The Sagas of the Icelanders (82 page)

6
There was a man named Gest, son of Oddleif. He arrived at the assembly and shared a booth with Thorkel the Wealthy. The men from Surnadal were sitting in the Haukadal booth drinking, while the others were at court because there were lawsuits to be heard.

A man came into the Haukadal booth, a noisy fellow named Arnor, and spoke to them: ‘You Haukadal people don’t seem to want to do anything other than drink while your thingmen are dealing with important matters, That’s what everyone thinks, though I’m the only one to say so.’

Then Gisli said, ‘Then we will go to court. It could well be that the others are saying the same.’

So they all walked over to the court where Thorgrim asked if any of them needed his support.

‘Having pledged our support, we will do all in our power to help you, as long as we are standing,’ he told them.

Then Thorkel the Wealthy answered, ‘The matters that men are concerned with at present are of little importance, but we will let you know if we need your support.’

People began to talk about how much finery the group possessed, how imposing they were and how well they spoke.

Then Thorkel said to Gest, ‘How long do you expect the ardour and arrogance of these people from Haukadal to last?’

Gest answered, ‘Three summers from now, the men in that party will no longer see eye to eye.’

Now Arnor was present while they were talking, and he rushed into the Haukadal booth and told them what had been said.

Gisli answered, ‘I am sure this report is correct, but let us make certain that his prediction does not come true. And I see a good way to avert it We four will make our bond of friendship even stronger than before by pledging our sworn brotherhood.’

This seemed good counsel to them, so they walked out to Eyrarhvolsoddi and scored out a long strip of turf, making sure that both ends were still attached to the ground. Then they propped up the arch of raised turf with a damascened spear so long-shafted that a man could stretch out his arm and touch the rivets. All four of them had to go under it, Thorgrim, Gisli, Thorkel and Vestein. Then they drew blood and let it drip down on to the soil beneath the turf strip and stirred it together – the soil and the blood. Then they all fell to their knees and swore an oath that each would avenge the other as if they were brothers, and they called on all the gods as their witnesses.

But as they all clasped hands, Thorgrim said, ‘I will have enough trouble to deal with if I so bind myself to Thorkel and Gisli, my brothers-in-law, but I bear no obligation to Vestein’ – and he quickly withdrew his hand.

‘Then others may do the same,’ said Gisli, and he withdrew his hand, too. ‘I will not burden myself with ties to a man who refuses to bind himself to Vestein, my brother-in-law.’

They were all deeply affected by this. Then Gisli said to Thorkel, his brother, ‘This is what I thought would happen. What has taken place here will come to nothing. I suspect fate will take its course now.’

After this, everyone went home from the assembly.

7
That summer, a ship arrived in Dyrafjord owned by two brothers from Norway. One was named Thorir and the other Thorarin, and they were from Oslo Fjord. Thorgrim rode out to the ship and bought four hundreds of timber, paying part of the sum immediately and leaving the balance until later. Then the traders put up ship in the Sandar estuary and found a place to lodge.

There was a man named Odd, the son of Orlyg, who lived at Eyri in Skutilsfjord. Thorgrim lodged the skipper and the helmsman at his house, then he sent his son, Thorodd, to stack and count the timber because he wanted it brought to his house soon. Thorodd went and took the timber and stacked it, and found that it was far from being the bargain his father had described. Then he spoke harshly to the Norwegians, which they could not tolerate, and they set about him and killed him.

After this, the Norwegians left their ship and travelled about Dyrafjord, where they obtained some horses, and then headed off towards their lodgings. They travelled all day and night, eventually arriving at a valley that leads up out of Skutilsfjord. They ate breakfast there and then went to sleep.

When Thorgrim heard the news, he set out from home without delay, had someone ferry him across the fjord and then pursued the Norwegians alone. He arrived at the spot where they were sleeping and woke Thorarin by prodding at him with the shaft of his spear. Thorarin jumped up and, recognizing his assailant, was about to grab his sword, but Thorgrim thrust out with his spear and killed him. Then Thorir awoke, ready to avenge his brother, but Thorgrim speared him clean through. The place is now called Dagverdardal (Breakfast dale) and Austmannafall (Eastman’s fall). This done, Thorgrim returned home and became renowned as a result of this expedition.

