THREE ICELANDIC OUTLAW SAGASTHREE ICELANDIC OUTLAW SAGASTHE SAGA OF GISLITHE SAGA OF GRETTIRTHE SAGA OF HORD

VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

2004

Selection, introduction and other critical apparatus © J. M. Dent 2001
Translation of The Saga of Grettir and The Saga of Hord © J. M. Dent 2001
Translation of The Saga of Gisli © J. M. Dent 1963
This edition first published by Everyman Paperbacks in 2001
Reissued by Viking Society for Northern Research in 2004
Reprinted with minor corrections in 2014
ISBN 978 0 903521 66 6

The maps are based on those in various volumes of Íslensk fornrit.
The cover illustration is of Grettir Ásmundarson from AM 426 fol., a lateseventeenth-century Icelandic manuscript in Stofnun Árna Magnússonar áÍslandi, Reykjavík

Printed by Short Run Press Limited, Exeter

CONTENTS
Preface ............................................................................................ vii
Chronology .................................................................................... viii
Introduction ..................................................................................... xi
Note on the Text .......................................................................... xxvi
THE SAGA OF GISLI ..................................................................... 1
THE SAGA OF GRETTIR ............................................................. 69
THE SAGA OF HORD ................................................................ 265
Text Summaries ............................................................................ 329
Genealogical Tables ...................................................................... 340
Bibliography ................................................................................. 341
The Verses ..................................................................................... 343
Glossary of Icelandic Terms ......................................................... 351
Index of names ............................................................................. 357

MAPS
Iceland ................................................................................... xvi–xvii
Haukadal ........................................................................................... 2
North-West Iceland ..................................................................... 20–1
Hvalfiord ....................................................................................... 266
Central West Iceland ................................................................. 276–7
South-West Iceland ....................................................................... 328

PREFACE
The translation of The Saga of Gisli in this volume was made by George
Johnston and first published in Everyman’s University Library in 1963
with Notes and an Introductory Essay by Peter Foote. It is here reproduced with only minor changes. The Saga of Grettir was published in
G. A. Hight’s translation in Everyman’s Library in 1914 and reissued
with an Introduction and Notes by Peter Foote in 1965. This new translation is by Anthony Faulkes, as is that of The Saga of Hord, which
has not appeared in Everyman’s Library before. The Introduction,
Notes and Index in this volume are also by Anthony Faulkes but use
material from Peter Foote’s Notes and Essay on The Saga of Gisli(including the account of the metre of dróttkvætt on p. 343), from his
Introduction and Notes to The Saga of Grettir (the Glossary has also
benefitted from several more recent suggestions made by him), andfrom Anthony Faulkes’s Introduction to The Saga of Hord and theHolm-Dwellers, translated by Alan Boucher, published by Iceland
Review, Reykjavík, Iceland in 1983.

viii

CHRONOLOGYCHRONOLOGY
In this chronology many dates are uncertain; some of the events recorded in
the sagas are probably not historical, and the dates given for them here arethose that fit in with other events in the sagas.
AD

c.725
793
c.850
c.870
871
c.885

HISTORICAL EVENTS
Beowulf written
First viking raid on Northumbria
Beginning of viking settlementin England
Beginning of viking settlementin Iceland
Alfred the Great becomesking of England
Battle of Hafrsfiord.
Harald Finehair becomesking of all Norwayc.900

Onund Wooden-leg comes to
Iceland

930
c.945
949
950
952
960

Foundation of Althing

962
964
965
969
977/8
980

Division of Iceland into Quarters

984
c.985
989

EVENTS IN THE OUTLAW SAGAS

Birth of Asmund Hærulang
Birth of Geir Grimsson
Birth of Hord Grimkelsson
Thorbiorn Sur goes to Iceland
Gisli’s failed attempt at sworn
brotherhood
Gisli made outlaw
Hord and Geir go abroad
Geir returns to Iceland
Gisli killed
Hord returns to IcelandThorstein Dromund born
Hord outlawed
Beginning of settlement ofGreenland
Deaths of Hord and the Holmdwellers

CHRONOLOGYADHISTORICAL EVENTS

995

Olaf Tryggvason becomesking of Norwayix

EVENTS IN THE OUTLAW SAGAS

996
Birth of Grettir Asmundarson
999–1000 Christianity accepted in Icelandc.1005 Fifth court established
1010
Burning of Nial
1011
Grettir kills Skeggi, is madeoutlaw and goes to Norway
1013
Grettir’s brother Illugi born
1014
Battle of Clontarf
Grettir returns to Iceland
The Battle of the Heath
1015
Battle of the Nesses
Grettir goes to Norway again
1016
Grettir made full outlaw at
Althing and returns to Iceland
1024
Death of Biorn Hitdælakappi
1024–5
Grettir in Thorisdal
1027
Death of Thorstein Kuggason
1028
Grettir goes to Drangey
1030
Fall of St Olaf. Death ofLawspeaker Skapti
1031
Death of Snorri Godi
Deaths of Grettir and Illugi
1033
Death of Thorbiorn Ongul
1047
Thorstein Dromund and Spes goto Rome1056
First bishop at Skalholt.
Sæmund the wise born
1066
Fall of Harald Hardradi in England1067
Ari the wise born
1096
Tithe laws introduced in Iceland
1106
First bishop at Holar
1117–18 Icelandic Laws first written downc.1130 The Book of the Icelanders compiled
1133
First Icelandic monasteryfounded (at Thingeyrar)c.1150 Earliest Icelandic manuscript fragments
1153
Archbishopric establishedat Nidaros in Norway
1179
Birth of Snorri Sturluson
1199
Bishop Thorlak declared saint1214
Birth of Sturla Thordarson
1217
Hakon Hakonarson becomesking of Norway

x

CHRONOLOGY
AD

c.12201226
c.12301241
1245
c.1250HISTORICAL EVENTSEVENTS IN THE OUTLAW SAGAS

Snorri Sturluson’s Edda
Tristrams saga

The Saga of Gisli written
Snorri Sturluson killed
Death of Styrmir the Wise
Oldest surviving manuscript ofa saga of Icelanders (Egils saga)
1262
Iceland ceded to king of Norway
1263
Death of King Hakon
c.1275 Codex Regius of eddic poems
c.1280 Nials saga. Hrafnkels saga
1284
Sturla Thordarson diesc.1320The Saga of Grettir writtenc.1340 Birth of Chaucer
c.1350 Modruvallabok written
1350–1400
The Saga of Hord written
1382
Flateyjarbok begunc.1400Oldest surviving manuscript fragments of The Saga of Gisli and
The Saga of Hord writtenc.1500Principal manuscripts of The Sagaof Grettir, The Saga of Hord
and The Saga of Gisli written
1550
Reformation in Iceland
1944
Iceland regains complete
independence

CHRONOLOGYxi

INTRODUCTION
The three sagas translated from Old Icelandic in this volume are allabout Icelanders in the Middle Ages who lived and died as outlaws in
the Icelandic countryside. Like all other sagas of Icelanders, these three
are anonymous, but they were certainly written by Icelanders, probably in the west or north-west of Iceland. They are very difficult todate precisely, but it is likely that The Saga of Gisli was written in thefirst half of the thirteenth century, perhaps about 1230, and thus is partof the first flowering of ‘classical’ Icelandic sagas. The Saga of Grettir
is quite a lot later, from the fourteenth century, probably from about1320 and later than most other sagas of Icelanders. Indeed the mostrecent editor of the saga (Örnólfur Thorsson, 1994) suggests that it
may be from as late as the end of the fourteenth century. The Saga of
Hord (called Holmveria saga, ‘the Saga of the Holm-dwellers’, in theprincipal manuscript) is also a late saga, probably from the second
half of the fourteenth century. These two sagas were therefore written
quite a long time after the Icelandic Commonwealth was ceded to theNorwegian Crown in 1262–3, possibly even as late as the time of theunion of the Norwegian, Swedish and Danish crowns (1397); and also
after translated Romances and Heroic Sagas (fornaldar sögur, Sagas
of Ancient Time or Legendary Sagas) may be regarded as having to alarge extent superseded Sagas of Icelanders as the primary expressionof Icelandic identity and values.
The three heroes of the outlaw sagas lived in the so-called ‘Saga
Age’, the century from the time of the completion of the settlement of
Iceland and the foundation of the Althing or General Assembly, whenthe Icelandic legal system was first formalised, traditionally dated AD
930, to the death of St Olaf, king of Norway, in 1030. To the extent
that all three sagas contain some accurate information about that periodof Icelandic history, they must be based on earlier sources such as The
Book of Settlements, other Sagas of Icelanders like Eyrbyggja saga,Laxdæla saga and Egils saga; and oral sources such as poetry composed by Icelanders of the intermediate period and oral prose stories
handed down from the time of the three heroes. The Saga of Grettir

xii

INTRODUCTION

and The Saga of Hord refer to statements by Icelandic historians of
the thirteenth century (Sturla Thordarson, 1214–84; Styrmir Karason,d. 1245) which are not found in their surviving writings, and this has
led some people to think that Sturla and Styrmir might have composed the original sagas on which the surviving sagas of Grettir andHord were based (Styrmir was for ten years prior at the monastery onVi›ey, not far from Hvalfiord, in the area where the author of The
Saga of Hord may be presumed to have lived); but it is perhaps more
likely that they merely referred to these heroes in more general writings, or indeed that the extant statements, if they are accurately reported at all, were simply oral ones. Sturla ﬁór›arson, however, refersto The Saga of Hord in his version of The Book of Settlements (c.
1275; this is the earliest source to mention either Hord or his saga), so
this saga must have existed in some form in the thirteenth century.
The sword Greyflank is mentioned in Sturla’s Íslendinga saga, but it
may have been known about from oral tales independent of The Sagaof Gisli. The Saga of Gisli itself makes use of few written sources, noteven The Book of Settlements, being probably older than most of theother sagas (it has some overlap with Kormaks saga, though these twosagas seem to be independent of each other), but the author may have
had written genealogies that were also used in The Book of Settlements and other sagas, and adapts episodes from Droplaugarsona saga
and Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa, which are among the earliest Sagas
of Icelanders. It was itself used in the version of The Book of Settlements made by Sturla ﬁór›arson and in Eyrbyggja saga. The Saga ofGrettir makes extensive use of Sturla ﬁór›arson’s version of The Book
of Settlements (from which it gets the reference to the otherwise unknown Saga of Bodmod and Grimolf, as well as much of the information on which the first thirteen chapters are based) and a large numberof other sagas. These include Hei›arvíga saga, Ljósvetninga saga,
The Saga of Gisli, Fóstbræ›ra saga—the episode in ch. 52, together
with one of Grettir’s verses, is also in one version of the last of these,though in this case The Saga of Grettir may have been the original
source—some of which are named in the text (e.g. Laxdæla saga,
Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa and Bandamanna saga). The information
said to be derived from the saga of Earl Eiríkr probably comes fromthe episode in Fagrskinna 163–7; an unknown Eiríks saga is also referred to in Fagrskinna 139 as a source. Grettir himself is referred toINTRODUCTION

xiii

in a variety of other medieval writings in Iceland (e.g. in Haukr
Valdísarson’s catalogue poem Íslendingadrápa, c.1200; one of hisverses is quoted in Snorri Sturluson’s Edda, p. 119) and was clearly
very well known. The Saga of Hord refers to an otherwise unknownÁlfgeirs ﬂáttr as a source.
For The Saga of Gisli and The Saga of Hord, besides the complete
texts that survive in a manuscript of the last quarter of the fifteenth
century, on which the present translations are based, which also contains a text of The Saga of Grettir (AM 556 a 4to), there are extant
other versions: a fragmentary and shorter or more compact one in thecase of The Saga of Hord, on a single leaf in AM 564 a 4to, written
about the beginning of the fifteenth century, where it is entitled ‘Har›arsaga Grímkelssonar’, and fragments of a slightly different, rather poorly
copied version of The Saga of Gisli that were also written in the early
fifteenth century. Two eighteenth-century copies also survive of a third
version of The Saga of Gisli that was rather longer than the fifteenthcentury versions, especially in the introductory parts. There is no likelihood that these are oral variants of the sagas; the fragmentary versionof The Saga of Hord, although it is actually found in an earlier manuscript than that which contains the complete text, is almost certainly
an abridgement of the original saga; reported speech is often usedinstead of direct speech, and it contains no verses. The text of the firsteight chapters, which is all that is extant in this version, is almost
twice as long in the longer version, and some of the characters havedifferent names. The longer version of The Saga of Gisli is also now
thought to be closer to the original than the shorter version, even though
in its early chapters it seems to have been much influenced by thestyle of Heroic or Legendary Sagas, while the shorter version seems
to have been abridged and altered in other ways. The Saga of Grettir
survives in only one version of which there are four independent medieval manuscripts, all written in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, though some of these have been added to since the original saga
was written (these additions include material probably derived from
Sturla’s account of Grettir, from which some contradictions arise, particularly in the chronology); there is a large number of later manuscripts.
All three outlaw sagas, though predominantly in vernacular prose, include a number of verses, many of which are attributed to the respective
heroes. These verses contain little narrative; they are mostly repre-

xiv

INTRODUCTION

sented as speeches of the characters in the sagas, and constitutecomments on their experiences. In some cases the attributions may becorrect, though there is no way of proving or disproving it. But it isalso possible that some of the verses were composed by the authors of
the prose narrative, or, more likely, were composed by story-tellers toembellish accounts of the three heroes in the centuries between their
deaths and the composition of the extant written sagas. Such verses
could then become primary sources for the reconstruction of events inthe prose narrative. It is even possible that some verses were added tothe sagas after they were first written. Many of the verses in The Sagaof Hord are in a style characteristic of fourteenth-century heroic poems
and sagas (those exchanged between the hero and the dead viking
Soti, and those of the idol in ch. 38, are in the simple style of eddic
verse, rather than the usual elaborate skaldic style), while the series ofverses attributed to Gisli in his saga, which tell of his prophetic dreams,
were clearly composed in the Christian period (i.e. after AD 1000, butvery likely in the twelfth century) by someone who wished to represent the heathen hero as having some intimations of the coming of the
new religion. Few of the many verses attributed to Grettir are thought
to be really by him (about ten at most), and are likely to date from thetwelfth or more likely the thirteenth century. Some of the verses also
appear in other sources (in The Saga of Grettir, the first half of thesecond verse of ch. 72, which is also in Snorri Sturluson’s Edda, andthe first two pieces of verse in ch. 63, which are also in The Book of
Settlements, one version of which has both of them as complete 8-line
stanzas; and the verse attributed to Thormod in ch. 27 of The Saga ofGrettir also appears in Fóstbræ›ra saga), and these are more likely to
be genuine, and at least can be shown to be older than the prose of thesaga. Sometimes verses conflict with the story as told in the prose,e.g. in The Saga of Gisli (chs 17, 34, 36), which means that they cannot have been written by the author of the prose.
A number of the verses in The Saga of Grettir form series which
may have been composed as continuous poems by a later, perhaps
much later, story-teller, such as his autobiographical series in chs 24
and 52; Lopt’s (Hallmund’s) verses in ch. 54 and his dying poem inch. 62, which may be based on those of Hialmar and Odd in ÖrvarOdds saga (these all in a simpler style than the usual court metre,
though they contain examples of complex word-play); the Sodulkolla
verses in ch. 47; Grettir’s poem about Hallmund in ch. 57 (two lines

INTRODUCTION

xv

of which also appear in the poem about Hallmund in Bergbúa ﬂáttr);
and his last verses in ch. 80, which refer to some events that are notrelated in the saga. The Torfi Vebrandsson mentioned in the second ofthese is not known from other sources, but the events in the fourth arereferred to in Ljósvetninga saga. Four of the verses in ch. 80 are only
in one of the early manuscripts and may have been composed after thesaga was written. The dream-verses in The Saga of Gisli may also
have been composed as a continuous poem.
Of the three outlaw heroes, only Grettir lived and died a Christian,and The Saga of Grettir, particularly the final chapters, has a distinct
Christian slant. Grettir’s misfortunes, however, are not attributed tohis religion or to his sinfulness, but consistently to his gæfuleysi, hislack of ‘good luck’ (sometimes translated ‘misfortune’). Gæfa wasoriginally a pre-Christian concept, and meant a quality, sometimes
embodied as a kind of guardian spirit, which attached itself to someindividuals or families, but could be alienated. Lack of it predisposed
an individual’s undertakings to failure. The words gæfa and gæfuma›r
are translated in various ways in this volume, according to the precise
contexts in which they occur, sometimes as ‘luck, lucky man’(gæfusamligr ‘fortunate’), sometimes as ‘success, successful man’ (see,for example, The Saga of Grettir, chs 31, 34, 39, 41, 52, 62, 78, 90, 92;
The Saga of Gisli, ch. 27, 36). It is lack of gæfa which in The Saga ofGrettir is supposed to be the reason for everything Grettir tries to doturning out badly, although his actual motivation is almost invariably
good (ógæfa, ógæfuma›r is translated ‘disposition to failure’, ‘[a man]prone to failure’ or the like; ógæfufullr ‘prone to disaster’, gæfulauss(pl. -lausir) ‘having forfeited one’s good luck’, The Saga of Hord, chs
12, 34). Thus his attempt to save his shipwrecked companions leads to
his outlawry, one of his exploits designed to cleanse a neighbourhoodof evil spirits has disastrous consequences for him, and he loses his
opportunity of gaining St Olaf’s help to clear his name because of an
unfortunate encounter with a devil in a church. He is cursed by one ofhis evil opponents with fear of the dark, which leads to him being
forced to rely on untrustworthy helpers, and his actual death, shortly
before well-meaning men were due to release him from outlawry, iscaused by black magic. He is contrasted with his half-brother Thorstein
Dromund, who, besides being quite different in physique and character, and in spite of being in a Christian sense a rather conventional
sinner, ends up as an almost saintly figure.

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xviiiINTRODUCTION

Gisli is a well-meaning but tragic figure who tries to uphold his own
and his family’s honour and attempts to affirm his solidarity with his
relations and in-laws, but he is drawn into a disastrous feud by envious and ill-motivated men. He is supported by his wife throughout his
hard life, but betrayed by his sister and repeatedly let down by his
brother and some of his friends, though others stand by him faithfully.
His resistance to his enemies and particularly his last stand is heroic.
The dreams and poems that are attributed to him in the saga represent
him as torn between evil pagan values and the new Christian ones thatwill triumph soon after his death. In the prose narrative too (see ch.
10), he is represented as half-Christian. He is, like Grettir, said not to
be a gæfuma›r (man of luck, successful man, ch. 36; see also the endof ch. 27, where the same contrast between success and ability is madeas in the proverb quoted in The Saga of Grettir, ch. 34), but in his sagafate is more frequently invoked as the source of his misfortunes. Stories
told in Eddic poems, concerning the relationships between Sigurd the
Dragon-slayer, Gudrun, Brynhild, and Gudrun’s brothers (Sigurd’soath-brothers), seem to have influenced the presentation of the storyof Gisli and his wife and sister and brothers-in-law, and the verse inch. 19 itself invokes the comparison.
Hord is a more conventional romantic hero who performs a numberof stock viking exploits abroad and marries a foreign earl’s daughter
before, back in Iceland, allowing his temper to lead him to retaliate
against a bad neighbour. This leads to his outlawry, and he too, in spiteof his fundamental good-will and social commitment, is repeatedly let
down by ill-disposed relatives and friends. During his outlawry he isrepresented as trying to avoid crime and to atone for his wrong-doing,but as being continually compromised by his associates, who are morally
inferior to himself and whom he unsuccessfuly tries to restrain fromexcess and ill-advised actions. His death is achieved by trickery, andvengeance for it is brought about by his sister, his wife and his two
young sons. His loyalty to his friends in spite of their faults and his
attempts to save them from their own gullibility, his attachment to his
wife, his ability to see clearly when all around him are blind, and his
death to which he knowingly goes because of an appeal to his honour
and heroism, all combine to make him an attractive and sympathetic
character who seems more sinned against than sinning, and evoke thepity and admiration of the reader. The same sort of irony is employedINTRODUCTION

xix

in all three outlaw sagas, whose heroes come to be at odds with societyin spite of good intentions and are portrayed as more honourable thantheir victorious enemies in spite of their faults.
The Sagas of Icelanders tell of many men who were outlawed, though
only in the three sagas translated here can the hero’s outlawry be regarded as the primary theme of the story. In all three the main structural basis is the hero’s biography and his heroic death, though all
three have substantial introductory sections giving the history of therespective families before the main story begins. These introductory
sections can be regarded as establishing various themes that are significant later in the saga. The Saga of Grettir also has a substantial section after the hero’s death which tells not only of the vengeance taken
by his half-brother Thorstein Dromund in Constantinople, but also ofThorstein’s subsequent adventures. These use motifs borrowed from
European fabliau and romance, notably that of the ambiguous oath,well known from versions of the Romance of Tristram and Iseult.
Another such episode is when the hero hides under the mattress on
Hergilsey. Such elements occur also in The Saga of Gisli, for example
in the episode in ch. 16 where the hero ties together all the cows’ tails
in the byre, clearly in order to make pursuit after he has killed his
enemy difficult, though the expected comedy of his pursuers tripping
over the obstacles does not materialise. These episodes were not necessarily taken direct from foreign models; the motif of the cows’ tails is
probably borrowed from Droplaugarsona saga, and Thorstein Dromund’s
release from prison by a woman, and the subsequent affair with her
during which he has several lucky escapes from detection by her husband, seem actually to be based on stories told of Harald Hardradi inMorkinskinna. In The Saga of Hord, many of the hero’s adventuresabroad are characteristic of viking exploits in Heroic Sagas, though
his marrying an earl’s daughter is more like one of the Romance sagas.
This saga has many links with other, earlier sagas, both sagas of Icelanders and Heroic sagas, as well as one or more versions of the Book
of Settlements.
Under early Icelandic law, offences were regarded as injuries to individuals or families, whether they caused loss of property, limbs or
life, or were perceived as damage to a person’s or family’s honour,and the injured parties could claim compensation or honour-payments.
For this purpose all free men were regarded as having the same price.

xx

INTRODUCTION

Apart from fines (or rather, enforced compensation for physical orother injuries to members of other families), outlawry was the only
sanction for misdemeanours available to courts in the Icelandic Commonwealth (on outlawry in Iceland see Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia, ed. Phillip Pulsiano (1993), under Outlaw sagas; Outlawry).
This might be temporary, for three years (‘lesser outlawry’, The Sagaof Grettir, chs 16, 78), or permanent in the case of serious uncompensatable injuries or killings (‘full outlawry’, The Saga of Grettir, ch.
84), in which case the guilty man lost all legal rights and status for the
rest of his life. Thus the final solution to the problem of anti-social
behaviour was social rejection. In either case, the guilty person would
normally go abroad for the term of his outlawry, either to Norway andother parts of Europe, as raiders or traders or mercenaries or, in somecases, to Greenland, like Eirik the Red, who had had to leave Norway
because of some killings and was subsequently outlawed from Iceland as well (Icelanders’ attempts to colonise North America in theearly eleventh century did not succeed), or the thirteenth-century Aron
Hiorleifsson, who went to Norway (in other respects Arons’s career
was in some ways strikingly similar to Gisli’s). If the person outlawedchose not to go abroad, like Gunnar in Njáls saga, he would usually
be killed by his enemies, and if so they would incur no legal liability.
It was presumably because of the difficulty of surviving in the geographical and climatic conditions of the uninhabited parts of Iceland that
so few outlaws chose to try to live out their outlawry there, and anyone helping or sheltering an outlaw could incur a sentence of outlawryor other penalties himself (note, for instance, The Saga of Gisli chs 19,
20, 21, 23; The Saga of Grettir, chs 47, 54, 58). The landscape of
Iceland is inhospitable, particularly inland away from the farming
areas, and it is surprising that it was apparently possible for outlaws tosurvive in the wasteland there, and that some should apparently choose
to try to do so. When they did, they provided material for story-tellers
who celebrated the independence and heroism that the undertaking
demanded. Besides the three heroes of the sagas in this volume, there
were others in later times who became famous for surviving as outlaws in Iceland, notably Fjalla-Eyvindur in the eighteenth century.
Some of these were celebrated in literary works of the nineteenth century or later, and many in folk-tales that survive from the eighteenth
century to modern times.

INTRODUCTION

xxi

Medieval Iceland before 1262 had an elaborate constitution and legal
system, codified in manuscripts surviving from the thirteenth century.
It was in various ways fundamentally different from what existed inother parts of Europe. Not only did Iceland not have a king, and consequently no standing army or bureaucratic system; it had no officials
to enforce the law and no professional lawyers. There were no authorities. All suits had to be brought by individuals before courts where
decisions were made by a jury of men appointed by local chieftains(go›ar). The chieftains themselves had no direct power over the courts,
though they formed a legislature which could make new laws or alter
existing ones. The courts’ decisions had to be implemented by those
who had brought the original suits, though a chieftain’s help might beavailable to them. In many cases we are told that out-of-court settlements were brought about by agreed arbitrators or by direct negotiation between the parties. The lawspeaker or lawman was the only
official in this system. He was elected from among the chieftains andpresided over the legislature; his chief duty was to pronounce the law,both at sessions of the legislature and often privately at the request of
the parties in a dispute (e.g. The Saga of Grettir, chs 27, 51, 77; The
Saga of Hord, ch. 10).
This system meant that the law and its administrators were not perceived as opponents of ordinary people as they often are under othersystems. The law was identified with the way of life of medieval Icelanders, the foundation of their social organisation, and there could be
little possibility of alienation of individuals from it and consequently
no idealisation of the outlaw life. The opponents of Gisli, Grettir andHord were not ‘authorities’ or officials, corrupt or otherwise, but theiropponents in local feuds to whom they were often related, at any rateby marriage. There is no equivalent of the Sheriff of Nottingham in
the Icelandic sagas, unless it be Thorbiorn Ongul, who is appointed asa sort of unofficial representative of the farming establishment anddeputed to get rid of Grettir, and Eyiolf the Grey, who is offered money
to get rid of Gisli. Such payments, and the prices on the heads of Icelandic outlaws, were privately put up, not by the authorities. There is
therefore no political or socio-economic element to these Icelandic
outlaw stories (except for the concern of the farming establishment
over the loss of their sheep that were being stolen by outlaws), even
when, as in the case of The Saga of Grettir and The Saga of Hord, thexxii

INTRODUCTION

story was written and probably constructed after the fall of the Icelandic Commonwealth when the government of the country and the administration of its legal system had come to be in the hands of the kingof Norway’s officials who were often perceived as foreigners exploiting the Icelandic peasantry. In the Iceland of their time, moreover,insofar as there was much stratification of society, the heroes of theoutlaw sagas all had comparatively high social status, coming fromthe ranks of the wealthy landowners and being descended from leading settlers. They were the victims of feuds caused by social rivalry,
not rebels against authority or society itself, or fighters for social justice against corrupt officials, though there is a good deal of unfairness
both in their outlawry and in the ways in which they are killed. Moreover Icelandic geographical conditions were not conducive to the idealisation of outdoor life in the greenwood as an alternative to normalsocial life in the medieval town. In fact it is really only in the representation of the settlement of Iceland itself as due to noblemen’s alienation from the newly imposed government of Harald Finehair in the
ninth and early tenth centuries in the introductory chapters of many
Sagas of Icelanders that Icelandic stories present any idealisation ofrebellion against authority (perceived as corrupt) and the idea of theestablishment of a more just society elsewhere; though the Icelandic
constitution, like the organisation of life in the English greenwood,
was not truly egalitarian.
Nevertheless there are some similarities between the outlaw sagasof Iceland and stories of English outlaws like Robin Hood (there is areliable account of the development of the Robin Hood legends in
R. B. Dobson and J. Taylor, Rymes of Robyn Hood, 1997). Although
Gisli spends his outlawry in solitude or being sheltered by his wife,and Grettir on remote heathland or island with an occasional malecompanion, and they only occasionally attract other outlaws to themselves, Hord gathers together a band of outlaws and lives with hiswife and children in a community with a hierarchy mirroring that ofsociety in general. Both Gisli and Grettir employ tricks to escape theirenemies, often disguising themselves or impersonating other people,
and Grettir, like Robin Hood, attends assemblies of his enemies in
disguise, obtaining safe-conduct from them, and competing in games(which he of course wins). Grettir, again like Robin Hood, manages to
get on good terms with the king (in his case, of Norway), though hefails to become integrated back into society.

INTRODUCTION

xxiii

The three heroes of the Icelandic outlaw sagas, most members of
their families and some at least of their chief opponents were historical persons in Iceland in the tenth and eleventh centuries, and some of
their exploits and the outline of their lives are also historical, and often
must have been derived from earlier written sources (though it has tobe said that there is considerable doubt about Hord; it is possible thatboth he and his and Geir’s deeds were entirely fabricated; the saga asa whole may contain little genuine historical tradition). Many of these
persons and events are mentioned in other sagas or in historical sources
like The Book of Settlements or Icelandic annals, though occasionally
there are slips in the chronology and some of the people said to havebeen involved with the outlaws were not contemporary with them(Thorkel Moon, for instance, was lawspeaker at a much later timethan the events, with which he is supposed to have been concerned in
The Saga of Grettir ch. 12 and The Saga of Hord ch. 10, are supposed
to have taken place; and Thorstein Thorskabit cannot have been still
alive at the time claimed in The Saga of Gisli, ch. 5), and there are
discrepancies in some of the relationships and names (e.g. Ingiald of
Hergilsey in The Saga of Gisli was not really father of Geirmund andGudrid; Asgeir of Asgeirsa and Asgeir Ædikoll in The Saga of Grettir
are confused—in some other sources, e.g. Laxdæla saga, they are one
and the same person—and Kalf Ageirsson and Thorvald Asgeirsson(ch. 15) were not actually brothers). The chronological summaries in
The Saga of Grettir, chs 77, 82, and at the end of The Saga of Hord areinconsistent with the saga narratives and seem to be the result ofattempts to combine discrepant sources (they may be additions or alterations to the original texts), though some of the errors in chronology,
for instance those in chs 7 and 22 (where the figure should be 14 + 20)
of The Saga of Hord, may be the result of mistakes in copying. Someof the less prominent characters also appear in other sagas and werecertainly real people, for instance the Lawspeaker Skapti and Gest theWise, as well, of course, as St Olaf and the kings Harald Finehair andHarald Hardradi of Norway. Snorri Godi is an important figure in
Eyrbyggja saga and is the subject of the learned note known as Ævi
Snorra go›a, believed to be by the author of The Book of the Icelanders, Ari the Wise. Many of the minor episodes and most of the conversations, however, must be reconstructions, either by the authors of thesagas or by story-tellers intermediate between the events and the authors(sometimes episodes were modelled on those in earlier sagas; the stories

xxiv

INTRODUCTION

of Grettir’s childhood are of a conventional type, unlikely to be historical, and many of the episodes involving the supernatural in Grettir’s
life must be based on folk-stories). The background to these was reallife in medieval Iceland, where the principal social events were thelocal assemblies, the Althing (the General Assembly held for a fortnight each summer) and the weddings and Yule-feasts, the games,
wrestling matches and horse-fights (though the descriptions are neverdetailed enough to explain how these were organised and what therules were), and everyone’s normal occupation was farming. Only
abroad were there towns which could provide larger communities as asetting for the action, or kings and noblemen with large followings.
(Some of the details of procedures at Icelandic Assemblies, however,particularly in The Saga of Grettir, are inaccurate and belong to a later
age, though versions of the long truce-formula in ch. 72 are found in
Hei›arvíga saga and Grágás.) Some pre-christian rituals appear, suchas the ceremony of blood-brotherhood and the burial rites in The Sagaof Gisli, but although these are plausible and have links with someother accounts, it does not seem that any of the authors of the sagas
had much detailed knowledge of heathen religion. The story in The
Saga of Hord ch. 19, for instance, about the gods in Grimkel’s temple,
is more imaginative and sensational than plausible, and the heathen
religious background in this saga is used more for sensational effectthan for historical accuracy, like the folk-lore elements of The Saga ofGrettir. The supernatural episodes in The Saga of Hord also seem more
literary in conception than genuine folk-lore. Abroad, the backgroundis the monarchical organisation of other European countries, theChurch, and narrative elements such as the trial by ordeal (if Grettir
had been allowed to undertake his ordeal in ch. 39, he would have had
to carry a piece of red-hot iron in his bare hands a certain number ofpaces, and if the wounds did not go septic, he would be deemed innocent; such ordeals were banned in the thirteenth century), oaths with
Christian sanctions and imprisonment in dungeons. Not all the episodes taking place abroad are legendary and literary: Icelanders didgo and live in places as far removed as Greenland (where they farmed)
and Constantinople (where they often joined Norwegians in the imperial guard and fought campaigns in the Mediterranean, as did Harald
Hardradi, who fled there after the fall of his half-brother St Olaf in
1030 and later became king of Norway). Many of the episodes with

INTRODUCTION

xxv

supernatural elements must derive from Scandinavian folk-tales.
Grettir, in particular, has several encounters with supernatural creaturesand has links with cult figures that are able to pass into and out of
another world, and have special powers to protect people from supernatural agencies. Some of these have similarities to episodes in theprobably eighth-century Old English poem Beowulf, the hero of which
also fights a male and female monster associated with water and invades a mound and kills the supernatural defender which is associatedwith death. It is possible that these episodes in The Saga of Grettir andthe similar ones in Beowulf derive from poetic narratives about early
kings of Denmark which also appear in Hrólfs saga kraka transformed
into pseudo-historical prose. The supernatural elements in The Sagaof Hord probably have closer links with Icelandic Heroic Sagas andfolklore of a much later time.
The geographical settings of the three sagas are closely based on thereal landscape of Iceland, even though natural features of the landscape are rarely described in detail; but the majority of the numerous
place-names mentioned in these sagas can be identified on a map. The
authors seem to have been well at home in the areas where their heroes
lived. Only rarely does an author betray the fact that he does not haveclose knowledge of some of the saga sites. The island refuge of Hordand his companions in Hvalfiord, for instance, is a prominent sightvisible from the route from Reykjavík to the north of Iceland, but ismuch too small for Hord and the large number of followers he is said
to have had living there on it. Some places, like Thorisdal in The Sagaof Grettir, have been identified, but the accounts of them in the sagas
may in fact be legendary rather than real. The various huge rocks that
Grettir is said at various times to have lifted can also be seen in Iceland where the saga-writer says they are, and three of these places areshown on the maps, though Grettir’s actual feats of strength cannot all
have been historical; some folk-tales about Grettir’s feats were thesubject of folk-tales later than the saga itself, and there are many modern
place-names that relate to him and his exploits that probably originatedafter the saga was written. The account of events in Norway at the
beginning of The Saga of Gisli betrays the author’s limited knowledgeof the geography of that country.

XXVI

NOTE ON THE TEXTNOTE ON THE TEXTIn the first edition of the translation of The Saga of Gisli that is reprinted in the present volume, George Johnston included the following notes (here slightly modified):
The translation of The Saga of Gisli is based on the edition in Íslenzk
fornrit, which is largely based on AM 556 a 4to (Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, Reykjavík), which was written in the second half of the fifteenth
century and also contains texts of The Saga of Grettir and The Saga ofHord. Occasionally the readings of other manuscripts have been preferredin the translation, or some slight rearrangements have been made, in places
where there is such confusion in the Icelandic text that the flow of thenarrative is disturbed.
My first intention was to make a twentieth-century telling of the sagathat would read as though it were a novel. After several attempts Peter
Foote asked Ian Maxwell in Melbourne to read the version we then had,and because of his criticisms I decided to rewrite the translation from start
to finish, following the Icelandic as closely as I could. The version thatcame out seemed livelier, subtler and more readable, slightly outlandish
in tone, the style directly geared to the telling of the story. I wrote intwentieth-century words, however, and kept out archaisms, which would
have seemed quaint or remote. It seemed to me that the ‘otherness’ of the
Icelandic was best preserved by letting its word-order and idiom, especially in the shifting of tenses, play their part in the English too.
The verses posed a more difficult problem. Their metre, diction andsyntax are complex and artificial and their content is often slight: theirvalue as poetry seems not very high. Yet they contain many of the keys ofthe story and, especially in this saga, their artificiality set in the stern
spareness of the narrative gives the whole book a lyrical quality it would
not otherwise have; many of them, in context, are true lyrics. They cannot
be directly rendered in English, however; even a literal prose translation
could rarely be faithful to their twisted syntax, and it would have to beheavily annotated on account of the allusiveness of the diction. So I decided
to follow the metre closely, use as much of the imagery as could be fitted
in, and give the sense of the original without attempting direct translation.
The imagery is conventional. It is drawn from myths and legends andchiefly takes the form of kennings, a Germanic kind of poetic diction,
which thc skalds used in their own elaborate way. Many of the kennings
seem far-fetched to us, yet they have associations which may make themrich and suggestive even to our ears. For instance, there is a story behind
the kenning in ‘pour the dwarfs’ liquor’, meaning ‘speak in poetry’, whichappears in two of Gisli’s stanzas (ch. 26 and 34). It can be found inNOTE ON THE TEXT

xxvii

Skáldskaparmál, ‘The Diction of Poetry’, in Snorri Sturluson’s Edda,
written about 1220 (pp. 61–4). (At one stage in its history, the mead of
poetry was in the possession of dwarfs.)

A few minor changes have been made in this reprint of George
Johnston’s translation, mainly in the presentation of the proper names,
which are now generally given in their original Old Icelandic form
(though still in anglicised spelling); modifications have also been madeto the punctuation. The translation of the verses has not been changed,
but there is no attempt to reproduce the sound and rhythm of the verses
in the translation of The Saga of Grettir and The Saga of Hord, andthey are translated more literally than those in The Saga of Gisli; thetranslation of the prose in The Saga of Grettir and The Saga of Hord ingeneral attempts to follow the principles underlying the translation of
the prose in The Saga of Gisli.
The translation of The Saga of Hord is based on the edition in Íslenzk
fornrit, following the longer version in AM 556 a 4to. The translationof The Saga of Grettir is based on the edition in Íslenzk fornrit, butfollows the editions in Íslendinga sögur (Reykjavík: Svart á hvítu 1985,
1987) and Sígildar sögur 4 (1994) in keeping as close as possible tothe text of the main manuscript, AM 551 a 4to. Words omitted in thismanuscript that have been translated from one of the other manuscripts
are enclosed in square brackets, as are also some words that are in themain manuscript but appear to be wrong (e.g. in chs 70 and 88 of The
Saga of Grettir).
Explanations of the elaborate kennings in the verses are also given
in square brackets and the mythological names which often feature inthem are explained in the Index of Names (as are most of the nicknames or surnames in the prose of all three sagas). Spellings of Icelandic words and names in all three sagas have been anglicised, andIcelandic j has been replaced by i, › by d, ﬂ by th.
The translation of The Saga of Grettir and of The Saga of Hord aims
to be as literal as possible, as in the translation of The Saga of Gisli,often retaining the use of the historic present, normally much morecommon in Icelandic narrative than in English, and other stylistic features such as abrupt transitions into direct speech. In relation to thealternation of present and past tense in narrative, however, it should
be pointed out that what editors print as segir ‘says’ is often abbreviated s. in manuscripts of the sagas, though occasionally full forms

XXVIIINOTE ON THE TEXT

segir or sag›i ‘said’ are written; other verbs introducting direct speech(e.g. svarar ‘answers’, mælti ‘spoke’) are more often written in full.
S. is also sometimes expanded to svarar ‘answers’ in editions. The
choice of tense, and even of verb, must therefore frequently be attributed to the editors of the Icelandic texts, or perhaps to the scribes ofindividual manuscripts, rather than to the authors.
Nicknames are only translated when their meaning is uncontroversial; sometimes when the Icelandic word is retained, an English equivalent is added in brackets on the first occurrence and in the Index. Sometechnical Icelandic terms that have no English equivalent are not translated, and then explanations will be found in the Glossary. Words explained in the Glossary are italicised in the texts. Double invertedcommas are used to identify proverbial statements, though some ofthese may only have become such after the saga was written.

THE SAGA OF GISLI

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1
When this story begins, King Hakon, foster-son of Athelstan, was ruling over Norway, and it was near the end of his days. There was a man
named Thorkel, who had the nickname Skerauki; he lived in Surnadal,
and was a chieftain by title. He had a wife whose name was Isgerd,
and three children, all sons. One was named Ari, another Gisli, andthe third Thorbiorn—he was the youngest—and they all grew up at
home. There was a man by the name of Isi; he lived in the fiord whichis called Fibuli, in Nordmøre; his wife was named Ingigerd and his
daughter Ingibiorg. Ari, the son of Thorkel of Surnadal, asks for
Ingibiorg’s hand in marriage, and she was given to him with a large
dowry. A bondservant named Kol came with her.
There was a man known as Biorn the Pale, who was a berserk; hewent about the country challenging men to fight if they would notgive in to his demands. He came during the winter to Thorkel ofSurnadal’s place. Ari, his son, was then in charge of the farm. Biorn
gives Ari two choices, whether he will rather fight with him on an
island that lies near by in Surnadal, called Stokkaholm, or give over
his wife to him. He chose at once, that he will rather fight than haveshame come on him and his wife too. They were to meet after threedays. Now the time comes round, they fight, and the outcome is thatAri falls and loses his life. It seems to Biorn that he has won land andwoman. Gisli says that he will rather lose his own life than let thiscome about, and he is bent on fighting Biorn.
Then Ingibiorg had something to say: ‘When I was married to Ari, it
was not because I would not rather have been married to you. Kol, mybondservant, has a sword which is called Greyflank, and you must ask
him to lend it to you; because with this sword it happens that whoever
takes it into a fight wins.’
He asks the bondman for the sword, and the bondman made no smallthing of lending it. Gisli got ready for the duel, they fight, and it turns
out that Biorn falls. Now it seemed to Gisli that he had won a great
victory; and the story tells that he asks for Ingibiorg, for he did not

4

THE SAGA OF GISLI

want to lose a good woman from the family, and marries her; and hetakes over all the property and becomes an important man. Then his
father dies, and Gisli takes over his property as well. He had them all
killed, who had been with Biorn.
The bondman claimed back his sword, but Gisli will not give it up,
and offers him money for it, but the bondman wants nothing but thesword itself; he gets it none the more for that. The bondman resents
this and attacks Gisli and wounds him badly. Gisli hits back at thebondman’s skull with Greyflank so hard that the sword broke, and theskull was broken, and both men die.

2
After this Thorbiorn takes over all the property which had belonged tohis father and two brothers. He lives in Surnadal, at Stokkar. He asks
for the woman who was called Thora, Raud’s daughter of Fridarey,
and marries her. Their life together was happy, and before long they
had children. Their daughter was named Thordis; she was their eldest
child. Thorkel was the name of their eldest son, Gisli the second andAri the youngest, and they grew up at home. There were no more
outstanding men to be found in the district of their age. Then Ari wastaken as foster-son by Styrkar, his mother’s brother, but Thorkel and
Gisli stayed at home.
There was a man called Bard; he lived in Surnadal; he was a young
man and had recently inherited his father’s property. Another man called
Kolbiorn lived at Hella in Surnadal; he was a young man and had
newly come into his inheritance. Certain people said that Bard was
seducing Thordis, Thorbiorn’s daughter—she was both handsome andintelligent. This displeased Thorbiorn, and he said he thought that if
Ari was at home things would not turn out well. Bard said that “thewords of a weakling are worthless”.
‘And I shall go on as usual.’
Thorkel was friendly with Bard, and he was in with him in this, but
the way his sister was going on with Bard angered Gisli as much as it
did his father. One time, they say, Gisli joined Bard and Thorkel. He
went as far as half-way to Grannaskeid—this is the name of the place
where Bard lived—and then, when it was least expected, Gisli strikes

THE SAGA OF GISLI

5

Bard his death-blow. Thorkel was angry, and said that Gisli had done
wrong, but Gisli told his brother to be calm.
‘And let us change swords, and you take the one that bites better.’He began to joke with him. Thorkel grows calm then, and sits down
beside Bard. Gisli goes home and tells his father, and he was pleased.
There was never full friendliness between the brothers again andThorkel did not accept the exchange of weapons, and he would not
remain at home, but went to Holmgongu-Skeggi, who lived on Saxa
Island—he was a close kinsman of Bard—and stayed there.
He egged on Holmgongu-Skeggi to avenge his kinsman, Bard, andmarry Thordis. They went together to Stokkar in a party twenty strong;
and when they came to the farmhouse Skeggi spoke to Thorbiorn ofmarriage ties.
‘And having your daughter Thordis as my wife.’
But Thorbiorn would not let him have the girl. Kolbiorn was said tobe courting Thordis. Skeggi thought that Kolbiorn was the cause of
his not getting the marriage, and he goes to see him, and challenges
him to fight on Saxa Island. Kolbiorn agrees that he will come, andsaid he would not be worthy of marrying Thordis if he had not thecourage to fight Skeggi.
Thorkel and Skeggi went back to Saxa and awaited the meeting
there with their twenty followers. And after three days Gisli went tosee Kolbiorn, and asked if he was ready for the fight. Kolbiorn answers
by asking if that is the way he must win her.
‘Don’t talk like that,’ says Gisli.
Kolbiorn says, ‘I feel as though I will not fight Skeggi to win her.’
Gisli calls him the worst kind of coward.
‘And you can come to shame altogether, but I shall go anyhow.’He takes eleven men and goes to the island. Meanwhile Skeggi hadcome to the place, and he sets forth the duelling rules and challenges
Kolbiorn by marking out the ring, but he says he does not see him
there, nor anyone to take his place. Skeggi had a carpenter called Ref.
He told Ref to make wooden figures of Gisli and Kolbiorn.
‘And have one stand close behind the other; and the nastiness ofthat will always be there to shame them.’1
1 The making of such an image would have been equivalent to a charge ofsodomy and hence of cowardice.

6

THE SAGA OF GISLI

Gisli heard this as he came through the trees, and he answers:‘Your men will have something more useful than that to do; and you
can look here at a man who is not afraid to fight you.’
They go into the ring and fight, and each holds a shield to guard
himself. Skeggi has a sword called Warflame, and he swings it at Gisli
so that it makes a loud whistle; then says Skeggi:
Warflame whistled,
Wild sport for Saxa.
Gisli struck back at him with a halberd and took off the point of his
shield and one of his legs, and he said:
Hack went the halberd,
Hewed down Skeggi.
Skeggi bought himself off from the duel and from then on went on awooden leg. Thorkel went home with Gisli, his brother, and they wereon good brotherly terms again, and Gisli came out of this fight a muchgreater man.

3
The story mentions two brothers, one named Einar and the other Arni,
the sons of Skeggi of Saxa. They lived at Flydruness, north of Trøndelag. They raised a troop of men in the spring and they went to Kolbiorn
in Surnadal and offered him two choices, whether he would rather gowith them and burn Thorbiorn and his sons in their house, or die rightthere. He decided that he would rather go.
They set out, sixty men in all, and came to Stokkar in the night andset fire to the buildings. All were asleep in one room, Thorbiorn andhis sons and Thordis. There were two tubs of whey in the house.2 Gisliand his brother and father take two goatskins and dip them in the wheytubs and damp the fire with them, and they put down the flames threetimes this way; then they succeeded in breaking a way through the2 Whey was kept for drinking and pickling; cf. Njáls saga ch. 129.

THE SAGA OF GISLI

7

wall and got out through it, ten of them together, and, under cover ofthe smoke, they got up the mountainside beyond dog’s bark. Twelve
men were burned in the house. The attackers thought they had burnt
everybody.
Gisli and the others go on until they come to Styrkar’s house on
Fridarey, and there they call out men to help them, forty in all, andcome without warning to Kolbiorn’s house and burn him in it witheleven other men. They then sell their land and buy a ship—there
were sixty of them in it—and sail away with all their belongings to theislands called Æsundir and lie up there waiting to put to sea. Meanwhile forty of them set out from there in two boats and go north toFlydruness. The brothers, Skeggi’s two sons, had just started out withseven other men to collect their farm rents. Gisli’s party turn on themand kill them all; Gisli killed three men and Thorkel two. After thisthey go to the farmstead and take away much booty. Gisli cut off
Skeggi’s head this time; he had been staying there with his sons.

4
They return to the ship and put to sea and are away from land for morethan sixty days, and they come ashore in west Iceland on the south
strand of Dyrafiord, in the estuary called Haukadalsos. There were
two men who lived on opposite sides of the fiord, both named Thorkel.
One of them lived at Saurar in Keldudal on the southern shore—this
was Thorkel son of Eirik; the other lived on the north side, at Alvidra—
he was called Thorkel the Rich. Thorkel son of Eirik was the first manof standing to go to the ship and greet Thorbiorn Sur (whey), who wascalled this after he had escaped by means of the whey. All land had
been taken on both shores. Thorbiorn Sur bought land on the southernshore at Sæbol in Haukadal, and Gisli built a steading there, where
they lived from then on.
A man called Biartmar lived in at the head of Arnarfiord; his wife
was called Thurid and she was the daughter of Hrafn of Ketilseyr in
Dyrafiord; this Hrafn was the son of Dyri, the first settler in the fiord.
They had children: their daughter’s name was Hild—she was the eldest; their sons were Helgi, Sigurd and Vestgeir. Vestein was the nameof a Norwegian who came to Iceland at the time of the settlement and8

THE SAGA OF GISLI

lodged with Biartmar. He married Hild, Biartmar’s daughter. Whenthey had been married not very long they had two children: Aud was
the name of their daughter and Vestein of their son. Vestein, son of
Vestein, became a good seafarer and trader. However, he had a farmcalled Hest in Onundarfiord at this time in the story. His wife wascalled Gunnhild; their sons were Berg and Helgi.
Now after this Thorbiorn Sur dies, and then his wife, Thora. Gisliand his brother Thorkel take over the farm; and Thorbiorn and Thora
were buried in a mound.

5
There was a man, Thorbiorn, who was called Selagnup (seal’s crag).
He lived in Talknafiord at Kvigandafell. His wife was named Thordis
and his daughter Asgerd. Thorkel, Gisli’s brother, asks for this woman
and marries her; and Gisli married Vestein’s sister, Aud. Now the brothers
farm together in Haukadal.
One spring Thorkel the Rich had to make the journey south to theassembly at Thorsness, and Gisli and Thorkel went with him. At
Thorsness there lived then Thorstein Thorskabit (cod-biter), who was
the son of Thorolf Mostrarskegg; he was married to Thora, the daughter of Olaf son of Thorstein: their children were a daughter, Thordis,
and Thorgrim, and Bork the Stout. Thorkel finished his business at theassembly. And after the assembly Thorstein invited Thorkel the Richand the brothers Gisli and Thorkel to his home and gave them good
gifts at parting; and they invited Thorstein’s sons to come west andvisit them at their assembly the following spring. Then they journey
home. Next spring Thorstein’s sons make the journey west with ten
companions to Hvalseyr Assembly, and there they meet Gisli andThorkel, who invite them home from the assembly; but before thatthey were to go to a feast at the home of Thorkel the Rich. After thatthey visit the sons of Sur and are well feasted there.
Thorgrim finds the sister of Gisli and Thorkel handsome, and heasks for her hand, and she is betrothed to him and a bridal feast is heldat once; the steading at Sæbol is given with her as a dowry and Thorgrim
moves west to live; but Bork remains at Thorsness, and with him live
his nephews, Saka-Stein and Thorodd. Now Thorgrim farms at Sæbol;THE SAGA OF GISLI

9and the sons of Sur go to Hol and build a good steading there; andonly a fence lies between the land of Hol and the land of Sæbol. They
farm there side by side and are good friends. Thorgrim has the rank of
a godi, and he is a great source of strength to the brothers. They go
together to the local assembly, one spring, with forty men, and all ofthem were dressed in coloured clothes. Vestein, Gisli’s brother-in-law,
was in the party, and all the men who had come out from Surnadal.

6
There was a man called Gest, who was the son of Oddleif; he hadcome to the assembly and stayed in the booth of Thorkel the Rich.
They sit and drink, the Surnadal men; but other men were in the court,
for it was an assembly for hearing lawsuits. A man comes into thebooth of the Haukadal men, a talkative fellow by the name of Arnor,and said:‘You are a fine lot, you Haukdalers—attending to nothing but thedrink and will not come to the court where your assembly-men havecases to be heard—everyone thinks so, although I am the one to say it.’
Then Gisli said, ‘Let us go to the court then; it may be that others
are saying the same.’
They go to the court; and Thorgrim asks if any men need theirsupport.
‘And there will be no holding back, so long as we are standing, in
any help we promise.’
But Thorkel the Rich replies, ‘These cases amount to little that men
have against each other here; we will tell you if we need you.’
Now word begins to go around about how showy these men are,and about their talk, how bold it is. Thorkel spoke to Gest:‘How long do you expect that the spirit and swagger of these
Haukdalers will be so great?’
Gest answers, ‘They will not all think alike in three summers, who
are now in that party.’
Arnor was near by during this, and he bursts into the Haukdalers’booth and tells them what he has heard. Gisli says:‘These are somebody’s real words he has told us, and let us see to itthat his prophecy doesn’t turn out right. I can think of a good thing to10

THE SAGA OF GISLI

do, and that is to bind our friendship with stronger ties, and swear
blood-brotherhood between the four of us.’This seems a good answer. They go out to the spit of land called
Eyrarhvalsoddi and cut and raise up a long sod in the turf, leaving thetwo ends fast, and they set a spear with a patterned blade under it, so
long-shafted that a man could just reach the rivets of the head withoutstretched hand.3 All four should pass under, Thorgrim, Gisli, Thorkel
and Vestein; and now they draw blood and let their blood run together
in the earth which was scratched up under the sod, and mix it all together, earth and blood; and then they kneel and swear an oath, thateach shall avenge the other as his brother, and they call all the gods towitness.4 But when they came to shake hands Thorgrim said:‘There is burden enough in this for me if I do it with these two,Thorkel and Gisli, my brothers-in-law; but I have no ties with Vestein’—and he draws back his hand.
‘Then more of us will do the same,’ says Gisli, and he too draws
back his hand, ‘for I will not bind myself to the man who will not bindhimself to Vestein, my wife’s brother.’People thought this a serious thing. Gisli said then to Thorkel, hisbrother:‘It has gone as I thought it would; what we have just done will be of
no use, and I think that fate will have its way over this.’Men go home, now, from the assembly.

7
During the summer it happened that a ship came to Dyrafiord, owned
by two brothers, Norwegians; one was named Thorir and the otherThorarin, and they were men from Oslofiord. Thorgrim rode to the3 Rather than damascening, what is meant is probably pattern-welding; inthis the body of the blade is made up of alternate strips of steel and iron welded
together then split, twisted and rewelded, before having the cutting-edges added
and the finishing treatment. A simpler and commoner process to produce thesame surface effect was to hammer the pattern-bearing strips flat and thenweld them to a core of plain iron.
4 This ritual was presumably originally a symbolic rebirth from mother earth.
Cf. Fóstbræ›ra saga ch. 2.

THE SAGA OF GISLI

11

ship and bought four hundred of timber,5 and paid some of the pricedown and left some to be paid later. The traders then laid up their shipin Sandaos and found lodgings for themselves. A man named Odd, theson of Orlyg, lived at Eyr in Skutilsfiord; he took in the two brothers.
Thorgrim sends his son Thorodd to look over and count his timber,because he intends to fetch it home soon. Thorodd comes and looks
over the timber, but the lot they were buying looks to him rather different from what Thorgrim had told him. He used hard words to theNorwegians, but they would not stand for this and they attack him andkill him. Then the Norwegians go away from the ship after this work.
They cross over Dyrafiord and take horse and make for their lodgings
in Eyr; they journey all day and all night until they come to the dale
which leads up out of Skutilsfiord and here they eat breakfast and go
to sleep.
Thorgrim is told the news and he sets out at once. He has himself
ferried across the fiord and goes after them alone. He reaches them,where they were lying, and wakes Thorarin; he prods him with his
spear-shaft. Thorarin springs up and tries to draw his sword, because
he recognised Thorgrim. But Thorgrim thrusts at him with his spear,and kills him. Now Thorir wakes, and he wants to avenge his companion. But Thorgrim thrusts his spear through him. The place is now
called Breakfast Dale and Eastmen’s Fall. Thorgrim returns home andbecomes famous for this journey.
He stays on his farm over the winter. In the spring the brothers-inlaw, Thorgrim and Thorkel, fit out the ship which had belonged to theNorwegians. These Norwegians had been great trouble-makers in
Norway and the country was no longer safe for them. Now Thorgrim
and Thorkel make this ship ready and put to sea in it. This summer
Vestein and Gisli also sail out, from Skeliavik in Steingrimsfiord. Bothships sail out to sea. Onund of Medaldal looks after Thorkel and Gisli’s
farm, and Saka-Stein, along with Thordis, looks after Sæbol. At thistime Harald Greycloak was ruling over Norway. Thorgrim and Thorkel
bring their ship ashore in the north of Norway and they soon fall inwith the king and present themselves to him and pay their respects. He
5 This is taken to mean timber to the value of 480 (one hundred = 120) ellsof homespun cloth (va›mál); c.1000 eighteen ells of cloth were probably worth
one ounce of silver, so the value of the timber would have been equal to about
27 ounces of silver.

12

THE SAGA OF GISLI

received them well, and they joined his sworn retainers and won generous
rewards and honours.
Gisli and Vestein were at sea more than sixty days, and they ran
ashore in early winter in Hordland in a gale of wind and snow during
the night, and they smashed their ship, but saved their goods and men.

8
A man named Beard-Bialfi had a trading-ship there. He was intending
to sail south to Denmark. They ask him if they can buy a half share in
his ship. He says he has heard that they are good men, and he gavethem the half share, but they at once repay him with gifts worth more.
They voyage south to Denmark to the market town called Viborg
and stay the winter there with the man called Sigrhadd. The three ofthem, Vestein, Gisli and Bialfi, were there; and they became goodfriends and exchanged gifts. Then early in the spring Bialfi readied
his ship to go to Iceland. There was a man by the name of Sigurd, a
trading partner of Vestein, Norwegian by birth, who was out west in
England. He sent word to Vestein that he wanted to close the partnership because he no longer needed Vestein’s money. So Vestein asks
leave to go and settle up with him.
‘Then you must promise that you will never go from Iceland, if youcome safely back, unless I let you.’6
Vestein says yes to this.
One morning Gisli gets up and goes to the smithy. He was the handiestof men and skilled in everything. He made a coin which weighed notless than an ounce, and riveted it together with twenty studs in it, ten
in each half, so that the coin seemed whole if it was put together, andyet it could be separated into two parts. The story goes that he takes
the coin apart and puts one piece in Vestein’s hand and tells him to
keep it as a token between them.
‘And we must each send his part to the other only if it is a matter oflife and death. Yet my mind tells me that we will need to send them,though we may not meet again.’
Vestein sails west to England, and Gisli and Bialfi to Norway, andthen in the summer to Iceland. They had got much money and reputa6 It is presumably Gisli who speaks.

THE SAGA OF GISLI

13tion; they ended their partnership on good terms, and Bialfi bought
the half share in the ship back from Gisli. Then Gisli journeys west to
Dyrafiord in a merchant ship, with eleven men.

