The Sagas of the Icelanders (45 page)

35
Some time shortly after this, Finnbogi and Berg assembled their men in Vididal, and there were thirty of them in all. Helga asked what they were intending to do. Finnbogi said that he was off to Vatnsdal.

‘Yes,’ said Helga, ‘you must now be intending to avenge yourselves on the brothers, but I think that the more you tangle with them the unluckier you will be.’

‘We will have to risk that,’ said Finnbogi.

Helga replied, ‘Be off with you; you will not be in any less of a hurry on your way home than you are now in setting out.’

The news soon got around and reached Thorstein at Hof. He sent word to his brothers and they came to see him; he told them what he had heard. It was decided that they should assemble their men and, on the day when Finnbogi and his forces were expected from Vididal, sixty men gathered at Hof. Their kinsman Mar from Masstadir was there, and Eyjolf from Karnsnes and other friends.

They then observed the approach of Finnbogi and his men.

Thorstein said, ‘Let us now get on our horses and ride towards them, because I don’t want them trampling over my land.’

They did this.

Jokul said, ‘Let’s ride hard and charge at them, so that they’ll not be ready for us.’

Thorstein replied, ‘We will not behave rashly; I will speak on our behalf and find out what they want, and it may be that little will need to be done; but I know, kinsman, that you are ready for anything.’

Jokul replied, ‘It was to be expected that you wouldn’t want my advice to prevail for long.’

‘Things went well, kinsman,’ said Thorstein, ‘when we followed your advice, but it is little needed now.’

Finnbogi said to his men, ‘There are men riding from Hof, quite a few of them, and it can very truly be said that few things surprise Thorstein. There are now two choices open to us and neither is good – either to ride off home with things as they stand, though this would be the greatest disgrace, or to risk a fight with them, but there is some danger in this when the odds are against us, as they seem to me to be.’

‘Surely now is the time to risk something,’ said Berg. ‘We should certainly confront them.’

Finnbogi said, ‘Let’s dismount and tether our horses and keep close together, whatever happens.’

Thorstein and his men saw this, and they too dismounted and tied up their horses.

Then Thorstein said, ‘Let us now go to meet them, and I will be our spokesman.’

Thorstein then asked, ‘Who is the leader of these men who have come here?’

Finnbogi said that he was.

‘What is your business here in the valley?’

‘There are often small errands to be done around the countryside,’ said Finnbogi.

Thorstein said, ‘I believe that your errand of finding us brothers, planned when you left home, has now been accomplished – though differently from the way you had expected. If so, things have turned out well. I will now offer you two choices, Finnbogi, though not because it wouldn’t have been more fitting for you to have been given just one. Either go back to Borg with matters as they stand, and stay there in your homestead; or, as the other choice, we will fight our duel, but in such a way that each of us may make use of his helpers; and then you will see how you get on, big and strong though you are. It will follow from this that you must leave Vididal in the spring and never again take up residence between Jokulsa river in Skagafjord and the Hrutafjord river; and understand that you must never again get into conflict with us brothers. You, Berg, have shown great hostility towards us. You played a boorish little trick on me when you arrived in the
district – you grazed your horses in my meadow, and thought that I was such a petty-minded individual that I would worry about where your horses were eating the grass; and as for when my brother Jokul struck you – this you must bear without compensation because you refused it when it was offered. You will also keep out of those areas forbidden to Finnbogi, and the two of you will then have some reminders of your dealings with us. Choose one or the other – at once.’

Jokul stood next to Thorstein with Aettartangi at the ready. Finnbogi and Berg and their followers moved towards their horses, mounted and rode away, and did not stop until they arrived back at Borg. Helga was standing outside and asked them the news. They said that they had nothing to report.

‘That may be the way it seems to you, but it won’t seem that way to anyone else, seeing that the two of you have been outlawed from the locality as criminals; and now your ill fortune has reached its peak.’

Thorstein and his brothers rode back to Hof, each heading for his own home. Thorstein thanked them warmly for their support. He maintained his honour in this affair, as in all the others. In the spring Finnbogi sold his land at Borg and moved north to Strandir in Trekyllisvik and settled there. Berg went away, too, and the saga says nothing of what became of him; and thus ended the dealings of Finnbogi and Berg with the sons of Ingimund.

36
It is said that one summer a ship arrived in Hrutafjord. On board were two sisters Thorey and Groa. They both went to stay with Thorstein at Hof and were there through the winter, but in the spring they asked him to find them a permanent place to live. On Thorstein’s advice Thorey bought some land and lived there, and Thorstein found a home for Groa nearby. Thorstein had to put up with scorn from his wife Thurid because he took an interest in Groa on account of her witchcraft. Groa bought some malt and prepared a feast and invited the sons of Ingimund to attend; and so the sisters were not held to be of such little importance. Groa also invited Mar of Masstadir and many other men from the region.

