. Hrut bade him give no\nheed, and pay no money to Hoskuld. \"For I do not know,\" he said, \"to\nwhich of us the land belonged.\" So the freedman went home, and goes on\nwith his household just as before. A little later, Thorliek, Hoskuld's\nson, went at the advice of his father to the dwelling of the freedman\nand took him and killed him, and Thorliek claimed as his and his\nfather's own all the money the freedman had made. Hrut heard this, and\nhe and his sons liked it very ill. They were most of them grown up,\nand the band of kinsmen was deemed a most forbidding one to grapple\nwith. Hrut fell back on the law as to how this ought to turn out, and\nwhen the matter was searched into by lawyers, Hrut and his son stood\nat but little advantage, for it was held a matter of great weight that\nHrut had set the freedman down without leave on Hoskuld's land, where\nhe had made money, Thorliek having slain the man within his and his\nfather's own lands. Hrut took his lot very much to heart; but things\nremained quiet. [Sidenote: The birth of Bolli] After that Thorliek had\na homestead built on the boundary of Hrut and Hoskuld's lands, and it\nwas called Combness. There Thorliek lived for a while, as has been\ntold before. Thorliek begat a son of his wife. The boy was sprinkled\nwith water and called Bolli. He was at an early age a very promising\nman.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXVI\n\nThe Death of Hoskuld, A.D. 985\n\n\n[Sidenote: Hoskuld's death] Hoskuld, Koll o' Dales' son, fell ill in\nhis old age, and he sent for his sons and other kinsfolk, and when\nthey were come Hoskuld spoke to the brothers Bard and Thorliek, and\nsaid, \"I have taken some sickness, and as I have not been much in the\nway of falling ill before, I think this may bring me to death; and\nnow, as you know, you are both begotten in wedlock, and are entitled\nto all inheritance left by me. But there is a third son of mine, one\nwho is not born in wedlock, and I will ask you brothers to allow him,\nOlaf to wit, to be adopted, so that he take of my means one-third with\nyou.\" Bard answered first, and said that he would do as his father\nwished, \"for I look for honour from Olaf in every way, the more so the\nwealthier he becomes.\" Then Thorliek said, \"It is far from my wish\nthat Olaf be adopted; he has plenty of money already; and you, father,\nhave for a long time given him a great deal, and for a very long time\ndealt unevenly with us. I will not freely give up the honour to which\nI am born.\" Hoskuld said, \"Surely you will not rob me of the law that\nallows me to give twelve ounces to my son, seeing how high-born Olaf\nis on his mother's side.\" To this Thorliek now agreed. Then Hoskuld\ntook the gold ring, Hakon's gift, that weighed a mark, and the sword,\nKing's gift whereon was half a mark of gold, and gave them to Olaf,\nhis son, and therewith his good luck and that of the family, saying he\ndid not speak in this way because he did not know well enough that the\nluck had already come to him. Olaf took his gifts, and said he would\nrisk how Thorliek would like it. Thorliek liked it very ill, and\nthought that Hoskuld had behaved in a very underhand way to him. Olaf\nsaid, \"I shall not give up the gifts, Thorliek, for you agreed to the\ngift in the face of witnesses; and I shall run the risk to keep it.\"\nBard said he would obey his father's wishes. [Sidenote: The funeral\nfeast postponed] After that Hoskuld died, and his death was very much\ngrieved for, in the first place by his sons, and next by all his\nrelations and friends. His sons had a worthy cairn made for him; but\nlittle money was put into it with him. And when this was over, the\nbrothers began to talk over the matter of preparing an \"arvale\"\n(burial feast) after their father, for at that time such was the\ncustom. Olaf said, \"It seems to me that we should not be in a hurry\nabout preparing this feast, if it is to be as noble as we should think\nright; now the autumn is very far worn, and the ingathering of means\nfor it is no longer easy; most people who have to come a long way\nwould find that a hard matter in the autumn days; so that it is\ncertain that many would not come of the men we most should like to\nsee. So I will now make the offer, next summer at the Thing, to bid\nmen to the feast, and I will bear one-third of the cost of the\nwassail.\" The brothers agreed to that, and Olaf now went home.\nThorliek and Bard now share the goods between them. Bard had the\nestate and lands, which was what most men held to, as he was the most\npopular; but Thorliek got for his share more of the chattels. Olaf and\nBard got on well together, but Olaf and Thorliek rather snappishly.\nNow the next winter passed, and summer comes, and time wears on\ntowards the Thing. The sons of Hoskuld got ready to go to the Thing.\nIt was soon seen clearly enough how Olaf took the lead of the\nbrothers. When they got to the Thing they set up three booths, and\nmake themselves comfortable in a handsome manner.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXVII\n\nThe Funeral Feast for Hoskuld\n\n\n[Sidenote: Olaf's invitation to the chiefs] It is told how one day\nwhen people went to the law rock Olaf stood up and asked for a\nhearing, and told them first of the death of his father, \"and there\nare now here many men, kinsmen and friends of his. It is the will of\nmy brothers that I ask you to a funeral feast in memory of Hoskuld our\nfather. All you chieftains, for most of the mightier men are such, as\nwere bound by alliances to him, I let it be known that no one of the\ngreater men shall go away giftless. And herewith I bid all the farmers\nand any who will accept--rich or poor--to a half month's feast at\nHoskuldstead ten weeks before the winter.\" And when Olaf finished his\nspeech good cheer was made thereto, and his bidding was looked upon as\na right lordly one. And when Olaf came home to the booth he told his\nbrothers what he had settled to do. The brothers were not much\npleased, and thought that this was going in for far too much state.\nAfter the Thing the brothers rode home and the summer now wears on.\n[Sidenote: The funeral feast] Then the brothers got ready for the\nfeast, and Olaf put forward unstintedly his third part, and the feast\nwas furnished with the best of provisions. Great stores were laid in\nfor this feast, for it was expected many folk would come. And when the\ntime came it is said that most of the chief men came that were asked.\nThere were so many that most men say that there could not be far short\nof nine hundred (1080). This is the most crowded burial feast that has\nbeen in Iceland, second to that which the sons of Hialti gave at the\nfuneral of their father, at which time there were 1440 guests. But\nthis feast was of the bravest in every way, and the brothers got great\nhonour therefrom, Olaf being at the head of the affair throughout.\nOlaf took even share with his brothers in the gifts; and gifts were\nbestowed on all the chiefs. When most of the men had gone away Olaf\nwent to have a talk with Thorliek his brother, and said, \"So it is,\nkinsman, as you know, that no love has been lost between us; now I\nwould beg for a better understanding in our brotherhood. I know you\ndid not like when I took the heirlooms my father gave me on his dying\nday. Now if you think yourself wronged in this, I will do as much for\ngaining back your whole good-will as to give fostering to your son.\nFor it is said that ever he is the lesser man who fosters another's\nchild.\" Thorliek took this in good part, and said, as was true, that\nthis was honourably offered. And now Olaf took home Bolli, the son of\nThorliek, who at this time was three winters old. They parted now with\nthe utmost affection, and Bolli went home to Herdholt with Olaf.\nThorgerd received him well, and Bolli grew up there and was loved no\nless than their own children.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXVIII\n\nThe Birth of Kjartan, Olaf's Son, A.D. 978\n\n\n[Sidenote: Birth of Kjartan] Olaf and Thorgerd had a son, and the boy\nwas sprinkled with water and a name was given him, Olaf letting him be\ncalled Kjartan after Myrkjartan his mother's father. Bolli and Kjartan\nwere much of an age. Olaf and Thorgerd had still more children; three\nsons were called Steinthor and Halldor and Helgi, and Hoskuld was the\nname of the youngest of Olaf's sons. The daughters of Olaf and his\nwife were named Bergthora, Thorgerd, and Thorbjorg. All their children\nwere of goodly promise as they grew up. At that time Holmgang Bersi\nlived in Saurby at an abode called Tongue. He comes to see Olaf and\nasked for Halldor his son to foster. Olaf agreed to this and Halldor\nwent home with him, being then one winter old. That summer Bersi fell\nill, and lay in bed for a great part of the summer. [Sidenote: Bersi\nand Halldor] It is told how one day, when all the men were out\nhaymaking at Tongue and only they two, Bersi and Halldor, were left in\nthe house, Halldor lay in his cradle and the cradle fell over under\nthe boy and he fell out of it on to the floor, and Bersi could not\nget to him. Then Bersi said this ditty:\n\n    Here we both lie\n    In helpless plight,\n    Halldor and I,\n    Have no power left us;\n    Old age afflicts me,\n    Youth afflicts you,\n    You will get better\n    But I shall get worse.\n\nLater on people came in and picked Halldor up off the floor, and Bersi\ngot better. Halldor was brought up there, and was a tall man and\ndoughty looking. Kjartan, Olaf's son, grew up at home at Herdholt. He\nwas of all men the goodliest of those who have been born in Iceland.\nHe was striking of countenance and fair of feature, he had the finest\neyes of any man, and was light of hue. He had a great deal of hair as\nfair as silk, falling in curls; he was a big man, and strong, taking\nafter his mother's father Egil, or his uncle Thorolf. Kjartan was\nbetter proportioned than any man, so that all wondered who saw him. He\nwas better skilled at arms than most men; he was a deft craftsman, and\nthe best swimmer of all men. In all deeds of strength he was far\nbefore others, more gentle than any other man, and so engaging that\nevery child loved him; he was light of heart, and free with his money.\nOlaf loved Kjartan best of all his children. Bolli, his\nfoster-brother, was a great man, he came next to Kjartan in all deeds\nof strength and prowess; he was strong, and fair of face and\ncourteous, and most warrior-like, and a great dandy. The\nfoster-brothers were very fond of each other. Olaf now remained\nquietly in his home, and for a good many years.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXIX\n\nOlaf's Second Journey to Norway, A.D. 975\n\n\n[Sidenote: Olaf's meeting with Giermund] It is told how one spring\nOlaf broke the news to Thorgerd that he wished to go out\nvoyaging--\"And I wish you to look after our household and children.\"\nThorgerd said she did not much care about doing that; but Olaf said he\nwould have his way. He bought a ship that stood up in the West, at\nVadill. Olaf started during the summer, and brought his ship to\nHordaland. There, a short way inland, lived a man whose name was\nGiermund Roar, a mighty man and wealthy, and a great Viking; he was an\nevil man to deal with, but had now settled down in quiet at home, and\nwas of the bodyguard of Earl Hakon. The mighty Giermund went down to\nhis ship and soon recognised Olaf, for he had heard him spoken of\nbefore. Giermund bade Olaf come and stay with him, with as many of his\nmen as he liked to bring. Olaf accepted his invitation, and went\nthere with seven men. The crew of Olaf went into lodgings about\nHordaland. Giermund entertained Olaf well. His house was a lofty one,\nand there were many men there, and plenty of amusement all the winter.\n[Sidenote: Hakon Earl gives Olaf timber] And towards the end of the\nwinter Olaf told Giermund the reason of his voyage, which was that he\nwished to get for himself some house-timber, and said he set great\nstore by obtaining timber of a choice kind. Giermund said, \"Earl Hakon\nhas the best of woods, and I know quite well if you went to see him\nyou would be made welcome to them, for the Earl receives well, men who\nare not half so well-bred as you, Olaf, when they go to see him.\" In\nthe spring Olaf got ready to go and find Hakon Earl; and the Earl gave\nhim exceeding good welcome, and bade Olaf stay with him as long as he\nliked. Olaf told the Earl the reason of his journey, \"And I beg this\nof you, sir, that you give us permission to cut wood for\nhouse-building from your forests.\" The Earl answered, \"You are welcome\nto load your ship with timber, and I will give it you. For I think it\nno every-day occurrence when such men as you come from Iceland to\nvisit me.\" At parting the Earl gave him a gold-inlaid axe, and the\nbest of keepsakes it was; and therewith they parted in the greatest\nfriendship. [Sidenote: Giermund goes with Olaf] Giermund in the\nmeantime set stewards over his estates secretly, and made up his mind\nto go to Iceland in the summer in Olaf's ship. He kept this secret\nfrom every one. Olaf knew nothing about it till Giermund brought his\nmoney to Olaf's ship, and very great wealth it was. Olaf said, \"You\nshould not have gone in my ship if I had known of this before-hand,\nfor I think there are those in Iceland for whom it would be better\nnever to have seen you. But since you have come with so much goods, I\ncannot drive you out like a straying cur.\" Giermund said, \"I shall not\nreturn for all your high words, for I mean to be your passenger.\" Olaf\nand his got on board, and put out to sea. They had a good voyage and\nmade Broadfirth, and they put out their gangways and landed at\nSalmon-river-Mouth. Olaf had the wood taken out of his ship, and the\nship put up in the shed his father had made. Olaf then asked Giermund\nto come and stay with him. That summer Olaf had a fire-hall built at\nHerdholt, a greater and better than had ever been seen before. Noble\nlegends were painted on its wainscoting and in the roof, and this was\nso well done that the hall was thought even more beautiful when the\nhangings were not up. Giermund did not meddle with every-day matters,\nbut was uncouth to most people. He was usually dressed in this way--he\nwore a scarlet kirtle below and a grey cloak outside, and a bearskin\ncap on his head, and a sword in his hand. This was a great weapon and\ngood, with a hilt of walrus tooth, with no silver on it; the brand was\nsharp, and no rust would stay thereon. This sword he called Footbiter,\nand he never let it out of his hands. [Sidenote: Giermund's marriage]\nGiermund had not been there long before he fell in love with Thured,\nOlaf's daughter, and proposed to Olaf for her hand; but he gave him a\nstraight refusal. Then Giermund gave some money to Thorgerd with a\nview to gaining the match. She took the money, for it was offered\nunstintedly. Then Thorgerd broached the matter to Olaf, and said she\nthought their daughter could not be better married, \"for he is a very\nbrave man, wealthy and high-mettled.\" Then Olaf answered, \"I will not\ngo against you in this any more than in other things, though I would\nsooner marry Thured to some one else.\" Thorgerd went away and thought\nher business had sped well, and now told Giermund the upshot of it. He\nthanked her for her help and her determination, and Giermund broached\nthe wooing a second time to Olaf, and now won the day easily. After\nthat Giermund and Thured were betrothed, and the wedding was to be\nheld at the end of the winter at Herdholt. The wedding feast was a\nvery crowded one, for the new hall was finished. Ulf Uggason was of\nthe bidden guests, and he had made a poem on Olaf Hoskuldson and of\nthe legends that were painted round the hall, and he gave it forth at\nthe feast. This poem is called the \"House Song,\" and is well made.\nOlaf rewarded him well for the poem. Olaf gave great gifts to all the\nchief men who came. Olaf was considered to have gained in renown by\nthis feast.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXX\n\nAbout Giermund and Thured, A.D. 978\n\n\n[Sidenote: Giermund leaves Iceland] Giermund and Thured did not get on\nvery well together, and little love was lost between them on either\nside. When Giermund had stayed with Olaf three winters he wished to go\naway, and gave out that Thured and his daughter Groa should remain\nbehind. This little maid was by then a year old, and Giermund would\nnot leave behind any money for them. This the mother and daughter\nliked very ill, and told Olaf so. Olaf said, \"What is the matter now,\nThorgerd? is the Eastman now not so bounteous as he was that autumn\nwhen he asked for the alliance?\" They could get Olaf to do nothing,\nfor he was an easygoing man, and said the girl should remain until she\nwished to go, or knew how in some way to shift for herself. At parting\nOlaf gave Giermund the merchant ship all fitted out. Giermund thanked\nhim well therefor, and said it was a noble gift. Then he got on board\nhis ship, and sailed out of the Salmon-river-Mouth by a north-east\nbreeze, which dropped as they came out to the islands. He now lies by\nOxe-isle half a month without a fair wind rising for a start.\n[Sidenote: Thured follows Giermund] At that time Olaf had to leave\nhome to look after his foreshore drifts. Then Thured, his daughter,\ncalled to his house-carles, and bade them come with her. She had the\nmaid Groa with her, and they were a party of ten together. She lets\nrun out into the water a ferry-boat that belonged to Olaf, and Thured\nbade them sail and row down along Hvamfirth, and when they came out to\nthe islands she bade them put out the cock-boat that was in the ferry.\nThured got into the boat with two men, and bade the others take care\nof the ship she left behind until she returned. She took the little\nmaid in her arms, and bade the men row across the current until they\nshould reach the ship (of Giermund). She took a gimlet out of the\nboat's locker, and gave it to one of her companions, and bade him go\nto the cockle-boat belonging to the merchant ship and bore a hole in\nit so as to disable it if they needed it in a hurry. Then she had\nherself put ashore with the little maid still in her arms. This was at\nthe hour of sunrise. She went across the gangway into the ship, where\nall men were asleep. She went to the hammock where Giermund slept. His\nsword Footbiter hung on a peg pole. Thured now sets the little maid in\nthe hammock, and snatched off Footbiter and took it with her. Then she\nleft the ship and rejoined her companions. Now the little maid began\nto cry, and with that Giermund woke up and recognised the child, and\nthought he knew who must be at the bottom of this. He springs up\nwanting to seize his sword, and misses it, as was to be expected, and\nthen went to the gunwale, and saw that they were rowing away from the\nship. [Sidenote: Thured's revenge] Giermund called to his men, and\nbade them leap into the cockle-boat and row after them. They did so,\nbut when they got a little way they found how the coal-blue sea poured\ninto them, so they went back to the ship. Then Giermund called Thured\nand bade her come back and give him his sword Footbiter, \"and take\nyour little maid, and with her as much money as you like.\" Thured\nanswered, \"Would you rather than not have the sword back?\" Giermund\nanswered, \"I would give a great deal of money before I should care to\nlet my sword go.\" Thured answered, \"Then you shall never have it\nagain, for you have in many ways behaved cowardly towards me, and here\nwe shall part for good.\" Then Giermund said, \"Little luck will you get\nwith the sword.\" Thured said she would take the risk of that. \"Then I\nlay thereon this spell,\" said Giermund, \"That this sword shall do to\ndeath the man in your family in who would be the greatest loss, and in\na manner most ill-fated.\" After that Thured went home to Herdholt.\nOlaf had then come home, and showed his displeasure at her deed, yet\nall was quiet. Thured gave Bolli, her cousin, the sword Footbiter, for\nshe loved him in no way less than her brothers. Bolli bore that sword\nfor a long time after. After this Giermund got a favourable wind, and\nsailed out to sea, and came to Norway in the autumn. They sailed one\nnight on to some hidden rocks before Stade, and then Giermund and all\nhis crew perished. And that is the end of all there is to tell about\nGiermund.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXXI\n\nThured's Second Marriage, A.D. 980\n\n\n[Sidenote: Gudmund marries Thured] Olaf Hoskuldson now stayed at home\nin much honour, as has been told before. There was a man named\nGudmund, who was the son of Solmund, and lived at Asbjornness north in\nWillowdale. He wooed Thured, and got her and a great deal of wealth\nwith her. Thured was a wise woman, high-tempered and most stirring.\nTheir sons were called Hall and Bard and Stein and Steingrim. Gudrun\nand Olof were their daughters. Thorbjorg, Olaf's daughter, was of\nwomen the most beautiful and stout of build. She was called Thorbjorg\nthe Stout, and was married west in Waterfirth to Asgier, the son of\nKnott. He was a noble man. Their son was Kjartan, father of Thorvald,\nthe father of Thord, the father of Snorri, the father of Thorvald,\nfrom whom is sprung the Waterfirth race. Afterwards, Vermund, the son\nof Thorgrim, had Thorbjorg for wife. Their daughter was Thorfinna,\nwhom Thorstein Kuggason had for wife. Bergthora, Olaf's daughter, was\nmarried west in Deepfirth to Thorhall the Priest. [Sidenote: Harri the\nOx] Their son was Kjartan, father of Smith-Sturla, the foster son of\nThord Gilson. Olaf Peacock had many costly cattle. He had one very\ngood ox named Harri; it was dapple-grey of coat, and bigger than any\nother of his cattle. It had four horns, two great and fair ones, the\nthird stood straight up, and a fourth stood out of its forehead,\nstretching down below its eyes. It was with this that he opened the\nice in winter to get water. He scraped snow away to get at pasture\nlike a horse. One very hard winter he went from Herdholt into the\nBroadfirth-Dales to a place that is now called Harristead. There he\nroamed through the winter with sixteen other cattle, and got grazing\nfor them all. In the spring he returned to the home pastures, to the\nplace now called Harris'-Lair in Herdholt land. When Harri was\neighteen winters old his ice-breaking horn fell off, and that same\nautumn Olaf had him killed. The next night Olaf dreamed that a woman\ncame to him, and she was great and wrathful to look at. She spoke and\nsaid, \"Are you asleep?\" He said he was awake. The woman said, \"You are\nasleep, though it comes to the same thing as if you were awake. You\nhave had my son slain, and let him come to my hand in a shapeless\nplight, and for this deed you shall see your son, blood-stained all\nover through my doing, and him I shall choose thereto whom I know you\nwould like to lose least of all.\" After that she disappeared, and Olaf\nwoke up and still thought he saw the features of the woman. Olaf took\nthe dream very much to heart, and told it to his friends, but no one\ncould read it to his liking. He thought those spoke best about this\nmatter who said that what had appeared to him was only a dream or\nfancy.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXXII\n\nOf Osvif Helgeson\n\n\n[Sidenote: Osvif and his family] Osvif was the name of a man. He was\nthe son of Helgi, who was the son of Ottar, the son of Bjorn the\nEastman, who was the son of Ketill Flatnose, the son of Bjorn Buna.\nThe mother of Osvif was named Nidbiorg. Her mother was Kadlin, the\ndaughter of Ganging-Hrolf, the son of Ox-Thorir, who was a most\nrenowned \"Hersir\" (war-lord) east in Wick. Why he was so called, was\nthat he owned three islands with eighty oxen on each. He gave one\nisland and its oxen to Hakon the King, and his gift was much talked\nabout. Osvif was a great sage. He lived at Laugar in Salingsdale. The\nhomestead of Laugar stands on the northern side of Salingsdale-river,\nover against Tongue. The name of his wife was Thordis, daughter of\nThjodolf the Low. Ospak was the name of one of their sons. [Sidenote:\nOsvif's household] Another was named Helgi, and a third Vandrad, and a\nfourth Jorrad, and a fifth Thorolf. They were all doughty men for\nfighting. Gudrun was the name of their daughter. She was the goodliest\nof women who grew up in Iceland, both as to looks and wits. Gudrun was\nsuch a woman of state that at that time whatever other women wore in\nthe way of finery of dress was looked upon as children's gewgaws\nbeside hers. She was the most cunning and the fairest spoken of all\nwomen, and an open-handed woman withal. There was a woman living with\nOsvif who was named Thorhalla, and was called the Chatterer. She was\nsome sort of relation to Osvif. She had two sons, one named Odd and\nthe other Stein. They were muscular men, and in a great measure the\nhardest toilers for Osvif's household. They were talkative like their\nmother, but ill liked by people; yet were upheld greatly by the sons\nof Osvif. At Tongue there lived a man named Thorarin, son of Thorir\nSaeling (the Voluptuous). He was a well-off yeoman, a big man and\nstrong. He had very good land, but less of live stock. Osvif wished to\nbuy some of his land from him, for he had lack of land but a multitude\nof live stock. So this then came about that Osvif bought of the land\nof Thorarin all the tract from Gnupaskard along both sides of the\nvalley to Stack-gill, and very good and fattening land it was. He had\non it an out-dairy. Osvif had at all times a great many servants, and\nhis way of living was most noble. West in Saurby is a place called\nHol, there lived three kinsmen-in-law--Thorkell the Whelp and Knut,\nwho were brothers, they were very well-born men, and their\nbrother-in-law, who shared their household with them, who was named\nThord. He was, after his mother, called Ingun's-son. The father of\nThord was Glum Gierison. Thord was a handsome and valiant man, well\nknit, and a great man of law-suits. Thord had for wife the sister of\nThorkell and Knut, who was called Aud, neither a goodly nor a bucksome\nwoman. Thord loved her little, as he had chiefly married her for her\nmoney, for there a great wealth was stored together, and the household\nflourished from the time that Thord came to have hand in it with them.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXXIII\n\nOf Gest Oddleifson and Gudrun's Dreams\n\n\nGest Oddleifson lived west at Bardastrand, at Hagi. He was a great\nchieftain and a sage; was fore-seeing in many things and in good\nfriendship with all the great men, and many came to him for counsel. He\nrode every summer to the Thing, and always would put up at Hol. One time\nit so happened once more that Gest rode to the Thing and was a guest at\nHol. [Sidenote: Meeting of Gudrun and Gest] He got ready to leave early\nin the morning, for the journey was a long one and he meant to get to\nThickshaw in the evening to Armod, his brother-in-law's, who had for\nwife Thorunn, a sister of Gest's. Their sons were Ornolf and Haldor.\nGest rode all that day from Saurby and came to the Saelingsdale spring,\nand tarried there for a while. Gudrun came to the spring and greeted her\nrelative, Gest, warmly. Gest gave her a good welcome, and they began to\ntalk together, both being wise and of ready speech. [Sidenote: Gudrun's\ndreams] And as the day was wearing on, Gudrun said, \"I wish, cousin, you\nwould ride home with us with all your followers, for it is the wish of\nmy father, though he gave me the honour of bearing the message, and told\nme to say that he would wish you to come and stay with us every time you\nrode to or from the west.\" Gest received the message well, and thought\nit a very manly offer, but said he must ride on now as he had purposed.\nGudrun said, \"I have dreamt many dreams this winter; but four of the\ndreams do trouble my mind much, and no man has been able to explain them\nas I like, and yet I ask not for any favourable interpretation of them.\"\nGest said, \"Tell me your dreams, it may be that I can make something of\nthem.\" Gudrun said, \"I thought I stood out of doors by a certain brook,\nand I had a crooked coif on my head, and I thought it misfitted me, and\nI wished to alter the coif, and many people told me I should not do so,\nbut I did not listen to them, and I tore the hood from my head, and cast\nit into the brook, and that was the end of that dream.\" Then Gudrun said\nagain, \"This is the next dream. I thought I stood near some water, and I\nthought there was a silver ring on my arm. I thought it was my own, and\nthat it fitted me exceeding well. I thought it was a most precious\nthing, and long I wished to keep it. But when I was least aware of it,\nthe ring slipped off my arm and into the water, and nothing more did I\nsee of it afterwards. I felt this loss much more than it was likely I\nshould ever feel the loss of a mere keepsake. Then I awoke.\" Gest\nanswered this alone: \"No lesser a dream is that one.\" Gudrun still\nspoke: \"This is the third dream, I thought I had a gold ring on my hand,\nwhich I thought belonged to me, and I thought my loss was now made good\nagain. And the thought entered my mind that I would keep this ring\nlonger than the first; but it did not seem to me that this keepsake\nsuited me better than the former at anything like the rate that gold is\nmore precious than silver. Then I thought I fell, and tried to steady\nmyself with my hand, but then the gold ring struck on a certain stone\nand broke in two, and the two pieces bled. What I had to bear after this\nfelt more like grief than regret for a loss. And it struck me now that\nthere must have been some flaw in the ring, and when I looked at the\npieces I thought I saw sundry more flaws in them; yet I had a feeling\nthat if I had taken better care of it, it might still have been whole;\nand this dream was no longer.\" Gest said, \"The dreams are not waning.\"\nThen said Gudrun, \"This is my fourth dream. I thought I had a helm of\ngold upon my head, set with many precious stones. And I thought this\nprecious thing belonged to me, but what I chiefly found fault with was\nthat it was rather too heavy, and I could scarcely bear it, so that I\ncarried my head on one side; yet I did not blame the helm for this, nor\nhad I any mind to part with it. Yet the helm tumbled from my head out\ninto Hvammfirth, and after that I awoke. Now I have told you all my\ndreams.\" [Sidenote: Gest's reading of the dreams] Gest answered, \"I\nclearly see what these dreams betoken; but you will find my unravelling\nsavouring much of sameness, for I must read them all nearly in the same\nway. You will have four husbands, and it misdoubts me when you are\nmarried to the first it will be no love match. Inasmuch as you thought\nyou had a great coif on your head and thought it ill-fitting, that shows\nyou will love him but little. And whereas you took it off your head and\ncast it into the water, that shows that you will leave him. For that,\nmen say, is 'cast on to the sea,' when a man loses what is his own, and\ngets nothing in return for it.\" And still Gest spake: \"Your second dream\nwas that you thought you had a silver ring on your arm, and that shows\nyou will marry a nobleman whom you will love much, but enjoy him for but\na short time, and I should not wonder if you lose him by drowning. That\nis all I have to tell of that dream. And in the third dream you thought\nyou had a gold ring on your hand; that shows you will have a third\nhusband; he will not excel the former at the rate that you deemed this\nmetal more rare and precious than silver; but my mind forebodes me that\nby that time a change of faith will have come about, and your husband\nwill have taken the faith which we are minded to think is the more\nexalted. And whereas you thought the ring broke in two through some\nmisheed of yours, and blood came from the two pieces, that shows that\nthis husband of yours will be slain, and then you will think you see for\nthe first time clearly all the flaws of that match.\" Still Gest went on\nto say: \"This is your fourth dream, that you thought you had a helm on\nyour head, of gold set with precious stones, and that it was a heavy one\nfor you to bear. This shows you will have a fourth husband who will be\nthe greatest nobleman (of the four), and will bear somewhat a helm of\nawe over you. And whereas you thought it tumbled out into Hvammfirth, it\nshows that that same firth will be in his way on the last day of his\nlife. And now I go no further with this dream.\" Gudrun sat with her\ncheeks blood red whilst the dreams were unravelled, but said not a word\ntill Gest came to the end of his speech. [Sidenote: Gest and Gudrun\npart] Then said Gudrun, \"You would have fairer prophecies in this matter\nif my delivery of it into your hands had warranted; have my thanks all\nthe same for unravelling the dreams. But it is a fearful thing to think\nof, if all this is to come to pass as you say.\" Gudrun then begged Gest\nwould stay there the day out, and said that he and Osvif would have many\nwise things to say between them. He answered, \"I must ride on now as I\nhave made up my mind. But bring your father my greeting and tell him\nalso these my words, that the day will come when there will be a shorter\ndistance between Osvif's and my dwellings, and then we may talk at ease,\nif then we are allowed to converse together.\" Then Gudrun went home and\nGest rode away. [Sidenote: Gest visits Olaf] Gest met a servant of\nOlaf's by the home-field fence, who invited Gest to Herdholt, at the\nbidding of Olaf. Gest said he would go and see Olaf during the day, but\nwould stay (the night) at Thickshaw. The servant returned home and told\nOlaf so. Olaf had his horse brought and rode with several men out to\nmeet Gest. He and Gest met up at Lea-river. Olaf greeted him well and\nasked him in with all his followers. Gest thanked him for the\ninvitation, and said he would ride up to the homestead and have a look\nand see how he was housed, but he must stay with Armod. Gest tarried but\na little while, yet he saw over the homestead and admired it and said,\n\"No money has been spared for this place.\" Olaf rode away with Gest to\nthe Salmon-river. The foster-brothers had been swimming there during the\nday, and at this sport the sons of Olaf mostly took the lead. There were\nmany other young men from the other houses swimming too. Kjartan and\nBolli leapt out of the water as the company rode down and were nearly\ndressed when Olaf and Gest came up to them. Gest looked at these young\nmen for a while, and told Olaf where Kjartan was sitting as well as\nBolli, and then Gest pointed his spear shaft to each one of Olaf's sons\nand named by name all of them that were there. But there were many other\nhandsome young men there who had just left off swimming and sat on the\nriver-bank with Kjartan and Bolli. Gest said he did not discover the\nfamily features of Olaf in any of these young men. Then said Olaf:\n\"Never is there too much said about your wits, Gest, knowing, as you\ndo, men you have never seen before. Now I wish you to tell me which of\nthose young men will be the mightiest man.\" [Sidenote: Gest's prophecy]\nGest replied, \"That will fall out much in keeping with your own love,\nfor Kjartan will be the most highly accounted of so long as he lives.