9
Thorgrim and Thorkel ready their ship in another place and return to
Iceland, to Haukadalsaros in Dyrafiord, on the same day as Gisli had
already sailed in on the merchant ship. They soon meet, and a joyful
meeting it is; and then they go to their homes. Thorgrim and Thorkel
had prospered on their voyage as well.
Thorkel was a vain man, and did not work on the farm, but Gisli
worked night and day. So it happened on a day of good weather that
Gisli sent all the men out haymaking, except Thorkel; he was the only
man left at home at the farm, and he was lying down in the hall after
his morning meal. The hall was a hundred and fifty feet long and sixty
feet wide; on its south-west side stood the bower of Aud and Asgerd,
and they were sitting there and sewing.7 When Thorkel wakes up hegoes toward the bower, because he heard voices coming from there,
and he lies down on the nearest side. Now Asgerd speaks:‘Do something for me, Aud. Cut out a shirt for me, for my husband
Thorkel.’‘I could not do it better than you,’ says Aud, ‘and you would not ask
me if you had to make a shirt for my brother Vestein.’‘That is another story,’ says Asgerd; ‘and I shall feel like that for awhile.’‘It is something I have known about for a long time,’ says Aud. ‘Let
us not talk about it any more.’‘Nothing seems wrong to me,’ says Asgerd, ‘if I think well of Vestein;
I have been told that you and Thorgrim often met before you were
married to Gisli.’‘No blame came of that,’ says Aud, ‘because I have had nothing to
do with a man since I married Gisli from which there might comeblame; and now we will stop this talk.’
7 Dyngja, here translated ‘bower’, was probably a separate building fromthe hall, used as a work-room for the women.

14

THE SAGA OF GISLI

But Thorkel hears everything they had said, and he speaks up now
that they have left off:
Hear a great marvel,
Hear of manslaughter,
Hear a great matter,
Hear of a man’s death—‘of one man, or more.’
And he goes in. Then Aud speaks.
‘ “Trouble often comes from women’s talk”, and perhaps the trouble from ours will be the worst kind. We must decide what to do.’‘I have a plan for myself,’ says Asgerd, ‘which will work well enough;but I don’t know the best thing for you.’‘What is your plan?’ asked Aud.
‘Put my arms round Thorkel’s neck when we come to bed—and hewill forgive me for this—and then tell him it is all a lie.’‘That will not be enough to count on, by itself,’ said Aud.
‘What will you do?’ asked Asgerd.
‘Tell my husband Gisli everything that I can’t otherwise talk about
or decide.’
In the evening Gisli comes in from work. Usually Thorkel would
thank his brother for what he has done, but now he is glum and said
not a word. Gisli asks him whether he is feeling all right.
‘I am not ill,’ says Thorkel; ‘but this is worse than illness.’‘Have I done anything,’ says Gisli, ‘that has offended you?’‘Not in any way,’ says Thorkel. ‘You will know all about it, thoughperhaps not till later.’
They each go about their affairs, and there was no more talk between them.
Thorkel eats little food that evening, and he is the first man to go to
bed. And when he had settled down Asgerd comes and lifts the blanket and makes to lie beside him. Then Thorkel broke his silence:‘I do not mean to have you lie here tonight, nor for many nights.’
Asgerd speaks, ‘Why have you changed so suddenly? What is thematter here?’ she asks.
Thorkel says, ‘We both know now what the reason is, though it was
kept from me for a long while; and your reputation will be no better if
I speak plainer.’

THE SAGA OF GISLI

15

She replies, ‘You may think what you like about it, but I will not
quarrel long over the bed with you; and you have two things to choose
from. One is that you take me in and behave as though nothing has
happened; otherwise I shall call witnesses at once, and declare my
divorce from you, and I will have my father claim back my price andmy dowry; and if this is your choice you will never have my bed company again.’8
Thorkel was quiet then, and after a while he said:‘I advise you to do whichever you like; but I will not keep you outof bed all night.’
She immediately showed what she most wanted and got straight
into bed. They had not been side by side for long before they settled
the matter between them as though nothing had happened.
Aud went into bed with Gisli, and she tells him of the talk she has
had with Asgerd, and asks him not to be angry with her; and asked
him to do something about it, if he could see anything good to be done.
‘I can see nothing to be done about it,’ he said, ‘that will help; andyet I cannot blame you, for “ Fate’s words will be spoken by someone”, and what is to follow, will follow.’10
The year passes by and moving-days come round. Now Thorkel asks
his brother Gisli to talk with him, and said:‘It has come about, brother,’ he says, ‘that I have something of anotion and a mood to change the way I live; and it goes this way, that
I want us to divide our property, and I will set up house with Thorgrim,
my brother-in-law.’
Gisli answers, ‘ “What belongs to brothers is best seen together”; itwould certainly please me to leave things as they are, and not split
anything up.’
‘We cannot go on this way any longer,’ says Thorkel, ‘householding
together, because a great wrong comes out of it, since you always
have the work and trouble of seeing to the farm, and I never lift a handto anything useful.’
8 Divorce seems to have been a comparatively easy matter in pagan times in
Iceland; cf. Njáls saga ch. 7. See dowry in Glossary.

16

THE SAGA OF GISLI‘Do not find any fault with that,’ says Gisli, ‘as long as I have nothing to say about it. We have been through both sorts of times, whenthings were well between us and when things were bad.’‘ “It does not matter what is said about it”; the property must certainly be divided, and because I am the one to ask for the division, you
shall have the homestead and land and I shall have the cash.’‘If there is nothing else for it but to separate, then you do one or theother—for I do not mind which I do—either divide or choose.’9
It was settled that Gisli did the dividing, and Thorkel chose the cash
and Gisli had the land. They also divided the dependants, who were
two children; the boy was called Geirmund and the girl Gudrid, andshe stayed with Gisli and Geirmund went with Thorkel. Thorkel went
to Thorgrim, his brother-in-law, and lived with him; and Gisli thenhad the farm, and no such loss was suffered that the farm was any theworse for it.
The summer now passes in this way, and the Winter Nights come. It
was the custom of many men to welcome winter in those days, andhold feasts and winter night sacrifices, but Gisli no longer sacrificed
since his stay at Viborg in Denmark, though he still held feasts as
before, and did everything with magnificence. Now he makes preparations for a great feast, when the time comes that was just spoken of,and he asks to the feast the two namesakes, Thorkel son of Eirik andThorkel the Rich, and Aud’s kinsmen, the sons of Biartmar, and manyother friends and acquaintances. And on the day when the guests arrive
Aud speaks:‘It is true to say that one man seems missing to me, who I wish
might be here.’‘Who is that?’ asked Gisli.
‘It is my brother Vestein; I would like him to enjoy this feast herewith us.’Gisli said, ‘I think differently about it, because I would willingly
give money to have him not come here now.’
And with this their talk comes to an end.

9 Under Icelandic law, brothers inherited their father’s property in equalshares. If there were two of them, it was customary for one to have the land,
the other the movable property. In order to ensure fair division, one would
make the division and the other choose which share he had.

THE SAGA OF GISLI

17

11
There was a man by the name of Thorgrim, who was called Thorgrim
Nef (neb). He lived at Nefsstadir on the east side of Haukadalsa. He
was full of sorcery and witchcraft, and he was as much a wizard as
could be. Thorgrim and Thorkel invited him to come to their placebecause they too were having a feast. Thorgrim Nef was skilful withiron, and the story says that both Thorgrims and Thorkel go to thesmithy and shut themselves in. The bits of Greyflank are brought out—
they had fallen to Thorkel’s lot when the brothers split up their property—and Thorgrim Nef makes a spear out of them, and the work was
all done by evening; there was patterning in the blade, and a shorthandle fitted to it, about eight inches long. So much for them.
The story now goes that Onund of Medaldal came to the feast at
Gisli’s, and he took him aside and said that Vestein had come back to
Iceland.
‘And he can be expected here.’
Gisli moves at once and calls his housemen, Hallvard and Havard,
and told them to go north to Onundarfiord and meet Vestein.
‘And take him my greeting, and tell him at the same time that he isto stay at home until I visit him, and he is not to come to the feast in
Haukadal.’And he puts into their hands a knotted kerchief, and the half coin
was in it as a token in case he should not believe their story. They gothen, and take a boat from Haukadal and row to Lækiaros and comeashore and call on the farmer who lived there at Bersastadir; he wascalled Bersi. They give him a message from Gisli that he is to lendthem two horses which he had, called the Bandvettir, the swiftest in
the fiords. He lends them the horses, and they ride until they come to
Mosvellir, and from there in towards Hest. Meanwhile Vestein setsout from home, and it happens that he rides below the sandhill at
Mosvellir as the brothers are riding along the top, and so they pass by
and miss each other.

12
There was a man named Thorvard, who lived at Holt. His housemen
had fought over some work and struck each other with scythes, and18

THE SAGA OF GISLI

both were wounded. Vestein comes by and stops the fight, and does itin such a way that the men become friends again and each is satisfied;then he rides out towards Dyrafiord with his two Norwegian companions.
But Hallvard and Havard come in to Hest and hear that in fact Vestein
has already set out; they turn and ride after him at their hardest. And
when they come to Mosvellir they see men riding in the middle of thevalley, but there was a hill between them; they ride now into Biarnardal
and come to Arnkelsbrekka; there both horses founder. They run fromthe horses then, and shout. Vestein and his men hear them now; they
had come as far as Gemlufallsheid, and they wait there until they comeup and give their message; they hand over the coin which Gisli hassent for him. He takes out the other half of the coin from his moneybelt and turns very red as he looks at it.
‘You speak the truth,’ he says, ‘and I would have turned back if you
had met me sooner, but now the streams all run towards Dyrafiord andI shall ride there, and in any case I want to. The Norwegians shall turnback. But you get on by boat,’ says Vestein, ‘and tell Gisli and mysister of my coming.’
They go home and tell Gisli. He answers:‘That is how it must be, then.’
Vestein goes on to Gemlufall, to Luta, his kinswoman, and she has
him ferried across the fiord and said to him:
‘Vestein,’ she said, ‘be wary for yourself; there is need of it.’
He is taken over to Thingeyr; a man lived there then who was called
Thorvald Spark. Vestein goes to his house, and Thorvald lends him
his horse, but Vestein kept his own saddle-gear and he rides off withhis bridle jingling. Thorvald rides with him to Sandaos and offers tostay with him all the way to Gisli’s. He said there was no need for it.
‘Much has changed in Haukadal,’ said Thorvald; ‘be wary for yourself.’
Then they part. Vestein rides now till he comes into Haukadal, andthere was bright weather there, and moonlight. At Thorgrim’s they
were bringing in the cattle, Geirmund and a woman called Rannveig;
she pens the cattle and he drives them in to her. Vestein rides up acrossthe field and Geirmund comes over to him. Geirmund spoke.
‘Do not come in here to Sæbol but go on to Gisli’s, and be wary for
yourself.’

THE SAGA OF GISLI

19

Rannveig had come out of the cattle shed, and she looks at the man
and thinks she knows him, and when the cattle have been brought inthey argue about the man, who he was, and so go to the house. Thorgrim
and the others are sitting by the fire, and Thorgrim asks if they haveseen or met anybody, or what are they arguing about.
‘I thought I recognised Vestein coming here,’ said Rannveig, ‘andhe was in a blue cape and he had a spear in his hand, and he rode witha jingling bridle.’‘And what do you say, Geirmund?’‘I could hardly see him; but I thought he was one of Onund’s housemen from Medaldal, and he was wearing Gisli’s cape, and he wasusing Onund’s saddle gear, and he had a fishing spear in his hand witha prong at the top.’‘One of you must be lying,’ said Thorgrim. ‘You go over to Hol,
Rannveig, and see what is going on.’
She went over and came to the door when the men had arrived forthe drinking. Gisli was standing in the doorway, and he spoke to her
and asked her to come in. She said she should be going home.
‘But I should like to speak to the girl, Gudrid.’
Gisli calls her, but nothing to any purpose came of it.
‘Where is Aud, your wife?’ she says.
‘Here she is,’ says Gisli.
She goes out and asked what she wanted. She replied that it was
only a small matter, but nothing came of it. Gisli told her to do one or
the other, come in or go home. She went home, and was somewhat
foolisher than before, if that were possible, and had no news to tell.
In the morning Vestein had two bags brought to him with goods inthem, which the brothers, Hallvard and Havard, had carried for him.
He took out a tapestry ninety feet long, a head-dress made of a pieceof stuff thirty feet long with three gold strands woven along its length,
and three basins decorated with gold. He took these and offered themto his sister and Gisli and to Thorkel, his oath-brother, if he would
accept. Gisli goes to Sæbol with the two Thorkels to his brother Thorkel.
Gisli says that Vestein has come, and he has given them gifts to share,
and he shows them to him and asks him to have whatever he chooses.
Thorkel answers:‘It would be more fitting if you were to take all, and I will not accept
the gifts; any return for them from me is not very likely.’S
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NORTH-WEST ICELAND: Strandir

22

THE SAGA OF GISLIAnd he will not take them at all. Gisli goes home now, and it seems
to him that everything is tending the same way.

13
Now a strange thing happens at Hol that Gisli sleeps badly two nights
together, and they ask him what he has dreamed. He will not tell his
dreams. Then comes the third night and they go to bed, and when they
have been asleep, so hard a squall of wind hits the house that it takes
all the thatch from one side. With this so much water fell from the skythat it was something unheard of, and the buildings let in the rain, as
might be expected, when the thatch shifted. Gisli sprang up quickly
and calls his men to save the hay.
Gisli had a thrall whose name was Thord, and he was nicknamed
the Coward. The thrall stayed in the house, but Gisli and nearly all theother men went to see to the haystacks. Vestein offered to go withhim, but Gisli will not have it. And now, when the roof started leaking
worse, the sister and brother turn their beds lengthwise down the room;
everyone else had left the room except only these two. Then someone
comes in a little before dawn, quietly, and goes over to where Vestein
is lying. He had woken up then. The first thing he knows is that a
spear is thrust into his breast and right through him. When Vestein
took the blow, then he spoke this:‘A heart thrust!’ he said.
And then the man went out. Vestein tried to stand up; but he fell
beside the bed, dead. Aud wakes up now, and calls to Thord the Coward and tells him to take the weapon from the wound. It was said thenthat whoever pulled the weapon from a wound would be bound to
take revenge; it was called secret manslaughter and not murder when
the weapon was left in a death-wound. Thord was so fearful of corpses
that he did not dare go near one. Gisli came in then and saw what had
happened, and he told Thord to be still. He took the spear from thewound himself and threw it, all bloody, into a chest, and let nobody
see. Then he sat on the edge of the bed.
He had Vestein’s body got ready for burial, as they used to do it inthose times. Vestein’s death brought great grief both to Gisli and toother men. Gisli spoke to Gudrid, his foster-daughter.

THE SAGA OF GISLI

23‘You shall go to Sæbol and see what they are doing there; I am
sending you on this errand because I have greatest faith in you in thisas in other things, and be sure you can tell me what they are doing there.’She goes, and comes to Sæbol. They were up and sitting armed, thetwo Thorgrims and Thorkel. When she came in she was not greeted
quickly, for the people there mostly had little to say for themselves.
However, Thorgrim asks her for her news. She told of Vestein’s death,or murder. Thorkel answers:‘That would have seemed news to us at one time.’‘A man is there lost,’ says Thorgrim, ‘to whom we are all bound toshow respect, and we are bound to give him burial with the greatest
honour and build a mound for him; and it is true to say that such a man
is a great loss. You may also tell Gisli that we shall come today.’She goes home and tells Gisli that Thorgrim sat with his helmet andsword and fully armed, and Thorgrim Nef had a timber-axe in his
hand, and Thorkel had his sword and it was drawn a hand’s breadth.
‘And all the men were up and some were armed.’‘That was to be expected,’ says Gisli.

14
Gisli now prepares, with all his men, to bury Vestein in the sandhillthat stands beside the rush-pond below Sæbol. And when Gisli was on
his way, Thorgrim and Thorkel and Thorgrim Nef came with a large
company of men to the mound-making. They did everything for Vestein
as the ways then were, and then Thorgrim went to Gisli and spoke.
‘It is a custom,’ he says, ‘to tie Hel-shoes on men which they should
walk in to Valhall, and I shall do that for Vestein.’
And when he had done so he said, ‘I do not know how to tie Helshoes, if these come loose.’
After this they sit down by the mound and talk, and they agree that
it is unlikely that anyone will know who has done this crime. Thorkel
asked Gisli:‘How does Aud take the death of her brother? Does she weep much?’‘You will be thinking you know the answer to that,’ says Gisli. ‘It is
heavy for her, and she takes it as a great loss. I dreamt a dream,’ says
Gisli, ‘the night before last and again last night, and I shall not say

24

THE SAGA OF GISLI

from the dreams who did the killing, although they point to that. I
dreamt the night before last that out of a certain house slid a viper, andit stung Vestein to death. The next night I dreamt that a wolf ran out of
the same house and bit Vestein to death. And I have not told either
dream before now because I wanted nobody to interpret them.’10
Then he spoke a verse:
Fearful nor dark forethought
For Vestein oppressed me,
Now I ask no third such
Nightmare, come to fright me.
Sat we on the settles,
Sigrhadd’s, mead-gladdened;
Menace of man’s envy
Marred not then our heart joy.
Thorkel asked then, ‘How does Aud take the death of her brother?
Does she weep much?’‘You keep asking this, brother,’ says Gisli, ‘and you have a great
curiosity to know.’
Gisli spoke a verse:
Carried under kerchief
Keeps she in sleep’s cisterns
Surly drops of sorrow,
Storm of cheek in secret.
Oak of herbs from achingEyes, from grief’s high places,
Has felt the salt dewfall,
For her brother mourning.
And again he spoke:
Sorrow, joy’s dour slayer,
Sways her twigs of hazel—
10 According to the beginning of ch. 13 Gisli’s dreams were on the twonights before the night of Vestein’s slaying, not on that night and the one before.

THE SAGA OF GISLI

25

Eye-lashes, all heavy;
Utter they grief’s nut fruits.
Picks the snake-plot goddess
Pity’s fruit from bitter
Sight twigs, yet secretly
Summons this skald’s comfort.
The brothers go back to the house now, together. Thorkel spoke.
‘These have been heavy tidings, and they will have been somewhat
more grievous to you than to us; nevertheless, “a man is his own company for most of the way”. I hope that you will not make so much ofthis that men become suspicious; I would like us to begin sports andbe on as good terms as we ever have been before.’‘That is well spoken,’ says Gisli, ‘and I agree willingly, but on thiscondition, that if something happens to you in your lifetime that seems
as much to you as this seems to me, then you will promise to carry on
with the same understanding as you are now asking of me.’Thorkel agrees. Then they go into the house and hold Vestein’s funeral
feast. And when that has been drunk, they each go home, and everything was quiet again.

15
They began the games as though nothing had happened. The brothersin-law, Gisli and Thorgrim, played against each other oftenest, andthe watchers could not decide which was stronger, though most ofthem thought that Gisli was. They played the ball-game on the ice ofthe rush-pond, and there was always a crowd. One day, when there
was a very big crowd, Gisli called on them to divide up evenly for agame.
‘An even division is what we want,’ says Thorkel, ‘and furthermore,
we wish that you would not spare anything against Thorgrim; because
word is going round that you are sparing yourself; but I should gladly
see you win the full honour, if you are the stronger.’‘He and I have not fought it out yet,’ says Gisli, ‘but perhaps thetime is coming when we shall.’
They play a game, and Thorgrim is outmatched; Gisli throws and26

THE SAGA OF GISLI

the ball rolls out of bounds. Gisli tries to go after it, but Thorgrim
holds him and does not let him get it. Then Gisli throws Thorgrim so
hard that he can do nothing to save himself and his knuckles are skinned
and the blood spurts from his nose and the flesh is torn from his knees.
Thorgrim stood up slowly; he turned to Vestein’s grave-mound andspoke:
Spear in the wound sharply
Sang. I feel no anguish.
Gisli picked up the ball on the run and pitched it between Thorgrim’s
shoulders so that he fell forward; then Gisli spoke:
Ball on the broad shoulder
Banged. I feel no anguish.
Thorkel sprang up and spoke, ‘Now it can be seen who is strongest or
the best in action, and let us stop now.’
And so they did. The games were not played any more and summer
came on and there was some coldness now between Thorgrim andGisli.
Thorgrim decided to give an autumn feast on the Winter Nights andto welcome winter and make a sacrifice to Frey, and he invites his
brother Bork and Eyiolf son of Thord and many other important men.
Gisli also makes ready a feast and invites his wife’s kinsmen from
Arnarfiord and the two Thorkels and no fewer than sixty men were
expected at Gisli’s. There was to be drinking at both houses and thefloors at Sæbol were strewn with rushes from the rush-pond.
When Thorgrim and his people were making preparations and wereready to hang the hall with tapestries and the guests were expectedthat evening, then Thorgrim spoke to Thorkel:‘What we need here are the fine hangings that Vestein wanted togive you. It seems to me that there is a great difference between owningthem outright and never using them at all; and now I want you to havethem sent for.’Thorkel answers, ‘ “He knows all who knows when to stop”, and I
shall not send for them.’‘I shall do it, then,’ said Thorgrim, and he told Geirmund to go.
Geirmund answers:

THE SAGA OF GISLI

27‘I will do some work, but I have no taste for this errand.’Thorgrim goes to him and strikes him a hard blow and said:‘Go now, then, if it seems better to you.’‘I shall go now,’ he said, ‘though now it seems worse; but you canbe sure that I shall be willing to give you the filly of the foal you havegiven me, and you will not be underpaid at that.’
Then he goes. And when he comes there, Gisli and Aud are getting
ready to hang the tapestries. Geirmund gave them his message andtold them everything that had happened.
‘What is your wish, Aud? Shall we lend the tapestries?’ said Gisli.
‘You do not ask because you do not know, that I wish them neither
this favour nor any other that might do them honour.’‘Was it my brother Thorkel’s wish?’ said Gisli.
‘He thought well of my coming for them.’‘That is good enough,’ said Gisli.
And he comes on the way with Geirmund and gives him the hangings. Gisli goes with him as far as the fence and speaks:‘Now it is this way: I think I have made good your errand, and I
want you to be helpful in something that is important to me, for “a gift
always looks to a return”, you know, and I want you to slide back thebolts on three doors this evening; and you might remember how you
were sent on this errand.’Geirmund answers, ‘Will your brother Thorkel be in danger?’‘In no danger,’ says Gisli.
‘It will be put on the right road, then,’ says Geirmund.
And when he comes back home he throws down the hangings. ThenThorkel speaks:‘Gisli is not like other men for his patience, and he has bettered us.’‘This is what we need,’ says Thorgrim.
And they put up the hangings. Then in the evening the guests come.
And the weather thickens; after dark the snow falls in windless air andcovers all the paths.
16
Bork and Eyiolf come in the evening with sixty men; there were ahundred men altogether at Sæbol, and half that number at Gisli’s. They
started the drinking during the evening, and then they went to bed andslept. Gisli spoke to Aud his wife:

28

THE SAGA OF GISLI‘I have not fed his horse for Thorkel the Rich. Come with me andlock the door after me, and stay awake while I go out, and unlock thedoor for me again when I come back.’
He takes the spear Greyflank from the chest, and he is wearing a
blue cape over his shirt and linen under-breeches, and he goes now to
the stream which runs between the two steadings and from which water
was taken for both. He goes by the path to the stream and then wades
down the stream to the path which led to the other house. Gisli knew
the lay-out at Sæbol because he had put up the buildings; there was away in through the byre. This is where he goes; thirty cows were stalledon either side; he ties the cows’ tails together and closes the byre andfixes the door in such a way that it may not be opened from the otherside. Then he goes to the dwelling-house; and Geirmund had done his
work, because the doors were not barred. He goes in and shuts thedoor after him, in the way it had been closed up during the evening.
Now he takes his time over everything. After shutting the door hestands and listens to hear if anyone is awake, and he finds that all are
asleep. There were three lights in the room. He takes sedge from thefloor and twists it together; then he throws it on one of the lights, andit goes out. He stands again and waits, in case anyone wakes up, but
he hears nothing. He takes another twist of sedge and throws it on thenearest light and puts it out. Then he knows that not all are asleep,
because he sees that a young man’s hand reaches for the third light,
and pulls the lamp down and snuffs it out. Now he goes farther into
the room to the bed-closet where Thorgrim slept, and his sister, andthe door was ajar, and they are both in bed. He goes up and gropes
about inside and puts his hand on his sister’s breast; she was sleeping
next the outside. Then Thordis spoke:‘Why is your hand so cold, Thorgrim?’
And she wakes him. Thorgrim asked:‘Do you want me to turn your way?’
She thought he had put his arm over her. Gisli waits yet for a while
and warms his hand in his shirt and they both go to sleep. Then hetakes hold of Thorgrim gently, so that he wakes up. He thought that
Thordis had roused him and he turned to her. Gisli pulls back the covers with one hand, and with the other he thrusts Greyflank into Thorgrim
so that it goes through him and sticks in the bed. Then Thordis calls
out and says:

THE SAGA OF GISLI

29‘Wake up, men in the room. Thorgrim is killed, my husband!’
Gisli turns away quickly towards the byre and goes out as he had
intended, and makes the door fast behind him; he goes home then by
the same way as he had come, and his tracks could not be seen. Audunlocks the door for him when he comes home, and he goes to bed
and behaves as though nothing has happened and as though he hasdone nothing. But the men were still full of drink at Sæbol and did notknow what ought to be done; this caught them unawares, and becauseof this nothing was done that was either fitting or useful.

17
Eyiolf spoke, ‘Big and bad things have happened, and these people
are stupid who are here. I think the thing to do is to light the lamps andguard the doors, so that the man who has done the killing cannot getaway.’
And so it was done. People think, when they cannot find him, that it
must perhaps be someone in the house who has done the work. Timepasses on and daylight comes. They took Thorgrim’s body and pulled
the spear out and prepared him for burial, and sixty men stayed there,
while the other sixty set out for Gisli’s place at Hol. Thord the Coward
was outside, and when he sees the crowd of men, he runs in and saysthat a whole army is coming to the house, and he is in quite a flurry.
‘That is well, then,’ says Gisli, and he speaks a verse:
Fell I not nor failed at
Fierce words, but my piercing
Blade-mouth gave forth bloody
Bane-speech, its harsh teaching.
Sole, I watch in silence,
Seeing this loud people:
While the ship-tree welters
Worried shouts bestir them.
Now they come to the house, Thorkel and Eyiolf; they go to the bedcloset which Gisli and his wife slept in, and Thorkel, Gisli’s brother,goes ahead into the closet and sees where Gisli’s shoes lie, frozen and30

THE SAGA OF GISLI

all caked with snow; he pushes them under the foot-board so that othermen will not see them. Then Gisli greets them and asks for their news.
Big and bad news Thorkel tells him, and he asks Gisli if he knows
what might lie behind it, and what should be done about it.
‘Big and bad deeds follow one another closely,’ says Gisli. ‘We willoffer to help bury Thorgrim, for you have a right to expect that of us,
and it is fitting that we do it honourably.’
They accept this offer, and they all go together to Sæbol for the
mound-making, and lay Thorgrim in a boat. Now they heap up themound according to the old ways, and when it is ready to be closed,
Gisli goes to the river-mouth and takes up a stone, so big as to becalled a boulder, and puts it in the boat, and every timber seemed
nearly to give way with it, and the boat creaked mightily, and he said:‘I cannot make fast a boat, if the weather moves this one.’
Some men said that this did not seem much unlike what Thorgrim
had done with Vestein when he spoke about the Hel-shoes. Now they
go home from the burial. Gisli spoke to his brother, Thorkel:‘I think you owe it to me, brother, to keep things as friendly between
us now as they have been at their best; and let us start up the games.’
Thorkel readily agrees. And now each party go to their houses. Gisli
has not a few men for company, but the feasting comes to an end, andGisli sends off his guests with good gifts.

18
Now Thorgrim’s wake is drunk, and Bork gives good gifts, for friendship’s sake, to many men. The next thing that happens is that Bork
pays Thorgrim Nef to work a spell, that there should be no help for theman who had killed Thorgrim, however much men might want to giveit to him, and there should be no rest for him in the country. He wasgiven a nine-year-old ox for the curse. He goes to work on it at once,and makes himself a scaffold and works this magic with all its obscenity and devilry.
There was something else that seemed to have a strange meaning,that snow never stayed on the south-west side of Thorgrim’s moundand it did not freeze there; and men explained this by saying that hemust have been so favoured by Frey for his sacrifices that the god wasTHE SAGA OF GISLI

31

unwilling to have frost come between them. This went on through thewinter while the brothers held their games there.
Bork moves into the house with Thordis and marries her. She waspregnant at the time, and she gives birth to a son, and he is sprinkledwith water and named Thorgrim at first, after his father; but as hegrew up they found that he was moody and unruly, so they changed
his name and called him Snorri.
Bork lived there over the winter and joined in the games. A woman
named Audbiorg lived in the upper part of the valley at Annmarkastadir.
She was the sister of Thorgrim Nef. Her husband had been Thorkel,
who was nicknamed Annmarki (blemish). Her son’s name was Thorstein;
he was one of the strongest at the games, after Gisli. Gisli and Thorstein
were always together against Bork and Thorkel. One day a great many
people came to see the games, because many were curious to watch
the play and to find out who was the strongest or most skilful. And it
happened, as in other places everywhere, that there was greater keenness among the players when there were more watchers. It is said that
Bork had failed against Thorstein all day, and at last he grew angryand snapped Thorstein’s bat for him, and Thorstein threw him andstretched him out on the ice. When Gisli sees this he told him to playwith all his might against Bork.
‘And I will change bats with you.’
And so they did. Gisli sits down and goes to work on the bat, facing
Thorgrim’s mound; there was snow on the ground, and the women
were sitting up on the slope, his sister Thordis and many others. Gisli
spoke a verse which he should have kept to himself:
Giant-bane Grim’s grave mound,
Grows thin shoots, unfrozen;
God of war-blade gleaming
Gained, by me, pain’s ending.
Wearer of grim war mask
Wields at last his field-plot;
Him, for land who hungered
Hauled earth made I swallow.
Thordis got the verse by heart from the one hearing and goes home,and by then she has worked out its meaning. They break up the games

32

THE SAGA OF GISLI

now, and Thorstein returns home. There was a man by the name ofThorgeir, who was called Orri (heath-cock); his farm was called
Orrastadir. Another man, whose name was Berg, was called Skammfot(short-leg), and his farm was called Skammfotarmyr (Short-leg’s
marshland); it was east of the river. And now, as people are going
home, Thorstein and Berg talk over the games and end by quarrelling;for Berg favours Bork and Thorstein argues against him, and Berg hits
Thorstein a blow with the back of his axe-head. But Thorgeir comes
between them and hinders Thorstein from avenging the blow.
Thorstein goes home to Audbiorg, his mother; she binds up his wound
and grumbles about what has happened to him. The old woman gets
no sleep that night, she is so fidgety. The weather was cold outside,and still and cloudless. She goes withershins about the house a few
times and sniffs in all directions with her nostrils lifted. And as she
was doing these things the weather began to change and there came aheavy, drifting snowstorm, and after that a thaw; a flood broke out on
the mountainside and an avalanche rolled on to Berg’s steading, andtwelve men were killed there. The marks of the rock-fall may be seen
to this day.

19
Thorstein goes to Gisli and Gisli gives him shelter, and he gets away
southward to Borgarfiord and goes abroad from there. And when Bork
heard of the disaster at Berg’s, he goes up to Annmarkastadir and has
Audbiorg seized and he takes her out to Saltness and stones her todeath. And when this has happened Gisli sets out and comes to
Nefsstadir and catches Thorgrim Nef and takes him out to Saltness,where a bag is put over his head11 and he is stoned to death, and thenburied under a heap of stones beside his sister Audbiorg, on the ridge
between Haukadal and Medaldal.
Things are quiet now, and the spring passes on. Bork goes south toThorsness, meaning to live there, and it seems to him that his move
westward has brought him no honour; he had lost such a man as
Thorgrim was and had got no redress. He makes ready for his moveand sets his house in order and fixes his plans, for he means to make a
11 So that the sorcerer’s evil eye could do no harm as he died.

THE SAGA OF GISLI

33

second trip after his goods and his wife. Thorkel, Gisli’s brother, also
made up his mind to move, and sets out with Bork, his brother-in-law.
The story tells now that Thordis, daughter of Sur, Bork’s wife andGisli’s sister, went some distance on the way with her husband. Bork
spoke:‘Now I want you to tell me why you were so moody last fall when
we broke up the games, for you promised to tell me before I wentaway.’
They have now come to Thorgrim’s grave-mound when they begin
this talk. She puts her foot in front of her and says she will go no
farther; then she tells him what Gisli said when he looked at Thorgrim’s
mound and she recites the verse to him.
‘And I think,’ she says, ‘that you need search no farther over Thorgrim’s death, and a case against him will be rightly brought.’
At this Bork becomes very angry and said:‘I will turn back now and kill Gisli, and there is no sense in lingering.’
But Thorkel says he cannot agree to that.
‘I am not sure how much truth there is in what Thordis has told us;
it seems to me just as likely there may be nothing in it at all, and“women’s counsels are often cold”.’
So they ride on their way, as Thorkel has persuaded them, until theycome to Sandaos, and there they dismount and bait their horses. Bork
was in a silent mood, and Thorkel said that he wanted to see his friend
Onund. He rides off straightway, so hard that he is quickly out of sight.
Then he swings round and goes to Hol and tells Gisli what has happened, that Thordis has now opened up the case, and found the meaning of his verse.
‘And you must now make up your mind that it has come out into theopen.’
Gisli was silent, and then he spoke a verse:
Wife veil-hearted wavering12
Warped to miss, my sister,Giuki’s daughter’s great heart,
Gudrun’s soul, stern moody.
12 wife veil-hearted wavering: the Icelandic talks of ‘my sister, heedful ofmarriage head-dress’. Thordis heeds her ties with her husband more than her
ties with her brother, Gisli, and he compares her unfavourably with Gudrun,

34

THE SAGA OF GISLIBrooding wrath for brothers
Bent her mood to vengeance;
Heart’s cause for her husband
Held she not, but felled him.
‘I did not think I had deserved this from her, because I think I haveshown more than once that her honour was as important to me as myown; sometimes I have put my life in danger for her sake, and now she
has given me death’s word. And I should like to know, brother, what I
can look for from you, in your position, seeing what I have done.’‘Warning, if men are trying to kill you, but I will not give you protection that may bring a case against me.13 I think it a great wrong
done to me that my kinsman Thorgrim has been killed, my partner andmy good friend.’‘Was it to be expected that such a man as Vestein would be left
unavenged? And I would not answer you as you have now answeredme, nor act as you say you will.’
They part. Thorkel returns to Bork and they go on south to Thorsness,
and Bork puts his house in order; and Thorkel buys land on Bardastrond,
the farm that is called Hvamm. Then the summoning-days come roundand Bork rides west with forty men, intending to summon Gisli to theassembly at Thorsness,14 and Thorkel, son of Sur, goes with him, andBork’s nephews Thorodd and Saka-Stein; there was also a Norwegianin the party called Thorgrim.

the wife of Sigurd the Dragon-slayer (now known to most people throughWagner and William Morris), the Kriemhilt of the Nibelungenlied. Sigurd
was slain by her brothers, on whom she could not take vengeance. Her second
marriage was to Atli, king of the Huns, who treacherously killed her brothers
in order to win the treasure they had obtained on Sigurd’s death. For thisGudrun slew Atli after first feasting him on the flesh of his dead sons.
13 It was an offence to give aid or shelter to an outlaw. See Introduction, p. xx.
14 About the same time as Gisli was outlawed a reform in the Icelandic
constitution was made. Before then a case had to be brought at the Assemblyin the locality of the man prosecuted, no matter where the prosecutor camefrom. After the reform, however, cases in which the prosecutor came from adifferent district were to go to the more neutral ground of newly established
Quarter Assemblies (one for each quarter of the country). Cf. The Saga ofGrettir, ch. 25.

THE SAGA OF GISLI

35

They ride to Sandaos. Then Thorkel spoke:‘I have a debt to collect at a small farm near here’—and he named
the farm—‘and I shall ride there and collect the debt while you comeafter me at your own pace.’
He goes ahead; and when he got to the place he had spoken of, he asks
the housewife to change horses with him and let his stand by the door.
‘And throw some homespun over the saddle,15 and when my friends
come along, tell them that I am sitting in the living-room and counting
money.’She gives him another horse and he rides quickly and comes into
the woods and meets Gisli and tells him what is going on, that Bork
has come from the west.

20
Gisli asks his brother what he thinks is best to do, and he wants toknow what Thorkel will do to help him, and whether he will give him
shelter. He answers as before, that he will give him warning if any
attacks are to be made, but he will keep himself clear of a law-case.
Thorkel then rides off and takes a way that brings him up behind Bork
and the others, and slows down their pace somewhat.
Gisli then hitches up two oxen and drives a cart with his valuables
in it to the woods, and with him goes his thrall, Thord the Coward.
Then Gisli spoke:‘You have often been obedient to me, and done as I have asked you,and I ought to give you some good reward.’
It was Gisli’s way to be well dressed, and in a blue cape; he takes
the cape from his back then and said:‘I will give you this cape, friend, and I want you to have the good of
it at once and put it on, and sit in the sledge behind, and I will lead theoxen and be dressed in your cloak.’
They do as he says. Then Gisli spoke.
‘If it happens that anyone calls out to you, then you must be sure not
to answer at all, and if anybody wants to hurt you, then you run to thewoods.’
15 Presumably this is to suggest that this cloth is part of the debt he is col-lecting. See homespun in the Glossary.

36

THE SAGA OF GISLIThis fellow had as much sense as he had spirit, for he had none ofeither. Gisli now leads the oxen. Thord was a man of big build and hesat high in the sledge; also he plumed himself rather, and thought himself splendidly dressed.
Now Bork and his company see them as they go towards the woods
and ride after them fast. And when Thord sees this he jumps off thesledge and runs as hard as he can to the trees. They think it is Gisli andride their fastest after him, and shout at him loudly. But he keeps quiet
and runs his hardest. Thorgrim the Norwegian throws a spear after
him, and it hits him between the shoulders so hard that it throws him
forward, and this was his death-wound. Then Bork speaks:‘Well shot! It couldn’t have been better!’
The brothers say that they will go after the thrall and see if there isany fight in him; so they go into the woods. The next thing is that Bork
and the others come up to the blue-caped man and pull back his hood,and now it seems that their luck is less than they had thought, for theyfind Thord the Coward where they had expected to find Gisli. And thestory says now that the brothers come among the trees where Gisli is,and he sees them and they him. One of them throws his spear at him,and Gisli catches it in flight and throws it back at Thorodd and it hits
him in the middle and goes right through him. Stein turns back to his
fellows and says the going is rather heavy in the woods. Bork, however, wants to carry on the chase, and so they do. And when they areamong the trees Thorgrim the Norwegian sees where the branches
move in a certain place, and he throws a spear there which hits Gisli inthe calf of the leg. Gisli throws the spear back and it goes throughThorgrim, and he is killed.
They search the woods but they do not find Gisli, and they turn backthen, leaving things as they are, to Gisli’s house, and there they speak
the summons against him for the slaying of Thorgrim. They take nothing from the house in the way of valuables and ride home. Gisli goesup the mountainside behind the farm and binds up his wound while
Bork and the others are at the steading. When they were gone Gisli
went back to his house and got ready to move.
When Bork first got the case ready against him for hearing at theThorsness Assembly, Gisli sold his land to Thorkel son of Eirik andtook payment in cash; this was much easier for him to handle. He
takes a boat now, and puts his valuables in it, which were worth a

THE SAGA OF GISLI

37

large sum, and takes his wife Aud with him and his foster-daughter
Gudrid, and goes out to Husaness and comes ashore there. Gisli goesup to the house there and meets a man, and the man asks him who heis, and Gisli told him what he thought fit, but not the whole truth. Gislitakes up a stone and throws it out to an island, which lay off shore
there, and told the farmer to have his son do the same when he came
home, and said that he would know then what man had come his way.
For this was what no other man could do, and it showed, once more,that Gisli was better at such feats than most other men.
Gisli goes to his boat and rows out around the headland and acrossArnarfiord and up into the fiord that runs in from Arnarfiord, which iscalled Geirthiofsfiord, and there he settles down, and he builds a fullsteading and stays there for the winter.

21
The next thing that happens is that Gisli sends word to Aud’s uncles,
Helgi and Sigurd and Vestgeir, asking them to go to the assembly andoffer to pay a settlement for him so that he should not be outlawed. So
these sons of Biartmar go to the assembly, but they bring about nokind of settlement, and men say that they behaved badly and they
were almost in tears before it was over. They tell Thorkel the Rich
what has happened, and said that they did not dare tell Gisli that hehad been outlawed. Nothing else of note happened at the assembly
besides Gisli’s sentence.
Thorkel the Rich goes to Gisli and told him that he had been outlawed. Then Gisli spoke this verse:
They would not
At Thorsness
Have quailed thus
In my case
If Biartmar’s
Sons’ breasts
Had harboured
Vestein’s heart.

38

THE SAGA OF GISLIGlum they were
Who should be glad,
Brothers of my
Wife’s mother:
These gold-spenders
Desponded
As though sprayed
By a bad egg.
Word has come from northward
To warn me, from Thorsness;Thing-men, unthewed,16 wronged me,
Thorkel, in the court there.
Bork and Stein will brook my
Bitter coin, in witness,
Well earned, of my ill will,
Weighed and fully paid them.
Gisli asks the two Thorkels what he can expect of them. They tell himthat they will give him shelter, as long as they do not lose their property on account of it. Then they ride home.
It is told that Gisli was three years in Geirthiofsfiord, but now andagain with Thorkel son of Eirik, and the next three years he goes allabout Iceland and visits the chieftains and asks for their help, but because of the black power that Thorgrim Nef had put into his spellcasting and cursing, he did not succeed in getting a chieftain to takeup with him, and although sometimes they seemed not unlikely tofavour him, something always got in the way. He stayed for long
stretches, however, with Thorkel son of Eirik, and he has now been an
outlaw for six years.
After this he stays sometimes with Aud in the house in Geirthiofsfiord, and sometimes in a hiding-place north of the river which he had
made for himself; he had another hiding-place by the cliffs south of
the river, and sometimes he stayed there.

16 unthewed: the word thew is used with its old meaning in mind, custom or
habit, especially a good habit or virtue.

THE SAGA OF GISLI

39

22
Now when Bork hears of all this he makes a trip to see Eyiolf theGrey, who lived then in Otradal on Arnarfiord, and asks him to huntfor Gisli and kill him as an outlaw, and he says that he will give him
sixty ounces of the purest silver if he will make every effort to hunt forhim. Eyiolf takes the money and agrees to carry out the hunt.
A man was with Eyiolf whose name was Helgi, and he was called
Spying-Helgi; he was both quick on his feet and sharpsighted, and heknew all the country round the fiords. He is sent into Geirthiofsfiord
to find out whether Gisli is there. He sees that there is a man, but does
not know whether it is Gisli or someone else. He goes home and tells
Eyiolf what he has found. Eyiolf says he is sure it must have been
Gisli, and he acts quickly and goes off with six men into Geirthiofsfiord,
but he sees no sign of Gisli, so he comes back home, having done
nothing.
Gisli was a wise man, and one who dreamed dreams that had true
meanings. It is agreed among all wise men that Gisli went longer as an
outlaw than any other man, except Grettir son of Asmund. The story
says that one autumn Gisli had a struggle in his sleep one night, when
he was staying at Aud’s steading; and when he awoke, she asked him
what he had been dreaming. He answers:‘I have two women in my dreams,’ he says, ‘and one is good to me,
but the other always tells me something that makes me feel worse
than before, and she foresees nothing but bad for me. And this time in
my dream I seemed to come to a house or a hall, and I seemed to go
into the house, and there I recognised many of those who were inside,
kinsmen of mine and friends. They were sitting by the fires and drinking, and there were seven fires; some were nearly burnt out and somewere burning very brightly. Then came in my better dream-woman
and said that these marked my life, what I had yet to live; and shecounselled me that while I lived I should give up the old faith, andhave nothing to do with magic or witchcraft, and deal kindly with theblind and the halt and the poor and the helpless. There was no more to
the dream.’
Then Gisli spoke some verses:
Wife, land of the wave fire,
Where I came were flaming

40

THE SAGA OF GISLISeven fires to my sorrow
Stern, in the hall burning;
Bench crews rose and bowed there
From board seats to greet me;
In return I answered
Old meet words of greeting.
Bend your eyes, band goddess
Bade me, glad spender,
Fires, your life foretelling,
Furnish the hall, burning.
Years are few of yearning
Yet, until a better
Time for you, storm tamer,
Treader of sword weather.
Let your heart from learning
Lightness, and in right wise,
Schooled by good skalds, said she,
Seek the best, unresting.
Worst lot for the wasterOf wave fire, brave spender,Ever, to know evil
Is, men say, in wisdom.
Hold your blade from bloodshed,
Be not first to stir them
Nor press them, promise me,
The proud gods of slaughter.
Help the blind and handless,And heed this, ring-speeder,
Low the mocker’s fame lies
And lame-harmer’s name, low.

23
Now is to be told how Bork keeps egging on Eyiolf and thinks thebusiness not as well followed up as he would like it to be and thinks

THE SAGA OF GISLI

41

that he has not got much for the money he has paid over, and he saysthat he knows for certain that Gisli is in Geirthiofsfiord, and he tells
Eyiolf’s men that have been sent between the two of them that Eyiolf
must hunt for Gisli or else, he says, he will go after him himself. Eyiolf
then bestirs himself and again sends Spying-Helgi into Geirthiofsfiord,and this time he has food with him and is away for a week, and hekeeps watch for a sight of Gisli. He sees him one day when he is goingfrom his hiding-place, and recognises him; this is what he has been
waiting for, and he goes back and tells Eyiolf what he has found out.
Eyiolf gets ready and sets out for Geirthiofsfiord with eight men, andgoes to Aud’s farmhouse; they do not find Gisli there, and they range
the woods all round, hunting for him and do not find him. They comeback then to Aud’s house and Eyiolf offers her much money to tellthem where Gisli is, but it is far from her mind to do that. Then they
threaten to hurt her, but this has no effect, and they must go home
empty-handed.
People thought this trip could not have been more contemptible,and Eyiolf stays at home for the rest of the fall. Although Gisli was notfound this time, he reasons that he is, nevertheless, bound to be taken
when he is such a short distance from Eyiolf’s farm. Gisli leaves home
now and rides out to Strond and comes to see his brother Thorkel at
Hvamm. He knocks at the door of the sleeping-quarters where Thorkel
is, and Thorkel comes out and greets him.
‘Now I want to know,’ said Gisli, ‘if you will give me some help; I
expect good help from you, because I am hard pressed, and I haveheld off asking you for a long while.’
Thorkel answers as before and says that he will give him no help
which might bring a case against him, and says that he will give him
money, or a horse if he needed one, or anything else like this, as hehad said before.
‘I see now,’ said Gisli, ‘that you will give me no real help. Give me
three hundred ells of homespun, and comfort yourself with the thoughtthat I will not often trouble you for help again.’
Thorkel does so, gives him cloth and some silver as well. Gisli saysthat he will accept that too, and went on to say that he would not treat
him so meanly, however, if he stood in his place. Gisli is moved when
they part. He goes now to Vadil, to the mother of Gest son of Oddleif,and comes there before daylight and knocks. She answers the door. It

42

THE SAGA OF GISLI

was often her way to take in outlaws, and she had an underground
room; one way into the underground room was by the river, and theother was in her kitchen, and traces of it can still be seen. Thorgerd
welcomes Gisli.
‘And I will let you stay here for a while, but I do not know whether
I can give you anything but a woman’s help here.’
Gisli says that he will accept, and says that men’s help had not been
so good that it would be unlikely that women’s help would be better.
Gisli is there over the winter, and nowhere was he better treated during his outlawry.

24
As soon as it is spring Gisli goes back to Geirthiofsfiord, and he cannot be away from his wife Aud any longer, so devoted are they to one
another; he is hidden there over the summer and until fall. And thenthe dreams come on again, as soon as the nights grow long; and theworse dream-woman comes to him now, and he has hard dreams, andonce he tells Aud what he has dreamed when she asked him, and thenhe spoke a verse:
If dreams true lines draw me
Dark for age they mark me;
Thread-work goddess through myThought-filled sleep has sought me.
Although the ale goddess
Invites no bright meaning,
Linker of strong letters
Not less soundly rests him.
Then Gisli says that the worse woman comes to him often, and isalways wanting to smear him with gore and blood, and wash him in it,
and she carries on hideously. Then he spoke another verse:
Not every dream avails me,
Albeit word not fails me;
She, goddess, has spoken,
So is my joy broken.

THE SAGA OF GISLI

43

At sleep’s edge she seeks me,
With slaughter’s gilt freaks me;
This woman works bloody
Wound flood on me, ruddy.
And again he spoke:
Told have I the tall ones,
Trees of the spear’s greeting,
My dream of death’s coming,
Dear wealth goddess, clearly.
Seekers of sark’s hatred,
Strife gods, who outlawed me,Will feel my filed weapon’sFang, if I grow angry.
And now things are quiet. Gisli goes to Thorgerd and stays anotherwinter with her. The following summer he goes to Geirthiofsfiord andis there until the fall. Then he goes again to his brother Thorkel’s place
and knocks on the door. Thorkel will not come out, so Gisli takes up a
stick and cuts runes on it and throws it in. Thorkel sees it and picks it
up and looks at it, and then stands up and goes out and greets Gisli andasks for his news. He says that he has none to tell him.
‘And I have come to see you for the last time, brother, and let yourhelp now be worthier; and I shall pay you by never asking help fromyou again.’
Thorkel replies again the same as before; he offers him a horse or aboat but refuses to stand by him himself. Gisli accepts the boat andasks Thorkel to help him launch it. He does so, and brings him four
hundred pounds of food and a hundred ells of homespun. And when
Gisli has got into the boat, Thorkel stands on the shore. Then Gisli
spoke.
‘Now you think that you are in clover, and the friend of many chieftains, and you have nothing to fear; and I am an outlaw, and many men
are my bitter enemies. But I can tell you this, that you will be killed
before me. We must now part, and on worse terms than ought to be,
and we shall never see each other again; and you must know that I
would never deal with you like this.’

44

THE SAGA OF GISLI‘I am not worried by your prophecies,’ said Thorkel.
And they part like this. Gisli rows out to the island Hergilsey in
Breidafiord. He takes out of the boat the decking and thwarts and oars
and everything not fixed in, and he overturns the boat and lets it wash
ashore in the Nesses. And men guess, when they see the boat, that
Gisli has been drowned, since the boat is wrecked and washed up, andthat he must have taken it from his brother Thorkel.
Now Gisli goes up on Hergilsey, to the house. A man lives there
whose name was Ingiald; his wife’s name was Thorgerd; Ingiald was
Gisli’s cousin, and had come out to Iceland with him. When they meet
he offers Gisli shelter and any help he can give him; and Gisli accepts
and stays there in quiet for a while.

25
There was a thrall with Ingiald, and a bondwoman; the thrall was named
Svart and the bondwoman was named Bothild. Helgi was the name ofIngiald’s son, and he was as simple as could be, and a fool; a tether
was made for him, a stone with a hole in it was tied to his neck and hebrowsed the grass out of doors like the cattle, and he was called Ingiald’sfool. He was a big man, almost a giant. Gisli is there over the winter,and he builds a boat for Ingiald and many other things. And whatever
he made was easy to recognise because he was handier than mostother men. Men began to wonder why so many things were well madethat Ingiald had, for he was not good with his hands. Gisli is always inGeirthiofsfiord over the summer; three years have now passed fromthe time he had begun to dream, and this is the best shelter he has had,which Ingiald gives him.
It seems to men, now, that all these things taken together are suspicious, and they begin to think that Gisli must be alive, and that hemust have been living with Ingiald and not drowned, as had been said.
Men begin to talk about the fact that Ingiald now has three boats, andall well made. These rumours come to the ears of Eyiolf the Grey, andit falls to Helgi’s lot to set out again, and he comes to Hergilsey.
Gisli is always in an underground room when anyone comes to theisland. But Ingiald was a hospitable man, and he offers Helgi a bed, so
he was there for the night. Ingiald was a hard-working man; he rowed

THE SAGA OF GISLI

45

out to fish every day that the weather was fit. And in the morning,when he was ready to set out, he asks whether Helgi is not keen to get
on with his journey, and why is he still in bed. He said that he was notquite well, and he breathed heavily and rubbed his head. Ingiald told
him to lie still then, and he rows out to sea; and Helgi takes to groaning hard. Now the story says that Thorgerd goes to the undergroundroom and means to give Gisli his breakfast; and there is a partition
between the pantry and the room Helgi was lying in. Thorgerd goesout of the pantry; Helgi climbs up on the partition and sees that somebody’s food has been set out; and at this Thorgerd comes back in, andHelgi moves fast, and he falls down from the partition. Thorgerd asks
why he is doing this, climbing up in the rafters, and not lying still. He
says that he is so frantic with the pains in his limbs that he cannot lie
still.
‘And I wish,’ he says, ‘that you would help me back to bed.’
She does so. Then she goes out with the food. But Helgi gets straightout of bed and follows her, and sees now what is going on; he goesback and lies down after this and stays there for the day.
Ingiald comes home in the evening and goes to Helgi’s bed and asks
whether he is any better. He says he has taken a turn for the better, andhe asks to be ferried off the island in the morning. So he is taken south
to Flatey, and from there he makes his way to Thorsness; and he tells
them that he has found out that Gisli is with Ingiald. Bork sets out thenby ship with fourteen men, and sails north across Breidafiord. This
day Ingiald has rowed out to fish and Gisli with him, and the thrall andthe bondwoman in another boat, and they were lying off some islands
that are called Skutileyiar.

26
Now Ingiald sees the ship sailing from the south, and he said:‘A ship is sailing there, and I think it will be Bork the Stout.’‘What should we do now?’ asked Gisli. ‘I want to find out if you area clever man, as much as you are a stout fellow.’‘I can decide quickly,’ said Ingiald, ‘though I may not be clever; let
us row as hard as we can to the island and then climb up on Vadsteinaberg and fight as long as we can stand.’46

THE SAGA OF GISLI‘That is what I expected,’ said Gisli, ‘that you would offer a planthat calls for the best courage; but I make a worse payment for yourhelp than I intended if you lose your life for my sake. That must neverbe, and we shall follow another plan. You shall row to the island withthe thrall and go up on the hill and make a stand to defend yourselves,
and they will think I am the other man with you when they sail northaround the headland. And I shall change clothes with the thrall, as I
have done once before now, and I shall go in the boat with Bothild.’
Ingiald did as Gisli advised; and one thing was apparent, that hewas very angry. And as the boats separate the bondwoman spoke:‘What is to be done now?’
Gisli answered in a verse:
Woman, this wight, deeming
His wing turned from Ingiald,
Plans, and plies his cunning—I pour the dwarfs’ liquor.
Whether ill or well fare
Awaits me, I mate it
Boldly, splendid bond-wife,
Bright tree of the sea’s fire.
Now they row south towards Bork and his men and look as though
they expected no trouble. Then Gisli tells her what he wants her to do.
‘You shall say,’ he says, ‘that this is the fool in the boat, and I shallsit in the bows and mimic him, and tangle myself in the lines and hangoverboard sometimes and carry on as foolishly as I know how; and if
we get past them a little, I shall row my hardest and try to put distance
between us as fast as possible.’
She rows on towards them and yet not too close, and makes it lookas though she is going to another fishing ground. Bork calls out to her
and asks if Gisli is on the island.
‘I do not know that,’ says she, ‘but I do know that there is a man
there who is both bigger than other men, those who are on the island,and better with his hands.’‘Ay,’ says Bork. ‘And is farmer Ingiald at home?’‘A while ago he rowed to the island,’ said she, ‘and his thrall withhim, or so I thought.’

THE SAGA OF GISLI

47‘That will not have been a thrall,’ says Bork; ‘that must have been
Gisli; and let us row after them as fast as we can.’His men kept their eyes on Gisli and answered:‘We think there is some sport here with the half-wit: look at the fool
things he is doing!’
They told Bothild that she was badly off, having to look after this idiot.
‘I think so too,’ she says. ‘But it’s my belief you are making a jokeof it, and do not feel sorry for me at all.’‘No more of this foolishness,’ says Bork. ‘Let us get on our way.’
They leave her and row to the island and go ashore, and then they
see the men up on Vadsteinaberg, and they go up after them and thinkthat everything is going their way, for Ingiald and his thrall have taken
their stand on the crag. Bork knows the men right away, and he spoke
to Ingiald:‘You will be wise to give up Gisli, or else tell me where he is, andyou are a son of a bitch to shelter my brother’s murderer when you are
my tenant, and it’s bad treatment you deserve from me, and it would
only be right if you were killed.’
Ingiald answers, ‘My clothes are threadbare, and it will not grieve
me not to make them more so; and I will rather lose my life than not
do Gisli any good turn that I can, or keep him from trouble.’
And men have said that Ingiald gave Gisli most help, and that his
help was the most useful to him; and the story says that when Thorgrim
Nef worked his curse he spoke in this way, that Gisli should get nobenefit even though men should help him here on the mainland; but it
did not come into his head to say anything that covered the off-shoreislands, and so this help lasted rather longer than any other, though it
was bound to come to an end.

27
Bork does not think it proper to attack Ingiald, his tenant. They goaway then to the house and hunt for Gisli there, and do not find him,
as was to be expected. They go about the island and come to the place
where the fool was, browsing grass in a little dale with a stone tiedaround his neck. Then Bork has something to say.

48

THE SAGA OF GISLI‘Not only is Ingiald’s fool much spoken of, but he is in rather moreplaces than I thought, and it is no good staring at him here. We havebeen so careless that it is hard to believe, and I can hardly see how weshall put it right again. That will have been Gisli in the boat near us,
making out that he was the idiot, for he has the wit for anything and heis a great mimic; but it will be most shameful if he slips through ourfingers, so many of us as we are. We must go quick after him and not
let him get out of range.’
Then they jump into their ship and row after them, and pull fast on
the oars. Soon they see that Gisli and the bondwoman have gone far
into the sound, and now both boats row hard. The larger boat, with themore men in it, goes faster, and comes up so near at last that Bork is
within spear-shot of him, but by then Gisli has come to shore. Then
Gisli speaks, and said to the bondwoman:‘We shall part now, and here is a gold ring that you shall take to
Ingiald, and another for his wife, and tell them that they are to give
you your freedom, and take these as tokens. I also want Svart to begiven his freedom. You must surely be called the one who has saved
my life, and I want you to be rewarded for it.’
They part, and Gisli climbs ashore and up to a rocky cleft; it is justoff Hiardarness. The bondwoman rowed away, sweating from the exertion, and reeking of it.
The ship comes to shore and Saka-Stein is the first out of it, and heclimbs up to look for Gisli; and when he reaches the cleft Gisli isstanding there with his drawn sword, and he brings it right down on
his head so that it splits him to the shoulder, and he fell dead to theground. Bork and the rest now go up on the island; but Gisli jumps
down into the sea, intending to swim to the mainland. Bork throws aspear after him, which takes him in the leg and cuts right through, andit makes a bad wound. He pulls the spear out, but he loses his sword
because he was so weary that he could not keep his grip on it. It was
dark by the time he reached the shore. He goes into the woods, forthere was much bush land there then. Bork and the others row over tothe mainland and hunt for Gisli, and they surround him in the woods,
and he is so tired and stiff that he can hardly walk, and he is aware ofmen all around him. He tries to think of a way out, and he comes down
to the water’s edge and makes his way round to Haug in the darkness
along the foreshore which was passable on the ebb, and he meets a
certain farmer called Ref.