Three nights before Thorstein was due to set out from home on horseback, he dreamed that the fetch who had attended the kinsmen appeared before him and told him not to go to the feast. He said that he had promised to.

She said, ‘It does not seem to me to be wise, and harm will befall you from this.’

And so it went on for three nights that she appeared and chided him and said that he must not go and touched his eyes.

It was the custom, whenever Thorstein was to set off on some journey, that on the day of his departure everyone who was to ride with him came to Hof. Jokul and Thorir arrived, along with those other men who were to go with him. Thorstein told them to return home; he said that he was sick. They did so.

That afternoon, when the sun had set, a shepherd noticed that Groa went out and walked backwards round her house and said, ‘It will be difficult to resist the luck of the sons of Ingimund.’

She looked up at the mountain and waved a kerchief or cloth of hers in which she had wrapped much gold, and said, ‘Let whatever is fated come to pass.’

She then went inside and shut the door behind her. There was then a rock-fall on the house and everyone inside died. And when this became known, the brothers drove her sister Thorey out of the district. Ever afterwards the place where Groa lived seemed haunted, and men had no wish to live there from that time on.

37
Thorgrim at Karnsa had a child by his mistress who was named Nereid, and on the command of his wife the child was put out to die. There was great friendship among the brothers, the sons of Ingimund, and they often met up with each other. One time Thorstein visited Thorir his brother and Thorir led him back out on to the highway. Then Thorstein asked Thorir which one of the brothers seemed to him to be the leading man.

Thorir said that there was no question about this – ‘you are above us all in wise counsel and in good sense.’

Thorstein replied, ‘Jokul is foremost in all matters of courage.’

Thorir said that he himself was the least of them, ‘because a berserk fury always comes over me when I would least wish it to, and I wish, brother, that you could do something about this’.

‘I have come here because I have heard that our kinsman Thorgrim has had his child left out to die on the instructions of his wife, and that is a wicked thing to do. It also seems to me a great pity that in your nature you are not like other men.’

Thorir said that he would do anything to be rid of it.

Thorstein said that he wanted to suggest a remedy – ‘but what are you willing to do?’

Thorir said, ‘Whatever you want.’

Thorstein said, ‘There is one thing which I request, and that is the godord for my sons.’

Thorir said that they could have it.

Thorstein said, ‘I will call on the one who has created the sun, because I believe him to be the mightiest, so that this affliction might leave you. In return, for his sake, I want to help with the child and bring it up, so that he who has created mankind, might later turn him to himself,
^*
because I think that he is able to do this.’

They then jumped on their horses and rode to the place where they knew that the child was hidden; Thorir’s slave had found it at Karnsa. They saw that its face had been covered, and that the child was pawing at it, and was by then almost at the point of death. They took the child and hurried home to Thorir, and he brought up the boy, and he was duly called Thorkel Scratcher;
^†
and a berserk fit never again came over Thorir. And it was in this way Thorstein acquired the godord.

Olaf lived at Haukagil, and Ottar in Grimstunga; he married Asdis, daughter of Olaf, and at law meetings they shared the same booth. Thorstein’s sons grew up and were accomplished men. Gudbrand was a big and strong fellow. Ingolf was the most handsome of men, and also hefty; his accomplishments surpassed those of most men.

At one Autumn Assembly many men came together and a game was arranged. Ingolf took part and again showed his skills. Once when he chased after his ball, it so happened that it flew towards Valgerd Ottarsdottir. She let her cloak fall on it, and they talked together for a while. She seemed to him a remarkably beautiful woman; and on each remaining day of the assembly, he came to talk with her. After that he was always paying her visits there.

This was not to Ottar’s liking, and he came to talk to Ingolf and asked him not to continue behaviour which dishonoured them both, and said that he would rather give him the woman honourably than have him beguile her ignobly. Ingolf said that he would organize his visits as he saw fit, and said that there was no dishonour to Ottar in that. Ottar then met Thorstein and asked him to intervene in this with Ingolf, so that he would do as Ottar wished. Thorstein said that he would.

Thorstein said to Ingolf, ‘Why is it that you are bent on dishonouring Ottar and shaming his daughter; you are behaving badly, and there will be discord between us if you don’t do something about this.’

Ingolf then put an end to his visits, but composed some love-verses about Valgerd and then recited them. Ottar again went to see Thorstein and said that he could not accept Ingolf’s versifying – ‘it seems to me that you should come up with some remedy for this’.

Thorstein said that the verses were not to his liking, ‘and I have said so, but to no effect’.