\"\nThen Gest smote his horse and rode away. A little while after Thord the\nLow rode up to his side, and said, \"What has now come to pass, father,\nthat you are shedding tears?\" Gest answered, \"It is needless to tell it,\nyet I am loath to keep silence on matters that will happen in your own\ndays. To me it will not come unawares if Bolli one day should _have_ at\nhis feet the head of Kjartan slain, and should by the deed bring about\nhis own death, and this is an ill thing to know of such sterling men.\"\nThen they rode on to the Thing, and it was an uneventful meeting.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXXIV\n\nGudrun's First Marriage, A.D. 989\n\n\nThorvald was the name of a man, son of Haldor Garpdale's Priest. He\nlived at Garpsdale in Gilsfirth, a wealthy man, but not much of a\nhero. At the Thing he wooed Gudrun, Osvif's daughter, when she was\nfifteen years old. [Sidenote: Gudrun marries Thorvald] The matter was\nnot taken up in a very adverse manner, yet Osvif said that against\nthe match it would tell, that he and Gudrun were not of equal\nstanding. Thorvald spoke gently, and said he was wooing a wife, not\nmoney. After that Gudrun was betrothed to Thorvald, and Osvif settled\nalone the marriage contract, whereby it was provided that Gudrun\nshould alone manage their money affairs straightway when they came\ninto one bed, and be entitled to one-half thereof as her own, whether\ntheir married life were long or short. He should also buy her jewels,\nso that no woman of equal wealth should have better to show. Yet he\nshould retain his farm-stock unimpaired by such purchases. And now men\nride home from the Thing. Gudrun was not asked about it, and took it\nmuch to heart; yet things went on quietly. The wedding was at\nGarpsdale, in Twinmonth (latter part of August to the latter part of\nSeptember). Gudrun loved Thorvald but little, and was extravagant in\nbuying finery. There was no jewel so costly in all the West-firths\nthat Gudrun did not deem it fitting that it should be hers, and\nrewarded Thorvald with anger if he did not buy it for her, however\ndear it might be. [Sidenote: Her friendship with Thord] Thord, Ingun's\nson, made himself very friendly with Thorvald and Gudrun, and stayed\nwith them for long times together, and there was much talk of the love\nof Thord and Gudrun for each other. Once upon a time Gudrun bade\nThorvald buy a gift for her, and Thorvald said she showed no\nmoderation in her demands, and gave her a box on the ear. Then said\nGudrun, \"Now you have given me that which we women set great store by\nhaving to perfection--a fine colour in the cheeks--and thereby have\nalso taught me how to leave off importuning you.\" That same evening\nThord came there. Gudrun told him about the shameful mishandling, and\nasked him how she should repay it. Thord smiled, and said: \"I know a\nvery good counsel for this: make him a shirt with such a large\nneck-hole that you may have a good excuse for separating from him,\nbecause he has a low neck like a woman.\" Gudrun said nothing against\nthis, and they dropped their talk. That same spring Gudrun separated\nherself from Thorvald, and she went home to Laugar. After that the\nmoney was divided between Gudrun and Thorvald, and she had half of all\nthe wealth, which now was even greater than before (her marriage).\nThey had lived two winters together. That same spring Ingun sold her\nland in Crookfirth, the estate which was afterwards called Ingunstead,\nand went west to Skalmness. Glum Gierison had formerly had her for\nwife, as has been before written. At that time Hallstein the Priest\nlived at Hallsteinness, on the west side of Codfirth. He was a mighty\nman, but middling well off as regards friends.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXXV\n\nGudrun's Second Marriage, A.D. 991\n\n\n[Sidenote: Kotkell the wizard] Kotkell was the name of a man who had\nonly come to Iceland a short time before, Grima was the name of his\nwife. Their sons were Hallbjorn Whetstone-eye, and Stigandi. These\npeople were natives of Sodor. They were all wizards and the greatest\nof enchanters. Hallstein Godi took them in and settled them down at\nUrdir in Skalm-firth, and their dwelling there was none of the best\nliked. That summer Gest went to the Thing and went in a ship to Saurby\nas he was wont. He stayed as guest at Hol in Saurby. The\nbrothers-in-law found him in horses as was their former wont. Thord\nIngunson was amongst the followers of Gest on this journey and came to\nLaugar in Salingsdale. Gudrun Osvif's daughter rode to the Thing, and\nThord Ingunson rode with her. It happened one day as they were riding\nover Blueshaw-heath, the weather being fine, that Gudrun said, \"Is it\ntrue, Thord, that your wife Aud always goes about in breeches with\ngores in the seat, winding swathings round her legs almost to her\nfeet?\" Thord said, \"He had not noticed that.\" \"Well, then, there must\nbe but little in the tale,\" said Gudrun, \"if you have not found it\nout, but for what then is she called Breeches Aud?\" Thord said, \"I\nthink she has been called so for but a short time.\" Gudrun answered,\n\"What is of more moment to her is that she bear the name for a long\ntime hereafter.\" After that people arrived at the Thing and no tidings\nbefell there. Thord spent much time in Gest's booth and always talked\nto Gudrun. [Sidenote: Thord separates from Aud] One day Thord Ingunson\nasked Gudrun what the penalty was for a woman who went about always in\nbreeches like men. Gudrun replied, \"She deserves the same penalty as a\nman who is dressed in a shirt with so low a neck that his naked breast\nbe seen--separation in either case.\" Then Thord said, \"Would you\nadvise me to proclaim my separation from Aud here at the Thing or in\nthe country by the counsel of many men? For I have to deal with\nhigh-tempered men who will count themselves as ill-treated in this\naffair.\" Gudrun answered after a while, \"For evening waits the idler's\nsuit.\" Then Thord sprang up and went to the law rock and named to him\nwitnesses, declared his separation from Aud, and gave as his reason\nthat she made for herself gored breeches like a man. Aud's brothers\ndisliked this very much, but things kept quiet. Then Thord rode away\nfrom the Thing with the sons of Osvif. When Aud heard these tidings,\nshe said, \"Good! Well, that I know that I am left thus single.\" Then\nThord rode, to divide the money, west into Saurby and twelve men with\nhim, and it all went off easily, for Thord made no difficulties as to\nhow the money was divided. [Sidenote: Thord marries Gudrun] Thord\ndrove from the west unto Laugar a great deal of live stock. After\nthat he wooed Gudrun and that matter was easily settled; Osvif and\nGudrun said nothing against it. The wedding was to take place in the\ntenth week of the summer, and that was a right noble feast. Thord and\nGudrun lived happily together. What alone withheld Thorkell Whelp and\nKnut from setting afoot a lawsuit against Thord Ingunson was, that\nthey got no backing up to that end. The next summer the men of Hol had\nan out-dairy business in Hvammdale, and Aud stayed at the dairy. The\nmen of Laugar had their out-dairy in Lambdale, which cuts westward\ninto the mountains off Salingsdale. Aud asked the man who looked after\nthe sheep how often he met the shepherd from Laugar. He said nearly\nalways as was likely since there was only a neck of land between the\ntwo dairies. Then said Aud, \"You shall meet the shepherd from Laugar\nto-day, and you can tell me who there are staying at the\nwinter-dwelling[3] or who at the dairy, and speak in a friendly way of\nThord as it behoves you to do.\" The boy promised to do as she told\nhim. And in the evening when the shepherd came home Aud asked what\ntidings he brought. The shepherd answered, \"I have heard tidings which\nyou will think good, that now there is a broad bedroom-floor between\nthe beds of Thord and Gudrun, for she is at the dairy and he is\nswinging at the rear of the hall, he and Osvif being two together\nalone at the winter-dwelling.\" \"You have espied well,\" said she, \"and\nsee to have saddled two horses at the time when people are going to\nbed.\" The shepherd did as she bade him. [Sidenote: Aud's revenge] A\nlittle before sunset Aud mounted, and was now indeed in breeches. The\nshepherd rode the other horse and could hardly keep up with her, so\nhard did she push on riding. She rode south over Salingsdale-heath and\nnever stopped before she got to the home-field fence at Laugar. Then\nshe dismounted, and bade the shepherd look after the horses whilst she\nwent to the house. Aud went to the door and found it open, and she\nwent into the fire-hall to the locked-bed in the wall. Thord lay\nasleep, the door had fallen to, but the bolt was not on, so she walked\ninto the bedroom. Thord lay asleep on his back. Then Aud woke Thord,\nand he turned on his side when he saw a man had come in. Then she drew\na sword and thrust it at Thord and gave him great wounds, the sword\nstriking his right arm and wounding him on both nipples. So hard did\nshe follow up the stroke that the sword stuck in the bolster. Then Aud\nwent away and to her horse and leapt on to its back, and thereupon\nrode home. Thord tried to spring up when he got the blow, but could\nnot, because of his loss of blood. Then Osvif awoke and asked what had\nhappened, and Thord told that he had been wounded somewhat. Osvif\nasked if he knew who had done the deed on him, and got up and bound up\nhis wounds. Thord said he was minded to think that Aud had done it.\nOsvif offered to ride after her, and said she must have gone on this\nerrand with few men, and her penalty was ready-made for her. Thord\nsaid that should not be done at all, for she had only done what she\nought to have done. Aud got home at sunrise, and her brothers asked\nher where she had been to. Aud said she had been to Laugar, and told\nthem what tidings had befallen in her journey. They were pleased at\nthis, and said that too little was likely to have been done by her.\nThord lay wounded a long time. His chest wound healed well, but his\narm grew no better for work than before (_i.e._ when it first was\nwounded). All was now quiet that winter. [Sidenote: Ingun changes her\ndwelling] But in the following spring Ingun, Thord's mother, came west\nfrom Skalmness. Thord greeted her warmly: she said she wished to place\nherself under his protection, and said that Kotkell and his wife and\nsons were giving her much trouble by stealing her goods, and through\nwitchcraft, but had a strong support in Hallstein the Priest. Thord\ntook this matter up swiftly, and said he should have the right of\nthese thieves no matter how it might displease Hallstein. He got\nspeedily ready for the journey with ten men, and Ingun went west with\nhim. [Sidenote: The drowning of Thord] He got a ferry-boat out of\nTjaldness. Then they went to Skalmness. Thord had put on board ship\nall the chattels his mother owned there, and the cattle were to be\ndriven round the heads of the firths. There were twelve of them\naltogether in the boat, with Ingun and another woman. Thord and ten\nmen went to Kotkell's place. The sons of Kotkell were not at home. He\nthen summoned Kotkell and Grima and their sons for theft and\nwitchcraft, and claimed outlawry as award. He laid the case to the\nAlthing, and then returned to his ship. Hallbjorn and Stigandi came\nhome when Thord had got out but a little way from land, and Kotkell\ntold his sons what had happened there. The brothers were furious at\nthat, and said that hitherto people had taken care not to show them in\nso barefaced a manner such open enmity. Then Kotkell had a great\nspell-working scaffold made, and they all went up on to it, and they\nsang hard twisted songs that were enchantments. And presently a great\ntempest arose. Thord, Ingun's son, and his companions, continued out\nat sea as he was, soon knew that the storm was raised against him. Now\nthe ship is driven west beyond Skalmness, and Thord showed great\ncourage with seamanship. The men who were on land saw how he threw\noverboard all that made up the boat's lading, saving the men; and the\npeople who were on land expected Thord would come to shore, for they\nhad passed the place that was the rockiest; but next there arose a\nbreaker on a rock a little way from the shore that no man had ever\nknown to break sea before, and smote the ship so that forthwith up\nturned keel uppermost. There Thord and all his followers were drowned,\nand the ship was broken to pieces, and the keel was washed up at a\nplace now called Keelisle. Thord's shield was washed up on an island\nthat has since been called Shieldisle. Thord's body and the bodies of\nhis followers were all washed ashore, and a great howe was raised over\ntheir corpses at the place now called Howesness.\n\n[Footnote 3: _i.e._, at home at Laugar.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXXVI\n\nAbout Kotkell and Grima\n\n\n[Sidenote: The birth of Thord Cat] These tidings spread far and wide, and\nwere very ill-spoken of; they were accounted of as men of doomed lives,\nwho wrought such witchcraft as that which Kotkell and his had now shown.\nGudrun took the death of Thord sorely to heart, for she was now a woman\nnot hale, and coming close to her time. After that Gudrun gave birth to a\nboy, who was sprinkled with water and called Thord. At that time Snorri\nthe Priest lived at Holyfell; he was a kinsman and a friend of Osvif's,\nand Gudrun and her people trusted him very much. Snorri went thither (to\nLaugar), being asked to a feast there. Then Gudrun told her trouble to\nSnorri, and he said he would back up their case when it seemed good to\nhim, but offered to Gudrun to foster her child to comfort her. This Gudrun\nagreed to, and said she would rely on his foresight. This Thord was\nsurnamed the Cat, and was father of the poet Stuf. After that Gest\nOddleifson went to see Hallstein, and gave him choice of two things,\neither that he should send away these wizards or he said that he would\nkill them, \"and yet it comes too late.\" Hallstein made his choice at once,\nand bade them rather be off, and put up nowhere west of Daleheath, adding\nthat it was more justly they ought to be slain. [Sidenote: Kotkell's\nhorses] After that Kotkell and his went away with no other goods than four\nstud-horses. The stallion was black; he was both great and fair and very\nstrong, and tried in horse-fighting. Nothing is told of their journey till\nthey came to Combeness, to Thorliek, Hoskuld's son. He asked to buy the\nhorses from them, for he said that they were exceeding fine beasts.\nKotkell replied, \"I'll give you the choice. Take you the horses and give\nme some place to dwell in here in your neighbourhood.\" Thorliek said,\n\"Will the horses not be rather dear, then, for I have heard tell you are\nthought rather guilty in this countryside?\" Kotkell answers, \"In this you\nare hinting at the men of Laugar.\" Thorliek said that was true. Then\nKotkell said, \"Matters point quite another way, as concerning our guilt\ntowards Gudrun and her brothers, than you have been told; people have\noverwhelmed us with slander for no cause at all. Take the horses, nor let\nthese matters stand in the way. Such tales alone are told of you,\nmoreover, as would show that we shall not be easily tripped up by the folk\nof this countryside, if we have your help to fall back upon.\" [Sidenote:\nThorliek shelters Kotkell] Thorliek now changed his mind in this matter,\nfor the horses seemed fair to him, and Kotkell pleaded his case\ncunningly; so Thorliek took the horses, and gave them a dwelling at\nLudolfstead in Salmon-river-Dale, and stocked them with farming beasts.\nThis the men of Laugar heard, and the sons of Osvif wished to fall\nforthwith on Kotkell and his sons; but Osvif said, \"Let us take now the\ncounsel of Priest Snorri, and leave this business to others, for short\ntime will pass before the neighbours of Kotkell will have brand new cases\nagainst him and his, and Thorliek, as is most fitting, will abide the\ngreatest hurt from them. In a short while many will become his enemies\nfrom whom heretofore he has only had good will. But I shall not stop you\nfrom doing whatever hurt you please to Kotkell and his, if other men do\nnot come forward to drive them out of the countryside or to take their\nlives, by the time that three winters have worn away.\" Gudrun and her\nbrothers said it should be as he said. Kotkell and his did not do much in\nworking for their livelihood, but that winter they were in no need to buy\nhay or food; but an unbefriended neighbourhood was theirs, though men did\nnot see their way to disturbing their dwelling because of Thorliek.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXXVII\n\nAbout Hrut and Eldgrim, A.D. 995\n\n\nOne summer at the Thing, as Thorliek was sitting in his booth, a very\nbig man walked into the booth. [Sidenote: Eldgrim of Burgfirth] He\ngreeted Thorliek, who took well the greeting of this man and asked his\nname and whence he was. He said he was called Eldgrim, and lived in\nBurgfirth at a place called Eldgrimstead--but that abode lies in the\nvalley which cuts westward into the mountains between Mull and\nPigtongue, and is now called Grimsdale. Thorliek said, \"I have heard\nyou spoken of as being no small man.\" Eldgrim said, \"My errand here is\nthat I want to buy from you the stud-horses, those valuable ones that\nKotkell gave you last summer.\" Thorliek answered, \"The horses are not\nfor sale.\" Eldgrim said, \"I will offer you equally many stud-horses\nfor them and some other things thrown in, and many would say that I\noffer you twice as much as the horses are worth.\" Thorliek said, \"I am\nno haggler, but these horses you will never have, not even though you\noffer three times their worth.\" Eldgrim said, \"I take it to be no lie\nthat you are proud and self-willed, and I should, indeed, like to see\nyou getting a somewhat less handsome price for them than I have now\noffered you, and that you should have to let the horses go none the\nless.\" Thorliek got angered at these words, and said, \"You need,\nEldgrim, to come to closer quarters if you mean to frighten out me the\nhorses.\" Eldgrim said, \"You think it unlikely that you will be beaten\nby me, but this summer I shall go and see the horses, and we will see\nwhich of us will own them after that.\" Thorliek said, \"Do as you like,\nbut bring up no odds against me.\" Then they dropped their talk. The\nman who heard this said that for this sort of dealing together here\nwere two just fitting matches for each other. After that people went\nhome from the Thing, and nothing happened to tell tidings of.\n[Sidenote: Hrut meets with Eldgrim] It happened one morning early that\na man looked out at Hrutstead at goodman Hrut's, Herjolf's son's, and\nwhen he came in Hrut asked what news he brought. He said he had no\nother tidings to tell save that he saw a man riding from beyond Vadlar\ntowards where Thorliek's horses were, and that the man got off his\nhorse and took the horses. Hrut asked where the horses were then, and\nthe house-carle replied, \"Oh, they have stuck well to their pasture,\nfor they stood as usual in your meadows down below the fence-wall.\"\nHrut replied, \"Verily, Thorliek, my kinsman, is not particular as to\nwhere he grazes his beasts; and I still think it more likely that it\nis not by his order that the horses are driven away.\" Then Hrut sprang\nup in his shirt and linen breeches, and cast over him a grey cloak and\ntook in his hand his gold inlaid halberd that King Harald had given\nhim. He went out quickly and saw where a man was riding after horses\ndown below the wall. Hrut went to meet him, and saw that it was\nEldgrim driving the horses. Hrut greeted him, and Eldgrim returned his\ngreeting, but rather slowly. [Sidenote: Hrut takes Thorliek's part]\nHrut asked him why he was driving the horses. Eldgrim replied, \"I will\nnot hide it from you, though I know what kinship there is between you\nand Thorliek; but I tell you I have come after these horses, meaning\nthat he shall never have them again. I have also kept what I promised\nhim at the Thing, that I have not gone after the horses with any great\ncompany.\" Hrut said, \"That is no deed of fame to you to take away the\nhorses while Thorliek lies in his bed and sleeps; you would keep best\nwhat you agreed upon if you go and meet himself before you drive the\nhorses out of the countryside.\" Eldgrim said, \"Go and warn Thorliek if\nyou wish, for you may see I have prepared myself in such a manner as\nthat I should like it well if we were to meet together, I and\nThorliek,\" and therewith he brandished the barbed spear he had in his\nhand. He had also a helmet on his head, and a sword girded on his\nside, and a shield on his flank, and had on a chain coat. Hrut said,\n\"I think I must seek for something else than to go to Combeness for I\nam heavy of foot; but I mean not to allow Thorliek to be robbed if I\nhave means thereto, no matter how little love there may go with our\nkinship.\" Eldgrim said, \"And do you mean to take the horses away from\nme?\" Hrut said, \"I will give you other stud-horses if you will let\nthese alone, though they may not be quite so good as these are.\"\nEldgrim said, \"You speak most kindly, Hrut, but since I have got hold\nof Thorliek's horses you will not pluck them out of my hands either by\nbribes or threats.\" [Sidenote: He kills Eldgrim] Hrut replied, \"Then I\nthink you are making for both of us the choice that answers the\nworst.\" Eldgrim now wanted to part, and gave the whip to his horse,\nand when Hrut saw that, he raised up his halberd and struck Eldgrim\nthrough the back between the shoulders so that the coat of mail was\ntorn open and the halberd flew out through the chest, and Eldgrim fell\ndead off his horse, as was only natural. After that Hrut covered up\nhis body at the place called Eldgrim's-holt south of Combeness. Then\nHrut rode over to Combeness and told Thorliek the tidings. Thorliek\nburst into a rage, and thought a great shame had been done him by this\ndeed, while Hrut thought he had shown him great friendship thereby.\nThorliek said that not only had he done this for an evil purpose, but\nthat, moreover, no good would come in return for it. Hrut said that\nThorliek must do what pleased him, and so they parted in no loving\nkindness. Hrut was eighty years old when he killed Eldgrim, and he was\nconsidered by that deed to have added much to his fame. Thorliek\nthought that Hrut was none the worthier of any good from him for being\nmore renowned for this deed, for he held it was perfectly clear he\nwould have himself have got the better of Eldgrim if they had had a\ntrial of arms between them, seeing how little was needed to trip\nEldgrim up. [Sidenote: Kotkell's enchantments] Thorliek now went to\nsee his tenants Kotkell and Grima, and bade them do something to the\nshame of Hrut. They took this up gladly, and said they were quite\nready to do so. Thorliek now went home. A little later they, Kotkell\nand Grima and their sons, started on a journey from home, and that was\nby night. They went to Hrut's dwelling, and made great incantations\nthere, and when the spell-working began, those within were at a loss\nto make out what could be the reason of it; but sweet indeed was that\nsinging they heard. Hrut alone knew what these goings-on meant, and\nbade no man look out that night, \"and let every one who may keep\nawake, and no harm will come to us if that counsel is followed.\" But\nall the people fell asleep. Hrut watched longest, and at last he too\nslept. Kari was the name of a son of Hrut, and he was then twelve\nwinters old. He was the most promising of all Hrut's sons, and Hrut\nloved him much. Kari hardly slept at all, for to him the play was\nmade; he did not sleep very soundly, and at last he got up and looked\nout, and walked in the direction of the enchantment, and fell down\ndead at once. Hrut awoke in the morning, as also did his household,\nand missed his son, who was found dead a short way from the door. This\nHrut felt as the greatest bereavement, and had a cairn raised over\nKari. Then he rode to Olaf Hoskuldson and told him the tidings of what\nhad happened there. Olaf was madly wroth at this, and said it showed\ngreat lack of forethought that they had allowed such scoundrels as\nKotkell and his family to live so near to him, and said that Thorliek\nhad shaped for himself an evil lot by dealing as he had done with\nHrut, but added that more must have been done than Thorliek had ever\ncould have wished. [Sidenote: Death of Kotkell and Grima] Olaf said\ntoo that forthwith Kotkell and his wife and sons must be slain, \"late\nthough it is now.\" Olaf and Hrut set out with fifteen men. But when\nKotkell and his family saw the company of men riding up to their\ndwelling, they took to their heels up to the mountain. There Hallbjorn\nWhetstone-eye was caught and a bag was drawn over his head, and while\nsome men were left to guard him others went in pursuit of Kotkell,\nGrima, and Stigandi up on the mountain. Kotkell and Grima were laid\nhands on on the neck of land between Hawkdale and Salmon-river-Dale,\nand were stoned to death and a heap of stones thrown up over them, and\nthe remains are still to be seen, being called Scratch-beacon.\nStigandi took to his heels south over the neck towards Hawkdale, and\nthere got out of their sight. Hrut and his sons went down to the sea\nwith Hallbjorn, and put out a boat and rowed out from land with him,\nand they took the bag off his head and tied a stone round his neck.\nHallbjorn set gloating glances on the land, and the manner of his look\nwas nowise of the goodliest. Then Hallbjorn said, \"It was no day of\nbliss when we, kinsfolk, came to this Combeness and met with Thorliek.\nAnd this spell I utter,\" says he, \"that Thorliek shall from henceforth\nhave but few happy days, and that all who fill his place have a\ntroublous life there.\" And this spell, men deem, has taken great\neffect. After that they drowned him, and rowed back to land.\n\n[Sidenote: Hrut's anger against Thorliek] A little while afterwards\nHrut went to find Olaf his kinsman, and told him that he would not\nleave matters with Thorliek as they stood, and bade him furnish him\nwith men to go and make a house-raid on Thorliek. Olaf replied, \"It is\nnot right that you two kinsmen should be laying hands on each other;\non Thorliek's behalf this has turned out a matter of most evil luck. I\nwould sooner try and bring about peace between you, and you have often\nwaited well and long for your good turn.\" Hrut said, \"It is no good\ncasting about for this; the sores between us two will never heal up;\nand I should like that from henceforth we should not both live in\nSalmon-river-Dale.\" Olaf replied, \"It will not be easy for you to go\nfurther against Thorliek than I am willing to allow; but if you do it,\nit is not unlikely that dale and hill will meet.\"[4] Hrut thought he\nnow saw things stuck hard and fast before him; so he went home\nmightily ill pleased; but all was quiet or was called so. And for that\nyear men kept quiet at home.\n\n[Footnote 4: _i.e._, old age = Hrut, and youthful power=Olaf, the\ngreatest \"goethi\" in the countryside.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXXVIII\n\nThe Death of Stigandi. Thorliek leaves Iceland\n\n\n[Sidenote: Stigandi and the slave woman] Now, to tell of Stigandi, he\nbecame an outlaw and an evil to deal with. Thord was the name of a\nman who lived at Hundidale; he was a rich man, but had no manly\ngreatness. A startling thing happened that summer in Hundidale, in\nthat the milking stock did not yield much milk, but a woman looked\nafter the beast there. At last people found out that she grew wealthy\nin precious things, and that she would disappear long and often, and\nno one knew where she was. Thord brought pressure to bear on her for\nconfession, and when she got frightened she said a man was wont to\ncome and meet her, \"a big one,\" she said, \"and in my eyes very\nhandsome.\" Thord then asked how soon the man would come again to meet\nher, and she said she thought it would be soon. After that Thord went\nto see Olaf, and told him that Stigandi must be about, not far away\nfrom there, and bade him bestir himself with his men and catch him.\nOlaf got ready at once and came to Hundidale, and the bonds-woman was\nfetched for Olaf to have talk of her. Olaf asked her where the lair of\nStigandi was. She said she did not know. Olaf offered to pay her money\nif she would bring Stigandi within reach of him and his men; and on\nthis they came to a bargain together. The next day she went out to\nherd her cattle, and Stigandi comes that day to meet her. [Sidenote:\nThe death of Stigandi] She greeted him well, and offers to look\nthrough (the hair of) his head. He laid his head down on her knee, and\nsoon went to sleep. Then she slunk away from under his head, and went\nto meet Olaf and his men, and told them what had happened. Then they\nwent towards Stigandi, and took counsel between them as to how it\nshould not fare with him as his brother, that he should cast his\nglance on many things from which evil would befall them. They take now\na bag, and draw it over his head. Stigandi woke at that, and made no\nstruggle, for now there were many men to one. The sack had a slit in\nit, and Stigandi could see out through it the slope on the other side;\nthere the lay of the land was fair, and it was covered with thick\ngrass. But suddenly something like a whirlwind came on, and turned the\nsward topsy-turvy, so that the grass never grew there again. It is now\ncalled Brenna. Then they stoned Stigandi to death, and there he was\nburied under a heap of stones. Olaf kept his word to the bonds-woman,\nand gave her her freedom, and she went home to Herdholt. Hallbjorn\nWhetstone-eye was washed up by the surf a short time after he was\ndrowned. It was called Knorstone where he was put in the earth, and\nhis ghost walked about there a great deal. There was a man named\nThorkell Skull who lived at Thickshaw on his father's inheritance. He\nwas a man of very dauntless heart and mighty of muscle. One evening a\ncow was missing at Thickshaw, and Thorkell and his house-carle went to\nlook for it. It was after sunset, but was bright moonlight. Thorkell\nsaid they must separate in their search, and when Thorkell was alone\nhe thought he saw the cow on a hill-rise in front of him, but when he\ncame up to it he saw it was Whetstone-eye and no cow. They fell upon\neach in mighty strength. Hallbjorn kept on the defensive, and when\nThorkell least expected it he crept down into the earth out of his\nhands. After that Thorkell went home. The house-carle had come home\nalready, and had found the cow. No more harm befell ever again from\nHallbjorn.\n\nThorbjorn Skrjup was dead by then, and so was Melkorka, and\nthey both lie in a cairn in Salmon-river-Dale. Lambi, their son, kept\nhouse there after them. He was very warrior-like, and had a great deal\nof money. Lambi was more thought of by people than his father had\nbeen, chiefly because of his mother's relations; and between him and\nOlaf there was fond brotherhood. [Sidenote: Olaf and Thorliek meet]\nNow the winter next after the killing of Kotkell passed away. In the\nspring the brothers Olaf and Thorliek met, and Olaf asked if Thorliek\nwas minded to keep on his house. Thorliek said he was. Olaf said, \"Yet\nI would beg you, kinsman, to change your way of life, and go abroad;\nyou will be thought an honourable man whereever you come; but as to\nHrut, our kinsman, I know he feels how your dealings with him come\nhome to him. And it is little to my mind that the risk of your sitting\nso near to each other should be run any longer. For Hrut has a strong\nrun of luck to fall back upon, and his sons are but reckless bravos.\nOn account of my kinship I feel I should be placed in a difficulty if\nyou, my kinsman, should come to quarrel in full enmity.\" [Sidenote:\nThorliek goes abroad] Thorliek replied, \"I am not afraid of not being\nable to hold myself straight in the face of Hrut and his sons, and\nthat is no reason why I should depart the country. But if you,\nbrother, set much store by it, and feel yourself in a difficult\nposition in this matter, then, for your words I will do this; for then\nI was best contented with my lot in life when I lived abroad. And I\nknow you will not treat my son Bolli any the worse for my being\nnowhere near; for of all men I love him the best.\" Olaf said, \"You\nhave, indeed, taken an honourable course in this matter, if you do\nafter my prayer; but as touching Bolli, I am minded to do to him\nhenceforth as I have done hitherto, and to be to him and hold him no\nworse than my own sons.\" After that the brothers parted in great\naffection. Thorliek now sold his land, and spent his money on his\njourney abroad. He bought a ship that stood up in Daymealness; and\nwhen he was full ready he stepped on board ship with his wife and\nhousehold. That ship made a good voyage, and they made Norway in the\nautumn. Thence he went south to Denmark, as he did not feel at home in\nNorway, his kinsmen and friends there being either dead or driven out\nof the land. After that Thorliek went to Gautland. It is said by most\nmen that Thorliek had little to do with old age; yet he was held a man\nof great worth throughout life. And there we close the story of\nThorliek.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XXXIX\n\nOf Kjartan's Friendship for Bolli\n\n\n[Sidenote: Osvif's counsel] At that time, as concerning the strife\nbetween Hrut and Thorliek, it was ever the greatest gossip throughout\nthe Broadfirth-Dales how that Hrut had had to abide a heavy lot at the\nhands of Kotkell and his sons. Then Osvif spoke to Gudrun and her\nbrothers, and bade them call to mind whether they thought now it would\nhave been the best counsel aforetime then and there to have plunged\ninto the danger of dealing with such \"hell-men\" (terrible people) as\nKotkell and his were. Then said Gudrun, \"He is not counsel-bereft,\nfather, who has the help of thy counsel.\" Olaf now abode at his manor\nin much honour, and all his sons are at home there, as was Bolli,\ntheir kinsman and foster-brother. Kjartan was foremost of all the sons\nof Olaf. Kjartan and Bolli loved each other the most, and Kjartan went\nnowhere that Bolli did not follow. Often Kjartan would go to the\nSaelingdale-spring, and mostly it happened that Gudrun was at the\nspring too. Kjartan liked talking to Gudrun, for she was both a woman\nof wits and clever of speech. It was the talk of all folk that of all\nmen who were growing up at the time Kjartan was the most even match\nfor Gudrun. Between Olaf and Osvif there was also great friendship,\nand often they would invite one another, and not the less frequently\nso when fondness was growing up between the young folk. [Sidenote:\nOlaf's forebodings] One day when Olaf was talking to Kjartan, he said:\n\"I do not know why it is that I always take it to heart when you go to\nLaugar and talk to Gudrun. It is not because I do not consider Gudrun\nthe foremost of all other women, for she is the one among womenkind\nwhom I look upon as a thoroughly suitable match for you. But it is my\nforeboding, though I will not prophesy it, that we, my kinsmen and I,\nand the men of Laugar will not bring altogether good luck to bear on\nour dealings together.