THE SAGA OF GISLI

49

This farmer was a very cunning man. He greets Gisli and asks him
for his news. He told him everything that had happened between him
and Bork. Ref had a wife called Alfdis, handsome in looks but violent
in temper, and altogether a shrew; she was a match for Ref. When hehas told Ref his news, Gisli asks him for help.
‘For they will be here soon,’ said Gisli, ‘and they are pressing me
hard, and there are not many I can turn to for help.’‘I shall make one condition,’ said Ref, ‘that however I go about
helping you, you will not interfere at all.’‘I agree to that,’ said Gisli, ‘and I shall not walk a step farther.’‘Go inside, then,’ said Ref.
And so they did. Then Ref spoke to Alfdis:‘Now I am going to change men in bed with you.’
And he takes all the covers off the bed and said that Gisli was to lie
down there in the straw, and he puts the covers back over him, andAlfdis gets back in bed on top of him.
‘And you stay there,’ said Ref, ‘for the time being, whatever happens.’
He tells Alfdis now to be on her worst behaviour and as though she
was out of her mind.
‘And do not hold back,’ said Ref. ‘Say whatever bad thing comes
into your head, curses and bad language; and I will go and do thetalking with them, and pick my words to suit myself.’
And for the second time, when he comes out, he sees men approaching, and these are Bork’s companions, eight of them together. Bork isbehind, at Forsa. These men had been sent up there to hunt for Gisli
and take him if he has come this way. Ref is outside, and he asks fortheir news.
‘We can only tell you what you must have heard already. But do you
know anything about where Gisli has gone?’ they ask. ‘Has he perhaps come here?’‘I will give you two answers,’ said Ref. ‘He has not come here andif he had tried it he would have met with swift disaster, and I do notknow whether you think it is true or not that I am as ready as any oneof you to kill Gisli; but I have enough wit to think that it would be nosmall gain to have the confidence of such a man as Bork is, and I want
to be his friend.’
They ask, ‘Will you mind if we search you and your home?’‘By all means,’ says Ref. ‘I shall be very glad of it, because I know

50

THE SAGA OF GISLI

that then you can search more surely in other places, if you know for
certain first that he is not here. So go in and search the place inside out.’
They go in. And when Alfdis heard their noise she asks what thugs
were on the move out there, or what kind of hooligans they were,bothering people in the night. Ref told her to quiet down. But she lets
go a flood of bad language; she tells them a few things that they will
not quickly forget. They carry out their search all the same, but not as
thoroughly as they would have done if they had not first had to put up
with such bad language from the housewife. They go away then, having found nothing, and wish the farmer a good life; and he wishes
them good travelling. Then they come back to Bork, and they are all
dissatisfied with this trip and they think that they have had a great andshameful loss in Saka-Stein without achieving anything they had set
out for. The news goes about the district, and nobody can see any
difference between this and their other failures against Gisli. Bork
goes home now, and tells Eyiolf how things stand.
Gisli stays with Ref for a fortnight, then he goes away, and parts
good friends with Ref and gives him a knife and belt, which werevaluable things; they were all he had left on him. Afterwards he goesback to his wife in Geirthiofsfiord, and he has added a great deal to his
fame by this adventure. And it is true to say that there has not beensuch a powerful man as Gisli, nor one so courageous, and yet he was
not lucky. But it is time to speak of something else.

28
It is to be told now that in the spring Bork goes to the assembly inThorskafiord with a large party of men, with the purpose of meeting
his friends. Gest comes from the west, from Raudasand on Bardastrond,
and also Thorkel, son of Sur, each sailing his own ship. And when
Gest is ready to set out, two boys come to him, badly dressed andcarrying staves in their hands. It becomes known for certain that Gest
has a talk in private with the boys, and it is also certain that they ask
for passage on his ship and he gives it to them. They go as far as
Hallsteinsness with him, and there he puts them ashore east of the
farm on the headland called Grenitresness. From here they make theirown way to the assembly.

THE SAGA OF GISLI

51

There was a man named Hallbiorn; he was a tramp who used to go
about the country, never with fewer men than ten or twelve; and hehad built himself a booth at the assembly. The boys go there and ask
for shelter in his booth, and say they are tramps. He says he will give
booth-room to anyone who will ask him for it.
‘I have been here many springs,’ he said, ‘and I know all the noblemen and chiefs.’
The boys say that they will be glad of his protection, and want tolearn from him.
‘We are very curious to see the famous men that the big stories areabout.’
Hallbiorn says that he will go down to the shore, and he said that hewould recognise every ship as soon as it came in, and tell them. They
thank him for being so friendly. Then they go down to the shore andacross to the water’s edge; and they see that some ships are sailing in.
The older boy speaks:‘Whose is that ship, that is sailing this way first?’
Hallbiorn said that it was Bork the Stout’s ship.
‘And who is sailing next to him?’‘Gest the Wise,’ he said.
‘And who is sailing after him, and drawing up there in the creek
mouth?’‘That is Thorkel, son of Sur,’ he said.
They see now that Thorkel goes ashore and sits down on the ground
while their gear is being carried off to a point above high-water mark.
And Bork gets their booth ready. Thorkel had a Russian fur hat on his
head, and a grey cloak fastened with a gold pin at the shoulder, and asword in his hand. Then Hallbiorn goes over, and the two boys withhim, to where Thorkel is sitting. Now one of the boys, the older one,speaks:‘Who is this lordly man sitting here? I have not seen such a handsome and noble-looking man.’‘Your words are well spoken, and I am called Thorkel.’
The boy says, ‘That must be a valuable sword that you have in yourhand; will you let me have a look at it?’Thorkel answers, ‘It is a very strange thing you ask, but I will let
you see it.’And he hands it to him. The boy took the sword and turned aside a

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THE SAGA OF GISLI

little, and undoes the peace-straps17 and draws the sword from thescabbard. When Thorkel saw this, he said:‘I did not give you leave to draw the sword.’‘I did not ask your leave,’ said the boy.
And he swings the sword back and drives it into Thorkel’s neck sothat the blow took off his head. As soon as this has happened Hallbiorn
the tramp jumps up; the boy throws the bloody sword down, and picks
up his staff and the two of them run with Hallbiorn and his gang; andthe tramps are nearly off their heads with panic. They run up by thebooth which Bork is getting ready. Men crowd around Thorkel, andnobody seems to know who has done the deed.
Bork asks what this excitement and noise means that is going onaround Thorkel. And when Hallbiorn and his gang run up by thebooth—there were fifteen tramps—and when Bork asks this question,
the younger boy answers him, whose name was Helgi—the one who
had done the killing was called Berg:‘I do not know what they are meeting about; but I think they aretrying to decide whether Vestein left only daughters or had sons too.’
Hallbiorn runs to his booth; and the boys go into the scrub that was
round about and are not found again.

29
Men come running now to Hallbiorn’s booth and ask what it all means.
The tramps say that two young boys had come into their gang, andthey say they had no inkling of this, and they say that they knew nothing at all about them; they tell something, however, about their looks,
and what sort of things they had said. Bork thinks he knows now fromthe words Helgi had spoken that it must have been the sons of Vestein;and so he goes to see Gest and talk over with him how he should go
about this business. Bork says:‘It is more my duty than anyone else’s to take up Thorkel’s case,since he was my brother-in-law. It seems not unlikely to us that this is
how it happened, that Vestein’s sons must have done the deed; because
17 Peace-straps would have been fastenings round the sword-hilt to preventthe sword accidentally coming out of the sheath.

THE SAGA OF GISLI

53

we do not know that any other man would be likely to have anything
against Thorkel, except them. It may be that they have got away fornow. Tell me what you think: how should the case be taken up?’
Gest answers, ‘I would know what to do if I had done the killing; I
would use the trick—so that the case would fail that might be brought
against me—of calling myself by another name.’
And Gest puts many difficulties in the way of bringing a case forward. People have been sure that Gest was in the plot with the boys,
because he was tied to them by kinship. They break off their talk, andthe case is dropped. And Thorkel is buried with the old rites and men
go home from the assembly; and nothing else of importance happensat this assembly. Bork was discontented with his trip, as he had often
had cause to be, and he had furthermore brought on himself muchdisgrace and dishonour from this affair, the way things had been left.
The boys go on until they come to Geirthiofsfiord, spending fivedays and nights in the open country. Then they come to Aud’s, andGisli is there at the time; they come at night and knock on the door.
Aud opens it and greets them and asks for their news. Gisli was in the
bed-closet beneath which there was an underground passage, and shewould raise her voice if he needed to be on guard. They tell her about
the killing of Thorkel and about how they are managing; and they tellher also how long they have been without food.
‘I am going to send you,’ said Aud, ‘across the ridge to Mosdal, toBiartmar’s sons; I shall give you food and a token so that they will
give you shelter; and I am doing this because I do not want to ask Gisli
to help you.’
The boys go into the woods where they might not be found and eat
the food, for they had gone hungry for a long time; and then they lie
down to sleep when they had eaten their fill, because they were very
tired.

30
Now it is to be said of Aud that she goes in to Gisli and spoke:‘It means much to me now how you will take this, so as to treat me
more honourably than I deserve.’
He understood her at once and said:

54

THE SAGA OF GISLI‘I know that you are going to tell me of the killing of my brother
Thorkel.’‘It is as you have guessed,’ said Aud, ‘and the boys came here andthey wanted to hide out with you, and they thought they could put
their trust in nothing but this.’He answers, ‘I cannot bear to see my brother’s killers, and be together with them.’
And he jumps up and goes to draw his sword, and he spoke a verse:
Guess not but that Gisli,
Given this cause, driven
By thought of slain Thorkel,—Thing tidings men bring him—Battle-ice but that he
Brandish may in answer.
Doubt not. I will dare till
Death has made me breathless.
Then Aud said that they were gone.
‘For I had wit enough not to risk them here.’
Gisli said that this was the best way, that they should not meet; andhe becomes calmer at once, and things are then quiet for a while. It issaid that now there are no more than two years left of those that the
dream-woman said he would live. And as the season wears on Gisli
stays in Geirthiofsfiord, and the dreams all return and the hard struggles
in his sleep, and now it is always the worse dream-woman who comesto him, except for odd times when it is the better. One night it happensthat the better dream-woman again comes to him; she seemed to beriding a grey horse, and she invites him to ride with her to her home,and he goes with her. They come now to a house which is very like anobleman’s hall, and she leads him into it by the hand, and it seems to
him that there are cushions along the raised benches, and all the furnishings are rich. She asked that they should stay there together and be
happy.
‘And you shall come here when you die,’ she said, ‘and enjoy riches
and contentment.’
Then he wakes up, and he spoke some verses about what he had
dreamt:THE SAGA OF GISLI

55

Goddess of threads gladly
On her grey steed prayed me
Rise up, praise-rune maker,
Ride away beside her.
Golden one, of seagull’s
Ground, in weakness found me;
To help me and heal me
Her grave promise gave me.
Splendid sea-flame goddess
Showed me, ode-contriver,
Where, for my worn body
And will, lay a pillow.
Linen goddess led me
Lo, where sleep would know me;
No hilled pallet held me;
My head, sweetly bedded.
‘Hither, when death’s heavy
Hand-blow has unmanned you,’
Said then that sweet lady,‘Shall the valkyr bring you.
Adder’s earth and otherOld rich treasure told here
And my self you solely
Sovereign shall govern.’

31
Then the story says that a time comes when Helgi was again sent spying into Geirthiofsfiord; and people think it likely that Gisli is there. A
man goes with him whose name is Havard. He had come to Icelandthat summer and he was a kinsman of Gest son of Oddleif. They weresent into the woods to cut timber, and so they made their businessappear to be, but in fact they were meant to look for Gisli and see ifthey could find his hiding-place. And one day at twilight they see afire in the cliffs to the south of the river. This was at nightfall, when it

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THE SAGA OF GISLI

was already quite dark. Havard asks Helgi what they should do about
this.
‘For you,’ he says, ‘will be more used to this business than I.’‘There is one thing to do,’ says Helgi. ‘Build a cairn here on thishillock where we are standing, so that we can find it again when it isdaylight; and we can take a sight across from the cairn to the cliffs,
which are not far to see.’
They follow this plan. When they have built the cairn, Havard said
that he was sleepy, so much so that he could no longer stay awake. He
lies down and sleeps. But Helgi stays awake and does what is needed
to finish the cairn. When he has done this, Havard wakes up and tells
Helgi to sleep, and he says that he will watch. So Helgi sleeps for awhile. And while he is sleeping Havard goes to work and takes thecairn all apart and scatters the stones in the darkness. And when he hasdone all this he takes a big stone and smashes it down on the rock-facenear Helgi’s head, so that the earth shook with it. Helgi springs up,
and he is shaking and frightened, and he asked what was happening.
Havard said:‘There is a man in the woods, and many stones like this have been
coming down tonight.’‘It must have been Gisli,’ says Helgi, ‘and he must have found outthat we are here; and you realise, man dear,’ he says, ‘that we will besmashed if such a stone hits us; and there is nothing else to do but getaway as quickly as we can.’Helgi runs off at his fastest; and Havard walks after him and asks
Helgi not to leave him like that, but Helgi paid no attention and went
as fast as his feet would go. At last they both come to their boat andjump into it and plunge the oars into the water and row hard, without
letting up, until they come home to Otradal; and Helgi says he is sure
now where Gisli is.
Eyiolf acts at once, and sets out with eleven men, and Helgi andHavard are in the party. They go on into Geirthiofsfiord and range
through all the woods, hunting for the cairn and Gisli’s hiding-place,but they found neither. Then Eyiolf asks Havard where they had built
the cairn. He answers:‘I cannot be sure of that; because not only was I so tired that I hardly
knew what was going on around me, but besides Helgi finished building the cairn while I was sleeping. I think it is not unlikely that Gisli

THE SAGA OF GISLI

57

knew we were there, and he carried away the cairn when it was daylight and we had left.’Eyiolf said, ‘We have had nothing but bad luck in this case, and we
may as well turn back.’
And so they do, but Eyiolf says he will visit Aud first. They come tothe steading and walk in, and Eyiolf settled down again to have a talkwith Aud. He has this to say:
‘I will make a bargain with you, Aud,’ he says, ‘that you tell me
where Gisli is and I will give you the sixty ounces of silver which I
have taken as the price on his head. You shall not be there when we
take his life. It will also follow that I will arrange a marriage for you
that will be better in every way than this one has been. You can see foryourself,’ he says, ‘how miserable it becomes for you, living in thisdeserted fiord, and having this happen to you because of Gisli’s badluck, and never seeing your kinsfolk or their families.’
She answers, ‘I think the last thing,’ she says, ‘that we are likely toagree about is that you could arrange any marriage for me that I would
think as good as this one. Even so, it is true, as they say, that “cash is
the widow’s best comfort”; and let me see whether this silver is as
much or as fine as you say it is.’He pours the silver into her lap then, and she puts her hand into it
while he counts it and turns it over before her. Gudrid, her fosterdaughter, begins to cry.

32
She goes out and finds Gisli, and she says to him:
‘My foster-mother has gone out of her wits, and she is going tobetray you.’
Gisli spoke, ‘Put your mind at rest, for it will not be treachery from
Aud that will be the cause of my death.’
And he spoke a verse:
Loud they tongue my lady,
Lords of masted fiord-elks;
Hoards she, say they, hard thoughts
Heart deep for her partner.

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THE SAGA OF GISLI

I have seen that single
Sorrow keeps she, mourning;
True drops, never traitor
Tears fall from my dear one.
Then the girl goes home again and says nothing of where she has
been. Eyiolf has then counted the silver, and Aud spoke:‘In no way is the silver less or poorer than you have said, and you
will think now that I have the right to do with it as I please.’
Eyiolf agrees with this gladly, and tells her certainly to do what she
likes with it. Aud takes the silver and puts it in a big purse; she stands
up and swings the purse with the silver in it at Eyiolf’s nose, so thatthe blood spurts out all over him; then she spoke:‘Take that for your easy faith, and every harm with it! There wasnever any likelihood that I would give my husband over to you, scoundrel. Take your money, and shame and disgrace with it! You will remember, as long as you live, you miserable man, that a woman has
struck you; and yet you will not get what you want for all that!’
Then Eyiolf said, ‘Seize the bitch and kill her, woman or not!’Havard has something to say: ‘This errand has been poor enough,without this coward’s work. Stand up, men, and do not let him get his
way in this.’
Eyiolf said, ‘The old saying is true, “A man’s worst following comesfrom home”. ’Havard was a well-liked man, and many of them were ready to backhim up, besides wanting to turn Eyiolf from a bad act; and Eyiolf has
to be satisfied to leave it at this and go. Before Havard went out Aud
spoke to him:
‘It would be wrong not to pay you the debt that Gisli owes you, andhere is a gold finger-ring that I want you to have.’‘I would not have claimed it,’ says Havard.
‘I want to pay it, though,’ says Aud.
She was really giving him the ring for the help he had given her.
Havard got himself a horse and rides south to Strond, to Gest son of
Oddleif, and he refuses to stay with Eyiolf any longer. Eyiolf goeshome to Otradal, discontented with what had been done; and indeed it
was everywhere thought to have been most contemptible.

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59

33
As the summer passes Gisli remains in his hiding-places, being waryfor himself, and he has made up his mind not to go away again; it
seems to him now that his burrows are all snowed in; and the years
allotted to him in his dreams are all spent. Then comes a certain nightin summer when Gisli has a bad sleep. And when he wakens Aud asks
him what he has dreamt. He says that the worse dream-woman cameto him and spoke:‘Now I shall overturn everything that the better woman has toldyou; and I shall see to it that no good will come to you of anything she
has promised.’
Then he spoke a verse:‘Sorrow will you sever,Such as deep love touches,
Turn your ways in torment,’
Told me the bowl goddess.
‘Lord of life has led you
Lone, to unknown places,
Hills far from your hall roof,
Homeless, new world roamer.’‘I dreamt further,’ he said, ‘that this woman came to me and tied abloody cap on my head, after she had washed my head in blood, andshe spattered me all over so that I was all bloody.’
He spoke a verse:
I dreamt the dread goddess
Drenched my head in redness,
Froth of fires of Odin
That flows where the blows fall.
Goddess hands were hidden
Of hawk-track fire, brackish
Sword-loosed tides swept round them,
Stained them deep with wound rain.
And again he spoke:

60

THE SAGA OF GISLII dreamt the doom goddess
Draped my bushy straight-cut
Hair with a dour head-piece,
Hat all blood bespattered;
Seared with smoking sword rain
Her soiled hands embroiled me;
Thread-work goddess thrust me
Then to my dream’s ending.
Now the dreams become so much for Gisli, and he becomes so frightened of the dark, that he is afraid to be alone; and as soon as his eyelids close the same woman appears to him. It was on one of thesenights that Gisli struggled very hard in his sleep. Aud asked what had
appeared to him.
‘I dreamt,’ says Gisli, ‘that men were attacking us, and Eyiolf wasamong them, and many other men, and we met, and I knew that there
was fighting between us. One of them came in front, bellowing loud,and I seemed to cut him in two at the middle, and I thought he had awolf’s head. Then more of them attacked me. I seemed to have a shield
in my hand, and I kept them off for a long while.’
Gisli spoke a verse:
I fought a lone fatefulFight, this was my nightmare;Single, not soon was I
Slain by their main power.
Good flesh by my gashing
Gave I mouths of ravens,
But in your white bosom
Bright blood drops fell ruddy.
And he spoke another:
My shield fenced my skald’s life
The sounding blades found my
Wooden bastion wide-hardTowards them, loud sword points.
Metal dinned on meeting;
Much their power touched me,

THE SAGA OF GISLI

61

Quelled me, though my called-for
Courage faced their murder.
And he spoke another:Ill fared one crow feeder
Before the rest tore me;
I carved for the curved-bill
Corpse-stream hawk this morsel;
Hewed strong legs my hard edge
Unhurried, struck surely;
Mastered, he missed footing,More to swell my glory.
The autumn was coming on and the dreams were not growing less but
rather they came more often than before. It was one night when Gisli
had again had a hard time in his sleep. Aud then asked him once more
what had appeared to him. Gisli spoke a verse:
My both sides were bathed inBlood, I dreamed so, flooded;
I dreamed harm descended
Of drawn wound flood on me.
Necklet goddess, nightly
Now, blood nightmares bow me;
A storm stirs, of weapons,
Strife of men against me.
He spoke another verse:
It seemed gods of slain net
Set with blades whetted,
Blood on my both shoulders,
Broad and straight, ring goddess.
Ire of corpse-stream eagle’s
Eye-delight providers
Left me dwindled life hopes,
Less to come of blessing.
And again another:

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THE SAGA OF GISLI

Sheared they with their sword blades—
Shield troll-woman wielders—
My doomed arms; I dreamt they
Deeply harmed my sleep self.
I dreamt the helm-daunting
Downward sword teeth gored me,
Greedy mouths, thread goddess,
Gaped at me their fang shapes.
And he spoke still another verse:Band goddess bent to me,
Bore for me dream sorrow,
Fresh dew on her eye-fringe
Felt that bright belt goddess.
Soft that sea-fire goddess
And soon, bound my wounds up:
Ministered or meant she
More, think you, than sorrow?

34
Gisli spends the whole summer at home, and all is quiet. Then comesthe last day of the summer season. On that October night the story
says that Gisli could not sleep, and neither could Aud and Gudrid. The
weather was such that the air was very still and the frost, also, washeavy. Gisli says that he wants to go from the house to his hidingplace, which was southwards under the cliffs, and see if he might sleep
there. All three of them go, and they are wearing long kirtles, and thekirtles trail in the white frost. Gisli is carrying a stick and cutting runes
in it, and the chips fall to the ground. They come to the hiding-place.
He lies down to see if he can get some sleep; and the women stayawake. Drowsiness comes on him, and he dreams that big birds comeinto the place, bigger than cock-ptarmigans; and they screeched horribly; and they had been wallowing in blood. Then Aud asked him what
he had been dreaming.
‘My dreams are no better than before.’

THE SAGA OF GISLI

63

He spoke a verse:
Loud in my mind, lady,Linen goddess, din came,
Pierced me when we parted—
I pour the dwarfs’ liquor.
Heard this tree of hard edge
Hatred, fighting great birds,
Beating wings. My bow’s dew
Will blight the hearts of fighters.
While he is talking they hear the sound of men’s voices, and Eyiolf
has come up with fourteen men, and they have been to the steading
first and seen the trails over the frost, as if pointing the way. When
Gisli and the two women become aware of the men they climb up on
the cliffs to where the vantage is best, and the women each carry a big
club. Eyiolf and his men come below. Eyiolf spoke then to Gisli:‘It will not be right now for you to run away, and let yourself bechased like a coward, because you are called a great hero. We have not
had many meetings, and we would like it if this might be the last.’
Gisli answers, ‘Come at me like a man, for I shall not run any farther
away. And it is for you to attack me first, because you have moreagainst me than the other men who are here in your party.’‘I shall not leave it to you,’ says Eyiolf, ‘to place my men for me.’
‘It was more likely,’ says Gisli, ‘that your dog’s heart would be afraid
to cross weapons with me.’Eyiolf spoke then to Spying-Helgi, ‘You would make a great namefor yourself if you were the first to go up the cliff at Gisli, and thefame of it would go about for a long while.’‘I have seen for myself,’ says Helgi, ‘that you will mostly have others
in front of you, where there is some danger; but because you egg me
on so hard I shall do as you say, but you must come right after me, andbe next man up, if you are not all a coward.’
Helgi starts upwards where the way seems best to him, and he has a
big axe in his hand. Gisli was equipped with an axe, which he held in
his hand, and a girded sword and a shield by his side, and he was
wearing a grey, cowled cloak which he had tied round himself with acord. Helgi takes a run and springs up the cliff at Gisli. He turns to

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THE SAGA OF GISLI

meet Helgi, swings back his sword and brings it down across his loins,so that he cuts the man in two, and the parts fall back off the cliff.
Eyiolf follows up by another way, but Aud was facing him, and she
strikes his arm with her club so that all the strength goes out of it, andhe falls back down. Then says Gisli:‘I knew long ago that I was well wived, but I did not know until now
how well. And yet the help you have just given me is less than you
hoped and expected to give me, even though your blow was good,
because I would have sent both of those men the same way.’35
Two men then go up to hold Aud and Gudrid, and they think they haveas much as they can do. Twelve men attack Gisli up on the cliffs. But
he holds them off with stones and weapons so well that his defence
has become famous. One of Eyiolf’s fellows jumps forward and says:‘Let me have those good weapons you are holding, and your wife
Aud along with them.’
Gisli answers, ‘You will have to win them hard; because you are notgood enough for them, neither the weapons that have been mine nor
my wife.’
This man thrusts at Gisli with his spear. But Gisli strikes the spearhead from the shaft, and the blow is so heavy that the axe comes downon the flat rock beneath him and a corner snaps off from its edge. He
throws down the axe then and draws his sword and fights with it,
guarding himself with his shield. Now they attack manfully and hedefends himself well and with spirit; and they battled fiercely. Gisli
killed another two men, and now four of them are dead. Eyiolf tells
them to go at him like men.
‘It is not easy for us,’ says Eyiolf, ‘but what does that matter if the
reward is good?’
Then, when it is least expected, Gisli turns about and runs across toa lone bluff called Einhamar, away from the cliffs; and there he makes
his stand to defend himself. This took them unawares; and it now seems
to them that they are much worse off—four men dead and the rest
wounded and tired. There comes a lull in the attacking. Then Eyiolf
eggs on his men harder than ever, and promises them big rewards if

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65

they will close in on Gisli. These were picked men that he had withhim, for their determination and toughness.

36
A man called Svein is the first to come at Gisli. Gisli strikes at him
and splits him to the shoulders and flings him down over the bluff.
They hardly seem to know where the slaughter inflicted by this man
will stop. Gisli spoke then to Eyiolf:‘By my will, you would never earn anything more dearly than the
sixty ounces of silver you have taken on my head; and what is more, I
will make you wish that you could give another sixty ounces that we
had never met, for you will be disgraced for losing so many men.’
Now they search for an opening, and they will not turn away after
this, not for their lives. They attack him from two sides, and two are in
front with Eyiolf, one called Thorir and the other Thord, kinsmen of
Eyiolf. These were two hard-fighting kind of men; and the thrusting is
now fierce and quick, and they succeed in wounding him in someplaces with their spears, but he fights back fearlessly and with great
spirit. And they take so much from him by stones and great blows that
not one of them was unwounded who attacked him, for Gisli’s aim
was sure when he struck. They attack him fiercely, Eyiolf and his kinsmen; they saw that their honour was at stake. They wound him thenwith their spears, so that his bowels begin to come out; and he gathers
the bowels in with his shirt and ties them underneath with the cord.
Then Gisli told them to wait a little.
‘You will finish up the case as you want to.’He spoke a verse:
Sheer goddess of shower
Of spear-shaft’s hall, cheer-heart,
Brave, bids of her lover,
Bold one, the cold tidings.
Fain am I though finely
Forged bright edges bite me;
My sire’s true sword temper
Shows in his son’s life-close.

66

THE SAGA OF GISLIThis is Gisli’s last verse; and as soon as he had spoken the verse, heleaps down from the bluff and drives his sword into the skull of Thord,
Eyiolf’s kinsman, and splits him right down to the middle; with thisGisli falls over on top of him and is lifeless. And they were all badly
wounded, Eyiolf’s fellows.
Gisli died of so many great wounds that there seemed to be something strange about it. His attackers said that he never gave ground,and they could not see that his last blow was weaker than his first.
Thus Gisli’s life comes to an end, and it is everywhere agreed that hewas the most valiant of men, and yet he was not in all things a lucky
man. They drag his body down and take away his sword; they bury
him there among the stones and go down to the sea. A sixth man diedbeside the water.
Eyiolf asked Aud if she wanted to go with him. But she did not want
to. After this they go home to Otradal, and that same night the seventh
man died. An eighth is laid up by his wounds for a year and then diesof them. The rest recover, those who had been wounded, but they havegained nothing but dishonour. And it is everywhere agreed that neverin this country has one man put up a more famous defence, so far as
such things can be known for certain.

37
Eyiolf goes away to the south with eleven men to visit Bork the Stout,
and he told him his news, and how it all happened. This put Bork inhigh spirits, and he tells Thordis to give Eyiolf a good welcome.
‘And remember how much you loved my brother Thorgrim, and do
well for Eyiolf.’‘I must grieve for Gisli my brother,’ says Thordis; ‘and is it notenough for Gisli’s killer if a pot of porridge is put before him?’
And in the evening, when she brought the food in, she lets fall the
tray of spoons. Eyiolf had put between the bench and his legs thesword which had been Gisli’s. Thordis recognises the sword, and when
she bends down to pick up the spoons she takes it by the hilt andthrusts it at Eyiolf, meaning to strike him in the middle. She did notheed the turn-up of the guard, which caught against the table; the blade

THE SAGA OF GISLI

67

went in lower than she intended, and cut into his thigh and made a badwound. Bork seizes Thordis and twists the sword from her hand.
They all spring up and turn over the tables and the food. Bork asked
Eyiolf to make a self-judgment for this, and he demanded full wergild,and says he would have demanded more if Bork had not behaved sowell.
Thordis names witnesses and declares herself divorced from Bork,
and says that she will not come again in the same bed with him; andshe kept her word. She went then to live at Thordisarstadir out on theheadland called Eyr.
Bork stayed on at Helgafell until Snorri Godi got him out of there.
Then he went to live at Glerarskogar.
Eyiolf rides home, not at all pleased with the way his visit has turnedout.

38
The sons of Vestein make their way to Gest, their kinsman, and ask
him if he can arrange to get them away from Iceland, and their mother
Gunnhild, and Aud, who had been Gisli’s wife, and Gudrid, Ingiald’s
daughter, and her brother Geirmund. They sail from Hvita. Gest got
them away at his expense. They were a short while at sea and came to
Norway. Berg goes up the road and tries to find them a place to lodge
in the town, and two companions were with him. They meet two men,and one of them was dressed in fine clothes, a young man and of big
build; this one asked Berg his name. He told him the truth about his
name and kin because he expected that in most places he would be
more likely to benefit by his father’s name than suffer. But the one
who was in the fine clothes drew his sword and struck Berg his deathblow. He was Ari, son of Sur and brother of Gisli and Thorkel.
Berg’s companions went back to the ship and told what had happened. The skipper got them away, and had Helgi taken on a ship thatwas going to Greenland. Helgi got there, and prospered in the country,
and was respected as a fine man, and men were sent to kill him, but hewas not to die this way. He perished on a fishing expedition, and thiswas thought a great loss.

68

THE SAGA OF GISLI

Aud and Gunnhild went to Denmark, to Hedeby, and they became
Christians there and went on pilgrimage to Rome, and did not return.
Geirmund stayed on in Norway, and he married, and did well. Hissister Gudrid was married, and she was thought to be a clever woman,and many people are descended from her.
Ari, son of Sur, went to Iceland. He landed in Hvita and sold his
ship and bought land at Hamar and lived there for some years. Thenhe lived on several farms in Myrar and there are men who trace theirdescent from him.
We close here the story of Gisli, son of Sur.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR1There was a man called Onund; he was son of Ofeig Burlufot (clubfoot),
son of Ivar Beytil. Onund was brother of Gudbiorg, mother of Gudbrand
Kula (ball), father of Asta, mother of King Olaf the Saint. Onund’sfamily on his mother’s side was from Upplond, but his father’s people
were mostly from around Rogaland and Hordland. Onund was a great
viking and used to go raiding in the West. With him on his raids used togo Balki Blæingsson from Sotaness and Orm the Wealthy; Hallvard
was the name of a third partner of theirs. They had five ships and they
were all well manned. Once, they were on a raid around the Hebrides
and when they came to Barra, they found a king there whose namewas Kiarval; he also had five ships. They joined battle with him and a
violent fight took place. Onund’s men were very fierce. Many men
fell on both sides, but the outcome was that the king took to flight with
only one ship; Onund and his men took possession both of the ships
and of a great deal of property and they stayed the winter there. They
spent three summers on viking raids around Ireland and Scotland; thenthey went to Norway.

2
At this time there was a great deal of unrest in Norway; Harald Lufa
(unkempt), son of Halfdan the Black, was fighting his way to power.
Before this he had been king in Upplond. Then he went to the north ofthe country and fought many battles there [and was victorious everytime]. So he fought his way down the country to the south and madehimself master wherever he went; but when he came up to Hordland
he was met by a great mob of the common people. The leaders were
Kiotvi the Wealthy and Thorir Haklang (long-chin); there were also
the men from South Rogaland and their king Sulki. Geirmund
Heliarskin (dark-skin) was at this time away in the West and he did nottake part in this battle although he had lands in Hordland.

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

That autumn Onund and his comrades came back from the West; andwhen Thorir Haklang and King Kiotvi heard of this, they sent men tomeet them and asked for their support and promised them honours. Then theyjoined forces with Thorir because they were very keen to prove themselves and they said they wanted to be where the battle would be toughest.
Their clash with Harald was in Rogaland, in the fiord called Hafrsfiord; both sides had a great army. The battle was one of the biggest
there has ever been in Norway; and it comes into most sagas because
there are the most stories told about the people who were involved in
it. Reinforcements came from all over the country and quite a lot camefrom abroad, and there were many vikings.
Onund positioned his ship on one side of Thorir Haklang’s ship;
this was pretty well in the middle of the fleet. King Harald attacked
Thorir Haklang’s ship, for Thorir was a great berserk and a fearlessman; there was the toughest fighting there on both sides. The kingurged on his berserks to the attack; they were called wolf-skins and no
weapons could penetrate them; and when they stormed forward nothing could withstand them. Thorir fought very bravely and fell on board
his ship with great valour; the ship was then cleared from stem to sternand its moorings cut. It then drifted back among the other ships. The
king’s men then attacked Onund’s ship; he stood in the fore-part of theship and fought bravely. Then the king’s men said:‘This man in the bows is attacking hard; let’s give him some remembrance of us to show that he has been in some danger.’Onund was standing with one foot on the gunwale and striking at
someone, and at the same time someone struck at him; and as he parried the blow he leaned backwards. Then one of the king’s fo’c’s’lemen struck at Onund’s leg below the knee and cut off his foot; Onundwas immediately disabled. Then the greater part of his followers fell.
Onund was got onto a ship belonging to a man called Thrand; he wasson of Biorn and brother of Eyvind the Easterner. He was on the side
opposing King Harald and was positioned on the other side of Onund’s
ship. Soon after, the whole army broke into flight. Thrand and othervikings then got themselves away each as best they could and sailed
away to the West. Onund went with him and so did Balki and Hallvard
Sugandi (sucker). Onund recovered and walked all his remaining life
with the help of a wooden leg; because of this he was called Onund
Wooden-leg as long as he lived.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

73

3
In the West at this time there were many fine men who had fled fromtheir ancestral lands in Norway because of King Harald, for he madeeveryone outlaws who had fought against him and confiscated theirproperty. When Onund was healed of his wounds, he went in a partyof ten kinsmen to see Geirmund Heliarskin, for at this time he was themost famous of the vikings in the West, and they asked whether hedidn’t want to try to win back the lands he owned in Hordland, andthey offered him their support; they considered that they had theirown property to look after as well, for Onund was a man of noble
family and very wealthy. Geirmund said that Harald’s power had now
become so great that he thought there was little likelihood that theywould get anything but humiliation from petty raiding, consideringthat men had been defeated when they had drawn an army from thewhole population; and he said he had no intention of turning into aking’s lackey and begging for what was already his own. He said hewould rather go and find somewhere else where he could be lord; andbesides he was now no longer in the prime of life. Then Onund and his
companions returned to the Hebrides and there found many of theirfriends.
There was a man called Ofeig and he was nicknamed Grettir (grimacer); he was son of Einar, son of Olvir Barnakarl (children’s friend),
and also brother of Oleif Breid (broad), father of Thormod Skapti(shaft). Steinolf was another of Olvir Barnakarl’s sons and he wasfather of Una whom Thorbiorn Laxakarl (salmon-man) married.
Steinmod was yet another of Olvir Barnakarl’s sons and he was fatherof Konal, father of Alfdis of Barra. Konal’s son was Steinmod, fatherof Halldora whom Eilif, son of Ketil the One-handed, married. Ofeig
Grettir married Asny, daughter of Vestar, son of Hæng. Ofeig Grettir’ssons were Asmund Beardless and Asbiorn and his daughters were Aldis,
Æsa and Asvor.
Ofeig had fled to the West because of the hostility of King Haraldand so had his kinsman Thormod Skapti, and they had taken theirfamilies with them; they raided [around Scotland and] in many placesin the West. Thrand and Onund Wooden-leg were going to go west to
Ireland to see Thrand’s brother Eyvind the Easterner; he was responsible for the defence of Ireland. Eyvind’s mother was Hlif, daughter of

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

Hrolf, son of Ingiald, son of King Frodi, but Thrand’s mother was
Helga, daughter of Ondott Kraka (crow). The father of Thrand andEyvind was Biorn, son of Hrolf of Ar. He fled from Gautland because
he had burned Sigfast, the relative by marriage of King Solvi, to deathin his house. Then he had gone to Norway in the summer and stayed
the winter with Hersir Grim, son of Kolbiorn Sneypir (bringer of dishonour); he was going to murder Biorn for a reward. From there Biornwent to Ondott Kraka who was living in Hvinisfiord in Agder. He
welcomed Biorn and he stayed with him during the winters and raided
during the summers until his wife Hlif died. After that Ondott gave
Biorn the hand of his daughter Helga and then Biorn again gave up
warfare. Eyvind had then taken over his father’s warships and had
now become a very influential man in the West. He was married to
Rafarta, daughter of Kiarval, king of the Irish; [their sons were Helgi
the Lean and Snæbiorn].
When Thrand and Onund came to the Hebrides, they met Ofeig
Grettir and Thormod Skapti and great friendship developed between
them because those who had remained behind in Norway when thetroubles were at their height seemed to have been reclaimed from thedead. Onund was very untalkative; and when Thrand noticed this, heasked him what was on his mind. Onund replied in a verse:
I am no longer happy since I took partin shield-fire-clash [battle].
Much afflicts one, at too early an age.
The troll of storm-clashing [battle-axe] caused me great loss.
I think that most men think very little of me.
This is the greatest cause of my sorrow.
Thrand said he would be considered a valiant man wherever he went.
‘The best thing for you to do is to settle down and get married; andyou shall have my voice and support if I know where your inclinations lie.’
Onund said he was acting with the noblest of intentions, but that
there had been better prospects of matches that were advantageous.
Thrand replied, ‘Ofeig has a daughter whose name is Æsa; we cantry in that direction if you wish.’Onund said he was quite willing. Afterwards they discussed thisTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR

75

with Ofeig; his reply was encouraging and he said he realised that theman was of noble family and very rich in money.
‘But his lands I reckon of little value; and I think one could also call
him a cripple, and besides, my daughter is only a child.’
Thrand said that Onund was more valiant than many men who had
both their legs; and as a result of Thrand’s persuasion the match wasagreed on and Ofeig was to give his daughter a dowry consisting onlyof money, for neither of them was willing to bargain for land in Norway. A little later Thrand became engaged to Thormod Skapti’s daughter; both engagements were to last for three years. After this they spent
the summers in raids and the winters on Barra.

4
There were two vikings called Vigbiod and Vestmar; they came fromthe Hebrides and spent both summer and winter at sea; they had eightships and raided around Ireland and used to commit many acts of violence until Eyvind the Easterner undertook the country’s defence; thenthey fled to the Hebrides and raided there and went right up the Scottish firths. Thrand and Onund went against them and learned that they
had sailed in to the Isle of Bute. So Onund and his companions went
there with seven ships; and when the vikings saw their ships and foundhow many there were of them, they considered that they had sufficient numbers and took up their weapons and sailed towards themwith their ships. Then Onund ordered his ships to be sailed between
two cliffs; there was a narrow and deep channel there; it was possible
to get ashore on one side and no more than five ships at a time could
get in there. Onund was a clever person, and he got five of his ships tosail forward into the channel into such a position that they could easily row back when they wanted, for there was plenty of open sea behind them. There was also an island to one side; he got one of theships to pull in there and the men from it carried a lot of stones to theedge of the cliff in a place that could not be seen from the ships.
The vikings attacked very boldly and thought their opponents had
got themselves into a trap. Vigbiod asked who these people were who
were all penned in like this. Thrand said he was Eyvind the Easterner’s
brother, ‘and there is also my comrade, Onund Wooden-leg, here.’76

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

Then the vikings laughed and said:
May trolls take Wooden-leg entire,
may the trolls overthrow the lot.
‘And it’s not often we have seen men that cannot stand up go to battle.’
Onund said you could never tell until you had tried.
After this they sailed their ships up close to each other; a mighty
battle began, and both sides fought well. And when battle had been
joined, Onund let his ship drift towards the cliff; and when the vikings
saw this, they thought that he must be trying to get away and theysailed towards his ship and went as close as they could get to the shore
under the cliff. At this moment the men who had been given this job
came to the edge of the cliff; they dropped such big stones on top of
the vikings that nothing could withstand them; then a great number ofthe vikings fell and some were wounded so badly that they could nolonger fight. Then the vikings tried to escape, but they could not because now their ships had got into the narrowest part of the channel;
they were hampered both by the number of their ships and by thecurrent, and Onund and his men were attacking vigorously at the point
where Vigbiod’s ship was, and Thrand was fighting against Vestmar
but making little headway. When the men on Vigbiod’s ship had been
thinned out a bit, Onund’s men, including Onund himself, began toboard it. Vigbiod saw this and urged on his supporters excitedly; thenhe turned to meet Onund and at this most of the men gave way before
him. Onund told his men to leave them both to it and see how they got
on together, for Onund was a man of great strength; they put a log ofwood under Onund’s knee and he stood quite steady. The viking fought
his way along the ship to the stern until he reached Onund and struckat him with his sword and it hit his shield and cut off the part it struck;then the sword carried on and hit the log that Onund had under hisknee and the sword stuck fast there. Vigbiod leaned forward in tugging at the sword; at that moment Onund struck at his shoulder, taking
off his arm; then the viking was disabled. When Vestmar found that
his comrade had fallen, he leapt over onto the ship that was furthestfrom the shore and took to flight with everyone else who managed toget on to it. After this they searched the bodies of the slain. Vigbiod
was now at the point of death; Onund went up to him and said:

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77

Look and see whether your wounds are not really bleeding.
Did you see me give ground any?
The one-legged distributor of wealth [Onund]
got not even a scratch from you.
Many have more talk than sense.
The destroyer [Vigbiod] of the troll of battle [axe]is not valiant when he is put to the test.
They took a great deal of booty there and went back to Barra in theautumn.

5
The next summer they prepared to go west to Ireland. Then Balki andHallvard set out from the British Isles and went out to Iceland, forthere was said to be good land to be had there. Balki took possessionof some land in Hrutafiord; he lived at different times on both of thefarms called Balkastadir. Hallvard took possession of Sugandafiord
and Skalavik over as far as Stigi and lived there. Thrand and Onund
went to see Eyvind the Easterner and he welcomed his brother, butwhen he found that Onund was there he got angry and wanted to makean attack on him. Thrand told him not to do that; he said it was not
right to treat Norwegians with hostility, least of all those who did not
go about doing mischief. Eyvind said he had done some in the pastand had fought against King Kiarval; he said now he would have to
pay for it. The brothers argued about this for a long time until Thranddeclared that he and Onund would stand or fall together; then Eyvind
let himself be appeased. They spent a long time there during the summer and they accompanied Eyvind on expeditions; he thought Onunda very valiant man. In the autumn they went to the Hebrides. Eyvind
said that Thrand should inherit everything after their father if Biorn
died before Thrand.1 They stayed in the Hebrides until their marriages
took place and for a few years afterwards.

1 Normally brothers would share their inheritance from their father equally.

78

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR6The next thing that happened was that Thrand’s father Biorn died, andwhen Hersir Grim learned this he went to see Ondott Kraka and claimed
the property Biorn had left, but Ondott said that Thrand was his father’sheir. Grim said that Thrand was away in the West and that Biorn had
been a Gautlander and maintained that the king was the legal heir of
all foreigners. Ondott said he was going to keep charge of the property
on behalf of his grandson2 Thrand. Grim went away, having gained no
more than this, and had no further success in his claim on the property.
Thrand now heard of his father’s death and set out straight awayfrom the Hebrides and Onund Wooden-leg with him, but Ofeig Grettir
and Thormod Skapti went to Iceland with their families and landed
at Eyrar in the south of the country and spent the first winter withThorbiorn Laxakarl; afterwards they took possession of Gnupveriahrepp. Ofeig took the western part, between the River Thver and theRiver Kalf 3; he lived at Ofeigsstadir near Steinsholt; but Thormod
took the eastern part and he lived at Skaptaholt. Thormod’s daughters
were Thorvor, mother of Thorodd Godi from Hialli, and Thorvie,
mother of Thorstein Godi, father of Biarni the Wise.
To return to Thrand and Onund, they sailed from the West to Norway and got such a favourable wind that no one knew of their coming
until they reached Ondott Kraka. He welcomed Thrand and told him
about the claim that Hersir Grim had made on the property Biorn had left.
‘I think it is much better, kinsman, that you should inherit your father’s property rather than the king’s lackeys; and you have been very
fortunate in that no one knows of your coming; but I suspect that Grim
will go for one or the other of us if he gets the chance. I think you had
better take possession of your inheritance and get yourself abroad.’
Thrand said he would do so; he took charge of the money and withall haste got ready to leave Norway. Before Thrand put out to sea, he
asked Onund Wooden-leg if he would like to make for Iceland. Onund
said he first wanted to go and see his relations and friends in the southof the country. Thrand said:

2 Nephew according to The Book of Settlements, ch. 217.
3 These two rivers were actually the boundaries of Thormod’s land.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

79‘Now we shall part, then; I would like you to look after my family,
for it is on them that vengeance will fall, if I get away. I shall go out toIceland; and I would like you to come too.’Onund promised to do so; they parted on friendly terms. Thrandwent out to Iceland. He was welcomed by Ofeig and Thormod Skapti.
Thrand lived at Thrandarholt; this is to the west of Thiorsa.

7
Onund went south to Rogaland and there met many of his relations
and friends; he stayed there in secret with a man called Kolbein. He
learned that King Harald had confiscated his lands and delegated thecare of them to a man called Harek; he was one of the king’s stewards.
Onund visited him one night and surprised the house; Harek was beheaded. Onund took all the movable property that they could find there
and they burned the farm; then he spent the winter in various places.
In the same autumn Hersir Grim killed Ondott Kraka because hehad failed to get the property on behalf of the king; and Ondott’s wife
Signy loaded all their movable property the very same night onto aship and went to her father Sighvat, taking her sons Asmund and Asgrim
with her. A little later she sent her sons to her foster-father Hedin in
Sokndal, but they couldn’t stand it there for long and wanted to go
back to their mother. So they left there and came to Ingiald Tryggvi(trusty) in Kvinesdal at Yule; he agreed to take them at the insistenceof his wife Gyda; they stayed there during the winter.
In the spring Onund came to Agder in the north, for he had heard of
Ondott’s death and that he had been killed; and when he met Signy, heasked how he could help them. She said that they wanted very muchto take vengeance on Hersir Grim for Ondott’s killing; then Ondott’ssons were sent for, and when they met Onund Wooden-leg, they all
threw in their lot together and they kept themselves informed of Grim’s
movements.
In the summer there were preparations for a feast at Grim’s, for hehad invited Earl Audun to stay with him; and when Onund and Ondott’ssons learned of this, they went to Grim’s farm and set fire to the buildings, for they had come unexpectedly, and burned Hersir Grim and80

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

nearly thirty men to death in the house. They took possession of manyfine treasures there. Onund went off into the forest, but the brothers
took their foster-father Ingiald’s boat and rowed away and lay low alittle way away from the farm. Earl Audun arrived for the feast according to plan and soon found he was short of a friend; he got somemen together and stayed there for a few nights and nothing was heardof Onund and his companions. The earl slept in an upstairs room withthree men. Onund knew everything that was happening on the farmand sent for the brothers; and when they met, Onund asked whether
they would rather guard the farm or attack the earl. They chose attacking the earl. They broke down the upstairs door with a battering ram;then Asmund took hold of the two who were with the earl and threw
them down so violently that they were almost killed. Asgrim jumped
on the earl and told him to pay him compensation for his father, for hehad been in complicity with Hersir Grim and present in the attack
when Ondott was killed. The earl said he had no money with him andasked for the payment to be deferred; then Asgrim placed the point ofa spear against the earl’s breast and told him to pay up on the spot.
Then the earl took a neck-ring from his neck and three gold rings anda velvet cloak; Asgrim took this payment and gave the earl a nickname and called him Audun Geit (nanny-goat).
When the farmers and neighbours realised that there was a disturbance they went out and tried to help the earl; there was a tough battle,
for Onund had a lot of men. Many noble farmers and earl’s men fell
there. Now the brothers came out and told what had happened between them and the earl; Onund said it was a bad thing that the earl
had not been killed.
‘That would have been a bit of our own back on King Harald forwhat we have lost because of him.’
They said that what they had done was a greater disgrace for the earland afterwards they went away and went inland to Surnadal to Eirik
Olfus (tippler) who was a landed man; he let them all stay with him
during the winter.
They exchanged drinking-feasts over Christmas with a man called
Hallstein, nicknamed Hest (horse), and Eirik did the first lot of entertaining and did it well and dutifully. Then Hallstein became the host,and they had a quarrel; he struck Eirik with a drinking-horn. Eirik was
unable to get his own back and went home leaving matters where they

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

81

stood. Ondott’s sons were very annoyed at this and a little later Asgrim
went to Hallstein’s farm and went in on his own and dealt Hallstein asevere wound. The people who were in the house jumped up and attacked Asgrim; he defended himself well and escaped from them inthe dark, but they thought they had killed him. Onund and Asmund
heard of this and assumed that Asgrim was dead and it seemed to themthat they could not do much about it; Eirik advised them to make for
Iceland. He said it would be no good their staying in the country when
the king would find it so easy to get at them. They did so and prepared
to go to Iceland and they went on separate ships. Hallstein was kept tohis bed by his wounds and died before Onund’s party sailed. Kolbein,
the one who was mentioned above, joined Onund’s ship.

8
Onund and Asmund put out to sea when they were ready and sailed
together. Then Onund uttered this:Men thought me once adequate
in the storm-weather of Hrotti [battle]
when the spear-storm destruction [battle] roaredharshly, and Sugandi too.
Now I must step out on to the shore-steed [ship]with one leg to visit Iceland.
This poet is on the decline.
They had a hard voyage and a lot of cross-wind from the south; they
were carried over the sea to the north. They made Iceland and foundthemselves to the north of Langaness when they recognised where
they were. The ships were then so close together that they were talking together across the gap; Asmund suggested that they should sail to
Eyiafiord, and they both agreed. Then they tacked along the coast.
Then the wind began to freshen from the south-east; and when Onundand his men turned as close as possible into the wind, the yard broke.
Then they lowered the sail and at that moment they were carried out tosea. Asmund managed to get round behind Hrisey and waited until thewind changed so that he could sail into Eyiafiord. Helgi the Lean gave

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

him the whole of Kræklingahlid; he lived at the more southerly Glera.
His brother Asgrim came to Iceland a few years later; he lived at themore northerly Glera. He was father of Ellida-Grim, father of Asgrim.

9
Now to return to Onund Wooden-leg, they drifted for several days.
Then the wind turned round to come off the sea; they then sailed in toland. Then those who had been there before recognised that they had
come to the west round Skagi; they sailed in up Strandafloi and went
close to Sudur-Strandir. Then six men on a ten-oared boat rowed towards them and called out to the ship asking who was the captain.
Onund gave his name and asked where they were from; they said they
were workmen of Thorvald of Drangar. Onund asked whether all theland along the Strandir had been taken possession of; they said there
was little vacant on the Inn-Strandir but none there to the north. Onund
asked his crew whether they wanted to go and look on the west coastor to take this that had been shown them. They chose to have this land
to begin with; then they sailed in along the side of the bay and went
first to the bay by Arness, lowered a boat there and rowed to land. A
wealthy man lived there at this time called Eirik Snara (snare), who
had taken land between Ingolfsfiord and Ofæra in Veidileysa.
Now when Eirik knew that Onund had arrived there, he invited him
to accept from him anything he wanted, but said there was little landthat was not already taken. Onund said that first he would like to see
what there was. Then they went in past the fiords and when they got
up as far as Ofæra, Eirik said:‘Here you are; from here down as far as Biorn’s property is vacant.’
A great mountain stretched out before them on that side of the fiords,
and snow had fallen on it. Onund looked at the mountain and uttered
this verse:
Life is taking a crooked course
for this shaft-sharpener
with land and power
and the sea-travelled rib-steed [ship] glides;
I have fled lands and a multitude of kinsmen,

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR83

but this is the latest thing:
it is a mean bargain if I get Kaldbak
and I lose my cornfields.
Eirik replied, ‘Many have suffered such great losses in Norway that
nothing can make up for them; and anyway, I think that nearly all thelands in the best areas are taken; so I can’t encourage you to go anywhere else. I am still willing for you to take what suits you of my lands.’
Onund said he would accept the offer, and afterwards took possession of the land from Ofæra and the three bays, Byrgisvik, Kolbeinsvik
and Kaldbaksvik, right over to Kaldbakskleif. Then Eirik gave him
the whole of Veidileysufiord and Reykiarfiord and the whole of thatside of Reykianess; but there was no ruling made about driftage4 because it was so plentiful that everyone took what he wanted. Onund
built a farm at Kaldbak and had a large household; but when his livestock began to multiply he had another farm in Reykiarfiord. Kolbein
lived in Kolbeinsvik and Onund lived an uneventful life for some years.

10
Onund was such a brave man that few could stand against him eventhough they had all their limbs; his name was also well known throughout the land because of his ancestry. The next thing that happened wasthat the quarrels between Ofeig Grettir and Thorbiorn Laxakappi(salmon-champion) began, and the end of it was that Ofeig fell at thehands of Thorbiorn in Grettisgeil near Hæl. Many men were got together to take part in the suit against the killer with Ofeig’s sons; Onund
Wooden-leg was sent for and he rode south in the spring and stayed at
Hvamm at Aud the Deep-minded’s. She gave him a great welcome,for he had stayed with her back in the British Isles. By this time her
grandson Olaf Feilan was grown up; Aud was now very aged. She
mentioned to Onund that she wanted to get her grandson Olaf married
and wanted him to ask for Alfdis of Barra’s hand for him; she was
4 The most important kinds of driftage in Iceland were whales and timber(from North America). The laws made elaborate provisions about rights todriftage, but it often became a source of dispute.

84

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

Onund’s wife Æsa’s cousin. Onund thought this was a good idea, andOlaf rode to the south with him; and when Onund saw his friends andrelatives-in-law, they invited him to stay. Then the lawsuit was discussed and it was brought to the Kialarness Assembly, because at thistime the Althing had not been established; then the case was put toarbitration and very high damages were awarded for the killings andThorbiorn Iarlakappi (earls’ champion) was outlawed. His son was
Solmund, father of Svidu-Kari; father and son stayed abroad for along time afterwards. Thrand invited Onund and Olaf to stay withhim, and so did Thormod Skapti. Then they made the proposal on
Olaf’s behalf; it was willingly accepted, for they knew what a finelady Aud was. So the match was made. Onund and his companion
rode home when this had been arranged. Aud thanked Onund for his
help towards Olaf. That autumn Olaf Feilan married Alfdis of Barra;
then Aud the deep-minded died, as is related in the Saga of the Peopleof Laxardal.

11
Onund and Æsa had two sons; the elder was called Thorgeir and the
younger Ofeig Grettir. Soon after Æsa died. Then Onund married awoman called Thordis; she was daughter of Thorgrim of Gnup in
Midfiord, and was related to Midfiord-Skeggi; with her Onund had ason whose name was Thorgrim; he soon became a big, strong man
and a very good farmer and sensible person. Onund lived at Kaldbak
until his old age; he died of an illness and is buried in Wooden-leg’s
Mound; he has been the bravest man and the most agile one-legged
man in Iceland. Thorgrim was the most outstanding of Onund’s sons,although the others were older; and when he was twenty-five years
old he had grey hair on his head. So he was nicknamed ‘Hoary-top’.
Thordis, his mother, afterwards married Audun Skokul north in Vididal;
their son was Asgeir of Asgeirsa. Thorgrim Hoary-top and his brothers had considerable property in common and they did not divide itup. Eirik lived at Arness, as was mentioned before; he was married toAlof, daughter of Ingolf of Ingolfsfiord. Flosi was the name of theirson; he was a promising man and had many relations.
Three brothers came out to Iceland, Ingolf, Ofeig and Eyvind, andTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR

85

they took possession of the three fiords that are named after them, andlived there from then on. Olaf was the name of Eyvind’s son; first of all
he lived in Eyvindarfiord, but later at Drangar, and he was a mighty man.
There were no quarrels between people of this district as long as theolder generation was alive; but when Eirik was dead, it seemed to
Flosi that the people of Kaldbak had no legal claims on the lands that
Eirik had given Onund. Because of this there arose great discord between them, but Thorgrim still carried on as before; they were notable to go to the same entertainments any more. Thorgeir managed thehousehold of the brothers in Reykiarfiord, and was always going fishing, for at that time the fiords were full of fish.
Now the men in the Vik hatched their plot. There was a man called
Thorfinn; he was a workman of Flosi of Arness. Flosi sent this man
after Thorgeir’s life; he hid in the boat-shed. That morning Thorgeir
prepared to go fishing and two men with him, and one was called[Hamund and the other] Brand. Thorgeir walked in front; he had aleather bottle on his back with drink in it. It was very dark, and when
he was walking down from the boat-shed, Thorfinn leapt at him andhit him with an axe between the shoulders, and the axe sunk in andsquelched; he let go the axe, because he thought there would be noneed of dressings for that wound, and started to run away as quickly
as he could. To complete the story as far as Thorfinn is concerned, heran north to Arness and got there before it was fully light and announced the killing of Thorgeir and said he would need Flosi’s help;
he said the only thing to do was offer compensation.
‘And that is the best way to put things straight for us in such animportant matter as this.’
Flosi said he would first have to find out what had happened, ‘and I
think you are in a great fright after doing this great deed.’
Now to return to Thorgeir, he pulled himself round when he received the blow, and the axe hit the bottle, and he was not wounded.
They didn’t try to find the man because it was dark; they rowed out
along the fiords and came to Kaldbak and said what had happened.
They made a great joke of it and nicknamed him Thorgeir Bottleback, and the name stuck; this was made up about what had happened:
Once renowned heroes washedtheir shining shield-whitings

86

THE SAGA OF GRETTIRin roof-sharp house of wound-sea.5
Now this wretch, who is far and wide
renowned for lack of honour
has reddened both cheeks of the wound-harmer [axe]in whey for his cowardice.