Ottar said, ‘You can pay compensation on behalf of Ingolf or give us permission to take him to court.’

‘I wish to urge you,’ said Thorstein, ‘not to pay any attention to all this, but you may prosecute him.’

Ottar journeyed to Hof and summoned Ingolf to the Hunavatn Assembly and prepared the case.

When Jokul heard of this, he was furious about it and said that it would be an absolute disgrace if kinsmen of theirs were to be made outlaws in their own lands, and said that Thorstein was growing very old; ‘and though we are not well versed in the law, we will render this case void with our axe-hammers’.

When it was time for the Spring Assembly, Ingolf asked Thorstein to give advice in the case; otherwise he said that he would bury his axe in Ottar’s head.

Thorstein said, ‘I want you now to take over the godord and have the benefit of it,’ and he did so.

When the case came to court, Ingolf and Jokul went and broke up the proceedings violently and the case collapsed. Shortly after the assembly, Ottar said to his father-in-law Olaf that he would not remain there any longer and would be selling his land. This he duly did, and moved his home south across the heath.

38
Not long after this Thorstein fell sick and died. Though Thorstein’s death is mentioned first, Jokul was the first of the brothers to die, and it was Thorir who lived longest. Thorkel Scratcher was three years old when Thorir, his foster-father, died. Thorkel then went to Thororm’s home and was fostered there. Men did not believe that they would be able to replace Thorstein and his brothers, but his sons were held to be following nicely in his footsteps. Ingolf seemed to women the most handsome, as this verse states:

The brothers divided the inheritance among themselves. Ingolf lived at Hof, and Gudbrand at Gudbrandsstadir. Ingolf married Halldis, daughter of Olaf from Haukagil; she was younger than Asdis, whom Ottar married, and who was the mother of Valgerd and Hallfred the Troublesome Poet. Ingolf always went to meet Valgerd when on his way to or from the assembly. Ottar did not like this; she also made for him all the most elaborate clothing.

39
Some winters after the death of Thorstein Ingimundarson, Ottar, when riding from the assembly across Blaskog heath, came across an outlawed man called Thorir who had come from the East Fjords. He said that he had been outlawed in a lawsuit about a woman, and asked Ottar for hospitality. Ottar said that he would help him on one condition – ‘if you go on an errand for me’.

He asked what this was.

Ottar replied, ‘I want to send you north to Vatnsdal to Ingolf, so that you can try to kill him or either one of the brothers, because it is not unlikely, if things turn out as expected, that luck will not be on their side in this. If you go, then I will offer you help.’

He said that he was well able to handle this, ‘for I do not lack courage’.

He went home with Ottar and they made an agreement that he would kill Ingolf – or Gudbrand if he could get to him more easily – and that Ottar should help him to get abroad.

He went north to Vatnsdal and arrived at Hof; he stayed there overnight and asked Ingolf for hospitality, saying that he was an outlaw. Ingolf said that he had no need of men from outside the region; he said that such people were easily found. He told him to leave at once and said that he did not like the look of him.

Thorir departed and came to Gudbrand; he took him in and Thorir stayed there for a time. One morning Gudbrand asked him to get him a horse, and walked outside with Thorir behind him. And as Gudbrand came to the threshold he bent down, and Thorir aimed a blow at him, and when he heard the axe whistling, he got himself through the doorway and Thorir’s blow hit the beam which ran from the barge-rafter. The axe stuck fast in
the beam, and Thorir ran away out of the yard with Gudbrand in pursuit. Thorir leapt over the river chasm, and lay there flat out. Gudbrand hurled his sword after him and it hit him in the midriff. He had tied the bridle around himself and the sword hit the bridle ring. Gudbrand jumped over the river and ran up to Thorir, but he was dead by then. He threw earth over him where he lay. There were notches made in the sword, and one was the size of a finger tip. The sword was later sharpened; it was the finest of weapons.

Gudbrand went to find his brother and told him what had happened and said that Ottar was behind this, and that they would have to be prepared for this sort of thing. Ingolf said that this was a shocking business, and they rode south to Borgarfjord and confronted Ottar with it, but he denied everything, and as at this time there were many people there, they were not able to seize him.

A settlement was sought and the matter was resolved by Ottar paying out a hundred of silver and with no price being set on Thorir’s death. It was also part of this settlement that Ingolf should be slain unprotected by the law if he should come to visit Valgerd, unless Gudbrand was with him.

Then Ingolf said, ‘You may think about this, Ottar – if there are any more unfriendly journeys to us than this one, there will be no compensation paid, and your treachery will then receive its due reward.’

He said that many would claim that there had been offences before this one was committed. They then parted company.