\" Kjartan said he would do nothing against his\nfather's will where he could help himself, but he hoped things would\nturn out better than he made a guess to. Kjartan holds to his usual\nways as to his visits (to Laugar), and Bolli always went with him, and\nso the next seasons passed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XL\n\nKjartan and Bolli Voyage to Norway, A.D. 996\n\n\n[Sidenote: The family of Asgeir] Asgeir was the name of a man, he was\ncalled Eider-drake. He lived at Asgeir's-river, in Willowdale; he was\nthe son of Audun Skokul; he was the first of his kinsmen who came to\nIceland; he took to himself Willowdale. Another son of Audun was named\nThorgrim Hoaryhead; he was the father of Asmund, the father of\nGretter. Asgeir Eider-drake had five children; one of his sons was\ncalled Audun, father of Asgeir, father of Audun, father of Egil, who\nhad for wife Ulfeid, the daughter of Eyjolf the Lame; their son was\nEyjolf, who was slain at the All Thing. Another of Asgeir's sons was\nnamed Thorvald; his daughter was Wala, whom Bishop Isleef had for\nwife; their son was Gizor, the bishop. A third son of Asgeir was named\nKalf. All Asgeir's sons were hopeful men. Kalf Asgeirson was at that\ntime out travelling, and was accounted of as the worthiest of men. One\nof Asgeir's daughters was named Thured; she married Thorkell Kuggi,\nthe son of Thord Yeller; their son was Thorstein. Another of Asgeir's\ndaughters was named Hrefna; she was the fairest woman in those\nnorthern countrysides and very winsome. Asgeir was a very mighty man.\nIt is told how one time Kjartan Olafson went on a journey south to\nBurgfirth. Nothing is told of his journey before he got to Burg. There\nat that time lived Thorstein, Egil's son, his mother's brother. Bolli\nwas with him, for the foster-brothers loved each other so dearly that\nneither thought he could enjoy himself if they were not together.\nThorstein received Kjartan with loving kindness, and said he should be\nglad for his staying there a long rather than a short time. So Kjartan\nstayed awhile at Burg. [Sidenote: Kjartan arranges to leave Iceland]\nThat summer there was a ship standing up in Steam-river-Mouth, and\nthis ship belonged to Kalf Asgeirson, who had been staying through the\nwinter with Thorstein, Egil's son. Kjartan told Thorstein in secret\nthat his chief errand to the south then was, that he wished to buy the\nhalf of Kalf's ship, \"for I have set my mind on going abroad,\" and he\nasked Thorstein what sort of a man he thought Kalf was. Thorstein said\nhe thought he was a good man and true. \"I can easily understand,\" said\nThorstein, \"that you wish to see other men's ways of life, and your\njourney will be remarkable in one way or another, and your kinsfolk\nwill be very anxious as to how the journey may speed for you.\" Kjartan\nsaid it would speed well enough. After that Kjartan bought a half\nshare in Kalf's ship, and they made up half-shares partnership between\nthem; Kjartan was to come on board when ten weeks of summer had\npassed. Kjartan was seen off with gifts on leaving Burg, and he and\nBolli then rode home. When Olaf heard of this arrangement he said he\nthought Kjartan had made up his mind rather suddenly, but added that\nhe would not foreclose the matter. A little later Kjartan rode to\nLaugar to tell Gudrun of his proposed journey abroad. Gudrun said,\n\"You have decided this very suddenly, Kjartan,\" and she let fall\nsundry words about this, from which Kjartan got to understand that\nGudrun was displeased with it. Kjartan said, \"Do not let this\ndisplease you. I will do something else that shall please you.\" Gudrun\nsaid, \"Be then a man of your word, for I shall speedily let you know\nwhat I want.\" Kjartan bade her do so. [Sidenote: Kjartan goes to\nNorway] Gudrun said, \"Then, I wish to go out with you this summer; if\nthat comes off, you would have made amends to me for this hasty\nresolve, for I do not care for Iceland.\" Kjartan said, \"That cannot\nbe, your brothers are unsettled yet, and your father is old, and they\nwould be bereft of all care if you went out of the land; so you wait\nfor me three winters.\" Gudrun said she would promise nothing as to\nthat matter, and each was at variance with the other, and therewith\nthey parted. Kjartan rode home. Olaf rode to the Thing that summer,\nand Kjartan rode with his father from the west out of Herdholt, and\nthey parted at North-river-Dale. From thence Kjartan rode to his ship,\nand his kinsman Bolli went along with him. There were ten Icelanders\naltogether who went with Kjartan on this journey, and none would part\nwith him for the sake of the love they bore him. So with this\nfollowing Kjartan went to the ship, and Kalf Asgeirson greeted them\nwarmly. Kjartan and Bolli took a great many goods with them abroad.\nThey now got ready to start, and when the wind blew they sailed out\nalong Burgfirth with a light and good breeze, and then out to sea.\nThey had a good journey, and got to Norway to the northwards and came\ninto Thrandhome, and fell in with men there and asked for tidings.\nThey were told that change of lords over the land had befallen, in\nthat Earl Hakon had fallen and King Olaf Tryggvason had come in, and\nall Norway had fallen under his power. King Olaf was ordering a change\nof faith in Norway, and the people took to it most unequally. Kjartan\nand his companions took their craft up to Nidaross. At that time many\nIcelanders had come to Norway who were men of high degree. There lay\nbeside the landing-stage three ships, all owned by Icelanders. One of\nthe ships belonged to Brand the Bounteous, son of Vermund Thorgrimson.\nAnd another ship belonged to Hallfred the Trouble-Bard. The third ship\nbelonged to two brothers, one named Bjarni, and the other Thorhall;\nthey were sons of Broad-river-Skeggi, out of Fleetlithe in the east.\nAll these men had wanted to go west to Iceland that summer, but the\nking had forbidden all these ships to sail because the Icelanders\nwould not take the new faith that he was preaching. All the Icelanders\ngreeted Kjartan warmly, but especially Brand, as they had known each\nother already before. The Icelanders now took counsel together and\ncame to an agreement among themselves that they would refuse this\nfaith that the king preached, and all the men previously named bound\nthemselves together to do this. Kjartan and his companions brought\ntheir ship up to the landing-stage and unloaded it and disposed of\ntheir goods. [Sidenote: The swimming in the river Nid] King Olaf was\nthen in the town. He heard of the coming of the ship and that men of\ngreat account were on board. It happened one fair-weather day in the\nautumn that the men went out of the town to swim in the river Nid.\nKjartan and his friends saw this. Then Kjartan said to his companions\nthat they should also go and disport themselves that day. They did so.\nThere was one man who was by much the best at this sport. [Sidenote:\nKjartan and the townsman] Kjartan asked Bolli if he felt willing to\ntry swimming against the townsman. Bolli answered, \"I don't think I am\na match for him.\" \"I cannot think where your courage can now have got\nto,\" said Kjartan, \"so I shall go and try.\" Bolli replied, \"That you\nmay do if you like.\" Kjartan then plunges into the river and up to\nthis man who was the best swimmer and drags him forthwith under and\nkeeps him down for awhile, and then lets him go up again. And when\nthey had been up for a long while, this man suddenly clutches Kjartan\nand drags him under; and they keep down for such a time as Kjartan\nthought quite long enough, when up they come a second time. Not a word\nhad either to say to the other. The third time they went down\ntogether, and now they keep under for much the longest time, and\nKjartan now misdoubted him how this play would end, and thought he had\nnever before found himself in such a tight place; but at last they\ncome up and strike out for the bank. Then said the townsman, \"Who is\nthis man?\" Kjartan told him his name. The townsman said, \"You are very\ndeft at swimming. Are you as good at other deeds of prowess as at\nthis?\" Kjartan answered rather coldly, \"It was said when I was in\nIceland that the others kept pace with this one. But now this one is\nnot worth much.\" The townsman replied, \"It makes some odds with whom\nyou have had to do. But why do you not ask me anything?\" Kjartan\nreplied, \"I do not want to know your name.\" [Sidenote: Kjartan and\nKing Olaf] The townsman answered, \"You are not only a stalwart man,\nbut you bear yourself very proudly as well, but none the less you\nshall know my name, and with whom you have been having a swimming\nmatch. Here is Olaf the king, the son of Tryggvi.\" Kjartan answered\nnothing, but turned away forthwith without his cloak. He had on a\nkirtle of red scarlet. The king was then well-nigh dressed; he called\nto Kjartan and bade him not go away so soon. Kjartan turned back, but\nrather slowly. The king then took a very good cloak off his shoulders\nand gave it to Kjartan, saying he should not go back cloakless to his\ncompanions. Kjartan thanked the king for the gift, and went to his own\nmen and showed them the cloak. His men were nowise pleased as this,\nfor they thought Kjartan had got too much into the king's power; but\nmatters went on quietly. The weather set in very hard that autumn, and\nthere was a great deal of frost, the season being cold. The heathen\nmen said it was not to be wondered at that the weather should be so\nbad; \"it is all because of the newfangled ways of the king and this\nnew faith that the gods are angry.\" The Icelanders kept all together\nin the town during the winter, and Kjartan took mostly the lead among\nthem. [Sidenote: Kjartan discusses the Christian faith] On the\nweather taking a turn for the better, many people came to the town at\nthe summons of King Olaf. Many people had become Christians in\nThrandhome, yet there were a great many more who withstood the king.\nOne day the king had a meeting out at Eyrar, and preached the new\nfaith to men--a long harangue and telling. The people of Thrandhome\nhad a whole host of men, and in turn offered battle to the king. The\nking said they must know that he had had greater things to cope with\nthan fighting there with churls out of Thrandhome. Then the good men\nlost heart and gave the whole case into the king's power, and many\npeople were baptized then and there. After that, the meeting came to\nan end. That same evening the king sent men to the lodgings of the\nIcelanders, and bade them get sure knowledge of what they were saying.\nThey did so. They heard much noise within. Then Kjartan began to\nspeak, and said to Bolli, \"How far are you willing, kinsman, to take\nthis new faith the king preaches?\" \"I certainly am not willing\nthereto,\" said Bolli, \"for their faith seems to me to be most feeble.\"\nKjartan said, \"Did ye not think the king was holding out threats\nagainst those who should be unwilling to submit to his will?\" Bolli\nanswered, \"It certainly seemed to me that he spoke out very clearly\nthat they would have to take exceeding hard treatment at his hands.\"\n\"I will be forced under no one's thumb,\" said Kjartan, \"while I have\npower to stand up and wield my weapons. I think it most unmanly, too,\nto be taken like a lamb in a fold or a fox in a trap. I think that is\na better thing to choose, if a man must die in any case, to do first\nsome such deed as shall be held aloft for a long time afterwards.\"\nBolli said, \"What will you do?\" \"I will not hide it from you,\"\n[Sidenote: Kjartan's resolve] Kjartan replied; \"I will burn the king\nin his hall.\" \"There is nothing cowardly in that,\" said Bolli; \"but\nthis is not likely to come to pass, as far as I can see. The king, I\ntake it, is one of great good luck and his guardian spirit mighty,\nand, besides, he has a faithful guard watching both day and night.\"\nKjartan said that what most men failed in was daring, however valiant\nthey might otherwise be. Bolli said it was not so certain who would\nhave to be taunted for want of courage in the end. But here many men\njoined in, saying this was but an idle talk. [Sidenote: King Olaf and\nthe Icelanders] Now when the king's spies had overheard this, they\nwent away and told the king all that had been said. The next morning\nthe king wished to hold a meeting, and summoned all the Icelanders to\nit; and when the meeting was opened the king stood up and thanked men\nfor coming, all those who were his friends and had taken the new\nfaith. Then he called to him for a parley the Icelanders. The king\nasked them if they would be baptized, but they gave little reply to\nthat. The king said they were making for themselves the choice that\nwould answer the worst. \"But, by the way, who of you thought it the\nbest thing to do to burn me in my hall?\" Then Kjartan answered, \"You\nno doubt think that he who did say it would not have the pluck to\nconfess it; but here you can see him.\" [Sidenote: The king's\npreaching] \"I can indeed see you,\" said the king, \"man of no small\ncounsels, but it is not fated for you to stand over my head, done to\ndeath by you; and you have done quite enough that you should be\nprevented making a vow to burn more kings in their houses yet, for the\nreason of being taught better things than you know and because I do\nnot know whether your heart was in your speech, and that you have\nbravely acknowledged it, I will not take your life. It may also be\nthat you follow the faith the better the more outspoken you are\nagainst it; and I can also see this, that on the day you let yourself\nbe baptized of your own free will, several ships' crews will on that\nday also take the faith. And I think it likely to happen that your\nrelations and friends will give much heed to what you speak to them\nwhen you return to Iceland. And it is in my mind that you, Kjartan,\nwill have a better faith when you return from Norway than you had when\nyou came hither. Go now in peace and safety wheresoever you like from\nthe meeting. For the time being you shall not be tormented into\nChristianity, for God says that He wills that no one shall come to Him\nunwillingly.\" Good cheer was made at the king's speech, though mostly\nfrom the Christian men; but the heathen left it to Kjartan to answer\nas he liked. Kjartan said, \"We thank you, king, that you grant safe\npeace unto us, and the way whereby you may most surely draw us to\ntake the faith is, on the one hand, to forgive us great offences, and\non the other to speak in this kindly manner on all matters, in spite\nof your this day having us and all our concerns in your power even as\nit pleases you. Now, as for myself, I shall receive the faith in\nNorway on that understanding alone that I shall give some little\nworship to Thor the next winter when I get back to Iceland.\" Then the\nking said and smiled, \"It may be seen from the mien of Kjartan that he\nputs more trust in his own weapons and strength than in Thor and\nOdin.\" Then the meeting was broken up. After a while many men egged\nthe king on to force Kjartan and his followers to receive the faith,\nand thought it unwise to have so many heathen men near about him. The\nking answered wrathfully, and said he thought there were many\nChristians who were not nearly so well-behaved as was Kjartan or his\ncompany either, \"and for such one would have long to wait.\" The king\ncaused many profitable things to be done that winter; he had a church\nbuilt and the market-town greatly enlarged. This church was finished\nat Christmas. Then Kjartan said they should go so near the church that\nthey might see the ceremonies of this faith the Christians followed;\nand many fell in, saying that would be right good pastime. Kjartan\nwith his following and Bolli went to the church; in that train was\nalso Hallfred and many other Icelanders. The king preached the faith\nbefore the people, and spoke both long and tellingly, and the\nChristians made good cheer at his speech. [Sidenote: Kjartan's\ndetermination] And when Kjartan and his company went back to their\nchambers, a great deal of talk arose as to how they had liked the\nlooks of the king at this time, which Christians accounted of as the\nnext greatest festival. \"For the king said, so that we might hear,\nthat this night was born the Lord, in whom we are now to believe, if\nwe do as the king bids us.\" Kjartan says: \"So greatly was I taken with\nthe looks of the king when I saw him for the first time, that I knew\nat once that he was a man of the highest excellence, and that feeling\nhas kept steadfast ever since, when I have seen him at folk-meetings,\nand that but by much the best, however, I liked the looks of him\nto-day; and I cannot help thinking that the turn of our concerns hangs\naltogether on our believing Him to be the true God in whom the king\nbids us to believe, and the king cannot by any means be more eager in\nwishing that I take this faith than I am to let myself be baptized.\nThe only thing that puts off my going straightway to see the king now\nis that the day is far spent, and the king, I take it, is now at\ntable; but that day will be delayed, on which we, companions, will let\nourselves all be baptized.\" Bolli took to this kindly, and bade\nKjartan alone look to their affairs. The king had heard of the talk\nbetween Kjartan and his people before the tables were cleared away,\nfor he had his spies in every chamber of the heathens. The king was\nvery glad at this, and said, \"In Kjartan has come true the saw: 'High\ntides best for happy signs.'\" [Sidenote: Kjartan and his men become\nChristians] And the first thing the next morning early, when the king\nwent to church, Kjartan met him in the street with a great company of\nmen. Kjartan greeted the king with great cheerfulness, and said he had\na pressing errand with him. The king took his greeting well, and said\nhe had had a thoroughly clear news as to what his errand must be, \"and\nthat matter will be easily settled by you.\" Kjartan begged they should\nnot delay fetching the water, and said that a great deal would be\nneeded. The king answered and smiled. \"Yes, Kjartan,\" says he, \"on\nthis matter I do not think your eager-mindedness would part us, not\neven if you put the price higher still.\" After that Kjartan and Bolli\nwere baptized and all their crew, and a multitude of other men as\nwell. This was on the second day of Yule before Holy Service. After\nthat the king invited Kjartan to his Yule feast with Bolli his\nkinsman. It is the tale of most men that Kjartan on the day he laid\naside his white baptismal-robes became a liegeman of the king's, he\nand Bolli both. Hallfred was not baptized that day, for he made it a\npoint that the king himself should be his godfather, so the king put\nit off till the next day. Kjartan and Bolli stayed with Olaf the king\nthe rest of the winter. [Sidenote: Kalf wishes to leave Norway] The\nking held Kjartan before all other men for the sake of his race and\nmanly prowess, and it is by all people said that Kjartan was so\nwinsome that he had not a single enemy within the court. Every one\nsaid that there had never before come from Iceland such a man as\nKjartan. Bolli was also one of the most stalwart of men, and was held\nin high esteem by all good men. The winter now passes away, and, as\nspring came on, men got ready for their journeys, each as he had a\nmind to.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XLI\n\nBolli returns to Iceland, A.D. 999\n\n\nKalf Asgeirson went to see Kjartan and asks what he was minded to do\nthat summer. Kjartan said, \"I have been thinking chiefly that we had\nbetter take our ship to England, where there is a good market for\nChristian men. But first I will go and see the king before I settle\nthis, for he did not seem pleased at my going on this journey when we\ntalked about it in the spring.\" Then Kalf went away and Kjartan went\nto speak to the king, greeting him courteously. The king received him\nmost kindly, and asked what he and his companion (Kalf) had been\ntalking about. [Sidenote: Kjartan stays in Norway] Kjartan told what\nthey had mostly in mind to do, but said that his errand to the king\nwas to beg leave to go on this journey. \"As to that matter, I will\ngive you your choice, Kjartan. Either you will go to Iceland this\nsummer, and bring men to Christianity by force or by expedients; but\nif you think this too difficult a journey, I will not let you go away\non any account, for you are much better suited to serve noble men than\nto turn here into a chapman.\" Kjartan chose rather to stay with the\nking than to go to Iceland and preach the faith to them there, and\nsaid he could not be contending by force against his own kindred.\n\"Moreover, it would be more likely that my father and other chiefs,\nwho are near kinsmen of mine, would go against thy will with all the\nless stubbornness the better beholden I am under your power.\" The king\nsaid, \"This is chosen both wisely and as beseems a great man.\" The\nking gave Kjartan a whole set of new clothes, all cut out of scarlet\ncloth, and they suited him well; for people said that King Olaf and\nKjartan were of an even height when they went under measure. King Olaf\nsent the court priest, named Thangbrand, to Iceland. He brought his\nship to Swanfirth, and stayed with Side-Hall all the winter at\nWash-river, and set forth the faith to people both with fair words and\nharsh punishments. Thangbrand slew two men who went most against him.\nHall received the faith in the spring, and was baptized on the\nSaturday before Easter, with all his household; then Gizor the White\nlet himself be baptized, so did Hjalti Skeggjason and many other\nchiefs, though there were many more who spoke against it; and then\ndealings between heathen men and Christians became scarcely free of\ndanger. [Sidenote: Thangbrand returns from Iceland] Sundry chiefs even\ntook counsel together to slay Thangbrand, as well as such men who\nshould stand up for him. Because of this turmoil Thangbrand ran away\nto Norway, and came to meet King Olaf, and told him the tidings of\nwhat had befallen in his journey, and said he thought Christianity\nwould never thrive in Iceland. The king was very wroth at this, and\nsaid that many Icelanders would rue the day unless they came round to\nhim. That summer Hjalti Skeggjason was made an outlaw at the Thing for\nblaspheming the gods. Runolf Ulfson, who lived in Dale, under\nIsles'-fells, the greatest of chieftains, upheld the lawsuit against\nhim. That summer Gizor left Iceland and Hjalti with him, and they came\nto Norway, and went forthwith to find King Olaf. The king gave them a\ngood welcome, and said they had taken a wise counsel; he bade them\nstay with him, and that offer they took with thanks. Sverling, son of\nRunolf of Dale, had been in Norway that winter, and was bound for\nIceland in the summer. His ship was floating beside the landing stage\nall ready, only waiting for a wind. The king forbade him to go away,\nand said that no ships should go to Iceland that summer. Sverling went\nto the king and pleaded his case, and begged leave to go, and said it\nmattered a great deal to him, that they should not have to unship\ntheir cargo again. The king spake, and then he was wroth: \"It is well\nfor the son of a sacrificer to be where he likes it worst.\" So\nSverling went no whither. That winter nothing to tell of befell. The\nnext summer the king sent Gizor and Hjalti Skeggjason to Iceland to\npreach the faith anew, and kept four men back as hostages Kjartan\nOlafson, Halldor, the son of Gudmund the Mighty, Kolbein, son of Thord\nthe priest of Frey, and Sverling, son of Runolf of Dale. [Sidenote: Of\nIngibjorg the king's sister] Bolli made up his mind to journey with\nGizor and Hjalti, and went to Kjartan, his kinsman, and said, \"I am\nnow ready to depart; I should wait for you through the next winter, if\nnext summer you were more free to go away than you are now. But I\ncannot help thinking that the king will on no account let you go free.\nI also take it to be the truth that you yourself call to mind but few\nof the things that afford pastime in Iceland when you sit talking to\nIngibjorg, the king's sister.\" She was at the court of King Olaf, and\nthe most beautiful of all the women who were at that time in the land.\nKjartan said, \"Do not say such things, but bear my greeting to both my\nkinsfolk and friends.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XLII\n\nBolli makes love to Gudrun, A.D. 1000\n\n\nAfter that Kjartan and Bolli parted, and Gizor and Hjalti sailed from\nNorway and had a good journey, and came to the Westmen's Isles at the\ntime the Althing was sitting, and went from thence to the mainland,\nand had there meetings and parleys with their kinsmen. [Sidenote:\nBolli goes to Laugar] Thereupon they went to the Althing and preached\nthe faith to the people in an harangue both long and telling, and then\nall men in Iceland received the faith. Bolli rode from the Thing to\nHerdholt in fellowship with his uncle Olaf, who received him with much\nloving-kindness. Bolli rode to Laugar to disport himself after he had\nbeen at home for a short time, and a good welcome he had there. Gudrun\nasked very carefully about his journey and then about Kjartan. Bolli\nanswered right readily all Gudrun asked, and said there were no\ntidings to tell of his journey. \"But as to what concerns Kjartan there\nare, in truth, the most excellent news to be told of his ways of life,\nfor he is in the king's bodyguard, and is there taken before every\nother man; but I should not wonder if he did not care to have much to\ndo with this country for the next few winters to come.\" [Sidenote: He\ntalks with Gudrun] Gudrun then asked if there was any other reason for\nit than the friendship between Kjartan and the king. Bolli then tells\nwhat sort of way people were talking about the friendship of Kjartan\nwith Ingibjorg the king's sister, and said he could not help thinking\nthe king would sooner marry Ingibjorg to Kjartan than let him go away\nif the choice lay between the two things. Gudrun said these were good\ntidings, \"but Kjartan would be fairly matched only if he got a good\nwife.\" Then she let the talk drop all of a sudden and went away and\nwas very red in the face; but other people doubted if she really\nthought these tidings as good as she gave out she thought they were.\nBolli remained at home in Herdholt all that summer, and had gained\nmuch honour from his journey; all his kinsfolk and acquaintances set\ngreat store by his valiant bearing; he had, moreover, brought home\nwith him a great deal of wealth. He would often go over to Laugar and\nwhile away time talking to Gudrun. One day Bolli asked Gudrun what she\nwould answer if he were to ask her in marriage. Gudrun replied at\nonce, \"No need for you to bespeak such a thing, Bolli, for I cannot\nmarry any man whilst I know Kjartan to be still alive.\" Bolli\nanswered, \"I think then you will have to abide husbandless for sundry\nwinters if you are to wait for Kjartan; he might have chosen to give\nme some message concerning the matter if he set his heart at all\ngreatly on it.\" Sundry words they gave and took, each at variance with\nthe other. Then Bolli rode home.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XLIII\n\nKjartan comes back to Iceland, A.D. 1001\n\n\nA little after this Bolli talked to his uncle Olaf, and said, \"It has\ncome to this, uncle, that I have it in mind to settle down and marry,\nfor I am now grown up to man's estate. In this matter I should like\nto have the assistance of your words and your backing-up, for most of\nthe men hereabouts are such as will set much store by your words.\"\nOlaf replied, \"Such is the case with most women, I am minded to think,\nthat they would be fully well matched in you for a husband. And I take\nit you have not broached this matter without first having made up your\nmind as to where you mean to come down.\" [Sidenote: Bolli proposes to\nGudrun] Bolli said, \"I shall not go beyond this countryside to woo\nmyself a wife whilst there is such an goodly match so near at hand. My\nwill is to woo Gudrun, Osvif's daughter, for she is now the most\nrenowned of women.\" Olaf answered, \"Ah, that is just a matter with\nwhich I will have nothing to do. To you it is in no way less well\nknown, Bolli, than to me, what talk there was of the love between\nKjartan and Gudrun; but if you have set your heart very much on this,\nI will put no hindrance in the way if you and Osvif settle the matter\nbetween you. But have you said anything to Gudrun about it?\" Bolli\nsaid that he had once hinted at it, but that she had not given much\nheed to it, \"but I think, however, that Osvif will have most to say in\nthe matter.\" Olaf said Bolli could go about the business as it pleased\nhimself. Not very long after Bolli rode from home with Olaf's sons,\nHalldor and Steinthor; there were twelve of them together. They rode\nto Laugar, and Osvif and his sons gave them a good welcome. [Sidenote:\nHe is accepted] Bolli said he wished to speak to Osvif, and he set\nforth his wooing, and asked for the hand of Gudrun, his daughter.\nOsvif answered in this wise, \"As you know, Bolli, Gudrun is a widow,\nand has herself to answer for her, but, as for myself, I shall urge\nthis on.\" Osvif now went to see Gudrun, and told her that Bolli\nThorliekson had come there, \"and has asked you in marriage; it is for\nyou now to give the answer to this matter. And herein I may speedily\nmake known my own will, which is, that Bolli will not be turned away\nif my counsel shall avail.\" Gudrun answered, \"You make a swift work of\nlooking into this matter; Bolli himself once bespoke it before me, and\nI rather warded it off, and the same is still uppermost in my mind.\"\nOsvif said, \"Many a man will tell you that this is spoken more in\noverweening pride than in wise forethought if you refuse such a man as\nis Bolli. But as long as I am alive, I shall look out for you, my\nchildren, in all affairs which I know better how to see through things\nthan you do.\" And as Osvif took such a strong view of the matter,\nGudrun, as far as she was concerned, would not give an utter refusal,\nyet was most unwilling on all points. The sons of Osvif's urged the\nmatter on eagerly, seeing what great avail an alliance with Bolli\nwould be to them; so the long and short of the matter was that the\nbetrothal took place then and there, and the wedding was to be held at\nthe time of the winter nights.[5] Thereupon Bolli rode home and told\nthis settlement to Olaf, who did not hide his displeasure thereat.\n[Sidenote: The wedding] Bolli stayed on at home till he was to go to\nthe wedding. He asked his uncle to it, but Olaf accepted it nowise\nquickly, though, at last, he yielded to the prayers of Bolli. It was a\nnoble feast this at Laugar. Bolli stayed there the winter after. There\nwas not much love between Gudrun and Bolli so far as she was\nconcerned. When the summer came, and ships began to go and come\nbetween Iceland and Norway, the tidings spread to Norway that Iceland\nwas all Christian. King Olaf was very glad at that, and gave leave to\ngo to Iceland unto all those men whom he had kept as hostages, and to\nfare whenever they liked. Kjartan answered, for he took the lead of\nall those who had been hostages, \"Have great thanks, Lord King, and\nthis will be the choice we take, to go and see Iceland this summer.\"\nThen King Olaf said, \"I must not take back my word, Kjartan, yet my\norder pointed rather to other men than to yourself, for in my view\nyou, Kjartan, have been more of a friend than a hostage through your\nstay here. My wish would be, that you should not set your heart on\ngoing to Iceland though you have noble relations there; for, I take\nit, you could choose for yourself such a station in life in Norway,\nthe like of which would not be found in Iceland.\" Then Kjartan\nanswered, \"May our Lord reward you, sire, for all the honours you have\nbestowed on me since I came into your power, but I am still in hopes\nthat you will give leave to me, no less than to the others you have\nkept back for a while.\" The king said so it should be, but avowed\nthat it would be hard for him to get in his place any untitled man\nsuch as Kjartan was. [Sidenote: Kjartan prepares to leave Norway] That\nwinter Kalf Asgeirson had been in Norway and had brought, the autumn\nbefore, west-away from England, the ship and merchandise he and\nKjartan had owned. And when Kjartan had got leave for his journey to\nIceland Kalf and he set themselves to get the ship ready. And when the\nship was all ready Kjartan went to see Ingibjorg, the king's sister.\nShe gave him a cheery welcome, and made room for him to sit beside\nher, and they fell a-talking together, and Kjartan tells Ingibjorg\nthat he has arranged his journey to Iceland. Then Ingibjorg said, \"I\nam minded to think, Kjartan, that you have done this of your own\nwilfulness rather than because you have been urged by men to go away\nfrom Norway and to Iceland.\" But thenceforth words between them were\ndrowned in silence. Amidst this Ingibjorg turns to a \"mead-cask\" that\nstood near her, and takes out of it a white coif inwoven with gold and\ngives it to Kjartan, saying, that it was far too good for Gudrun\nOsvif's daughter to fold it round her head, yet \"you will give her the\ncoif as a bridal gift, for I wish the wives of the Icelanders to see\nas much as that she with whom you have had your talks in Norway comes\nof no thrall's blood.\" It was in a pocket of costly stuff, and was\naltogether a most precious thing. \"Now I shall not go to see you off,\"\nsaid Ingibjorg. \"Fare you well, and hail!\" After that Kjartan stood\nup and embraced Ingibjorg, and people told it as a true story that\nthey took it sorely to heart being parted. [Sidenote: The gifts] And\nnow Kjartan went away and unto the king, and told the king he now was\nready for his journey. Then the king led Kjartan to his ship and many\nmen with him, and when they came to where the ship was floating with\none of its gangways to land, the king said, \"Here is a sword, Kjartan,\nthat you shall take from me at our parting; let this weapon be always\nwith you, for my mind tells me you will never be a 'weapon-bitten' man\nif you bear this sword.\" It was a most noble keepsake, and much\nornamented. Kjartan thanked the king with fair words for all the\nhonour and advancement he had bestowed on him while he had been in\nNorway. Then the king spoke, \"This I will bid you, Kjartan, that you\nkeep your faith well.\" After that they parted, the king and Kjartan in\ndear friendship, and Kjartan stepped on board his ship. The king\nlooked after him and said, \"Great is the worth of Kjartan and his\nkindred, but to cope with their fate is not an easy matter.\"\n\n[Footnote 5: Winter nights (vetrnaetr), the two last days of autumn and\nthe first day of winter.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XLIV\n\nKjartan comes home, A.D. 1001\n\n\nNow Kjartan and Kalf set sail for the main. They had a good wind, and\nwere only a short time out at sea. They hove into White-river, in\nBurgfirth. The tidings spread far and wide of the coming of Kjartan.\n[Sidenote: Olaf goes to greet Kjartan] When Olaf, his father, and his\nother kinsfolk heard of it they were greatly rejoiced. Olaf rode at\nonce from the west out of the Dales and south to Burgfirth, and there\nwas a very joyful meeting between father and son. Olaf asked Kjartan\nto go and stay with him, with as many of his men as he liked to bring.