The Sagas of the Icelanders (34 page)

81
There was a man named Einar, the son of Helgi Ottarsson and the great-grandson of Bjorn the Easterner who settled in Breidafjord. Einar was the brother of Osvif the Wise. Even at an early age, Einar was large and strong and a man of great accomplishments. He began composing poetry when he was young and was fond of learning.

One summer at the Althing, Einar went to Egil Skallagrimsson’s booth and they began talking. The conversation soon turned to poetry and they both took great delight in the discussion.

After that, Einar made a habit of talking to Egil and a great friendship developed between them. Einar had just come back from a voyage abroad. Egil asked Einar about recent news and his friends in Norway, and also about the men he regarded as his enemies. He also often asked about the leading men there. Einar asked in return about Egil’s voyages and exploits; Egil enjoyed talking about them and they got on well together. Einar asked Egil to tell him where his toughest ordeal had been, and Egil spoke a verse:

Egil and Einar promised each other friendship when they parted. Einar spent a long time in other countries with men of rank. He was generous but usually had scant means, and he was a firm character and a noble man. He was one of Earl Hakon Sigurdarson’s men.

At that time there was much unrest in Norway. Earl Hakon was at war with Eirik’s sons and many people fled the country. King Harald Eiriksson died in Denmark, at Hals in Limfjord, when he was betrayed. He fought against Harald, the son of Canute, who was called Gold-Harald, and against Earl Hakon.

Arinbjorn the Hersir died with Harald Eiriksson in that battle. When Egil heard of Arinbjorn’s death, he composed this verse:

The poet Einar Helgason was nicknamed Skalaglamm (Bowl-rattle). He composed a drapa about Earl Hakon called Lack of Gold, which was very long. For a long time the earl was angry with Einar and refused to listen to it. Then Einar spoke a verse:

And he spoke another verse:

The earl did not want Einar to leave then, but listened to his poem and afterwards gave him as a reward a shield, which was an outstanding treasure. It was adorned with legends, and between the carvings it was overlaid with gold and embossed with jewels. Then Einar went to Iceland to stay with his brother Osvif.

In the autumn, Einar rode over to Borg and stayed there. Egil was not at home, having gone north, but was expected shortly. Einar stayed three nights waiting for him; it was not the custom to stay more than three nights on a visit. Einar then prepared to leave, and when he was ready to go he went to Egil’s bed and hung up his precious shield there, and told the people of the household that it was a present for Egil.

After that, Einar rode away, and Egil came home the same day. When he went to his bed he saw the shield and asked who owned such a treasure. He was told that Einar Skalaglamm had been there and given him the shield as a present.

Then Egil said, ‘That scoundrel! Does he expect me to stay awake making a poem about his shield? Fetch my horse, I will ride after him and kill him.’

Then he was told that Einar had ridden away early that morning – ‘He will have reached Dalir by now.’

Then Egil made a drapa, which begins with this verse:

Egil and Einar remained friends all their lives. It is said of the fate of the shield that Egil took it with him when he went north to Vidimyri with Thorkel Gunnvaldsson, who was going to fetch his bride there, and Bjorn the Red’s sons Scarf and Helgi. The shield was dilapidated by then; it had been thrown into a tub of whey. Afterwards Egil had the fittings taken off, and there were twelve ounces of gold in the overlays.

82
Thorstein, Egil’s son, was a very handsome man when he grew up, with fair hair and a fair complexion. He was tall and strong, although not on his father’s scale. Thorstein was a wise and peaceful man, a model of modesty and self-control. Egil was not very fond of him. Thorstein, in turn, did not show his father much affection, but Asgerd and Thorstein were very close. By this time, Egil was growing very old.

One summer, Thorstein rode to the Althing, while Egil stayed at home. Before Thorstein left home, he and Asgerd decided to take Arinbjorn’s gift, the silk cloak, out of Egil’s chest, and Thorstein wore it to the Thing. It was so long that it dragged along the ground and the hem got dirty during the procession to the Law Rock. When he returned home, Asgerd put the gown back where it had come from. Much later, when Egil opened his chest, he discovered that the gown was ruined, and asked Asgerd what the explanation was. She told him the truth, and Egil spoke a verse:

Thorstein married Jofrid, the daughter of Gunnar Hlifarson. Her mother was Helga, who was the daughter of Olaf Feilan and sister of Thord Bellower. Jofrid had previously been married to Thorodd, son of Tungu-Odd.

Shortly after this, Asgerd died. Then Egil gave up his farm and handed it over to Thorstein, and went south to Mosfell to his son-in-law Grim, because he was fondest of his step-daughter Thordis of all the people who were alive.