12
At this time there came a famine in Iceland so severe that there has
never been another like it; the produce from sea-fishing and from things
drifted ashore was reduced to almost nothing. This went on for many
years. One autumn some merchants on an ocean-going vessel were
driven off their course into this area and they were wrecked there in
the Vik. Flosi put four or five of them up. Their captain was called
Stein. The crew found lodgings in several places there around the Vik
and they were intending to build themselves another ship out of thepieces of the old one, but they found this very difficult; the results
were a ship very narrow at each end and broad amidships.
In the spring there came a very strong wind from the north; it lasted
for nearly a week. When it had died down everyone went to see what
had drifted ashore on their land. There was a man called Thorstein
who lived at Reykianess. He found a whale blown ashore out on thesouth side of the ness at a place called Rifsker; it was a large finwhale. He immediately sent a man to Flosi in the Vik and also to theneighbouring farms. Einar was the name of the man who lived at Giogr;
he was a tenant of the people at Kaldbak and it was his job to attend to
everything of theirs that drifted ashore on that side of the fiord. He
found out that a whale had drifted ashore; he immediately took his
boat and rowed across over the fiords to Byrgisvik. From there he senta man in to Kaldbak; and when Thorgrim and his brothers heard thenews, they got ready as quickly as they could and they went in a partyof twelve in a ten-oared boat. Ivar and Leif, sons of Kolbein, went
with them as well, in a party of six. All the farmers who could manage
to get there went to the whale.
5 Fish of shield = sword; wound-sea = blood; its house is a wound, whose
sharp roof is the pointed cut made by a sword.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR87

To return to Flosi, he sent word to relations north in Ingolfsfiord andOfeigsfiord and also to Olaf Eyvindsson, who was at that time living
at Drangar. Flosi got there first with the men from the Vik; they immediately set about cutting up the whale, and they dragged what was cut
ashore; there were about twenty men there at first, but the crowd soon
began to grow. Then the men of Kaldbak arrived with four ships.
Thorgrim claimed possession of the whale and refused permission to
the men of the Vik for the cutting and sharing out and carrying awayof the whale. Flosi told him to produce some proof if Eirik had in somany words given Onund Wooden-leg the right to driftage there, otherwise he said he would defend his claim by force of arms. It seemed toThorgrim that he was rather outnumbered, so he did not attempt to
attack. Then a ship came rowing across the fiords from the south andthey were pulling hard; they soon got there. It was Svan of Hol from
Biarnarfiord and his men; when he got there he told Thorgrim not to
let himself be robbed; they had previously become great friends andSvan offered his support. The brothers said they would accept it; they
set to boldly. First of all Thorgeir Bottle-back charged up onto thewhale against Flosi’s men. Thorfinn, who has come into the story already, was cutting up the whale; he was up near the head and wasstanding on a shelf he had cut out for himself. Thorgeir said:‘Here, I am handing you your axe.’
Then he struck him on the neck, cutting off his head. Flosi was standing up on the shingle when he saw this; then he urged on his men to
the counter-attack. Now they went on fighting for a long time, and themen of Kaldbak were getting the better of it; not many men there had
any weapons except the axes they used for cutting up the whale, andknives. The men of the Vik fell back from the whale onto the beach.
The Easterners had weapons and were proving very dangerous; captain Stein cut off Ivar Kolbeinsson’s leg and Leif, Ivar’s brother, killed
one of Stein’s friends with a rib from the whale. Then they began tofight with anything they could lay their hands on, and men began tofall on both sides. Then Olaf and his men from Drangar arrived withmany ships; they sided with Flosi. Then the men from Kaldbak were
outnumbered; by this time they had loaded their ships. Svan told themto get aboard their ships; then they gave ground out to the ships. The
men of the Vik pressed forward after them; and when Svan reached
the sea, he struck at captain Stein and caused him a great injury. Then

88

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

he jumped aboard his ship. Thorgrim dealt Flosi a great wound and so
got away. Olaf struck at Ofeig Grettir and wounded him fatally. Thorgeircaught up Ofeig in his arms and ran with him to his ship; the men of
Kaldbak rowed south across the fiords. So the battle was brought to an
end. This verse was composed about the encounter:I have heard that rather toughwar-weapons were used at Rifsker,
for many unarmed men struck
mainly with bits of whale;
but metal-Gauts [warriors] have thrownlumps of whale-flabvery hard in return;
we find this fray unsavoury.
Afterwards a truce was arranged between them, and they took the caseto the Althing. Thorodd Godi and Midfiord-Skeggi and many men
from the south of the country sided with the men of Kaldbak. Flosi
was outlawed and so were many of those who had been with him at
the incident; and it was a drain on his resources, for he insisted on
paying all the damages himself. Thorgrim and his supporters wereunable to prove that they had given money for the lands and shorerights that Flosi laid claim to. Thorkel Mani (moon) had at this time
the office of Law-speaker; he was asked to give a verdict. He said hewould have thought it more legal if some payment had been made,even if it had not been the full value.
‘For Steinunn the Old did this with my grandfather Ingolf, and she
received the whole of Rosmhvalaness from him and gave him a spotted cloak in return, and the bargain has remained valid ever since; andthat involved property of greater value than we have to do with here.
But it is my advice in this matter,’ he said, ‘that this bone of contention be apportioned out, and that each have an equal share; and then it
must be made law that each man have shore-rights on his own property.’
This was done. It was arranged that Thorgrim and his supporters
should lose Reykiarfiord and everything there on the northward side,
but they should have Kamb. High compensation was awarded for Ofeig,
nothing was paid for Thorfinn, and Thorgeir was compensated for theattack on his life; then they made peace together. Flosi arranged to goTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR89

to Norway with captain Stein and sold his property in the Vik to
Geirmund Hvikatimbr (swaying timber); he lived there afterwards.
The ship the merchants had built was very broad in the beam; people
called it Trekyllir and the bay there is named after it. Flosi sailed fromthe country on this ship but was driven back by the weather to Oxarfiord; that is when the saga of Bodmod and Grimolf and Gerpir began.

13
After this the brothers Thorgrim and Thorgeir divided their property
between them; Thorgrim took the movable property and Thorgeir thelands. Then Thorgrim went down to Midfiord and with the consent ofSkeggi bought land at Biarg. Thorgrim was married to Thordis, daughter of Asmund, who lived under Asmundargnup and who had taken
possession of Thingeyrasveit. Thorgrim and Thordis had a son who
was called Asmund; he was a big, strong man, intelligent, and had afine head of hair. He had white hair on his head when he was still very
young; for this reason he was nicknamed Hærulang (with long greyhair) or Hærulagd (grey-lock).
Thorgrim became a very keen farmer and kept everyone who lived
there hard at work. Asmund did not like work much, and he and his
father were not on very good terms; so things went until Asmund wasgrown up. Then Asmund asked his father for some goods to go abroadwith. Thorgrim said it would not be much, but gave him a small amountof tradable ware; Asmund then went abroad and soon began to makemoney. He sailed to various countries and became a very great merchant and was rolling in wealth; he was a popular man, and very honest,
and had many relations of high rank in Norway. One autumn Asmund
was staying with a high-ranking man in the east in Oslofiord whosename was Thorstein; he came from Upplond and had a sister called
Rannveig. She was a very good match. Asmund asked for this woman’s
hand and was accepted with her brother Thorstein’s consent; Asmund
settled down there for a while and was very highly thought of. He andRannveig had a son who was called Thorstein, the most handsome of
men and a strong man with a very fine voice, tall in stature but rather
slow in his movements; because of this he was nicknamed Dromund.
When Thorstein was a few years old his mother became ill and died;90

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

after this Asmund found little pleasure in being in Norway. ThenThorstein’s mother’s family took charge of him and his property and
Asmund took up trading voyages again and became a well-known
man. Asmund brought his ship to Hunavatn. At this time Thorkel Krafla
was the most influential of the men of Vatnsdal; he heard of Asmund’sarrival in Iceland. Then Thorkel rode to the ship and invited Asmund
to stay with him. Thorkel was living at Marsstadir in Vatnsdal; Asmund
went to stay there. Thorkel was son of Thorgrim Karnsargodi; he wasa very intelligent man. This was after Bishop Fridrek and Thorvald
Kodransson had come to Iceland; at this time they were living atLækiamot. They were the first to preach Christianity in the north ofthe country. Thorkel allowed the sign of the cross to be made overhim, and so did many others with him.6 Many things happened inconnection with the dealings of the men of the northern part of thecountry and the bishop and his companion which do not concern thissaga.
A woman had been brought up at Thorkel’s whose name was Asdis;
she was daughter of Bard, son of Iokul, son of Ingimund the Old, sonof Thorstein, son of Ketil Raum. Asdis’s mother was Aldis, who wasdaughter of Ofeig Grettir, as has been said already.7 Asdis was unmarried and was thought a very good match both because of her family
and her wealth. Asmund now became tired of trading voyages; now
he wanted to settle down in Iceland. So he made a proposal and asked
for this woman’s hand. Thorkel knew everything about him, that he
was a rich and thrifty man, and so the marriage of Asmund and Asdis
took place; he then became the lifelong friend of Thorkel, a very keen
farmer, learned in law, and ambitious. Soon after, Thorgrim Hoary-top
died at Biarg; Asmund inherited his property and afterwards lived there.

14
Asmund Hærulang established a large and magnificent dwelling at
Biarg and always had many people staying with him; he was a popular man. These were his and Asdis’s children: Atli was the oldest; he
6 Prímsigning, a sort of preliminary baptism, allowed a person to mix with

Christians without committing himself to Christianity.
7 Ch. 3.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR91

was a straightforward and gentle person, friendly and kindly. Everyone liked him. They had a second son whose name was Grettir; he wasvery unmanageable in his youth, not very talkative and not a greatmixer, but antagonistic both in words and deeds. He was not much
loved by his father Asmund, but his mother was very fond of him.
Grettir Asmundsson was a handsome person to look at, with a broad
but not very long face and red hair and he was rather freckled. He was
not at all precocious as a child. Thordis was the name of one of
Asmund’s daughters, who was later married to Glum, son of Ospak
Kiallaksson from Skridinsenni. His other daughter was called Rannveig;
her husband was Gamli son of Thorhall the Winelander. They lived at
Melar in Hrutafiord. They had a son called Grim. The son of Glumand Thordis Asmund’s daughter was Ospak, who was the one who
quarrelled with Odd son of Ofeig as is told in the Saga of the Confederates.
Grettir grew up at Biarg until he was ten years old; then he began tocome on rather. Asmund told him to get down to some work. Grettir
said he didn’t think that would be very good for him, but asked what
he was to do. Asmund replied:‘You shall look after my farm-yard geese.’
Grettir replied and said, ‘That is mean and miserable work.’
Asmund replied, ‘You do this job well, and then we shall get on
better together.’
Then Grettir took charge of the farm-yard geese; there were fifty ofthem besides many goslings. It wasn’t long before he thought they
were rather troublesome to shepherd around and the goslings he thought
were slowcoaches. He got rather cross about this, for he wasn’t a very
self-restrained person. A little later some passers-by found goslings
lying dead in the road and geese with their wings broken; this was in
the autumn. Asmund was very displeased and asked if Grettir had killed
the birds. He grinned and replied:
Indeed I do when winter comes,
the goslings’ necks I wring.
Even if some are older ones,
unaided I can win.
‘Well you won’t be winning with them any more,’ said Asmund.

92

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR‘ “That is a true friend who keeps you out of harm’s way”,’ said
Grettir.
‘You must be found some other work,’ said Asmund.
‘ “The more you experience, the more you learn”,’ said Grettir, ‘andwhat am I to do now?’‘You shall massage my back by the fire, as I often get someone to do.’‘That will be rather hot on the hands,’ said Grettir, ‘but this is still
miserable work.’
So it went on for a time, that Grettir carried on with this task. Now
the autumn came; then Asmund became able to bear a lot of heat andused to urge Grettir to rub his back hard. It was the custom in thosetimes for the living-rooms in farms to be very large; people sat there
round the long open fire in the evenings. The tables would be put up in
front of them and afterwards they would sleep round the sides awayfrom the fire; and the women used to card wool there in the daytime. It
happened one evening, when Grettir was to rub Asmund’s back, thatthe old man said:‘You’d better buck yourself up a bit now, you useless creature.’
Grettir said, ‘ “It’s a bad thing to goad a stubborn person”.’
Asmund said, ‘There’s never any good in you.’
Then Grettir noticed that there were some wool-combs standing on
the bench, picked up one of them and scraped it down Asmund’s back.
He jumped up and was furious at this and was going to hit Grettir withhis walking-stick, but he dodged; then the mistress of the house cameand asked what they were up to. Grettir uttered this verse:
The flinger of neck-rings [man] wants to burn my hands,
O ground of hoards [woman], and I feel it greatly.
That is a bad thing for both of us.
Linen-Gerd [woman], I shall scratch
the scatterer of rings [man] even harderwith uncut nails.
I can see blood from deep wounds.
The mistress of the house was annoyed that Grettir had played thistrick, and said he would never learn to be careful of what he did.
He and Asmund didn’t get on any better after this. A little whilelater Asmund suggested that Grettir should look after his horses. Grettir
said he would prefer that to the hot back-massage.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

93‘Then you must do this job as I tell you,’ said Asmund. ‘I have achestnut mare with a stripe down its back that I call Kengala; she is so
sensitive to the weather and the rain-fall that there will always be astorm without fail if she refuses to go out to pasture. If this happens
you must shut the horses in the stable; but take them north up onto theridge as soon as the winter frosts come. I should think it would be agood thing if you were to do this job better than the last two I gave you.’
Grettir replied, ‘This is cold and manly work; but I think it’s a badthing to trust the mare, for I don’t know that anyone else has ever done so.’Now Grettir began looking after the horses, and so Christmas wentby; then it got very cold and snowy and it was hard finding pasture.
Grettir was not very well equipped with clothes and was not very hardened to the weather, so now he began to get very cold, but Kengala
stood out in the most exposed places in all weathers; however early
she went out to pasture, she would never go home before sunset. Then
Grettir tried to think of some malicious trick to pay Kengala back forspending all this time out grazing. So early one morning Grettir went
to the stable and opened it, and Kengala was standing in front of themanger, for even when the other horses with her were given fodder,
she always ate it all herself. Now Grettir climbed up on her back; hehad a sharp knife in his hand and he scraped it across Kengala’s shoulders and so drew it back down both sides of her spine. The mare jumped
very hard at this, for she was fat and very shy, and kicked out so that
her hooves hit against the walls. Grettir fell off, and when he got up hetried to mount again. They had the hardest of struggles and the end of
it was that he flayed all the skin off her back right down to her haunches
and then drove the horses out and to the pasture. Kangala didn’t wantto nibble anything except her back; and soon after midday she set off
and ran home to the stable. Then Grettir shut the stable up and wenthome. Asmund asked where the horses were. Grettir said he had seen
to them in the stable as usual. Asmund said it wouldn’t be long before
there was a storm since the horses wouldn’t stay out in such weather.
Grettir said:‘ “Many who have been more reliable have been wrong”.’
So the night passed and the storm didn’t come. Grettir drove thehorses out, and Kengala couldn’t stand it out in the fields. Asmund
thought it was very strange that there was no change in the weather
from what it had been before. The third morning Asmund went out tothe horses and up to Kengala and said:

94

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR‘The horses seem to have been reacting very badly to such a good
winter, but your back will never let you down, Bleikala.’‘ “Sometimes things turn out as you expect”,’ said Grettir, ‘ “and sometimes as you don’t expect”.’
Asmund stroked the mare’s back, and the skin came away in his
hand; he thought it very strange that this should happen and said it
must be Grettir’s doing. Grettir grinned and said nothing. The farmer
went home cursing and swearing; he went into the living-room andheard his wife say:
‘My son seems to have got on well with looking after the horses.’Asmund uttered this verse:
Grettir has now flayed the trusty Kengala;and has made a fool of me.
These fine women are always garrulous.
The clever child will soon make me tiredof giving him work to do.
May the fair ring-Hlin [woman, i.e. Asmund’s wife] hear my poem.
His wife replied: ‘I’m not sure which is worse, your always giving
him work to do or his always doing it the same way.’‘Now we’re going to settle accounts in this matter,’ said Asmund,‘and he’ll get the worst of it.’
‘Then neither will have any reason to complain,’ said Grettir; and sothings stood for the time being. Asmund had Kengala killed.
Grettir played many boyish tricks that are not set down in the saga.
He soon became very tall; no one knew exactly how strong he was
because he wasn’t very good at wrestling. He was always composing
poetry and rhymes and people thought him rather insulting. He neverspent much time in the living-room and didn’t often say much.

15
At this time there were many up and coming young men in Midfiord.
Poet-Torfa was living at Torfustadir. Her son was called Bersi; he wasthe ablest of men and a good poet. The brothers Kormak and Thorgils
lived at Mel. A man called Odd grew up with them; he was a dependant of theirs and was nicknamed Odd Pauper-poet. There was a man

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

95

called Audun. He grew up at Audunarstadir in Vididal; he was a straightforward and good-natured man and the strongest person there in thenorth of his age. Kalf Asgeirsson lived at Asgeirsa, and also his brother
Thorvald. Grettir’s brother Atli was also becoming a mature person
and was the gentlest of men; everyone liked him.
These people used to hold ball games together on Midfiardarvatn.
The men from Midfiord and Vididal used to come to them; and many
people would come down there from Vestrhop and Vatnsness too, andalso from Hrutafiord. Those who had come from further off would
stay near by. They were matched together according to their strengthand they would often enjoy themselves very much during the autumn.
Grettir went to the games at the request of his brother Atli, when he
was fourteen years old. Then opponents were chosen for everyone.
Grettir was to play against Audun, who has just been mentioned; hewas the elder by a few years. Audun threw the ball over Grettir’s headand he could not reach it; it flew a long way across the ice. Grettir wascross at this and thought Audun was trying to make a monkey out of
him; but he fetched the ball, came back, and as soon as he got withinreach of Audun he hit him right on the forehead with it, drawing blood.
Audun hit Grettir with the bat he was holding but scarcely touchedhim because Grettir dodged; then they grabbed hold of each other andwrestled. Then everyone realised that Grettir was stronger than they
thought, for Audun was a powerful person. They fought for a longtime and in the end Grettir fell; then Audun put his knee on his stomach and knocked him about a good deal. Then Atli and Bersi and manyothers ran up and separated them. Grettir said there was no need tohold onto him like a mad dog and said:‘ “Only a slave takes revenge straight away, but only a coward neverdoes”.’
They didn’t let this lead to any quarrel, for the brothers Kalf andThorvald wanted it to be made up; and Audun and Grettir were distantly related. So the game went on as before and there was no morequarrelling.

16
Thorkel Krafla was now getting very old; he had the Vatnsdal godord
and was a very influential man. He was the lifelong friend of Asmund

96

THE SAGA OF GRETTIRHærulang, as was only right seeing that they were relations. It was his
custom to ride over to Biarg every spring to visit his relations and hedid so again the next spring after the incident described above andwent to Biarg. Asmund and Asdis welcomed him with open arms; hestayed there three nights and the kinsmen discussed many things together. Thorkel asked what Asmund thought about his sons, how industrious they would turn out to be. Asmund said he thought that Atliwould be a good farmer, sensible and well off. Thorkel replied:‘Then he will be a useful man and will take after you; but what
about Grettir?’
Asmund said, ‘One can say this about him, that he will be a strong
and ungovernable man; he has been a trial and a burden to me.’Thorkel replied, ‘That doesn’t bode well, kinsman,’ he said; ‘now
what are we going to arrange about our journey to the assembly thissummer?’Asmund replied, ‘I’m finding it hard to get around now, and I would
like to stay at home.’‘Would you like Atli to go for you?’ said Thorkel.
‘I don’t think I can do without him,’ said Asmund, ‘because of thework he does and his management of the farm, but Grettir refuses todo any work; and he is intelligent enough, so that I should think hewill be able to carry out my legal business with your guidance.’‘You please yourself, kinsman,’ said Thorkel. He then rode home,as soon as he was ready, and Asmund sent him on his way with good
gifts.
A little while afterwards Thorkel set out for the assembly; he rodewith sixty men. Everyone who was in his godord went with him. He
called at Biarg and Grettir rode on with him from there. They rodesouth over the moor which is called the Two-days moor. There were
not very many places to feed the horses up on the hills and they rode
hard down into the farmland; and when they got down to Fliotstunga
they thought it was time to sleep and they took the bridles off theirhorses and let them wander around with their saddles on. They lay
sleeping well on into the day and when they woke everyone looked
around for their horses; they had gone off in different directions andsome of them had rolled over on their backs. Grettir was the last tofind his horse. It was then the custom for men to provide their own
food for the journey to the assembly, and most people carried a knapsack on their saddles. Grettir’s horse had got its saddle twisted roundTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR

97

under its belly and the knapsack had gone, so he went to look for it,
but couldn’t find it. Then he saw a man walking by; he was in a hurry.
Grettir asked who he was. He replied and said his name was Skeggi
and that he was a farm-hand from As, up north in Vatnsdal.
‘I am travelling with Thorkel,’ he said, ‘but I have been so carelessas to lose my food-bag.’
Grettir replied, ‘ “Unique misfortunes are the worst ones”; I’ve lostthe bag I had as well, so let’s look for them together.’
Skeggi was quite pleased with this idea. Now they walked round fora while and when it was least to be expected, Skeggi darted across themoor and picked up a knapsack. Grettir saw him bend down and asked
what he had picked up.
‘My knapsack,’ said Skeggi.
‘Whose word have I to take for it but yours?’ said Grettir. ‘Let mesee, for “two things often look alike”.’
Skeggi said no one was going to take from him what was his own.
Grettir grabbed at the bag, and they both struggled over it and each
was determined to get his own way.
‘You are mistaken,’ said the farm-hand, ‘even if everyone isn’t ashigh and mighty as you men from Midfiord,8 if you think that people
are not going to have the courage to defend their property from you.’
Grettir said it had nothing to do with questions of rank even if people
were to have what belonged to them.
Skeggi said, ‘It’s a pity Audun isn’t here to choke you, like at theball game.’‘That is a good thing,’ said Grettir, ‘but you aren’t going to chokeme, whatever it was that happened then.’
Then Skeggi took hold of his axe and struck at Grettir; but when
Grettir saw this, he grasped the shaft of the axe with his left hand
above Skeggi’s hands so that he let go straight away. Grettir then hit
him with the same axe on the head so that it pierced straight to thebrain; then the farm-hand fell to the ground dead. Grettir took the bag
and threw it over his saddle. Then he rode after his companions. Thorkel
had set off, for he didn’t know that all this was going to happen. Thenthey missed Skeggi from the party; and when Grettir caught them up,they asked him what he knew about Skeggi. Then Grettir uttered averse:
8 Vatnsdal in the manuscript.

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

I think the hammer-troll [axe] came intorather violent contact with Skeggi a little while ago.
The battle-giantess [axe] was greedy for blood.
She bent with cruel mouth over his head,she did not hold back her warlike teeth
and she split his forehead.
I was present at their encounter.
Then Thorkel’s companions ran up and said trolls wouldn’t have takena man in broad daylight. Thorkel was silent for a time and then said:‘There must be another meaning in the verse, and Grettir must havekilled him; well, what was the reason?’
Grettir told him all about their quarrel. Thorkel said:‘This is very unfortunate, because Skeggi was put in my charge, andhe was of a good family, and I will accept the blame in this way, I will
pay such compensation as is adjudged, but I cannot prevent a sentenceof outlawry. You have two choices, Grettir, either you can go to theassembly and take your chance on how things turn out, or else you canturn back here.’
Grettir chose to go to the assembly, and so it turned out that he went.
The case was brought before the court by the heirs of the slain man;Thorkel arranged an agreement and he paid compensation, but Grettir
was outlawed and was to stay abroad for three years.
When the leading men rode from the assembly, they stopped to graze
their horses up below Sledaas, before they all went their several ways.
Then Grettir lifted up the rock which lies there in the grass and is now
called Grettir’s Lift. Then many men went up to look at the rock andthought it was amazing that such a young man should lift such a big
boulder.
Grettir rode home to Biarg and told his father all about it. Asmund
was not very pleased and said he would grow up to be an unruly man.

17
There was a man called Haflidi who lived at Reydarfell on Hvitarsida.
He was a merchant sailor and owned a trading ship; it was beached on
the Hvita river. There was a man sailing with him whose name wasBard; he had a young and beautiful wife.

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99

Asmund sent someone to Haflidi to ask him to take Grettir into his
company and look after him. Haflidi said he had been told that thisperson had an unruly temper, but for the sake of his friendship with
Asmund he took Grettir on. He then got ready to go abroad. Asmund
wouldn’t give him any goods to take with him on his journey except
some food and a little cloth. Grettir asked him to give him some sortof weapon. Asmund says:‘You have not been a dutiful son to me; and I don’t know whether
the use you will put weapons to will be a good one, so I won’t give
you any.’
Grettir said, ‘Then “there will be no need to repay what hasn’t beendone”.’
Then father and son parted with little affection. Many wished him agood journey, but few said they hoped he would return. His motheraccompanied him part of the way, and before they parted, she said:‘You are not being given the send-off, my son, that I would havewished for you, such a well-born man as you are; the worst thing seems
to me to be that you have no weapon that is any good, but I have afeeling that you will have need of some.’
Then she took out from under her cloak an ornamented sword; it
was a very fine piece of craftsmanship. Then she said:‘This sword belonged to my grandfather Iokul and to the former
men of Vatnsdal, and it used to bring them victory; now I would liketo give the sword to you, so make good use of it.’
Grettir thanked her very much for the gift and said this meant more
to him than anything else even of greater value. Then he went his way
and Asdis wished him all the best. Grettir rode south across the moorand didn’t stop until he got over the moor to the south. Haflidi welcomed him. He went to speak to him and asked what he had broughtwith him for the journey. Grettir uttered a verse:
Wind-cloth-horse-fir [sailor],
I think that the somewhat wealthy
winners of serpent’s path [people]
have provided me ill for my journey from home.
But my good wealth-norn [lady, i.e. mother]has again proved to me
by the gift of the wound-harmer [sword]that “a boy’s best friend is his mother”.

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Haflidi said it was clear that she was the one who cared for him most.
They put out to sea as soon as they were ready and there was afavourable wind; and when they got beyond all the shallow water theyhoisted the sail. Grettir made a nest for himself under the ship’s boat
and wouldn’t stir from there at all, either to bale out or to help withtrimming the sail, and wouldn’t do the same share of the work he was
supposed to do on the ship as the other men; nor would he pay to makeup for it. They sailed south round Reykianess and then along the south
coast; and when they got out of sight of land they began to be blownaround a great deal. The ship was rather leaky and didn’t stand upvery well to the tossing about; they had a very wet time of it. Grettir
then began to let fly with rhymes; the men got very annoyed at this.
There was one day when the wind was both keen and cold; then theyoung men shouted out and told Grettir to make himself useful, ‘because our paws are getting cold.’
Grettir looked up and said:
I don’t mind if all the fingersof you wretched men shrivel up from the cold.
They didn’t get him to do any work and were even angrier than before, and said he would get what was coming to him for his insults9and lawlessness.
‘You prefer,’ they said, ‘banging on captain Bard’s wife’s belly to
doing your part on the ship, and things like this are intolerable.’
The weather got ever worse; then they had to bale for twelve hours
at a time. Then they started shouting threats at Grettir. When Haflidi
heard this he went to where Grettir was lying and said:‘You don’t seem to be getting on very well with your fellow-sailors;
you are refusing to do your duty by them and on top of that you insult
them, and they are threatening to throw you overboard. Now we can’t
carry on after this fashion.’‘Why shouldn’t they follow what fashion they like?’ said Grettir.
‘But I would like to have one or two of them alone to myself for awhile before I go overboard.’‘You mustn’t go on like this,’ said Haflidi. ‘Nothing will ever turn9 ní›: a formal insult punishable by outlawry in medieval Iceland.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR101

out right for us if you’re thinking of doing things like that. I will tell
you the best thing for you to do.’‘What is that?’ said Grettir.
‘They are complaining because you insult them; now I want you,’said Haflidi, ‘to utter some verse insulting me, and then perhaps they
will put up with you better.’‘I will never compose anything about you,’ said Grettir, ‘but what iscomplimentary; I will not treat you like one of these wretches.’
Haflidi said, ‘A verse may be composed so that it is found to benicer if you examine it closely, though at first sight it is not very nice.’‘I can easily do that,’ said Grettir.
Haflidi went over to the crew [where they were baling out] andsaid:‘You’re having a hard time, and it’s not surprising that you are annoyedwith Grettir.’‘It’s his rhymes that are worse than anything else,’ they said. Then
Haflidi said in a loud voice:‘He’ll come to no good with those in the end.’
And when Grettir heard Haflidi finding fault with him, he uttered averse:The times were different when, inside at Reydarfell,
the clear voiced Haflidi ate curds.
Then he seemed the master in his own house.
But now the embellisher of spears’ doom [warrior]eats a ness-grasp-reindeer Tveggi’s [sailor’s] breakfast
twice on the same day.10
The sailors were very annoyed and said he wouldn’t insult master
Haflidi and get away with it. Then Haflidi said:‘Grettir has done enough to deserve some disgrace from you, but I
won’t have my honour put at stake against his malice and imprudence;so we will not avenge this at present while we are in such a dangerous
position, but remember it when you get ashore if you wish.’
They replied, ‘Can we not do the same as you? Why should we be
more upset by insults than you?’
10 ness-grasp = fiord, its reindeer = ship, whose Tveggi (Odin) is a seafarer.

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

Haflidi bade them do so. From then on the crew took much lessnotice of the rhymes than before.
They had a long and hard voyage. The ship started to spring leaks;
they began to be exhausted from hard work. The captain’s wife, theyoung one, always used to sew up Grettir’s sleeves,11 and the crew
made great fun of him for this. Haflidi went to where Grettir was lying
and uttered a verse:Stand up out of your hole, Grettir;
the ship cuts a deep furrow.
Remember most happy yourwords with the cheerful woman.
The lady, linen-Nauma [Haflidi’s wife], has sewn up your sleeves.
The support wishes things to be right with you
while land is beneath the horizon.
Grettir immediately stood up and said:
Let’s stand up, though the waves roll fast beneath the ship;
I know the lady will not like it if I lie down in the boat.
The good, fair woman will be most displeased
if I always let others do my work for me.
Then he ran back to where they were baling and asked what theywanted him to do. They said he wouldn’t do much that was any good.
He said:‘ “There’s a lot of difference between one man’s help and another’s”.’
Haflidi told them not to refuse his help.
‘Perhaps he thinks he will make up for what he hasn’t done before if
he offers his help.’
At that time there were no pumps on ocean-going ships for baling;
they had what they called bucket-baling or tub-baling.12 It was both
11 Medieval shirts and tunics had wide sleeves but no buttons, so that it wasnecessary to sew them tight round the wrists to avoid them interfering withthe movements of the hands.
12 dæla means a mechanical pump in modern Icelandic, but in the Middle
Ages ships would often have had bilge-troughs, which were ducts to convey
water over the side when it was poured into them from buckets in the middleof the ship; see OED dale3. Without such contrivances the buckets had to be
carried to the side of the ship to be emptied, making the work much harder.

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103

uncomfortable and difficult. They used to have two buckets; when
one went down the other went up. The men asked Grettir to go down
and fill the buckets; they said they would now see what he could do.
He said it would be best not to try him too far. He then went down andfilled the buckets, and two of them were set to take them from him andempty them. They hadn’t been doing this long before they were overcome with exhaustion. Then four men took over from them and thesame happened to them. Some people say that there were eight men
emptying for him before they had finished; by that time the ship wascompletely baled out. From then on the sailors spoke of Grettir quite
differently, for they saw what strength he had at his disposal; and fromthen on he was the most untiring in helping, whatever was needed.
Then they were carried eastwards over the sea. The visibility became very bad; the first thing they found one night was that they had
sailed the ship onto a rock so that the lower part of the stem was torn
off. Then they launched the boat and took the women and everythingthat was movable off the ship. There was a small islet a short way
from them and there they took as much as they could get of their things
during the night. When it began to get light they discussed where it
was they had come to; then those who had been abroad before recognised that they had some to Sunnmøre in Norway. There was an island
a little way away towards the mainland which is called Haramarsey.
There was a large settlement on the island and there was also a manor
belonging to a landed man.

18
Thorfinn was the name of the landed man who lived there on the island;
he was son of Kar the Old who had lived there for a long time. Thorfinn
was an influential man.
Now when it had become full daylight, people saw from the islandthat some sailors were in difficulties. Then Thorfinn was told. He took
action immediately and had a big rowing-boat of his launched; it had
sixteen oarsmen each side. There were nearly thirty men on the rowing boat and they went as fast as they could and saved the sailors’
property, but the ship sank; a great deal of valuable goods was lost
there. Thorfinn took all the men from the ship back to his house; they
were there for a week and dried their cargo. Then the sailors went to104

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

the south of the country and they disappear from the story. Grettir
stayed behind with Thorfinn and kept to himself; most of the time hedidn’t say much. Thorfinn saw that he was given food but didn’t takemuch notice of him. Grettir didn’t spend much time with him andwouldn’t go out with him during the day. Thorfinn was annoyed withthis but yet didn’t care to refuse to feed him. Thorfinn was hospitable
and a great one for entertainment and he liked other people to be entertained. Grettir was always going visiting and used to go to otherfarms there on the island. There was a man called Audun who lived ina place called Vindheim. Grettir went there every day and became
great friends with him; Grettir was always staying there all day long.
One evening very late when Grettir was about to go home he saw agreat fire erupting up on the ness which was down below Audun’sfarm. Grettir asked what this unusual thing was. Audun said there wasno need for him to know that.
‘It would be said,’ said Grettir, ‘if anything like that was seen in ourcountry, that it was flaming up from gold.’
The farmer replied, ‘There is only one sort of person who can be incharge of that fire and he is the sort that it won’t do you any good to
get curious about.’‘I still want to know,’ said Grettir.
‘There on the ness stands a mound,’ said Audun, ‘and in it was laid
Kar the Old, Thorfinn’s father; first of all he and his son had only one
farm on the island, but after Kar died he has haunted the place somuch that he has emptied out all the farmers who had land here so that
now Thorfinn has the whole island to himself; and no one is harmed
by these hauntings who is under Thorfinn’s protection.’
Grettir thanked him for telling him.
‘I shall come tomorrow morning, and have some tools for digging
ready for me.’
‘I would rather,’ said Audun, ‘that you had nothing to do with this,because I know that Thorfinn will become your enemy.’
Grettir said he would risk that. Now the night passed. Grettir is there
early; the digging tools were ready for him. The farmer goes with him
to the mound. Grettir now opened the mound and went hard at it; hedidn’t stop until he got down to the roof-beams. Then it was coming towards evening. Then he pulled up the roof-beams. Audun tried hard tostop him going into the mound. Grettir told him to look after the rope.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR105‘And I’m going to find out what there is down here.’
Then Grettir went into the mound; it was dark there and not at all
sweet-smelling. Now he looked around to see what the place was like.
He found some horse’s bones and then he bumped into the back of achair and found that there was a man sitting on the chair. There was agreat deal of valuables in gold and silver heaped together and there
was a chest set under the man’s feet full of silver. Grettir took all thistreasure and carried it to the rope, and when he was going to the entrance someone took hold of him firmly. Then he let go of the treasure
and turned towards the man and they began to wrestle rather roughly.
Everything near them was thrust out of the way; the mound-dweller
attacked fiercely. Grettir gave way for a long time and it came to thepoint that he realised that it was no good holding back. Now neither
spared the other; they dragged each other to where the horse-bones
were; they struggled with each other among them for a long time andeach of them at various times began to get the worst of it, but the endof it was that the mound-dweller fell on his back and this made a greatcrash. Then Audun abandoned the rope and thought that Grettir must
be dead. Now Grettir drew his sword Iokulsnaut and struck the mounddweller on the neck, cutting off his head; he placed it by his rump.13
Then Grettir went to the rope with the treasure but Audun had goneright away, so he had to pull himself up the rope by his hands. He had
tied the treasure in a noose and pulled it up afterwards. Grettir had
become very stiff from his dealings with Kar; now he went back to
Thorfinn’s farm with the treasure. By that time everyone had begun
their meal. Thorfinn looked sharply at Grettir when he came into thedining hall and asked what he had to do that was so pressing that hecould not act with ordinary courtesy towards other people. Grettir
said:‘ “There are many little matters that turn up in the late evenings”.’
Then he spread out on the table all the treasure that he had takenfrom the mound. There was one object of value there that Grettir hadparticularly got his eye on; this was a cutlass, such a good weaponthat he said he had never seen a better. It was the last thing he set
down. Thorfinn looked very pleased when he saw the treasure and thecutlass, for it was their heirloom and had never been out of the family.
13 A ritual act to prevent the dead person returning to haunt.

106

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR‘Where did you get this treasure?’ said Thorfinn.
Grettir uttered a verse:
I have clearly been disappointed
in my expectation of bright rings in the mound,wave-light reducer [gold-spender, generous man];soon may men hear of this.
Yet I see this, that not many a Hrotti-storm Ull [warrior]
will seek there with great joy for Fafnir’s bog [gold].14
Thorfinn replied, ‘It’s not just anything that puts you off; no one before has ever been eager to open the mound. But because I know themoney that is buried in the ground or put in mounds is in the wrong
place, I shall not blame you for this, considering that you have brought
it all to me; but where did you get this fine cutlass?’
Grettir replied in a verse:
I managed to get the cutlassthat makes men’s wounds growin the mighty dark mound,wave-fire harmer [generous man]; the ghost fell;
and the precious fireof the din of the harmer of helmets [cutlass],
dangerous to men, would never pass far
from my hand if I owned it.
Thorfinn replied, ‘You have spoken well, but you will have to achieve
something which has the makings of greatness in it before I will give
you the cutlass, for my father never let me have it in his whole life.’
Grettir said, ‘One cannot tell who will get the greatest benefit fromit in the end.’
Thorfinn took charge of the treasure and kept the cutlass by his bed.
So the winter passed until Christmas came without anything noteworthy
happening.

14 The verse implies that no treasure was to be found in the mound; but
perhaps a negative is missing in the first line.

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107

19
The summer before this Earl Eirik Hakonarson had set out abroad toEngland to meet King Knut the Great, his brother-in-law,15 and had
left his son Earl Hakon behind in charge of Norway and put him under
the guidance of his brother, Earl Svein, to look after him and see to thegovernment, for Hakon was still only a child. But before Earl Eirik
left the country he summoned the landed men and influential farmers
to see him; they discussed many things connected with the laws andaffairs of state, for Earl Eirik was a conscientious ruler. It was considered a very bad thing in the country that highwaymen and berserks
were in the habit of challenging noblemen to duels for the sake ofmoney or women; the one who fell always had to fall uncompensated.
Because of this many received dishonour and lost their property andsome lost their lives altogether, and so Earl Eirik banned all duels in
Norway; he also outlawed all robbers and berserks who caused
breaches of the peace. Thorfinn Kar’s son of Haramarsey was verymuch involved in these measures, for he was an intelligent man and aclose friend of the earls. There are two brothers mentioned as having
been the worst offenders; one was called Thorir Thomb and the other
Ogmund the Bad. They were from Halogaland by origin and weretaller and stronger than other men. They used to go into a berserk rage
and spared no one when they were in a fury. They carried off men’s
wives [and daughters] and kept them with them for a week or a fortnight and then took them back home to where they belonged; theystole things wherever they went and performed other acts of hooliganism. Earl Eirik made them outlaws throughout Norway. Thorfinn was
the one who most strongly recommended their conviction; they considered that they had plenty to pay him back for.
After this the earl left the country, as is told in his saga,16 and Earl
Svein held power and was in charge of the government of Norway.
Thorfinn went back home and remained there almost until Christmas,
as was said before. Towards Christmas Thorfinn made arrangements
to go to a house which he had in a place called Slysfiord; this was on
15 Earl Eirik had married Gyda, daughter of Knut’s father Svein Forkbeard.
16 Cf. Fagrskinna 132–3 and 136. Eiríks saga is also mentioned in
Fagrskinna 110, but does not survive as a separate text.

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the mainland. He had invited there many of his friends. Thorfinn’s
wife could not go with her husband because their young daughter lay
ill, and they both stayed at home. Grettir was also there, and eight
farm-hands. Now Thorfinn left for the Christmas feast with thirty freed
men;17 it was very entertaining and enjoyable there. Now Christmas
Eve came; the weather was clear and calm. Grettir was out for thegreater part of the day and saw ships sailing up and down along thecoast, for everyone was visiting each other wherever a party had beenarranged. The farmer’s daughter was then recovered so that she could
walk around with her mother’s help. So the day passed. Then Grettir
saw a ship rowing to the island; it wasn’t very big and it was set withshields from stem to stern; the ship was painted above the water-line.
They rowed strongly and made for Thorfinn’s boat-shed, and when
the ship ran aground the men on it jumped over the side. Grettir counted
these men and saw that there were twelve of them. They didn’t lookvery friendly to him. They lifted up the ship and carried it ashore.
Then they ran to the boat-shed. Inside was Thorfinn’s galley, the big
one. It always took no fewer than thirty men to launch it, but the twelveof them shoved it straight away down onto the stony beach. Then theylifted up their ship and carried it into the boat-shed. Then Grettir realised that they were going to make themselves at home. He went tomeet them and welcomed them and asked who they were and what
was the name of their leader. The one he had addressed replied immediately and said his name was Thorir, nicknamed Thomb, and said
that with him was his brother Ogmund; the rest were their mates.
‘I expect,’ said Thorir, ‘that Thorfinn, your host, has heard of us; ishe at home?’
Grettir replied, ‘You are certainly lucky, because you have come atjust the right time if you are the men I think you are; the master of thehouse is away with all the free men of the household and will not behome until after Christmas. His wife is at home, and his daughter. If I
had any grudge to repay him, this is just the way I would choose,
17 Slaves were taken to Iceland by the first settlers; they had mainly been
captured on viking raids. They had mostly been freed and had become tenant
farmers or farm labourers by the eleventh century, but freedmen and theirdescendants are mentioned in a number of sagas. Frelsingi, however, is sometimes used of labourers in general.

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109

because there is everything you want here, both ale and other entertainment.’
Thorir was silent while Grettir made his speech. Then he spoke to
Ogmund:‘Did not everything go just as I supposed it would?’ he said. ‘Iwouldn’t mind getting my own back on Thorfinn for getting us outlawed; and this man tells us just what we want. There’s no need todrag any information from him.’‘ “Everyone has a right to say what he likes”,’ said Grettir, ‘and I
shall entertain you as well as I can, so come to the house with me.’
They thanked him and said they would accept his invitation. Whenthey came to the farm, Grettir took Thorir by the arm and let him into
the living-room; Grettir was very talkative. The mistress of the house
was in the living-room and was having the wall-hangings put up andgetting it decorated. When she heard Grettir’s voice she stopped in the
middle of the room and asked who he was welcoming so heartily. He
replied:‘It is the right thing to do, my lady, to welcome guests; Mr Thorir
Thomb and his eleven friends are here and they are going to spend
Christmas here. It’s a very good thing, because we hadn’t got much ofa party before.’
She replied, ‘I don’t count them as good or respectable people, forthey are the most terrible robbers and evil-doers; I would willingly
have sacrificed almost everything I have for them not to have comehere just now. And you are making a poor repayment to Thorfinn forsaving you without a penny from shipwreck and maintaining you thewhole winter like a free man.’
Grettir replied, ‘You would be doing better to be giving the guests
some fresh clothes after their journey instead of nagging at me; there
will be plenty of time for that later.’
Then Thorir said, ‘Don’t be angry, my lady; you won’t be any worse
off, even though your husband isn’t at home, because you’ll get a manin place of him, and so will your daughter and all the women here.’‘That is spoken like a man,’ said Grettir; ‘now they’ll have nothing
to complain about.’
Now all the women ran out and they fell into great despair and weeping. Grettir said to the berserks:‘Hand over everything to me that you want out of your way, your110

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weapons and dirty clothes, because we’ll never get these people to do
anything until they have got over their fear.’Thorir said he didn’t care what the women were moaning about,‘but there certainly is a great difference to be seen between you andthe other people here; I should think we might well make you our
comrade.’‘That’s for you to decide,’ said Grettir, ‘but I don’t treat everyone as
equals.’Then they set aside nearly all their weapons. After this Grettir said:‘I think you had better sit down and have something to drink, because you must be thirsty after your rowing.’
They said they were just ready for that, but said they didn’t know
where the cellar was. Grettir asked if they would let him see to it andarrange everything; the berserks said they would be very pleased to
do so. Grettir went and got ale and gave them a drink; they were very
tired and took deep draughts. He helped them unstintingly to the strongest ale there was and kept doing so for a long time. He also told them
many amusing stories; all this brought a great deal of noise from them.
The household had no desire to join them. Then Thorir said:‘I have never met a stranger so kind to us as this man; how would
you like us comrades to repay you for what you have done for us?’
Grettir replied, ‘I don’t wish for any repayment at present, but if weare still such good friends when you leave as it seems we are now,then I will become your comrade; even though I cannot do such mighty
deeds as any of you, yet I shall not hinder you from doing great things.’
They were very pleased at this and wanted to cement their comradeship straight away with oaths. Grettir said that was not advisable.
‘For it is true, as the saying goes, that “drink is another man”, andwe must not rush into this any further than I have suggested already;neither of us has a very good temper.’They said they did not intend to change their minds.
Now the evening was getting on so that it was beginning to get very
dark. Then Grettir saw that they were getting pretty weary from thedrink. Then he said:‘Don’t you think it’s about time to go to bed?’
Thorir agreed, ‘and we will carry out our promise to the lady of thehouse.’
Grettir went out and spoke in a loud voice:THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

111‘Go to bed, ladies,’ he said. ‘Those are Mr Thorir’s orders.’
They replied by cursing him; it was like the howling of wolves tohear them. At this moment the berserks came out. Grettir said:‘Let’s go outside, and I’ll show you Thorfinn’s wardrobe.’18
They agreed to this; they came to a very big storehouse. It had an
outside door with a strong lock on it. It was quite a stronghold. Next
door was a big strongly built lavatory, and there was a partition between the two buildings; the buildings were raised off the ground andyou had to go up a few steps to get to them. The berserks now began a
bit of horseplay, and gave Grettir a push. He dodged away from them,and when they were least expecting it, he ran out of the building andtook hold of the latch and shut the door and locked it. Thorir and his
companions thought at first that the door had swung to on its own, andtook no notice. They had a lamp with them, for Grettir had been showing them many things of value that belonged to Thorfinn; they lookedat these for a while. Grettir hurried back to the farm and as soon as hecame to the door he shouted out and asked where the mistress of thehouse was. She didn’t answer because she was afraid to do so. He
said:‘We’ve almost got a good bag here; are there any weapons here of
any use?’She replied, ‘There are some weapons, but I don’t know what goodthey will be to you.’‘We’ll discuss that later,’ he said; ‘now everyone must do their best.
We won’t get a better opportunity.’
The mistress said, ‘Now “God would indeed be with us” if we could
do something to improve matters. The big barbed spear that belonged
to Kar the Old is hanging over Thorfinn’s bed; a helmet and a coat of
mail is there as well, and that good cutlass, and these weapons won’t
fail if you have enough courage.’
Grettir snatched the helmet and spear and fastened the cutlass at hisside and went out quickly. The mistress called to the farm-hands andtold them to go and help him, such a fine fellow as he was. Four ofthem ran to get weapons, but the other four didn’t dare go anywhere near.
18 In medieval Icelandic farmhouses there were often store-rooms for clothes,

weapons, tools etc., separate from the living-rooms, and they were enteredfrom outside.

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Now to return to the berserks, they were thinking that Grettir was along time coming back; they were beginning to suspect that there might
be some treachery. They ran to the door and found that it was locked;
then they tried the wooden partition so that it creaked in every board.
At length they managed to break down the partition and so got out
into the passageway and from there out to the steps; then the berserk
fury came upon them and they howled like dogs. At that moment Grettir
reached them; he thrust the spear with both hands at the middle ofThorir’s body just as he was going to come down the steps, so that itwent straight through him. The head of the spear was both long andbroad. Ogmund the Bad was following close behind Thorir and pushed
him forward against the thrust so that it pierced right up to the barbs;
then the spear came out between Thorir’s shoulders and so on into
Ogmund’s chest. They both fell down dead from the spear. Then eachof the others jumped down from where they stood on the steps. Grettir
attacked them one at a time, sometimes striking with the cutlass, sometimes thrusting with the spear, and they defended themselves withpieces of wood that were lying on the ground and anything else they
could get hold of; it was very dangerous to fight them because of theirgreat strength, even though they had no weapons. Grettir killed two of
the Halogalanders there in the yard. Then four of the farm-hands cameout; they hadn’t been able to agree which weapons each of them shouldtake. They attacked, then, when the berserks began to run way, butwhen they turned back to fight them, the farm-hands retreated up to
the buildings. Six of the vikings fell there, and Grettir was the slayerof them all. Then the other six fled; they got down to the boat-shed
and went into it; then they defended themselves with oars. Then Grettir
got some heavy blows from them, so that he was close to being severely
injured. Then the farm-hands went back inside the farm and told greatstories of their heroism. The mistress told them to go and find out
what had become of Grettir, but none of them could be got to go.
Grettir killed two in the boat-shed, but four got out past him. Theneach pair went off in different directions; he chased the ones that were
nearer. Now the night began to get dark. They ran into a certain barnon the farm which was mentioned before called Vindheim. There they
fought for a long time, but in the end Grettir killed them both; he wasthen terribly tired and stiff, and it was well on into the night. The
weather became very cold and there was drifting snow. He didn’t care

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then to go looking for the two vikings that remained; now he went
back to the farm. The mistress of the house had a lamp lit by the windows on the top floor so that he could use it to guide him the rightway; and so it was that he was able to find his way home because hesaw the light.
When he reached the door the mistress went to meet him and welcomed him.
‘You have,’ she said, ‘done a great deed and delivered me and myhousehold from such a dishonour as we would never have got atonement for if you hadn’t saved us.’
Grettir said, ‘I think I am pretty much the same person as I was thisevening when you spoke to me so abusively.’
The mistress replied thus: ‘We didn’t know that you were such ahero as we have now found you to be; you may take anything you likethat is on the farm, which it is right to give, and honourable for you to
accept. But I expect that Thorfinn will reward you even better when
he comes home.’
Grettir replied, ‘I don’t need much reward at the moment, but I will
accept your offer until your husband comes home; and I expect thatyou will be able to sleep in peace as far as the berserks are concerned.’
Grettir didn’t drink much that evening and lay fully armed during
the night. In the morning when it began to get light the men of theisland were summoned together; then a search was started for theberserks who had got away the evening before. They were found towards the end of the day under a stone, and they had died of the cold
and their wounds. Then they were carried to some rocks below thehigh-water line and buried there. After that they went home and theislanders considered that they had entered the reign of peace.
Grettir uttered this verse when he got back to the mistress of the house:
We have made graves by the sea
for twelve war-fire trees [warriors];alone I was able to bring them allwithout hesitation sheer death.
Any deeds that one can do,
splendid well-born gold-willow [woman],will be counted worthy
if ones like this are thought mean.

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The mistress said, ‘You certainly have few equals among men now
living.’
She made him sit in the place of honour and treated him with the greatest consideration; so the time passed until Thorfinn was to come home.

20
After Christmas Thorfinn got ready to return home and sent the manyhe had invited away with good gifts; then he went with his companions until he approached his boat-shed. They saw a ship lying on thesand and soon recognised it to be his big galley; Thorfinn had stillheard nothing about the vikings. He told them to hurry ashore:‘For I suspect,’ he said, ‘that this is not the doing of friends.’
Thorfinn was the first of his party to go ashore and he went straightto the boat-shed; he saw a ship standing there and recognised that it
was the berserks’ ship. Then he spoke to his men:
‘I have a suspicion,’ he said, ‘that something must have happened
here such that I would give the island and everything on it for it not tohave happened.’
They asked why this was so. Then he said:‘The vikings who are the worst I know of in the whole of Norway
have come here, they are Thorir Thomb and Ogmund the Bad; they
will not have done us much of a favour, and I haven’t much faith in the
Icelander.’He discussed this for some time with his companions. Grettir was in
the house, and it was because of him that people were not quicker
going down to the beach; he said he didn’t care if the master had a few
anxious moments about what had happened. But the mistress asked
his leave to go. He said she could go where she wanted, but said he
was not going anywhere. She went straight away to meet Thorfinn
and welcomed him. He was glad to see her and said:‘God be praised that I see you safe, and my daughter as well; butwhat has been happening to you since I left home?’
She said, ‘It has turned out all right, but we were on the brink ofsuch a great dishonour that we would never have got atonement for it
if your winter lodger had not helped us.’THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

115

Then Thorfinn said, ‘Now we shall sit down and you must tell me
what has happened.’
Then she told him in detail everything that had taken place there,
and was full of praise for Grettir’s boldness and courage. Meanwhile
Thorfinn was silent, and when she had finished her story, he replied thus:‘The saying is true that “one should never judge a man too soon”;
but where is Grettir now?’
His wife said, ‘He is at home in the living-room.’
Then they went back to the farm. Thorfinn went up to Grettir andembraced him and thanked him very courteously for the chivalry withwhich he had acted towards him.
‘And I will say to you,’ said Thorfinn, ‘what few men say to theirfriend, that I hope that sometime you will need men’s help, and then
you will find out whether I can be of any use to you; but I can neverreward you for your kindness if you are never in need of anything. But
there is a place for you to stay here with me whenever you need to andyou will be treated by the household as my most honoured guest.’
Grettir thanked him very much, ‘and I would have accepted youroffer even if it had been made before.’
Now Grettir stayed there during the winter and became great friends
with Thorfinn; he also became renowned throughout Norway for thisdeed, especially in the places where they had committed the greatest
misdeeds, the berserks.
In the spring Thorfinn asked Grettir what he wanted to do. He said
he was going to go north to Vågan while the fair was being held there.
Thorfinn said he was welcome to what money he wished. Grettir said
that at the moment he had no need of funds except for some pocketmoney. Thorfinn said he could have that with pleasure, and went withhim down to the ship. Then he gave Grettir the good cutlass; Grettir
wore it as long as he lived and it was a great treasure. Thorfinn told
him to come to him whenever he needed help.
Now Grettir went north to Vågan, and there was a very great numberof people there; many there who had never seen him before welcomed
him because of the famous deed he had done in killing the vikings;
many men of rank invited him to go and stay with them, but he wanted
to return to his friend Thorfinn. He took a passage in a merchant ship
which belonged to a man called Thorkel; he lived at Salten in Hålogaland, and was a man of rank.

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When Grettir came back to Thorkel’s house, he gave him a hearty
welcome and asked Grettir to stay the winter with him, and was very
pressing in his invitation. Grettir accepted and stayed with Thorkel for
the winter and was given the best treatment.

21
There was a man called Biorn who was staying with Thorkel; he wasimpetuous in disposition and of a good family, being somewhat related to Thorkel. He was not popular with most men because he carried tales about the people staying with Thorkel; by doing this he caused
many people to leave. He didn’t get on very well with Grettir; Biorn
thought he was not half as important as himself, but Grettir would notgive way to him in anything, and they fell to loggerheads. Biorn was avery self-assertive man and was full of his own importance; many
young men supported him in this and they often used to hang around
together outside in the evenings.
It happened in early winter that a fierce brown bear left its den andbecame so savage that it spared neither men nor animals; people thought
it must have woken up because of the noise that Biorn had been making with his pals. The beast became so troublesome that it was tearing
men’s flocks to pieces; Thorkel suffered the worst from this, because
he was the wealthiest man in the district.
One day Thorkel got his men together to go with him to find out
where the bear’s den was. They found it in the cliffs by the sea; there
was a small cliff there and a cave formed by an overhanging rock on acliff-face, and a narrow path to approach it. There was a sheer drop
underneath the cave and at the bottom there was a heap of rocks by thesea. It was certain death for anyone who fell over. The bear used to lie
in the den during the day, but always left it when night fell; no fences
could protect the sheep from it, dogs were no use against it. This wasconsidered a really great problem. Biorn, Thorkel’s kinsman, said thatthe hardest bit was done now they had found the den.
‘Now we shall see,’ he said, ‘how we namesakes get on together.’19

19 Biorn’s name is also the word for bear in Old Norse.

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Grettir went on as if he hadn’t heard what Biorn had said about this.
It happened every evening, when everyone was going to bed, thatBiorn slipped out. One night Biorn went to the den; he found that thebeast was there and it was growling horribly. Biorn lay down by thenarrow path and had his shield with him and was going to wait until
the beast set out as usual. Bruin got wind of the man and delayedcoming out. Biorn got rather sleepy lying there and cannot keep awake;
just at that moment the beast leaves its den and is now able to see
where the man was lying. It hooked its paw underneath and pulled theshield off him and threw it down over the cliff. Biorn jumped violently at this, and when he awoke, took to his heels and ran back to thehouse. He only just escaped being grabbed by the beast. His friends
knew about this, because they had been keeping watch on Biorn’s
movements; they found the shield in the morning and made a hugejoke of it.
[At Christmas] Thorkel himself went to the den and seven otherswith him; Biorn was there, and Grettir, and some other of Thorkel’s
companions. Grettir had on a fur cloak and he put it down while theywent for the animal. It was difficult to attack there because they couldn’t
do anything except thrust with spears, and it pushed them out of theway with its mouth. Biorn kept on urging them on to the attack, but
yet never went near enough to be in any danger himself; and when no
one was noticing, Biorn snatched up Grettir’s cloak and threw it into
the den at the bear. They were unable to achieve anything and towards
the end of the day they turned home. But when Grettir was about to go
back, he missed his cloak; then he noticed that the bear had pulled the
cloak under itself. Then he said:‘Who [of you fellows] has been making a fool of me and thrown mycloak into the den?’
Biorn replied, ‘Only someone who will not be afraid to admit it will
have done it.’
Grettir replied, ‘I never make a big thing of anything like that.’
Then they set off home; and when they had been going for a while,
Grettir’s garter broke. Thorkel told them to wait for him; Grettir said
there was no need. Then Biorn said:‘You needn’t think Grettir is going to leave his cloak behind; obviously he wants to win fame for himself and is going to kill singlehandedly the animal which eight of us have had to give up trying with.

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Then he would be living up to his reputation, but today he has notdistinguished himself.’‘I’m not sure,’ said Thorkel, ‘how well you’ve been doing yourself,
but you two are certainly not heroes in the same class, and you’d better not say too much about him.’
Biorn said that neither of them was going to tell him what to say.
Now they were out of sight of each other. Then Grettir turned back to
the narrow path; now there was no question of arguing about who wasdoing the attacking. Then he drew the sword Iokulsnaut; he had a loop
fastened to the hilt of the cutlass and he slipped it round his wrist. He
did this because he thought he would be better able to do what hewanted if his hands were free. He went straight along the path, andwhen the beast saw the man, it jumped up with great ferocity andmade at Grettir and struck at him with the paw on the opposite side to
the precipice. Grettir parried with the sword and it struck the paw justabove the claws and cut it off there. Then the animal tried to strikewith its sound paw, and shifted itself onto the stump, but it was shorter
than it expected, and then the animal fell into Grettir’s arms. Then hegrasped the beast by the head between its ears and thus held it awayfrom himself so that it couldn’t get close enough to bite him. Grettir
has said that he found it the greatest trial of his strength he had performed to hold the beast down. But because the animal struggled violently and there wasn’t much room, they both rolled down over thecliff. Now the beast was the heavier and so was underneath when they
hit the rocks; Grettir was on top and the beast was severely woundedon the side which faced downwards. Then Grettir grasped his cutlassand stabbed the bear to the heart and that was the death of it. After that
he went back to the house and took his cloak, and it was all torn toshreds. He took with him the part of the paw that he had cut off.
Thorkel was sitting drinking when Grettir came into the living-room;
they all laughed at the tatters of the cloak that Grettir was wearing.
Now he placed that bit of the paw he had cut off on the table.
Thorkel said, ‘Where is my cousin Biorn now? I have never seen
you strike such a blow, and I think you ought to offer satisfaction forthe dishonour you have done him.’
Biorn said he would have to wait for that, ‘and I couldn’t care lesswhether he is pleased or not.’Grettir uttered the following verse:

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119

Often the battle-Niord [warrior],
who went and visited the hibernator this autumn,
came frightened home at dusk though neither was in danger.
No one saw me sit late at night by the bear’s den;yet I came out from the rocky cave of the wool-otters [bears].
‘It is true,’ said Biorn, ‘that not only have you acted very boldly, butalso you speak of us each in very different terms; I perceive that you
are aiming these taunts at me.’Thorkel spoke, ‘I beg you, Grettir,’ he said, ‘not to take vengeanceon Biorn, but I will pay a full wergild on his behalf in compensation if
you will be reconciled.’
Biorn said he ought to have better things to do with his money thanpay compensation for this.
‘I think “the oak should keep what is scraped from another”, as far
as Grettir and I are concerned.’
Grettir said he was quite satisfied with this.
‘Then for my sake, Grettir,’ said Thorkel, ‘please let Biorn be while
you are in my house.’‘Very well,’ said Grettir.
Biorn said he would go about without fear of Grettir wherever theycame up against each other. Grettir grinned at this, but refused to accept
the money in payment for Biorn, and they stayed there during the winter.