\nKjartan took that well, and said that there only of all places in\nIceland he meant to abide. Olaf now rides home to Herdholt, and\nKjartan remained with his ship during the summer. He now heard of the\nmarriage of Gudrun, but did not trouble himself at all over it; but\nthat had heretofore been a matter of anxiety to many. Gudmund,\nSolmund's son, Kjartan's brother-in-law, and Thurid, his sister, came\nto his ship, and Kjartan gave them a cheery welcome. [Sidenote: Hrefna\nand the coif] Asgeir Eider-drake came to the ship too to meet his son\nKalf, and journeying with him was Hrefna his daughter, the fairest of\nwomen. Kjartan bade his sister Thurid have such of his wares as she\nliked, and the same Kalf said to Hrefna. Kalf now unlocked a great\nchest and bade them go and have a look at it. That day a gale sprang\nup, and Kjartan and Kalf had to go out to moor their ship, and when\nthat was done they went home to the booths. Kalf was the first to\nenter the booth, where Thurid and Hrefna had turned out most of the\nthings in the chest. Just then Hrefna snatched up the coif and\nunfolded it, and they had much to say as to how precious a thing it\nwas. Then Hrefna said she would coif herself with it, and Thurid said\nshe had better, and Hrefna did so. When Kalf saw that he gave her to\nunderstand that she had done amiss, and bade her take it off at her\nswiftest. \"For that is the one thing that we, Kjartan and I, do not\nown in common.\" And as he said this Kjartan came into the booth. He\nhad heard their talk, and fell in at once and told them there was\nnothing amiss. So Hrefna sat still with the head-dress on. Kjartan\nlooked at her heedfully and said, \"I think the coif becomes you very\nwell, Hrefna,\" says he, \"and I think it fits the best that both\ntogether, coif and maiden, be mine.\" Then Hrefna answered, \"Most\npeople take it that you are in no hurry to marry, and also that the\nwoman you woo, you will be sure to get for wife.\" Kjartan said it\nwould not matter much whom he married, but he would not stand being\nkept long a waiting wooer by any woman. \"Now I see that this gear\nsuits you well, and it suits well that you become my wife.\" Hrefna now\ntook off the head-dress and gave it to Kjartan, who put it away in a\nsafe place. Gudmund and Thurid asked Kjartan to come north to them for\na friendly stay some time that winter, and Kjartan promised the\njourney. Kalf Asgeirson betook himself north with his father. Kjartan\nand he now divided their partnership, and that went off altogether in\ngood-nature and friendship. [Sidenote: Kjartan goes to Herdholt]\nKjartan also rode from his ship westward to the Dales, and they were\ntwelve of them together. Kjartan now came home to Herdholt, and was\njoyfully received by everybody. Kjartan had his goods taken to the\nwest from the ship during the autumn. The twelve men who rode with\nKjartan stayed at Herdholt all the winter. Olaf and Osvif kept to the\nsame wont of asking each other to their house, which was that each\nshould go to the other every other autumn. That autumn the wassail was\nto be at Laugar, and Olaf and all the Herdholtings were to go thither.\nGudrun now spoke to Bolli, and said she did not think he had told her\nthe truth in all things about the coming back of Kjartan. Bolli said\nhe had told the truth about it as best he knew it. Gudrun spoke little\non this matter, but it could be easily seen that she was very\ndispleased, and most people would have it that she still was pining\nfor Kjartan, although she tried to hide it. Now time glides on till\nthe autumn feast was to be held at Laugar. Olaf got ready and bade\nKjartan come with him. Kjartan said he would stay at home and look\nafter the household. Olaf bade him not to show that he was angry with\nhis kinsmen. \"Call this to mind, Kjartan, that you have loved no man\nso much as your foster-brother Bolli, and it is my wish that you\nshould come, for things will soon settle themselves between you,\nkinsmen, if you meet each other.\" [Sidenote: They ride to Laugar]\nKjartan did as his father bade him. He took the scarlet clothes that\nKing Olaf had given him at parting, and dressed himself gaily; he\ngirded his sword, the king's gift, on; and he had a gilt helm on his\nhead, and on his side a red shield with the Holy Cross painted on it\nin gold; he had in his hand a spear, with the socket inlaid with gold.\nAll his men were gaily dressed. There were in all between twenty and\nthirty men of them. They now rode out of Herdholt and went on till\nthey came to Laugar. There were a great many men gathered together\nalready.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XLV\n\nKjartan marries Hrefna, A.D. 1002\n\n\nBolli, together with the sons of Osvif, went out to meet Olaf and his\ncompany, and gave them a cheery welcome. Bolli went to Kjartan and\nkissed him, and Kjartan took his greeting. After that they were seen\ninto the house, Bolli was of the merriest towards them, and Olaf\nresponded to that most heartily, but Kjartan was rather silent. The\nfeast went off well. [Sidenote: Bolli's gift refused] Now Bolli had\nsome stud-horses which were looked upon as the best of their kind.\nThe stallion was great and goodly, and had never failed at fight; it\nwas light of coat, with red ears and forelock. Three mares went with\nit, of the same hue as the stallion. These horses Bolli wished to give\nto Kjartan, but Kjartan said he was not a horsey man, and could not\ntake the gift. Olaf bade him take the horses, \"for these are most\nnoble gifts.\" Kjartan gave a flat refusal. They parted after this\nnowise blithely, and the Herdholtings went home, and all was quiet.\nKjartan was rather gloomy all the winter, and people could have but\nlittle talk of him. Olaf thought this a great misfortune. That winter\nafter Yule Kjartan got ready to leave home, and there were twelve of\nthem together, bound for the countrysides of the north. They now rode\non their way till they came to Asbjornness, north in Willowdale, and\nthere Kjartan was greeted with the greatest blitheness and\ncheerfulness. The housing there was of the noblest. Hall, the son of\nGudmund, was about twenty winters old, and took much after the kindred\nof the men of Salmon-river-Dale; and it is all men's say, there was no\nmore valiant-looking a man in all the north land. [Sidenote: The games\nat Asbjornness] Hall greeted Kjartan, his uncle, with the greatest\nblitheness. Sports are now at once started at Asbjornness, and men\nwere gathered together from far and near throughout the countrysides,\nand people came from the west from Midfirth and from Waterness and\nWaterdale all the way and from out of Longdale, and there was a great\ngathering together. It was the talk of all folk how strikingly Kjartan\nshowed above other men. Now the sports were set going, and Hall took\nthe lead. He asked Kjartan to join in the play, \"and I wish, kinsman,\nyou would show your courtesy in this.\" Kjartan said, \"I have been\ntraining for sports but little of late, for there were other things to\ndo with King Olaf, but I will not refuse you this for once.\" So\nKjartan now got ready to play, and the strongest men there were chosen\nout to go against him. The game went on all day long, but no man had\neither strength or litheness of limb to cope with Kjartan. And in the\nevening when the games were ended, Hall stood up and said, \"It is the\nwish and offer of my father concerning those men who have come from\nthe farthest hither, that they all stay here over night and take up\nthe pastime again to-morrow.\" At this message there was made a good\ncheer, and the offer deemed worthy of a great man. Kalf Asgeirson was\nthere, and he and Kjartan were dearly fond of each other. His sister\nHrefna was there also, and was dressed most showily. There were over a\nhundred (_i.e._ over 120) men in the house that night. And the next\nday sides were divided for the games again. [Sidenote: Thurid's\nadvice] Kjartan sat by and looked on at the sports. Thurid, his\nsister, went to talk to him, and said, \"It is told me, brother, that\nyou have been rather silent all the winter, and men say it must be\nbecause you are pining after Gudrun, and set forth as a proof thereof\nthat no fondness now is shown between you and Bolli, such as through\nall time there had been between you. Do now the good and befitting\nthing, and don't allow yourself to take this to heart, and grudge not\nyour kinsman a good wife. To me it seems your best counsel to marry,\nas you bespoke it last summer, although the match be not altogether\neven for you, where Hrefna is, for such a match you cannot find within\nthis land. Asgeir, her father, is a noble and a high-born man, and he\ndoes not lack wealth wherewith to make this match fairer still;\nmoreover, another daughter of his is married to a mighty man. You have\nalso told me yourself that Kalf Asgeirson is the doughtiest of men,\nand their way of life is of the stateliest. It is my wish that you go\nand talk to Hrefna, and I ween you will find that there great wits and\ngoodliness go together.\" Kjartan took this matter up well, and said\nshe had ably pleaded the case. After this Kjartan and Hrefna are\nbrought together that they may have their talk by themselves, and they\ntalked together all day. In the evening Thurid asked Kjartan how he\nliked the manner in which Hrefna turned her speech. He was well\npleased about it, and said he thought the woman was in all ways one of\nthe noblest as far as he could see. The next morning men were sent to\nAsgeir to ask him to Asbjornness. [Sidenote: Kjartan marries Hrefna]\nAnd now they had a parley between them on this affair, and Kjartan\nwooed Hrefna, Asgeir's daughter. Asgeir took up the matter with a good\nwill, for he was a wise man, and saw what an honourable offer was\nmade to them. Kalf, too, urged the matter on very much, saying, \"I\nwill not let anything be spared (towards the dowry).\" Hrefna, in her\nturn, did not make unwilling answers, but bade her father follow his\nown counsel. So now the match was covenanted and settled before\nwitnesses. Kjartan would hear of nothing but that the wedding should\nbe held at Herdholt, and Asgeir and Kalf had nothing to say against\nit. The wedding was then settled to take place at Herdholt when five\nweeks of summer had passed. After that Kjartan rode home with great\ngifts. Olaf was delighted at these tidings, for Kjartan was much\nmerrier than before he left home. Kjartan kept fast through Lent,\nfollowing therein the example of no man in this land; and it is said\nhe was the first man who ever kept fast in this land. Men thought it\nso wonderful a thing that Kjartan could live so long without meat,\nthat people came over long ways to see him. In a like manner Kjartan's\nother ways went beyond those of other men. Now Easter passed, and\nafter that Kjartan and Olaf made ready a great feast. At the appointed\ntime Asgeir and Kalf came from the north as well as Gudmund and Hall,\nand altogether there were sixty men. Olaf and Kjartan had already many\nmen gathered together there. It was a most brave feast, and for a\nwhole week the feasting went on. [Sidenote: The coif] Kjartan made\nHrefna a bridal gift of the rich head-dress, and a most famous gift\nwas that; for no one was there so knowing or so rich as ever to have\nseen or possessed such a treasure, for it is the saying of thoughtful\nmen that eight ounces of gold were woven into the coif. Kjartan was so\nmerry at the feast that he entertained every one with his talk,\ntelling of his journey. Men did marvel much how great were the matters\nthat entered into that tale; for he had served the noblest of\nlords--King Olaf Tryggvason. And when the feast was ended Kjartan gave\nGudmund and Hall good gifts, as he did to all the other great men. The\nfather and son gained great renown from this feast. Kjartan and Hrefna\nloved each other very dearly.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XLVI\n\nFeast at Herdholt and the Loss of Kjartan's Sword, A.D. 1002\n\n\nOlaf and Osvif were still friends, though there was some deal of\nill-will between the younger people. That summer Olaf had his feast\nhalf a month before winter. And Osvif was also making ready a feast,\nto be held at \"Winter-nights,\" and they each asked the other to their\nhomes, with as many men as each deemed most honourable to himself. It\nwas Osvif's turn to go first to the feast at Olaf's, and he came to\nHerdholt at the time appointed. In his company were Bolli and Gudrun\nand the sons of Osvif. In the morning one of the women on going down\nthe hall was talking how the ladies would be shown to their seats.\nAnd just as Gudrun had come right against the bedroom wherein Kjartan\nwas wont to rest, and where even then he was dressing and slipping on\na red kirtle of scarlet, he called out to the woman who had been\nspeaking about the seating of the women, for no one else was quicker\nin giving the answer, \"Hrefna shall sit in the high seat and be most\nhonoured in all things so long as I am alive.\" [Sidenote: Gudrun sees\nthe coif] But before this Gudrun had always had the high seat at\nHerdholt and everywhere else. Gudrun heard this, and looked at Kjartan\nand flushed up, but said nothing. The next day Gudrun was talking to\nHrefna, and said she ought to coif herself with the head-dress, and\nshow people the most costly treasure that had ever come to Iceland.\nKjartan was near, but not quite close, and heard what Gudrun said, and\nhe was quicker to answer than Hrefna. \"She shall not coif herself with\nthe headgear at this feast, for I set more store by Hrefna owning the\ngreatest of treasures than by the guests having it to feast thereon\ntheir eyes at this time.\" The feast at Olaf's was to last a week. The\nnext day Gudrun spoke on the sly to Hrefna, and asked her to show her\nthe head-dress, and Hrefna said she would. The next day they went to\nthe out-bower where the precious things were kept, and Hrefna opened a\nchest and took out the pocket of costly stuff, and took from thence\nthe coif and showed it to Gudrun. She unfolded the coif and looked at\nit a while, but said no word of praise or blame. After that Hrefna\nput it back, and they went to their places, and after that all was joy\nand amusement. And the day the guests should ride away Kjartan busied\nhimself much about matters in hand, getting change of horses for those\nwho had come from afar, and speeding each one on his journey as he\nneeded. [Sidenote: The loss of Kjartan's sword] Kjartan had not his\nsword \"King's-gift\" with him while he was taken up with these matters,\nyet was he seldom wont to let it go out of his hand. After this he\nwent to his room where the sword had been, and found it now gone. He\nthen went and told his father of the loss. Olaf said, \"We must go\nabout this most gently. I will get men to spy into each batch of them\nas they ride away,\" and he did so. An the White had to ride with\nOsvif's company, and to keep an eye upon men turning aside, or\nbaiting. They rode up past Lea-shaws, and past the homesteads which\nare called Shaws, and stopped at one of the homesteads at Shaws, and\ngot off their horses. Thorolf, son of Osvif, went out from the\nhomestead with a few other men. They went out of sight amongst the\nbrushwood, whilst the others tarried at the Shaws' homestead. An\nfollowed him all the way unto Salmon-river, where it flows out of\nSaelingsdale, and said he would turn back there. Thorolf said it would\nhave done no harm though he had gone nowhere at all. The night before\na little snow had fallen so that footprints could be traced.\n[Sidenote: An finds the sword] An rode back to the brushwood, and\nfollowed the footprints of Thorolf to a certain ditch or bog. He\ngroped down with his hand, and grasped the hilt of a sword. An wished\nto have witnesses with him to this, and rode for Thorarin in\nSaelingsdale Tongue, and he went with An to take up the sword. After\nthat An brought the sword back to Kjartan. Kjartan wrapt it in a\ncloth, and laid it in a chest. The place was afterwards called\nSword-ditch, where An and Thorarin had found the \"King's-gift.\" This\nwas all kept quiet. The scabbard was never found again. Kjartan always\ntreasured the sword less hereafter than heretofore. This affair\nKjartan took much to heart, and would not let the matter rest there.\nOlaf said, \"Do not let it pain you; true, they have done a nowise\npretty trick, but you have got no harm from it. We shall not let\npeople have this to laugh at, that we make a quarrel about such a\nthing, these being but friends and kinsmen on the other side.\" And\nthrough these reasonings of Olaf, Kjartan let matters rest in quiet.\nAfter that Olaf got ready to go to the feast at Laugar at \"winter\nnights,\" and told Kjartan he must go too. Kjartan was very unwilling\nthereto, but promised to go at the bidding of his father. Hrefna was\nalso to go, but she wished to leave her coif behind. \"Goodwife,\"\nThorgerd said, \"whenever will you take out such a peerless keepsake if\nit is to lie down in chests when you go to feasts?\" Hrefna said, \"Many\nfolk say that it is not unlikely that I may come to places where I\nhave fewer people to envy me than at Laugar.\" Thorgerd said, \"I have\nno great belief in people who let such things fly here from house to\nhouse.\" [Sidenote: Hrefna misses the coif] And because Thorgerd urged\nit eagerly Hrefna took the coif, and Kjartan did not forbid it when he\nsaw how the will of his mother went. After that they betake themselves\nto the journey and came to Laugar in the evening, and had a goodly\nwelcome there. Thorgerd and Hrefna handed out their clothes to be\ntaken care of. But in the morning when the women should dress\nthemselves Hrefna looked for the coif and it was gone from where she\nhad put it away. It was looked for far and near, and could not be\nfound. Gudrun said it was most likely the coif had been left behind at\nhome, or that she had packed it so carelessly that it had fallen out\non the way. Hrefna now told Kjartan that the coif was lost. He\nanswered and said it was no easy matter to try to make them take care\nof things, and bade her now leave matters quiet; and told his father\nwhat game was up. Olaf said, \"My will is still as before, that you\nleave alone and let pass by this trouble and I will probe this matter\nto the bottom in quiet; for I would do anything that you and Bolli\nshould not fall out. Best to bind up a whole flesh, kinsman,\" says he.\nKjartan said, \"I know well, father, that you wish the best for\neverybody in this affair; yet I know not whether I can put up with\nbeing thus overborne by these folk of Laugar.\" [Sidenote: Kjartan\ncomplains to Bolli] The day that men were to ride away from the feast\nKjartan raised his voice and said, \"I call on you, Cousin Bolli, to\nshow yourself more willing henceforth than hitherto to do to us as\nbehoves a good man and true. I shall not set this matter forth in a\nwhisper, for within the knowledge of many people it is that a loss has\nbefallen here of a thing which we think has slipped into your own\nkeep. This harvest, when we gave a feast at Herdholt, my sword was\ntaken; it came back to me, but not the scabbard. Now again there has\nbeen lost here a keepsake which men will esteem a thing of price. Come\nwhat may, I will have them both back.\" Bolli answered, \"What you put\ndown to me, Kjartan, is not my fault, and I should have looked for\nanything else from you sooner than that you would charge me with\ntheft.\" Kjartan says, \"I must think that the people who have been\nputting their heads together in this affair are so near to you that it\nought to be in your power to make things good if you but would. You\naffront us far beyond necessity, and long we have kept peaceful in\nface on your enmity. But now it must be made known that matters will\nnot rest as they are now.\" Then Gudrun answered his speech and said,\n\"Now you rake up a fire which it would be better should not smoke.\nNow, let it be granted, as you say, that there be some people here who\nhave put their heads together with a view to the coif disappearing. I\ncan only think that they have gone and taken what was their own. Think\nwhat you like of what has become of the head-dress, but I cannot say I\ndislike it though it should be bestowed in such a way as that Hrefna\nshould have little chance to improve her apparel with it henceforth.\"\nAfter that they parted heavy of heart, and the Herdholtings rode\nhome. That was the end of the feasts, yet everything was to all\nappearances quiet. [Sidenote: The end of the coif] Nothing was ever\nheard of the head-dress. But many people held the truth to be that\nThorolf had burnt it in fire by the order of Gudrun, his sister. Early\nthat winter Asgeir Eider-drake died. His sons inherited his estate and\nchattels.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XLVII\n\nKjartan goes to Laugar, and of the Bargain for Tongue, A.D. 1003\n\n\n[Sidenote: Kjartan's expedition to Laugar] After Yule that winter\nKjartan got men together, and they mustered sixty men altogether.\nKjartan did not tell his father the reason of his journey, and Olaf\nasked but little about it. Kjartan took with him tents and stores, and\nrode on his way until he came to Laugar. He bade his men get off their\nhorses, and said that some should look after the horses and some put\nup the tents. At that time it was the custom that outhouses were\noutside, and not so very far away from the dwelling-house, and so it\nwas at Laugar. Kjartan had all the doors of the house taken, and\nforbade all the inmates to go outside, and for three nights he made\nthem do their errands within the house. After that Kjartan rode home\nto Herdholt, and each of his followers rode to his own home. Olaf was\nvery ill-pleased with this raid, but Thorgerd said there was no\nreason for blame, for the men of Laugar had deserved this, yea, and a\nstill greater shame. Then Hrefna said, \"Did you have any talk with any\none at Laugar, Kjartan?\" He answered, \"There was but little chance of\nthat,\" and said he and Bolli had exchanged only a few words. Then\nHrefna smiled and said, \"It was told me as truth that you and Gudrun\nhad some talk together, and I have likewise heard how she was arrayed,\nthat she had coifed herself with the head-dress, and it suited her\nexceeding well.\" Kjartan answered, and coloured up, and it was easy to\nsee he was angry with her for making a mockery of this. \"Nothing of\nwhat you say, Hrefna, passed before my eyes, and there was no need for\nGudrun to coif herself with the head-dress to look statelier than all\nother women.\" Thereat Hrefna dropped the talk. The men of Laugar bore\nthis exceedingly ill, and thought it by much a greater and worse\ndisgrace than if Kjartan had even killed a man or two of them. The\nsons of Osvif were the wildest over this matter, but Bolli quieted\nthem rather. Gudrun was the fewest-spoken on the matter, yet men\ngathered from her words that it was uncertain whether any one took it\nas sorely to heart as she did. Full enmity now grows up between the\nmen of Laugar and the Herdholtings. As the winter wore on Hrefna gave\nbirth to a child, a boy, and he was named Asgier. [Sidenote: The\nbuying of the land at Tongue] Thorarin, the goodman of Tongue, let it\nbe known that he wished to sell the land of Tongue. The reason was\nthat he was drained of money, and that he thought ill-will was\nswelling too much between the people of the countryside, he himself\nbeing a friend of either side. Bolli thought he would like to buy the\nland and settle down on it, for the men of Laugar had little land and\nmuch cattle. Bolli and Gudrun rode to Tongue at the advice of Osvif;\nthey thought it a very handy chance to be able to secure this land so\nnear to themselves, and Osvif bade them not to let a small matter\nstand in the way of a covenant. Then they (Bolli and Gudrun) bespoke\nthe purchase with Thorarin, and came to terms as to what the price\nshould be, and also as to the kind wherein it should be paid, and the\nbargain was settled with Thorarin. But the buying was not done in the\npresence of witnesses, for there were not so many men there at the\ntime as were lawfully necessary. Bolli and Gudrun rode home after\nthat. But when Kjartan Olafson hears of these tidings he rides off\nwith twelve men, and came to Tongue early one day. Thorarin greeted\nhim well, and asked him to stay there. [Sidenote: Kjartan's bargain]\nKjartan said he must ride back again in the morning, but would tarry\nthere for some time. Thorarin asked his errand, and Kjartan said, \"My\nerrand here is to speak about a certain sale of land that you and\nBolli have agreed upon, for it is very much against my wishes if you\nsell this land to Bolli and Gudrun.\" Thorarin said that to do\notherwise would be unbecoming to him, \"For the price that Bolli has\noffered for the land is liberal, and is to be paid up speedily.\"\nKjartan said, \"You shall come in for no loss even if Bolli does not\nbuy your land; for I will buy it at the same price, and it will not be\nof much avail to you to speak against what I have made up my mind to\nhave done. Indeed it will soon be found out that I shall want to have\nthe most to say within this countryside, being more ready, however, to\ndo the will of others than that of the men of Laugar.\" Thorarin\nanswered, \"Mighty to me will be the master's word in this matter, but\nit would be most to my mind that this bargain should be left alone as\nI and Bolli have settled it.\" Kjartan said, \"I do not call that a sale\nof land which is not bound by witnesses. Now you do one of two things,\neither sell me the lands on the same terms as you agreed upon with the\nothers, or live on your land yourself.\" Thorarin chooses to sell him\nthe land, and witnesses were forthwith taken to the sale, and after\nthe purchase Kjartan rode home. That same evening this was told at\nLaugar. Then Gudrun said, \"It seems to me, Bolli, that Kjartan has\ngiven you two choices somewhat harder than those he gave\nThorarin--that you must either leave the countryside with little\nhonour, or show yourself at some meeting with him a good deal less\nslow than you have been heretofore.\" Bolli did not answer, but went\nforthwith away from this talk. [Sidenote: Kjartan rides to Saurby] All\nwas quiet now throughout what was left of Lent. The third day after\nEaster Kjartan rode from home with one other man, on the beach, for a\nfollower. They came to Tongue in the day. Kjartan wished Thorarin to\nride with them to Saurby to gather in debts due to him, for Kjartan\nhad much money-at-call in these parts. But Thorarin had ridden to\nanother place. Kjartan stopped there awhile, and waited for him. That\nsame day Thorhalla the Chatterbox was come there. She asked Kjartan\nwhere he was minded to go. He said he was going west to Saurby. She\nasked, \"Which road will you take?\" Kjartan replied, \"I am going by\nSaelingsdale to the west, and by Swinedale from the west.\" She asked\nhow long he would be. Kjartan answered, \"Most likely I shall be riding\nfrom the west next Thursday (the fifth day of the week).\" \"Would you\ndo an errand for me?\" said Thorhalla. \"I have a kinsman west at\nWhitedale and Saurby; he has promised me half a mark's worth of\nhomespun, and I would like you to claim it for me, and bring it with\nyou from the west.\" Kjartan promised to do this. After this Thorarin\ncame home, and betook himself to the journey with them. They rode\nwestward over Saelingsdale heath, and came to Hol in the evening to the\nbrothers and sister there. There Kjartan got the best of welcomes, for\nbetween him and them there was the greatest friendship. [Sidenote:\nThorhalla returns to Laugar] Thorhalla the Chatterbox came home to\nLaugar that evening. The sons of Osvif asked her who she had met\nduring the day. She said she had met Kjartan Olafson. They asked where\nhe was going. She answered, telling them all she knew about it, \"And\nnever has he looked braver than now, and it is not wonderful at all\nthat such men should look upon everything as low beside themselves;\"\nand Thorhalla still went on, \"and it was clear to me that Kjartan\nliked to talk of nothing so well as of his land bargain with\nThorarin.\" Gudrun spoke, \"Kjartan may well do things as boldly as it\npleases him, for it is proven that for whatever insult he may pay\nothers, there is none who dares even to shoot a shaft at him.\" Present\nat this talk of Gudrun and Thorhalla were both Bolli and the sons of\nOsvif. Ospak and his brothers said but little, but what there was,\nrather stinging for Kjartan, as was always their way. Bolli behaved as\nif he did not hear, as he always did when Kjartan was spoken ill of,\nfor his wont was either to hold his peace, or to gainsay them.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XLVIII\n\nThe Men of Laugar and Gudrun plan an Ambush for Kjartan, A.D. 1003\n\n\nKjartan spent the fourth day after Easter at Hol, and there was the\ngreatest merriment and gaiety. [Sidenote: An's dream] The night after\nAn was very ill at ease in his sleep, so they waked him. They asked\nhim what he had dreamt. He answered, \"A woman came to me most\nevil-looking and pulled me forth unto the bedside. She had in one\nhand a short sword, and in the other a trough; she drove the sword\ninto my breast and cut open all the belly, and took out all my inwards\nand put brushwood in their place. After that she went outside.\"\nKjartan and the others laughed very much at this dream, and said he\nshould be called An \"brushwood belly,\" and they caught hold of him and\nsaid they wished to feel if he had the brushwood in his stomach. Then\nAud said, \"There is no need to mock so much at this; and my counsel is\nthat Kjartan do one of two things: either tarry here longer, or, if he\nwill ride away, then let him ride with more followers hence than\nhither he did.\" Kjartan said, \"You may hold An 'brushwood belly' a man\nvery sage as he sits and talks to you all day, since you think that\nwhatever he dreams must be a very vision, but go I must, as I have\nalready made up my mind to, in spite of this dream.\" Kjartan got ready\nto go on the fifth day in Easter week; and at the advice of Aud, so\ndid Thorkell Whelp and Knut his brother. They rode on the way with\nKjartan a band of twelve together. Kjartan came to Whitedale and\nfetched the homespun for Thorhalla Chatterbox as he had said he would.\n[Sidenote: Gudrun wakes her brothers] After that he rode south through\nSwinedale. It is told how at Laugar in Saelingsdale Gudrun was early\nafoot directly after sunrise. She went to where her brothers were\nsleeping. She roused Ospak and he woke up at once, and then too the\nother brothers. And when Ospak saw that there was his sister, he\nasked her what she wanted that she was up so early. Gudrun said she\nwanted to know what they would be doing that day. Ospak said he would\nkeep at rest, \"for there is little work to do.\" Gudrun said, \"You\nwould have the right sort of temper if you were the daughters of some\npeasant, letting neither good nor bad be done by you. Why, after all\nthe disgrace and shame that Kjartan has done to you, you none the less\nlie quietly sleeping, though he rides past this place with but one\nother man. Such men indeed are richly endowed with the memory of\nswine. I think it is past hoping that you will ever have courage\nenough to go and seek out Kjartan in his home, if you dare not meet\nhim now that he rides with but one other man or two; but here you sit\nat home and bear yourselves as if you were hopeful men; yea, in sooth\nthere are too many of you.\" Ospak said she did not mince matters and\nit was hard to gainsay her, and he sprang up forthwith and dressed, as\ndid also each of the brothers one after the other. Then they got ready\nto lay an ambush for Kjartan. Then Gudrun called on Bolli to bestir\nhim with them. [Sidenote: The ambush laid for Kjartan] Bolli said it\nbehoved him not for the sake of his kinship with Kjartan, set forth\nhow lovingly Olaf had brought him up. Gudrun answered, \"Therein you\nspeak the truth, but you will not have the good luck always to do what\npleases all men, and if you cut yourself out of this journey, our\nmarried life must be at an end.\" And through Gudrun's harping on the\nmatter Bolli's mind swelled at all the enmity and guilts that lay at\nthe door of Kjartan, and speedily he donned his weapons, and they grew\na band of nine together. There were the five sons of Osvif--Ospak,\nHelgi, Vandrad, Torrad, and Thorolf. Bolli was the sixth and Gudlaug,\nthe son of Osvif's sister, the hopefullest of men, the seventh. There\nwere also Odd and Stein, sons of Thorhalla Chatterbox. They rode to\nSwinedale and took up their stand beside the gill which is called\nGoat-gill.[6] They bound up their horses and sat down. Bolli was\nsilent all day, and lay up on the top of the gill bank. [Sidenote:\nThorkell of Goat-peaks] Now when Kjartan and his followers were come\nsouth past Narrowsound, where the dale begins to widen out, Kjartan\nsaid that Thorkell and the others had better turn back. Thorkell said\nthey would ride to the end of the dale. Then when they came south past\nthe out-dairies called Northdairies Kjartan spake to the brothers and\nbade them not to ride any farther. \"Thorolf the thief,\" he said,\n\"shall not have that matter to laugh at that I dare not ride on my way\nwith few men.\" Thorkell Whelp said, \"We will yield to you in not\nfollowing you any farther; but we should rue it indeed not to be near\nif you should stand in need of men to-day.\" Then Kjartan said, \"Never\nwill Bolli, my kinsman, join hands with plotters against my life. But\nif the sons of Osvif lie in wait for me, there is no knowing which\nside will live to tell the tale, even though I may have some odds to\ndeal with.\" Thereupon the brothers rode back to the west.\n\n[Footnote 6: Gill=gorge, deep watercourse.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XLIX\n\nThe Death of Kjartan\n\n\nNow Kjartan rode south through the dale, he and they three together,\nhimself, An the Black, and Thorarin. Thorkell was the name of a man\nwho lived at Goat-peaks in Swinedale, where now there is waste land.\nHe had been seeing after his horses that day, and a shepherd of his\nwith him. They saw the two parties, the men of Laugar in ambush and\nKjartan and his where they were riding down the dale three together.\nThen the shepherd said they had better turn to meet Kjartan and his;\nit would be, quoth he, a great good hap to them if they could stave\noff so great a trouble as now both sides were steering into. Thorkell\nsaid, \"Hold your tongue at once. Do you think, fool as you are, you\nwill ever give life to a man to whom fate has ordained death? And,\ntruth to tell, I would spare neither of them from having now as evil\ndealings together as they like. It seems to me a better plan for us to\nget to a place where we stand in danger of nothing, and from where we\ncan have a good look at their meeting, so as to have some fun over\ntheir play. For all men make a marvel thereof, how Kjartan is of all\nmen the best skilled at arms. I think he will want it now, for we two\nknow how overwhelming the odds are.