One summer a ship arrived in Leiruvog, with a man called Thormod at the helm. He was Norwegian and lived on the farm of Thora’s son Thorstein the Hersir. He brought with him a shield that Thorstein had sent to Egil Skallagrimsson, a fine piece of work. Thormod gave Egil the shield and he accepted it with thanks. Later that winter, Egil composed a drapa in honour of the shield he had been given, which he called the Drapa of the Shield. It begins with the verse:

Egil’s son Thorstein lived at Borg. He had two sons outside wedlock, Hrifla and Hrafn, and ten children with Jofrid after they were married. One of their daughters was Helga the Fair, whose love Hrafn the Poet and Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue contested. Grim was their oldest son, followed by Skuli, Thorgeir, Kollsvein, Hjorleif, Halli, Egil and Thord. They had another daughter named Thora, who married Thormod Kleppjarnsson. A great family is descended from Thorstein’s children, including many great men. Everyone descended from Skallagrim is said to belong to the Myrar clan.

83
Onund Sjoni was living at Anabrekka when Egil lived at Borg. His wife was Thorgerd, the daughter of Bjarni the Stout from Snae fellsstrond. Their children were Steinar, and Dalla, who married Ogmund Galtason and had two sons named Thorgils and Kormak. When Onund grew old and began to go blind, he handed over his farm to his son Steinar. The two of them were very wealthy. Steinar was exceedingly large and strong, an ugly man, stooping, with long legs but a short trunk. He was a great troublemaker, overbearing, difficult to deal with and ruthless, and very quarrelsome.

When Egil’s son Thorstein was living at Borg, he and Steinar did not get along. South of the Hafslaek Brook is a marsh called Stakksmyri which is submerged in winter, but in spring when the ice has thawed it is such good pasture for cows that it was considered worth a whole haystack. Hafslaek had marked the boundary between farms since early times. During the spring, Steinar’s cattle grazed heavily on Stakksmyri when they were driven out from Hafslaek. Thorstein’s farmhands complained, but Steinar paid no heed to them, and there the matter rested for the first summer.

The following spring, Steinar continued to graze his cattle there. Thorstein talked calmly to him about it and asked him to graze his cattle within the old boundaries. Steinar replied that cattle would always go wherever they pleased. He spoke quite forcefully on the matter, and they exchanged harsh words. Then Thorstein had the cattle driven back over the brook. When Steinar realized this, he sent his slave Grani to watch over the cattle at Stakksmyri, and he stayed there every day. This was towards the end of summer, and all the pasture south of Hafslaek was completely grazed.

One day Thorstein went up on to a rock to take a look around and, seeing where Steinar’s cattle were heading, he went out to the marsh. It was late in the day. He could see that the cattle had gone a long way up the tract between the hills. Thorstein ran out to the meadows, and when Grani saw this, he drove the cattle as hard as he could back to the milking-pens. Thorstein went after them and met Grani at the gate to the farm. Thorstein killed him there, and the spot at the hayfield wall has been called Granahlid (Grani’s Gate) ever since. Thorstein pulled down the wall to cover his body, then went back to Borg. The women found Grani lying there when they went out to the milking-pens, and returned to the farmhouse to tell Steinar what had happened. Steinar buried him up in the hills, then appointed another slave, whose name is not mentioned, to go with the cattle. Thorstein pretended to ignore the grazing cattle for the rest of the summer.

Early in the winter, Steinar went out to Snaefellsstrond and spent some time there. He saw a slave named Thrand there, a very large and strong man. Steinar offered a high price to buy the slave; his owner valued him at three marks of silver, which was twice the value of an ordinary slave. The deal was made and he took Thrand home with him.

When they returned home, Steinar said to Thrand, ‘It so happens that I want you to do some work for me, but all the jobs have been shared out already. I want to ask you to do a job which will not be very difficult for you. You will watch over my cattle. I think it is important that they are grazed well, and I want you to rely solely on your own judgement about where the best pasture is on the marsh. I’m a poor judge of character if you don’t turn out to have the courage or strength to stand up to any of Thorstein’s farmhands.’

Steinar gave Thrand a big axe, measuring almost one ell across the head of the blade and razor-sharp.

‘From the look of you, I can’t tell how highly you would think of the fact that Thorstein is a godi, if the two of you met face to face,’ Steinar added.

Thrand answered, ‘I don’t owe Thorstein any loyalty, but I think I realize what the job is you’re asking me to do. You don’t reckon you have much to lose in me. But when Thorstein and I put our strength to the test, whichever of us wins will be a worthy victor.’

Then Thrand started tending the cattle. Although he had not been there long, Thrand realized where Steinar had sent his cattle, and he sat watching over them in Stakksmyri.

When Thorstein noticed this, he sent one of his farmhands to see Thrand and tell him where the boundary between his land and Steinar’s lay. The farmhand met Thrand and gave him the message to keep his cattle on the other side, since they were on Thorstein Egilsson’s side.

‘I don’t care whose land they are on,’ said Thrand. ‘I will keep the cattle where I think the best pasture is.’

They parted, and the farmhand went home and told Thorstein what the slave had replied. Thorstein let the matter rest, and Thrand started watching over the cattle day and night.