22
In the spring Grettir went north to Vågan with merchants; he andThorkel parted on friendly terms. Biorn went west to England andcaptained the ship belonging to Thorkel which was going there. Biorn
stayed there during the summer and bought for Thorkel the goods hehad commissioned him to get; he sailed back east towards the end of
autumn. Grettir stayed in Vågan until all the ships sailed away; thenhe sailed south with some merchants until they came to the port whichis called Garten. This is at the entrance to Trondheimsfiord, and there
they put up the ship’s awnings.20 When they had finished, a ship sailed
20 On sea journeys along the coast, the crew sometimes pitched tents ashore,
but often set up an awning over the ship to sleep under. See Shetelig and Falk 349.

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along the coast from the south; they soon recognised it as a ship that
had been to England. The men on it came to land a little further out
along the beach and went ashore. Grettir and his companions went
over to them; when they met, Grettir saw that Biorn was among them,and said:‘I am glad we have met here; we can now attend to our former differences. Now I want to find out which of us is the stronger.’
Biorn said that was a thing of the past as far as he was concerned,‘but if there has been anything between us, then I am willing to makeit up in such a way that you will think yourself well done by.’Then Grettir uttered a verse:
I was able to defeat the greedy-tooth [bear];
there was talk about that once;
the harsh-minded one tore hard
the mighty long cloak from the man.
The audacious ring-Baldr [Biorn] caused this,but now he shall pay for it;
I do not think I am often too boastfulin competitive speeches.
Biorn said that more significant grievances than this had been madeup with money. Grettir said that not many people had behaved maliciously towards him, and he had never yet taken money in compensation for such a thing, and he was not going to now.
‘We shall not both leave this place unscathed, if I have my way. I
declare you to be a coward if you dare not fight.’
Now Biorn realised that it was no good trying to talk himself out ofit, so he took up his weapons and went up on land. Then they set toand fought, and it wasn’t long before Biorn was wounded, and soonafter he fell dead to the ground, and Biorn’s companions saw this.
They went aboard their ship and made along the coast to the north to
go to see Thorkel, and they told him what had happened. He said thatit had not happened sooner than one would have expected. Soon after
this Thorkel went south to Trøndelag and met Earl Svein there. Afterthe killing of Biorn, Grettir went to Møre and went to see his friend
Thorfinn and told him what had happened. Thorfinn welcomed him.
‘And I am glad,’ he said, ‘that you are in need of a friend; you shallstay with me until this matter is cleared up.’

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Grettir thanked him for his offer and said that he would now accept it.
Earl Svein was at Stenkjer in Trøndelag when he heard of Biorn’s
killing. At that time Biorn’s brother Hiarrandi was there with him; hewas one of the earl’s men. He was very angry when he heard of Biorn’s
killing and he asked for the earl’s support in prosecuting the offender.
The earl promised him this; then he sent someone to Thorfinn andsummoned both him and Grettir to come before him. He set out immediately, and Grettir with him, in accordance with the earl’s summons, and they went inland to Trøndelag to meet him. Then the earlheld a meeting to deal with the case and told Hiarrandi to be present.
Hiarrandi said he was not going to weigh out his brother for money:21‘I shall either go the same way as he, or else avenge him,’ he said.
Now when the case was examined, it seemed to the earl that Biorn
had given Grettir great provocation, and Thorfinn offered to pay asmuch compensation as the earl should deem sufficient for the honourof the heirs, and stressed what a great deliverance Grettir had brought
men in the north of the country when he killed the berserks, as was
related above.
The earl replied, ‘It is true what you say, Thorfinn; that was a very
good riddance for the country, and it is very fitting for us to accept
compensation at your intercession. And besides, Grettir is well known
for his strength and courage.’
Hiarrandi would not agree to any reconciliation, and the meeting
was adjourned. Thorfinn got his cousin Arnbiorn to accompany Grettir
every day, for he knew that Hiarrandi was out for his life.

23
It happened one day when Grettir and Arnbiorn were strolling out
along the street for pleasure, and they were walking past a certain
gateway, a man leapt out from the gateway brandishing an axe andstruck at Grettir with both hands. He was not expecting this and wasslow to draw back. Arnbiorn happened to see the man; he grabbed at
Grettir and thrust him forward so hard that he fell on his knee. The axe
struck his shoulder-blade and passed under his arm; it was a great
wound. Grettir sprang round quickly in response and drew his cutlass;
21 I.e. he would not accept monetary compensation.

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he realised that it was Hiarrandi. The axe was stuck in the street, andhe was not able to pull it up quickly; meanwhile Grettir struck at
Hiarrandi and hit him in the arm up near the shoulder so that it cut it
off. Then Hiarrandi’s companions ran up, five of them together. A
battle began between them. The outcome was swift: Grettir andArnbiorn killed the five22 who had been with Hiarrandi, but one got
away, and he went straight to the earl and told him what had happened. The earl was mighty angry when he heard this, and summoned
an assembly for the following day. Thorfinn came to the assembly.
The earl brought charges against Grettir for the killings, and he pleaded
guilty and said he had been forced to do it in self-defence.
‘I think I also have the evidence on me,’ said Grettir. ‘I would havebeen killed if Arnbiorn had not saved me.’
The earl said it was a pity that he hadn’t been killed. ‘It will lead tothe death of many a man if you live.’
By this time Grettir’s comrade and friend Bersi Poet-Torfa’s son
had arrived at the earl’s. He and Thorfinn approached the earl andbegged for pardon for Grettir and offered that the earl might make his
own judgement on the case as long as Grettir was assured of personalsafety and allowed to stay in the country. The earl was reluctant toaccept any settlement, but nevertheless allowed himself to be persuadedby their entreaties. A truce was agreed on Grettir’s behalf until thespring, but the earl would not agree to a settlement until Gunnar, brotherof Biorn and Hiarrandi, could be present. Gunnar was a householder
in Tunsberg. In the spring the earl summoned Grettir and Thorfinn
east to Tunsberg, for he planned to stay there while the sea traffic
there was at its height. So they went there to the east. The earl was
already there in the town when they got to the east. There Grettir met
his brother Thorstein Dromund. He welcomed him warmly and invited him to stay with him. Thorstein was a householder there in thetown. Grettir told him about his affairs and Thorstein was sympathetic,
and told him to watch out for Gunnar. So time passed until the spring.

22 There is a discrepancy in the numbers.

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24
Gunnar was in the town and was waiting for a chance to get at Grettir,
whenever there was an opportunity. It happened one day that Grettir
was sitting in a certain shop drinking, because he did not want to comeacross Gunnar. And when he was least expecting it, someone rushed
at the door so hard that it broke apart. Four fully-armed men leapt in;
it was Gunnar and his companions. They attacked Grettir. He grabbed
his weapons, which had been hanging up above him. He then drew
back up into the corner and defended himself from there. He had his
shield in front of him and was using his cutlass. Their attack didn’t go
too well. He landed a blow on one of Gunnar’s companions; he did
not need a second. Grettir then beat them back across the room. They
then retreated out along the shop; then a second of Gunnar’s men fell.
Then Gunnar and his companions23 tried to get away; the latter got tothe doorway and tripped on the threshold and fell all his length andwas slow to get up. Gunnar had his shield in front of himself and gave
way before Grettir, but he attacked fiercely and leapt up onto the crossbench by the doorway. Then Gunnar’s arms were sticking in throughthe doorway, together with his shield. Grettir then struck down between Gunnar and his shield and cut off both hands at the wrists. He
fell backwards out through the doorway. Grettir struck him his deathblow. And at that moment the one who had been with him got to his
feet and went straight to see the earl and told him what had happened.
Earl Svein was mighty angry at this tale and immediately summoned
an assembly in the town, and when Thorfinn and Thorstein Dromund
heard this they got together their connections and friends and came ina great party to the assembly. The earl was very touchy and it wasdifficult to get him to listen to anything. Thorfinn was the first to approach the earl and said:‘The reason I have come here is to offer you honourable atonement
for these killings that Grettir has committed. You alone shall decide
the terms as long as the man has his life.’
The earl replied in great anger, ‘You never tire of asking for pardon
on Grettir’s behalf, but it seems to me that you have not got a very
good case in this instance. He has now killed three brothers, one after
23 Another discrepancy in the numbers.

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

another; they were such fine men that none of them was willing totake payment for another. It is no good, Thorfinn, your begging for
Grettir, for I am not going to let such injustice take place in this country as to accept compensation for wrongful deeds like this.’
Then Bersi Poet-Torfa’s son stepped forward and asked the earl toaccept atonement.
‘I am willing,’ he said, ‘to contribute my wealth to it, because Grettir
is a man of noble family and a good friend of mine. You must realise,sire, that it is better to spare one man’s life and have in return the goodwill of many men, while being yourself able to determine the amountof compensation, than to fight against a settlement that is honourable
to you and not be certain of whether you will get your man or not.’The earl replied, ‘You are acting well in this, Bersi, and are showing
as always that you are a good fellow; but still I am reluctant to breakthe laws of the land by sparing those who have deserved death.’
Then Thorstein Dromund stepped forward and saluted the earl andmade an offer on Grettir’s behalf, and presented his case with great
eloquence. The earl asked what led him to intercede on behalf of thisman. Thorstein said that they were brothers. The earl said he had not
realised that.
‘But you are showing an honourable disposition even though you
wish to help him. But because we have determined not to accept monetarycompensation for this affair, we shall assess each side at the same
price. We are going to have Grettir’s life whatever it costs, as soon as
we can get it.’
The earl then leapt up and would not consider a settlement withThorstein’s party and they went back to Thorstein’s premises and took
up their positions there. And when the earl saw that, he got all his men
to arm themselves and they then went there in battle order, and before
the troop arrived, the others had positioned themselves for defence infront of the entrance to the premises. Foremost stood Thorfinn andThorstein and Grettir, then Bersi; each of these had a large troop ofmen. The earl ordered them to hand Grettir over and not get themselves into a fix. They offered all the same offers as before; the earlrefused to listen. Thorfinn and Thorstein said it would cost the earl agreat deal more to have Grettir’s life.
‘For one fate shall befall us all, and people will say that you arepaying a great deal for the life of one man if we are all felled to theground.’THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

125

The earl said none of them should be spared; they were now on thevery point of starting to fight. Then many people of good will approached
the earl and begged him not to head towards such a great disaster,
saying that there would be an enormous cost before they were killed.
The earl realised that this was wholesome advice; he allowed himself
to be somewhat cooled down. Then moves were made towards a settlement; Thorfinn and Thorstein were eager for this, as long as Grettir’s
life was spared. The earl spoke:‘I want you to know this,’ he said, ‘although I am making a greatcompromise here over these killings, that I consider this to be no settlement; but I do not care to fight against my own men, though I can seethat you are not rating me very high in this affair.’Then said Thorfinn, ‘This is a greater honour for you, sire, for you
alone are to determine the amount of compensation.’
Then the earl said that Grettir was to go in peace as far as he wasconcerned out to Iceland as soon as there were ships going there, if
that would satisfy them. They said they would accept that. They discharged money to the earl so that he was content with it, and parted
without warmth. Grettir went with Thorfinn. He and his brotherThorstein parted in friendship. Thorfinn became renowned for the support he had given Grettir in withstanding the great odds he had had to
face. None of the men who had stood by Grettir regained the favour ofthe earl from that time forth, except only Bersi. Thus said Grettir:
Thorfinn, companion of Thund’s people [warriors],
was destined to be a help to us
when the woman shut and lockedin the refuge of the dead24 came to demand my life.
And the great ship of the Red Sea,rock-god’s slayer Regin’s house25
it was who more than any other man
kept me from Byleist’s niece [Hel, i.e. death].
24 Hel (see Index); her coming to demand Grettir’s life was when death
seemed imminent.
25 The first two lines of this stanza give the name Thorstein Dromund. Rockgod’s (giant’s) slayer is Thor; Regin is a dwarf, whose abode is stone (stein).
The great ship of the Red Sea is Dromund (see Index).

126

THE SAGA OF GRETTIRAnd also this:The prince’s men found it not an easy task
to do us harm when Bear [= Bersi] wished to burnthe fortress of stratagems [breast, heart]with shield’s fire [sword].
Grettir went back north with Thorfinn and stayed with him until hecould get him onto a ship with merchants who were bound for Iceland, and gave him many fine presents in the way of clothing and apainted saddle complete with bridle. They parted on the most friendly
terms. Thorfinn told him to come and see him if he ever returned to
Norway.

25
Asmund Hærulang was living at Biarg while Grettir was abroad, andhe was considered then a worthy farmer in Midfiord. Thorkel Krafla
died during the time that Grettir was not in Iceland. Thorvald Asgeirsson
was then living at As in Vatnsdal and became a great leader. He wasfather of Dalla, whom Isleif married, who later was bishop in Skalaholt.
Asmund got the greatest help from Thorvald in supporting lawsuits
and many other matters. A man called Thorgils was brought up at
Asmund’s. He was known as Thorgils Maksson. He was a close relation of Asmund’s. Thorgils had great physical strength and amassed
great wealth under Asmund’s guidance; he bought on Thorgils’s behalf the land at Lækiamot, and he lived there. Thorgils was a goodhousekeeper and went to Strandir each year. He got whales there andother catches. Thorgils was a very courageous man. He used to go
right to the easterly Almenningar. At that time the career of the fosterbrothers Thorgeir Havarsson and Thormod Kolbrun’s poet was at its
height. They had a boat and went on raids all over the place and were
not considered to be all that fair men.
It happened one summer that Thorgils Maksson found a whale on
Almenningar. He immediately set about flensing it with his companions. And when the foster-brothers heard about this, they went overthere and to begin with it looked as though their discussions mightturn out well. Thorgils offered that they should have a half share of theTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR

127

part of the whale that had not yet been cut up, but they wanted to havewhat was uncut to themselves, or else to divide equally both cut anduncut. Thorgils absolutely refused to give up any of what was cut.
Then they started threatening, next both sides took up weapons andafter that they fought. Thorgeir and Thorgils attacked each other for along time without anyone interfering to upset the balance between
them, and they both went at it furiously. Their exchange was both hard
and long, but the upshot of it was that Thorgils fell dead to the groundbefore Thorgeir. But Thormod and the other men of Thorgils’s party
fought a separate battle. Thormod was victorious in their exchange;
three of Thorgils’s companions fell at his hands. After the killing of
Thorgils his companions went back down to Midfiord and tookThorgils’s body with them. His loss was considered a severe one. The
foster-brothers took possession of the whole of the whale there. Thisencounter was referred to by Thormod in the memorial poem that hecomposed about Thorgeir.26 Asmund Hærulang heard about the killing of his kinsman Thorgils. He was the principal27 in the suit for thekilling of Thorgils. He went to the spot and named witnesses to thewounds and took the case to the Althing, for that was then considered
to be the legal requirement when the business had taken place in another quarter.28 And so time passed.

26
There is a man named Thorstein. He was son of Thorkel Kuggi, son ofThord Gellir, son of Olaf Feilan, son of Thorstein Red, son of Aud the
Deep-minded. Thorstein Kuggason’s mother was Thurid, Asgeir Ædikoll’s (madcap’s) daughter. Asgeir was Asmund Hærulang’s uncle.
26 See Thorgeirsdrapa in Index.
27 Prosecution of a homicide was the duty of the closest relative in medieval

Icelandic law. There were no state prosecutions.
28 This does not accord with what is said either in The Book of the Icelanders, where in ch. 5 it says that the ancient law was that a case must be prosecuted in the assembly closest to where the event giving rise to it took place,or in Grágás, where it appears that the question was which assemblies theprincipals in the case belonged to, not where the event took place. If the principals were from different quarters, then the case was taken to the Althing.
Compare The Saga of Gisli, ch. 19.

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Thorstein Kuggason had responsibility for the suit concerning the killing of Thorgils Maksson as well as Asmund Hærulang. The latter now
sent word to Thorstein that he was to come and see him. Thorstein
was a great fighter and a very great bully. He went straight away to see
his kinsman Asmund and they discussed the suit for the killing.
Thorstein was very heated, declared that no compensation should be
accepted for it, said that they had plenty of family backing to ensurethat either outlawry or blood-vengeance should pay for the killing.
Asmund said he would stand by him however he wanted to proceed.
They rode north to their kinsman Thorvald and asked for his support,
and he readily agreed. They prepared the case against Thorgeir andThormod. Thorstein rode back to his farm. He was then living inLiarskogar in the district of Hvamm. Skeggi was living at Hvamm. He
enlisted into the case with Thorstein. Skeggi was son of Thorarin
Fylsenni (foal-brow), son of Thord Gellir. Skeggi’s mother was
Fridgerd, daughter of Thord of Hofdi. They came with great numbers
to the Althing and presented their cases with great zeal. Asmund andThorvald rode there from the north with sixty men and stayed inLiarskogar many nights.

27
Thorgils was then living at Reykiaholar. He was son of Ari, son ofMar, son of Atli the Red, son of Ulf the Boss-eyed who settled
Reykianess. Thorgils Arason’s mother was Thorgerd, daughter of Alfof the Dales. Alf’s second daughter was Thorelf, mother of Thorgeir
Havarsson. Thorgeir was able to look for great support to this family
through his connections, for Thorgils was the most prominent leader
in the Western Fiords Quarter. He was a man of such a princely naturethat he gave any free man food for as long as he wished to accept it;
consequently there were always a lot of people staying at Reykiaholar.
Thorgils’s farming supported a very high style of living. He was abenevolent man and of great wisdom. Thorgeir used to stay withThorgils during the winters but went to the Strands in the summers.
After the killing of Thorgils Maksson, Thorgeir went to Reykiaholar
and told Thorgils what had happened. Thorgils told him he was welcome to stay there with him:

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

129‘But I guess,’ he said, ‘they will give you a hard time in their suit,and I am not keen to make the problems worse. I shall now send someone to Thorstein and offer compensation for the killing of Thorgils,
but if he will not accept a settlement, I shall not defend the case very
vigorously.’
Thorgeir said he would leave it to him. In the autumn Thorgils senta man to Thorstein Kuggason to seek for a settlement, but he wasfirmly opposed to accepting compensation in the suit for the killing of
Thorgils, but as for the other killings he said he would act in accordance with the proposals of sensible men. And when Thorgils heard
this he called Thorgeir to speak with him and asked what support hethought would be most advantageous for him. Thorgeir said he would
most rather go abroad, [if he had a chance, and] if he was outlawed.
Thorgils said he would see what he could do. There was a ship beachedin Northriver in Borgarfiord. On this ship Thorgils secretly bought apassage for the foster-brothers. So the winter came to an end.
Thorgils heard that Thorstein’s party was assembling a great following for the Althing and was waiting in Liarskogar. He delayed his
own departure because he wanted Thorstein and his party to have ridden away south by the time he came from the west, and so it turnedout. Thorgils rode south and the foster-brothers with him. On this trip
Thorgeir killed Boggul-Torfi of Marskelda; it was also then he killed
Skuf and Biarni of Hundadal. Thus says Thormod in Thorgeirsdrapa:29
The hero had the good fortune
to pay back Mak’s son for his zeal;
then there was a storm of swords;
the raven was able to tear raw flesh.
The sea-horse rider [seafarer, i.e. Thorgeir] was also afterwards
at the killing of Skuf and Biarni;
the keen one eagerly
put his hand to battle.
Thorgils settled for the killing of Skuf and Biarni on the spot there in
the valley and it delayed him there longer than he had previously intended. Thorgeir went to the ship and Thorgils to the assembly and
29 On these events see Fóstbræ›ra saga, ch. 8, where this verse appears.

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

only arrived when the case was already before the court. Then Asmund
Hærulang called upon the defence to put the case concerning the suitfor the killing of Thorgils Maksson, [but Thorstein Kuggason stoodby the court with all his troop fully armed]. Thorgils approached thecourt and offered monetary compensation for the killing as long as
Thorgeir should then be free of all charges. He tried to bring as adefence in the suit that the right to all catches was supposed to be free
to everyone as common property in Almenningar.30 The lawman wasthen asked whether this was a valid defence. Skapti was lawman at
this time and he sided with Asmund for the sake of his relationshipwith him. He said that it would be legally valid if they were men of
equal standing, but said that farmers should be given preferential rights
over men of no fixed abode. Asmund said that Thorgils had offered
the foster-brothers an equal share of the part of the whale that was
uncut when they arrived on the scene, and that was then the end of
their defence. Thorstein and his kinsmen then pressed their case vigorously and refused to accept anything other than Thorgeir’s outlawry.
Thorgils realised that there were only two courses to take, to go to itwith force, though it was uncertain what they would gain by it, or tolet them do as they pleased; and because of the fact that Thorgeir had
been got onto a ship Thorgils abandonded the defence; Thorgeir was
outlawed but monetary compensation was accepted for Thormod andhe was to retain his civil rights. Asmund and Thorstein were considered to have increased their standing greatly from this suit. People
then rode home from the assembly. Some people reckoned that Thorgils
had not made much effort with the case, but he took little notice of thisand let everyone say what they liked about it. But when Thorgeir learnedof his outlawry he said this:‘I would be well pleased for those who have made me outlaw to be
repaid in full before we are done, if I had my way.’
There was a man called Gaut and he was known as Sleita’s son. He
was a kinsman of Thorgils Maksson. Gaut had a place on the ship
Thorgeir was to sail on. He was very hostile towards Thorgeir andgave him surly looks, and when the merchants saw that, it seemed tothem not a good thing for them to travel on the same ship. Thorgeir
30 Almenningar means ‘public land’. Generally in Iceland the foreshore andanything washed up on it was the property of the farmer who owned the landbehind.

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131

said he didn’t care how much Gaut frowned at him, but still it was
decided that Gaut should give up his place on the ship and go off up
north. There was no difficulty between him and Thorgeir on this occasion, but yet there arose from it trouble between them as later events
showed.

28
Grettir Asmundarson returned from abroad that summer to Skagafiord.
He had become such a renowned person for his strength and bravery
that none other of the young people seemed comparable. He rodestraight back to Biarg and then Asmund welcomed him decently. Atli
now had charge of the running of the farm. The brothers got on welltogether.
Grettir’s self-conceit now grew so great that he thought nothing was
beyond him. By now many of the men who had been boys when Grettir
had been at the games on Midfiardarvatn with them, before he went
abroad, were now full-grown men. One of these was Audun who was
now living at Audunarstadir in Vididal. He was son of Asgeir, son of
Audun, son of Asgeir Ædikoll. Audun was a good farmer and a capable man. He was the strongest of all the men there in the north. He wasconsidered the most peaceable man in the district. It now occurred to
Grettir that he remembered having been worsted by Audun at the ballgame, as was told earlier, and he wanted to find out which of them had
advanced further in physical strength since. So Grettir set out to
Audunarstadir. This was early in the haymaking season. Grettir put on
all his finest gear and rode on a painted saddle, very finely worked,
which Thorfinn had given him. He had a good horse and weapons allof the best. Grettir arrived at Audunarstadir early in the day and knocked
at the door. There were few people at home. Grettir asked whether
Audun was at home. He was told that he had gone to a shieling tofetch food. Grettir slipped the bridle off his horse. The homefield wasunmown and the horse went to where the grass was thickest. Grettir
went to the house31 and seated himself on the edge of the platform and
31 Skáli was normally a large undivided building used as the main living
area in the farm, where the family and household would eat, work and sleep.
Cf. living-room in Glossary.

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then fell asleep. A little later Audun came home. He saw that there wasa horse in the homefield with a painted saddle. Audun was carrying
food on two horses and was carrying skyr on one horse, and it was inskin bags tied up at the top. These were called skyr-pouches. Audun
unloaded the horses and carried in some skyr in his arms. He could not
see where he was going. Grettir had stretched his leg out from theedge of the platform and Audun fell forward and the skyr-pouch ended
up under him and its neck-band came off. Audun leapt up and asked
what sort of devil was there. Grettir said his name. Audun said:‘That was a silly thing to do; and what do you want here?’‘I want to have a fight with you,’ said Grettir.
‘I must see to my food first,’ said Audun.
‘That’s fine,’ said Grettir, ‘if there’s no one else you can get to do it.’Audun then bent down and grabbed up the skyr-pouch and flung it
in Grettir’s arms and told him first to accept a present from him. Grettir
got skyr all over him. He felt that to be a greater humiliation than if
Audun had given him a great wound. Then they set on to each otherand wrestled with considerable violence. Grettir attacked furiously,
but Audun gave way; he found now that Grettir had outgrown him.
Everything in their path was knocked away and they pushed each otherall over the room. Neither of them held back, but Grettir got the bestof it and in the end Audun went down; he had torn off all Grettir’s
weapons. They struggled hard and there was a lot of crashing aroundthem, and then there came a great din below the farm and Grettir heard
someone ride to the buildings and dismount and enter smartly; he saw
a handsome man enter in a red tunic and he had a helmet on his head.
He entered the living-room because he heard the great to-do from theirfighting. He asked what was up in the building. Grettir said his name.
‘And who is it asking?’‘My name is Bardi,’ said the newcomer.
‘Are you Bardi Gudmundarson from Asbiarnarness?’‘The very same,’ said Bardi. ‘And what are you up to?’ he said.
Grettir replied, ‘Audun and I are having a bit of sport.’‘I don’t know about sport,’ said Bardi, ‘and it is not an equal match;
you are a bully and unnecessarily contentious, while he is peaceableand good-natured. So let him get up immediately.’
Grettir replied, ‘ “There are many who try to reach over the door forthe latch”; I would have thought you would have been better to beTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR

133

avenging your brother Hall than interfering in what Audun and I aredoing.’‘People are always saying that to me,’ said Bardi, ‘but I am not surethat vengeance is practicable. But still I want you to leave Audun alone,
for he is a good man.’
Grettir did so at Bardi’s insistence, though he didn’t like it. Bardi
asked what was the trouble between them. Grettir uttered a verse:
I am not sure whether Ialfad [Odin/Audun32]
will not make your throat swell too
for your contentiousness and zeal.
It is a torment.
That was how the companion of the gold-Gaut[Bardi, whose friend is Audun]
stopped the young mountain-band’s [Grettir’s] shouting33
long ago when I was at home.
Bardi said it was certainly understandable if he really had something
to avenge himself for.
‘I shall now arbitrate between you’ said Bardi, ‘I want you to separate with things as they are, and let this be the end of the matter.’
And they let this stand, because they were kinsmen, and Grettir was
rather displeased with Bardi and his brothers.34 They all rode off together. And when they had got on their way, then Grettir said:‘I have heard that you are planning to go south to Borgarfiord thissummer. I now wish to offer to you, Bardi, to go south with you, and I
think I shall then be doing by you better than your deserts.’
Bardi was pleased at this and agreed to it straight away and badehim accept his thanks in return. Then they parted. Then Bardi turnedback and spoke:
32 A pun on the similarity between the two names; Ialfad is a name for Odin.
In fact Audun is too, though there is no etymological connection.
33 mountain band = snake; Grettir also means snake.
34 Bardi’s brothers, none of whom have been mentioned as present here,
were Hall (mentioned earlier in this chapter; now dead), Stein and Steingrim;see Hei›arvíga saga and Laxdæla saga. ‘They all’ in the next sentence appears
to mean the two last, together with Bardi and Grettir.

134

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR‘There is one condition,’ he said, ‘that is that you do not go unless
my foster-father Thorarin permits it, for he is in charge of the expedition.’‘I should have thought you might well have been able to make yourown decisions. I do not,’ said Grettir, ‘let others decide about my travels,and I shall not be pleased if you reject my company.’
Now each went their own way, and Bardi said he would let Grettir
know ‘if Thorarin is willing for you to go.’ Otherwise he was to staywhere he was.
Grettir rode home to Biarg, and Bardi to his farm.

29
In the summer there was arranged a well-attended horse-meeting on
Langafit down below Reykir. Many people went to it. Atli at Biarg
had a fine horse, grey-brown with a dark streak down its back, fromthe same strain as Kengala. Father and son valued the horse highly.
The brothers Kormak and Thorgils at Mel had a brown horse, a trusty
fighter. They and Atli at Biarg were to set them on against each other.
There were many other good horses there. Kormak’s kinsman Odd
Pauper-poet was to lead on his kinsmen’s horse that day. Odd was
becoming a strong man and behaved boisterously, difficult to deal withand violent. Grettir asked his brother Atli who was to lead on his horse.
‘I’m not quite sure,’ he said.
‘Do you want me to be with it?’ said Grettir.
‘Keep control of yourself then, brother,’ said Atli, ‘because it is proud
men we have to deal with here.’‘They must answer for their own arrogance,’ said Grettir, ‘if they
don’t keep it within bounds.’
Now the horses are led forward, and the mares were standing out on
the river-bank and were tethered together. There was a deep pool out
over the bank. The stallions attacked each other very well, and provided the finest entertainment. Odd stood by his horse energetically,
but Grettir was inclined to give way and held his horse’s tail with one
hand and in the other had a stick, which he used to drive his horse on.
Odd was standing rather forward of his horse, and one could not be
sure whether he was not prodding Atli’s horse back from its attack.

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135

Grettir gave no sign that he had noticed this. The horses moved overtowards the river. Then Odd jabbed his stick at Grettir and it hit hisshoulder-blade, because Grettir had had his shoulder turned towards
him. It was a heavy blow causing a weal to rise up, but Grettir’s skin
was hardly broken. At that moment the horses reared high up. Grettir
darted under his horse’s haunches and drove his stick so hard at Odd’s
side that three of his ribs were broken, and Odd was flung out into thepool as well as his horse and all the mares that were tethered. Someone swam out to him and he was pulled out of the river. A great shouting was raised at this. Kormak and his men leapt for their weapons, as
did the men of Biarg on their side. And when the men of Hrutafiord
and the men of Vatnsness saw this, they went between them and sothey were separated and went home, each side uttering evil threatsagainst the other; and yet they stayed put for a while. Atli had little tosay about this, but Grettir was rather unrelenting and said they would
meet on another occasion if he had his way.

30
There was a man called Thorbiorn who lived at Thoroddsstadir in
Hrutafiord. He was son of Arnor Hynef (downy-nose), son of Thorodd,
who had taken land on that side of Hrutafiord as far as opposite to
Bakki. Thorbiorn was one of the strongest of men; he was known as
Oxen-might (strong as an ox). His brother was called Thorodd; hewas known as Poem-bit. Their mother was Gerd, daughter of Bodvarof Bodvarsholar. Thorbiorn was a great man for fighting and kept alarge band of men with him. He was renowned for finding it harder to
get workers than other men did and paid almost no one wages. He was
not regarded as an easy man to get on with. He had a kinsman called
Thorbiorn and he was known as Ferdalang (far traveller). He was atrader and the two Thorbiorns had entered into partnership together.
He was always at Thoroddsstadir and he was not thought to provide
much to compensate for the other Thorbiorn. He was given to faultfinding and mockery of various people.
There was a man called Thorir, son of Thorkel at Bordeyr. Thorir
lived to begin with at Melar in Hrutafiord—his daughter was Helgawhom Sleitu-Helgi married—but after the battle at Fagrabrekka Thorir

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

moved south to Haukadal and lived at Skard, and sold the land at
Melar to Thorhall Gamlason the Winelander.35 His son was Gamli,
who married Grettir’s sister Rannveig, daughter of Asmund Hærulang.
The pair were living at this time at Melar and they got on well. Thorir
at Skard had two sons. One was called Gunnar, the other Thorgeir.
They were fine young men, and had by now taken over their father’sfarm, but were always with Thorbiorn Oxen-might. They became domineering.
That summer that was being told of before, Kormak and Thorgils
and their kinsman Narfi rode south to Nordrardal on business. Odd
Pauper-poet was on the trip with them. He had now recovered fromthe stiffness that he had got at the horse-meeting. And while they wereto the south of the heath, Grettir set out from Biarg and with him twoof Atli’s farm-hands. They rode over to Burfell and then over the ridgeto Hrutafiord and came to Melar in the evening. They stayed there
three nights. Rannveig and Gamli welcomed Grettir warmly and invited him to stay on with them, but he wanted to ride home. Then
Grettir found out that Kormak’s party had come back from the southand had lodged at Tunga for the night. Grettir set out early from Melar.
Gamli offered him men to go with him. Gamli’s brother was called
Grim. He was the boldest of men. He rode with Grettir as well as one
other person. They were five in all; they rode until they got to Hrutafiordridge, west of Burfell. A great stone stands there which is called Grettir’s
Lift. He strove for a long time during the day to lift the stone and thus
stayed until Kormak’s party came up. Grettir turned towards them andboth parties dismounted. Grettir said it would now be more like free
men to cut as hard as they could rather than to fight with sticks liketramps. Kormak told them to respond valiantly and to do their best.
After that they jumped to it and fought. Grettir was the foremost of his
men and told them to see that no one went round behind him; they
attacked for a while and both sides were wounded. Thorbiorn Oxenmight had ridden that day over the ridge to Burfell, and as they wereriding back he saw the encounter. With him at that time were Thorbiorn
Ferdalang and Gunnar and Thorgeir, sons of Thorir, and Thorodd Poembit. And when they got there, Thorbiorn called on his men to intervene. The others were in such furies that they could do nothing. Grettir
35 See Hrómundar ﬂáttr halta and The Book of Settlements, ch. 168.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR137

was driving all before him. The two sons of Thorir found themselvesfacing him and they both fell down together as he pushed them away.
They got absolutely furious at that, and Gunnar struck Atli’s workman
his death-blow. And when Thorbiorn saw that, he ordered them toseparate; he said he would combine his forces with those who werewilling to abide by his command. Now two of Kormak’s workmen
had fallen. Then Grettir realised that it would hardly do if Thorbiorn
sided against him and so he let the battle be abandoned. Everyone waswounded who had been in the encounter. Grettir did not like their
being separated. After that both parties rode home. They did not reacha settlement of this affair. Thorbiorn Ferdalang made great mock ofthis; as a result relations began to get worse between the people of
Biarg and Thorbiorn Oxen-might, so that it resulted in outright hostility, as later events show. No compensation was offered to Atli for his
workman; he went on as if he had not realised. Grettir stayed on at
Biarg until Double-month. It is not said that he and Kormak met again
as far as is told.

31
Bardi Gudmundarson and his brothers rode home to Asbiarnarness
when they and Grettir parted. They were sons of Gudmund Solmundarson. Solmund’s mother was Thorlaug, daughter of Sæmund the Hebridean, foster-brother of Ingimund the Old. Bardi was a great gentleman.
He now rode straight away to see Thorarin the Wise, his foster-father.
He welcomed Bardi and asked what support he had managed to enlist,
for they had earlier been making plans for Bardi’s expedition. Bardi
replied that he had got a man to accompany him whose support hethought better than that of two other men. Thorarin was silent at this,and said:‘It must be Grettir Asmundarson.’‘ “A wise man’s guess is a prophecy”,’ said Bardi. ‘It is the verysame person, my foster-father.’Thorarin replied, ‘It is true that Grettir can far outdo other men who
are now about in our land, and it would take a great deal to overcome
him with weapons if he is in full form. But I am doubtful about how
long his luck will last and you will need not to have all disaster-prone

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men36 on your expedition, and it will be bad enough even if he does
not go along; he shall not go at all if I have my way.’‘I was not expecting, my foster-father,’ he said, ‘that you would
grudge me the most valiant man, however it turns out. Not everythingcan be guarded against when people are under such pressure as I findmyself.’‘You will be all right,’ said Thorarin, ‘if I look after things.’
So it had to be done as Thorarin wished, word was not sent to Grettir,and Bardi went south to Borgarfiord and the Battle of the Heath took
place. Grettir was at Biarg when he found out that Bardi had ridden
south. He was angry at this, that no word had been sent him, and said
that was not going to be the end of the matter. So he found out when
they were expected to be back from the south, and he then rode down
to Thoreyiargnup and prepared to lie in wait for Bardi’s party as theyrode from the south. He went from the farm onto the hillside and waited
there. That same day Bardi’s party rode from the south off Two-days
moor from the Battle of the Heath; they were six of them and all badly
wounded. And when they got in front of the farm, Bardi said:‘There is a man up there on the hillside, big, with weapons; who do
you think it is?’They said they did not know who it was. Bardi spoke:‘I think,’ he said, ‘that it is Grettir Asmundarson, and if so, he will
be wanting to meet us. I expect he was displeased that he hadn’t gonewith us, and I think we shall be an rather a poor position if he starts
any trouble. I shall now send down to Thoreyiargnup for men and not
be at the mercy of his bullying.’
They said that was very sensible, and that is what they did. Then
Bardi and his men rode on their way. Grettir saw them going and went
round to intercept them, and when they met, they greeted each other.
Grettir asked for news, and Bardi said unabashedly exactly what had
happened. Grettir asked who the men were that were with him. Bardi
said it was his brothers and his brother-in-law Eyiolf.
‘You have now purged yourself of blame,’ said Grettir, ‘and so thenext thing is for us to try which of us here is the stronger.’36 ógæfumenn: ‘unlucky men’, those whose enterprises always turn out tobe disastrous. Grettir was the archetypal ógæfuma›r; his lack of gæfa is one of
the main themes of the saga; see Introduction.

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139

Bardi said, ‘ “I have had jobs closer to home” than fighting with you
for no reason, and I think I have quitted myself of that.’‘I think you have turned coward, Bardi,’ said Grettir, ‘if you do not
dare fight with me.’‘Call it what you will,’ said Bardi, ‘but I would rather you directedyour bullying elsewhere than at me. Moreover it is not improbablethat you will, for now your domineering is going beyond bounds.’
Grettir found his prophecies annoying, and began to wonder whether
he should attack one of them, and he thought it would be unwise when
there were six of them and only one of him. And at that moment men
came up from Thoreyiargnup to help Bardi and his men. Grettir thenlet them get away and went to his horse, while Bardi and his companions continued on their way, and there were no farewells between themat parting. Bardi and Grettir had no further dealings as far as is told.
Grettir has said that he felt confident in fighting most men, even if
there were three of them at once, and he would not run away from four
without a try, but would only fight against more to save his life, as itsays in this verse:
Experiencer of Mist’s moot [battle],
I am confident against threewhatever hostile deeds have to be donein Hild’s storm [battle].
I am unwilling to face more harm-doers
than four in the noise-rich greed of Gungnir
if I am able to decide.
After his parting from Bardi, Grettir went back to Biarg. Then Grettir
found it a great pity that he could nowhere put his strength to the test,
and he asked around whether there was anything that he could have a
go at.

32
There was a man called Thorhall, who lived at Thorhallsstadir inForsæludal. Forsæludal is up from Vatnsdal. Thorhall was son of Grim,son of Thorhall, son of Fridmund who settled Forsæludal. Thorhall

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was married to a woman called Gudrun. Their son was called Grim,
their daughter Thurid, who was now nearly grown up. Thorhall was apretty wealthy man, mainly in livestock, so that no one had as many
animals on the hoof as he. He was not one of the leading men, but still
was a respectable farmer.
His farm was subject to a lot of haunting and he found it almost impossible to get shepherds so as to feel he could manage. He sought theadvice of many wise men as to what he should do about it, but no one
was able to offer any advice that did any good. Thorhall rode to theassembly each summer; he had some fine horses. It happened one summer
at the Althing that Thorhall went to the booth of Lawman Skapti
Thoroddsson. Skapti was the wisest of men and able to give good
advice if he was asked. There was this difference between him and his
father: Thorodd had the power of prophecy and was said to be a devious
man by some people, but Skapti offered every one advice which hebelieved would be helpful if it was not departed from; consequently
he was said to be an improvement on his father. Thorhall entered
Skapti’s booth. He welcomed Thorhall, for he knew that he was a manof property and asked what news he had to tell. Thorhall said: ‘I would
like to get some helpful advice from you.’‘I have no great ability as regards that,’ said Skapti; ‘but what’s yourproblem?’Thorhall said: ‘It’s like this, that I cannot hold on to my shepherds.
They get easily upset, and some don’t finish their time. And now there
is no one that will take it on if they know what is up.’
Skapti replies: ‘It must be that there is some evil creature there if
people are so much more reluctant to look after your cattle than otherpeople’s. Now since you have come to me for a solution, I will give
you a shepherd whose name is Glam, who is from Sweden, from
Sylgsdalir, and came out last summer; he is big and strong and notmuch to most people’s liking.’
Thorhall said he was not bothered about that as long as he would
look after the sheep properly. Skapti said there was no hope for anyone else, if he could not look after them with his strength and daring.
Thorhall then went out. This was at the conclusion of the assembly.
Thorhall found he had two light fawn-coloured horses missing andwent himself to look for them. From this people assumed that he was
not a man of consequence. He went up beneath Sledaas and south-THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

141

wards beside the mountain called Armannsfell. Then he saw wheresome one was coming down from Godaskog carrying brushwood on ahorse. They soon reached each other. Thorhall asked him his nameand he said he was called Glam. This man was heavily built and strange
in appearance, with eyes dark and wide open, wolf-grey in the colourof his hair. Thorhall was rather taken aback when he saw this man,and yet he asked him, realising that this must be the one he had been
directed to:‘What work are you best at doing?’ said Thorhall.
Glam said he was fine at looking after sheep in winter.
‘Will you look after my sheep?’ said Thorhall. ‘Skapti has handed
you over to me.’
‘My employment will turn out best for you if I make my own decisions, because I am awkward if things are not to my liking.’‘That will be no bother to me,’ says Thorhall, ‘and I would like you
to come to me.’
‘I don’t mind doing that,’ says Glam. ‘But are there any problems
with it?’‘It is believed to be haunted,’ said Thorhall.
‘I’m not afraid of ghosts,’ said Glam, ‘and I will find it the less boring.’‘You will need to be like that,’ said Thorhall, ‘and it will be better
there not to be too much of a wimp.’
After this they fix their terms and Glam was to come at the WinterNights. Then they parted and Thorhall found his horses where he hadjust been searching for them. Thorhall rode back and thanked Skapti
for the favour he had done him.
Summer passed, and Thorhall heard nothing of the shepherd andno one knew anything of him, but at the arranged time he came toThorhallsstadir. The farmer welcomed him, but none of the others took
to him, and least of all the farmer’s wife. He took over the shepherding, and found this no hard task; he had a loud and deep voice andthe flock all ran together when he shouted. There was a church at
Thorhallsstadir; Glam refused to go to it. He did not care for singing
and was not religious, awkward and uncivil; everyone found him repulsive.
Thus it went on until Christmas-eve arrived. Then Glam got up earlyand called for his food. The farmer’s wife replies:‘It is not the custom for Christian people to eat on this day, for142

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tomorrow it is the first day of Christmas, and so it is obligatory to fast
to begin with today.’He replied: ‘You go in for a lot of superstitions that I see no point in.
I do not know that people are any better off now any more than thenwhen people didn’t bother with such things. I thought ways were better when people were said to be heathens, and I want my food and no
messing about.’
The farmer’s wife said: ‘I know for sure that it will go ill for you
today if you go ahead with this wicked act.’
Glam told her to get the food straight away, said that otherwise things
would be the worse for her. She dared nothing other than do what hewished. And when he had finished he went out, and was in rather anasty mood. The weather had become so that it was dark if one looked
around and flurries of snow came out at one and there was a blustery
wind, and it got worse as the day passed. People could hear the shepherd in the early part of the day, but less as the day went on. Then it
began to snow and there was a blizzard in the evening. People went tothe service, and so time passed until nightfall. Glam did not comehome. There was now discussion about whether there should not be asearch for him, but because the storm was still raging and it was pitch
dark no search took place. He did not come home during the night ofChristmas-eve. So people waited on until after the service. As soon as
it was fully day people went on the search and found the sheep allover the place in snowdrifts, battered by the weather, or strayed up
onto the mountains. Then they came upon a big area of trampled snowhigh up in the valley. It looked to them as though there had been somerather violent struggle, for stones had been pulled up in various places,
and the earth as well. They examined the spot carefully and saw where
Glam was lying a little way off from them. He was dead and blue as
Hel and swollen up like an ox. They were nauseated by him and thethought of him made them shudder. Nevertheless they tried to move
him to the church and could only get him as far as the edge of a gullya little way down from where they were and they went home without
further ado and told the farmer what had happened. He asked what
seemed to have been the cause of Glam’s death. They said they had
followed some tracks that were as big as if the base of a cask had been
slammed down from where the trampling was and up to the bottom of
the cliffs that were there at the top of the valley, and alongside themTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR

143

were great splashes of blood. People concluded that the evil creaturethat had previously been there must have killed Glam, and that hemust have caused it a great wound which had finished it off, for there
has never been any trace of this evil creature since.
On the second day of Christmas there was a second attempt made to
get Glam to the church. Draught animals were hitched to him and they
were unable to shift him at all where the land was level and there wasno slope to go down. They left him without more ado. On the third day
the priest went with them and they searched all day and Glam could
not be found. The priest would not go there again, and the shepherd
was found when the priest was not in the party. They then gave up
trying to get him to the church and buried him under a heap of stones
where he lay. Soon after people discovered that Glam was not restingin peace. This was a source of great affliction to people, so that many
fell into a faint if they saw him, and some lost their wits. Soon after
Christmas people thought they could see him at home there on thefarm. People were enormously afraid. Many fled. Next Glam began toride on the buildings37 at night so that they were in danger of being
wrecked. He went on with this almost night and day. People scarcely
dared to go up into the valley even if they had good reason. This wasthought in the district to be a source of great trouble.

33
In the spring Thorhall engaged a household and set up a farm on his
land. The visitations began to get fewer while the sun was at its highest. So time passed until midsummer. That summer a ship came out
and arrived at Hunavatn. On it was a man called Thorgaut. He was offoreign origin, big and strong. He had the strength of two men. He
was without employment and on his own. He wanted to get some work
because he had no money. Thorhall rode to the ship and went toThorgaut, asked if he was willing to work for him. Thorgaut said hemight well be and said he was not fussy about what it was.
‘You must assume,’ said Thorhall, ‘that it is not a place for wimps

37 I.e. to sit on the ridge beating his heels on the roof either side.

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because of the visitations that have been going on there for a while,and I don’t want to hide anything from you.’Thorgaut replies: ‘I don’t consider it to be all over with me if I see
little phantoms. No one else will be able to cope if I become afraid,
and I shall not change my job because of that.’
Now they easily agree on their terms, and Thorgaut is to look after
the sheep for the winter. Now the summer passed. Thorgaut took overthe flock at the start of winter. He got on well with everyone. Glamwas continually paying his visits and riding the buildings. Thorgaut
found this very entertaining and said the villain would need to approach nearer ‘if I am going to be afraid.’
Thorhall told him not to get involved. ‘It will be best if you don’t
fall foul of each other.’Thorgaut said, ‘Truly the heart has been shaken out of you, and I am
not going to collapse after half a day because of this nonsense.’
So now it went on through the winter right up to Christmas. On
Christmas-eve the shepherd set out towards the flock. Then the farmer’s wife said:‘I hope it is not going to happen all over again.’He replied: ‘Don’t have any fear of that, my lady,’ he said. ‘There
will be something to tell of if I don’t return.’
Then he went back to his sheep. The weather was rather cold andthere was driving snow. Thorgaut usually returned home when it was
half dark, but this time he did not return home at that time. The people
attending church arrived as usual. It already seemed to people to beturning out not unlike the last time. The farmer wanted to have a search
made for the shepherd, but those at the service excused themselves
and said they were not going to risk themselves out into the hands oftrolls at night, and the farmer did not dare to go, and no search was
made. On Christmas-day when people had eaten, men went andsearched for the shepherd. They went first to Glam’s cairn, because
people thought he must have had something to do with the disappearance of the shepherd. And when they got close to the cairn, they saw
that something had really happened, and they found there the shepherd and his neck was broken and every bone in his body smashed.
Then they moved him to the church, and there was never any harmdone to anyone because of Thorgaut afterwards. But Glam began toincrease in power afresh. He now began to throw his weight about somuch that everyone fled from Thorhallstadir except just the farmer

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145

and his wife. The same herdsman had been there for a long time.
Thorhall did not want to lose him because of his kindness and his carewith the animals. He was getting on in years and he was very reluctant
to leave. He also realised that everything the farmer owned would go
to wrack and ruin if no one was there to look after it. And on one
occasion after the middle of the winter it happened one morning thatthe farmer’s wife went to the cowshed to milk the cows at the usual
time. It was by then fully day, for no one dared to go out before thatexcept the herdsman. He used to go out as soon as it got light. She
heard a great crack in the cowshed and a horrible bellowing. She ran
inside the house shouting and said she did not know what on earth wasgoing on in the cowshed. The farmer went out and came to the cows
and they were all goring each other. He didn’t care for that very muchand went on up to the barn. He saw where the herdsman was lying
with his head in one stall and his feet in another. He was lying on his
back. The farmer went up to him and felt him and soon realises that heis dead and his back broken. It had been broken over the stone partition of the stall.
Now the farmer decided it was impossible to stay and left the farmwith everything he could take with him. But all the animals that remained there Glam killed, and after that he went through the wholevalley and laid waste all the farms up above Tunga. Thorhall thenstayed with friends for the rest of the winter. No one was able to takehorse or dog up into the valley, for it would be immediately killed. But
when spring came and the sun was at its highest, the visitations lessened somewhat. Thorhall now wanted to return to his land. He didn’t
find it easy to get workmen, but still he set up home at Thorhallsstadir.
Everything went the same as before. As soon as autumn came, thehauntings began to increase. The attacks were then mainly aimed at
the farmer’s daughter, and in the end she died of it. Many things weretried, but nothing worked. It looked to people as though the whole ofVatnsdal would be laid waste if no remedy was found.

34
Now the story is to be taken up, that Grettir was at home at Biarg inthe autumn after his parting from Viga-Bardi at Thoreyiargnup. And
when it came close to the Winter Nights Grettir rode out from home

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northwards over the ridges to Vididal and stayed at Audunarstadir. He
and Audun were fully reconciled and Grettir gave him a fine axe andthey confirmed their friendship together. Audun lived a long time at
Audunarstadir and was blessed with descendants. His son was Egil
who married Ulfheid, daughter of Eyiolf Gudmundarson, and theirson was Eyiolf who was killed at the Althing. He was father of Orm,
Bishop Thorlak’s chaplain.
Grettir rode north to Vatnsdal and went on a visit to acquaintances
in Tunga. There lived there at that time Iokul Bardarson, Grettir’s
mother’s brother. Iokul was a big man and strong and a very overbearing man. He was a seafaring man and very difficult to deal with, but
yet an able man. He welcomed Grettir and he stayed there three nights.
At that time there was so much talk of Glam’s hauntings that there
was no topic of conversation more frequent. Grettir enquired in detailabout the happenings that had taken place. Iokul said nothing more
had been told about it than was justified.
‘But have you a desire, kinsman, to go there?’
Grettir said he did. Iokul told him not to do so.
‘For it is tempting providence, and your kinsmen have a great deal
at stake in you,’ he said. ‘There is no other young person who comesanywhere near up to you, but “only evil can come of evil” in the caseof Glam, and it is much better to be involved with human beings thanwith such monsters.’
Grettir said he had a mind to go to Thorhallsstadir and see what had
been going on there. Iokul said:‘I see now that it is no good trying to dissuade you, but it is true
what they say, that “success and ability don’t always go together”.’‘ “Disaster is waiting outside the door for the next person, when it
has entered in to one”, and watch out for what will happen to you
yourself before it’s all over,’ said Grettir.
Iokul replies, ‘It may be that we can both foresee something of the
future, but that neither of us can do anything about it.’After that they parted, and neither was pleased with the other’s
prophecies.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR147

35Grettir rode to Thorhallsstadir and the farmer welcomed him. He asked
where Grettir was bound for, but he said he wanted to stay the night
there if the farmer was happy with that. Thorhall said he would bevery grateful for his being there.
‘But few think there is much profit in staying here at the moment.
You must have heard tell of what is going on here, but I very muchwant you to [have no trouble on my account. But even if you] getaway unharmed, I know for certain that you will lose your horse, for
no one who comes keeps his mount here unscathed.’
Grettir said there were plenty of horses, whatever became of thisone. Thorhall was pleased that Grettir wanted to stay there, and welcomed him with open arms. Grettir’s horse was locked up securely.
They went to bed and the night passed without a visit from Glam.
Then said Thorhall:‘Things have taken a turn for the better with your arrival, for every
night Glam has been accustomed to go up and ride the buildings or
break down the doors, as you can see from the evidence.’
Grettir said, ‘It is bound to turn out in one of two ways, either hewon’t hold off for long, or else the change in his habits will be formore than one night. I shall stay another night and see how it goes.’
Then they went to Grettir’s horse, and it hadn’t been interfered with.
It all seemed to the farmer of a piece. Now Grettir stays there anothernight, and there was no visit from the villain. Then the farmer thought
things were really looking up. Then he went to see Grettir’s horse.
The building had been broken into when the farmer got to it, and thehorse dragged out to the entrance and every bone in its body was broken. Thorhall told Grettir what had happened and told him to escape.
‘For death is certain if you await Glam.’
Grettir replies, ‘I cannot take less in return for my horse than a sightof the villain.’
The farmer said there was no advantage in seeing him.
‘For he has nothing in common with humanity. But every moment
you are willing to stay here seems good to me.’So the day passed by, and when it was time for bed, Grettir would
not undress and lay down on the platform opposite the farmer’s bedcloset. He put a fur poncho over himself and he wrapped one edge

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down under his feet and the other under his head and looked out throughthe head-hole. There was a very firm support at the edge of the platform and he braced his feet against it. All the door-frame had beenbroken away from the outer doors, and now there was a hurdle fastened across it and fixed rather roughly. The end partition of the hall
had all been broken away, the one that had been in front of the doors,both above the beam and beneath. All the bedding had been thrown
about. It was not very inviting there. There was a light burning in thehall during the night. And when about a third of the night had passed,
Grettir heard outside a great banging. Then something climbed up onto
the building and rode the hall and beat with its heels so that every
timber creaked. This went on a long time. Then it came down from thebuilding and went to the door and when the door opened, Grettir saw
the villain stretch in its head and it seemed to him enormously big andamazingly large-featured. Glam moved slowly and straightened up
when he got inside the door. He towered high up into the roof, turned
towards the hall and laid his arms up on the cross-beam and leaned inover the hall. The farmer did not let anything be heard from himself
because he thought it was plenty when he heard what was going on
outside. Grettir lay quiet and did not move. Glam saw that some sortof heap lay on the platform and he made his way in down the hall andtook hold of the poncho rather hard. Grettir pushed against the platform support and it did not move. Glam jerked again much harder andthe poncho held firm. A third time he pulled it with both hands so hardthat he pulled Grettir up from the platform. They now ripped the poncho in two between them. Glam looked at the bit he was holding on to
and wondered greatly who could be pulling so hard against him. And
at that moment Grettir leapt under his arms and took him round the
middle and pressed against his back as hard as he could and intended
that Glam should bend over backwards, but the villain pushed at
Grettir’s arms so hard that he was forced to give way by the superior
strength. Then Grettir went backwards from one platform to the other.
The supports all came away and everything was broken that lay intheir path. Glam wanted to get outside, but Grettir dug in his heels
wherever he could and still Glam managed to drag him out to theentrance. Then they had an almighty struggle, for the villain wanted toget him outside the farm, but bad as it was to have dealings with Glaminside, Grettir realised that it would be worse to wrestle with him outside, and so he resisted going outside with all his strength. Glam put

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on an extra burst of strength and jerked him towards himself when
they got to the porch. And when Grettir sees that he cannot hold backwith his feet, he does two things at once, he leaps as hard as he caninto the villain’s embrace and kicks back with both feet at a stone partburied in the ground that stood on the threshold. The villain was notexpecting this. He had been struggling to pull Grettir towards himself,and so Glam toppled over backwards and was flung in reverse out
against the doorway so that his shoulders caught the lintel and the roof
gave way, both the beams and the frozen thatch. Thus he fell face
upwards and backwards outside the building with Grettir on top of him.
There was bright moonlight outside and gaps in the heavy cloud.
Sometimes it clouded over and sometimes it cleared away. At the
moment Glam fell, the cloud cleared from the moon and Glam glared
up at it and Grettir himself has said that this was the only sight he ever
saw that took him aback. Then he felt so weakened by everything, his
weariness and seeing Glam squint at him fiercely, that he was unable
to draw his cutlass and lay just about between life and death.38 And
such was the greater power of evil in Glam than in most other revenants
that he then spoke as follows:‘You have displayed great zeal, Grettir,’ he said, ‘in seeking me out,
and it will not seem surprising if you don’t gain a great deal of good
fortune from your encounter with me. But I can tell you this, that you
have now acquired half the strength and development that was intended for you if you had not met me. I cannot now deprive you of thestrength that you have already acquired, but I can ensure that you never
become any stronger than you are now, and yet even now you arestrong enough, as many will find out to their cost. You have become
renowned up to now for your deeds, but from now on you will become guilty of crimes and deeds of violence, and nearly everything
you do will lead to your misfortune and failure. You will be madeoutlaw and be compelled always to live in the open on your own. I
also lay this upon you that these eyes of mine will be always before
your sight, and you will find it hard to be alone and this will bring you
to your death.’
And when the villain had said this, then the weakness that had afflicted Grettir passed from him. He then drew his cutlass and cut off Glam’s
38 Literally between this world and Hel, the abode of death. Cf. Hel in In-

dex.

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head and put it by his rump.39 The farmer then came out and he had
got dressed while Glam had been making his speech, but he dared notcome anywhere near until Glam had fallen. Thorhall praised God forit and thanked Grettir warmly for having defeated this unclean spirit.
Then they set to and burned Glam to cold cinders. After that they [puthis ashes into a bag] and buried them as far as possible from pasturesand routes taken by people. After that they went back to the house andit was almost day. Grettir lay down because he was very stiff. Thorhall
sent people to the neighbouring farms for witnesses, showed and told
what had happened. Everyone who heard was greatly impressed bythis deed. It was universally acknowledged that there was no one comparable in the whole country as regards strength and valour and all
kinds of ability with Grettir Asmundarson.
Thorhall sent Grettir on his way in fine style and gave him a splendid horse and proper clothes, because those were all ripped to pieces
that he had been wearing before. They parted on friendly terms. Grettirrode from there to As in Vatnsdal and Thorvald welcomed him andasked in detail about his encounter with Glam and Grettir told him of
their dealings together and said his strength had never been put harderto the test, such a long encounter as they had had together. Thorvald
told him to be careful how he went.
‘And then you will be all right, but otherwise you will be in fortrouble.’Grettir said there had been no improvement in his temper and said
he was now much worse controlled than before, and found it harder tobear being crossed. He noticed this great difference in himself, that hehad become a person so afraid of the dark that he dared go nowhere on
his own after it got dark; there appeared to him then all sorts of apparitions, and it has since been used as a saying that “Glam has lentsomeone his eyes” or “they have been given gloomsight”40 when things
seem very different from what they are. Grettir rode home to Biarg
when he had finished his business and he stayed at home for the winter.