\" And so it had to be as Thorkell\nwished. Kjartan and his followers now rode on to Goat-gill. On the\nother hand the sons of Osvif misdoubt them why Bolli should have\nsought out a place for himself from where he might well be seen by men\nriding from the west. So they now put their heads together, and, being\nof one mind that Bolli was playing them false, they go for him up unto\nthe brink and took to wrestling and horse-playing with him, and took\nhim by the feet and dragged him down over the brink. [Sidenote: The\nbeginning of the fight] But Kjartan and his followers came up apace as\nthey were riding fast, and when they came to the south side of the\ngill they saw the ambush and knew the men. Kjartan at once sprung off\nhis horse and turned upon the sons of Osvif. There stood near by a\ngreat stone, against which Kjartan ordered they should wait the onset\n(he and his). [Sidenote: The fight] Before they met Kjartan flung his\nspear, and it struck through Thorolf's shield above the handle, so\nthat therewith the shield was pressed against him, the spear piercing\nthe shield and the arm above the elbow, where it sundered the main\nmuscle, Thorolf dropping the shield, and his arm being of no avail to\nhim through the day. Thereupon Kjartan drew his sword, but he held not\nthe \"King's-gift.\" The sons of Thorhalla went at Thorarin, for that\nwas the task allotted to them. That outset was a hard one, for\nThorarin was mightily strong, and it was hard to tell which would\noutlast the other. Osvif's sons and Gudlaug set on Kjartan, they being\nfive together, and Kjartan and An but two. An warded himself\nvaliantly, and would ever be going in front of Kjartan. Bolli stood\naloof with Footbiter. Kjartan smote hard, but his sword was of little\navail (and bent so), he often had to straighten it under his foot. In\nthis attack both the sons of Osvif and An were wounded, but Kjartan\nhad no wound as yet. Kjartan fought so swiftly and dauntlessly that\nOsvif's sons recoiled and turned to where An was. At that moment An\nfell, having fought for some time, with his inwards coming out. In\nthis attack Kjartan cut off one leg of Gudlaug above the knee, and\nthat hurt was enough to cause death. Then the four sons of Osvif made\nan onset on Kjartan, but he warded himself so bravely that in no way\ndid he give them the chance of any advantage. Then spake Kjartan,\n\"Kinsman Bolli, why did you leave home if you meant quietly to stand\nby? Now the choice lies before you, to help one side or the other, and\ntry now how Footbiter will do.\" Bolli made as if he did not hear. And\nwhen Ospak saw that they would no how bear Kjartan over, he egged on\nBolli in every way, and said he surely would not wish that shame to\nfollow after him, to have promised them his aid in this fight and not\nto grant it now. \"Why, heavy enough in dealings with us was Kjartan\nthen, when by none so big a deed as this we had offended him; but if\nKjartan is now to get away from us, then for you, Bolli, as even for\nus, the way to exceeding hardships will be equally short.\" [Sidenote:\nBolli kills Kjartan] Then Bolli drew Footbiter, and now turned upon\nKjartan. Then Kjartan said to Bolli, \"Surely thou art minded now, my\nkinsman, to do a dastard's deed; but oh, my kinsman, I am much more\nfain to take my death from you than to cause the same to you myself.\"\nThen Kjartan flung away his weapons and would defend himself no\nlonger; yet he was but slightly wounded, though very tired with\nfighting. Bolli gave no answer to Kjartan's words, but all the same he\ndealt him his death-wound. And straightway Bolli sat down under the\nshoulders of him, and Kjartan breathed his last in the lap of Bolli.\nBolli rued at once his deed, and declared the manslaughter due to his\nhand. Bolli sent the sons of Osvif into the countryside, but he stayed\nbehind together with Thorarin by the dead bodies. And when the sons of\nOsvif came to Laugar they told the tidings. Gudrun gave out her\npleasure thereat, and then the arm of Thorolf was bound up; it healed\nslowly, and was never after any use to him. The body of Kjartan was\nbrought home to Tongue, but Bolli rode home to Laugar. [Sidenote:\nGudrun's greeting] Gudrun went to meet him, and asked what time of day\nit was. Bolli said it was near noontide. Then spake Gudrun, \"Harm\nspurs on to hard deeds (work); I have spun yarn for twelve ells of\nhomespun, and you have killed Kjartan.\" Bolli replied, \"That unhappy\ndeed might well go late from my mind even if you did not remind me of\nit.\" Gudrun said \"Such things I do not count among mishaps. It seemed\nto me you stood in higher station during the year Kjartan was in\nNorway than now, when he trod you under foot when he came back to\nIceland. But I count that last which to me is dearest, that Hrefna\nwill not go laughing to her bed to-night.\" Then Bolli said and right\nwroth he was, \"I think it is quite uncertain that she will turn paler\nat these tidings than you do; and I have my doubts as to whether you\nwould not have been less startled if I had been lying behind on the\nfield of battle, and Kjartan had told the tidings.\" Gudrun saw that\nBolli was wroth, and spake, \"Do not upbraid me with such things, for I\nam very grateful to you for your deed; for now I think I know that you\nwill not do anything against my mind.\" After that Osvif's sons went\nand hid in an underground chamber, which had been made for them in\nsecret, but Thorhalla's sons were sent west to Holy-Fell to tell\nSnorri Godi the Priest these tidings, and therewith the message that\nthey bade him send them speedily all availing strength against Olaf\nand those men to whom it came to follow up the blood-suit after\nKjartan. [Sidenote: An comes to life] At Saelingsdale Tongue it\nhappened, the night after the day on which the fight befell, that An\nsat up, he who they had all thought was dead. Those who waked the\nbodies were very much afraid, and thought this a wondrous marvel. Then\nAn spake to them, \"I beg you, in God's name, not to be afraid of me,\nfor I have had both my life and my wits all unto the hour when on me\nfell the heaviness of a swoon. Then I dreamed of the same woman as\nbefore, and methought she now took the brushwood out of my belly and\nput my own inwards in instead, and the change seemed good to me.\" Then\nthe wounds that An had were bound up and he became a hale man, and was\never afterwards called An Brushwood-belly. But now when Olaf Hoskuld's\nson heard these tidings he took the slaying of Kjartan most sorely to\nheart, though he bore it like a brave man. His sons wanted to set on\nBolli forthwith and kill him. Olaf said, \"Far be it from me, for my\nson is none the more atoned to me though Bolli be slain; moreover, I\nloved Kjartan before all men, but as to Bolli, I could not bear any\nharm befalling him. But I see a more befitting business for you to do.\nGo ye and meet the sons of Thorhalla, who are now sent to Holy-Fell\nwith the errand of summoning up a band against us. I shall be well\npleased for you to put them to any penalty you like.\" [Sidenote: The\ndeaths of Stein and his brother] Then Olaf's sons swiftly turn to\njourneying, and went on board a ferry-boat that Olaf owned, being\nseven of them together, and rowed out down Hvamsfirth, pushing on\ntheir journey at their lustiest. They had but little wind, but fair\nwhat there was, and they rowed with the sail until they came under\nScoreisle, where they tarried for some while and asked about the\njourneyings of men thereabouts. A little while after they saw a ship\ncoming from the west across the firth, and soon they saw who the men\nwere, for there were the sons of Thorhalla, and Halldor and his\nfollowers boarded them straightway. They met with no resistance, for\nthe sons of Olaf leapt forthwith on board their ships and set upon\nthem. Stein and his brother were laid hands on and beheaded overboard.\nThe sons of Olaf now turn back, and their journey was deemed to have\nsped most briskly.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. L\n\nThe End of Hrefna. The Peace Settled, A.D. 1003\n\n\nOlaf went to meet Kjartan's body. He sent men south to Burg to tell\nThorstein Egilson these tidings, and also that he would have his help\nfor the blood-suit; and if any great men should band themselves\ntogether against him with the sons of Osvif, he said he wanted to have\nthe whole matter in his own hands. The same message he sent north to\nWillowdale, to Gudmund, his son-in-law, and to the sons of Asgeir;\nwith the further information that he had charged as guilty of the\nslaying of Kjartan all the men who had taken part in the ambush,\nexcept Ospak, son of Osvif, for he was already under outlawry because\nof a woman who was called Aldis, the daughter of Holmganga-Ljot of\nIngjaldsand. Their son was Ulf, who later became a marshal to King\nHarold Sigurdsson, and had for wife Jorunn, the daughter of Thorberg.\nTheir son was Jon, father of Erlend the Laggard, the father of\nArchbishop Egstein. Olaf had proclaimed that the blood-suit should be\ntaken into court at Thorness Thing. He had Kjartan's body brought\nhome, and a tent was rigged over it, for there was as yet no church\nbuilt in the Dales. [Sidenote: Olaf protects Bolli] But when Olaf\nheard that Thorstein had bestirred him swiftly and raised up a band of\ngreat many men, and that the Willowdale men had done likewise, he had\nmen gathered together throughout all the Dales, and a great multitude\nthey were. The whole of this band Olaf sent to Laugar, with this\norder: \"It is my will that you guard Bolli if he stand in need\nthereof, and do it no less faithfully than if you were following me;\nfor my mind misgives me that the men from beyond this countryside,\nwhom, coming soon, we shall be having on our hands, will deem that\nthey have somewhat of a loss to make up with Bolli. And when he had\nput the matter in order in this manner, Thorstein, with his following,\nand also the Willowdale men, came on, all wild with rage. Hall\nGudmund's son and Kalf Asgeirson egged them on most to go and force\nBolli to let search be made for the sons of Osvif till they should be\nfound, for they could be gone nowhere out of the countryside. But\nbecause Olaf set himself so much against their making a raid on\nLaugar, messages of peace were borne between the two parties, and\nBolli was most willing, and bade Olaf settle all terms on his behalf,\nand Osvif said it was not in his power to speak against this, for no\nhelp had come to him from Snorri the Priest. A peace meeting,\ntherefore, took place at Lea-Shaws, and the whole case was laid freely\nin Olaf's hand. For the slaughter of Kjartan there were to come such\nfines and penalties as Olaf liked. Then the peace meeting came to an\nend. Bolli, by the counsel of Olaf, did not go to this meeting. The\naward should be made known at Thorness Thing. Now the Mere-men and\nWillowdale men rode to Herdholt. [Sidenote: The death of Hrefna]\nThorstein Kuggison begged for Asgeir, son of Kjartan, to foster, as a\ncomfort to Hrefna. Hrefna went north with her brothers, and was much\nweighed down with grief, nevertheless she bore her sorrow with\ndignity, and was easy of speech with every man. Hrefna took no other\nhusband after Kjartan. She lived but a little while after coming to\nthe north; and the tale goes that she died of a broken heart.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LI\n\nOsvif's Sons are Banished\n\n\n[Sidenote: The revenge for Kjartan] Kjartan's body lay in state for a\nweek in Herdholt. Thorstein Egilson had had a church built at Burg. He\ntook the body of Kjartan home with him, and Kjartan was buried at\nBurg. The church was newly consecrated, and as yet hung in white. Now\ntime wore on towards the Thorness Thing, and the award was given\nagainst Osvif's sons, who were all banished the country. Money was\ngiven to pay the cost of their going into exile, but they were\nforbidden to come back to Iceland so long as any of Olaf's sons, or\nAsgeir, Kjartan's son, should be alive. For Gudlaug, the son of\nOsvif's sister, no weregild (atonement) should be paid, because of his\nhaving set out against, and laid ambush for, Kjartan, neither should\nThorolf have any compensation for the wounds he had got. Olaf would\nnot let Bolli be prosecuted, and bade him ransom himself with a money\nfine. This Halldor and Stein, and all the sons of Olaf, liked mightily\nill, and said it would go hard with Bolli if he was allowed to stay in\nthe same countryside as themselves. Olaf saw that would work well\nenough as long as he was on his legs. [Sidenote: Audun's drowning]\nThere was a ship in Bjornhaven which belonged to Audun Cable-hound. He\nwas at the Thing, and said, \"As matters stand, the guilt of these men\nwill be no less in Norway, so long as any of Kjartan's friends are\nalive.\" Then Osvif said, \"You, Cable-hound, will be no soothsayer in\nthis matter, for my sons will be highly accounted of among men of high\ndegree, whilst you, Cable-hound, will pass, this summer, into the\npower of trolls.\" Audun Cable-hound went out a voyage that summer and\nthe ship was wrecked amongst the Faroe Isles and every man's child on\nboard perished, and Osvif's prophecy was thought to have come\nthoroughly home. The sons of Osvif went abroad that summer, and none\never came back again. In such a manner the blood-suit came to an end\nthat Olaf was held to have shown himself all the greater a man,\nbecause where it was due, in the case of the sons of Osvif, to wit, he\ndrove matters home to the very bone, but spared Bolli for the sake of\ntheir kinship. Olaf thanked men well for the help they had afforded\nhim. By Olaf's counsel Bolli bought the land at Tongue. It is told\nthat Olaf lived three winters after Kjartan was slain. After he was\ndead his sons shared the inheritance he left behind. Halldor took over\nthe manor of Herdholt. Thorgerd, their mother, lived with Halldor; she\nwas most hatefully-minded towards Bolli, and thought the reward he\npaid for his fostering a bitter one.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LII\n\nThe Killing of Thorkell of Goat's Peak\n\n\nIn the spring Bolli and Gudrun set up householding at\nSaelingsdale-Tongue, and it soon became a stately one. Bolli and Gudrun\nbegat a son. To that boy a name was given, and he was called Thorleik;\nhe was early a very fine lad, and a right nimble one. Halldor Olafson\nlived at Herdholt, as has before been written, and he was in most\nmatters at the head of his brothers. [Sidenote: Thorgerd and the\nshepherd lad] The spring that Kjartan was slain Thorgerd Egil's\ndaughter placed a lad, as kin to her, with Thorkell of Goat-Peaks, and\nthe lad herded sheep there through the summer. Like other people he\nwas much grieved over Kjartan's death. He could never speak of Kjartan\nif Thorkell was near, for he always spoke ill of him, and said he had\nbeen a \"white\" man and of no heart; he often mimicked how Kjartan had\ntaken his death-wound. The lad took this very ill, and went to\nHerdholt and told Halldor and Thorgerd and begged them to take him in.\nThorgerd bade him remain in his service till the winter. The lad said\nhe had no strength to bear being there any longer. \"And you would not\nask this of me if you knew what heart-burn I suffer from all this.\"\nThen Thorgerd's heart turned at the tale of his grief, and she said\nthat as far as she was concerned, she would make a place for him\nthere. [Sidenote: The killing of Thorkell] Halldor said, \"Give no heed\nto this lad, he is not worth taking in earnest.\" Then Thorgerd\nanswered, \"The lad is of little account,\" says she, \"but Thorkell has\nbehaved evilly in every way in this matter, for he knew of the ambush\nthe men of Laugar laid for Kjartan, and would not warn him, but made\nfun and sport of their dealings together, and has since said many\nunfriendly things about the matter; but it seems a matter far beyond\nyou brothers ever to seek revenge where odds are against you, now that\nyou cannot pay out for their doings such scoundrels as Thorkell is.\"\nHalldor answered little to that, but bade Thorgerd do what she liked\nabout the lad's service. A few days after Halldor rode from home, he\nand sundry other men together. He went to Goat-Peaks, and surrounded\nThorkell's house. Thorkell was led out and slain, and he met his death\nwith the utmost cowardice. Halldor allowed no plunder, and they went\nhome when this was done. Thorgerd was well pleased over this deed, and\nthought this reminder better than none. That summer all was quiet, so\nto speak, and yet there was the greatest ill-will between the sons of\nOlaf and Bolli. The brothers bore themselves in the most unyielding\nmanner towards Bolli, while he gave in to his kinsmen in all matters\nas long as he did not lower himself in any way by so doing, for he was\na very proud man. Bolli had many followers and lived richly, for there\nwas no lack of money. Steinthor, Olaf's son, lived in Danastead in\nSalmon-river-Dale. He had for wife Thurid, Asgeir's daughter, who had\nbefore been married to Thorkell Kuggi. Their son was Steinthor, who\nwas called \"Stone-grig.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LIII\n\nThorgerd's Egging, A.D. 1007\n\n\n[Sidenote: Thorgerd goes to see Tongue] The next winter after the\ndeath of Olaf Hoskuldson, Thorgerd, Egil's daughter, sent word to her\nson Steinthor that he should come and meet her. When the mother and\nson met she told him she wished to go up west to Saurby, and see her\nfriend Aud. She told Halldor to come too. They were five together, and\nHalldor followed his mother. They went on till they came to a place in\nfront of the homestead of Saelingsdale Tongue. Then Thorgerd turned her\nhorse towards the house and asked, \"What is this place called?\"\nHalldor answered, \"You ask this, mother, not because you don't know\nit. This place is called Tongue.\" \"Who lives here?\" said she. He\nanswered, \"You know that, mother.\" [Sidenote: She eggs on her sons]\nThorgerd said and snorted, \"I know that well enough,\" she said. \"Here\nlives Bolli, the slayer of your brother, and marvellously unlike your\nnoble kindred you turn out in that you will not avenge such a brother\nas Kjartan was; never would Egil, your mother's father, have behaved\nin such a manner; and a piteous thing it is to have dolts for sons;\nindeed, I think it would have suited you better if you had been your\nfather's daughter and had married. For here, Halldor, it comes to the\nold saw: 'No stock without a duffer,' and this is the ill-luck of\nOlaf I see most clearly, how he blundered in begetting his sons. This\nI would bring home to you, Halldor,\" says she, \"because you look upon\nyourself as being the foremost among your brothers. Now we will turn\nback again, for all my errand here was to put you in mind of this,\nlest you should have forgotten it already.\" Then Halldor answered, \"We\nshall not put it down as your fault, mother, if this should slip out\nof our minds.\" By way of answer Halldor had few words to say about\nthis, but his heart swelled with wrath towards Bolli. The winter now\npassed and summer came, and time glided on towards the Thing. Halldor\nand his brothers made it known that they will ride to the Thing. They\nrode with a great company, and set up the booth Olaf had owned. The\nThing was quiet, and no tidings to tell of it. There were at the Thing\nfrom the north the Willowdale men, the sons of Gudmund Solmundson.\nBardi Gudmundson was then eighteen winters old; he was a great and\nstrong man. The sons of Olaf asked Bardi, their nephew, to go home\nwith them, and added many pressing words to the invitation. Hall, the\nson of Gudmund, was not in Iceland then. Bardi took up their bidding\ngladly, for there was much love between those kinsmen. Bardi rode west\nfrom the Thing with the sons of Olaf. They came home to Herdholt, and\nBardi tarried the rest of the summer time.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LIV\n\nHalldor prepares to avenge Kjartan\n\n\n[Sidenote: They plan revenge,] Now Halldor told Bardi in secret that\nthe brothers had made up their minds to set on Bolli, for they could\nno longer withstand the taunts of their mother. \"And we will not\nconceal from you, kinsman Bardi, that what mostly lay behind the\ninvitation to you was this, that we wished to have your help and\nfellowship.\" Then Bardi answered, \"That will be a matter ill spoken\nof, to break the peace on one's own kinsmen, and on the other hand it\nseems to me nowise an easy thing to set on Bolli. He has many men\nabout him and is himself the best of fighters, and is not at a loss\nfor wise counsel with Gudrun and Osvif at his side. Taking all these\nmatters together they seem to me nowise easy to overcome.\" Halldor\nsaid, \"There are things we stand more in need of than to make the most\nof the difficulties of this affair. Nor have I broached it till I knew\nthat it must come to pass, that we make earnest of wreaking revenge on\nBolli. And I hope, kinsman, you will not withdraw from doing this\njourney with us.\" Bardi answered, \"I know you do not think it likely\nthat I will draw back, neither do I desire to do so if I see that I\ncannot get you to give it up yourselves.\" \"There you do your share in\nthe matter honourably,\" said Halldor, \"as was to be looked for from\nyou.\" Bardi said they must set about it with care. [Sidenote: and\nprepare to attack Bolli] Halldor said he had heard that Bolli had sent\nhis house-carles from home, some north to Ramfirth to meet a ship and\nsome out to Middlefell strand. \"It is also told me that Bolli is\nstaying at the out-dairy in Saelingsdale with no more than the\nhouse-carles who are doing the haymaking. And it seems to me we shall\nnever have a better chance of seeking a meeting with Bolli than now.\"\nSo this then Halldor and Bardi settled between them. There was a man\nnamed Thorstein the Black, a wise man and wealthy; he lived at\nHundidale in the Broadfirth-Dales; he had long been a friend of Olaf\nPeacock's. A sister of Thorstein was called Solveig; she was married\nto a man who was named Helgi, who was son of Hardbein. Helgi was a\nvery tall and strong man, and a great sailor; he had lately come to\nIceland, and was staying with his brother-in-law Thorstein. Halldor\nsent word to Thorstein the Black and Helgi his brother-in-law, and\nwhen they were come to Herdholt Halldor told them what he was about,\nand how he meant to carry it out, and asked them to join in the\njourney with him. Thorstein showed an utter dislike of this\nundertaking, saying, \"It is the most heinous thing that you kinsmen\nshould go on killing each other off like that; and now there are but\nfew men left in your family equal to Bolli.\" But though Thorstein\nspoke in this wise it went for nought. [Sidenote: Thorgerd goes with\nher sons] Halldor sent word to Lambi, his father's brother, and when\nhe came and met Halldor he told him what he was about, and Lambi\nurged hard that this should be carried out. Goodwife Thorgerd also\negged them on eagerly to make an earnest of their journey, and said\nshe should never look upon Kjartan as avenged until Bolli paid for him\nwith his life. After this they got ready for the journey. In this raid\nthere were the four sons of Olaf and the fifth was Bardi. There were\nthe sons of Olaf, Halldor, Steinthor, Helgi, and Hoskuld, but Bardi\nwas Gudmund's son. Lambi was the sixth, the seventh was Thorstein, and\nthe eighth Helgi, his brother-in-law, the ninth An Brushwood-belly.\nThorgerd betook herself also to the raid with them; but they set\nthemselves against it, and said that such were no journeys for women.\nShe said she would go indeed, \"For so much I know of you, my sons,\nthat whetting is what you want.\" They said she must have her own way.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LV\n\nThe Death of Bolli\n\n\n[Sidenote: The journey] After that they rode away from home out of\nHerdholt, the nine of them together, Thorgerd making the tenth. They\nrode up along the foreshore and so to Lea-shaws during the early part\nof the night. They did not stop before they got to Saelingsdale in the\nearly morning tide. There was a thick wood in the valley at that\ntime. Bolli was there in the out-dairy, as Halldor had heard. The\ndairy stood near the river at the place now called Bolli's-tofts.\nAbove the dairy there is a large hill-rise stretching all the way down\nto Stack-gill. Between the mountain slope above and the hill-rise there\nis a wide meadow called Barni; it was there Bolli's house-carles were\nworking. Halldor and his companions rode across Ran-meads unto\nOxgrove, and thence above Hammer-Meadow, which was right against the\ndairy. They knew there were many men at the dairy, so they got off\ntheir horses with a view to biding the time when the men should leave\nthe dairy for their work. Bolli's shepherd went early that morning\nafter the flocks up into the mountain side, and from there he saw the\nmen in the wood as well as the horses tied up, and misdoubted that\nthose who went on the sly in this manner would be no men of peace. So\nforthwith he makes for the dairy by the straightest cut in order to\ntell Bolli that men were come there. Halldor was a man of keen sight.\nHe saw how that a man was running down the mountain side and making\nfor the dairy. He said to his companions that \"That must surely be\nBolli's shepherd, and he must have seen our coming; so we must go and\nmeet him, and let him take no news to the dairy.\" They did as he bade\nthem. [Sidenote: Bolli prepares to meet them] An Brushwood-belly went\nthe fastest of them and overtook the man, picked him up, and flung him\ndown. Such was that fall that the lad's back-bone was broken. After\nthat they rode to the dairy. Now the dairy was divided into two parts,\nthe sleeping-room and the byre. Bolli had been early afoot in the\nmorning ordering the men to their work, and had lain down again to\nsleep when the house-carles went away. In the dairy therefore there\nwere left the two, Gudrun and Bolli. They awoke with the din when they\ngot off their horses, and they also heard them talking as to who\nshould first go on to the dairy to set on Bolli. Bolli knew the voice\nof Halldor, as well as that of sundry more of his followers. Bolli\nspoke to Gudrun, and bade her leave the dairy and go away, and said\nthat their meeting would not be such as would afford her much pastime.\nGudrun said she thought such things alone would befall there worthy of\ntidings as she might be allowed to look upon, and held that she would\nbe of no hurt to Bolli by taking her stand near to him. Bolli said\nthat in this matter he would have his way, and so it was that Gudrun\nwent out of the dairy; she went down over the brink to a brook that\nran there, and began to wash some linen. Bolli was now alone in the\ndairy; he took his weapon, set his helm on his head, held a shield\nbefore him, and had his sword, Footbiter, in his hand: he had no mail\ncoat. Halldor and his followers were talking to each other outside as\nto how they should set to work, for no one was very eager to go into\nthe dairy. Then said An Brushwood-belly, \"There are men here in this\ntrain nearer in kinship to Kjartan than I am, but not one there will\nbe in whose mind abides more steadfastly than in mine the event when\nKjartan lost his life. When I was being brought more dead than alive\nhome to Tongue, and Kjartan lay slain, my one thought was that I would\ngladly do Bolli some harm whenever I should get the chance. [Sidenote:\nBolli is wounded] So I shall be the first to go into the dairy.\" Then\nThorstein the Black answered, \"Most valiantly is that spoken; but it\nwould be wiser not to plunge headlong beyond heed, so let us go warily\nnow, for Bolli will not be standing quiet when he is beset; and\nhowever underhanded he may be where he is, you may make up your mind\nfor a brisk defence on his part, strong and skilled at arms as he is.\nHe also has a sword that for a weapon is a trusty one.\" Then An went\ninto the dairy hard and swift, and held his shield over his head,\nturning forward the narrower part of it. Bolli dealt him a blow with\nFootbiter, and cut off the tail-end of the shield, and clove An\nthrough the head down to the shoulder, and forthwith he gat his death.\nThen Lambi went in; he held his shield before him, and a drawn sword\nin his hand. In the nick of time Bolli pulled Footbiter out of the\nwound, whereat his shield veered aside so as to lay him open to\nattack. So Lambi made a thrust at him in the thigh, and a great wound\nthat was. Bolli hewed in return, and struck Lambi's shoulder, and the\nsword flew down along the side of him, and he was rendered forthwith\nunfit to fight, and never after that time for the rest of his life was\nhis arm any more use to him. [Sidenote: Bolli's death] At this brunt\nHelgi, the son of Hardbien, rushed in with a spear, the head of which\nwas an ell long, and the shaft bound with iron. When Bolli saw that he\ncast away his sword, and took his shield in both hands, and went\ntowards the dairy door to meet Helgi. Helgi thrust at Bolli with the\nspear right through the shield and through him. Now Bolli leaned up\nagainst the dairy wall, and the men rushed into the dairy, Halldor and\nhis brothers, to wit, and Thorgerd went into the dairy as well. Then\nspoke Bolli, \"Now it is safe, brothers, to come nearer than hitherto\nyou have done,\" and said he weened that defence now would be but\nshort. Thorgerd answered his speech, and said there was no need to\nshrink from dealing unflinchingly with Bolli, and bade them \"walk\nbetween head and trunk.\" Bolli stood still against the dairy wall, and\nheld tight to him his kirtle lest his inside should come out. Then\nSteinthor Olafson leapt at Bolli, and hewed at his neck with a large\naxe just above his shoulders, and forthwith his head flew off.\nThorgerd bade him \"hale enjoy hands,\" and said that Gudrun would have\nnow a while a red hair to trim for Bolli. [Sidenote: Gudrun's courage]\nAfter that they went out of the dairy. Gudrun now came up from the\nbrook, and spoke to Halldor, and asked for tidings of what had\nbefallen in their dealings with Bolli. They told her all that had\nhappened. Gudrun was dressed in a kirtle of \"ram\"-stuff,[7] and a\ntight-fitting woven bodice, a high bent coif on her head, and she had\ntied a scarf round her with dark-blue stripes, and fringed at the\nends. Helgi Hardbienson went up to Gudrun, and caught hold of the\nscarf end, and wiped the blood off the spear with it, the same spear\nwith which he had thrust Bolli through. Gudrun glanced at him and\nsmiled slightly. Then Halldor said, \"That was blackguardly and\ngruesomely done.\" Helgi bade him not be angry about it, \"For I am\nminded to think that under this scarf end abides undoer of my life.\"\nThen they took their horses and rode away. Gudrun went along with them\ntalking with them for a while, and then she turned back.\n\n[Footnote 7: Unknown what stuff.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LVI\n\nBolli Bollison is born, A.D. 1008\n\n\nThe followers of Halldor now fell a-talking how that Gudrun must think\nbut little of the slaying of Bolli, since she had seen them off\nchatting and talked to them altogether as if they had done nothing\nthat she might take to heart. Then Halldor answered, \"That is not my\nfeeling, that Gudrun thinks little of Bolli's death; I think the\nreason of her seeing us off with a chat was far rather, that she\nwanted to gain a thorough knowledge as to who the men were who had\npartaken in this journey. Nor is it too much said of Gudrun that in\nall mettle of mind and heart she is far above other women. Indeed, it\nis only what might be looked for that Gudrun should take sorely to\nheart the death of Bolli, for, truth to tell, in such men as was Bolli\nthere is the greatest loss, though we kinsmen, bore not about the good\nluck to live in peace together.\" After that they rode home to\nHerdholt. These tidings spread quickly far and wide and were thought\nstartling, and at Bolli's death there was the greatest grief.\n[Sidenote: Snorri counsels Gudrun] Gudrun sent straightway men to\nSnorri the Priest, for Osvif and she thought that all their trust was\nwhere Snorri was. Snorri started quickly at the bidding of Gudrun and\ncame to Tongue with sixty men, and a great ease to Gudrun's heart his\ncoming was. He offered her to try to bring about a peaceful\nsettlement, but Gudrun was but little minded on behalf of Thorleik to\nagree to taking money for the slaughter of Bolli. \"It seems to me,\nSnorri, that the best help you can afford me,\" she said, \"is to\nexchange dwellings with me, so that I be not next-door neighbour to\nthe Herdholtings.\" At that time Snorri had great quarrels with the\ndwellers at Eyr, but said he would do this for the sake of his\nfriendship with Gudrun. \"Yet, Gudrun, you will have to stay on this\nyear at Tongue.\" Snorri then made ready to go away, and Gudrun gave\nhim honourable gifts. And now Snorri rides away, and things went\npretty quietly on that year. [Sidenote: The birth of Bolli Bollison]\nThe next winter after the killing of Bolli Gudrun gave birth to a\nchild; it was a male, and he was named Bolli. He was at an early age\nboth big and goodly, and Gudrun loved him very much. Now as the winter\npassed by and the spring came the bargain took place which had been\nbespoken in that Snorri and Gudrun changed lands. Snorri went to\nTongue and lived there for the rest of his life, and Gudrun went to\nHolyfell, she and Osvif, and there they set up a stately house. There\nThorleik and Bolli, the sons of Gudrun, grew up. Thorleik was four\nyears old at the time when Bolli his father was slain.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LVII\n\nAbout Thorgils Hallason, A.D. 1018\n\n\nThere was a man named Thorgils Hallason; he was known by his mother's\nname, as she lived longer than his father, whose name was Snorri, son\nof Alf o' Dales. Halla, Thorgil's mother, was daughter of Gest\nOddliefson. Thorgils lived in Horddale at a place called Tongue.\nThorgils was a man great and goodly of body, the greatest swaggerer,\nand was spoken of as one of no fairness in dealings with men. Between\nhim and Snorri the Priest there was often little love lost, for Snorri\nfound Thorgils both meddlesome and flaunting of demeanour. Thorgils\nwould get up many errands on which to go west into the countryside,\nand always came to Holyfell offering Gudrun to look after her affairs,\nbut she only took the matter quietly and made but little of it all.\nThorgils asked for her son Thorleik to go home with him, and he stayed\nfor the most part at Tongue and learnt law from Thorgils, for he was a\nman most skilled in law-craft. At that time Thorkell Eyjolfson was\nbusy in trading journeys; he was a most renowned man, and of high\nbirth, and withal a great friend of Snorri the Priest. He would always\nbe staying with Thorstein Kuggison, his kinsman, when he was out here\n(in Iceland). [Sidenote: The outlaw Grim] Now, one time when Thorkell\nhad a ship standing up in Vadil, on Bardistrand, it befell, in\nBurgfirth, that the son of Eid of Ridge was killed by the sons of\nHelga from Kropp. Grim was the name of the man who had done the\nmanslaughter, and that of his brother was Nial, who was drowned in\nWhite-river; a little later on Grim was outlawed to the woods because\nof the manslaughter, and he lay out in the mountains whilst he was\nunder the award of outlawry. He was a great man and strong. Eid was\nthen very old when this happened, so the case was not followed up.\nPeople blamed Thorkell very much that he did not see matters righted.