The Sagas of the Icelanders (28 page)

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There was a landholder in Norway called Eirik the All-wise, who was married to Thora, Thorir’s daughter and Arinbjorn’s sister. He owned land in Vik, in the east, and was very wealthy, distinguished and wise of mind. Their son, Thorstein, had been brought up at Arinbjorn’s home, and although still young he was fully developed. He had gone west to England with Arinbjorn.

The same autumn that Egil went to England, word arrived from Norway that Eirik the All-wise had died and the royal agents had seized his inheritance in the king’s name. When Arinbjorn and Thorstein heard this news, they decided that Thorstein should go to Norway to claim his inheritance.

As spring drew on and people who planned to sail abroad began to make their ships ready, Thorstein went south to London to see King Athelstan. He presented the king with tokens and a message from Arinbjorn, and also gave a message to Egil asking him to propose that the king should use his influence with his foster-son Hakon to help Thorstein win back his inheritance and property in Norway. King Athelstan needed little persuasion, saying that he knew Arinbjorn as a fine person.

Then Egil went to speak to King Athelstan and told him of his plans.

‘I want to go over to Norway this summer,’ he said, ‘to collect the property that King Eirik and Berg-Onund robbed me of. Berg-Onund’s brother, Atli the Short, has it in his possession now. I know I would win justice in the matter with a message from you to back me up.’

The king said that it was up to Egil to decide where he went, ‘But I would greatly prefer it if you stayed with me to defend my kingdom and command my armies. I shall grant you great revenues.’

Egil said, ‘This is a very attractive offer, and I accept it rather than refuse it. But first I must go to Iceland to collect my wife and the wealth I own there.’

King Athelstan gave Egil a good merchant vessel, and a cargo to go with it. The bulk of it was wheat and honey, and there was greater wealth still in other goods. When Egil was preparing his ship for the voyage, Arinbjorn’s kinsman Thorstein joined his crew. Thorstein was the son of Eirik, as mentioned before, but was later known as Thora’s son. When they were ready they all sailed away. King Athelstan and Egil parted in great friendship.

Egil and his crew had a smooth journey, made land in Norway at Vik in the east and headed all the way in to Oslo fjord. Thorstein owned a farm in the uplands there, stretching all the way to the province of Raumarike. When Thorstein reached land, he laid a claim to his inheritance against the
king’s agents who had occupied his farm. Many people helped Thorstein, and charges were brought. Thorstein had many kinsmen of high birth. In the end the matter was referred to the king for a ruling, and Thorstein took over safeguarding the property his father had owned.

Egil spent the winter with Thorstein, and there were twelve of them there in all. Wheat and honey were brought to his house, there was much celebration during that winter and Thorstein lived grandly with plenty of provisions.

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Hakon, King Athelstan’s foster-son, was ruling Norway at this time, as described earlier. The king spent that winter in Trondheim in the north.

As the winter wore on, Thorstein set off on his journey, accompanied by Egil. They had almost thirty men with them. When they had made their preparations, they went first to Oppland, then north over the Dovrefjell Mountains to Trondheim, where they went to see King Hakon. They delivered their messages to the king. Thorstein described the whole matter and produced witnesses to the fact that he owned the entire inheritance he had claimed. The king took the matter favourably, allowing Thorstein to recover his property and thereby become one of the king’s landholders, as his father had been.

Egil went to see King Hakon and presented his own case, along with a message and tokens from King Athelstan. He enumerated the property once owned by Bjorn the Landowner, in the form of both land and money, and claimed half of it for himself and his wife, Asgerd. Supporting his case with witnesses and oaths, he said that he had presented the case to King Eirik as well, adding that he had not been given justice because of Eirik’s severity and Gunnhild’s incitements. Egil recounted the whole episode that had taken place at the Gula Assembly, and asked the king to grant him justice in the matter.

King Hakon answered, ‘I have heard that my brother Eirik and his wife, Gunnhild, both think you have thrown a stone that was too heavy for you in your dealings with them, Egil. I think you ought to be quite contented if I do not involve myself in this matter, even though Eirik and I did not have the good fortune to agree with each other.’

Egil replied, ‘You cannot keep quiet about such a great matter, King, because everyone in this country, native and foreign, must obey your orders. I have been told that you are establishing a code of law and rights for every man in this country, and I am certain that you will allow me to secure these
rights like anybody else. I consider myself a match for Atli the Short in both strength and kinsmen here. As far as my dealings with King Eirik are concerned, I can tell you that I went to see him and when we parted he told me to go in peace wherever I wanted. I will offer you my allegiance and service, Lord. I know that you have men here with you who do not look any more fearsome in battle than I am. I have an intuition that it will not be very long before you cross paths with King Eirik again, if you both live to see the day. I would not be surprised if the time comes when you feel Gunnhild has rather too many ambitious sons.’