39 See ch. 18, note 13.
40 The name Glam is etymologically related to gloom and gloaming, thoughthese words are not derived from the name.

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151

36
Thorbiorn Oxen-might held a great autumn feast and many people
went to it. This was while Grettir was going up north to Vatnsdal in theautumn. Thorbiorn Ferdalang was there at the feast. There was muchtalk there. The people of Hrutafiord asked about the encounter between him and Grettir on the ridge in the summer. Thorbiorn Oxenmight gave quite a sympathetic account of Grettir, said Kormak would
have come off worse if no one had come up to separate them. Then
said Thorbiorn Ferdalang:‘There are two things to be said,’ he said, ‘that I did not notice thisGrettir doing anything exceptional, and also I think he panicked when
we came up, and he was very keen to part, and I did not see him trying
for vengeance when Atli’s workman was killed, and so I judge there isnever any determination in him when he has not got plenty of men
behind him.’
Thorbiorn went in for a great amount of scoffing about this. Many
agreed that this was uncalled-for derision, and that Grettir would notwant to let matters rest there if he heard of these words. Nothing further of note took place at the feast. They all went home. There was agreat deal of hostility between them during the winter, though neither
attacked the other. Nothing noteworthy happened during the winter.

37
Early the following spring a ship came out from Norway. This was
before the assembly. They had much news to tell, first of all that there
had been a change of ruler in Norway, there had now come to power
King Olaf Haraldsson; but Earl Svein had fled the country in the spring
after the Battle of the Nesses. There were many remarkable things
said of King Olaf, including that he was most eager to receive men
who had some particular abilities, and he took them into his service.
Many young men were very attracted by this and were keen to go
abroad. And when Grettir heard all this, he developed a mind to sail.
He was hoping for some advancement for himself from the king likeother people. There was a ship beached at Gasir in Eyiafiord. Grettir
got himself a passage and prepared for going abroad. He again did not152

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

have much to take with him. Asmund was now getting very infirm
from old age and did not get up much. He and Asdis had a young son
called Illugi, a very promising young man. Atli now took over all therunning of the farm and the management of the property. This wasthought to be a great improvement, as he was kindly and prudent.
Grettir went to the ship. On the same ship Thorbiorn Ferdalang hadtaken a passage before they realised that Grettir would be sailing on it.
Many tried to dissuade Thorbiorn from travelling on the same ship as
Grettir, but Thorbiorn said he would go nevertheless. He got ready forgoing abroad and was rather late in his preparations. He did not get
north to Gaseyr until the ship was fully prepared. Before Thorbiorn
left the west of Iceland Asmund Hærulang had contracted a sickness
and was bedridden. Thorbiorn Ferdalang came late in the day to thesands. Everyone was then ready for their meal and they were washing
their hands outside by their booth. When Thorbiorn rode past between
the booths they greeted him and asked him for news. He said he hadnone to tell.
‘Except that I suppose the great Asmund at Biarg is now dead.’
Many agreed that it was a fine [farmer] had departed the world in him.
‘But how did it come about?’ they said.
He replied: ‘It didn’t take much to finish the great man off, for hestifled in the smoke from the fire like a dog; but it isn’t a great loss, forhe had become senile.’
They replied, ‘That is a strange way to speak of such a man, andGrettir would not be very pleased if he heard it.’
‘I can put up with that,’ said Thorbiorn, ‘and Grettir will have towield his cutlass higher than last summer on Hrutafiord ridge, if I am
going to be afraid of him.’
Grettir heard quite plainly what Thorbiorn said, and took no noticewhile Thorbiorn went on with his speech. But when he stopped, Grettir
spoke:‘I prophesy for you, Ferdalang,’ he said, ‘that you will not die by thesmoke from your fire, and yet maybe you won’t die of old age either.
And it is an odd thing to do to speak disrespectfully of innocent people.’
Thorbiorn said, ‘I will not take any of it back, and you did not seemto me to have behaved so toughly when we got you out of it when themen of Mel were knocking you about like an ox-head.’
Grettir then uttered a verse:

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153

A tongue too long in talkhas a bow-slinger [warrior] often;
so some suffer heavy vengeance for it.
Many a wound-snake-wall-wielder [shield-wielder, i.e. warrior]
has committed less offence
and got death by it, Ferdalang.
Thorbiorn said: ‘I think myself no closer to death than before, in spiteof your chatter.’
Grettir replied: ‘My prophecies have not taken long to mature up tonow, and they will continue so. Beware if you will; there will not be abetter time.’
Then Grettir struck at Thorbiorn, and he shielded himself with hisarm, intending to ward off the blow, but the blow struck his arm above
the wrist and then the cutlass sprang against his neck so that his headflew off. The merchants said he had a heavy hand, and such madegood king’s men, and they did not think it a great loss though Thorbiorn
was dead, for he had been both quarrelsome and derisive. Soon after
they set out to sea and arrived late in the summer in Norway, to thesouth off Hordland. They then learned that King Olaf was in residence
in the north in Trøndelag. Grettir got a passage north there with somemerchants, for he wanted to go and see the king.

38
There was a man called Thorir who lived at Gard in Adaldal. He wasson of Skeggi, son of Bodolf. Skeggi had taken possession of Kelduhverfi up as far as Kelduness. He was married to Helga, daughter ofThorgeir of Fiskilæk. His son Thorir was very much one of the leading men and a trader. He had two sons. One was called Thorgeir, theother Skeggi. They were both promising young men and pretty wellgrown up at this time. Thorir had been in Norway the summer that
King Olaf came from the West from England and had then got onto
very good terms with the king and also with Bishop Sigurd, and an
indication of this is that Thorir had had a great cargo-ship built in aforest and asked the bishop to consecrate it, and he did so. After that
Thorir went out to Iceland and had the cargo-ship knocked to pieces

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when he got tired of voyages, but the prow-pieces of the ship he had
fixed up over his house-doors and they remained there long afterwards
and were such good indicators of the weather that a whistling soundcame from one of them with a south wind, and from the other with anorth wind. And when Thorir heard that King Olaf had gained sole
power over all Norway, he thought it was time to claim friendshipwith him. So Thorir sent his sons to Norway to see the king and intended that they should enter his service. They arrived in the south ofthe country late in autumn and got themselves an oared boat and went
north along the coast, planning to go and see the king. They got to aharbour to the south of Stad and lay there a few nights. They looked
after themselves well with food and drink and kept inside, since theweather was not good.
Now we must return to how Grettir and his party were travelling
north along the coast and met a lot of harsh weather, because it was
the beginning of winter. And as they were making their way north toStad they met really bad weather with snow and frost and reachedland with difficulty one evening, all of them exhausted, and they madea grassy beach and managed to save their goods and provisions. They
had a miserable time of it, the merchants, because they had been able
to bring nothing to light a fire with, and they thought their safety andlives more or less depended on one. They lay there in the evening in abad way. Later in the evening they saw a large fire start up on the otherside of the channel that they had arrived at. And when Grettir’s shipmates saw the fire, they talked about it, saying that anyone would belucky who managed to get hold of it, and were doubtful about whether
they should launch out their ship, but they all thought it would not besafe to do so. Then they had a great discussion about whether anyone
would be capable of reaching the fire. Grettir was little impressed andsaid there had been men whom this would not have worried. The merchants said that it was no help to them what had been, if there was noone to look to now.
‘But do you have faith in yourself, Grettir?’ they said, ‘for you aresaid to be the most able of the Icelanders, and you can see clearly what
our position is.’Grettir replied, ‘It does not look to me such a great feat to get thefire, but I am not sure whether you will repay better than the one whodoes it asks.’

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155

They said, ‘Why do you think us such base men that we would not
reward that well?’‘I can have a go, if you think it is so essential, but I do not feel
confident that I shall do very well out of it.’
They said that was not how it would be and blessed him for his
offer. Then Grettir prepared himself for swimming and threw off his
clothes. The only thing he wore was a hooded cloak and homespun
breeches. He tied the cloak up round himself and threw a bast rope
round his waist and took with him a tub. Then he leapt overboard.
He swam now straight across the channel and went ashore. He seesa building standing there and heard men’s voices from it and muchmerriment. Grettir approached the house. Now we must tell who it
was that was there, that it was the sons of Thorir who had come here,
as was mentioned above. They had been staying there many nights
waiting for a break in the weather so that they could get north past
Stad. They were sitting drinking and were in a party of twelve. They
lay in the main harbour, and there had been built there a refuge for theuse of those travelling along the coast, and there had been brought
into the building a lot of straw. There was a large fire on the floor.
Grettir now made his way into the house, not knowing who was there.
His cloak was all icy when he got ashore and he was absolutely huge
to look at as if he were a troll. Those who were there were much taken
aback at this and thought it must be a monster. They hit him witheverything they could lay their hands on and there was now a great
uproar among them, but Grettir beat them off with his arms. Some ofthem struck at him with firebrands. The fire then spread over the wholebuilding. At that he got out with the fire and so returned to his companions. They were full of praise for his venture and bravery and said
there could be no match for him. So the night passed, and they thought
they were immediately saved when they got the fire.
The next morning the weather was good. They woke up early, themerchants, and got ready to leave, and talked about going to see those
who had had the fire to see who they were. They cast off the ship andcrossed the channel. Then they did not find the building, but saw theashes, a great heap, and in them they found many human bones. They
now realised that the refuge must have burned up completely, together
with the people who had been in it. They asked whether Grettir had
caused this catastrophe, and declared this the greatest of crimes. Grettir

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said it had now come about as he had suspected, that they would givehim a poor reward for getting the fire, and said it was a waste of timeto help those who were not men of honour. This was a source of great
disservice to Grettir in that the merchants said, wherever they went,that Grettir had burned these men to death in the building. It was thensoon discovered that in the building had lost their lives the sons ofThorir of Gard, who were named above, and their companions. Now
they drove Grettir away off the ship and refused to have him withthem. He was now so despised that almost nobody would do anythingfor him. He thought that things were now looking pretty bad and wanted
somehow or other to get to see the king and made his way north to
Trøndelag. The king was there and had heard all this before Grettircame. He had been greatly vilified before the king. Grettir was several
days in the town before he managed to get to see the king.

39
It was one day while the king was sitting in council, that Grettir went
before the king and greeted him politely. The king looked at him andsaid:‘Are you Grettir the Strong?’
He replied, ‘I have been so called, and I have come here hoping forsome remedy from you for the slanderous accusation that has been
made about me, and which I consider myself not guilty of.’King Olaf said, ‘You are powerful enough, but I don’t know what
success you will have in ridding yourself of this accusation. But it
looks more likely that you would not have intentionally burned themen in the building.’
Grettir said he would very much like to disprove this accusation if
the king thought there was any way of doing it. The king told him totell the truth about what had taken place between them. Grettir thentold everything as was described above, and added that they were allalive when he got outside with the fire.
‘I will now offer to submit to any procedure to prove my innocencethat you consider lawful.’
King Olaf then said: ‘We will grant that you bear iron for this affair,
if you are lucky enough to be able to.’

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157

Grettir was well pleased by this. He now began to fast in preparation for bearing the iron, and time passed until the day came when theordeal was to take place. Then the king went to church and the bishop
and a multitude of people, for there were many who were curious tosee Grettir, so much had been told about him. Then Grettir was conducted to the church. And when he came to the church there weremany who were there who looked at him and said that he was unlike
most people as regards strength and size. Grettir now went in downalong the floor. Then a scarcely grown lad leapt out rather in a flash
and said to Grettir:‘It is a strange custom now here in this land where people are supposed to be Christians, that criminals and plunderers and thieves shouldbe allowed to go in peace and undertake ordeals. And what is there fora criminal to do but extend his life as long as he can? Here we have anevil man who has been proved to be guilty of crimes and has burned
innocent men inside a house, and yet he is given the benefit of an
ordeal, and this is a great scandal.’He went up to Grettir, stuck out his fingers at him and made faces at
him and called him a mermaid’s son and many other evil names. Grettir
lost his temper at this and could not control himself. He swung up his
fist and struck the lad under the ear so that he immediately fell unconscious, and some say that he was already dead. But no one could say
where the lad came from or what became of him, but people think itmost likely that it was an unclean spirit sent to cause trouble to Grettir.
There was now a great uproar in the church, and the king was now
told that the one that was supposed to be bearing the iron was in a
scrap. King Olaf now came out along the church and saw what wasgoing on and spoke:‘You are not a man much blessed with success, Grettir,’ said theking, ‘when the ordeal has now to be abandoned when everything was
ready for it, and it seems it is not easy to do anything with your disposition to failure.’
Grettir replied, ‘I had hoped that I would gain more honour fromvisiting you, my lord, than now seems likely, in view of my descent,’and he gave details of how they were related, as was told above.41

41 See ch. 1. They had a great-great-grandfather in common, Ofeig Burlufot.

158

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR‘I am now very keen,’ said Grettir, ‘that you should take me into
your service. You have got many with you who will not seem better
fighting men than I.’‘I can see,’ said the king, ‘that there are few men such as you in
respect of strength and valour, but you are much too prone to failure
for you to be able to stay with us on that account. Now you may go inpeace as far as I am concerned, wherever you will, for the duration of
the winter, but in the summer you must go out to Iceland, for it is there
your bones are fated to lie.’
Grettir replies, ‘I would like first to clear myself of the charge of theburning, if I might, because I did not do that intentionally.’‘That is very likely,’ said the king, ‘but because the ordeal has now
been rendered invalid as a result of your lack of forbearance, you will
be unable to rid yourself of this charge any further than you have already, and “evil always comes from thoughtlessness”. And if ever anyone was under a curse, then it is not least likely to be you.’After this Grettir stayed in the town for a while and got no further
with King Olaf than has now been told. Then he went to the south ofthe country and planned to go east to Tunsberg to see his brotherThorstein Dromund. And there is nothing told of his travels until hecame east to Iadar.

40
At Christmas Grettir came to a farmer called Einar. He was a rich man
and married and had a daughter of marriageable age whose name was
Gyrid. She was a handsome woman and was considered a very good
match. Einar invited Grettir to stay with him over Christmas, and heaccepted. It was widespread in Norway at that time that highwaymen
and criminals rushed down from the forests and challenged men to
hand over their women or carried off people’s animals by force where
there were not many people around to prevent them. It happened inthis case that it was one day during the Christmas season that a large
number of criminals came to Einar’s together. The one who was theirleader was called Snækoll. He was a great berserk. He challenged
farmer Einar either to give up to him his daughter or to fight for her

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159

if he felt enough of a man to do so; but the farmer was past his prime
and no fighting man. It seemed to him that he had a great problem on
his hands and he asked Grettir in private what he could suggest.
‘For you are said to be a man of renown.’
Grettir told him to agree only to what seemed to him to be not dishonourable. The berserk sat on horseback and had a helmet on hishead and hadn’t fastened the face-guards. He had a shield with an iron
rim in front of himself and he behaved in a very menacing fashion. He
said to the farmer:‘Choose straight away one way or the other; but what does that great
lump of a fellow suggest who is standing there by you, isn’t it the casethat he wants to have some sport with me?’Grettir said, ‘There’s nothing to choose between the farmer and me,
for neither of us is the quarrelling type.’Snækoll said, ‘You will both of you be a bit afraid of fighting me if
I get angry.’‘ “When that happens we shall see how it will be”,’ said Grettir.
The berserk now perceived that they were using delaying tactics; hebegan to roar loudly and bit on the edge of his shield and put the shield
up in his mouth and stretched his mouth over the corner of the shield
and went on wildly. Grettir threw himself across the field, and when
he came level with the berserk’s horse he kicked with his foot down
under the point of the shield so hard that the shield went up in the
man’s mouth so that it tore apart his jaws and his lower jaw fell downon his chest. He then did two things at once, he grasped the helmet
with his left hand and pulled the viking off the horse, and with hisright hand he drew the cutlass he had on and cut his throat, severing
the head. And when Snækoll’s companions saw this they fled in all
directions. Grettir did not bother to chase them, for he saw there wasno pluck in them.
The farmer thanked him heartily for this deed, and many others did
too. This achievement was considered to have been the result of being
quick off the mark and tough. Grettir was entertained well there over
Christmas. The farmer sent him on his way generously. Grettir thenwent east to Tunsberg and found his brother Thorstein. He welcomed
Grettir joyfully and asked about his travels and his defeat of the berserk. Grettir uttered a verse:

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

Struck on Snækoll’s snack-port [mouth]
war-urger’s battle-bowl [shield]that got a kick from ankle’s thorn-tree [foot];so iron-clad wall of arrows’ passage [shield]
split tooth-yard’s dwelling [jaw]and jaw was severed onto chest.
Thorstein said, ‘Much would go nicely for you, kinsman, if you weren’t
always tripping up.’
Grettir replies, ‘ “The word still gets round of what is done”.’

41
Now Grettir stayed with Thorstein for the rest of the winter and on
into the spring. It happened one morning when the brothers, Thorstein
and Grettir, were lying up in their bedroom, that Grettir had laid hisarms out over the bedclothes. Thorstein awoke and saw this. Grettir
awoke a little later. Then said Thorstein:‘I have seen your arms, kinsman,’ he said, ‘and I am not surprised at
the heaviness of some of your strokes, for I have seen no one’s arms
that compare with yours.’‘You can be sure,’ said Grettir, ‘that I would not have been able toachieve what I have done if I wasn’t fairly tough.’‘I would have preferred it,’ says Thorstein, ‘if they had been more
slender and a bit more fortunate.’
Grettir says, ‘It is true what they say, that “no one shapes himself”.
Let me now see your arms.’
Thorstein did so. He was the longest of men and skinny. Grettir
smiled when he saw them and said, ‘I don’t need to look any longer atthis; your ribs are like a bunch of hooks, and I don’t think I have everseen such a pair of tongs as you have got for arms, and I think you can
scarcely have the strength of a woman.’‘That may well be,’ said Thorstein, ‘but you can be sure of this, thatthese slender arms of mine will avenge you, or else you will never beavenged.’‘Who can tell how that will turn out in the end?’ says Grettir. ‘But it
seems very unlikely to me.’THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

161

No more is told of their conversation. The spring now passed. Grettir
got a place on a ship and went out to Iceland in the summer. The
brothers parted on friendly terms and never saw each other again.

42
Now the story must be taken up where we left off previously, that
Thorbiorn Oxen-might learned of the killing of Thorbiorn Ferdalang
which was narrated above. He was very angry at this and said he would
like blows to be owed in turn in each other’s court.
Asmund Hærulang lay sick for a long time in the summer, and when
he felt the end was coming, he called together his kinsmen to see him
and said that he wished Atli to take over the management of his property when he was gone.
‘But I fear,’ said Asmund, ‘that you will find it difficult to live a
quiet life in the face of oppression. But I would like all those who areconnected to me to support him as well as they can. But there is little
advice I can give Grettir, because I think his life is doomed to be all
ups and downs, and though he is a strong man, I am afraid that he will
have more problems to deal with than helping out his kinsmen. And
though Illugi is young, yet he will develop into a fine man if he keeps
out of trouble.’
And when Asmund had arranged things with his sons as he wanted,
he succumbed to his sickness. He died a little later and was buried at
Biarg, for Asmund had had a church built there, and the people roundabout thought it a great loss. Atli now became an influential farmer
and kept a large household. He kept it well supplied. Towards the endof summer he went out onto Snæfellsness to get some dried fish. He
took a large number of horses and rode out to Melar in Hrutafiord to
his brother-in-law Gamli. Then Gamli’s brother Grim Thorhallsson
and one other man joined Atli on his journey. They rode west throughHaukadalsskard and straight out onto the Ness, there bought a lot ofdried fish and loaded it onto seven horses. They set out towards homewhen they had finished getting ready.

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43
Thorbiorn Oxen-might heard that Atli and Grim had gone away fromhome. Staying with him were Gunnar and Thorgeir, sons of Thorir ofSkard. Thorbiorn envied Atli for his popularity and so he incited thebrothers, the sons of Thorir, to waylay Atli on their return from theNess. They then rode home to Skard and waited there until Atli andhis companions were going up through with their train. And when
they came out by the farm at Skard they were seen to pass. The brothers then jumped to it quickly with their workmen and rode after them.
And when Atli’s party saw them coming, he told them to unload thehorses.
‘And they will be wanting to offer me compensation for the workman of mine that Gunnar killed last summer. Let’s not start anything
before they do, but defend ourselves if they start anything against us.’
Now the others come up and immediately dismount. Atli welcomed
them and asked what news, ‘or are you going to compensate me at all,Gunnar, for my farm-hand?’
Gunnar answers, ‘You men of Biarg deserve something other thanthat I should pay good money for that, and anyway greater compensation ought to be paid for the killing of Thorbiorn, whom Grettir slew.’‘I am not responsible for that,’ said Atli, ‘and anyway you are not
the principal in that suit.’
Gunnar said it was all the same, ‘and let’s now go for them, andmake the most of Grettir not being about.’
They leapt at Atli and there were eight of them in all, and six in
Atli’s group. Atli stepped out in front of his men and drew the sword
that had belonged to Iokul, which Grettir had given him. Then Thorgeir
said:‘ “Those who have a high opinion of themselves have much in common”. Grettir carried his cutlass high last summer on Hrutafiord ridge.’
Atli replies, ‘He must also be more used to great deeds than I.’
Then they fought. Gunnar went furiously for Atli and was in a frenzy.
And when they had been fighting for a while, Atli said:‘There is no point in our killing each other’s workmen, and the bestthing is that we ourselves engage with each other, for I have neverfought with weapons before now.’
Gunnar would not agree. Atli told his workmen to guard the baggage, ‘and I will find out what they are going to do about it.’THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

163

He then went forward so hard that Gunnar and his companions gave
ground. Atli then killed two of the brothers’ followers. After that heturned against Gunnar and struck at him so that it cut through acrossthe shield just under the handle and it hit the leg below the knee, andhe immediately struck another blow inflicting a fatal wound. Now
there is to tell of Grim Thorhallsson that he attacked Thorgeir andthey engaged for a long time, for they were both of them valiant men.
Thorgeir saw the fall of his brother Gunnar. Then he wanted to getaway. Grim ran after him and chased him until Thorgeir stumbled andfell on his face. Then Grim struck him between the shoulders with anaxe so that it went right in. They gave quarter to the three of theirfollowers who remained. After that they dressed their wounds andloaded up the horses and so went home and gave notice of these killings. Atli stayed at home with a large number of men in the autumn.
Thorbiorn Oxen-might was very displeased and yet could do nothing,for Atli was very popular. Grim stayed with him during the winter andalso his brother-in-law Gamli. Glum Ospaksson, his other brother-inlaw, was also there. He was then living at Eyr in Bitra. They kept alarge garrison at Biarg, and there was much merry-making during thewinter.

44
Thorbiorn Oxen-might took on the suit for the slaying of the sons ofThorir. He prepared the case against Grim and Atli, but they prepareda defence on the grounds that the waylaying and unprovoked attack
rendered the brothers outside the law’s protection.42 The cases werebrought to the Hunavatn Assembly and both sides attended with a large
following. Atli found it easy to get support, for he had a great store ofkinsmen. Then friends of both parties became involved and discussed
a settlement and everyone said that Atli was a well-behaved person,
not given to starting trouble but not one to give way when pressed.
Thorbiorn realised that there was no way of ensuring a more honourable
outcome than by accepting the settlement. Atli stipulated that he would
accept banishment neither from the district nor from the country. Men
42 Those who made an unprovoked attack could be deemed outlaws after
their deaths so that no compensation or vengeance would be due.

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were then chosen to arbitrate, Thorvald Asgeirsson on behalf of Atli,but on Thorbiorn’s side was Solvi the Splendid. He was son of AsbrandThorbrandsson, son of Harald Ring, who had taken possession of
Vatnsness right down to Ambattara on the west, and on the east rightin to the river Thver and on the other side of it across to Biargaos andall that side of Biorg down to the sea. Solvi was a very showy person
and a wise man, and it was for this reason that Thorbiorn preferred
him to arbitrate on his behalf. And after this they announced the terms,
that the sons of Thorir were to be compensated for by half-payment,
but half was to be cancelled because of the waylaying and unprovoked attack and conspiracy to kill Atli. The killing of Atli’s workman
who was killed on Hrutafiord ridge should be equivalent to that of thetwo who fell with the sons of Thorir. Grim Thorhallsson was to lose
the right of abode in the district, but Atli was to pay all the compensation himself. These terms were very acceptable to Atli, but less so
Thorbiorn, and yet they parted nominally reconciled, though Thorbiorn
could not help saying that the business between them would not be
over if he had his way. Atli rode home from the assembly and thanked
Thorvald heartily for his support. Grim Thorhallsson then moved south
to Borgarfiord and lived after that at Gilsbakki and was an influential
farmer.

45
There was a man with Thorbiorn Oxen-might who was called Ali. He
was a workman and rather bad-tempered and not a great worker.
Thorbiorn told him to work harder or he said he would beat him. Ali
said he had no great eagerness to do so and was very argumentative in
response. [Thorbiorn told him he mustn’t dare to do anything else.
The other did not lessen his answering back until] Thorbiorn could nolonger put up with him and got him down on the ground under himself
and thrashed him. After that Ali ran off from his job and went northover the ridge to Midfiord. He did not stop until he got to Biarg. Atli
was at home and asked him where he was making for. He said he waslooking for a position.
‘Are you not one of Thorbiorn’s workmen?’ said Atli.
‘We did not get on very well together, ’ said Ali. ‘I wasn’t there
long, and I didn’t like it while I was there. We parted with him causing

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a nasty tune in my throat and I’m never again going to go and work
there whatever else becomes of me. And it is true that there is a great
difference as to which of you treats his household better. I would verymuch like to work with you now if there is any chance.’
Atli replies, ‘I have plenty of workmen without trespassing on
Thorbiorn for the men he has taken on, and it seems to me you lackstamina, so go back to him.’
Ali said, ‘I shall not go there unless I am forced.’
Now Ali stayed for a while. One morning he went to work with
Atli’s workmen and worked as if he had several pairs of hands. Ali
went on like this into the summer. Atli took no notice of him, though
he let him be fed because he was pleased with his work. Thorbiorn
now learns that Ali is at Biarg. He then rode to Biarg with two men
and called Atli to speak with him. Atli went out and greeted them.
Thorbiorn said:‘You are trying to start things up again with me, Atli, in being awkward and causing me annoyance. Why is it you have taken away myworkman? This is an unjustifiable thing to do.’Atli replies, ‘It is not clear to me that he is your workman, but I
don’t want to hold on to him if you have proof that he belongs to yourhousehold. But I have no intention of dragging him out of the house.’‘You can have your way for the moment,’ said Thorbiorn, ‘but I am
demanding the man back and I lay a ban on his working. But I shallcome back another time, and it is not certain that we shall part thenbetter friends than we are now.’
Atli replies, ‘I shall wait here at home and accept whatever turns up.’
Then Thorbiorn rode home. And when the workmen came back inthe evening, Atli reported his conversation with Thorbiorn and told
Ali to get on his way and said he did not wish to keep him there. Ali
replies:‘The old saying is true: “Those who are too highly praised are theworst for letting me down.” And I didn’t expect you would drive meaway when I have worked fit to burst this summer and had hoped thatyou would stand up for me, but you go on like this in spite of appearing so kindly. Now I shall be beaten up here before your eyes if you
refuse me any support or help.’
Atli gave way when he heard what he said, and he did not feel likedriving him away. Now time passed until they started the haymaking.
It happened one day a little before midsummer that Thorstein Oxen-

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might rode to Biarg. He was geared out with a helmet on his head andgirded with a sword and a spear in his hand. It was a feather-bladed
spear and the blade was very broad. It was a wet day outside. Atli hadsent his workmen out to mow, but some of his men were in the northnear Horn getting supplies. Atli was at home with few other people.
Thorbiorn arrived there during the day at about midday. He was on his
own and rode to the outer doors. The door was closed and there wasno one outside. Thorbiorn knocked at the door and then went roundthe back of the building so that he could not be seen from the doorway. The people inside heard the knocking and a woman went out.
Thorbiorn caught a glimpse of the woman and did not let himself beseen, because he had another task in mind. She went to the livingroom. Atli asked what was up. She said she hadn’t seen any arrival
outside. And while they were discussing this, Thorbiorn struck a great
blow on the door. Then said Atli:‘It is me he wants to see, and he must have business with me, however important it is.’He then went out into the doorway. He could see no one outside. It
was very wet out and so he did not go outside and he rested one handon each doorpost and so looked around. At that moment Thorbiorn
rushed round in front of the door and thrust his spear at the middle of
Atli’s body with both hands so that it stuck through him. Atli’s reply,
when he received the thrust, was:‘ “They are very fashionable now, these broad spears”,’ he says.
Then he fell forwards on the threshold. Then the women who had
been in the living-room came out. They saw that Atli was dead. By
then Thorbiorn was already on his horse and he gave notice of thekilling at his hands and then rode home. Asdis, the lady of the house,sent for men to come and Atli’s body was laid out and he was buriedby the side of his father. His death was much lamented, for he had
been both wise and popular. No compensation was paid for the killingof Atli, and moreover no one demanded any atonement, for Grettir
was responsible for the prosecution whenever he came back out. These
affairs remained as they were for the summer. Thorbiorn did not gainmuch goodwill from this deed and yet he remained on his farm without doing anything.

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46
The same summer we have just been talking about, a ship came out toGasir before the assembly. Then news was given of Grettir’s travels.
Among other things they told about the house-burning. Thorir of Gard
was furiously angry at this story, and he felt he had to seek vengeanceagainst Grettir. Thorir rode with a very large number of men and raised
the case of the burning at the assembly, but people felt that they couldn’t
do anything about it while there was no one to answer to it. Thorir said
he would accept nothing else but that Grettir should be made outlaw
over the entire country for such a crime. Then lawspeaker Skapti replies:‘Indeed this is an ill deed, if it is as it is said. But “a story told by one
person is always only half told”, for most people prefer to give theworst side of the story if there are two sides to it. Now I shall not givethe decision that Grettir should be outlawed for this as mattersstand.’
Thorir was a powerful man in his district and a very important person, and popular among many people of power. He pushed so hard forthis that nothing could be done to prevent Grettir being found guilty.
Thorir then made Grettir outlaw over the whole country and was afterwards the harshest of all his opponents, as events frequently showed.
He then repeatedly put a price on his head as was done to other fulloutlaws and with that rode home. Many said that this was done moreout of zeal than in accordance with the laws, but yet that was how
matters stood. Nothing now happened of note until after midsummer.

47
In late summer Grettir Asmundarson came out to Hvita in Borgarfiord.
People from all over the district went to the ship. All this news reached
Grettir at the same time, first that his father was dead, second that his
brother was slain, third that he was made outlaw over the whole country. Then Grettir uttered this verse:
All came at once to wise verse teller:
my outlawry; the man must be long quiet about
his father’s death and also his brother’s.

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

Yet there shall many a Hedin’s maid’s meeting tree [warrior]be sadder today for such griefs,
O sword-breaker [warrior].
They say that Grettir’s mood was unchanged at this news and he was
as cheerful as before. Now Grettir remained at the ship for a time, forhe could find no means of transport that suited him.
There was a man called Svein who lived at Bakki up from Thingness.
He was a good farmer and a merry man and often recited poetry of anentertaining kind. He had a mare, dark in colour, the fastest of horses.
Svein called it Sodulkolla. Grettir left Vellir one night, not wanting
the merchants to know of it. He got himself a black hooded cloak andcovered his clothes with it and so disguised himself. He went up pastThingness and so up to Bakki. It had then got light. He saw a darkhorse near the hayfield and went up to it and put a bridle on it, mounted
it and rode up along Hvita and below Bæ and so to Flokadalsa and soup onto the bridle-ways above Kalfaness. The workmen at Bakki were
getting up at that time and told the farmer that this man had mounted
the horse. He got up and smiled at this and spoke as follows:
Shield-storm demander [warrior, i.e. Grettir] rode on from here;
thief let his hand grasp Sodulkolla, the helm-pine [Grettir].
This Thund-cloud-Frey [Grettir] will be full valid
for other dirty deeds than this;it has been a bit of an outrage against me.
Then he took his horse and rode in pursuit. Grettir rode until he cameup in front of the farm at Kropp. There he met a man who said his
name was Halli and said he was on his way down to the ship at Vellir.
Grettir uttered a verse:
Tell in the wide settlements,
quick-tempered bow-pine,that you have met right up near Kropp, Sodulkolla;
there was sat on mare—run for your life, Halli—
a fellow, who for long has played the gambling game,in a black cape.
And now they part, and Halli went down along the bridle-paths andTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR

169

right down to Kalfaness when Svein met him. They greeted each otherstraight away. Then said Svein:
Did you see where rode, the cheeky,
sly lazybones, horse from nearby farms?
This is a great trial to us.
The local men must declare
the punishment for the thief for that.
However that may be,
his body shall bear bruises if I catch him.
‘You will be able to do that,’ said Halli, ‘for I met the man who said he
was riding Sodulkolla, and told me to report this down among the farms
and in the district. He was a man of huge size and had on a black cloak.’‘He must have some opinion of himself,’ said the farmer, ‘and I
shall find out who he is,’ and after that he rode in pursuit of him.
Grettir arrived in Deildartunga. There was a woman outside there.
Grettir went to speak to her and uttered a verse:
Well-born gold-dame [woman],take sea-fire keeper [man, i.e. the farmer] a game-poem:
dale-eel [Grettir] has snatched away steed;
and word-bold Ygg’s drink-server [poet, i.e. Grettir]would ride the mare so madlythat I may stay the night at Gilsbakki.
The woman memorised the verse. After this he rode on his way. Svein
got there soon afterwards and she had not yet gone inside, and when
he arrived, he spoke this:What sword-wind’s pusher [warrior, i.e. Grettir] rode just now
hence in battling weather
hard on a black horse?
Shifty-eyed, he will truly fleequite far away today;the bold fellow has lost his valour.
She then spoke as she had been instructed. He thought about the verseand said:

170

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR‘It is not unlikely that this man is more than a match for me. Nevertheless I shall catch up with him.’
He rode now through the farms. Each could see where the other wasgoing all the time. The weather was both windy and wet. Grettir arrived at Gilsbakki during the day and when Grim Thorhallsson foundout, he welcomed him very warmly and invited him to stay with him.
He accepted the invitation. He set Sodulkolla free and told Grim how
he had come by her. Then Svein arrived and dismounted and saw there
his horse. He spoke this:Who has ridden our mare?
What will the payment turn out to be?
Who has seen a greater thief?
What game is the hooded one playing? 43
Grettir had by then taken off his wet clothes and heard the bit of verse;
I rode the mare to Grim’s.
He is a great man compared to this cotter.
I will not pay much for it.
Let us be friends.
‘With this we shall be quits,’ said the farmer, ‘and the horse-ride is
fully repaid.’
Afterwards they both recited their verses, and Grettir said he couldn’t
blame him, since he was looking after what was his own. The farmer
stayed there the night, as well as Grettir, and they had great fun withall this. They called them the Sodulkolla verses. In the morning thefarmer rode home and he and Grettir parted on good terms. Grim told
Grettir all the news from the north, from Midfiord, of what had happened while he had been abroad, including that no compensation had
been paid for Atli, but that Thorbiorn Oxen-might’s domineering was
so excessive that it was doubtful whether Madam Asdis would be able
to continue at Biarg if it went on. Grettir now stayed few nights with
Grim, for he did not want any news of him to precede him north overthe heaths. Grim told him to call on him if he needed any help.
43 Cf Háttatal, verse 40, Snorri Sturluson’s Edda p. 190.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

171‘But I want to avoid the legal penalty of becoming guilty of harbouring you.’
Grettir said he was acting well.
‘But it is more likely that I shall have greater need later on.’Grettir now rode north over Two-days moor and so to Biarg and got
there at night. Everyone was asleep except his mother. He went to therear of the buildings and to the entrance that was there, for he knew of
a way in there and so into the main room and to his mother’s bed, andhe felt his way there. She asked who it was. Grettir told her. She thensat up and kissed him and sighed heavily and said:‘Welcome, my son,’ she said. ‘But I cannot place much reliance on
my offspring: the one is killed who was my greatest support, and you
have been made an outlaw and irredeemable, and the third is so youngthat he cannot do anything.’‘It is an old saying,’ says Grettir, ‘that “you get over one trouble bysuffering another that is greater”. But there are other ways of consoling oneself than just with compensation payments, and it is more thanlikely that Atli will be avenged. But as far as I am concerned, people
will find they are variously pleased with their lot when we have dealings together.’
She said this was not unlikely. Grettir stayed there awhile with few
people knowing about it and he made enquiries about what the peopleof the district were up to. No one had heard that Grettir had arrived in
Midfiord. He found out that Thorbiorn Oxen-might was at home andthat there were not many people with him. This was after the homefield haymaking.

48
One fine day Grettir rode west over the ridges to Thoroddsstadir. He
got there about midday and knocked on the door. Some women wentout and greeted him. They did not recognise him. He asked forThorbiorn. They said he had gone to the meadows to bind hay andwith him his sixteen-year-old son called Arnor. Thorbiorn was a very
hard-working man and was hardly ever idle. And when Grettir hadlearned this he bade them farewell and rode away on down the road to
Reykir. There is a stretch of marshy ground down from the ridge there

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIRand on it there was a large hayfield and Thorbiorn had had a lot of hay
mown there, and it was now completely dry. He was going to take ithome in bales with the boy’s help, and a woman was gleaning. Grettir
now rode up onto the patch that was mown, but the father and son
were higher up and had made one bale and were working on another.
Thorbiorn had stood his shield and sword against the bale, but the boy
had a small axe by him. Thorbiorn saw the man and said to the boy:
‘There is a man there riding towards us, and let us stop baling the
hay and see what he wants.’
And they did so. Grettir dismounted. He had a helmet on his head
and was girded with his cutlass and a great spear in his hand with nobarbs on it, and the socket was inlaid with silver. He sat down andknocked out the shaft-pin, for he did not want Thorbiorn to be able tosend it back. Then Thorbiorn said:‘That is a big man, and I am unable to recognise anyone out in the
open if this is not Grettir Asmundarson, and he must have plenty ofcomplaints against us. And let us face him bravely and give no sign ofwavering. We must use a stratagem, and I shall approach him from thefront and see how we get on together, for I am confident I can deal
with anyone if I can meet him on his own. But you go behind him andstrike with both hands between his shoulders with your axe. You haveno need to worry about him harming you, since his back will be turned
towards you.’Thorbiorn had no helmet, nor his son either. Grettir walked over themarshy ground, and as soon as he came within shooting distance ofthem, he shot his spear at Thorbiorn. But it was looser on the shaft
than he thought and it swerved in flight and flew off the shaft anddown into the ground. Thorbiorn took his shield and put it in front of
himself, and drew his sword and turned to face Grettir when he saw
who it was. Grettir then drew his cutlass and swung round with it alittle so that he noticed where the boy was standing behind him, andhe kept therefore on the move. And when he saw that the boy wascome within striking distance of himself, he raised the cutlass high inthe air; he struck the back of the blade on Arnor’s head so hard that theskull broke, and that was his death. Then Thorbiorn leapt at Grettir
and struck at him, but he intercepted with his buckler on his left arm
and warded it off, and he struck down with his cutlass and split
Thorbiorn’s shield and the cutlass struck his head so hard that it stuckin his brains, and from this he fell down dead. Grettir inflicted no

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173

further wounds on them. Then he tried to find his spear and could not.
He went then to his horse and rode out to Reykir and gave notice of
the killings. The woman who was on the patch of meadow watched
the killings. She then ran home terrified and said that Thorbiorn was
killed and his son too. This came as a great surprise to those at thefarm, for no one knew about Grettir’s movements. People were sent
for from the next farms. There soon came a lot of people there; they
moved the bodies to the church. Thorodd Poem-bit took up the suit for
the killings and he immediately got a band of men around him.
Grettir rode home to Biarg and saw his mother and told her what
had happened. She was pleased at this and said he had now demonstrated his affinity to the men of Vatnsdal.
‘But yet this will be the beginning and foundation of your convictions. I know for certain that you will not be able to have a long stayhere because of Thorbiorn’s family, and yet they must now realise that
there is much that annoys you. Grettir then uttered a verse:
Hafli’s opponent [Thorbiorn]44 was attacked with weaponsin Wetherfiord [Hrutafiord] in Thrott’s storm [battle].
Might of ox and bull [Oxen-might] was in a fury.
Now Atli’s unatoned breath-robbing
has just been fittingly repaid to him.
He sank already dead to the peaceful plain.
Madam Asdis said this was true, ‘but I do not know what you plan to
do now.’
Grettir said he would now go to see his friends and kinsmen in the
country to the west.
‘And there shall no trouble come to you on my account,’ he said.
He then got ready for his journey, and mother and son parted affectionately. He went first to Melar in Hrutafiord and told his brother-inlaw Gamli all about how the killing of Thorbiorn had come about.
Gamli told him to get himself out of Hrutafiord quickly, ‘for as longas they keep their troop of men, Thorbiorn’s family. But we shall support you in the suit for Atli’s killing, as far as we can.’After that Grettir rode west across Laxardal Heath and did not stop
44 Hafli is a giant, whose opponent is Thor; both parts of the name Thorbiorn
are names for Thor.

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

until he got to Thorstein Kuggason in Liarskogar and he stayed there
for a long time in the autumn.

49
Thorodd Poem-bit went about making enquiries about who could havekilled Thorbiorn and his son. And when they got to Reykir they weretold that Grettir had been there and given notice of the killings at his
hands. Thorodd now realised how it had been. He went then to Biarg
and there was a large number of men there and he asked whether Grettir
was there. The mistress said that he had ridden away and she wouldn’t
be concealing him ‘if he were here. You ought to be well content toleave the situation as it is. There has not been too much vengeancetaken for Atli’s killing, though this is put against it. You did not enquire whether I was upset by that; and it is now right for things to stay
as they are.’
They then rode home, and felt there was nothing to be done. The
spear that Grettir had lost was not found until within living memory.
The spear was found during the latter days of Lawman Sturla Thordarson, and it was in the marshy ground where Thorbiorn fell, and it is
now known as Spear-marsh. And this is considered as evidence that
Thorbiorn was killed there, though in some places it says that he waskilled at Midfitiar.
The family heard that Grettir was at Liarskogar. They then got men
together and set out for Liarskogar. And when Gamli found out at
Melar, he sent information to Thorstein and Grettir about the movements of the men of Hrutafiord. And when Thorstein found this out,
he sent Grettir in to Tunga to Snorri Godi, for there was a breather
being taken in their disputes at that time, and advised Grettir to ask
Snorri for help. But if he wasn’t there, he told Grettir to go west to
Reykiaholar to Thorgils Arason.
‘And he will take you in for the winter. Stay in the Western Fiords
until these suits are settled.’
Grettir said he would abide by his advice. He then rode in to Tunga
and went to talk to Snorri Godi and asked him to take him in. Snorri
answers:‘I am getting to be an old man, and I don’t feel like keeping outlaws

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175

if I am under no obligation. But what was the reason that the old fellow turned you away?’
Grettir said Thorstein had often been good to him, ‘but there is now
need of more than just him if it is to do any good.’
Snorri said, ‘I shall put in a good word for you, if it would be of any
help to you, but you must find yourself somewhere to stay elsewhere
than with me.’
They parted with these words. Grettir now turned west towards
Reykianess. The men of Hrutafiord arrived with their band of men at
Samsstadir. There they learned that Grettir was gone from Liarskogar
and they turned back.

50
Grettir came to Reykiaholar just before the beginning of winter andasked Thorgils for winter quarters. Thorgils said that he was welcome
to food like other free men.
‘But the fare here is nothing very special.’
Grettir said he was not fussy about that.
‘There is another problem here,’ said Thorgils. ‘There are some men
planning to stay here who are thought to be rather unruly, and these
are the foster-brothers Thorgeir and Thormod. I don’t know how well
you will get on together, but they are always to stay here when theywant. Now you can stay here if you wish, but I am not having any of
you causing trouble with anyone else.’
Grettir said that he would not be the first to start on anyone, especially if that was how the farmer wanted it.
Soon afterwards the foster-brothers arrived. There was no warmth
between Thorgeir and Grettir, but Thormod was more relaxed. Farmer
Thorgils said the same thing to the foster-brothers as he had said to
Grettir, and they held him in such high esteem that neither offered theothers a cross word, even though there was no sympathy between them.
So passed the first part of the winter.
It is said that farmer Thorgils owned the islands that are called Olaf’s
Islands. They lie out in the fiord a league and a half out from
Reykianess.45 There Thorgils kept a fine ox and it had not been fetched
45 The distance is about 12 km.

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

back in the autumn. Thorgils kept saying that he wanted to get it before Christmas. One day the foster-brothers got ready to fetch the ox,
if they could get a third man to help them. Grettir offered to go withthem, and they agreed. The three of them then set out on a ten-oaredboat. The weather was cold and there was a north wind. The boat wasstanding on Hvalshausholm. They sailed out and the wind was increasing somewhat; they got to the islands and caught the ox. Then
Grettir asked whether they would rather load on the ox or hold theboat, for there was a fair amount of surf round the island. They told
him to hold the boat. He stood by the middle of the boat on the side
facing away from the shore; the sea came up under his shoulder blades
and he held it so that it did not move at all. Thorgeir lifted the ox fromthe back and Thormod from the front and so lifted it out onto the boat,then sat down to row, and Thormod rowed in the bow, Thorgeir forward amidships and Grettir in the stern, and they made in down thebay. And when they got in past Hafraklett the weather stormed against
them. Then said Thorgeir:‘The stern is losing power now.’
Grettir replies, ‘The stern will not lag behind if the rowing is done
properly forward.’
Thorgeir then went so hard at the oars that both rowlocks came away.
Then he said:‘You take over, Grettir, while I fix the rowlocks.’
Grettir then pulled hard on the oars while Thorgeir fixed the rowlocks. But by the time Thorgeir began to row again the oars were soworn away that Grettir had shaken them to pieces against the gunwale. Thormod said it would be better to row less hard and not do any
damage. Grettir snatched up two transoms that were lying in the boatand drove two great holes in the side of the boat and rowed so hardthat every timber creaked. But because it was a good vessel and thecrew rather of the tougher sort, they reached Hvalshausholm.
Grettir asks whether they would rather take the ox home or haul up
the ship. They chose rather to haul up the ship, and they hauled it up
with all the sea water that was in it, and the bits of ice, and it was veryfrozen up. But Grettir led the ox, and it was very stiff in its joints andvery fat. It became very exhausted. And when it got down by Tittlingsstadir, the ox could go no further. The foster-brothers went into thehouse, for neither side wanted to help the other at their task. Thorgils

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asked about Grettir, and they said where they had left him. He thensent men to meet him and when they got down below Hellisholar they
saw a man coming towards them with a beast on his back and it was
Grettir carrying the ox. They were all amazed how much he could
manage. Thorgeir felt quite envious of Grettir’s strength.
One day shortly after Christmas Grettir went to bathe on his own.
Thorgeir knew of this and said to Thormod:‘Let’s go and see how Grettir responds if I go for him when he comesout of the bath.’‘I’m not very keen on that,’ said Thormod, ‘and it won’t do you any
good.’‘I shall go nevertheless,’ said Thorgeir. He now went off down theslope carrying his axe high in the air. Grettir was coming up from thebath, and when they met Thorgeir spoke:‘Is it true, Grettir,’ he said, ‘that you have declared that you would
never run from a lone person?’‘I’m not so sure of that,’ said Grettir, ‘but I’ve never run far fromyou,’ declared Grettir.
Thorgeir then swung up his axe. At that moment Grettir threw himself at Thorgeir’s body and brought him down with a very great crash.
Thorgeir then said to Thormod:‘Are you going to stand by while this devil on top of me kills me?’Thormod then took hold of Grettir’s legs and tried to pull him off
Thorgeir and found he was unable. He was girded with his cutlass andwas going to draw it. Then farmer Thorgils came up and told them tobehave and not meddle with Grettir. They did so and turned it into ajoke. They didn’t get involved with each other again, as far as is told.
It was thought that Thorgils had been very fortunate to be able to control such overbearing men.
And when spring came they all left. Grettir went inland to Thorskafiord. He was asked how he had liked his entertainment and his winterstay at Reykiaholar. He answers:‘My stay there was such, that I was always very pleased with myfood, when I got to eat it.’After that he went west across the heaths.

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51
Thorgils Arason rode to the assembly with a large following. Therecame there all the important people in the land. He soon met withLawman Skapti and they had a talk together. Then said Skapti:‘Is it true, Thorgils, that you have kept through the winter the three
men who are considered the most unprincipled men, moreover all ofthem outlaws, and controlled them in such a way that none of themharmed any other?’Thorgils said that this was true. Skapti said:‘That shows great statesmanship. But what is your estimation of
their characters, or of what sort of champion each of them is?’Thorgils said, ‘I think they are all very valiant in heart, but there are
two of them that I think do know what fear is. But there is a difference, for Thormod is a man with the fear of God and is a very religious person, but Grettir is so afraid of the dark that he dares go nowhere when it begins to get dark if he is left to himself. But my kinsman Thorgeir I think does not know what fear is.’
‘Their characters must be just as you say,’ says Skapti. With thatthey ended their conversation.
At this Althing Thorodd Poem-bit brought forward a suit for theslaying of Thorbiorn Oxen-might, for he had not presented one at
Hunavatn Assembly because of Atli’s family. He thought that here hiscase would be less likely to be thrown out. Atli’s family went to Skapti
about the case and he said he could see a legal argument so that fullcompensation would be awarded them. Then the cases were brought
to arbitration and most people were of the opinion that the killings
should be set against each other, those of Atli and Thorbiorn. And
when Skapti learned this, he went to the arbitrators and asked how
they worked that out. They declared that they were farmers of thesame status who were killed. Skapti asked:‘Which came first, Grettir being made outlaw or Atli being killed?’
And when it was worked out, then there turned out to have been aweek in it, between Grettir being outlawed at the Althing and the otherevent which happened just after the assembly. Skapti said:‘I had an idea that you might make a mistake in the preparation of
the case, that you made him a principal who was already outlawed andwas not eligible either to defend his own case or to bring a prosecu-

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tion. Now I declare that Grettir has nothing to do with the suit for thekilling, and the one who is legally next liable is to take over the suit.’
Then said Thorodd Poem-bit, ‘Who then is to answer for the killingof my brother Thorbiorn?’‘You must see to that for yourselves,’ says Skapti, ‘but Grettir’s
family are not going to squander money for him or his deeds if he is
not being redeemed from outlawry.’
And when Thorvald Asgeirsson found out that Grettir was declaredineligible for the suit, they made enquiry about who were next in line.
The closest relations turned out to be Gamli at Melar’s son Skeggi,
and Glum of Eyr from Bitra’s son Ospak. They were both men of
great zeal, and ambitious. Thorodd now had to pay compensation for
the killing of Atli; it came to two hundreds of silver. Then Snorri Godi
put in:‘Are you willing, you men of Hrutafiord,’ he said, ‘to forego thispayment if Grettir is made free? For I think he will be a cause of muchsmarting in outlawry.’
Grettir’s family responded well to this and said they were not bothered about the money, if he got peace and freedom. Thorodd said he
could see that his situation was difficult, and said that for his part hewas willing to accept this. Snorri told them to make sure first whether
Thorir of Gard would add his approval that Grettir should be redeemed.
But when he found out about this he flew into a rage and said Grettir
should never get out of or be released from outlawry.
‘And the further shall he be from redemption,’ he said, ‘that moremoney shall be placed on his head than on any other outlaws.’
And since he was so opposed to it, nothing came of the redemption.
Gamli and his associates took possession of the money and put it by.
But Thorodd Poem-bit got no compensation for his brother Thorbiorn.
He and Thorir then both put a price on Grettir’s head, three marks ofsilver each of them. This was thought a new departure, for there had
never been more than three marks put up before. Snorri said it was
unwise to play about to keep a man an outlaw who could cause somuch trouble, and said many would suffer for it. Men parted at thispoint and rode home from the assembly.

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52
When Grettir got over Thorskafiord Heath to Langadal, he let his hands
sweep up the possessions of the small farmers and took what he required from everyone. He took weapons from some and clothes fromothers. Their reactions were various, but they all said they had been
forced to hand them over when he had gone. At that time Viga-Styr’s
brother Vermund the Slender was living in Vatnsfiord. He was married
to Thorbiorg, daughter of Olaf Peacock Hoskuldsson. She was known
as Thorbiorg the Stout. Vermund was ridden to the assembly at thetime Grettir was in Langadal. He went down over the ridge to Laugabol.
A man lived there called Helgi. He was the most prominent of the
farmers there. From there Grettir took a fine horse which belonged to
the farmer. From there he went in to Gervidal. A man lived there called
Thorkel. He was well provided with resources but mean-minded. Grettir
took from there whatever he wanted and Thorkel dared not object orwithhold anything. From there Grettir went on to Eyr and so out alongthat side of the fiord and took from everyone both food and clothing
and treated many people roughly and most found it hard to put up
with. Grettir now got very bold and stopped taking precautions. He
went on until he got to Vatnsfiardardal and went to a shieling there.
He stayed there many nights and lay in the woods there and slept andhad no sense of danger. And when the shepherds found out they went
to a farm and said that a fiend was come into the district that theyfound difficult to deal with. The farmers then gathered together andhad thirty men. They hid in the wood so that Grettir did not know
about it, and they made the shepherds keep watch for when there should
be an opportunity against Grettir, though they did not know precisely
where the man was. Now it happened one day when Grettir was lying
sleeping that the farmers came upon him. And when they saw him
they had a discussion about how they should capture him so that there
would be fewest casualties, and they arranged that ten of them shouldmake a dash at him, and some of them should fix fetters on his legs.
They now did this and flung themselves down on him, but Grettir
reacted so violently that they were flung off him and he got onto hisknees. At that point they managed to throw fetters on him and on his
legs. Then Grettir kicked so hard at the ears of two of them that they
lay senseless. Now one after the other leapt on him but he cleared

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them away hard and long, and yet in the end they managed to pin him
down and tied him up.
After that they held a discussion about what should be done withhim. They asked Helgi of Laugabol to take charge of him and lookafter him until Vermund returned from the assembly.
He answers that ‘I’ve got more important things to be done thanhave my workmen sit watching him, for I’ve got difficult land and I’m
not having him in my way.’
Then they asked Thorkel of Gervidal to take charge of him. They
said he was not short of anything. Thorkel objected and said there wasno chance of this, ‘since I am alone in the house with my old lady, anda good way off from other people; and you are not putting that burden
on me,’ he said.
‘You, Thoralf of Eyr,’ they said, ‘take charge of Grettir and treat
him well for the duration of the assembly; otherwise pass him on to
the next farm and be responsible that he doesn’t get free. Hand him
over bound in the same way as when you take charge of him now.’
He answers, ‘I will not take charge of Grettir, for I have neither themeans nor the money to keep him. He has also not been taken on myland. It seems to me more of a trouble than an honour to take charge of
him or to do much with him, and he is never coming into my house.’
After this they tried with each of the farmers, and they all refused.
And it is based on this discussion of theirs that some merry people
have composed the piece of lore called the Passing Round of Grettir46
and included in it merry words for people’s entertainment. And when
they had discussed this for a long time, then they came to an agreement together on this that they would not let their good fortune turn toill, and they set to and raised a gallows straight away there in the woodand were going to hang Grettir, and they made a great noise about it.
Then they saw three people riding up along the valley. One of them
was in coloured clothes. They guessed that this must be Madam
Thorbiorg from Vatnsfiord, and so it was. She was making for theshieling. She was a very remarkable person and very intelligent. She
46 Fragments of a poem of this name survive, but it is not likely to be as old
as the saga, and may not be about Grettir Asmundarson. See Ólafur Halldórsson,‘Grettisfœrsla’, Opuscula I (1960), Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana XX, 49–77;
repr. Grettisfærsla, Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar (1990), 19–50.

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ruled the district and decided everything whenever Vermund was awayfrom home. She came across to where the gathering was and she washelped off her horse. The farmers welcomed her. Then she said:‘What sort of an assembly is this you are holding, and who is thisthick-necked man sitting here tied up?’
Grettir gave his name and greeted her. She answers:‘What made you do this, Grettir,’ she said, ‘that you should want tocause breaches of the peace among my assembly-men?’47‘“I cannot avoid everything”; I had to be somewhere.’‘This is a great misfortune,’ she says, ‘that these miserable people
should capture you without your being able put up a better show. And
what do you plan to do with him now?’
The farmers told her that they were going to hang him on gallows
for his misdeeds. She replied:‘It may be that Grettir deserves that, but it is too much for you
Isfirdingers to take on, to take Grettir’s life, for he is a renowned man
and comes of a great family, even if he is not a successful person. But
what will you do to earn your life, Grettir, if I give you life?’
He answers, ‘What do you suggest?’‘You shall swear an oath,’ she said, ‘to do no misdeeds here around
Isafiord; you shall take no vengeance on those who have been involved in this expedition to capture you.’
Grettir said it should be as she wished. Then he was freed. And hehas said that that was the time he had to work hardest of all to restrain
his temper in not striking them when they crowed over what they had
done to him. Thorbiorg told him to go home with her and gave him ahorse to ride. He then went back to Vatnsfiord and stayed there until
Vermund came home, and the lady treated him well. She became renowned for what she had done widely in the area. Vermund put onblack looks when he came home and found out why Grettir was there.
Thorbiorg told him everything that had happened with the Isfirdingers.
‘What had he done to earn from you,’ said Vermund, ‘that you should
give him life?’‘There were many factors that contributed to this,’ said Thorbiorg,
47 Thorbiorg got her godord from her previous husband, but at this time it
was probably actually held by her present husband Vermund; she is acting as
his deputy in his absence.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

183‘first,’ she says, ‘that you will be reckoned a greater leader than before, in having a wife who dared do such a thing. Then his kinswoman
Hrefna48 would have expected me not to let him be killed. Thirdly, he
is a man of the greatest achievements in many respects.’‘You are a wise woman,’ said Vermund, ‘in most things, and I am
grateful to you.’
Then he said to Grettir, ‘You put on a poor showing, a champion
like you, when wretched people were able to capture you, and that isalways the fate of unruly men.’
Grettir then uttered this verse:
My success was really at a low ebb
in the midst of sea-thatch fiord [Isafiord]that old pigs should hold meby the ends of my legs.49‘What were they going to do with you?’ said Vermund, ‘when they
had caught you?’
Grettir said:
Many said I deserved the reward that
Sigar gave his daughter’s wooer
until men found the rowan tree
gloriously grown with the leaf of honour.50
Vermund said, ‘Would they have hanged you if they had been left tothemselves?’
Grettir said:
I would myself have stuck my head
into the baited noose pretty soon
48 Hrefna was grand-daughter of Grettir’s great-grandfather Onund
Woodenleg, and Thorbiorg’s sister-in-law. See Laxdæla saga, ch. 50, according to which she had died long before this, soon after 1003.
49 Literally head-bones.
50 Sigar had his daughter’s wooer Hagbard hanged (cf. Saxo Grammaticus,
Book 7). The rowan tree was the salvation of Thor (björg ﬁórs) according to
Snorri Sturluson’s Edda, p. 82, and is here a pun for Thorbiorg.