\n[Sidenote: Thorkell goes to find Grim] The next spring when Thorkell\nhad got his ship ready he went south across Broadfirth-country, and\ngot a horse there and rode alone, not stopping in his journey till he\ngot as far as Ridge, to Eid, his kinsman. Eid took him in joyfully.\nThorkell told him his errand, how that he would go and find Grim his\noutlaw, and asked Eid if he knew at all where his lair was. Eid\nanswered, \"I am nowise eager for this; it seems to me you have much\nto risk as to how the journey may speed, seeing that you will have to\ndeal with a man of Hel's strength, such as Grim. But if you will go,\nthen start with many men, so that you may have it all your own way.\"\n\"That to me is no prowess,\" said Thorkell, \"to draw together a great\ncompany against one man. But what I wish is, that you would lend me\nthe sword Skofnung, for then I ween I shall be able to overcome a mere\nrunagate, be he never so mighty a man of his hands.\" \"You must have\nyour way in this,\" said Eid, \"but it will not come to me unawares, if,\nsome day, you should come to rue this wilfulness. But inasmuch as you\nwill have it that you are doing this for my sake, what you ask for\nshall not be withheld, for I think Skofnung well bestowed if you bear\nit. But the nature of the sword is such that the sun must not shine\nupon its hilt, nor must it be drawn if a woman should be near. If a\nman be wounded by the sword the hurt may not be healed, unless the\nhealing-stone that goes with the sword be rubbed thereon.\" Thorkell\nsaid he would pay careful heed to this, and takes over the sword,\nasking Eid to point out to him the way to where Grim might have his\nlair. Eid said he was most minded to think that Grim had his lair\nnorth on Twodays-Heath by the Fishwaters. Then Thorkell rode northward\nupon the heath the way which Eid did point out to him, and when he\nhad got a long way onward over the heath he saw near some great water\na hut, and makes his way for it.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LVIII\n\nThorkell and Grim, and their Voyage Abroad\n\n\nThorkell now comes to the hut, he sees where a man is sitting by the water\nat the mouth of a brook, where he was line-fishing, and had a cloak over\nhis head. [Sidenote: They fight] Thorkell leapt off his horse and tied it\nup under the wall of the hut. Then he walks down to the water to where the\nman was sitting. Grim saw the shadow of a man cast on the water, and\nsprings up at once. By then Thorkell had got very nearly close up to him,\nand strikes at him. The blow caught him on his arm just above the\nwolf-joint (the wrist), but that was not a great wound. Grim sprang\nforthwith upon Thorkell, and they seized each other wrestling-wise, and\nspeedily the odds of strength told, and Thorkell fell and Grim on the top\nof him. Then Grim asked who this man might be. Thorkell said that did not\nat all matter to him. [Sidenote: They make peace] Grim said, \"Now things\nhave befallen otherwise than you must have thought they would, for now\nyour life will be in my power.\" Thorkell said he would not pray for peace\nfor himself, \"for lucklessly I have taken this in hand.\" Grim said he had\nhad enough mishaps for him to give this one the slip, \"for to you some\nother fate is ordained than that of dying at this our meeting, and I shall\ngive you your life, while you repay me in whatever kind you please.\" Now\nthey both stand up and walk home to the hut. Thorkell sees that Grim was\ngrowing faint from loss of blood, so he took Skofnung's-stone and rubbed\nit on, and ties it to the arm of Grim, and it took forthwith all smarting\npain and swelling out of the wound. They stayed there that night. In the\nmorning Thorkell got ready to go away, and asked if Grim would go with\nhim. He said that sure enough that was his will. Thorkell turns\nstraightway westward without going to meet Eid, nor halted he till he came\nto Saelingsdale Tongue. [Sidenote: Thorkell and Grim go to Snorri] Snorri\nthe Priest welcomes him with great blitheness. Thorkell told him that his\njourney had sped lucklessly. Snorri said it had turned out well, \"for Grim\nlooks to me a man endowed with good luck, and my will is that you make\nmatters up with him handsomely. But now, my friend, I would like to\ncounsel you to leave off trade-journeyings, and to settle down and marry,\nand become a chief as befits your high birth.\" Thorkell answered, \"Often\nyour counsels have stood me in good stead,\" and he asked if Snorri had\nbethought him of the woman he should woo. Snorri answers, \"You must woo\nthe woman who is the best match for you, and that woman is Gudrun, Osvif's\ndaughter.\" Thorkell said it was true that a marriage with her would be an\nhonourable one. \"But,\" says he, \"I think her fierce heart and\nreckless-mindedness weigh heavily, for she will want to have her husband,\nBolli, avenged. Besides, it is said that on this matter there is some\nunderstanding between her and Thorgils Hallason, and it may be that this\nwill not be altogether to his liking. Otherwise, Gudrun pleases me well.\"\nSnorri said, \"I will undertake to see that no harm shall come to you from\nThorgils; but as to the revenge for Bolli, I am rather in hopes that\nconcerning that matter some change will have befallen before these seasons\n(this year) are out.\" Thorkell answered, \"It may be that these be no empty\nwords you are speaking now. But as to the revenge of Bolli, that does not\nseem to me more likely to happen now than it did a while ago, unless into\nthat strife some of the greater men may be drawn.\" Snorri said, \"I should\nbe well pleased to see you go abroad once more this summer, to let us see\nthen what happens.\" Thorkell said so it should be, and they parted,\nleaving matters where they now stood. Thorkell went west over\nBroadfirth-country to his ship. He took Grim with him abroad. They had a\ngood summer-voyage, and came to the south of Norway. Then Thorkell said to\nGrim, \"You know how the case stands, and what things happened to bring\nabout our acquaintance, so I need say nothing about that matter; but I\nwould fain that it should turn out better than at one time it seemed\nlikely it would. I have found you a valiant man, and for that reason I\nwill so part from you, as if I had never borne you any grudge. I will\ngive you as much merchandise as you need in order to be able to join the\nguild of good merchants. But do not settle down here in the north of this\nland, for many of Eid's kinsmen are about on trading journeys who bear you\nheavy ill-will.\" Grim thanked him for these words, and said he could never\nhave thought of asking for as much as he offered. At parting Thorkell gave\nto Grim a goodly deal of merchandise, and many men said that this deed\nbore the stamp of a great man. [Sidenote: The end of the story of Grim]\nAfter that Grim went east in the Wick, settled there, and was looked upon\nas a mighty man of his ways; and therewith comes to an end what there is\nto be told about Grim. Thorkell was in Norway through the winter, and was\nthought a man of much account; he was exceeding wealthy in chattels. Now\nthis matter must be left for a while, and the story must be taken up out\nin Iceland, so let us hear what matters befell there for tidings to be\ntold of whilst Thorkell was abroad.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LIX\n\nGudrun demands Revenge for Bolli, A.D. 1019\n\n\nIn \"Twinmonth\" that summer Gudrun, Osvif's daughter, went from home up\ninto the Dales. She rode to Thickshaw; and at this time Thorleik was\nsometimes at Thickshaw with the sons of Armod Halldor and Ornolf, and\nsometimes Tongue with Thorgils. [Sidenote: Gudrun meets Snorri] The\nsame night Gudrun sent a man to Snorri Godi saying that she wished to\nmeet him without fail the next day. Snorri got ready at once and rode\nwith one other man until he came to Hawkdale-river; on the northern\nside of that river stands a crag by the river called Head, within the\nland of Lea-Shaw. At this spot Gudrun had bespoken that she and Snorri\nshould meet. They both came there at one and the same time. With\nGudrun there was only one man, and he was Bolli, son of Bolli; he was\nnow twelve years old, but fulfilled of strength and wits was he, so\nmuch so, that many were they who were no whit more powerful at the\ntime of ripe manhood; and now he carried Footbiter. Snorri and Gudrun\nnow fell to talking together; but Bolli and Snorri's follower sat on\nthe crag and watched people travelling up and down the countryside.\nWhen Snorri and Gudrun had asked each other for news, Snorri inquired\non what errand he was called, and what had come to pass lately that\nshe sent him word so hurriedly. Gudrun said, \"Truth to tell, to me is\never fresh the event which I am about to bring up, and yet it befell\ntwelve years ago; for it is about the revenge of Bolli I wish to\nspeak, and it ought not to take you unawares. I have called it to your\nmind from time to time. I must also bring this home to you that to\nthis end you have promised me some help if I but waited patiently, but\nnow I think it past hope that you will give any heed to our case.\n[Sidenote: They talk of revenge] I have now waited as long as my\ntemper would hold out, and I must have whole-hearted counsel from you\nas to where this revenge is to be brought home.\" Snorri asked what she\nchiefly had in her mind's eye. Gudrun said, \"It is my wish that all\nOlaf's sons should not go scatheless.\" Snorri said he must forbid any\nonset on the men who were not only of the greatest account in the\ncountryside, but also closely akin to those who stand nearest to back\nup the revenge; and it is high time already that these family feuds\ncome to an end. Gudrun said, \"Then Lambi shall be set upon and slain;\nfor then he, who is the most eager of them for evil, would be put out\nof the way.\" Snorri said, \"Lambi is guilty enough that he should be\nslain; but I do not think Bolli any the more revenged for that; for\nwhen at length peace should come to be settled, no such disparity\nbetween them would be acknowledged as ought to be due to Bolli when\nthe manslaughters of both should come up for award.\" Gudrun spoke, \"It\nmay be that we shall not get our right out of the men of\nSalmon-river-Dale, but some one shall pay dear for it, whatever dale\nhe may dwell in. So we shall turn upon Thorstein the Black, for no one\nhas taken a worse share in these matters than he.\" [Sidenote: Snorri's\nadvice] Snorri spake, \"Thorstein's guilt against you is the same as\nthat of the other men who joined in the raid against Bolli, but did\nnot wound him. But you leave such men to sit by in quiet on whom it\nseems to me revenge wrought would be revenge indeed, and who,\nmoreover, did take the life of Bolli, such as was Helgi Hardbienson.\"\nGudrun said, \"That is true, but I cannot be sure that, in that case,\nall these men against whom I have been stirring up enmity will sit\nquietly by doing nothing.\" Snorri said, \"I see a good way to hinder\nthat. Lambi and Thorstein shall join the train of your sons, and that\nis a fitting ransom for those fellows, Lambi and Thorstein; but if\nthey will not do this, then I shall not plead for them to be let off,\nwhatever penalty you may be pleased to put upon them.\" Gudrun spake:\n\"How shall we set about getting these men that you have named to go on\nthis journey?\" Snorri spake: \"That is the business of them who are to\nbe at the head of the journey.\" Gudrun spake: \"In this we must have\nyour foresight as to who shall rule the journey and be the leader.\"\nThen Snorri smiled and said, \"You have chosen your own men for it.\"\nGudrun replied, \"You are speaking of Thorgils.\" Snorri said so it was.\nGudrun spake: \"I have talked the matter over already with Thorgils,\nbut now it is as good as all over, for he gave me the one choice,\nwhich I would not even look at. He did not back out of undertaking to\navenge Bolli, if he could have me in marriage in return; but that is\npast all hope, so I cannot ask him to go this journey.\" [Sidenote: The\ntrick to be played on Thorgils] Snorri spoke: \"On this I will give you\na counsel, for I do not begrudge Thorgils this journey. You shall\npromise marriage to him, yet you shall do it in language of this\ndouble meaning, that of men in this land you will marry none other but\nThorgils, and that shall be holden to, for Thorkell Eyjolfson is not,\nfor the time being, in this land, but it is he whom I have in my\nmind's eye for this marriage.\" Gudrun spake: \"He will see through this\ntrick.\" Snorri answered, \"Indeed he will not see through it, for\nThorgils is better known for foolhardiness than wits. Make the\ncovenant with but few men for witnesses, and let Halldor, his\nfoster-brother, be there, but not Ornolf, for he has more wits, and\nlay the blame on me if this will not work out.\" After that they parted\ntheir talk and each bade the other farewell, Snorri riding home, and\nGudrun unto Thickshaw. The next morning Gudrun rode from Thickshaw and\nher sons with her, and when they ride west along Shawstrand they see\nthat men are riding after them. They ride on quickly and catch them up\nswiftly, and lo, there was Thorgils Hallason. They greeted each other\nwell, and now ride on in the day all together, out to Holyfell.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LX\n\nThe Egging of Gudrun\n\n\n[Sidenote: Gudrun and her sons] A few nights after Gudrun had come\nhome she called her sons to her to have a talk with them in her\norchard; and when they were come there they saw how there were lying\nout some linen clothes, a shirt and linen breeches, and they were much\nstained with blood. Then spake Gudrun: \"These same clothes you see\nhere cry to you for your father's revenge. I will not say many words\non this matter, for it is past hope that you will heed an egging-on by\nwords alone if you bring not home to your minds such hints and\nreminders as these.\" The brothers were much startled as this, and at\nwhat Gudrun had to say; but yet this way they made answer that they\nhad been too young to seek for revenge without a leader; they knew\nnot, they felt, how to frame a counsel for themselves or others\neither. \"But we might well bear in mind what we have lost.\" Gudrun\nsaid, \"They would be likely to give more thought to horse-fights or\nsports.\" After that they went away. The next night the brothers could\nnot sleep. Thorgils got aware of this, and asked them what was the\nmatter. They told him all the talk they had had with their mother, and\nthis withal that they could no longer bear their grief or their\nmother's taunts. \"We will seek revenge,\" said Bolli, \"now that we\nbrothers have come to so ripe an age that men will be much after us if\nwe do not take the matter in hand.\" [Sidenote: Thorgils promises to\nhelp in the revenge] The next day Gudrun and Thorgils had a talk\ntogether, and Gudrun started speaking in this wise: \"I am given to\nthink, Thorgils, that my sons brook it ill to sit thus quietly on any\nlonger without seeking revenge for their father's death. But what\nmostly has delayed the matter hitherto is that up to now I deemed\nThorleik and Bolli too young to be busy in taking men's lives. But\nneed enough there has been to call this to mind a good long time\nbefore this. Thorgils answered, \"There is no use in your talking this\nmatter over with me, because you have given a flat denial to 'walking\nwith me' (marrying me). But I am in just the same frame of mind as I\nhave been before, when we have had talks about this matter. If I can\nmarry you, I shall not think twice about killing either or both of the\ntwo who had most to do with the murder of Bolli.\" Gudrun spoke: \"I am\ngiven to think that to Thorleik no man seems as well fitted as you to\nbe the leader if anything is to be done in the way of deeds of\nhardihood. Nor is it a matter to be hidden from you that the lads are\nminded to go for Helgi Hardbienson the 'Bareserk,' who sits at home in\nhis house in Skorridale misdoubting himself of nothing.\" Thorgils\nspake: \"I never care whether he is called Helgi or by any other name,\nfor neither in Helgi nor in any one else do I deem I have an\nover-match in strength to deal with. As far as I am concerned, the\nlast word on this matter is now spoken if you promise before witnesses\nto marry me when, together with your sons, I have wreaked the\nrevenge.\" Gudrun said she would fulfil all she should agree to, even\nthough such agreement were come to before few men to witness it.\n\"And,\" said she, \"this then we shall settle to have done.\" Gudrun\nbade be called thither Halldor, Thorgils' foster-brother, and her own\nsons. Thorgils bade that Ornolf should also be with them. Gudrun said\nthere was no need of that, \"For I am more doubtful of Ornolf's\nfaithfulness to you than I think you are yourself.\" [Sidenote:\nThorgils deceived by Gudrun] Thorgils told her to do as she liked. Now\nthe brothers come and meet Gudrun and Thorgils, Halldor being also at\nthe parley with them. Gudrun now sets forth to them that \"Thorgils has\nsaid he will be the leader in this raid against Helgi Hardbienson,\ntogether with my sons, for revenge of Bolli, and Thorgils has\nbargained in return for this undertaking to get me for wife. Now I\navow, with you to witness, that I promise this to Thorgils, that of\nmen in this land I shall marry none but him, and I do not purpose to\ngo and marry in any other land.\" Thorgils thought that this was\nbinding enough, and did not see through it. And now they broke up\ntheir talk. This counsel is now fully settled that Thorgils must\nbetake himself to this journey. He gets ready to leave Holyfell, and\nwith him the sons of Gudrun, and they rode up into the Dales and first\nto the homestead at Tongue.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXI\n\nOf Thorstein the Black and Lambi\n\n\n[Sidenote: Thorstein the Black joins with the brothers] The next\nLord's day a leet was held, and Thorgils rode thither with his\ncompany, Snorri Godi was not at the leet, but there was a great many\npeople together. During the day Thorgils fetched up Thorstein the\nBlack for a talk with him, and said, \"As you know, you were one in the\nonset by the sons of Olaf when Bolli was slain, and you have made no\natonement for your guilt to his sons. Now although a long time is gone\nsince those things befell, I think their mind has not given the slip\nto the men who were in that raid. Now, these brothers look in this\nlight upon the matter, that it beseem them least, by reason of\nkinship, to seek revenge on the sons of Olaf; and so the brothers\npurpose to turn for revenge upon Helgi Hardbienson, for he gave Bolli\nhis death-wound. So we ask this of you, Thorstein, that you join in\nthis journey with the brothers, and thus purchase for yourself peace\nand good-will.\" Thorstein replied, \"It beseems me not at all to deal\nin treason with Helgi, my brother-in-law, and I would far rather\npurchase my peace with as much money as it would be to their honour to\ntake.\" Thorgils said, \"I think it is but little to the mind of the\nbrothers to do aught herein for their own gain; so you need not hide\nit away from yourself, Thorstein, that at your hands there lie two\nchoices: either to betake yourself to this journey, or to undergo the\nharshest of treatments from them as soon as they may bring it about;\nand my will is, that you take this choice in spite of the ties that\nbind you to Helgi; for when men find themselves in such straits, each\nmust look after himself.\" Thorstein spake: \"Will the same choice be\ngiven to more of the men who are charged with guilt by the sons of\nBolli?\" Thorgils answered, \"The same choice will be put to Lambi.\"\n[Sidenote: Lambi is persuaded to join them] Thorstein said he would\nthink better of it if he was not left the only one in this plight.\nAfter that Thorgils called Lambi to come and meet him, and bade\nThorstein listen to their talk. He said, \"I wish to talk over with\nyou, Lambi, the same matter that I have set forth to Thorstein; to\nwit, what amends you are willing to make to the sons of Bolli for the\ncharges of guilt which they have against you? For it has been told me\nas true that you wrought wounds on Bolli; but besides that, you are\nheavily guilt-beset, in that you urged it hard that Bolli should be\nslain; yet, next to the sons of Olaf, you were entitled to some excuse\nin the matter.\" Then Lambi asked what he would be asked to do.\nThorgils said the same choice would be put to him as to Thorstein, \"to\njoin with the brothers in this journey.\" Lambi said, \"This I think an\nevil price of peace and a dastardly one, and I have no mind for this\njourney.\" Then said Thorstein, \"It is not the only thing open to view,\nLambi, to cut so quickly away from this journey; for in this matter\ngreat men are concerned, men of much worth, moreover, who deem that\nthey have long had to put up with an unfair lot in life. It is also\ntold me of Bolli's sons that they are likely to grow into men of high\nmettle, and that they are exceeding masterful; but the wrong they have\nto wreak is great. We cannot think of escaping from making some amends\nafter such awful deeds. I shall be the most open to people's\nreproaches for this by reason of my alliance with Helgi. But I think\nmost people are given to 'setting all aside for life,' and the trouble\non hand that presses hardest must first be thrust out of the way.\"\nLambi said, \"It is easy to see what you urge to be done, Thorstein;\nand I think it well befitting that you have your own way in this\nmatter, if you think that is the only way you see open, for ours has\nbeen a long partnership in great troubles. [Sidenote: The journey\nsettled] But I will have this understood if I do go into this\nbusiness, that my kinsmen, the sons of Olaf, shall be left in peace if\nthe revenge on Helgi shall be carried out.\" Thorgils agreed to this on\nbehalf of the brothers. [Sidenote: The party leave home] So now it was\nsettled that Lambi and Thorstein should betake themselves to the\njourney with Thorgils; and they bespoke it between them that they\nshould come early on the third day (Tuesday)[8] to Tongue, in\nHord-Dale. After that they parted. Thorgils rode home that evening to\nTongue. Now passes on the time within which it was bespoken they\nshould come to Tongue. In the morning of the third day (Tuesday),\nbefore sunrise, Thorstein and Lambi came to Tongue, and Thorgils gave\nthem a cheerful welcome.\n\n[Footnote 8: The agreement was made on a Sunday.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXII\n\nThorgils and his Followers leave Home\n\n\nThorgils got himself ready to leave home, and they all rode up along\nHord-Dale, ten of them together. There Thorgils Hallason was the\nleader of the band. In that train the sons of Bolli, Thorleik and\nBolli, and Thord the Cat, their brother, was the fourth, the fifth was\nThorstein the Black, the sixth Lambi, the seventh and eighth Haldor\nand Ornolf, the ninth Svein, and the tenth Hunbogi. Those last were\nthe sons of Alf o' Dales. They rode on their way up to Sweeping-Pass,\nand across Long-waterdale, and then right across Burgfirth. They rode\nacross North-river at Isleford, but across White-river at Bankford, a\nshort way down from the homestead of By. Then they rode over Reekdale,\nand over the neck of land to Skorradale, and so up through the wood in\nthe neighbourhood of the farmstead of Water-Nook, where they got off\ntheir horses, as it was very late in the evening. The homestead of\nWater-Nook stands a short way from the lake on the south side of the\nriver. [Sidenote: Thorgils takes the lead] Thorgils said to his\nfollowers that they must tarry there over night, \"and I will go to the\nhouse and spy and see if Helgi be at home. I am told Helgi has at most\ntimes very few men with him, but that he is of all men the wariest of\nhimself, and sleeps on a strongly made lock-bed.\" Thorgils' followers\nbade him follow his own foresight. Thorgils now changed his clothes,\nand took off his blue cloak, and slipped on a grey foul-weather\noverall. He went home to the house. When he was come near to the\nhome-field fence he saw a man coming to meet him, and when they met\nThorgils said, \"You will think my questions strange, comrade, but\nwhose am I come to in this countryside, and what is the name of this\ndwelling, and who lives here?\" The man answered, \"You must be indeed a\nwondrous fool and wit-bereft if you have not heard Helgi Hardbienson\nspoken of, the bravest of warriors, and a great man withal.\" Thorgils\nnext asked how far Helgi took kindly to unknown people coming to see\nhim, such as were in great need of help. He replied, \"In that matter,\nif truth is told, only good can be said of Helgi, for he is the most\nlarge-hearted of men, not only in giving harbour to comers, but also\nin all his high conduct otherwise.\" \"Is Helgi at home now?\" asked\nThorgils; \"I should like to ask him to take me in.\" [Sidenote:\nThorgils and Helgi's servant] The other then asks what matters he had\non his hands. Thorgils answered, \"I was outlawed this summer at the\nThing, and I want to seek for myself the help of some such man as is a\nmighty one of his hands and ways, and I will in return offer my\nfellowship and service. So now you take me home to the house to see\nHelgi.\" \"I can do that very well, to show you home,\" he said, \"for you\nwill be welcome to quarters for the night, but you will not see Helgi,\nfor he is not at home.\" Then Thorgils asked where he was. The man\nanswered, \"He is at his out-dairy called Sarp.\" Thorgils asked where\nthat was, and what men were with him. He said his son Hardbien was\nthere, and two other men, both outlaws, whom he had taken in to\nshelter. Thorgils bade him show the nearest way to the dairy, \"for I\nwant to meet Helgi at once, when I can get to him and plead my errand\nto him.\" The house-carle did so and showed him the way, and after that\nthey parted. Thorgils returned to the wood to his companions, and told\nthem what he had found out about Helgi. \"We must tarry here through\nthe night, and not go to the dairy till to-morrow morning.\" They did as\nhe ordained, and in the morning Thorgils and his band rode up through\nthe wood till they were within a short way from the dairy. Then\nThorgils bade them get off their horses and eat their morning meal,\nand so they did, and kept them for a while.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXIII\n\nThe Description of his Enemies brought to Helgi\n\n\n[Sidenote: Helgi and his shepherd] Now we must tell what happened at\nthe dairy where Helgi was, and with him the men that were named\nbefore. In the morning Helgi told his shepherd to go through the woods\nin the neighbourhood of the dairy and look out for people passing, and\ntake heed of whatever else he saw, to tell news of, \"for my dreams\nhave gone heavily to-night.\" The lad went even as Helgi told him. He\nwas away awhile, and when he came back Helgi asked what he had seen to\ntell tidings of. He answered, \"I have seen what I think is stuff for\ntidings.\" Helgi asked what that was. He said he had seen men, \"and\nnone so few either, and I think they must have come from beyond this\ncountryside.\" Helgi spoke: \"Where were they when you saw them, and\nwhat were they doing, or did you take heed of the manner of raiment,\nor their looks?\" He answered, \"I was not so much taken aback at the\nsight as not to mind those matters, for I knew you would ask about\nthem.\" He also said they were but short away from the dairy, and were\neating their morning meal. Helgi asked if they sat in a ring or side\nby side in a line. He said they sat in a ring, on their saddles.\n[Sidenote: The description of Helgi's enemies] Helgi said, \"Tell me\nnow of their looks, and I will see if I can guess from what they\nlooked like who the men may be.\" The lad said, \"There sat a man in a\nstained saddle, in a blue cloak. He was great of growth, and\nvaliant-looking; he was bald in front and somewhat 'tooth-bare.'\"\nHelgi said, \"I know that man clearly from your tale. There you have\nseen Thorgils Hallason, from west out of Hord-Dale. I wonder what he\nwants with us, the hero.\" The lad spoke: \"Next to him sat a man in a\ngilded saddle; he had on a scarlet kirtle, and a gold ring on his arm,\nand a gold-embroidered fillet was tied round his head. This man had\nyellow hair, waving down over his shoulders; he was fair of hue, with\na knot on his nose, which was somewhat turned up at the tip, with very\nfine eyes--blue-eyed and swift-eyed, and with a glance somewhat\nrestless, broad-browed and full-cheeked; he had his hair cut across\nhis forehead. He was well grown as to breadth of shoulders and depth\nof chest. He had very beautiful hands, and strong-looking arms. All\nhis bearing was courteous, and, in a word, I have never seen a man so\naltogether doughty-looking. He was a young-looking man too, for his\nlips had grown no beard, but it seemed to me he was aged by grief.\"\nThen Helgi answers: \"You have paid a careful heed, indeed, to this\nman, and of much account he must needs be; yet this man, I think, I\nhave never seen, so I must make a guess at it who he is. There, I\nthink, must have been Bolli Bollison, for I am told he has in him the\nmakings of a man.\" [Sidenote: The description continued] Then the lad\nwent on: \"Next there sat a man on an enamelled saddle in a yellow\ngreen kirtle; he had a great finger ring on his hand. This man was\nmost goodly to behold, and must still be young of age; his hair was\nauburn and most comely, and in every way he was most courtly.\" Helgi\nanswers, \"I think I know who this man is, of whom you have now been\ntelling. He must be Thorleik Bollison, and a sharp and mindful man you\nare.\" The lad said again, \"Next sat a young man; he was in a blue\nkirtle and black breeches, and his tunic tucked into them. This man\nwas straight-faced, light of hair, with a goodly-featured face,\nslender and graceful.\" Helgi answered, \"I know that man, for I must\nhave seen him, though at a time when he was quite young; for it must\nbe Thord Thordson, fosterling of Snorri the Priest. And a very courtly\nband they have, the Westfirthers. What is there yet to tell?\" Then the\nlad said, \"There sat a man on a Scotch saddle, hoary of beard and very\nsallow of hue, with black curly hair, somewhat unsightly and yet\nwarrior like; he had on a grey pleated cape.\" Helgi said, \"I clearly\nsee who that man is; there is Lambi, the son of Thorbjorn, from\nSalmon-river-Dale; but I cannot think why he should be in the train of\nthese brothers.\" [Sidenote: Further description of the men] The lad\nspake: \"There sat a man on a pommelled saddle, and had on a blue cloak\nfor an overall, with a silver ring on his arm; he was a farmer-looking\nsort of man and past the prime of life, with dark auburn long curly\nhair, and scars about his face.\" \"Now the tale grows worse by much,\"\nsaid Helgi, \"for there you must have seen Thorstein the Black, my\nbrother-in-law; and a wondrous thing indeed I deem it, that he should\nbe in this journey, nor would I ever offer him such a home-raid. But\nwhat more is there still to tell?\" He answered, \"Next there sat two\nmen like each other to look upon, and might have been of middle age;\nmost brisk they looked, red of hair, freckled of face, yet goodly to\nbehold.\" Helgi said, \"I can clearly understand who those men are.\nThere are the sons of Armod, foster-brothers of Thorgils, Halldor and\nOrnolf. And a very trustworthy fellow you are. But have you now told\nthe tale of all the men you saw?\" He answered, \"I have but little to\nadd now. Next there sat a man and looked out of the circle; he was in\na plate-corselet and had a steel cap on his head, with a brim a hand's\nbreadth wide; he bore a shining axe on his shoulder, the edge of which\nmust have measured an ell in length. This man was dark of hue,\nblack-eyed, and most viking like.\" Helgi answered, \"I clearly know\nthis man from your tale. There has been Hunbogi the Strong, son of Alf\no' Dales. But what I find so hard to make out is, what they want\njourneying with such a very picked company.\" The lad spoke again: \"And\nstill there sat a man next to this strong-looking one, dark auburn of\nhair, thick-faced and red-faced, heavy of brow, of a tall middle\nsize.\" Helgi said, \"You need not tell the tale further, there must\nhave been Svein, son of Alf o' Dales, brother of Hunbogi. Now it would\nbe as well not to stand shiftless in the face of these men; for near\nto my mind's foreboding it is, that they are minded to have a meeting\nwith me or ever they leave this countryside; moreover, in this train\nthere are men who would hold that it would have been but due and meet,\nthough this our meeting should have taken a good long time before\nthis. Now all the women who are in the dairy slip on quickly men's\ndress and take the horses that are about the dairy and ride as quickly\nas possible to the winter dwelling; it may be that those who are\nbesetting us about will not know whether men or women be riding there;\nthey need give us only a short respite till we bring men together\nhere, and then it is not so certain on which side the outlook will be\nmost hopeful.\" The women now rode off, four together. [Sidenote: Hrapp\njoins the brothers and Thorgils] Thorgils misdoubts him lest news of\ntheir coming may have reached Helgi, and so bade the others take their\nhorses and ride after them at their swiftest, and so they did, but\nbefore they mounted a man came riding up to them openly in all men's\nsight. He was small of growth and all on the alert, wondrously swift\nof glance and had a lively horse. This man greeted Thorgils in a\nfamiliar manner, and Thorgils asked him his name and family and also\nwhence he had come. He said his name was Hrapp, and he was from\nBroadfirth on his mother's side. \"And then I grew up, and I bear the\nname of Fight-Hrapp, with the name follows that I am nowise an easy\none to deal with, albeit I am small of growth; but I am a southlander\non my father's side, and have tarried in the south for some winters.\nNow this is a lucky chance, Thorgils, I have happened of you here, for\nI was minded to come and see you anyhow, even though I should find it\na business somewhat hard to follow up. [Sidenote: His talk and\nbehaviour] I have a trouble on hand; I have fallen out with my master,\nand have had from him a treatment none of the best; but it goes with\nthe name, that I will stand no man such shameful mishandling, so I\nmade an outset at him, but I guess I wounded him little or not at all,\nfor I did not wait long enough to see for myself, but thought myself\nsafe when I got on to the back of this nag, which I took from the\ngoodman.\" Hrapp says much, but asks for few things; yet soon he got to\nknow that they were minded to set on Helgi, and that pleased him very\nmuch, and he said they would not have to look for him behind.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXIV\n\nThe Death of Helgi, A.D. 1019\n\n\nThorgils and his followers, as soon as they were on horseback, set off\nat a hard ride, and rode now out of the wood. They saw four men\nriding away from the dairy, and they rode very fast too. Seeing this,\nsome of Thorgils' companions said they had better ride after them at\ntheir swiftest. [Sidenote: The women leave the dairy] Then said\nThorleik Bollison, \"We will just go to the dairy and see what men are\nthere, for I think it less likely that these be Helgi and his\nfollowers. It seems to me that those are only women.