Thorgrim remained at his farm for the winter, and when spring arrived,
he and his brother-in-law, Thorkel, fitted out the ship that had belonged to the Norwegians. The two men from Oslo Fjord had been great trouble-makers in Norway and they had not been safe there. With the ship fully ready, Thorgrim and Thorkel set sail. That summer, Vestein and Gisli also set off from Skeljavik in Steingrimsfjord. Thus both ships were at sea. Onund from Medaldal was left in charge of Thorkel and Gisli’s farm, while Outlaw-Stein and Thordis took care of the farm at Saebol.

All this took place when Harald Grey-cloak ruled Norway. Thorgrim and Thorkel came ashore in the north of that country and soon afterwards arrived at the court, where they presented themselves to the king and greeted him warmly. The king gave them a friendly welcome, and they pledged themselves as his followers. They became wealthy and well established.

Gisli and Vestein had been at sea for more than fifty days and nights when they eventually ran ashore at Hordaland. It was early winter, in the dead of night, and a great blizzard was blowing. Their ship was wrecked, but the crew escaped drowning and the goods were salvaged.

8
There was a man named Beard-Bjalfi, who owned a trading ship and was about to set out south for Denmark. Gisli and Vestein asked him if they could buy a half share in the ship. He replied that he had heard that they were decent men and agreed to the deal. They responded at once by giving him gifts worth more than the price of their share.

They sailed south to Denmark and arrived at a place called Viborg, staying the winter there with a man named Sigurhadd. There were three of them, Vestein, Gisli and Bjalfi, and they were all good friends and gave each other gifts. Early in the spring, Bjalfi prepared his ship to sail for Iceland.

There was a man named Sigurd, a trading partner of Vestein’s and a Norwegian by birth, who at that time was living out west in England. He sent word to Vestein, saying that he wanted to break up their partnership, claiming that he no longer needed Vestein’s money. Vestein asked Gisli’s leave to go and meet the man.

‘Then you must promise me,’ said Gisli, ‘if you return safely, you will never leave Iceland again without my consent.’

Vestein agreed to these terms.

One morning Gisli arose early and went out to the smithy. He was a very skilled craftsman and a man of many talents. He made a coin, worth no less than an ounce of silver, and riveted it together with twenty studs, ten on each half, so that the coin appeared whole even though it could be separated into two halves.

It is said that he pulled the coin apart and gave one half to Vestein, asking him to keep it as a token.

‘We will only have these sent to each other if our lives are in danger,’ said Gisli. ‘And something tells me that we will need to send them, even though we may never meet each other again.’

Vestein then went west to England. Gisli and Bjalfi made for Norway, and in the summer they sailed to Iceland. They became wealthy and well-respected men and eventually parted on good terms, Bjalfi buying Gisli’s share of the ship.

Then Gisli went west to Dyrafjord on a cargo vessel with eleven men.

9
Thorkel and Thorgrim made their ship ready in another place and they arrived at the Haukadal estuary in Dyrafjord later on the same day that Gisli had sailed in on board the cargo vessel. They met up soon afterwards and greeted each other warmly, then each of them went off to his own home. Thorgrim and Thorkel had also become wealthy.

Thorkel bore himself aloof and did not work on the farm. Gisli, on the contrary, worked day and night.

One day when the weather was fine, Gisli sent all his men out haymaking – except Thorkel. He was the only man left at the farmhouse, and he laid himself out in the fire-room after having finished his breakfast. The fire-room was a hundred feet long and sixty feet wide, and on its south side was the women’s area, where Aud and Asgerd sat sewing. When Thorkel woke up he went over to the women’s area because he heard voices coming from it, and he lay down close by.

Asgerd was speaking: ‘Aud, could you please cut out a shirt for my husband, Thorkel?’

‘I’m no better than you at such things,’ said Aud, ‘and, besides, you would not have asked for my help if you had been cutting out a shirt for my brother, Vestein.’

‘That’s a separate issue,’ said Asgerd, ‘and, to my mind, will remain so for some time.’

‘I’ve known what was going on for quite a while,’ said Aud, ‘and we will not say any more about it.’

‘I cannot see anything wrong with my liking Vestein,’ said Asgerd. ‘What’s more, I’ve heard tell that you and Thorgrim saw a lot of each other before you married Gisli.’

‘There was no shame in that,’ said Aud. ‘I was never unfaithful to Gisli and have therefore brought no disgrace upon him. We will stop talking about this now.’

But Thorkel heard every word they spoke, and when they stopped, he said:

And after this he went inside.

Then Aud spoke: ‘Women’s gossip often leads to trouble, and here it may turn out to be the worst kind of trouble. We must seek counsel.’