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

if Thorbiorg, allwise one,had not saved this poet.
Vermund said, ‘Did she invite you to stay with her?’
Grettir replies:

The both hands’ help of Sif’s man
bade me go with her.
She who granted me quartergave Thund’s darling’s thonga fine horse.51‘You will live a great life and a hard one,’ says Vermund, ‘and you
have been given a lesson about being on the watch for your enemies.
But I have no desire to keep you and be rewarded with the resentmentof many powerful people. It is still best for you to look to your family,
but there will be few prepared to take you in if they have any alternative. You are also not easily drawn into co-operation with other men.’
Grettir stayed in Vatnsfiord for a while and from there went on to
the Western Fiords and sought the help of many men of rank, andthere was always some reason why no one could take him in.

53
Towards the end of autumn Grettir turned back southwards and didn’t
stop until he got to Liarskogar, to his kinsman Thorstein Kuggason,and he was welcomed there. Thorstein invited him to stay with him
for the winter, and he accepted this. Thorstein was a great man forwork and building and kept his men busy. Grettir was not a man muchgiven to working and so they did not get on very well together. Thorstein
had had a church built on his farm. He had a bridge built on the roadleading from his farm. It was built with great ingenuity. On the outside of the bridge under the beams that supported the bridge there was
51 Line 1 contains another pun for the name Thorbiorg. In line 4, Thund is aname for Odin, his darling (wife) was Iord, Earth, whose thong is a snake;
Grettir is a name for a snake, so this is a pun for Grettir.

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185

a device with rings and sounding bells, so that they could be heard
right over at Skarfsstadir, half a sea-league away;52 if anyone went
over the bridge, then the rings were shaken. Thorstein devoted a lot ofwork to this creation, for he was very good at ironwork. Grettir was
full of energy in hammering the iron, but did not always feel like it,but still he behaved well during the winter, so that nothing significant
happened. But when the men of Hrutafiord found out that Grettir wasstaying with Thorstein, they got a band together at the beginning ofspring. But Thorstein found out; he told Grettir that he was to findhimself some other refuge than staying there.
‘For I can see that you don’t want to work, and men who won’t
work are no use to me.’‘Where do you suggest I go then?’ said Grettir.
Thorstein told him to go south across the country and see his family.
‘But come to me if they are of no help to you.’
Grettir now did so, went south to Borgarfiord to see Grim Thorhallsson and stayed there on until after the assembly. Grim sent him to
Lawman Skapti at Hialli. Grettir travelled south across the Lower heathsand did not stop until he reached Tunga, to Thorhall son of Asgrim
Ellida-Grimsson, and he kept out of the inhabited areas. Thorhall acknowledged Grettir for the sake of his forefathers, though Grettir wasvery well known by name all over the country for his abilities. Thorhall
was a sensible man and treated Grettir well, but he did not want him
staying there indefinitely.

54
Grettir went from Tunga up to Haukadal and from there north onto
Kiol and remained up there for much of the summer, and now there
was no guarantee that he wouldn’t rob people of their things, those on
their way north or from the north over Kiol, for he found it difficult toget supplies. It happened one day that Grettir was spending most of
his time north on Dufunefsskeid and saw a man riding southwards
along Kiol. He sat high on his mount and had a fine horse with a bridle
with large studs and large knobs on the top. He had another horse intrain with baggage on it. This man had a deep-brimmed hat on his
52 The distance is actually about 8 km.

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

head and his face could not be seen very well. Grettir rather liked thelook of the horse and his things and went to meet him and greeted him
and asked him his name, and he said he was called Lopt.
‘I know what you are called,’ he said, ‘you will be Grettir Asmundarson the Strong. And where are you going?’‘I haven’t decided about that,’ said Grettir, ‘but what I want to know
is whether you are willing to hand over some of the stuff you have gotwith you.’
Lopt answers, ‘Why should I give you what is mine? And what will
you give for it?
Grettir answers, ‘Have you not heard that I never give any payment,
and that most people nevertheless find that I get what I want?’
Lopt said, ‘Offer these terms to those whom you think suitable, but
I am not going to lose what is mine in that way. And let each of us go
his way,’ and rode on past Grettir and drove on his horse.
Grettir said, ‘We shall not part so quickly,’ and took hold of thereins of Lopt’s horse in front of his hands and held them with both
hands. Lopt said:‘Get on your way, you will get nothing from me if I can manage tokeep hold of it.’
‘We shall see about that,’ says Grettir.
Lopt reached down by the cheek-pieces and grasped the reins between the rings and Grettir’s hands, pulling so hard that Grettir’s hands
slid down along the reins until he had drawn the whole of the bridle
from his grasp. Grettir looked into his palms and saw that this man
had more than a little power in his fists and glanced after him andsaid:‘Where are you planning to go now?’
Lopt replies and said:
I shall go into storm-resounding pot [Hallmund’s cave]
below the tumbling great-freezes [glaciers].
There shall ground-salmon [serpent, i.e. Grettir] meetlittle stone [hall] and fist-land [hand, Icelandic mund: Hallmund].
Grettir said, ‘It will not be very straightforward to find where you live
if you don’t describe it more clearly.’
He then spoke and said:

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR187

It is not easy for me
to hide it from you
if you wish
to come there.
It’s from the dwellingsof Borgfirders
where men call it
Ball-glacier.
Then they parted. Grettir now realised that he could not match thisman’s strength. Then Grettir uttered a verse:
Illugi the swift and moderately keen in weapon-shower [battle]
Atliwere placed far off from me,
I would rather be seldom thus placed,
when fearless Lopt the poor drew once
thongs from my hand;
the wise lady will have to wipe her eyelids
if I am afraid.
After this Grettir went south off Kiol and rode to Hialli and went to
see Skapti and asked him for help. Skapti answers:‘I am told that you have been behaving rather badly and robbing
men of their goods, and that is unseemly for you, a man of such noble
descent. It would be a good deal easier to discuss it if you were notrobbing. But since I am supposed to be lawman in the land, it will not
do for me to take in outlaws and so break the law. I wish you wouldfind somewhere where you don’t need to fall upon people’s property.’
Grettir said he would very much like to, but said however that hefound it pretty well impossible to be on his own because of his fear ofthe dark. Skapti said it was no good being only able to put up withthings when they were as he most wished.
‘And trust no one so well that there is a repetition of what happened
to you in the Western Fiords. Many a man has been brought to his
death by being too trusting.’
Grettir thanked him for his sound advice and went back to Borgarfiord in the autumn and went to see his friend Grim Thorhallsson, and188

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

told him what Skapti had suggested. Grim told him to go north to
Fiskivotn on Arnarvatn Heath, and that is what he did.

55
Grettir went up onto Arnarvatn Heath and made himself a shelter thereof which the remains can still be seen, and fitted himself out there, for
he was now determined to do anything rather than steal; he got himself nets and a boat and caught fish for his food. He found it very
miserable on the mountain, for he was very afraid of the dark. And
when other outlaws found out that Grettir had ended up there, thenmany of them had a mind to find him, for they thought he would be agreat protection for them. There was a man from the north of the country
called Grim. He was outlawed. The men of Hrutafiord53 made a bargain with this man that he should kill Grettir and they promised him
freedom and gifts of money if he succeeded. He went to see Grettir
and asked to be taken in. Grettir answers:‘It does not seem to me that you would be any better off if you werewith me. You outlaws are also unreliable, but I very much dislike being on my own if there is an alternative. I also want only to have aperson with me who is ready to do any work that is required.’
Grim said that was exactly his intention and was very insistent aboutstaying. Grettir then let himself be persuaded and took him in. He
stayed there now on into the winter and lay in wait for Grettir andfound it no easy task to attack him. Grettir was suspicious of him andhad his weapons by him night and day, and he never dared to go for
him while he was awake.
One morning when Grim got back from fishing he went into theshelter and stamped his feet, wanting to see whether Grettir was asleep,but he made no reaction and lay still. The cutlass was hanging up
above Grettir. Grim now thinks that there will never be a better opportunity. He now makes a great clatter, so that Grettir should make somecomment, and there was none. He now felt certain that Grettir must be
asleep and stole quietly to the bed and reached for the cutlass and took
it down and drew it. At that moment Grettir leapt out onto the floor
53 Men of the North (i.e. of Iceland) according to the principal manuscript.

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189

and grasped the cutlass just as the other was lifting it, and with hisother hand Grim’s shoulders and threw him down with such a great
fall that he lay almost unconscious.
‘So that’s how you’ve turned out, though you claimed to be so reliable.’He then got the truth out of him and afterwards killed him. And now
Grettir realised what taking in outlaws led to. And so the winter passed.
Grettir found nothing a greater distress than his fear of the dark.

56
Thorir of Gard now heard where Grettir had got to and wanted toarrange some plan by which he could be killed. There was a man called
Thorir Red-beard. He was a very burly man and always getting involved in fights, and for that reason he had been made outlaw over thewhole land. Thorir of Gard sent word to him and when they met heasked Red-beard to go on an errand for him and kill Grettir the Strong.
Red-beard declared that was not an easy task, said that Grettir was aclever man and always on his guard. Thorir told him to have a go.
‘And it is a valiant deed for such a brave person as you are, but I
shall get you released from outlawry and give you plenty of money as
well.’
Red-beard accepted this proposal. Thorir told him how he should
set about getting Grettir. After this Red-beard went to the east of thecountry, for he thought then there could be less suspicion about his
movements. He came onto Arnarvatn Heath when Grettir had been
there one winter. And when Grettir and Red-beard met, he asked Grettir
to take him on. He answers:‘I have no intention of letting more people play tricks on me asoften as the one that came here last autumn and went on so plausibly,
but when he had been here a little while he tried to find an opportunity
to kill me. So I am not going to risk that again, taking in outlaws.’
Thorir answers, ‘I cannot blame you at all for not trusting outlaws,
but you may have heard about me going around fighting and oppressing people, but never of me being so dastardly as to betray my liege
lord. So “existence is hard for a bad man”, in that many think he is justlike any other. And I would not have come here if I had had any better
prospects, but I don’t think we need be at anyone’s mercy if we stand190

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

by each other. Now you could take a risk with me for a while, to see
how you like me. Then send me away if you find any baseness in me.’Grettir answers, ‘I may as well take another risk with you, but you
can be sure of this, if I have any suspicion of treachery in you, it will
be your death.’
Thorir told him to do that. After this Grettir took him on and foundthat he must have the strength of two men, whatever he set to work on.
He was ready for any task Grettir wanted to send him to do. Grettir did
not need to turn his hand to anything, and never had he found his life
so pleasant since he had started his outlawry; and yet he was so muchon his guard that Thorir never found an opportunity against him. Thorir
Red-beard stayed with Grettir two winters on the heath. He now began to get tired of being on the heath. He now considered what plan hecould adopt without Grettir noticing. One night in the spring there
was a great storm of wind while they were asleep. Grettir awoke andasked where their boat was. Thorir leapt up and ran to the boat andbroke it all to pieces and threw the bits in different directions and it
was as though the wind had scattered them. After this he went into theshelter and announced in a loud voice:‘Things have not turned out well, my friend,’ he said, ‘in that ourboat is all broken to pieces and the nets are lying far out in the lake.’‘Fetch them in then,’ said Grettir, ‘for I think it is your fault that theboat is broken.’Thorir answers, ‘The trouble is as regards abilities, that the thing I
am least good at is swimming, though at almost anything else I think
I am a match for any ordinary man. You must acknowledge that I havenot made you do any work since I came to you. I would not ask you to
do this if I was capable of doing it.’
Grettir got up and took his weapons and went down to the lake.
There the lie of the land was such that a ness went out into the lake,
and there was an invisible creek the other side of the ness. The lake
was deep right up to the shore [and had washed it away from under thebank so it was hollow as well]. Grettir said:‘Go out for the nets and let me see how able a man you are.’‘I told you before,’ said Thorir, ‘that I cannot swim, and I don’tknow where your valour and daring have gone.’‘I will get the nets,’ said Grettir, ‘but don’t betray me when I am
trusting you.’

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191

Thorir answers, ‘Don’t think such baseness and dastardliness of me.’Grettir said, ‘You yourself will reveal your true nature to yourself,
as to what sort of a person you are.’
Then he threw down his clothes and weapons and swam out for the
nets. He swept them together and made for the shore and threw themup onto the bank. And when he was about to come ashore, Thorirgrasped the cutlass and straightway drew it. He then leapt at Grettir as
he was climbing up onto the bank and struck at him. Grettir threw
himself backwards down into the water and sank like a stone. Thorir
looked out across the lake and planned to fight him off from the shore
if he came up. Grettir dived now as close as he could to the bank sothat Thorir could not see him until he got to the creek behind him, andthere came ashore. Thorir could not see this, the first thing he knew,
Grettir lifted him up above his head and brought him down so hardthat the cutlass flew out of his hand, and Grettir was able to pick it up
and wasted no words on him and straightway cut off his head, and so
ended his life. After this Grettir would never take in outlaws, and yet
he could hardly bear being alone.

57
At the Althing Thorir of Gard heard about the killing of Thorir Redbeard. He now realised that it was not going to be easy to deal withthis. He then made up his mind to ride from the assembly west over
the Lower heaths taking about eighty men and planned to take Grettir’slife. And when Grim Thorhallsson found out, he sent Grettir word andtold him to be on his guard. Grettir always took note of people travelling about. It happened one day that he saw a large party of riders
making for where he lived. He leapt then into a cleft between rocks
and decided not to run away, for he hadn’t seen the whole troop. Just
then Thorir came up with the whole troop and told them now to separate Grettir’s head from his body and said the villain would only beable to put up a poor showing. Grettir replies:‘ “There’s many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip.” You have alsogone to great pains, and there are some who will have something toshow for it before the game is over.’Thorir urged the men hard to the attack. The cleft was narrow so

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

that he found it easy to defend himself from one direction, but he wassurprised that there was no attack from his rear to cause him any trouble.
Thorir then lost a number of men, and some were wounded, and they
got nowhere. Then spoke Thorir:‘I have heard,’ he said, ‘that Grettir was outstanding for strengthand valour, but I didn’t know that he had such supernatural power as I
now see, because twice as many are falling that he has his back turned
to. I now see that we have trolls to deal with and not men.’
He told them to withdraw, and they did so. Grettir was surprisedthat they should do so, but he was enormously tired. Thorir went awaywith his men and they rode north to the farmland. Their expedition
was considered to have been most ignominious. Thorir had lost eighteenmen, with many wounded.
Grettir now turned up into the cleft and came upon a man of huge
size there. He was sitting up by the rock and was seriously wounded.
Grettir asked him his name and he said he was called Hallmund.
‘But I can tell you this to identify myself, that you thought I took
fast hold of the reins on Kiol in the summer when we met. I think I
have now paid you back.’‘I certainly think,’ said Grettir, ‘that you have been very decent tome, whether or not I am able to pay you back for that.’Hallmund said, ‘What I want now is that you should come and visit
my home, for it must seem tedious to you up here on the heath.’
Grettir said he would be very happy. Now they both went together
south under Ball-glacier. There Hallmund had a great cave and a stoutlybuilt impressive-looking daughter. They treated Grettir well and shehealed them both. Grettir stayed there a great part of the summer. He
made a poem about Hallmund, and this is part of it:
Hallmund steps high with foot askew54
in the mountain hall.
This verse is part of it:
Battle-eager weapon-storm adder [sword]
had to creep forth on wound-paths55
54 Perhaps a metaphor for getting the worst of it.
55 Compare Háttatal, verse 6, Snorri Sturluson’s Edda, p. 170.

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193

in Wetherfiord [Hrutafiord].
Trusty warriors will have a chance
to drink in memory of men of Kelduhverfi.
Keen Hallmund from the cave was the cause
why I got away.
It has been said that Grettir slew six men in the encounter, and Hallmund
twelve. Towards the end of summer Grettir became keen to go back to
inhabited parts to see his friends and relations. Hallmund told him tocall on him when he went to the south of the country, and Grettir
promised. He then went west to Borgarfiord and from there to Breidafiardardalir and asked Thorstein Kuggason’s advice as to where heshould try now. But Thorstein thought his opponents were now multiplying and said few would take him in.
‘But you can go south to Myrar and see how things are there.’
Grettir now went south to Myrar in the autumn.

58
At that time Biorn Hitdælakappi was living at Holm. He was son ofArngeir, son of Bersi Godless, son of Balki who settled Hrutafiord, as
was said above.56 Biorn was a great leader and tough and frequently
kept outlaws. Grettir came to Holm and Biorn welcomed him, for there
had been friendship between their forebears. Grettir asked if he waswilling to give him any help. Biorn said that he had committed somany offences over the whole country that people would avoid doing
anything for him by which they would incur penalties.57‘But I shall do what I can for you if you leave those men in peace
who are under my protection, however you treat other people here in
the district.’
Grettir agreed to this. Biorn said:‘I have noticed that in the mountain that juts out the other side of
Hitara there will be a good place to defend and at the same time aplace to hide if it is carefully arranged. There is there a hole throughthe mountain and it can be seen from down on the road, for the main
56 Ch. 5.
57 Sheltering an outlaw was an offence under Icelandic law. Cf. chs 47, 54.

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

route passes down beneath it, but there is such a steep scree above thatnot many will get up if one able man is on the defence up in the refuge.
Now it seems to me that the best plan and thing worth talking about isto stay there, for from there it is easy to go and get supplies down on
Myrar and out to the sea.’
Grettir said he would abide by what he thought best if he was willing to suggest anything. Grettir then went to Fagraskogafiall and fixed
it up there. He hung grey cloth over the hole in the mountain and fromdown on the paths it looked as though you could see right through. He
went for provisions down into the inhabited area. The people of Myrar
thought that with Grettir they had a visitor who really brought trouble.
Thord Kolbeinsson was living on Hitarness then. He was a good poet.
At that time there was great enmity between Biorn and Thord andBiorn would not have been more than half-way displeased if Grettircaused some harm to Thord’s people or property. Grettir spent a lot oftime with Biorn and they competed in many kinds of feats and it isindicated in the Saga of Biorn that they were considered equal in sports.
But it is most people’s opinion that Grettir has been the strongest in
the country since Orm Storolfsson and Thoralf Skolmsson ceased theirfeats of strength.58 Grettir and Biorn swam in one go right along Hitara
down from the lake and out to the sea. They placed stepping-stones in
the river there which have never since been shifted, neither by floods
nor the freezing of the river nor the movement of glaciers. Grettir
stayed on Fagraskogafiall for a whole winter without any attacks being made on him, even though many lost their property because of
him and could do nothing about it, for he had a good fortification and
was always good friends with those who lived nearest him.

59
There was a man called Gisli. He was son of Thorstein whom Snorri
Godi had had killed.59 Gisli was a big man and strong and wore splendid weapons and clothes and threw his weight about a lot and wassomewhat boastful. He used to go on trading voyages and came out to
58 See Orms ﬂáttr Stórólfssonar.
59 See Eyrbyggja saga, ch. 56 and Hei›arvíga saga, ch. 12.

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195

Hvita in the summer when Grettir had been one winter on the mountain. Thord Kolbeinsson rode to the ship. Gisli welcomed him andoffered him such of his wares as he wanted. Thord accepted the offer
and they began to talk together. Gisli said:‘Is it true, as I am told, that you do not know how to get rid of an
outlaw who is causing you a lot of trouble?’Thord said, ‘We haven’t tried, but many find him difficult to get at,
as many have discovered to their cost.’‘I am not surprised you find it difficult to deal with Biorn, when you
can’t get rid of this fellow. The trouble is that I shall be too far off next
winter to be able to find a solution to this.’‘You will find that “the best thing to have from him is report”.’‘You don’t need to tell me about Grettir,’ said Gisli, ‘I’ve experienced harder climbs when I was in the field with King Knut the Greatand in the British Isles, and I was thought to be pulling my weight.
And if I got within range of him, I would have faith in myself and myweapons.’
Thord answers, said he would not be unrewarded if he got rid of
Grettir, ‘and there is a greater price on his head than on any otheroutlaw’s, and before it was six marks of silver, but this summer Thorirof Gard added another three marks, and people think the one who getsit will have earned it.’‘ “Anything will be done for money”,’ said Gisli, ‘and that applies
not least to us merchants. But now we must keep quiet with this talk.
It may be that he will be more on his guard,’ said he, ‘when he knowsthat I am involved with you and the others in this. I plan to stay thewinter out on Olduhrygg, but is any refuge of his on the way? He will
not be on his guard against this; I shall not take a great crowd against
him.’
Thord was pleased with this plan. He rode home afterwards andkept quiet about it. In this it happened, as they say, that “a wood isoften full of ears”. Some men had been present at his conversation
with Gisli who were friends of Biorn of Hitardal and told him all about
it. And when he and Grettir met, Biorn gave him an account of it andsaid now they would see how he could deal with it.
‘It would not be unentertaining,’ said Biorn, ‘if you were to knock
him about a bit without killing him if you can avoid it.’
Grettir grinned and was non-committal.

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

About the time of sheep rounding up in the autumn Grettir went
down into Flysiuhverfi and got himself sheep. He got hold of four
wethers. Some farmers noticed where he was going and went after
him. Just at the moment he got to the beginning of the slope theycaught up with him and tried to drive them from him, but they used no
weapons against him. There were six of them in all and they spreadout to get in his way. He got cross because of the sheep and took holdof two of the men and threw them down the slope so that they lay
unconscious. And when the others saw this they were less keen to
approach. Grettir took the sheep and hooked them together by theirhorns and flung them over his shoulders two and two, then went up tohis hide-out. The farmers now turned back and felt they had not done
well out of it and were now even less pleased with the way things
were than before.
Gisli stayed with the ship during the autumn until it had been set up
on blocks. A lot of things held him up, and as a result he was latesetting out and he rode not long before the start of winter. He thenwent northwards and stayed the night under Hraun to the south of
Hitara. In the morning before riding from there Gisli spoke to his companions:‘Now we shall ride in coloured clothes today and let the outlaw seethat we are not like other tramps who pass here every day.’
There were three of them in all and they did so. And when they got
out over the river, then he spoke to them again:‘I have been told about the outlaw here up in these heights and that
it is not easy to pass here. But wouldn’t he be rather pleased to meet us
and see our things?’
They said that was what he usually did. Grettir had got up early inhis hide-out. The weather was cold and freezing and there had been afall of snow, and yet only a small one. He saw three men riding fromthe south across Hitara and the sun shone on their fine clothes andenamelled shields. It now occurred to Grettir who they must be and hethought he must get himself some stuff from them. He was curious tomeet people who bragged so much, so he took his weapons and ran
down the scree. And when Gisli heard the stones rattling, he said:‘There is a man coming down there from the hillside and rather a
big one, and he wants to see us. Let’s meet him bravely, because thereis going to be a good catch here.’THE SAGA OF GRETTIR197

His companions said this man would not run into their hands if he
was not confident in himself.
‘And it is well that “he who asks should get what he’s asking for”.’
After this they dismounted. Grettir came up just then and took holdof a clothes-bag which Gisli had behind him attached to his saddle
and said:‘I shall have this; I often stoop to trifles.’Gisli answers, ‘That you shall not. Do you not know who it is you
are dealing with?’
Grettir answers, ‘I am not entirely clear about that; anyway it won’t
make much difference to me in this case since I am asking for such a
trifle.’‘It may seem a trifle to you,’ he says, ‘but I would rather lose thirty
hundreds. But you are taking your domineering a bit far, and let’s gofor him, boys, and see what he can do.’They did so. Grettir gave ground before them and went back to astone that stands there by the way and is called Grettir’s Lift, anddefended himself from there. Gisli urged his companions on hard.
Grettir now saw that he was not such a hero as he made out, for healways kept behind his men. Grettir now got tired of this beating about
the bush and swept round his cutlass and struck one of Gisli’s companions his death-blow and leapt out from the stone and attacked so
hard that Gisli fell back before him right out along the mountain. Then
Gisli’s other companion fell. Then Grettir said:‘There is no evidence of you having performed well in so many
places, and you have not stood well by your friends.’
Gisli answers, ‘ “That fire is hottest that one is being burned by oneself”, and it’s terrible to deal with a devil like you.’
They then exchanged few blows before Gisli threw down his weapons and took to his heels out along the mountain. Grettir gave him
time to throw down whatever he wished, and every time Gisli saw anopportunity he threw off some article of clothing. Grettir never chased
him faster than to leave a space between them. Gisli ran right out
across the mountain and so across Kaldardal and so above Aslaugarhlid
and over Kolbeinsstadir and so out onto Borgarhraun. By then Gisli
was in just his underclothes and became enormously tired. Grettir followed him and they were always just in range of each other. He thentore up a great piece of brushwood. But Gisli didn’t stop until he came198

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

out to Haffiardara. It was very high and difficult to cross. Gisli wasgoing to go straight out into the river. Grettir then raced after him andtook hold of him, and then you could see the difference in strength
between them. Grettir forced him down under him and said:‘Are you the Gisli who wanted to meet Grettir Asmundarson?’
Gisli answers, ‘I have now met him, but I don’t know how we shallpart. Now keep what you have taken and let me go free.’Grettir said, ‘You obviously don’t understand what I am saying toyou, and I shall have to give you something to remember it by,’ thenpulled his shirt up over his head and let him have it with the branchacross his back and both sides. Gisli tried all the time to twist away.
Grettir basted him all over and then let him go. Gisli thought that hewould rather have no lessons from Grettir than have such another beating. And he didn’t do anything further to earn such a hiding. And assoon as Gisli got on his feet, he leapt out into a great pool and swam
across the river there and came at night to a farm called Hrossholt andby then was quite exhausted. He stayed in bed there for a week and his
body was all inflamed. After that he went to his lodging. Grettir went
back and picked up the things that Gisli had thrown down and tookthem back with him to his hide-out, and Gisli got none of them backafterwards. Many thought Gisli had got his just deserts for his overreaching himself and the boasts that he had made about himself. Grettir
composed this about their encounter:
The horse that can scratch really little with its teeth
when it should be biting, runs hardest from another horseand is not the first to stop from weariness.
But from me over Myrar that day
the enterprising Gisli ran farting;he left behind all honour and respect.
The following spring Gisli got ready to go to the ship and gave firm
instructions that none of the goods that were his were to be taken south
past the mountain, saying they would find the devil himself there.
Gisli rode south along by the sea all the way to the ship and he andGrettir never met again, and no one thought he amounted to anything
thereafter, and he is out of the story. Things got still worse between
Thord Kolbeinsson and Grettir. Thord made many attempts to get
Grettir away from there or to get him killed.

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199

60
Now when Grettir had been two winters on Fagraskogafiall and thethird had come, then Grettir went south to Myrar to a farm calledLækiarbug and he took six wethers without the permission of the owner.
From there he went down to Akrar and drove off two cattle to slaughter and many sheep and went up on the south side of Hitara. And when
the farmers found out where he had gone, they sent word to Thord at
Hitarness and asked him to take charge of getting rid of Grettir, but hedeclined. But in response to people’s entreaties he got his son Arnor,
who later on was known as Earls’ poet, to go with them and told themnot to let Grettir get away. Men were then sent through the whole
district.
There was a man called Biarni who lived at Iorvi in Flysiuhverfi.
He got men together from the other side of Hitara. Their plan was thatthe two troops should approach from different sides of the river. Grettir
had two men with him. There was Eyiolf, son of a farmer from
Fagraskogar, and a sturdy man, who went with him, and there was athird man with them. It was Thorarin from Akrar and Thorfinn ofLækiarbug that got there first, and they were a party of about twenty
men. Grettir was then going to make for the other side of the river.
Then Thorgeir60 and Arnor and Biarni arrived on the other side of theriver. A narrow ness went out into the river on the side that Grettirwas. He had driven the animals to the end of the ness when he saw theapproach of the men, for he never wanted to give up what he had got
his hands on. The men of Myrar started the attack straight away andwere going to it valiantly. Grettir told his companions to see that they
didn’t get behind him. Not very many could come at him at once.
There was a sharp exchange between them. Grettir struck on both sides
with his cutlass and they didn’t find it easy to get at him. Some of themen of Myrar fell and some were wounded. They took a long time on
the other side of the river because the ford was not very close. They
had not been fighting for long before they drew back. Thorarin from
Akrar was a very old man, so he took no part in the attack.

60 This Thorgeir has not been introduced into the story, but is presumably

Thorgeir Thorhaddsson of Hitardal, father of the Finnbogi who appears laterin the chapter.

200

THE SAGA OF GRETTIRAnd when the fighting was over, then Thorarin’s son Thrand andThord’s61 nephew Thorgils Ingialdsson and Thorgeir Thorhaddssonof Hitardal’s son Finnbogi and Steinolf Thorleifsson of Hraundal arrived. They strongly urged men to the attack. They had another hardfight. Grettir now saw that he must do one of two things: flee, or notspare himself. He now went forward so hard that no one could withstand him, for there were such a lot of men that he thought there wasno prospect of getting out of it except to do as much as he could before
he fell. He also wanted to get someone in exchange for himself who
had some fight in him. He leapt then at Steinolf of Hraundal and struckat his head and clove him down to the shoulders and immediately
struck another blow at Thorgils Ingialdsson and hit him in the middle
and nearly cut him in two. Then Thrand was going to leap forward andavenge his kinsman. Grettir struck at him on the right thigh so that it
cut off all the muscle and he was immediately disabled. After that hegave Finnbogi a great wound. Then Thorarin shouted and told them towithdraw, ‘for you will suffer worse from him the longer you fight,
and he is picking men off from your troop.’
They did so and turned back. Five men were fallen there, and fivemortally wounded or crippled, but most had some cuts who had beenat the encounter. Grettir was exceedingly tired but not much wounded.
The men of Myrar made off then and had suffered great losses, formany doughty men had fallen there. But those who had been the otherside of the river took a long time and didn’t arrive until the engagement was over. And when they saw how badly their men had fared,
Arnor did not want to expose himself to danger and he was greatly
criticised by his father and many others. People think that he did not
behave like a hero. It is now called Grettir’s Point, where they fought.
And Grettir’s party got themselves horses and rode up under the mountain, for they were all wounded. And when they got to Fagraskogar
Eyiolf stayed behind there. The farmer’s daughter was outside there
and asked for news. Grettir gave a detailed account and uttered a verse:
It will not easily, horn-flood keeping Saga [lady],
heal, Steinolf’s great head-scratch,
61 Thorarin’s in other manuscripts, which is more in conformity with The

Book of Settlements, ch. 67, according to which Ingiald and Thorarin were thesons of Thorgils Knappi.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

201

though others plunged down too.
Heavy hope remains of Thorgils’s life,
as his bones burst.
Men speak of eight other dead wealth-breakers there.
After this Grettir went to his hide-out and stayed there for the winter.

61
And when Biorn and he met, he told Grettir that he felt things had now
really gone wrong, ‘and it will not be possible for you to go on staying
here. You have now killed both relatives and friends of mine, though I
will not go back on what I agreed with you, for as long as you stay.’
Grettir said he had had to defend himself and his life, ‘but I am sorrythat you are upset about it.’
Biorn said there was nothing could be done about it. A little later
people came to Biorn who had lost their relatives at Grettir’s hands
and asked him not to let this ruffian stay there any longer as a torment
to them. Biorn said it should be done as soon as the winter came to an
end.
Thorarin of Akrar’s son Thrand was healed. He was a well-to-doman. He was married to Hrut of Kambsness’s daughter Steinunn.
Steinolf’s father Thorleif at Hraundal was an important man. Fromhim are descended the Hraundalers. Nothing further is told of dealings between Grettir and the people of Myrar while he was on themountain there. Biorn also stayed friends with him though Biorn lost
some of his friends because he let Grettir stay there, for people were
not content to have their relatives unatoned for. At the time of theassembly Grettir set off from Myrar. He then went again to Borgarfiord
and saw Grim Thorhallsson, and asked for advice about what he should
do next. Grim said he had not the means to keep him and so Grettir
went to see his friend Hallmund and stayed there during the summer
until towards the end of it.
In the autumn Grettir went to Geitland and stayed there until bright
weather came. Then he went up onto Geitland glacier and made forthe south-east along the glacier and took with him a pot and materials
for making a fire. It is thought that he was following directions given

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

by Hallmund, for he knew about all sorts of places. Grettir went until
he found a valley in the glacier, long and rather narrow, and enclosed
by ice on all sides so that it overhung the valley. He got down in acertain place. He saw then fair slopes grown with grass and brushwood. There were hot springs there and he thought it must be becauseof the subterranean heat that the ice did not close in over the valley. A
small river flowed along the valley with smooth gravel banks on bothsides. There was not much sun there, but it seemed to him beyond
counting how many sheep there were there in the valley. These animals were much better and fatter than he had seen the like of before.
Grettir now fixed himself up there and made himself a hut with thewood he found there. He used the sheep for food. One sheep provided
more meat than two elsewhere. There was a fawn-coloured, hornless
ewe with a lamb, which he thought most exceptional because of its
size. He was very interested in catching the lamb, and he did this andthen slaughtered the lamb. There was half a hundredweight of suet in
the lamb and it was better than anything. But when Mokolla found herlamb gone, she went up onto Grettir’s hut every night and bleated sothat he could not sleep at all at night. Because of her distress he felt thegreatest regret for having slaughtered the lamb. Every evening when
it was half dark he heard calls up in the valley and then all the animals
ran to the same place to sleep every evening. According to Grettir thevalley belonged to a giant, half man, whose name was Thorir, andGrettir stayed there under his protection. Grettir named the valley after
him and called it Thorisdal. He said Thorir had daughters, and they
provided Grettir with entertainment, and they were glad of this, forthere was not much company there. And during the fasts Grettir madethis observance that suet and liver should be eaten during Lent. Nothing noteworthy happened during the winter. Then Grettir found it wasso dull there that he could stay no longer. He then went away from thevalley and walked south straight across off the glacier and arrived on
the north side of the middle of Skialdbreid. He raised a slab of rock up
and knocked a hole in it and said if you put your eye to the hole in theslab, that then you could see the gully that comes down from Thorisdal.
Then he went south across the country and on to the Eastern Fiords.
He was on this journey during the summer and the winter and met all
the important people, and he got such a poor reception that nowhere
did he get food or lodging. So he went back northwards and stayed invarious places.

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203

62
Soon after Grettir left Arnarvatn Heath, a man came onto the heathcalled Grim. He was son of the widow at Kropp. He had killed Eid
Skeggiason of As’s son and for that had been outlawed. He now established himself there where Grettir had previously been and had goodcatches from the lake. Hallmund resented it that Grim had taken
Grettir’s place and decided that he should get no benefit from it, eventhough he had caught a lot. It happened one day that Grim caught ahundred fish and took them back to the hut and stowed them outside,
but the next morning when he got to them every fish had gone. He
thought this was strange and went to the lake and now caught two
hundred fish, took them back and stowed them, and it all went thesame as before, that they were all gone in the morning. Now it seemedto him that there was something abnormal about this. The third day hecaught three hundred fish, took them back and kept watch over his
hut. Grim watched through the eye hole in the door to see if anyone
came to the hut. So passed a part of the night. And when less than athird of the night had gone by he heard someone walking past outsideand stepping rather heavily. And when Grim heard this he took an axethat he had. It was a very sharp weapon. He wanted to know what theperson was up to. The visitor had a great creel on his back and put it
down and looked around and saw no one outside. He investigated thefish and thought they were worth getting his hands on, pulled all thefish down into the creel. Then the creel was full. There was so muchfish that Grim thought that a horse would not be able to carry more.
The other now set to and got himself under the load, and just when he
was going to stand up, Grim leapt out and struck with both hands at
his neck to that the axe sank in up to its back. The other man pulled
hard away and set off at a run with the creel south onto the mountain.
Grim went after him and wanted to find out whether he had got him.
They went all the way south under Ball-glacier. There this man went
into a cave. There was a bright fire in the cave. There sat a woman byit, of huge size and yet comely. Grim heard her greet her father andcall him Hallmund. He threw down his load hard and sighed heavily.
She asked why he was covered in blood. He answers and spoke this:
It is clear to me
that no man

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

can rely on his own strengthfor so fails
on the day of their death
heroes’ heart
when fortune fails.
She asked then in detail about their dealings and he told all that had
happened.
‘You shall now listen,’ he said, ‘and I shall tell of my doings, and I
shall recite a poem about them, and you shall cut what I say on a
stave.’She did so. Then he recited Hallmund’s Poem, and this is part of it:
I thought I was doughty
when I stroked Grettir
pretty harddown from the reins.
I saw thathow he stood and gazeda good while
into his palms.
That was next
when Thorir cameto Arnarvatn
up on the heath,and we two
against eighty
point-play [battle]
went and held.
They seemed doughtyof Grettir’s hands
the glancing blows
on their shields.
Yet I have heard
far greater
my edge-tracks [wounds]
seem to men.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR205

I made arms
and heads fly
from fighterswhen they came round the backso that warriors
of Kelduhverfi
eighteen there
lay behind.
I have giants
and their kinharshly treatedand crag-dwellers
but evil beings
thrashed manyand of half-men
been the death.
Also elf-kin
and monsters
to nearly all
I’ve done harm.
Hallmund referred to many deeds of his in the poem, for he had travelled over the whole country. Then his daughter said:‘This man has not been one to let anything slip out of his grasp, and
it is not surprising, for you did act badly towards him. But who will
now avenge you?’
Hallmund answers, ‘It is not certain that anyone can. I am sure that
Grettir would avenge me if he had an opportunity, but it will not beeasy to combat this man’s success, for he is destined for great things.’
After this Hallmund’s strength ebbed away in proportion as the poem
went on, and it was at about the same time that the poem ended andHallmund died. This was hard for her to bear and she wept very bitterly. Then Grim came forward and bade her pull herself together.
‘And “everyone has to go when their time comes”. It was to a large
extent his doing. I could scarcely sit by and watch him rob me.’She said there was much in what he said, ‘and “bullying has a badend”.’

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She then began rather to cheer up in conversation. Grim stayed there
many nights in the cave and memorised the poem and then they got ontolerably well. Grim stayed on Arnarvatn Heath during the winter afterHallmund’s death. After that Thorkel Eyiolfsson went against him on
the heath and they fought. Their engagement ended with Grim having
Thorkel at his mercy and he decided not to kill him, but Thorkel took
him in and got him abroad and gave him a lot of goods and each wasconsidered to have done well by the other. Grim afterwards became a
trader and there is a great tale told about him.62

63
Now we must take up the story where Grettir came back from theEastern Fiords and now travelled in disguise and kept hidden, for hedid not want to meet Thorir, and he lived in the open during the summer on Modrudal Heath and in various places. Some of the time he
was also on Reykiaheid. Thorir found out that Grettir was on Reykaheid
and got men together and rode onto the heath and was determined thathe should not escape. Grettir hardly noticed before they were almost
upon him. He was then by a shieling which stood a little way off theroad. He was with one other person. And when they saw the bands ofmen and had to decide quickly what to do, then Grettir said they should
fell the horses and drag them into the shieling, and they did so. Thorirrode past north along the heath and failed to meet the friend he was
expecting and found nothing and now turned back. And when the party
had ridden over to the west, then Grettir said:‘They will not be pleased with their trip if we do not meet. Now you
shall look after our horses, and I shall go up to them. It will be a finetrick on them if they don’t recognise me.’His companion was against this, but still he went and put on different gear and had a long hood down over his face and had a staff in his
hand, then went down the road in front of them. They greeted him andasked whether he had seen any men ride over the heath.
‘I saw those who must have been the ones you are looking for. You
weren’t far off meeting them, for they were here to the south of themarshes which are on the left hand side.’
62 See Laxdæla saga, chs 57–8.

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And when they heard this, they rushed out onto the marshes. There
were such great bogs there that they got stuck and had to drag theirhorses out and they floundered about in it for a good part of the day.
They called down curses on him, this tramp who had made such foolsof them. Grettir went straight back towards his companion, and when
they met Grettir uttered a verse:
I ride not towards
the trees that tend shield’s threat [warriors].
Trouble is the lot of this man.
I go away alone.
I do not want to meet
the keen wielders of Vidrir’s wall [warriors].
You will not think me mad.
I look for a better chance.
I shrink back where Thorir’s
very great bands go.
They now rode off down as fast as they could to the front of the farmat Gard before Thorir came off the mountain with his band. And when
they got near the farm a man came up with them. He did not recognisethem. They saw a woman standing outside, young and in fine clothes.
Grettir asked who this woman would be. The stranger said it wasThorir’s daughter. Then Grettir uttered a verse:
Wise gold-dweller’s seat Sol [lady],
you will be able to tell your father,though my words often do not signify,
where I ride past the broad farmand near Gard with a third man.
The supporters are few
of the prow-land-horse adorner [seaman, i.e. Grettir].
From this the stranger realised who it must be, and rode to the farms
and said that Grettir had ridden by. And when Thorir got home, manythought Grettir had pulled the wool over their eyes. Thorir now put
men on the watch for Grettir wherever he went. Grettir then decided
to send his companion to the western districts with the horses, and he

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went up into the mountains and was in disguise and so went about inthe north there in the first part of the winter without being recognised.
Everyone now thought Thorir had fared the same or worse than before
in their dealings.

64
There was a priest called Stein who lived at Eyiardalsa in Bardardal.
He was a good farmer and wealthy. His son was called Kiartan, a manwith plenty of vitality and sturdy. There was a man called Thorstein
the White who lived at Sandhaugar, south of Eyiardalsa. His wife wascalled Steinvor, young and cheerful. They had children, and they wereyoung at this time. This place was believed to be badly haunted because of the visitation of trolls. It happened two years before Grettircame to the northern districts that Steinvor, the lady at Sandhaugar,
went to the Christmas service at Eyiardalsa as usual, but the farmer
stayed at home. People lay down to sleep in the evening. And in thenight a great crash was heard in the room, coming from the farmer’s
bed. No one dared to get up to investigate, for there were very few
people there. The lady came home the next morning and the farmer
had disappeared and no one knew what had become of him. So thenext seasons passed.63 And the next winter the lady decided to go to
the service. She told her workman to stay at home. He was reluctant,but said he would do as she said. Everything went the same way as
before, so that the workman disappeared. This was thought very strange.
Then they saw some gouts of blood in the main doorway. They thenfelt certain that monsters must have taken both of them. This was reported all over the surrounding districts. Grettir got to hear of this, andbecause he was very good at getting rid of hauntings and the activities
of revenants he made his way to Bardardal and arrived on Christmaseve at Sandhaugar. He concealed his identity and called himself Guest.
The lady saw that he was astonishingly large in size, and the household were very afraid of him. He asked for lodging there. The lady
said he was welcome to food.
‘But it is at your own risk.’
63 The Icelandic year had two seasons, winter and summer. ‘The seasons’
therefore usually means a year.

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209

He said it should be so. ‘I shall stay in,’ he says, ‘and you go to theservice if you want to.’She answers, ‘I think you are bold if you dare to stay in the house.’‘I am used to a variety of things,’ he said.
‘I don’t like staying at home,’ she said, ‘but I can’t get across theriver.’‘I’ll help you over,’ says Guest.
Then she got ready to go to the service and her daughter with her,very small. There was a great thaw outside and the ice on the river was
melting. There were ice-floes on it. Then the lady said:‘The river is uncrossable for both people and horses.’‘There will be places to cross,’ said Guest, ‘and do not be afraid.’‘Take the girl first,’ said the lady, ‘she is lighter.’‘I don’t care to make two journeys of it,’ says Guest, ‘and I’ll carry
you on my arm.’
She crossed herself and said, ‘It is impossible to get across; butwhat will you do with the girl then?’‘I know what to do,’ he says, and picked them both up and put the
younger one on her mother’s knee and bore them thus on his left arm,
keeping his right arm free, and so stepped out into the crossing-place.
They didn’t dare cry out, they were so afraid, and the river crashedstraight up against his chest. Then a great ice-floe was driven at him,
but he flung out his free arm against it and pushed it away. It then got
so deep that the current was breaking against his shoulder. He waded
strongly until he got to the bank the other side and flung them ashore.
Then he turned back and it was then half dark when he got back to
Sandhaugar and called for food. And when he was fed he told thehousehold to go in to the back of the room. He then took tables andsome loose beams and fixed them across the room and made a great
partition so that none of the household could get out over it. No one
dared object and no one was allowed to grumble. The entrance wasthrough the side wall of the room at the end by the gable wall andthere was a platform across the room by it. Guest lay down there anddidn’t take off his clothes. A light was burning in the room opposite
the doorway.
The lady arrived at Eyiardalsa for the service, and people wereamazed about her travelling across the river. She said she didn’t knowwhether it was a man or a troll that had carried her across. The priest
said it must certainly have been a man.

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR‘Though there are few equal to him, and let’s keep quiet about it,’ hesaid, ‘maybe he is destined to bring about a cure for your troubles.’The lady stayed there overnight.

65
Now this is to be told about Grettir, that when it got close to midnighthe heard great clatterings outside. Next there came into the room agreat trollwife. She had a trencher in her hand, and in the other rather
a big machete. She looked round when she got in and saw where Guest
was lying and leapt at him and he up against her and they attacked
each other fiercely and fought for a long time in the room. She was thestronger, but he gave ground cleverly and everything that got in their
way they broke, even the cross-partition at the end of the room. She
dragged him out past the doorway and so into the farm-house entrance.
There he resisted strongly. She was trying to drag him out of the farmhouse, but she could not do this until they had pulled down all thedoor-frame and carried it out on their shoulders. She struggled thendown to the river and right out to the edge of the gorge. By now Guest
was enormously tired, but he had to do one of two things, make aneffort, or else she would pitch him into the gorge. All night they fought.
He thought he had never engaged with such a monster as far as strength
was concerned. She had been holding him so firmly to herself that hecould not use either arm for anything except to hold her round the
middle, the woman. And when they got to the river gorge, he swung
the giantess round off her feet. At that moment he got his right arm
free. He then grasped quickly for the cutlass he was girded with anddrew it, and struck then at the troll’s shoulder so that it took off her
right arm, and so he got free, and she threw herself into the gorge andso into the waterfall. Guest was then both stiff and tired and lay there
for a long time on the cliff edge. Then when it began to get light hewent back to the house and lay down in bed. He was all swollen andblue.
And when the lady got back from the service she thought there had
been a bit of a disturbance in her home. She went then to Guest andasked what had happened that everything was broken and crushed. He
related all that had happened. She was very impressed and asked who

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he was. He then told the truth about himself and told her to get thepriest and said he wanted to see him. This was done. And when thepriest Stein came to Sandhaugar, he soon discovered that it was Grettir
Asmundarson who had come there under the name of Guest. The priest
asked what he thought would have become of the people who had
disappeared from there. Grettir said he thought that they must havedisappeared into the gorge. The priest said he would not be able to put
any faith in his account if there was no evidence for it to be seen.
Grettir said that later they would be convinced. The priest went home.
Grettir lay in bed for many nights. The lady looked after him very
well; so Christmas went by. Grettir’s story was that the troll-wife had
thrown herself down into the gorge on receiving the wound, but thepeople of Bardardal say that she was turned to stone by the dawn while
they were wrestling, and collapsed when he cut off her arm, and that
there is still the image of a woman standing there on the crag. The
inhabitants of the valley concealed Grettir there during the winter.
It was one day after Christmas that Grettir went to Eyiardalsa, andwhen they met, Grettir and the priest, Grettir said:‘I can see, priest,’ he said, ‘that you put little faith in my account.
Now I want you to go with me to the river and see what probability
there seems to you to be in it.’
The priest did so. And when they got to the waterfall they could seea hollow up under the cliff. This was a sheer rock-face so huge that
there was no way to get up it, and it was nearly ten fathoms down to
the water. They had a rope with them. Then the priest said:‘It looks far beyond your capability to go down there.’‘Certainly it is possible, but it is best attempted by men of merit[daring]. I shall investigate what is in the waterfall, and you shall watch
the rope.’
The priest told him to do as he wished and drove a stake into thecliff-top and piled stones against it [and sat down beside it].

66
Now it is to be told about Grettir that he put a stone in the loop at theend of the rope and let it drop down to the water.
‘How are you planning,’ said the priest, ‘to get down?’

212

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR‘I shan’t want to be tied,’ said Grettir, ‘when I get to the waterfall. I
have a premonition about it.’After this he got ready for his expedition and was lightly clothedand girded himself with his cutlass, but took no other weapons. Thenhe leapt off the cliff and down into the waterfall. The priest saw thesoles of his feet and knew nothing of what happened to him afterwards. Grettir dived under the waterfall and this was difficult to do,for there was much turbulence and he had to dive right down to thebottom before he could get up under the waterfall. There was a great
jutting rock and he managed to get in up onto it. There was a greatcave there under the waterfall and the river fell in front of it off thecliff. He then went into the cave and there was a great fire on a pile ofburning logs. Grettir saw a horribly big giant lying there. He was terrifying to see. And when Grettir approached him the giant leapt up andgrasped a long weapon and struck at the intruder, for one could bothstrike and thrust with it. It had a wooden shaft. It was known as a haftknife64 when it was made like that. Grettir struck back with his cutlassand it hit the shaft so that it went in two. The giant was then about toreach back behind himself for a sword that was hanging there in the
cave. At that moment Grettir struck him from the front in the chest sothat it practically took off all the ribs and belly so that his innards were
flung out of him down into the river, and they were swept down along
the river. And while the priest was sitting by the rope he saw someshreds being carried down along in the current, all bloody. He wasthen no longer rooted to the spot and felt certain that Grettir must be
dead. He ran then from the holdfast and went home. Evening had thencome and [the priest] said for certain that Grettir was dead and said
that such a man was a great loss.
Now it is to be said about Grettir, that he struck one blow after another until the giant was dead. Then Grettir went further in along thecave. He lit a lamp and explored the cave. It is not told how much
wealth he got in the cave, but people think it must have been a greatdeal. He was occupied there on into the night. He found there thebones of two men and put them in a bag. He then made his way out of
the cave and swam to the rope and shook it and was expecting thepriest to be there, but when he realised that the priest had gone home
64 heptisax; cf. Old English hæftmece in Beowulf, line 1457, the one sup-posed verbal parallel between the two stories.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR213

he had to haul himself up the rope and so got up onto the cliff. Then hewent back to Eyiardalsa and put the bag with the bones in in the porchof the church together with a rune-stave on which these verses were
extremely well carved:
I went into the dark gorge;
the stone-churning flow yawned with wet-cold mouth
for the empowerer of sword-storm pole [warrior, i.e. Grettir].
The flying stream pressed forward
hard on my breast in Nauma’s hall [cave];the rather harsh hostility of Bragi’s wife65
came at the poet’s shoulders.
And this too:
Ugly troll-wife’s friend [giant] came against me from the cave;
Truly rather tough to deal with,
he fought long with me.
I caused the hard-edged haft-knife
to be cut from its shaft;bright battle-flame clove Gang’s breastand black chest.
It [also] said on it that Grettir brought these bones from the cave. And
when the priest came to the church in the morning he found the runestave and what was with it and read the runes. But Grettir had goneback to Sandhaugar.

67
And when the priest saw Grettir, he asked in detail about what had
happened, and he told the whole story of his exploit and said the priest
had been unreliable in looking after the rope. The priest admitted this.
People felt sure that it must have been these monsters that had been
responsible for the disappearance of people there in the valley, and
65 Another pun: Bragi’s wife was I›unn; i›unnar would mean ‘of the turbu-

lent water’.

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there was never any harm done afterwards by revenants or hauntings
there in the valley. Grettir was considered to have carried out a greatcleansing of the land there. The priest buried the bones in the churchyard.
Grettir stayed the rest of the winter at Sandhaugar and yet kept himself hidden from the general public. But when Thorir of Gard heard arumour that Grettir was in Bardardal, then he set men on to get rid ofhim. He was then advised to find somewhere else to go and he went to
the [districts to the] west. And when he got to Modruvellir to Gudmund
the Great he asked Gudmund for help, but he said it was not possible
for him to take him in.
‘And the only thing for you,’ said Gudmund, ‘is to get you somewhere where you need not fear for your life.’
Grettir said he did not know where that could be. Gudmund said:‘There is an island lying out in Skagafiord called Drangey. It is sucha good stronghold that it is impossible to get up onto it anywhere without using ladders. If you could get there, I don’t know where the man
is to be found who could attack you there with weapons or tricks if
you guard the ladder well.’‘It shall be tried,’ says Grettir, ‘but I’m getting so afraid of the darkthat to save my life I cannot bring myself to be on my own.’
Gudmund said, ‘Maybe that is so, but trust no one so well that you
do not trust yourself best of all. But “many are difficult to bewareof”.’
Grettir thanked him for his good advice. He then went away from
Modruvellir. He did not stop until he got to Biarg. His mother welcomed him, and so did Illugi. He stayed there a few nights. There helearned of the killing of Thorstein Kuggason.66 This had happened in
the autumn before Grettir went to Bardardal. He felt now that the blows
were falling all around him. Grettir then rode south across Holtavarda
Heath and planned to avenge Hallmund if he could find Grim, butwhen he got to Nordrardal he found out that Grim had gone from there
two or three winters before, as was said above. The reason Grettir had
heard this news so late was that he had been going in disguise for thetwo winters and the third, while he was in Thorisdal, and had met no66 See Laxdæla saga, ch. 75. According to Icelandic annals he was killed in
1027, but the circumstances are not known.

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215

one who would tell him any news. Then he went on to Breidafiardardalir
and waylaid people travelling over Brattabrekka. He then again let his
hands sweep over the property of small farmers. This was about thetime of high summer. That summer, towards its end, Steinvor at Sandhaugar gave birth to a baby boy, and it was called Skeggi. He was atfirst said to be son of Kiartan, son of the priest Stein at Eyiardalsa.
Skeggi was different from his other brothers and sisters as regards his
strength and size, and when he was fifteen years old he was the strongest
there in the north and was then put down to Grettir’s account. It wasthought that he would turn out to be an outstanding man, but he died at
the age of sixteen and there is nothing to tell of him.

68
After the killing of Thorstein Kuggason, Snorri Godi fell out with his
son Thorodd and Bork the Stout’s son Sam, but it is not specified what
in particular they had done to earn this, except that they had refused tocarry out some great deed that Snorri had asked them to do, and so
Snorri Godi drove Thorodd away from him and told him not to comeback until he had killed some outlaw, and he had to put up with it.
Thorodd then went across to Dalir.
At that time there lived at Breidabolstad in Sokkolfsdal a widow
called Geirlaug. She kept a shepherd who had been outlawed for injuring some one. He was a lad scarcely adult. Thorodd Snorrason heard
about this and rode to Breidabolstad. He asked where the shepherdwas. The lady said he was with the sheep.
‘And what do you want with him?’‘I intend to have his life,’ said Thorodd, ‘for he is a condemned
outlaw.’
She answers, ‘That will do you no good, killing him, poor fellow,
such a great hero as you think yourself. I can direct you to a greaterachievement if you have such a great mind to prove yourself.’‘What is that?’ says he.
She answers, ‘Up in the mountain here Grettir Asmundarson is staying. Tackle him, that is more in your line.’
Thorodd was pleased at this suggestion, ‘and I shall do that.’
He then spurred on his horse and rode up along the valley. And

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when he got onto the hills below Austra he saw where there was a paledun-coloured horse with a saddle on. He saw there too a big man withweapons and went straight up to him. Grettir greeted him and asked
who he was. Thorodd gave his name and said:‘Why don’t you ask me rather about my purpose than about myname?’‘Because,’ said Grettir, ‘it can only be something of little importance, but are you Snorri Godi’s son?’‘That’s right,’ said Thorodd, ‘but now we shall see which of us is
the stronger.’‘By all means,’ said Grettir, ‘but have you not heard that I have notbeen a source of much profit for most people to meddle with?’‘I know that,’ says Thorodd, ‘and yet we shall have a bit of a try,’and drew his sword and attacked Grettir vigorously, and he defended
himself with his shield. But he did not use weapons on Thorodd, andso it went on for a while. He was not wounded. Grettir said then:‘Let’s stop this game, for you will gain no victory in our engagement.’
Thorodd then went on striking furiously. Grettir got tired of dealing
with him. He took hold of Thorodd and set him down beside himself
and said:‘I am in a position to do anything I like with you, and I am not afraidof your killing me, but I’m afraid of the old grey-locks Snorri Godi,
your father, and his counsels. They have brought most men to theirknees. And you should limit yourself to undertakings that are withinyour power. It is no job for an infant to fight with me.’And when Thorodd saw that he was going to achieve nothing, hecalmed down a bit, and they parted thus.
Thorodd rode home to Tunga and told his father of his encounter
with Grettir. Snorri Godi smiled at this and said:‘ “Many are deceived about themselves”, and you were not equallymatched. You were striking up at him and he could have done anything he liked with you. And yet Grettir acted wisely in not killingyou, for I would not have been happy for you not to be avenged. I will
do what I can to help him if I am in a position to do anything in hiscase.’
It was clear to see in Snorri that he thought Grettir had acted welltowards Thorodd, and he was always afterwards his friend in what heproposed.