\" A good many of\nthem gainsaid this. Thorgils said that Thorleik should rule in the\nmatter, for he knew that he was a very far-sighted man. They now\nturned to the dairy. Hrapp rode first, shaking the spear-stick he\ncarried in his hand, and thrusting it forward in front of himself, and\nsaying now was high time to try one's self. Helgi and his followers\nwere not aware of anything till Thorgils and his company had\nsurrounded the dairy. Helgi and his men shut the door, and seized\ntheir weapons. Hrapp leapt forthwith upon the roof of the dairy, and\nasked if old Reynard was in. Helgi answered, \"You will come to take\nfor granted that he who is here within is somewhat hurtful, and will\nknow how to bite near the warren.\" And forthwith Helgi thrust his\nspear out through the window and through Hrapp, so that he fell dead\nto earth from the spear. Thorgils bade the others go heedfully and\nbeware of mishaps, \"for we have plenty of means wherewith to get the\ndairy into our power, and to overcome Helgi, placed as he is now, for\nI am given to think that here but few men are gathered together.\"\n[Sidenote: The breaking of the beam] The dairy was rigged over one\nroof-beam, resting on two gables so that the ends of the beam stuck\nout beyond each gable; there was a single turf thatch on the house,\nwhich had not yet grown together. Then Thorgils told some of his men\nto go to the beam ends, and pull them so hard that either the beam\nshould break or else the rafters should slip in off it, but others\nwere to guard the door lest those within should try and get out. Five\nthey were, Helgi and his within the dairy--Hardbien, his son, to wit,\nhe was twelve years old--his shepherd and two other men, who had come\nto him that summer, being outlaws--one called Thorgils, and the other\nEyolf. Thorstein the Black and Svein, son of Alf o' Dales, stood\nbefore the door. The rest of the company were tearing the roof off the\ndairy. Hunbogi the Strong and the sons of Armod took one end of the\nbeam, Thorgils, Lambi, and Gudrun's sons the other end. They now pull\nhard at the beam till it broke asunder in the middle; just at this\nHardbien thrust a halberd out through where the door was broken, and\nthe thrust struck the steel cap of Thorstein the Black and stuck in\nhis forehead, and that was a very great wound. Then Thorstein said, as\nwas true, that there were men before them. Next Helgi leapt so boldly\nout of the door so that those nearest shrunk aback. Thorgils was\nstanding near, and struck after him with a sword, and caught him on\nthe shoulder and made a great wound. Helgi turned to meet him, and had\na wood-axe in his hand, and said, \"Still the old one will dare to look\nat and face weapons,\" and therewith he flung the axe at Thorgils, and\nthe axe struck his foot, and a great wound that was. [Sidenote:\nHelgi's death] And when Bolli saw this he leapt forward at Helgi with\nFootbiter in his hand, and thrust Helgi through with it, and that was\nhis death-blow. Helgi's followers leapt out of the dairy forthwith,\nand Hardbien with them. Thorleik Bollison turned against Eyolf, who\nwas a strong man. Thorleik struck him with his sword, and it caught\nhim on the leg above the knee and cut off his leg, and he fell to\nearth dead. Hunbogi the Strong went to meet Thorgils, and dealt a blow\nat him with an axe, and it struck the back of him, and cut him asunder\nin the middle. Thord Cat was standing near where Hardbien leapt out,\nand was going to set upon him straightway, but Bolli rushed forward\nwhen he saw it, and bade no harm be done to Hardbien. \"No man shall do\na dastard's work here, and Hardbien shall have life and limbs spared.\"\nHelgi had another son named Skorri. He was brought up at Gugland in\nReekdale the southernmost.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXV\n\nOf Gudrun's Deceit\n\n\n[Sidenote: Thorgils' return] After these deeds Thorgils and his band\nrode away over the neck to Reekdale, where they declared these\nmanslaughters on their hands. Then they rode the same way eastward as\nthey had ridden from the west, and did not stop their journey till\nthey came to Hord-Dale. They now told the tidings of what had happened\nin their journey, which became most famous, for it was thought a great\ndeed to have felled such a hero as was Helgi. Thorgils thanked his men\nwell for the journey, and the sons of Bolli did the same. And now the\nmen part who had been in Thorgils' train; Lambi rode west to\nSalmon-river-Dale, and came first to Herdholt and told his kinsmen\nmost carefully the tidings of what had happened in Skorradale. They\nwere very ill-pleased with his journey and laid heavy reproaches upon\nhim, saying he had shown himself much more of the stock of Thorbjorn\n\"Skrjup\" than of that of Myrkjartan, the Irish king. Lambi was very\nangry at their talk, and said they knew but little of good manners in\noverwhelming him with reproaches, \"for I have dragged you out of\ndeath,\" says he. After that they exchanged but few words, for both\nsides were yet more fulfilled of ill-will than before. Lambi now rode\nhome to his manor. Thorgils Hallason rode out to Holyfell, and with\nhim the sons of Gudrun and his foster-brothers Halldor and Ornolf.\n[Sidenote: Gudrun receives them] They came late in the evening to\nHolyfell, when all men were in bed. Gudrun rose up and bade the\nhousehold get up and wait upon them. She went into the guest-chamber\nand greeted Thorgils and all the others, and asked for tidings.\nThorgils returned Gudrun's greeting; he had laid aside his cloak and\nhis weapons as well, and sat then up against the pillars. Thorgils had\non a red-brown kirtle, and had round his waist a broad silver belt.\nGudrun sat down on the bench by him. Then Thorgils said this stave--\n\n    \"To Helgi's home a raid we led,\n    Gave ravens corpse-repast to swallow,\n    We dyed shield-wands[9] with blood all red,\n    As Thorleik's lead our band did follow.\n    And at our hands there perished three\n    Keen helmet-stems,[10] accounted truly\n    As worthies of the folk--and we\n    Claim Bolli now's avenged full duly.\"\n\nGudrun asked them most carefully for the tidings of what had happened\non their journey. Thorgils told her all she wished. Gudrun said the\njourney had been most stirringly carried out, and bade them have her\nthanks for it. After that food was set before them, and after they had\neaten they were shown to bed, and slept the rest of the night. The\nnext day Thorgils went to talk to Gudrun, and said, \"Now the matter\nstands thus, as you know, Gudrun, that I have brought to an end the\njourney you bade me undertake, and I must claim that, in a full manly\nwise, that matter has been turned out of hand; you will also call to\nmind what you promised me in return, and I think I am now entitled to\nthat prize.\" [Sidenote: Thorgils discovers Gudrun's trick] Then\nGudrun said, \"It is not such a long time since we last talked together\nthat I should have forgotten what we said, and my only aim is to hold\nto all I agreed to as concerning you. Or what does your mind tell you\nas to how matters were bespoken between us?\" Thorgils said she must\nremember that, and Gudrun answered, \"I think I said that of men within\nthis land I would marry none but you; or have you aught to say against\nthat?\" Thorgils said she was right. \"That is well then,\" said Gudrun,\n\"that our memory should be one and the same on this matter. And I will\nnot put it off from you any longer, that I am minded to think that it\nis not fated to me to be your wife. Yet I deem that I fulfil to you\nall uttered words, though I marry Thorkell Eyjolfson, who at present\nis not in this land.\" [Sidenote: Gest's prophecy fulfilled] Then\nThorgils said, and flushed up very much, \"Clearly I do see from whence\nthat chill wave comes running, and from thence cold counsels have\nalways come to me. I know that this is the counsel of Snorri the\nPriest.\" Thorgils sprang up from this talk and was very angry, and\nwent to his followers and said he would ride away. Thorleik disliked\nvery much that things should have taken such a turn as to go against\nThorgils' will; but Bolli was at one with his mother's will herein.\nGudrun said she would give Thorgils some good gifts and soften him by\nthat means, but Thorleik said that would be of no use, \"for Thorgils\nis far too high-mettled a man to stoop to trifles in a matter of this\nsort.\" Gudrun said in that case he must console himself as best he\ncould at home. After this Thorgils rode from Holyfell with his\nfoster-brothers. He got home to Tongue to his manor mightily ill at\nease over his lot.\n\n[Footnote 9: Shield-wands = swords.]\n\n[Footnote 10: Helmet-stems, those who upbear the helmet = men, specially\nwarriors.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXVI\n\nOsvif and Gest die\n\n\nThat winter Osvif fell ill and died, and a great loss that was deemed,\nfor he had been the greatest of sages. Osvif was buried at Holyfell,\nfor Gudrun had had a church built there. That same winter Gest\nOddliefson fell ill, and as the sickness grew heavy on him, he called\nto him Thord the Low, his son, and said, \"My mind forebodes me that\nthis sickness will put an end to our living together. I wish my body\nto be carried to Holyfell, for that will be the greatest place about\nthese countrysides, for I have often seen a light burning there.\"\nThereupon Gest died. The winter had been very cold, and there was much\nice about, and Broadfirth was laid under ice so far out that no ship\ncould get over it from Bardistrand. [Sidenote: The funeral of Gest and\nOsvif] Gest's body lay in state two nights at Hegi, and that very\nnight there sprang up such a gale that all the ice was drawn away from\nthe land, and the next day the weather was fair and still. Then Thord\ntook a ship and put Gest's body on board, and went south across\nBroadfirth that day, and came in the evening to Holyfell. Thord had a\ngood welcome there, and stayed there through the night. In the morning\nGest's body was buried, and he and Osvif rested in one grave. So\nGest's soothsaying was fulfilled, in that now it was shorter between\nthem than at the time when one dwelt at Bardistrand and the other in\nSaelingsdale. Thord the Low then went home as soon as he was ready.\nThat next night a wild storm arose, and drove the ice on to the land\nagain, where it held on long through the winter, so that there was no\ngoing about in boats. Men thought this most marvellous, that the\nweather had allowed Gest's body to be taken across when there was no\ncrossing before nor afterwards during the winter.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXVII\n\nThe Death of Thorgils Hallason, A.D. 1020\n\n\nThorarin was the name of a man who lived at Longdale: he was a\nchieftain, but not a mighty one. His son was named Audgisl, and was a\nnimble sort of a man. Thorgils Hallason took the chieftainship from\nthem both, father and son. [Sidenote: Snorri advises Audgisl] Audgisl\nwent to see Snorri Godi, and told him of this unfairness, and asked\nhim to help. Snorri answered only by fair words, and belittled the\nwhole affair; but answered, \"Now that Halla's-grig is getting too\nforward and swaggering. Will Thorgils then happen on no man that will\nnot give in to him in everything? No doubt he is a big man and\ndoughty, but men as good as he is have also been sent to Hel.\" And\nwhen Audgisl went away Snorri gave him an inlaid axe. The next spring\nThorgils Hallason and Thorstein the Black went south to Burgfirth, and\noffered atonement to the sons of Helgi and his other kinsmen, and they\ncame to terms of peace on the matter, and fair honour was done (to\nHelgi's side). Thorstein paid two parts of the atonement for the\nmanslaughter, and the third part Thorgils was to pay, payment being\ndue at the Thing. In the summer Thorgils rode to the Thing, but when\nhe and his men came to the lava field by Thingvellir, they saw a woman\ncoming to meet them, and a mighty big one she was. Thorgils rode up to\nher, but she turned aside, and said this--\n\n    \"Take care\n    If you go forward,\n    And be wary\n    Of Snorri's wiles,\n    No one can escape,\n    For so wise is Snorri.\"\n\nAnd after that she went her way. Then Thorgils said, \"It has seldom\nhappened so before, when luck was with me, that you were leaving the\nThing when I was riding to it.\" He now rode to the Thing and to his\nown booth. And through the early part the Thing was quiet. [Sidenote:\nThorgils' cloak] It happened one day during the Thing that folk's\nclothes were hung out to dry. Thorgils had a blue hooded cloak, which\nwas spread out on the booth wall, and men heard the cloak say thus--\n\n    \"Hanging wet on the wall,\n    A hooded cloak knows a braid (trick);\n    I do not say he does not know two,\n    He has been lately washed.\"\n\nThis was thought a most marvellous thing. The next day Thorgils went\nwest over the river to pay the money to the sons of Helgi. [Sidenote:\nThorgils' death] He sat down on the lava above the booths, and with\nhim was his foster-brother Halldor and sundry more of them were there\ntogether. The sons of Helgi came to the meeting. Thorgils now began to\ncount out the money. Audgisl Thorarinson came near, and when Thorgils\nhad counted ten Audgisl struck at him, and all thought they heard the\nhead say eleven as it flew off the neck. Audgisl ran to the booth of\nthe Waterfirthers and Halldor rushed after him and struck him his\ndeath-blow in the door of the booth. These tidings came to the booth\nof Snorri Godi how Thorgils was slain. Snorri said, \"You must be\nmistaken; it must be that Thorgils Hallason has slain some one.\" The\nman replied, \"Why, the head flew off his trunk.\" \"Then perhaps it is\ntime,\" said Snorri. This manslaughter was peacefully atoned, as is\ntold in the Saga of Thorgils Hallason.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXVIII\n\nGudrun's Marriage with Thorkell Eyjolfson\n\n\nThe same summer that Thorgils Hallason was killed a ship came to\nBjorn's-haven. It belonged to Thorkell Eyjolfson. He was by then such\na rich man that he had two merchant ships on voyages. The other ship\ncame to Ramfirth to Board-Eyr; they were both laden with timber. When\nSnorri heard of the coming of Thorkell he rode at once to where the\nship was. Thorkell gave him a most blithe welcome; he had a great deal\nof drink with him in his ship, and right unstintedly it was served,\nand many things they found to talk about. Snorri asked tidings of\nNorway, and Thorkell told him everything well and truthfully. Snorri\ntold in return the tidings of all that had happened here while\nThorkell had been away. [Sidenote: Thorkell proposes to Gudrun] \"Now\nit seems to me,\" said Snorri, \"you had better follow the counsel I set\nforth to you before you went abroad, and should give up voyaging about\nand settle down in quiet, and get for yourself the same woman to wife\nof whom we spoke then.\" Thorkell replied, \"I understand what you are\ndriving at; everything we bespoke then is still uppermost in my mind,\nfor indeed I begrudge me not the noblest of matches could it but be\nbrought about.\" Snorri spake, \"I am most willing and ready to back\nthat matter up on your behalf, seeing that now we are rid of both the\nthings that seemed to you the most troublesome to overcome, if you\nwere to get Gudrun for wife at all, in that Bolli is revenged and\nThorgils is out of the way.\" Thorkell said, \"Your counsels go very\ndeep, Snorri, and into this affair I go heart and soul.\" Snorri stayed\nin the ship several nights, and then they took a ten-oared boat that\nfloated alongside of the merchant ship and got ready with\nfive-and-twenty men, and went to Holyfell. Gudrun gave an exceeding\naffectionate welcome to Snorri, and a most goodly cheer they had; and\nwhen they had been there one night Snorri called Gudrun to talk to\nhim, and spake, \"Matters have come to this, that I have undertaken\nthis journey for my friend Thorkell, Eyjolf's son, and he has now come\nhere, as you see, and his errand hither is to set forth the wooing of\nyou. Thorkell is a man of noble degree. You know yourself all about\nhis race and doings in life, nor is he short of wealth either. To my\nmind, he is now the one man west about here who is most likely to\nbecome a chieftain, if to that end he will put himself forward.\nThorkell is held in great esteem when he is out there, but by much is\nhe more honoured when he is in Norway in the train of titled men.\"\n[Sidenote: Gudrun accepts his proposal] Then answers Gudrun: \"My sons\nThorleik and Bolli must have most to say in this matter; but you,\nSnorri, are the third man on whom I shall most rely for counsels in\nmatters by which I set a great store, for you have long been a\nwholesome guide to me.\" Snorri said he deemed it a clear case that\nThorkell must not be turned off. Thereupon Snorri had the sons of\nGudrun called in, and sets forth the matter to them, laying down how\ngreat an help Thorkell might afford them by reason of his wealth and\nwise foresight; and smoothly he framed his speech on this matter. Then\nBolli answered: \"My mother will know how most clearly to see through\nthis matter, and herein I shall be of one mind with her own will. But,\nto be sure, we shall deem it wise to set much store by your pleading\nthis matter, Snorri, for you have done to us mightily well in many\nthings.\" Then Gudrun spake: \"In this matter we will lean most on\nSnorri's foresight, for to us your counsels have been wholesome.\"\nSnorri urged the matter on by every word he spoke, and the counsel\ntaken was, that Gudrun and Thorkell should be joined in marriage.\nSnorri offered to have the wedding at his house; and Thorkell, liking\nthat well, said: \"I am not short of means, and I am ready to furnish\nthem in whatever measure you please.\" Then Gudrun spake: \"It is my\nwish that the feast be held here at Holyfell. I do not blench at\nstanding the cost of it, nor shall I call upon Thorkell or any one\nelse to trouble themselves about this matter.\" \"Often, indeed, you\nshow, Gudrun,\" said Snorri, \"that you are the most high-mettled of\nwomen.\" So this was now settled that the wedding should take place\nwhen it lacked six weeks of summer. [Sidenote: They are married] At\nmatters thus settled Snorri and Thorkell went away, Snorri going home\nand Thorkell to his ship, and he spent the summer, turn and turn\nabout, at Tongue or at his ship. Time now wore on towards the wedding\nfeast. Gudrun made great preparation with much ingatherings. Snorri\ncame to the feast together with Thorkell, and they brought with them\nwell-nigh sixty men, and a very picked company that was, for most of\nthe men were in dyed raiments. Gudrun had well-nigh a hundred and\ntwenty first-bidden guests. The brothers Bolli and Thorleik, with the\nfirst-bidden guests, went to meet Snorri and his train; and to him and\nhis fellowship was given a right cheery welcome, and their horses are\ntaken in hand, as well as their clothes. They were shown into the\nguest-chamber, and Thorkell and Snorri and their followers took seats\non the bench that was the upper one, and Gudrun's guests sat on the\nlower.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXIX\n\nThe Quarrel about Gunnar at the Feast\n\n\n[Sidenote: Gunnar at the wedding feast] That autumn Gunnar, the slayer\nof Thridrandi, had been sent to Gudrun for \"trust and keep,\" and she\nhad taken him in, his name being kept secret. Gunnar was outlawed\nbecause of the slaying of Thridrandi, Geitir's son, as is told in the\nNiard-wickers' Saga. He went about much \"with a hidden head,\" for that\nmany great men had their eyes upon him. The first evening of the\nfeast, when men went to wash, a big man was standing by the water; he\nwas broad of shoulder and wide of chest, and this man had a hat on his\nhead. Thorkell asked who he was. He named himself as it seemed best to\nhim. Thorkell says: \"I think you are not speaking the truth; going by\nwhat the tale tells you would seem more like to Gunnar, the slayer of\nThridrandi. And if you are so great a hero as other men say, you will\nnot keep hidden your name.\" Then said Gunnar: \"You speak most eagerly\non this matter; and, truth to tell, I think I have no need to hide\nmyself from you. You have rightly named your man; but then, what have\nyou chiefly bethought yourself of having done to me?\" Thorkell said he\nwould like that he should soon know it, and spake to his men, ordering\nthem to lay hands on him. Gudrun sat on the dais at the upper end of\nthe hall, together with other women all becoifed with white linen,\nand when she got aware of this she rises up from the bridal bench and\ncalls on her men to lend Gunnar help, and told them to give quarter to\nno man who should show any doubtful behaviour. [Sidenote: The quarrel]\nGudrun had the greatest number of followers, and what never was meant\nto happen seemed like to befall. Snorri Godi went between both sides\nand bade them allay this storm. \"The one thing clearly to be done by\nyou, Thorkell, is not to push things on so hotly; and now you can see\nwhat a stirring woman Gudrun is, as she overrules both of us\ntogether.\" Thorkell said he had promised his namesake, Thorleik\nGeitir's son, that he would kill Gunnar if he came into the\ncountrysides of the west. \"And he is my greatest friend,\" Snorri\nspake. \"You are much more in duty bound to act as we wish; and for\nyourself, it is a matter of the greatest importance, for you will\nnever find such another woman as Gudrun, however far you may seek.\"\nAnd because of Snorri's reasoning, and seeing that he spoke the truth,\nThorkell quieted down, and Gunnar was sent away that evening. The\nfeast now went forward well and bravely, and when it was over the\nguests got ready to go away. Thorkell gave to Snorri very rich gifts,\nand the same to all the chief men. Snorri asked Bolli Bollison to go\nhome with him, and to live with him as long as he liked. Bolli\naccepted this with thanks, and rides home to Tongue. Thorkell now\nsettled down at Holyfell, and took in hand the affairs of the\nhousehold, and it was soon seen that he was no worse a hand at that\nthan at trade-voyaging. He had the hall pulled down in the autumn and\na new one built, which was finished when the winter set in, and was\nboth large and lofty. [Sidenote: Gudrun has her way] Between Gudrun\nand Thorkell dear love now grew up, and so the winter passed on. In\nthe spring Gudrun asked how Thorkell was minded to look out for Gunnar\nthe slayer of Thridrandi. He said that Gudrun had better take the\nmanagement of that matter, \"for you have taken it so hard in hand,\nthat you will put up with nothing but that he be sent away with\nhonour.\" Gudrun said he guessed aright: \"I wish you to give him a\nship, and therewithal such things as he cannot do without.\" Thorkell\nsaid and smiled, \"You think nothing small on most matters, Gudrun, and\nwould be ill served if you had a mean-minded man for a husband; nor\nhas that ever been your heart's aim. Well, this shall be done after\nyour own will\"--and carried out it was. Gunnar took the gifts most\ngratefully. \"I shall never be so 'long-armed' as to be able to repay\nall this great honour you are doing to me,\" he said. Gunnar now went\nabroad and came to Norway, and then went to his own estates. Gunnar\nwas exceeding wealthy, most great-hearted, and a good and true man\nwithal.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXX\n\nThorleik goes to Norway\n\n\nThorkell Eyjolfson became a great chieftain; he laid himself out much\nfor friendships and honours. He was a masterful man within his own\ncountryside, and busied himself much about law-suits; yet of his\npleadings at court there is no tale to tell here. Thorkell was the\nrichest man in Broadfirth during his lifetime next after Snorri.\n[Sidenote: Thorleik wishes to leave Iceland] Thorkell kept his house\nin good order. He had all the houses at Holyfell rebuilt large and\nstrong. He also had the ground of a church marked out, and gave it out\nthat he had made up his mind to go abroad and fetch timber for the\nbuilding of his church. Thorkell and Gudrun had a son who was called\nGellir; he looked early most likely to turn out well. Bolli Bollison\nspent his time turn and turn about at Tongue or Holyfell, and Snorri\nwas very fond of him. Thorleik his brother lived at Holyfell. These\nbrothers were both tall and most doughty looking, Bolli being the\nforemost in all things. Thorkell was kind to his stepsons, and Gudrun\nloved Bolli most of all her children. He was now sixteen, and Thorleik\ntwenty years old. [Sidenote: He goes to Norway] So, once on a time,\nThorleik came to talk to his stepfather and his mother, and said he\nwished to go abroad. \"I am quite tired of sitting at home like a\nwoman, and I wish that means to travel should be furnished to me.\"\nThorkell said, \"I do not think I have done against you two brothers in\nanything since our alliance began. Now, I think it is the most natural\nthing that you should yearn to get to know the customs of other men,\nfor I know you will be counted a brisk man wheresoever you may come\namong doughty men.\" Thorleik said he did not want much money, \"for it\nis uncertain how I may look after matters, being young and in many\nways of an unsettled mind.\" Thorkell bade him have as much as he\nwanted. After that Thorkell bought for Thorleik a share in a ship that\nstood up in Daymeal-Ness, and saw him off to his ship, and fitted him\nwell out with all things from home. Thorleik journeyed abroad that\nsummer. The ship arrived in Norway. The lord over the land then was\nKing Olaf the Holy. Thorleik went forthwith to see King Olaf, who gave\nhim a good welcome; he knew Thorleik from his kindred, and so asked\nhim to stay with him. Thorleik accepted with thanks, and stayed with\nthe king that winter and became one of his guard, and the king held\nhim in honour. Thorleik was thought the briskest of men, and he stayed\non with King Olaf for several months. [Sidenote: Bolli's wooing] Now\nwe must tell of Bolli Bollison. The spring when he was eighteen years\nold he spoke to his stepfather and his mother, and said that he wished\nthey would hand him out his father's portion. Gudrun asked him what he\nhad set his mind on doing, since he asked them to give him this\nmoney. Bolli answered, \"It is my wish that a woman be wooed on my\nbehalf, and I wish,\" said Bolli, \"that you, Thorkell, be my spokesman\nand carry this through.\" Thorkell asked what woman it was Bolli wished\nto woo. Bolli answered, \"The woman's name is Thordis, and she is the\ndaughter of Snorri the Priest; she is the woman I have most at heart\nto marry; I shall be in no hurry to marry if I do not get this one for\nwife. And I set a very great store by this matter being carried out.\"\nThorkell answered, \"My help is quite welcome to you, my son, if you\nthink that if I follow up this matter much weight lies thereon. I\nthink the matter will be easily got over with Snorri, for he will know\nwell enough how to see that a fair offer is made him by such as you.\"\nGudrun said, \"I will say at once, Thorkell, that I will let spare\nnothing so that Bolli may but have the match that pleases him, and\nthat for two reasons, first, that I love him most, and then he has\nbeen the most whole-hearted of my children in doing my will.\" Thorkell\ngave it out that he was minded to furnish Bolli off handsomely. \"It is\nwhat for many reasons is due to him, and I know, withal, that in Bolli\na good husband will be purchased.\" [Sidenote: Bolli's marriage] A\nlittle while after Thorkell and Bolli went with a good many followers\nto Tongue. Snorri gave to them a kind and blithe welcome, and they\nwere treated to the very best of cheers at Snorri's hands. Thordis,\nthe daughter of Snorri, was at home with her father; she was a woman\nboth goodly and of great parts. When they had been a few nights at\nTongue Thorkell broached the wooing, bespeaking on behalf of Bolli an\nalliance with Snorri by marriage with Thordis, his daughter. Snorri\nanswers, \"It is well you come here on this errand; it is what I might\nhave looked for from you. I will answer the matter well, for I think\nBolli one of the most hopeful of men, and that woman I deem well given\nin marriage who is given in marriage to him. It will, however, tell\nmost in this matter, how far this is to Thordis' own mind; for she\nshall marry such a man only on whom she sets her heart.\" This matter\ncoming before Thordis she answered suchwise as that therein she would\nlean on the foresight of her father, saying she would sooner marry\nBolli, a man from within her own countryside, than a stranger from\nfarther away. And when Snorri found that it was not against her wish\nto go with Bolli, the affair was settled and the betrothal took place.\nSnorri was to have the feast at his house about the middle of summer.\nWith that Thorkell and Bolli rode home to Holyfell, and Bolli now\nstayed at home till the time of the wedding-feast. Then Thorkell and\nBolli array themselves to leave home, and with them all the men who\nwere set apart therefor, and a crowded company and the bravest band\nthat was. They then rode on their way and came to Tongue, and had a\nright hearty welcome there. There were great numbers there, and the\nfeast was of the noblest, and when the feast comes to an end the\nguests get ready to depart. Snorri gave honourable gifts to Thorkell,\nyea and to both of them, him and Gudrun, and the same to his other\nfriends and relations. [Sidenote: Thorleik's return] And now each one\nof those who had gone to the feast rode to his own home. Bolli abode\nat Tongue, and between him and Thordis dear love sprang speedily up.\nSnorri did all he could to entertain Bolli well, and to him he was\neven kinder than to his own children. Bolli received all this\ngratefully, and remained at Tongue that year in great favour. The next\nsummer a ship came to White-river. One-half of the ship belonged to\nThorleik Bollison and the other half of it belonged to some Norwegian\nman. When Bolli heard of the coming of his brother he rode south to\nBurgfirth and to the ship. The brothers greeted each other joyfully.\nBolli stayed there for several nights, and then both brothers ride\ntogether west to Holyfell; Thorkell takes them in with the greatest\nblitheness, as did also Gudrun, and they invited Thorleik to stay with\nthem for the winter, and that he took with thanks. Thorleik tarried at\nHolyfell awhile, and then he rode to White-river and lets his ship be\nbeached and his goods be brought to the West. Thorleik had had good\nluck with him both as to wealth and honours, for that he had become\nthe henchman of that noblest of lords, King Olaf. He now stayed at\nHolyfell through the winter, while Bolli tarried at Tongue.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXXI\n\nThe Peace between the Sons of Bolli and the Sons of Olaf, A.D. 1026\n\n\n[Sidenote: The brothers talk of revenge] That winter the brothers\nwould always be meeting, having talks together, and took no pleasure\nin games or any other pastime; and one time, when Thorleik was at\nTongue, the brothers talked day and night together. Snorri then\nthought he knew that they must be taking counsel together on some very\ngreat matter, so he went and joined the talk of the brothers. They\ngreeted him well, but dropped their talk forthwith. He took their\ngreeting well; and presently Snorri spoke: \"What are you taking\ncounsels about so that ye heed neither sleep nor meat?\" Bolli answers:\n\"This is no framing of counsels, for that talk is one of but little\nmark which we talk together.\" Now Snorri found that they wanted to\nhide from him all that was in their minds, yet misdoubted him, that\nthey must be talking chiefly of things from which great troubles might\narise, in case they should be carried out. [Sidenote: Snorri's advice]\nHe (Snorri) spoke to them: \"This I misdoubt me now, that it be neither\na vain thing nor a matter of jest you are talking about for such long\nhours together, and I hold you quite excused, even if such should be\nthe case. Now, be so good as to tell it me and not to hide it away\nfrom me. We shall not, when gathered all together, be worse able to\ntake counsel in this matter, for that I shall nowhere stand in the\nway of anything going forward whereby your honour grows the greater.\"\nThorleik thought Snorri had taken up their case in a kindly manner,\nand told him in a few words their wishes, and how they had made up\ntheir minds to set on the sons of Olaf, and to put them to sore\npenalties; they said that now they lacked of nothing to bring the sons\nof Olaf to terms of equality, since Thorleik was a liegeman of King\nOlaf, and Bolli was the son-in-law of such a chief as Snorri was.\nSnorri answered in this way: \"For the slaying of Bolli enough has come\nin return, in that the life of Helgi Hardbeinson was paid therefor;\nthe troubles of men have been far too great already, and it is high\ntime that now at last they be put a stop to.\" Bolli said, \"What now,\nSnorri? are you less keen now to stand by us than you gave out but a\nlittle while ago? Thorleik would not have told you our mind as yet if\nhe had first taken counsel with me thereon. And when you claim that\nHelgi's life has come in revenge for Bolli, it is a matter well known\nto men that a money fine was paid for the slaying of Helgi, while my\nfather is still unatoned for.\" When Snorri saw he could not reason\nthem into a change of mind, he offered them to try to bring about a\npeaceful atonement between them and the sons of Olaf, rather than that\nany more manslaughters should befall; and the brothers agreed to this.\n[Sidenote: The peace settled] Then Snorri rode with some men to\nHerdholt. Halldor gave him a good welcome, and asked him to stay\nthere, but Snorri said he must ride back that night. \"But I have an\nurgent errand with you.\" So they fell to talking together, and Snorri\nmade known his errand, saying it had come to his knowledge that\nThorleik and Bolli would put up with it no longer that their father\nshould be unatoned at the hands of the sons of Olaf. \"And now I would\nendeavour to bring about peace, and see if an end cannot be put to the\nevil luck that besets you kinsmen.\" Halldor did not flatly refuse to\ndeal further with the case. \"I know only too well that Thorgils\nHallason and Bolli's sons were minded to fall on me and my brothers,\nuntil you turned elsewhere their vengeance, so that thence-forward it\nseemed to them best to slay Helgi Hardbeinson. In these matters you\nhave taken a good part, whatever your counsels may have been like in\nregard to earlier dealings between us kinsmen.\" Snorri said, \"I set a\ngreat store by my errand turning out well and that it might be brought\nabout which I have most at heart, that a sound peace should be settled\nbetween you kinsmen; for I know the minds of the men who have to deal\nwith you in this case so well, that they will keep faithfully to\nwhatever terms of peace they agree to.\" [Sidenote: Kjartan's brothers\npay weregild for Bolli] Halldor said, \"I will undertake this, if it be\nthe wish of my brothers, to pay money for the slaying of Bolli, such\nas shall be awarded by the umpires chosen, but I bargain that there be\nno outlawing of anybody concerned, nor forfeiture of my chieftainship\nor estate; the same claim I make in respect of the estates my\nbrothers are possessed of, and I make a point of their being left free\nowners thereof whatever be the close of this case, each side to choose\ntheir own umpire.