‘I’ve thought of a plan,’ said Asgerd, ‘that I think will work for me. But I do not see what you can do.’

‘What is it?’ asked Aud.

‘I’ll put my arms around Thorkel’s neck when we are in bed and say it’s a lie. Then he’ll forgive me.’

‘That will not be enough to prevent harm coming from this,’ said Aud.

‘What will you do?’ asked Asgerd.

‘Tell my husband, Gisli, everything I have left unsaid as well as all that to which I cannot find a solution.’

That evening Gisli came home from the haymaking. Usually, Thorkel would have thanked his brother for doing this work, but now he was silent and did not utter a word. Gisli asked him if he was feeling unwell.

‘I am not sick,’ said Thorkel, ‘but this is worse than sickness.’

‘Have I done anything to upset you?’ said Gisli.

‘No, not a thing,’ said Thorkel, ‘but you will find out eventually what this is about.’

And then each of them went about his business, and there was no more talk of the matter at that time.

Thorkel ate very little that evening and was the first to retire to bed.

Once he was there, Asgerd came to him, lifted the blanket and was about to lie down when Thorkel said, ‘I will not have you lying here tonight, nor for a very long time to come.’

Asgerd replied, ‘Why this sudden change? What is the reason for this?’

‘We both know what’s behind this,’ said Thorkel, ‘though I have been kept in the dark about it for a long time. It will not help your reputation if I speak more plainly.’

‘You think what you will,’ answered Asgerd, ‘but I am not going to argue
with you about whether I may sleep in this bed or not. You have a choice – either you take me in and act as if nothing has happened or I will call witnesses this minute, divorce you and have my father reclaim my bride-price and my dowry. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about my taking up room in your bed ever again.’

Thorkel was quiet for a while, then he said, ‘I advise you to do as you wish. I will not stop you from sleeping here all night.’

She soon made clear what she wanted to do, and they had not been lying together for too long before they made up as if nothing had happened.

Aud got into bed with Gisli and told him what she and Asgerd had been talking about. She asked him not to be angry with her, but to see if he could think of a reasonable plan.

‘I see no plan that will work,’ he said, ‘but I will not be angry with you for this. Fate must find someone to speak through. Whatever is meant to happen will happen.’

10
The year wore on and the Moving Days came round again. Thorkel asked his brother Gisli to have a talk.

‘It’s like this, brother,’ he said. ‘I have a few changes in mind that I’m disposed to carry out, and they are along these lines – I want to divide up our wealth and start farming with Thorgrim, my brother-in-law.’

Gisli answered him, ‘What brothers own jointly is best seen together. I would appreciate having things remain as they are and that we make no division.’

‘We cannot go on like this any longer,’ said Thorkel, ‘jointly owning the farm. It will lead to great loss. You have always dealt with the work and the responsibility of the farm alone, and nothing comes of anything I take a hand in.’

‘Don’t concern yourself with this,’ said Gisli, ‘while I make no complaint. We have been on both good and bad terms with each other.’

‘That’s not what’s behind it,’ said Thorkel. ‘The wealth must be divided, and since I demand this division, you may have the farm and the land and I will take the movable goods.’

‘If there is no other way than to separate, then do whatever you wish. I do not mind whether I do the dividing or the choosing.’

So it ended with Gisli dealing with the division. Thorkel chose the goods while Gisli had the land. They also divided the dependants – two children, a boy named Geirmund and a girl named Gudrid. The girl went with Gisli and the boy with Thorkel.

Thorkel went to his brother-in-law and lived with him, while Gisli was left with the farm which he felt was none the worse for the loss.

Summer drew to a close and the Winter Nights began. In those days it was the custom to celebrate the coming of winter by holding feasts and a Winter Nights’ sacrifice. Gisli no longer sacrificed after he left Viborg, but he still held feasts and showed the same magnanimity as before. Then, as the aforementioned time approached, he made everything ready for a magnificent feast and invited both Thorkels – that is, Thorkel Eiriksson and Thorkel the Wealthy – as well as the sons of Bjartmar, who were Aud’s uncles, and many other friends and acquaintances.

On the day the guests arrived, Aud said, ‘If the truth be told, there is one person missing who I wish was here.’

‘Who is that?’ asked Gisli.

‘Vestein, my brother. I wish he were here to enjoy this feast with us.’

‘That’s not how I feel,’ said Gisli. ‘I would gladly pay a great deal for him not to come here now.’

And that ended their conversation.