‘You will not enter my service, Egil,’ said the king. ‘You and your kinsmen have carved too deep a breach in my family for you to be able to settle down in this country. Go out to Iceland and look after your inheritance from your father there. You will not suffer harm at the hands of myself or my kinsmen there, but you can expect my family to remain the most powerful in this country for the rest of your days. For King Athelstan’s sake, however, you will be left in peace here and win justice and your rights, because I know how fond King Athelstan is of you.’

Egil thanked the king for his words and asked to be given tokens of proof to show to Thord at Aurland or his other landholders in Sognefjord and Hordaland. The king said he would do so.

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Once they had finished their business with the king, Thorstein and Egil made preparations for their journey. They set off. On their way south over Dovrefjell, Egil said he wanted to go up to Romsdal and then back south along the coast.

‘I want to finish my business in Sognefjord and Hordaland, because I want to make my ship ready to leave for Iceland this summer,’ he said.

Thorstein told him to go his way as he pleased. He and Egil parted, and Thorstein went south through Dalene and all the way to his lands. He produced the king’s tokens and gave his message to the agents to hand over all the possessions that they had seized and Thorstein had laid claim to.

Egil went on his way with eleven men. Arriving in Romsdal, they arranged transport; then they went south to More. Nothing happened on their journey until they reached Hod Island and stayed at a farm there called Blindheiro. It was a fine farm and a landholder called Fridgeir lived there. He was a young man and had recently received his inheritance from his father. His mother was Gyda, the sister of Arinbjorn the Hersir, a fine and determined woman. She ran the farm with her son Fridgeir, and they lived in style. Egil and his men were well received there. In the evening, Egil sat next to Fridgeir, with Egil’s companions farther down the table. There was plenty of drinking and a splendid feast.

Gyda, the lady of the house, went to talk to Egil that night. She asked about her brother Arinbjorn and other kinsmen and friends of hers who had gone to England with him, and Egil answered her questions. She asked Egil whether anything noteworthy had happened on his travels, and he gave her a straightforward account. Then he spoke a verse:

Egil was in good spirits that evening, but Fridgeir and the people on the farm were fairly subdued. Egil saw a beautiful and well-dressed girl there, and was told she was Fridgeir’s sister. She was unhappy and wept all the evening, which the visitors thought was peculiar.

They spent the night there. The next morning there was a gale and the seas were too heavy for sailing; they needed a ship to take them from the island. Fridgeir and Gyda went to talk to Egil, inviting him to stay there with his companions until the weather was good enough to sail away, and offering him any transport he needed. Egil accepted and they spent three nights there weather-bound, amid great celebrations. After that the wind calmed down. Egil and his men got up early that morning and made their preparations to leave, then went off to eat and were served with ale, and they sat at table for a while. Then they took their cloaks, and Egil stood up, thanked the farmer and his mother for what they had provided and went outside. Fridgeir and Gyda accompanied them on their way, until she took her son aside and whispered something to him.

While he stood and waited, Egil asked the girl, ‘What are you crying about? I have never seen you happy for a moment.’

Unable to answer, she cried all the more.

Fridgeir answered his mother in a loud voice, ‘I don’t want to ask them to do that. They’re ready to leave now.’

Then Gyda went up to Egil and said, ‘I will tell you what is going on here. There is a man called Ljot the Pale, a berserk and a dueller who is very much loathed. He came here and asked for my daughter’s hand in marriage, but we turned him down on the spot. So he challenged my son Fridgeir to a duel. He’ll be coming to fight him at Valdero Island tomorrow. I’d like you to go to the site of the duel with Fridgeir, Egil. If Arinbjorn were here, we would prove that we do not put up with overbearing behaviour from such a man as Ljot.’

‘For the sake of your brother Arinbjorn it is my duty to make this journey with Fridgeir,’ answered Egil, ‘if he thinks I can help him in any way.’

‘That is noble of you,’ Gyda said. ‘Let us go into the main room and spend the day here together.’

Egil and his men went into the main room and started drinking. They sat there all day, and in the evening Fridgeir’s friends who were to accompany him arrived and there was a great gathering and feast that night.

The next day, Fridgeir prepared himself to set off, with a large band of men. Egil was with them. It was good weather for sailing, and they set off and reached Valdero island. There was a fine field a short way from the shore where the duel was to be held. Stones had been arranged in a circle to mark out the site.

Ljot arrived with his men and got ready for the duel. He had a shield and a sword. Ljot was a huge, strong man. And when he entered the arena, a berserk fury came over him and he started howling menacingly and biting at his shield. Fridgeir was not a big, strong man, but slim and handsome and unaccustomed to fighting. Seeing Ljot, Egil spoke a verse:

Ljot saw Egil standing there and, hearing his words, spoke to him: ‘Come here into the arena, big man, and fight me if you are so eager to do so. Let us test our strength. It will be a much more even fight than with Fridgeir, because I do not imagine I will grow in stature by taking his life.’