\" Snorri answered, \"This is offered well and frankly,\nand the brothers will take this choice if they are willing to set any\nstore by my counsel.\" Thereupon Snorri rode home and told the brothers\nthe outcome of his errand, and that he would keep altogether aloof\nfrom their case if they would not agree to this. Bolli bade him have\nhis own way, \"And I wish that you, Snorri, be umpire on our behalf.\"\nThen Snorri sent to Halldor to say that peaceful settlement was agreed\nto, and he bade them choose an umpire against himself. Halldor chose\non his behalf Steinthor Thorlakson of Eyr. The peace meeting should be\nat Drangar on Shawstrand, when four weeks of summer were passed.\nThorleik Bollison rode to Holyfell, and nothing to tell tidings of\nbefell that winter, and when time wore unto the hour bespoken for the\nmeeting, Snorri the Priest came there with the sons of Bolli, fifteen\ntogether in all; Steinthor and his came with the same number of men to\nthe meeting. Snorri and Steinthor talked together and came to an\nagreement about these matters. After that they gave out the award, but\nit is not told how much money they awarded; this, however, is told,\nthat the money was readily paid and the peace well holden to. At the\nThorness Thing the fines were paid out; Halldor gave Bolli a good\nsword, and Steinthor Olafson gave Thorleik a shield, which was also a\ngood gift. Then the Thing was broken up, and both sides were thought\nto have gained in esteem from these affairs.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXXII\n\nBolli and Thorleik go abroad, A. D. 1029\n\n\n[Sidenote: Bolli wishes to leave Iceland] After the peace between\nBolli and Thorleik and the sons of Olaf had been settled and Thorleik\nhad been one winter in Iceland, Bolli made it known that he was minded\nto go abroad. Snorri, dissuading him, said, \"To us it seems there is a\ngreat risk to be run as to how you may speed; but if you wish to have\nin hand more than you have now, I will get you a manor and stock it\nfor you; therewithal I shall hand over to you chieftainship over men\nand uphold you for honours in all things; and that, I know, will be\neasy, seeing that most men bear you good-will.\" Bolli said, \"I have\nlong had it in my mind to go for once into southern lands; for a man\nis deemed to grow benighted if he learns to know nothing farther\nafield than what is to be seen here in Iceland.\" And when Snorri saw\nthat Bolli had set his mind on this, and that it would come to nought\nto try to stop him, he bade him take as much money as he liked for his\njourney. Bolli was all for having plenty of money, \"for I will not,\"\nhe said, \"be beholden to any man either here or in any foreign land.\"\n[Sidenote: Bolli goes with Thorleik] Then Bolli rode south to\nBurgfirth to White-river and bought half of a ship from the owners, so\nthat he and his brother became joint owners of the same ship. Bolli\nthen rides west again to his home. He and Thordis had one daughter\nwhose name was Herdis, and that maiden Gudrun asked to bring up. She\nwas one year old when she went to Holyfell. Thordis also spent a great\ndeal of her time there, for Gudrun was very fond of her.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXXIII\n\nBolli's Voyage\n\n\nNow the brothers went both to their ship. Bolli took a great deal of\nmoney abroad with him. They now arrayed the ship, and when everything\nwas ready they put out to sea. The winds did not speed them fast, and\nthey were a long time out at sea, but got to Norway in the autumn, and\nmade Thrandheim in the north. Olaf, the king, was in the east part of\nthe land, in the Wick, where he had made ingatherings for a stay\nthrough the winter. [Sidenote: They come to Norway] And when the\nbrothers heard that the king would not come north to Thrandheim that\nautumn, Thorleik said he would go east along the land to meet King\nOlaf. Bolli said, \"I have little wish to drift about between market\ntowns in autumn days; to me that is too much of worry and restraint. I\nwill rather stay for the winter in this town. I am told the king will\ncome north in the spring, and if he does not then I shall not set my\nface against our going to meet him.\" Bolli has his way in the matter,\nand they put up their ship and got their winter quarters. It was soon\nseen that Bolli was a very pushing man, and would be the first among\nother men; and in that he had his way, for a bounteous man was he, and\nso got speedily to be highly thought of in Norway. Bolli kept a suite\nabout him during the winter at Thrandheim, and it was easily seen,\nwhen he went to the guild meeting-places, that his men were both\nbetter arrayed as to raiment and weapons than other townspeople. He\nalone also paid for all his suite when they sat drinking in guild\nhalls, and on a par with this were his openhandedness and lordly ways\nin other matters. Now the brothers stay in the town through the\nwinter. That winter the king sat east in Sarpsborg, and news spread\nfrom the east that the king was not likely to come north. Early in the\nspring the brothers got their ship ready and went east along the land.\n[Sidenote: They stay with King Olaf] The journey sped well for them,\nand they got east to Sarpsborg, and went forthwith to meet King Olaf.\nThe king gave a good welcome to Thorleik, his henchman, and his\nfollowers. Then the king asked who was that man of stately gait in the\ntrain of Thorleik; and Thorleik answered, \"He is my brother, and is\nnamed Bolli.\" \"He looks, indeed, a man of high mettle,\" said the\nking. Thereupon the king asks the brothers to come and stay with him,\nand that offer they took with thanks, and spend the spring with the\nking. The king was as kind to Thorleik as he had been before, yet he\nheld Bolli by much in greater esteem, for he deemed him even peerless\namong men. And as the spring went on, the brothers took counsel\ntogether about their journeys. And Thorleik asked Bolli if he was\nminded to go back to Iceland during the summer, \"or will you stay on\nlonger here in Norway?\" Bolli answered, \"I do not mean to do either.\nAnd sooth to say, when I left Iceland, my thought was settled on this,\nthat people should not be asking for news of me from the house next\ndoor; and now I wish, brother, that you take over our ship.\" Thorleik\ntook it much to heart that they should have to part. \"But you, Bolli,\nwill have your way in this as in other things.\" Their matter thus\nbespoken they laid before the king, and he answered thus: \"Will you\nnot tarry with us any longer, Bolli?\" said the king. \"I should have\nliked it best for you to stay with me for a while, for I shall grant\nyou the same title that I granted to Thorleik, your brother.\" Then\nBolli answered: \"I should be only too glad to bind myself to be your\nhenchman, but I must go first whither I am already bent, and have long\nbeen eager to go, but this choice I will gladly take if it be fated to\nme to come back.\" \"You will have your way as to your journeyings,\nBolli,\" says the king, \"for you Icelanders are self-willed in most\nmatters. But with this word I must close, that I think you, Bolli, the\nman of greatest mark that has ever come from Iceland in my days.\"\n[Sidenote: Bolli goes to Denmark] And when Bolli had got the king's\nleave he made ready for his journey, and went on board a round ship\nthat was bound south for Denmark. He also took a great deal of money\nwith him, and sundry of his followers bore him company. He and King\nOlaf parted in great friendship, and the king gave Bolli some handsome\ngifts at parting. Thorleik remained behind with King Olaf, but Bolli\nwent on his way till he came south to Denmark. That winter he tarried\nin Denmark, and had great honour there of mighty men; nor did he bear\nhimself there in any way less lordly than while he was in Norway. When\nBolli had been a winter in Denmark he started on his journey out into\nforeign countries, and did not halt in his journey till he came to\nMicklegarth (Constantinople). He was there only a short time before he\ngot himself into the Varangian Guard, and, from what we have heard, no\nNorthman had ever gone to take war-pay from the Garth king before\nBolli, Bolli's son. He tarried in Micklegarth very many winters, and\nwas thought to be the most valiant in all deeds that try a man, and\nalways went next to those in the forefront. The Varangians accounted\nBolli most highly of whilst he was with them in Micklegarth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXXIV\n\nThorkell Eyjolfson goes to Norway\n\n\n[Sidenote: Thorkell's dream] Now the tale is to be taken up again\nwhere Thorkell Eyjolfson sits at home in lordly way. His and Gudrun's\nson, Gellir, grew up there at home, and was early both a manly fellow\nand winning. It is said how once upon a time Thorkell told Gudrun a\ndream he had had. \"I dreamed,\" he said, \"that I had so great a beard\nthat it spread out over the whole of Broadfirth.\" Thorkell bade her\nread his dream. Gudrun said, \"What do you think this dream betokens?\"\nHe said, \"To me it seems clear that in it is hinted that my power will\nstand wide about the whole of Broadfirth.\" Gudrun said, \"Maybe that\nsuch is the meaning of it, but I rather should think that thereby is\nbetokened that you will dip your beard down into Broadfirth.\" That\nsame summer Thorkell runs out his ship and gets it ready for Norway.\nHis son, Gellir, was then twelve winters old, and he went abroad with\nhis father. [Sidenote: Thorkell in Norway] Thorkell makes it known\nthat he means to fetch timber to build his church with, and sails\nforthwith into the main sea when he was ready. He had an easy voyage\nof it, but not a very short one, and they hove into Norway\nnorthwardly. King Olaf then had his seat in Thrandheim, and Thorkell\nsought forthwith a meeting with King Olaf, and his son Gellir with\nhim. They had there a good welcome. So highly was Thorkell accounted\nof that winter by the king, that all folk tell that the king gave him\nnot less than one hundred marks of refined silver. The king gave to\nGellir at Yule a cloak, the most precious and excellent of gifts. That\nwinter King Olaf had a church built in the town of timber, and it was\na very great minster, all materials thereto being chosen of the best.\nIn the spring the timber which the king gave to Thorkell was brought\non board ship, and large was that timber and good in kind, for\nThorkell looked closely after it. Now it happened one morning early\nthat the king went out with but few men, and saw a man up on the\nchurch which then was being built in the town. He wondered much at\nthis, for it was a good deal earlier than the smiths were wont to be\nup. Then the king recognised the man, and, lo! there was Thorkell\nEyjolfson taking the measure of all the largest timber, crossbeams,\nsills, and pillars. The king turned at once thither, and said: \"What\nnow, Thorkell, do you mean after these measurements to shape the\nchurch timber which you are taking to Iceland?\" \"Yes, in truth, sire,\"\nsaid Thorkell. Then said King Olaf, \"Cut two ells off every main beam,\nand that church will yet be the largest built in Iceland.\" Thorkell\nanswered, \"Keep your timber yourself if you think you have given me\ntoo much, or your hand itches to take it back, but not an ell's length\nshall I cut off it. I shall both know how to go about and how to carry\nout getting other timber for me.\" [Sidenote: His measuring of King\nOlaf's church] Then says the king most calmly, \"So it is, Thorkell,\nthat you are not only a man of much account, but you are also now\nmaking yourself too big, for, to be sure, it is too overweening for\nthe son of a mere peasant to try to vie with us. But it is not true\nthat I begrudge you the timber, if only it be fated to you to build a\nchurch therewith; for it will never be large enough for all your pride\nto find room to lie inside it. But near it comes to the foreboding of\nmy mind, that the timber will be of little use to men, and that it\nwill be far from you ever to get any work by man done with this\ntimber.\" After that they ceased talking, and the king turned away, and\nit was marked by people that it misliked him how Thorkell accounted as\nof nought what he said. Yet the king himself did not let people get\nthe wind of it, and he and Thorkell parted in great good-will.\nThorkell got on board his ship and put to sea. They had a good wind,\nand were not long out about the main. Thorkell brought his ship to\nRamfirth, and rode soon from his ship home to Holyfell, where all folk\nwere glad to see him. [Sidenote: Thorkell's return] In this journey\nThorkell had gained much honour. He had his ship hauled ashore and\nmade snug, and the timber for the church he gave to a caretaker, where\nit was safely bestowed, for it could not be brought from the north\nthis autumn, as he was at all time full of business. Thorkell now sits\nat home at his manor throughout the winter. He had Yule-drinking at\nHolyfell, and to it there came a crowd of people; and altogether he\nkept up a great state that winter. Nor did Gudrun stop him therein;\nfor she said the use of money was that people should increase their\nstate therewith; moreover, whatever Gudrun must needs be supplied with\nfor all purposes of high-minded display, that (she said) would be\nreadily forthcoming (from her husband). Thorkell shared that winter\namongst his friends many precious things he had brought with him out\nto Iceland.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXXV\n\nThorkell and Thorstein and Halldor Olafson, A.D. 1026\n\n\nThat winter after Yule Thorkell got ready to go from home north to\nRamfirth to bring his timber from the north. He rode first up into the\nDales and then to Lea-shaws to Thorstein, his kinsman, where he\ngathered together men and horses. He afterwards went north to Ramfirth\nand stayed there awhile, taken up with the business of his journey,\nand gathered to him horses from about the firth, for he did not want\nto make more than one journey of it, if that could be managed. But\nthis did not speed swiftly, and Thorkell was busy at this work even\ninto Lent. At last he got under way with the work, and had the wood\ndragged from the north by more than twenty horses, and had the timber\nstacked on Lea-Eyr, meaning later on to bring it in a boat out to\nHolyfell. [Sidenote: The bargain with Halldor] Thorstein owned a large\nferry-boat, and this boat Thorkell was minded to use for his homeward\nvoyage. Thorkell stayed at Lea-shaws through Lent, for there was dear\nfriendship between these kinsmen. Thorstein said one day to Thorkell,\nthey had better go to Herdholt, \"for I want to make a bid for some\nland from Halldor, he having but little money since he paid the\nbrothers the weregild for their father, and the land being just what I\nwant most.\" Thorkell bade him do as he liked; so they left home a\nparty of twenty men together. They come to Herdholt, and Halldor gave\nthem good welcome, and was most free of talk with them. There were few\nmen at home, for Halldor had sent his men north to Steingrims-firth,\nas a whale had come ashore there in which he owned a share. Beiner the\nStrong was at home, the only man now left alive of those who had been\nthere with Olaf, the father of Halldor. Halldor had said to Beiner at\nonce when he saw Thorstein and Thorkell riding up, \"I can easily see\nwhat the errand of these kinsmen is--they are going to make me a bid\nfor my land, and if that is the case they will call me aside for a\ntalk; I guess they will seat themselves each on either side of me; so,\nthen, if they should give me any trouble you must not be slower to set\non Thorstein than I on Thorkell. You have long been true to us\nkinsfolk. I have also sent to the nearest homesteads for men, and at\njust the same moment I should like these two things to happen: the\ncoming in of the men summoned, and the breaking up of our talk.\"\n[Sidenote: Halldor gets the best of it] Now as the day wore on,\nThorstein hinted to Halldor that they should all go aside and have\nsome talk together, \"for we have an errand with you.\" Halldor said it\nsuited him well. Thorstein told his followers they need not come with\nthem, but Beiner went with them none the less, for he thought things\ncame to pass very much after what Halldor had guessed they would. They\nwent very far out into the field. Halldor had on a pinned-up cloak\nwith a long pin brooch, as was the fashion then. Halldor sat down on\nthe field, but on either side of him each of these kinsmen, so near\nthat they sat well-nigh on his cloak; but Beiner stood over them with\na big axe in his hand. Then said Thorstein, \"My errand here is that I\nwish to buy land from you, and I bring it before you now because my\nkinsman Thorkell is with me; I should think that this would suit us\nboth well, for I hear that you are short of money, while your land is\ncostly to husband. I will give you in return an estate that will\nbeseem you, and into the bargain as much as we shall agree upon.\" In\nthe beginning Halldor took the matter as if it were not so very far\nfrom his mind, and they exchanged words concerning the terms of the\npurchase; and when they felt that he was not so far from coming to\nterms, Thorkell joined eagerly in the talk, and tried to bring the\nbargain to a point. [Sidenote: He refuses to deal with them] Then\nHalldor began to draw back rather, but they pressed him all the more;\nyet at last it came to this, that he was the further from the bargain\nthe closer they pressed him. Then said Thorkell, \"Do you not see,\nkinsman Thorstein, how this is going? Halldor has delayed the matter\nfor us all day long, and we have sat here listening to his fooling and\nwiles. Now if you want to buy the land we must come to closer\nquarters.\" Thorstein then said he must know what he had to look\nforward to, and bade Halldor now come out of the shadow as to whether\nhe was willing to come to the bargain. Halldor answered, \"I do not\nthink I need keep you in the dark as to this point, that you will have\nto go home to-night without any bargain struck.\" Then said Thorstein,\n\"Nor do I think it needful to delay making known to you what we have\nin our mind to do; for we, deeming that we shall get the better of you\nby reason of the odds on our side, have bethought us of two choices\nfor you: one choice is, that you do this matter willingly and take in\nreturn our friendship; but the other, clearly a worse one, is, that\nyou now stretch out your hand against your own will and sell me the\nland of Herdholt.\" But when Thorstein spoke in this outrageous manner,\nHalldor leapt up so suddenly that the brooch was torn from his cloak,\nand said, \"Something else will happen before I utter that which is not\nmy will.\" \"What is that?\" said Thorstein. \"A pole-axe will stand on\nyour head from one of the worst of men, and thus cast down your\ninsolence and unfairness.\" Thorkell answered, \"That is an evil\nprophecy, and I hope it will not be fulfilled; and now I think there\nis ample cause why you, Halldor, should give up your land and have\nnothing for it.\" [Sidenote: Thorkell and Thorstein return home\ndisgusted] Then Halldor answered, \"Sooner you will be embracing the\nsea-tangle in Broadfirth than I sell my land against my own will.\"\nHalldor went home after that, and the men he had sent for came\ncrowding up to the place. Thorstein was of the wrothest, and wanted\nforthwith to make an onset on Halldor. Thorkell bade him not to do so,\n\"for that is the greatest enormity at such a season as this; but when\nthis season wears off, I shall not stand in the way of his and ours\nclashing together.\" Halldor said he was given to think he would not\nfail in being ready for them. After that they rode away and talked\nmuch together of this their journey; and Thorstein, speaking thereof,\nsaid that, truth to tell, their journey was most wretched. \"But why,\nkinsman Thorkell, were you so afraid of falling on Halldor and putting\nhim to some shame?\" Thorkell answered, \"Did you not see Beiner, who\nstood over you with the axe reared aloft? Why, it was an utter folly,\nfor forthwith on seeing me likely to do anything, he would have driven\nthat axe into your head.\" They rode now home to Lea-shaws; and Lent\nwears and Passion Week sets in.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXXVI\n\nThe Drowning of Thorkell, A.D. 1026\n\n\n[Sidenote: Thorkell goes for his wood] On Maundy Thursday, early in\nthe morning, Thorkell got ready for his journey. Thorstein set himself\nmuch against it: \"For the weather looks to me uncertain,\" said he.\nThorkell said the weather would do all right. \"And you must not hinder\nme now, kinsman, for I wish to be home before Easter.\" So now Thorkell\nran out the ferry-boat, and loaded it. But Thorstein carried the\nlading ashore from out the boat as fast as Thorkell and his followers\nput it on board. Then Thorkell said, \"Give over now, kinsman, and do\nnot hinder our journey this time; you must not have your own way in\nthis.\" Thorstein said, \"He of us two will now follow the counsel that\nwill answer the worst, for this journey will cause the happening of\ngreat matters.\" Thorkell now bade them farewell till their next\nmeeting, and Thorstein went home, and was exceedingly downcast. He\nwent to the guest-house, and bade them lay a pillow under his head,\nthe which was done. The servant-maid saw how the tears ran down upon\nthe pillow from his eyes. And shortly afterwards a roaring blast\nstruck the house, and Thorstein said, \"There, we now can hear roaring\nthe slayer of kinsman Thorkell.\" [Sidenote: The drowning of Thorkell]\nNow to tell of the journey of Thorkell and his company: they sail this\nday out, down Broadfirth, and were ten on board. The wind began to\nblow very high, and rose to full gale before it blew over. They pushed\non their way briskly, for the men were most plucky. Thorkell had with\nhim the sword Skofnung, which was laid in the locker. Thorkell and his\nparty sailed till they came to Bjorn's isle, and people could watch\nthem journey from both shores. But when they had come thus far,\nsuddenly a squall caught the sail and overwhelmed the boat. There\nThorkell was drowned and all the men who were with him. The timber\ndrifted ashore wide about the islands, the corner-staves (pillars)\ndrove ashore in the island called Staff-isle. Skofnung stuck fast to\nthe timbers of the boat, and was found in Skofnungs-isle. That same\nevening that Thorkell and his followers were drowned, it happened at\nHolyfell that Gudrun went to the church, when other people had gone to\nbed, and when she stepped into the lich-gate she saw a ghost standing\nbefore her. He bowed over her and said, \"Great tidings, Gudrun.\" She\nsaid, \"Hold then your peace about them, wretch.\" [Sidenote: Gudrun and\nthe ghosts] Gudrun went on to the church, as she had meant to do, and\nwhen she got up to the church she thought she saw that Thorkell and\nhis companions were come home and stood before the door of the church,\nand she saw that water was running off their clothes. Gudrun did not\nspeak to them, but went into the church, and stayed there as long as\nit seemed good to her. After that she went to the guest-room, for she\nthought Thorkell and his followers must have gone there; but when she\ncame into the chamber, there was no one there. Then Gudrun was struck\nwith wonder at the whole affair. On Good Friday Gudrun sent her men to\nfind out matters concerning the journeying of Thorkell and his\ncompany, some up to Shawstrand and some out to the islands. By then\nthe flotsam had already come to land wide about the islands and on\nboth shores of the firth. The Saturday before Easter the tidings got\nknown and great news they were thought to be, for Thorkell had been a\ngreat chieftain. Thorkell was eight-and-forty years old when he was\ndrowned, and that was four winters before Olaf the Holy fell. Gudrun\ntook much to heart the death of Thorkell, yet bore her bereavement\nbravely. Only very little of the church timber could ever be gathered\nin. Gellir was now fourteen years old, and with his mother he took\nover the business of the household and the chieftainship. It was soon\nseen that he was made to be a leader of men. Gudrun now became a very\nreligious woman. She was the first woman in Iceland who knew the\nPsalter by heart. She would spend long time in the church at nights\nsaying her prayers, and Herdis, Bolli's daughter, always went with her\nat night. Gudrun loved Herdis very much. [Sidenote: The ghost of the\nsorceress] It is told that one night the maiden Herdis dreamed that a\nwoman came to her who was dressed in a woven cloak, and coifed in a\nhead cloth, but she did not think the woman winning to look at. She\nspoke, \"Tell your grandmother that I am displeased with her, for she\ncreeps about over me every night, and lets fall down upon me drops so\nhot that I am burning all over from them. My reason for letting you\nknow this is, that I like you somewhat better, though there is\nsomething uncanny hovering about you too. However, I could get on with\nyou if I did not feel there was so much more amiss with Gudrun.\" Then\nHerdis awoke and told Gudrun her dream. Gudrun thought the apparition\nwas of good omen. Next morning Gudrun had planks taken up from the\nchurch floor where she was wont to kneel on the hassock, and she had\nthe earth dug up, and they found blue and evil-looking bones, a round\nbrooch, and a wizard's wand, and men thought they knew then that a\ntomb of some sorceress must have been there; so the bones were taken\nto a place far away where people were least likely to be passing.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXXVII\n\nThe Return of Bolli, A.D. 1030\n\n\nWhen four winters were passed from the drowning of Thorkell Eyjolfson\na ship came into Islefirth belonging to Bolli Bollison, most of the\ncrew of which were Norwegians. [Sidenote: Bolli's splendour] Bolli\nbrought out with him much wealth, and many precious things that lords\nabroad had given him. Bolli was so great a man for show when he came\nback from this journey that he would wear no clothes but of scarlet\nand fur, and all his weapons were bedight with gold: he was called\nBolli the Grand. He made it known to his shipmasters that he was going\nwest to his own countrysides, and he left his ship and goods in the\nhands of his crew. Bolli rode from the ship with twelve men, and all\nhis followers were dressed in scarlet, and rode on gilt saddles, and\nall were they a trusty band, though Bolli was peerless among them. He\nhad on the clothes of fur which the Garth-king had given him, he had\nover all a scarlet cape; and he had Footbiter girt on him, the hilt of\nwhich was dight with gold, and the grip woven with gold; he had a\ngilded helmet on his head, and a red shield on his flank, with a\nknight painted on it in gold. He had a dagger in his hand, as is the\ncustom in foreign lands; and whenever they took quarters the women\npaid heed to nothing but gazing at Bolli and his grandeur, and that\nof his followers. In this state Bolli rode into the western parts all\nthe way till he came to Holyfell with his following. Gudrun was very\nglad to see her son. Bolli did not stay there long till he rode up to\nSaelingsdale Tongue to see Snorri, his father-in-law, and his wife\nThordis, and their meeting was exceeding joyful. Snorri asked Bolli to\nstay with him with as many of his men as he liked. Bolli accepted the\ninvitation gratefully, and was with Snorri all the winter, with the\nmen who had ridden from the north with him. Bolli got great renown\nfrom this journey. [Sidenote: Snorri's death] Snorri made it no less\nhis business now to treat Bolli with every kindness than death when\nhe was with him before.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. LXXVIII\n\nThe Death of Snorri, and the End, A.D. 1031\n\n\n[Sidenote: Snorri' death] When Bolli had been one winter in Iceland\nSnorri the Priest fell ill. That illness did not gain quickly on him,\nand Snorri lay very long abed. But when the illness gained on him, he\ncalled to himself all his kinsfolk and affinity, and said to Bolli,\n\"It is my wish that you shall take over the manor here and the\nchieftainship after my day, for I grudge honours to you no more than\nto my own sons, nor is there within this land now the one of my sons\nwho I think will be the greatest man among them, Halldor to wit.\"\nThereupon Snorri breathed his last, being seventy-seven years old.\nThat was one winter after the fall of St. Olaf, so said Ari the Priest\n\"Deep-in-lore.\" Snorri was buried at Tongue. [Sidenote: The\ndescendants of Herdis] Bolli and Thordis took over the manor of Tongue\nas Snorri had willed it, and Snorri's sons put up with it with a good\nwill. Bolli grew a man of great account, and was much beloved. Herdis,\nBolli's daughter, grew up at Holyfell, and was the goodliest of all\nwomen. Orm, the son of Hermund, the son of Illugi, asked her in\nmarriage, and she was given in wedlock to him; their son was Kodran,\nwho had for wife Gudrun, the daughter of Sigmund. The son of Kodran\nwas Hermund, who had for wife Ulfeid, the daughter of Runolf, who was\nthe son of Bishop Kelill; their sons were Kelill, who was Abbot of\nHolyfell, and Reinn and Kodran and Styrmir; their daughter was\nThorvor, whom Skeggi, Bard's son, had for wife, and from whom is come\nthe stock of the Shaw-men. Ospak was the name of the son of Bolli and\nThordis. The daughter of Ospak was Gudrun, whom Thorarin, Brand's son,\nhad to wife. Their son was Brand, who founded the benefice of\nHousefell. Gellir, Thorleik's son, took to him a wife, and married\nValgerd, daughter of Thorgils Arison of Reekness. Gellir went abroad,\nand took service with King Magnus the Good, and had given him by the\nking twelve ounces of gold and many goods besides. The sons of Gellir\nwere Thorkell and Thorgils, and a son of Thorgils was Ari the\n\"Deep-in-lore.\" The son of Ari was named Thorgils, and his son was Ari\nthe Strong. Now Gudrun began to grow very old, and lived in such\nsorrow and grief as has lately been told. She was the first nun and\nrecluse in Iceland, and by all folk it is said that Gudrun was the\nnoblest of women of equal birth with her in this land. It is told how\nonce upon a time Bolli came to Holyfell, for Gudrun was always very\npleased when he came to see her, and how he sat by his mother for a\nlong time, and they talked of many things. [Sidenote: Bolli questions\nhis mother] Then Bolli said, \"Will you tell me, mother, what I want\nvery much to know? Who is the man you have loved the most?\" Gudrun\nanswered, \"Thorkell was the mightiest man and the greatest chief, but\nno man was more shapely or better endowed all round than Bolli. Thord,\nson of Ingun, was the wisest of them all, and the greatest lawyer;\nThorvald I take no account of.\" Then said Bolli, \"I clearly understand\nthat what you tell me shows how each of your husbands was endowed, but\nyou have not told me yet whom you loved the best. Now there is no need\nfor you to keep that hidden any longer.\" Gudrun answered, \"You press\nme hard, my son, for this, but if I must needs tell it to any one, you\nare the one I should first choose thereto.\" Bolli bade her do so. Then\nGudrun said, \"To him I was worst whom I loved best.\" \"Now,\" answered\nBolli, \"I think the whole truth is told,\" and said she had done well\nto tell him what he so much had yearned to know. Gudrun grew to be a\nvery old woman, and some say she lost her sight. Gudrun died at\nHolyfell, and there she rests. [Sidenote: The end of Gellir] Gellir,\nThorkell's son, lived at Holyfell to old age, and many things of much\naccount are told of him; he also comes into many Sagas, though but\nlittle be told of him here. He built a church at Holyfell, a very\nstately one, as Arnor, the Earls' poet, says in the funeral song which\nhe wrote about Gellir, wherein he uses clear words about that matter.\nWhen Gellir was somewhat sunk into his latter age, he prepared\nhimself for a journey away from Iceland. He went to Norway, but did\nnot stay there long, and then left straightway that land and \"walked\"\nsouth to Rome to \"see the holy apostle Peter.\" He was very long over\nthis journey; and then journeying from the south he came into Denmark,\nand there he fell ill and lay in bed a very long time, and received\nall the last rites of the church, whereupon he died, and he rests at\nRoskild. Gellir had taken Skofnung with him, the sword that had been\ntaken out of the barrow of Holy Kraki, and never after could it be got\nback. When the death of Gellir was known in Iceland, Thorkell, his\nson, took over his father's inheritance at Holyfell. Thorgils, another\nof Gellir's sons, was drowned in Broadfirth at an early age, with all\nhands on board. Thorkell Gellirson was a most learned man, and was\nsaid to be of all men the best stocked of lore. Here is the end of the\nSaga of the men of Salmon-river-Dale.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_The_ 'Laxdale Saga'--_one of the great Sagas of Iceland--is herewith\nintroduced for the first time to English readers. The translation has\nbeen made by_ Mrs. Muriel Press. _The original text presents many\ndifficulties, and the manuscript translation has had the advantage of\nbeing revised by a competent Icelander. Many doubtful passages have\nbeen elucidated by him. The accompanying Note gives his interpretation\nof the obscure verses on page 234. In addition to these kind services,\nhe has specially prepared for this volume the Map of the Places\nmentioned in the Saga. It is to be hoped that_ Mrs. Press's _efforts\nto popularise this famous Saga may be successful, and may warrant the\npublication of other Sagas, and Masterpieces of Northern literature,\nin the Series, notably_ 'Njala-Saga,' 'Volsunga-Saga,' _and the_\n'Eddas.'\n\nI.G.\n\n_October 13, 1899,_\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nNOTE\n\nThese lines may be thus interpreted:--\n\n    \"Hangs a wet hood on the wall;\n    It knoweth of a trick;\n    Though it be at most times 'dry,'\n    I hide not now it knoweth two.\"\n\nThe ditty points to the fact that Snorri had given Audgisl Thorarinson\na \"chased axe\" (one trick), and that, at Snorri's secret behest,\nAudgisl was now on the eve of taking the hood-owner's (Thorgils\nHallason's) life (two). This, the hood says, it knows, though at most\ntimes it is '_dry_.' 'Dry' here seems clearly to stand in the sense of\n'clear of,' 'free from,' _expers, immunis_; practically, _ignorant_.\nAt most times the hood is ignorant of such 'tricks' threatening\nThorgils' life, though now it knows of one, even two. With this use of\n'ethurr,' _cf._ Sturlunga^2 ii. 227_{37}--\"Um sum illvirki \u017eeirra er\n\u017eat sumum moennum eigi tvimaelis-laust, hvart \u017eer munieth _\u017eurt_ hafa um\nsetieth allar vitundir\" = \"As to some misdeeds of theirs, it is to some\nmen (a matter) not free from double speech whether you will have sat\n(by) '_dry_' of all knowledge (_i.e._ complicity) therein,\" _i.e._,\nconcerning certain of their misdeeds some persons will have their\ndoubts as to whether you be 'clear of' all complicity therein.\n\nOf course it is Thorgils' 'Fylgja' (Fetch) that speaks through the\ncloak.","title":"Laxd\u00e6la Saga: Translated from the Icelandic","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":74379}