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69
Grettir rode north to Biarg soon after he and Thorodd separated andhid himself there for a while yet. Then there came such a great increase in his fear of the dark that he dared go nowhere as soon as night
began to fall. His mother suggested he should stay there, but said she
realised that this would not work because he had committed offences
all over the country. Grettir said she should have no trouble becauseof him.
‘But I am not going to put up any longer with being on my own,’ hesays, ‘in order to stay alive.’
His brother Illugi was then fifteen years old and the ablest of men.
He was present at their conversation. Grettir told his mother what
Gudmund the Great had suggested to him, and said he would see
whether there was any way of getting onto Drangey, though he said hewould not be able to stay there unless he got some reliable person tostay with him. Then said Illugi:‘I will go with you, brother, but I don’t know whether my company
will be any good to you, except that I will be true to you and not run
from you while you stand on your feet, and I will know better how
you are getting on if I am with you.’
Grettir answers, ‘You are the sort of person who gives me most joy,and if it were not against my mother’s wishes I would be very keen foryou to go with me.’Asdis said then, ‘Now it has reached the point that I can see that
there are two evils to choose from. I feel I cannot do without Illugi,
but I know that Grettir’s problems are so great that he has to find somesolution. And though I find it very hard to lose both of you my sons,yet I am willing to put up with that so that Grettir could then be better
off.’
Illugi was glad at this, for he thought it would be fine to go with
Grettir. She gave them a lot of money. They then set out on their way.
Asdis went a little way down the road with them, and before theyparted she said as follows:‘Now you are both going there, my two sons, and your death together will be the hardest thing, and “no one can escape what has been
fated for him”. I shall not see either of you ever again. Now stay together until the end. I do not know what fortune you will find out there
on Drangey, but there you will lay down your bones, and there are

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many that will resent your staying there. Beware of treachery, but
weapons will pierce you. My dreams have been very strange. Be on
your guard against witchcraft. “Little is stronger than sorcery”.’
And when she had said this, she wept bitterly. Then said Grettir:‘Do not weep, mother. It shall be said that you had sons, not daughters, if we are attacked with weapons, and fare well and happily.’
After that they parted. They now went through the districts to thenorth and went to see their relatives. So they spent the autumn and on
until winter. Then they made their way to Skagafiord and went northover Vatnsskard and so to Reykiaskard and so down Sæmundarhlid
and on to Langholt. They got to Glaumbæ late in the day. Grettir had
thrown back his hood onto his shoulder. That was how he always wentin the open whether it was better or worse weather. They went on fromthere, and when they had gone a little way past, a man came towards
them with a large head, tall and thin and ill-clad. He greeted them andeach asked the other their names. They said who they were, and hesaid his name was Thorbiorn. He was a solitary wanderer and did notcare to work and chattered a lot, and for some people was a source ofmuch mirth and ridicule. He behaved very friendly towards them andtold much from up in the district about the people of the neighbourhood. Grettir found him very amusing. He asked whether they didn’t
feel they needed someone to work for them.
‘I would happily go with you,’ he says.
He managed to convince them, so that they let him go with them.
There was driving snow and it was cold. And because this man was avery rowdy person and a great buffoon he had a nickname and wascalled Glaum (Merryman).
‘They wondered greatly in Glaumbæ, when you went there by thefarm with no hood in such bad weather,’ said Glaum, ‘whether you
would be the tougher for being more impervious to the cold, and there
were the two farmer’s sons, very exceptional men for strength, andthe shepherd called on them to go with him for the sheep and they
thought they could hardly clothe themselves against the cold.’
Grettir saw a young man inside the doorway pulling on his gloves
there, and another walking between the cowshed and the midden.
‘And I shall be afraid of neither of them.’
After that they went down to Reyniness and stayed the night there.
From there they went out onto the shore to a farm called Reykir. A man

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called Thorvald lived there and was a good farmer. Grettir asked him
for help and told him his plan, that he wanted to get out onto Drangey.
The farmer said that the people of Skagafiord would not take kindly tothat, and would not agree. Grettir then took out the purse of money his
mother had given him and gave it to the farmer. He brightened up
when he saw the money and got his workmen then to take them out atnight by moonlight. From Reykir is the shortest crossing to the island,
and it is a sea-league’s distance.67 And when they got to the island,
Grettir thought it was a pleasant sight, for it was covered with grassand steep down to the sea so that one could not get up anywhere except
where the ladders had been put, and if the upper ladder was pulled upthen it was within no one’s capability to get onto the island. There wasa great nesting site on the cliffs there for birds in the summer then.
There were at that time eighty sheep there on the island that belonged
to the farmers. They were mostly rams and ewes that were intended
for slaughter. Grettir now settled himself down there peacefully. By
now he had been fifteen or sixteen winters in outlawry, according towhat Sturla Thordarson has said.

70
When Grettir went to Drangey, there were these leading men of thearea in Skagafiord. Hialti lived at Hof in Hialtadal, son of Thord, sonof Hialti, son of Thord Skalp. Hialti was a leading figure and a very
distinguished man and well-liked. His brother was called Thorbiorn
Ongul (hook). He was a big man and strong and tough and difficult todeal with. Their father Thord had married in his old age and this woman
was not the mother of the brothers. She did not get on with her stepchildren, and worst of all with Thorbiorn, for he was ill-natured andthoughtless. It happened once that Thorbiorn Ongul was playing aboard-game. His stepmother went past and saw that he was playing
hneftafl. They were large pieces standing on pegs. She thought he waswasting his time and let fly some words at him, and he answered badtemperedly. She then snatched up one of the pieces and stuck the pointin Thorbiorn’s cheek and it glanced off into his eye so that it came out
67 The distance is about 6 1/ 2 km.

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onto his cheek. He leapt up and grabbed at her mercilessly so that she
took to her bed as a result and she died from it later, and they said that
she had been pregnant. Afterwards he became a most uncontrolled
person. He took over his share of the property and lived to begin within Vidvik.
Halldor son of Thorgeir, son of Thord of Hofdi, lived at Hof on
Hofdastrond. He was married to Thordis Thordardottir, sister of thebrothers Hialti and Thorbiorn Ongul. Halldor was a worthy farmer
and well off. There was a man called Biorn who lived on Haganess in
Fliot. He was a friend of Halldor at Hof. They worked together inevery affair. There was a man called Tungu-Stein who lived at Steinsstadir. He was son of Biorn, son of Ofeig Thunnskegg (thin-beard),
son of Kraku-Hreidar, [son of]68 the one to whom Eirik of Guddalir
gave the tongue of land down below Skalamyr. Stein was a renownedman. There was a man called Eirik, son of Holmgongu-Starri, son of
Eirik of Guddalir, son of Hroald, son of Geirmund Ordigskeggi (roughbeard). He lived at Hof in Guddalir. These were all men of high standing. Two brothers lived at a place called Breida on Slettahlid, and they
were both called Thord. They were mighty in strength and yet gentle
people. These all owned shares in Drangey. They say that there wereno fewer than twenty people had shares in the island and none of themwas willing to sell his share to anyone else. The sons of Thord had thegreatest stake in it, for they were the richest.

71
Now time passed until the solstice. Then the farmers got ready to fetch
their sheep from the island for slaughter. They made a crew for a sailing boat and each of the farmers provided one member, some of them
two. But when they got near to the island they saw people about there
on it. They were surprised at this, and supposed that some men musthave wrecked their ship there and got ashore there. They now rowed
up to where the ladders were, and the people who were already there
68 These words are not in some manuscripts, which then correspond withThe Book of Settlements, ch. 197.

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221

drew up the ladders. This seemed a strange reaction to the farmers,
and they called to them and asked who it was that was there. Grettir
gave his name and those of his companions. The farmers asked who
had taken him out to the island. Grettir answers:‘He brought me who was the owner of the vessel and had arms andwas more a friend of mine than a friend of yours.’
The farmers answered, ‘Let us get our animals, then come to themainland with us and you can have what you have used of our animals
for nothing.’
Grettir answers, ‘That is a kind offer, but still each shall now keep
what they have taken, and to put it briefly, I shall not go from here
unless I am dragged away dead. I will not give up what I have got myhands on.’Now the farmers were silent and felt that a real plague had arrived
on Drangey. They offered him many alternatives, accompanied bothby gifts of money and fair promises, but Grettir refused them all andthe farmers went away with matters thus and were very unhappy with
their lot. They told the people of the area what a plunderer had gone
onto the island. This was a great surprise to them, and it did not seemeasy to do anything about it. They had long discussions about it during the winter and could not think of any way to get Grettir off theisland.

72
Now time passed until people were going to the Hegraness Assemblyin the spring. A large number of people attended from all the areas thatbelonged to the assembly. People stayed there for a long time in thespring both for lawsuits and entertainments, for there were at that time
many people in these areas who liked entertainments. And when Grettir
learned that the general public had gone to the assembly (he had madean arrangement with his friends, for he was always on good termswith those who were closest by, and was never miserly towards themwith whatever he got hold of) he said that he wanted to go ashore to
get supplies, but that Illugi and Glaum were to stay behind. This seemed
inadvisable to Illugi, and yet he agreed to what Grettir wanted. He
told them to guard the ladder and said this was very important. After

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that he went ashore and got together what he felt he needed. He disguised himself now wherever he went and no one realised that he hadcome ashore. He got news from the assembly that there was muchentertainment there. Grettir had a great desire to go the assembly, andhe put on old clothes, rather shabby, and got to the assembly just when
everyone was leaving the legal meeting and returning to their booths.
Then some of the young men suggested that the weather was goodand fine and now it would be good for the youngsters to have some
wrestling and games. They said that was a very good idea. People thenwent and sat down in front of the booths. The sons of Thord were theones who mostly organised the games. Thorbiorn Ongul was very officious and was eagerly making arrangements for the entertainment. Everyone had to take part whom he wished. He took everyone by theshoulders and pulled them out onto the grass. Now the first people towrestle were those who were least strong, and then each in turn, andthis was a source of great entertainment. And when most had taken
part in the wrestling except those who were strongest, the farmers had
a discussion about who could be got to take on one or other of theThords who were mentioned above, but there was no one forthcoming. They then went up to various men and challenged them, but themore they called on them the less they were willing. Thorbiorn Ongul
then looked round and saw where a man was sitting, huge in size, andhis face could not be seen clearly. Thorbiorn took hold of him andpulled at him hard. He sat still and did not move at all. Then said
Thorbiorn:‘No one has sat as firmly before me today as you; and who is thisman?’
He answers, ‘My name is Guest.’
Thorbiorn said, ‘No doubt you will be willing to provide some entertainment, and you are a welcome guest.’
He answers, ‘Things have a habit of changing very quickly, and I
am not going to rush into a tournament with you, I don’t know how
things are here.’
Then many said that he deserved good treatment if he was willing toprovide people with some entertainment, being an unknown person.
He asked what they wanted from him. They asked him to wrestle withsomeone. He said he had given up scrapping.
‘But there was a time when I thought it fun.’THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

223

And since he didn’t refuse absolutely, they urged him the more. He
said:‘If you think it important that I be drawn into it, then you will grantme this to obtain it, to give me safe-conduct here at the assembly anduntil I get back to my abode.’
Then they all leapt up and said they were very happy for that to be.
The man’s name was Hafr who was most eager for this person to begiven safe-conduct. He was son of Thorarin, son of Hafr, son of Thord
Knapp, who had taken possession of land from Stifla in Fliot as far as
Tungua. He lived at Knappsstadir and was a very eloquent man. He
pronounced the terms of the truce with great emphasis, and it begins
like this:‘Here I establish a truce,’ he says, ‘between all men, especially as
regards this same specified person Guest, who is sitting here, and including all godordsmen and worthy farmers and all the population offighting men and those capable of bearing arms and all the other people of the area at the Hegraness Assembly, or from wherever each ofthem has come, named people and unnamed: we establish truce andabsolute peace to the unknown stranger who calls himself Guest, forgames, wrestling and all kinds of entertainment, for the duration of his
stay here and for his journey home, whether he needs to travel by sea
or by land, [by ship] or other conveyance. He shall have truce in allplaces, named and unnamed, as long as he needs until his safe returnhome with unbroken pledges. I establish this truce for us and our families, friends and connections, women as well as men, women and men
bondservants, workmen and independent persons. Let him be known
as a recreant truce-breaker who violates the truce or breaks the pledges,
outcast and banished from God and good people, from the kingdom ofheaven and from all the saints, and allowed to be nowhere among men
and thus driven away from everyone as far and wide as they drive
wolves or Christian people go to church, heathen people sacrifice intemples, fire burns, earth grows, children with speech call mother andmother gives birth to child, men kindle fire, ship passes, shields glint,
sun shines, snow lies, the Lapp skies, fir grows, falcon flies the springlong day if there comes a fair wind under both wings, sky turns, theworld is inhabited and the wind brings waters to the sea, slaves sow
corn. He shall shun churches and Christian people, heathen men, houses
and caves, every world except hell.

224

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR‘Now shall we all be at peace and in agreement one with anotherwith good thoughts whether we meet on mountain or shore, ship orski, earth or ice, on ocean or on horseback, just as when one meets
one’s friend in water or one meets one’s brother on the road, just as
much at peace one with another as son with father or father with son
in all dealings. Now let us clasp hands, all of us and keep the trucewell and all the words spoken in these pledges, in the presence of God
and good men and all those who hear my words or are at all close by.’Then many spoke up, that quite something had been said. Guest
then said:‘Well have you spoken and presented it, if you do not spoil it later. I
shall now not delay what I have to present.’
Then he threw off his hooded cape and after that all the covering on
his body. Then they all looked at each other and their faces fell. They
realised that this was Grettir Asmundarson, for he was not like othermen as regards size and strength of body, and they were now all silent,and Hafr looked rather foolish. They now walked around in twos, themen of the area, and they all blamed each other, especially the one
who had pronounced the truce. Then said Grettir:‘Be straightforward with me, as to what your intentions are, for I am
not going to go on sitting here with no clothes on. You have much
more at stake than I, whether you keep your truce or not.’They made little answer and sat down. The sons of Thord and theirbrother-in-law Halldor now held a discussion. Some wished to keep
the truce, and some didn’t. They all wagged their heads at each other.
Grettir uttered a verse:
Many a neck-ring bush [man] has
failed to recognise his acquaintance this morning.
The fray-house bushes [men] are in a quandary.
The word-sharp men have been dealt a difficult hand.
Folk are failing to keep their word.
“Hafr’s chatter has dried up”.
Then said Tungu-Stein, ‘Do you think so, Grettir? and what are they
going to decide, these leaders? But true it is that you are a paragon forcourage. And don’t you see how they are all nosing at each other?’
Grettir then uttered a verse:

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225

Hlokk’s hangings’ raisers [shield-raisers, warriors]
put their noses togetherand Hild’s wall’s storm-Niords [warriors]
poked each other with their beards.
Mind-firm they went,
they began to repent their truce,
serpent’s lair robbers [generous men], into groups
when they recognised me.
Then said Hialti Thordarson:‘That shall not be,’ he says, ‘we must keep our truce, even though
we have been shown to be so inferior in judgement. I do not wantpeople afterwards to use it as a precedent that we have ourselves goneback on the truce which we ourselves established and made. Grettir
shall go freely wherever he will, and have safe-conduct until he getsback from this expedition. Then the truce will have expired, whatevertakes place between us.’Everyone thanked him for what he had said, and he was thought tohave shown true leadership, the situation being what it was. Thorbiorn
Ongul said nothing. Then it was suggested that one or other of theThords should take on Grettir, and he said it was up to them. Now oneof the brothers came forward. Grettir faced him squarely and the otherleapt at him without hanging about but Grettir did not budge. Grettir
reached over Thord’s back and took hold of his breeches and jerked
his feet off the ground and threw him back over his head so that hecame down on his shoulders and it was a very heavy fall. Then people
said that both the brothers should go up together, and they did so.
Then there was a very great deal of pulling and pushing and it went
now one way and now the other, and yet Grettir always had one ofthem down, but one after another was forced to his knees or to bite thedust before the other. They went at it so hard that they were bruised
and bloody all over. Everyone was greatly entertained by this. And
when they stopped, everyone thanked them for their wrestling, and it
was the judgment of those who were there that the two of them were
not stronger than Grettir on his own, but each of them had the strengthof two men of full power. They were so matched in strength that neither of them was superior to the other when they tried with each other.
Grettir did not stay long at the assembly. The farmers asked him to226

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

give up the island, but he refused and the farmers could do nothing
about it. Grettir went back to Drangey and Illugi welcomed him warmly.
They stayed there peacefully. Grettir told them about his expedition.
Time passed through the summer. Everyone thought the men of
Skagafiord had behaved very decently in keeping their truce so well,and one can see from this what real gentlemen there were at that time,
considering what offences Grettir had committed against them. The
farmers who were less wealthy said among themselves that it was ofno advantage to them to own a small share in Drangey and offered
now to sell to the sons of Thord, but Hialti said he did not want to buy.
And the farmers stipulated that he who wished to buy must either kill
Grettir or get him away. Thorbiorn Ongul said he would not hold backfrom taking on responsibility for an attack on Grettir if they would
give him money to do so. His brother Hialti gave up to him his sharein the island, for Thorbiorn was the harsher of the two and unpopular.
Other farmers did the same. Thorbiorn then gained a large part of theisland at a low price, and he undertook to get Grettir away.

73
About the end of summer Thorbiorn Ongul went with a fully manned
sailing boat to Drangey, and [Grettir and his companions] went to theedge of the cliff. They then exchanged words. Thorbiorn asked Grettir
to accede to his request to leave the island. Grettir said there was nohope of that. Thorbiorn said:‘It may be that I shall be able to do you an equivalent favour, if you
did this, but now many farmers have given up to me the part of theisland that they owned.’
Grettir answers, ‘Now you have let something out that makes me
still determined never to leave here, when you said you owned thegreatest part of the island. “That is fine, that we should pick a bonewith each other”. It was quite true that I found it hard to have all thepeople of Skagafiord against me, but now there’s no need for either of
us to hold back, for we shall not be smothered in brotherly love. You
may as well give up coming here, for as far as I am concerned ournegotiations are finished.’

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

227‘ “There is a time for everything”,’ said Thorbiorn, ‘and you havegot something coming to you.’‘I’ll have to risk that,’ said Grettir, and they parted with mattersthus. Thorbiorn went back home.

74
It is said that when Grettir had been on Drangey for two winters they
had slaughtered nearly all the sheep that had been there. But they kept
one ram alive, according to the story. It was grey-bellied in colour andwith large horns. They got a great deal of fun from it, because it was
so tame that it waited for them outside and ran after them wherever
they went. It went back to the hut in the evenings and rubbed its horns
against the door. They liked being on the island for there was plenty offood because of the birds and eggs. But there was very little store of
firewood to be found there and Grettir made the servant always examine what washed up on the shore, and often pieces of wood washed up
and he carried them back for the fire. The brothers did not need to do
any work except to go collecting on the cliffs when they felt like it.
The servant began to get very lazy about his work. He began to grumble a lot and to be more careless than he had been. He was supposed tolook after the fire every night, and Grettir made a point of warning
him about this, because there was no boat with them. Now it so happened that the fire went out on them one night. Then Grettir was very
annoyed at this and said it was fitting that Glaum should be flogged.
But he, the servant, said he was living a poor sort of life, to be lying
here in outlawry and being abused and beaten if anything went wrong.
Grettir asked Illugi what they were to do, and he said he could think ofnothing except that they would have to wait for a boat to turn up.
Grettir said there was little prospect of that.
‘Rather I shall take the risk of whether I can get ashore.’‘I am very worried about that,’ said Illugi, ‘for we shall have had it,
if anything happens to you.’‘I shall not drown while swimming,’ said Grettir, ‘but I shall not soreadily trust the servant from now on, when we depended on this somuch.’

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It was a league across the sea where the distance from the island to
the shore was shortest.

75
Grettir now got ready for swimming and had on a homespun cloak
and girded it into his breeches; he made his fingers webbed. The
weather was good. He set out from the island towards the end of theday. Illugi was very worried about his expedition. Grettir now swam
in along the fiord and the current was with him and it was completely
calm. He swam hard and got in to Reykianess after sunset. He went to
the farm at Reykir and went into the hot pool, for he had become
pretty cold. He basked for a long time in the hot water during the night
and then went into the living-room. It was very warm in there because
there had been a fire there during the evening and the room had notcooled down much. He was very tired and fell fast asleep. He lay there
right on into the day. And when the morning drew on the people of thehousehold got up and two women were the first to go into the livingroom. These were a serving-girl and the farmer’s daughter. Grettir
was asleep and the clothes had tumbled off him down onto the floor.
They saw a man lying there and recognised him. Then the serving-girl
said:‘My goodness, sister, this is Grettir Asmundarson come here, andhe looks really big about the ribs, lying there with nothing on. But it
seems to me very strange how little he has developed between thelegs, and it is not in keeping with his size elsewhere.’
The farmer’s daughter answers, ‘Why do you chatter on so? And
you are a more than average fool, and be quiet.’‘I cannot be quiet about this, dear sister,’ says the serving-girl, ‘because I wouldn’t have believed if anyone had told me.’She now went over to him and peered at him, and now and again ran
up to the farmer’s daughter and burst out laughing. Grettir heard what
she was saying, and when she ran back again across the floor he tookhold of her and uttered a verse:
A caution is the scatterbrain’s behaviour.
Arrow-wind desiring bushes [warriors]

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229

cannot usually see the sword in another one’s hair properly.
This I bet, they do not have bigger balls than I
even if the spear-storm trunks [warriors] have larger cocks.
Then he snatched her up onto the bench, and the farmer’s daughter ran
out. Then Grettir uttered a verse:
Seam-prop spinster said I had got small in the sword.
The boastful balls-branch Hrist [servant-girl] is telling the truth.
My low maned-horse can grow quite longin my young man’s thigh forest,island-bone Freyia [servant-girl];69 wait a moment.
The maid shrieked at the top of her voice, but they parted with her nolonger taunting Grettir by the time it was finished. A little later he got
up and went to farmer Thorvald and told him of his problem and asked
him to ferry him out and he did so and made a boat available to him
and ferried him out and Grettir thanked him for this kindness. And
when it became known that Grettir had swum a league across the sea,
everyone thought his prowess was surpassing both on sea and on land.
The people of Skagafiord criticised Thorbiorn Ongul greatly because
he didn’t get Grettir away from Drangey, and they said they would
each take back their share. He found himself in a spot, and told them
to be patient.

76
That summer a ship came out to Gonguskardsos. On this ship there
was a man called Hæring. He was a young man and so good at climbing that there was no cliff he couldn’t get up. He went to stay withThorbiorn Ongul and was there on into the autumn. He kept pressing
Thorbiorn to go to Drangey, and said he wanted to see whether it wassuch a steep rock that there was nowhere one could get up. Thorbiorn
said he wouldn’t be wasting his time if he got up onto the island andmanaged to give Grettir a wound or to kill him. He made this sound69 Island-bone = jewel, precious stone.

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tempting to Hæring. And after this they went to Drangey and put him,
the Easterner, up in a certain spot and he was to steal up on them, if he
got up onto the island, but they went round to the ladder and started
talking to Grettir and his companions. Thorbiorn asked Grettir whether
he had made up his mind not to leave the island. He said there wasnothing on which he was so determined.
‘You have really led us a dance,’ says Thorbiorn, ‘whether we are everable to get our own back or not, but there’s not much that worries you.’
They went on with this for a long time, and they reached no agreement. But of Hæring there is this to tell, that he climbed back andforth over the cliff and managed to get up in a certain place where noone has been able to go either before or since. And when he got up
onto the rock he saw where the brothers were with their backs to him.
He thought that he would now within a short time be winning bothfame and fortune. They had no suspicion about his movements, forthey thought that it was impossible to get up anywhere except where
the ladders were. Grettir was then busy with Thorbiorn and there wasno lack of sharp words on both sides. Then Illugi happened to glanceround and saw a man had come very close upon them. He then said:‘A man has come here upon us wielding an axe and he doesn’t look
too friendly to me.’‘You go against him then,’ says Grettir, ‘and I shall guard the ladder.’Illugi made at Hæring, and when the Easterner saw this he set off
somewhere along the island. Illugi chased him as far as the island
went, and when he got to the edge of the cliff Hæring leapt off over itand broke all his bones. So his life came to an end. That has since beencalled Hæring’s leap where he perished. Illugi came back and Grettir
asked how he had parted from the one that he had been assigned to.
‘He wasn’t content,’ says Illugi, ‘to let me sort things out for him,
and he broke his neck down over the cliff, and the farmers should prayfor him on the assumption that he is dead.’And when Ongul heard this, he told them to row away.
‘I have now made two trips to meet Grettir, and I shall not come athird time unless I find out something new. But now I think it most
likely that they can stay on Drangey as far as I am concerned. But I
think that Grettir’s time here from now on will be shorter than thetime he has been here.’THE SAGA OF GRETTIR231

Now they went home. This expedition was considered to be evenworse than the previous one, and Grettir stayed that winter on Drangey,
and there was no meeting between him and Thorbiorn that winter.
In that year Lawman Skapti Thoroddson died. This was a great loss
to Grettir, for he had promised to press for his release as soon as Grettir
had been twenty winters in outlawry, and this was the nineteenth winter of his outlawry of which we have just told. In the spring Snorri
Godi died, and there were many things happened during this year which
don’t come into this story.

77
That summer at the Althing, Grettir’s family discussed his outlawry agreat deal, and some were of the opinion that he had worked out his
outlawry if he had done part of the twentieth year. But those who had
charges against him would not agree and claimed he had committed
many deeds deserving of outlawry since, and so thought his outlawry
ought to be even longer. Then a new lawman was chosen, Stein, son ofThorgest, son of Stein the Great Traveller, son of Thorir Autumndark.
The mother of Lawman Stein was Arnora, daughter of Thord Gellir.
Stein was a wise man. He was asked to give a ruling and he told them
to work out whether it was the twentieth summer since he had been
made outlaw, and it turned out to be the case. Then Thorir of Gardinterposed and sought to bring forward all possible objections, and he
was able to show that Grettir had been out here one winter when he
was not an outlaw, so that it was then nineteen winters that he had
been in outlawry. Then the lawspeaker said that no one should be
longer in outlawry that twenty winters in all, even if he had committed
deeds deserving of outlawry during that time.
‘But until that time is up I will release no one from outlawry.’
As a result his release came to nothing for the time being, but it was
now thought to be certainly going ahead that he would be released thenext summer. The people of Skagafiord did not like the idea of Grettir
getting out of outlawry, and now demanded that Thorbiorn Ongul
should now either hand back the island or kill Grettir. He now thought
he had a problem on his hands, for he saw no way of defeating Grettir,
and yet he wanted to keep the island. He searched through all the

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possible ways of getting the better of Grettir, either by force or trickery or by whatever means he could get it done.

78
Thorbiorn Ongul had a nurse called Thurid. She was very old and notable to do much, so people thought. She had been very skilled in magicand had great knowledge of sorcery when she was young and people
were heathen. Now it looked as though she must have forgotten it all.
But though Christianity ruled in the land, there were yet many sparksof heathendom remaining. It had been the law in this country that itwas not forbidden to sacrifice in secret or to perform other pagan rites,
but the penalty was lesser outlawry if it was discovered. Now it wasfor many people that “the hand was most inclined to habit”, and “itcame most naturally to do what had been learned in youth”. And when
Thorbiorn Ongul had run out of ideas, he turned there for help wheremost would have thought it least likely to be found, and that was to hisnurse, and he asked what sort of advice would be available from her.
She answers:‘Now it seems to have come to this, as they say, that “many go to thegoat-shed to ask for wool”. And the last thing I want is that I should
regard myself as superior to all the people of the area, and then turnout to be a useless person as soon as it is put to the test. Now I do not
see that I could fare worse than you have done, even though I canscarcely rise from my bed. If you want to take my advice, then I shalltell you how to go about it.’He agreed to this and said that her advice had proved helpful to him
for a long time. So time passed until Double-month in the summer. It
was one fine day that the old woman said to Ongul:‘Now it is calm weather and bright. I wish you now to go to Drangey
and pick a quarrel with Grettir. I shall go with you and see how watchful he is of his words. I shall be able to get some certain knowledge, if
I see them, as to how long their luck will last, and then I shall pronounce over them whatever words I please.’
Ongul answers, ‘I’m getting tired of visits to Drangey, because I’malways in a worse mood when I come away from there than when I
arrive.’THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

233

Then said the old woman, ‘I shall not make any suggestions to you
if you won’t ever do as I say.’‘We don’t want that, my dear,’ he says, ‘but I have declared thatwhen I went there for the third time, something should come out of it
for us.’‘You will have to risk it,’ says the old woman, ‘and it is going to costyou a great deal of trouble before Grettir is laid low, and it will often
seem to you uncertain how it is going to turn out for you, and you will
suffer for it when it is finished. And yet you are so committed to all
this that something has to be done.’
After this Thorbiorn Ongul has a ten-oared boat launched and went
aboard in a party of twelve. The old woman was along with them.
They set to rowing out to Drangey. And when the brothers saw this,they went out to the ladder and they again began to discuss their affairs, and Thorbiorn said that he was again come to raise these questions, whether Grettir was willing to go away, and said he would still
make a small issue of his loss of produce and their squatting there if
they parted without trouble. Grettir said he would not accept or offer
any terms for his leaving there.
‘I have said this often before, and there is no point in your discussing it with me,’ he says. ‘You can do what you like, but here I shallstay and face whatever comes.’
Now Thorbiorn realised that his errand was going to be fruitless forthe time being, and said:‘I felt I knew what accursed men we had to deal with here, and it ismost likely that it will be a few days before I come here again.’‘I don’t consider that one of my misfortunes, even if you never comehere again,’ says Grettir.
The old woman was lying back in the stern and clothes had beenlaid over her. She then stirred and said:‘These men seem to be tough and not prone to success. You andthey are not of a kind. You make them many good offers, and theyrefuse them all, and there is little that more surely leads to misfortune
than not being able to accept a good offer. Now I pronounce this upon
you, Grettir, that you shall be bereft of success, all good fortune andluck and all defence and sense, ever the more the longer you live. It is
my expectation that your days of joy here from now on will be fewer
than those you have had up to now.’234

THE SAGA OF GRETTIRAnd when Grettir heard this, he was very taken aback, and he said:‘What sort of devil is on the boat with them?’
Illugi replies, ‘I think it is the old woman, Thorbiorn’s nurse.’‘To hell with that sorceress,’ says Grettir, ‘and there was nothingworse to have been expected, and there are no words that have moretaken me aback than those which she spoke, and I know that from her
and her magic something evil will come to me. She is also going tohave something from me to remind her of her visit to us.’And he took up a pretty large stone and threw it down onto the boat,
and it landed on the heap of clothes. Yet it was a longer throw thanThorbiorn had thought that any man could do with a stone. At that
there was heard a great shriek. The stone had hit the old woman’s
thigh so that it broke. Then said Illugi:‘I would rather you hadn’t done that.’‘Don’t criticise it,’ says Grettir, ‘but I’m afraid that it has achieved
too little, for it wouldn’t have been too much in exchange for the twoof us, if just one old woman had been the price of us.’
‘Why should she be the price of us?’ said Illugi, ‘and we would not
be making much of a showing then.’Thorbiorn now went home, and there were no farewells when theyparted. He then said to the old woman:‘Now it went as I expected, that you have not come back from yourexpedition to the island covered with glory. You have been maimed,
and we are no closer to a proper solution than we were before, and weare forced to put up with one disgrace on top of another with no redress.’
She answers, ‘This will be the beginning of their misfortunes, and I
am sure that from now on things will take a turn for the worse forthem. I am not worried that if I live I shan’t be able to take vengeancefor the treatment that has been given to me.’‘You really have raised your spirit, my dear,’ said Thorbiorn.
So they came home, and the old woman took to her bed and remained there nearly a month. Then her injured leg had mended. She
then began to get about on her feet. People made a great joke ofThorbiorn and the old woman’s trip, and they thought there had been
a lot of points scored in his exchanges with Grettir, to begin with at the
spring assembly with the granting of the truce, secondly when Hæring
was killed, and now the third when the old woman’s thigh was broken, and there had been no points scored back. Thorbiorn Ongul foundthese comments very trying.

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79
Now time passed on into the autumn, until it was three weeks before
the beginning of winter.70 Then the old woman asked to be carted tothe sea. Thorbiorn asked what she intended to do.
‘I haven’t got a great deal of business, though it may be,’ she says,‘that it will be the beginning of things of greater significance.’
It was done as she asked, and when she got to the shore, she limped
along by the water as if she was being guided. There lay before her alog of wood with its root as big as one could carry on one’s shoulder.
She looked at the log and told them to turn it over for her. It looked as
though it had been scorched and rubbed on one side. She had a little
flat bit carved where it had been rubbed. Then she took her knife andcut runes on the root and reddened them with her blood and recitedspells over them. She walked backwards withershins round the log
and spoke over it many powerful formulas. After that she had the log
pushed into the sea and made this pronouncement that it was to drift
out to Drangey and be a source of every evil to Grettir. Thereupon she
went back to Vidvik. Thorbiorn said he had no idea what this would
achieve. The old woman said he would find out later. The wind was
blowing in along the fiord and the old woman’s root moved off against
the wind and seemed not to travel too slowly.
Now Grettir was on Drangey, as was said above, with both his companions, and they were quite happy. The next day after the old woman
had cast her spell on the piece of wood, Grettir and his companions
went down over the cliff and looked for firewood, and when they got
to the west side of the island they found a log with its roots washedashore. Then said Illugi:‘That is a huge log for the fire, brother, and let’s take it home.’
Grettir kicked it with his foot:‘An evil piece of wood, and sent by someone evil, and we shall use
some other firewood,’ and threw it out into the sea, and told Illugi he
was not to bring it home, ‘for it has been sent to cause us harm.’
After that they went to the hut and said nothing of this to the servant. The next day they found the log and it was closer to the ladders
than the previous day. Grettir pushed it out to sea and said it mustnever be taken home. So that night passed. Then came windy weather
70 See Winter Nights in Glossary.

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with rain and they didn’t feel like going out and told Glaum to look for
firewood. He was cross at this and said he was being treated badly
when he had to suffer outside in all the bad weather. He went down
the ladders and found the old woman’s root there and thought things
had turned out well, lifted it up and struggled back to the hut andthrew it down, and it made a great bang. Grettir heard it:‘Glaum has found something and I’ll go out and see what it is,’ andhe takes up a wood-axe and goes out. Glaum then said:‘Make as good a job of cutting it up as I have of bringing it home.’
Grettir was not pleased with the servant and hit the root with the axe
with both hands without noticing what log it was. And as soon as theaxe touched the log it turned flat and glanced off the log and into
Grettir’s right leg above the knee so that it cut to the bone, and thiswas a great wound. Then he looked at the log and said:‘That which was more inclined to evil has proved more powerful,and this will not be the only misfortune. Now that same log that I
threw away for two days has found its way here. Two accidents havenow befallen you, Glaum, the first when you let our fire go out, andnow this, that you have brought home this disastrous log, but if you
have a third accident it will mean death for you and for all of us.’
Then Illugi went and dressed Grettir’s wound, and it bled little, andGrettir slept well during the night, and so three nights passed without
any pain coming into the wound. And when they unwrapped it thewound had closed across so that it was nearly healed. Then Illugi said:‘I really think that you are not going to have much trouble from thiswound.’‘That would be a good thing, then,’ says Grettir, ‘but this is a strange
business, however it turns out, and my feeling about it is quite different.’

80
Now they go to bed in the evening. And when it reached midnight
Grettir began to toss about violently. Illugi asked why he was so restless. Grettir said that he had got a pain in his leg.
‘And it would seem most likely to me that there has been somechange in its colour.’
They then kindled a light. And when they unwrapped it the leg lookedswollen and black as coal and the wound had broken open and wasTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR

237

much worse-looking than before. At the same time it gave him a great
deal of pain so that he couldn’t put up with it without moving and hegot not a wink of sleep. Then said Grettir:‘We must be prepared for this illness that I have got not being without consequences, for this is sorcery, and the old woman will have
hoped to avenge the blow with the stone.’
Then Illugi said, ‘I told you that no good was to be got from that old
woman.’‘It will all come to the same thing,’ says Grettir, and uttered fiveverses:71
Oft did the blade’s edge
determine fates in battle,
when I defended the birch-dwellingstrongly from the attack of berserks.
Hrist’s defender [warrior], Hiarrandi also
lost strong tree of hands [arm];
Biorn and Gunnar both soon lost
life and peace.
Also I came once out
on broad ferry to Dyrholmar,
spear-man [warrior, i.e. Grettir] long on boat.
Torfi, Vebrand’s fine sonthen challenged well-disposed man
to heavy spears’ tumult [battle]
with a great force.
So was tough tree of Mimir’s wall [warrior, i.e. Torfi]
parted from the poet [Grettir]though many men stood in weapons’ quarrel [battle]
so that oar-maple [sailor, Torfi] once was disabled
by Grettir’s hand in storms of wounds [battles];a horse he gave me in conclusion.

71 Some of these verses refer to events not recounted in the saga; with thefourth, compare Ljósvetninga saga, ch. 1. They are not in all manuscripts ofthe saga, and may have been composed after the saga was first written.

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I have heard that Thorfinn Arnor’s son
was widely thought a man strong in dangerous deeds.
Point-tree [warrior, Thorfinn] said he would keep me from old age.
Determination failed the headstrong
scatterer of serpents’ lairs [gold]
though he met me alone in the open;
I was not the more ready.
I was able to keep my life from spear-wielders [warriors],
for I trusted my might against men’s sieges;
it was not a rare occurrence.
Now has a powerful ancient stone-land [woman, Thurid]
defeated battle-fire tree [warrior, Grettir] by charms.
These grim undertakings are mighty.
‘Now we must be on the watch,’ said Grettir, ‘for it will be Thorbiorn
Ongul and his people’s intention that this will not be the only thing. I
want you, Glaum, to guard the ladder every day from now on, and pull
it up in the evening, and do this faithfully, as if a great deal depended
on it. But if you betray us, you will not be long in getting something
unpleasant.’
Glaum made fair promises about this. Now the weather began toworsen, and a great north-easterly blew up with cold weather. Grettir
asked each evening whether the ladder had been pulled up. Glaum said:‘It really is most likely that people will come! And is anyone so
determined to have your life, that to gain it he would kill himself? For
this weather is quite beyond travelling in. And I think your great heroism is now extinguished when you are expecting death for yourselvesat every moment.’‘You will put up with it even worse than either of us,’ said Grettir,‘whatever has to be faced. But even so you must now guard the ladder,if you have to be forced.’
They drove him out every morning. He made a great fuss about it.
The pain in the wound began to get worse, so that the whole leg swelled
up and the thigh then began to fester both above and below and it
spread over the whole wound so that Grettir became mortally ill. Illugi
watched over him night and day so that he took no notice of anythingelse. The second week had now passed since Grettir had wounded
himself.

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81
Thorbiorn Ongul was now staying at home in Vidvik and was dissatisfied that he was unable to defeat Grettir. And when a good week had
passed since the old woman had cast her spell on the root, she came totalk to Thorbiorn and asked whether he didn’t plan to go and see Grettir.
He said there was nothing he was more determined against.
‘But do you want to see him, my dear?’ says Thorbiorn.
‘I shall not go to see him,’ says the old woman, ‘but I have sent him
my greeting, and I am sure it will have reached him. And I think it
would be a good thing for you to jump to it quickly and go soon to seehim, otherwise you will have no chance of defeating him.’
Thorbiorn answers, ‘I have gone there on so many disastrous trips
that that is somewhere I am not going. That alone is a good enoughreason, that there is such a storm raging that it isn’t possible to go
anywhere, whatever urgency there may be.’
She answers, ‘You really are lacking in initiative, if you can see noway to go about it. Now I shall again tell you what to do. First, go andget hold of some men and ride out to Hof to your brother-in-law Halldor
and get his advice. But if I have some power over Grettir’s health,why should it be thought unlikely that I am responsible for the breathof wind which has been playing over us for a time?’
Thorbiorn realised that it could be that the old woman could see
further than he had thought and immediately sent for men round in the
district. There was a quick response, that none of those who had given
up their share were willing to do anything to help, said that Thorbiorn
could keep both the share in the island and the attack upon Grettir.
Tungu-Stein provided him with two of his supporters, his brother Hialti
sent him three men, Eirik of Guddalir sent him one man; he also had
six men from his own house. These twelve rode from Vidvik out toHof. Halldor invited them to stay and asked what was their purpose.
Thorbiorn gave a most clear account. Halldor asked whose idea it was.
He said that his nurse had urged him greatly.
‘That will lead to no good,’ said Halldor, ‘for she is a sorceress, andthat is now forbidden.’‘We can’t take account of all that,’ says Thorbiorn, ‘but a conclusion shall be reached somehow if I have anything to do with it. But
how shall I go about getting onto the island?’‘I can see,’ says Halldor, ‘that you are putting your trust in some-240

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

thing, but I am not sure how good it is. Now if you want to go ahead,go out to Haganess in Fliot to my friend Biorn. He has a good boat.
Tell him it is my wish that he lend you the ship. From there it should
be possible to sail in to Drangey, but I am not confident about yourtrip if Grettir is not ill and in good health. And you can be sure of this,that if you don’t defeat him in a decent way, he has plenty of people tobring a suit on his behalf. Don’t kill Illugi if you can avoid it. But I
feel sure that not everything is Christian in this enterprise.’
Now Halldor gave them six men to go with them. One was called
Kar, the second Thorleif, the third Brand. More are not named. And
from there the eighteen of them went out to Fliot and came to Haganessand gave Biorn Halldor’s message. He said he felt obliged to comply
on his account, but said he owed Thorbiorn no favours and thought
this trip was a crazy idea, and was much against it. They said theywould not turn back, went down to the sea and launched the boat, andthe gear was near by in the boat-shed. They now got ready to sail.
Everyone standing on the shore thought it would be an impossible trip
for them. Now they hoist the sail. The boat got under way quickly andspeedily out into the fiord. And just as they got pretty well out into thefiord and into the deep water, the wind moderated so that it neverseemed too strong. In the evening when it had grown dark, they got in
to Drangey.

82
Now it is to be told that Grettir was so ill that he could not stand on his
feet. Illugi stayed with him, and Glaum was supposed to keep guard.
He was still full of objections and said that they were afraid they would
drop dead even though nothing was happening. Now he went out of
the hut and very unwillingly. And when he got to the ladders he went
over it in his own mind and decided that he would not pull up theladder. He now began to get very sleepy and lay down and slept thewhole day and right on until Thorbiorn got to the island. They now
saw that the ladder was not drawn up. Then spoke Thorbiorn:‘Things are different,’ he said, ‘from what is normal, in that there
are no people about, while their ladder is up. Maybe more will happen
on our trip than we thought to begin with. Now we must hurry to theTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR241

hut and let there be no lack of determination. We can be sure of this,that if they are in full form we shall need everyone to do the best theycan.’Then they went up onto the island and looked around and saw wherea man was lying a little way from the way up and he was snoring hard.
Thorbiorn recognised Glaum and went up to him and knocked him on
the ear with his sword-hilt and told the bugger to wake up.
‘And truly he is in a bad way whose life depends on your good faith.’
Glaum sits up and said, ‘Now they are going on as usual. And do
you think I have too much freedom, by lying out here in the cold?’
Ongul said, ‘Are you mad, that you don’t realise that your enemies
are here and are going to kill you all?’
Then Glaum didn’t say anything, but began to howl as loud as hecould when he realised who the men were.
‘Make your choice,’ said this Ongul, ‘either be quiet at once and tell
us about your living quarters, or else I shall kill you.’
Then Glaum went silent as if he had been plunged in water. Thorbiorn
said:‘Are they at the hut, the brothers, and why are they not about?’‘They have no choice,’ says Glaum, ‘for Grettir is ill and nearly dead,and Illugi stays with him.’
Ongul asked what was wrong with him and what had caused it, andthen Glaum said how it had come about with Grettir’s wound. Then
Ongul laughed and said:‘The ancient saying is true, that “old friends stick together longest”,
as is the other one, that “it is bad to make a slave your best friend”, inyour case, Glaum, and you have shamefully betrayed your master,even if he was a bad lot.’
Many of the others attacked him for his bad behaviour and beat him
almost past healing and left him lying there. And they went up to thehut and banged at the door with some force. Then said Illugi:‘Grey-belly is knocking at the door, brother,’ he says.
‘And knocking rather hard,’ said Grettir, ‘and not very kindly.’
And at that moment the door gave way. Then Illugi leapt to his weapons and defended the door so that they could not get in. They kept up
the attack for a long time, and could not get at him except with spearthrusts, and Illugi struck them all off their shafts. And when they saw
they were not achieving anything, they leapt up on top of the hut and242

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

tore off the roof. Then Grettir got on his legs and grasped a spear andthrust it out between the rafters. It was Halldor of Hof’s man Kar thatit got, and it passed straight through him. Ongul spoke and told themto mind how they went and take good care of themselves.
‘For we can defeat them if we act wisely.’
They now stripped away round the ends of the roof-beam and thenpushed at the beam until it broke in two. Grettir could not rise from his
knees. He then grasped the cutlass that had been Kar’s. At that moment they jumped down into the remains of the building and there
was now a hard battle between them. Grettir struck with the cutlass at
Hialti Thordarson’s man Vikar and hit his left shoulder just as he jumped
into the building and it sliced across his shoulders and out under his
right side and took the man straight across in two, and the body plunged
down on top of Grettir in two pieces. Then he was not able to straighten
up the cutlass as quickly as he hoped and at that moment Thorbiorn
Ongul thrust between Grettir’s shoulders, and this was a great wound.
Then said Grettir:‘ “Everyone’s back is bare unless he has a brother”.’
Illugi then threw a shield over him and defended Grettir so stoutlythat everyone acknowledged how splendid his defence was. Then
Grettir said to Ongul:‘Who directed you to the island?’
Ongul said, ‘Christ directed us.’
‘But it’s my guess,’ said Grettir, ‘that it was the wretched old woman, your nurse, who directed you, for it is her counsel you will haverelied on.’
‘It will make no difference to you now,’ said Ongul, ‘whoever it is
we have relied on.’
They attacked hard, but Illugi fought very valiantly to defend themboth, but Grettir was entirely disabled from fighting both by his wounds
and his illness. Then Ongul ordered that they should bear down on
Illugi with shields.
‘For I have never met his like, a man no older than him.’
They now did so and hemmed him in with planks and weapons sothat he could make no defence. Then they managed to capture him
and held him. He had given most of them some wounds, those who
had been in the attack, and had killed three of Ongul’s men. After thatthey approached Grettir. He had fallen forward. There was then no

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defence from him, for he had already come to be on the point of deathfrom the leg-wound. His thigh was all festered right up to his groin.
They then gave him many wounds without him bleeding hardly at all.
And when they thought he must be dead, Ongul took hold of the cutlass and said he had borne it long enough. But Grettir had clenchedhis fingers hard round the handle and it would not come free. Many ofthem went up and could do nothing. Eight of them were pulling at itby the end, and they still got nowhere. Then said Ongul:‘Why should we hold back with the outlaw? Put the hand down on
the block.’
And when that was done they hacked off his hand at the wrist. Thenthe fingers straightened out and released the handle. Then Ongul took
the cutlass in both hands and struck at Grettir’s head. It was a very
great blow so that the cutlass could not withstand it and a piece broke
off in the middle of the edge. And when they saw that they asked why
he was spoiling such a fine article. Ongul answers:‘Then it will be easier to recognise if anyone asks about it.’
They said there was no need for this, since the man was alreadydead.
‘There is more to be done about it, though,’ says Ongul.
He then struck two or three blows at Grettir’s neck before it took off
his head.
‘Now I know for certain, that Grettir is dead,’ said Ongul.
Thus Grettir ended his life, the most valiant man there has been in
Iceland, one winter short of forty-five when he was killed, and he was
fourteen years old when he killed Skeggi, his first killing, and theneverything went towards increasing his honour and fortune until hecame up against the villain Glam, and he was then twenty years old.
And when he fell into outlawry he was twenty-five, and he was a goodnineteen years in outlawry and frequently got into great trials of his
manhood and always kept his faith well as far as circumstances allowed. He had foreknowledge of most things, though he was unable
to do anything about them.
‘It is a great fellow we have laid low,’ said Thorbiorn. ‘We shall
now take his head with us to the mainland, for I don’t want to lose theprice that has been put on his head. They will then not be able todispute that I have killed Grettir.’
They told him to do as he liked, but were not very pleased, for they

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all thought what he had done was disgraceful. Then Ongul said toIllugi:‘It is a great shame for such a brave man as you are, that you havelanded in such foolishness as to engage in criminal deeds with thisoutlaw and as a result be subject to killing without redress.’
Illugi answers, ‘You will only then know, when the Althing is overin the summer, who the outlaws will be. And neither you nor the oldwoman your nurse will be judges in this business, for your sorcery
and witchcraft have killed Grettir, even though you used weapons on
him when he was at the point of death, and you thus added a deed ofbaseness to your black magic.’
Then said Ongul, ‘You speak boldly, but it will not turn out so. I will
demonstrate that I would be sorry to lose you, and I will give you yourlife if you will swear on your honour an oath to us, to take no vengeance on those who have been on this expedition.’‘That would seem to me worth considering if Grettir had been able
to defend himself and if you had defeated him honourably and bravely.
But there is now no chance that I will do that to save my life, to besuch a vile person as you. But to give you a straight answer, no one
shall be less on your side than I, if I live, for I shall never forget how
you have treated Grettir. I would much rather die.’Then Thorbiorn had a discussion with his companions about whether
they should let Illugi live or not. They said it was up to him to decide
what was done, since he had been in charge of the expedition. Ongul
said he could not have this man hanging over him who would make no
promises to them. And when Illugi saw that they were going to execute him, he laughed and said:‘Now you have decided on what was closer to my wishes.’
They took him then, when it got light, to the east of the island anddispatched him there, and they all praised his courage and all thought
he was unlike anyone of his age. They buried both the brothers there
on the island, but after that took Grettir’s head and carried it with them
together with everything there that was worth anything in weaponsand clothes. Ongul would not allow the good cutlass to be included in
the share-out, and carried it long after. They took Glaum with them,and he took it very badly. The wind had dropped already during thenight. They rowed to land during the morning. Ongul went ashore at
the most convenient place for him and sent the boat out to Biorn. And

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245

when they got nearly in to Osland, Glaum began to make such a fussthat they didn’t feel like taking him any further and killed him there,
and he wept at the top of his voice when he was about to be killed.
Ongul went home to Vidvik and thought he had done well on thistrip. They put Grettir’s head in salt in a storehouse that they called
Grettir’s store, there at Vidvik. It stayed there the winter. Ongul wasthought very ill of because of these deeds as soon as people knew that
Grettir had been defeated with the help of witchcraft. Ongul stayed
put until after Christmas. Then he rode to see Thorir of Gard and told
him of these killings and this too, that he thought himself entitled tothe price that had been put on Grettir’s head. Thorir said that he would
not deny that he had been responsible for Grettir’s outlawry.
‘I have often suffered harshly at his hands, but I would not havedone that to get his life, to make myself a criminal or sorcerer as you
have done. I am so far from handing you the money, that it seems tome that you deserve to lose your life for witchcraft and black magic.’
Ongul answers, ‘I think it is more that you are motivated by tightfistedness and meanness than that you care by what means Grettir was
defeated.’Thorir said that the solution for them was simple, they should wait
for the Althing and accept what the lawman thought was most just.
They parted with nothing but bad feeling between Thorir and Thorbiorn
Ongul.

83
Grettir and Illugi’s family were very angry when they learned of thekillings, and interpreted it that Ongul had done an act of baseness inkilling a man at the point of death and secondly in his sorcery. They
consulted the most learned men about it and Ongul’s affairs came infor a lot of criticism. He now rode west to Midfiord when four weeksof the summer had past. And when news got about of his movements,
Asdis called on people to come to her and many of her friends were
there, her sons-in-law Gamli and Glum and their sons Skeggi, who
was known as Short-Arm, and Ospak who was mentioned above. Asdis
was so well liked that all the people of Midfiord joined to help her,and even those who previously had been enemies of Grettir. The fore-

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most of these people was Thorodd Poem-bit and most of the people of
Hrutafiord. Ongul now got to Biarg with twenty men. They had Grettir’shead with them. All the people who had promised her help had not yet
arrived. They went into the living-room with the head and put it downon the floor. The lady was in the room and many other people. There
were no greetings between them. Ongul then uttered a verse:
I carried up from the island
Grettir’s unsated head;brooch-Nauma [Asdis] is forced to weep
for this red-haired one.
Here you can see on the floor
the head of the truce-breaker;
it will all rot for the Frid of the sea’s bright flame [Asdis]
unless she salt it.
The lady sat still while he uttered the verse. After that she uttered averse:
You would no less than sheep
before a wild animal have leapt into the sea—
new laughing-stock is come northto Syr’s tear-Niords [men]—
if war-trees [warriors] had faced, weapon-Frey [Ongul],an unsick Grettir on the island.
I have been quick in praise of men.
Then many said it was not surprising that she had had brave sons, abrave one like her, having to put up with such provocation. Ospak wasoutside and had a talk with Ongul’s men, those who had not gone
inside, and asked about the killings, and everyone praised Illugi’s stand.
Then they told how hard Grettir had held the cutlass when he wasdead. This men thought amazing. Then the approach of many men
riding up from the west was seen. It was many of the lady’s friends
who had come there and Gamli and Skeggi from Melar in the west.
Ongul had been planning to hold a court of confiscation after Illugi,
for they were laying claim to all his property. But when this great
crowd came, Ongul saw that he could do nothing. It was Ospak andTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR

247

Gamli who were fiercest and wanted to make an attack on Ongul, but
those who were wiser told them to accept the advice of their kinsman
Thorvald and other leading men and said that Ongul’s position would
be the more condemned the more wise men there were considering it.
With this intervention, Ongul rode away and took Grettir’s head withhim, for he planned to take it to the Althing. He now rode home, andthings began to look bad for him, for nearly all the leading men in theland were related either by blood or marriage to Grettir and Illugi.
That summer Skeggi Short-Arm married Thorodd Poem-bit’s daughter[Valgerd].72 Thorodd then allied himself with Grettir’s family’s case.

84
Now people rode to the Althing and Ongul’s supporters turned out tobe fewer than he expected, for his case was widely condemned. Then
Halldor asked whether they were to take Grettir’s head with them to
the Althing. Ongul said he planned to take it.
‘That is unwise,’ says Halldor, ‘for there will be plenty of opponents for you without your giving such reminders calculated to revive
people’s griefs.’
Then they were on the road and were about to ride south acrossSand. Ongul had the head taken and buried down in a mound of sand.
It is called Grettir’s mound. At the Althing it was crowded, and Ongul
brought forward his case and boasted greatly about his deeds in having killed the greatest outlaw in the land and laid claim to the pricethat had been put on his head. But Thorir made the same reply as was
said above. Then the lawman was asked for a ruling. He said he wished
to hear whether any counter-charges were to be brought as a result of
which Ongul should lose the outlaw-price, otherwise he should getwhat had been put on his head. Then Thorvald Asgeirsson called upon
Short-Arm to bring forward the charges, and charged Thorbiorn Ongul
on one charge of sorcery and the black magic which had also caused
Grettir’s death, and on another of their having attacked him when he
was a man half dead, and declared the penalty to be full outlawry.
72 The name is in some manuscripts and also in The Book of Settlements,
ch. 173.

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Now there was a great split into two parties, and there were few who
stood by Thorbiorn. Now it turned out differently from what he hadthought, for Thorvald and his son-in-law Isleif believed it was a capital crime to cast spells to bring about a man’s death. But at the suggestion of wise men the conclusion of the case was that Thorbiorn was tosail the same summer and never return to Iceland as long as thosewere still alive who were responsible for prosecutions on behalf ofIllugi and Grettir. It was then made law that all sorcerers were declared outlaws. And when he realised how things were likely to turnout for him, he took himself off from the assembly, because it looked
as though Grettir’s family were going to go for him. He also got nothing of the money that had been put on Grettir’s head, for lawspeaker
Stein would not agree to that being paid for a deed of baseness. No
compensation was paid for the men with Thorbiorn who had fallen on
Drangey. This was to be balanced against the killing of Illugi. His
family, however, did not like this at all. Now people rode home fromthe assembly, and all charges that people had against Grettir were madevoid.
Gamli’s son Skeggi, who was Thorodd Poem-bit’s son-in-law and
Grettir’s nephew, went north to Skagafiord with the support of Thorvald
Asgeirsson and his son-in-law Isleif who later became bishop of
Skalaholt and the agreement of all the people and got a boat and went
to Drangey to fetch the bodies of the brothers Grettir and Illugi andtook them out to Reykir on Reykiastrond and buried them there at the
church. And there is this evidence that Grettir lies there that in thetime of the Sturlungs, when the church at Reykir was moved, Grettir’sbones were exhumed and they were thought to be enormously big andsurprisingly so. Illugi’s bones were afterwards buried to the north ofthe church, and Grettir’s head was buried at the church at home at
Biarg. The lady Asdis remained at Biarg and was so much liked thatno trouble was ever offered her, and had not been even while Grettir
was in outlawry. Skeggi Short-Arm took over the farm at Biarg after
Asdis and became a great man. His son was Gamli, father of Skeggi at
Skarfsstadir and of Asdis, mother of the monk Odd. Many people aredescended from him.73
73 I.e. Skeggi Short-Arm.

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85
Thorbiorn Ongul got a passage on a ship at Gasir taking everything of
his possessions he could get onto it with him, and his brother Hialti
took over his land. Ongul also gave him Drangey. Hialti afterwards
became quite a leading man and he is not mentioned any further inconnection with this story. Ongul went to Norway and still threw his
weight about. He believed he had achieved a very mighty deed in theslaying of Grettir. Many of those who were unacquainted with how it
had come about were of the same opinion, and there were many who
knew how renowned a man Grettir had been. He related only thoseparts of their dealings that were to his credit, but he suppressed whatin the story was less to his renown. This story came in the autumn east
to Tunsberg. When Thorstein Dromund learned of the killings he wasvery silent about it, because he was told that Ongul was very powerful
and tough. Thorstein called to mind what he had said when he andGrettir once long before had been talking about their arms. Thorstein
now kept informed of Ongul’s movements. Both of them were in Norway during the winter and Thorbiorn was in the north of the country
and Thorstein in Tunsberg, and neither had ever seen the other. And
yet Thorbiorn found out that Grettir had a brother in Norway and felt
it was risky in a country he didn’t know, and so he cast about for someidea as to where he should go to. At that time many Norwegians weregoing out to Constantinople and becoming mercenaries there. So
Thorbiorn found it quite an attractive idea to go there and so win fameand fortune for himself, but to keep out of Scandinavia because of
Grettir’s family. So he set out from Norway and travelled far abroadand didn’t stop until he got out to Constantinople and there became amercenary. [He stayed there for a time.]

86
Here begins the episode of Spes and Thorstein
Thorstein Dromund was a rich man and stood in the highest regard.
He now learned that Ongul had left the country and gone out to Constantinople. He responded quickly and put his property into the charge

250

THE SAGA OF GRETTIRof his relations and set off and pursued Ongul and kept arriving where
Ongul had just left. Ongul knew nothing of his travels. Thorstein
Dromund got out to Constantinople soon after Ongul and was determined by all means to kill him, but neither could recognise the other.
Now they wanted to join the Varangian guard, and this was welcomed
as soon as it was known that they were men from Norway. At this time
Michael Catalactus was king over Constantinople. Thorstein Dromund
now kept on the watch for Ongul to see if he could in some way recognise him, and he couldn’t manage this because of the crowds. He continually lay awake and was very unhappy about his situation. He felt
he had had a great loss.
Now the next thing was that the Varangians had to go on some military expedition to free the country from an invasion. And before they
set out it was their custom and rule to have an inspection of weapons,
and they did so now too. And when the weapons-inspection had beenarranged, all the Varangians had to go to it, including those who werethen intending to join with them on the expedition, and show their
weapons. Both of them attended, Thorstein and Ongul. Thorbiorn presented his weapons; he still had the cutlass that had been Grettir’s.
And when he showed this, many admired it and said that it was a veryfine weapon, and said it was a great pity that there was the notch in the
middle of the edge, and asked him how it had come about. Ongul said
it was worth recounting.
‘For this is the main thing to say about it, that out in Iceland,’ hesays, ‘I slew the warrior called Grettir the Strong, who was the greatest champion there and hero, for no one was able to defeat him until I
came along. And since it was granted to me to defeat him, I got thebetter of him, and yet he had many times my strength. I then struck at
his head with the cutlass and then it broke the notch in the edge.’
Those who were standing nearest said that he must indeed have had
a hard skull, and they showed it to one another. From this Thorsteinrealised who Ongul was, and asked if he could look at the cutlass likethe others. Ongul made no objection, for most were praising his valour and prowess. He thought that this person would do the same, andhe was not expecting that Thorstein or any member of Grettir’s family
would be there. Dromund now took hold of the cutlass and at thesame time raised it up and struck at Ongul. The blow struck his head
and was so hard that it came to rest in his teeth. Thorbiorn Ongul
ingloriously fell dead to the ground. At this everyone was struck dumb.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR251

The sheriff of the place immediately arrested Thorstein and asked
for what cause he committed such a wicked deed there at a solemn
assembly. Thorstein said he was brother of Grettir the Strong and alsothat he had never been able to carry out the vengeance until then. Then
there were many who agreed that this strong man must have been very
important for Thorstein to have had to travel so far across the world toavenge him. The governors of the city thought this might well be true,
but because there was no one there who was able to confirm what
Thorstein said, their law was that anyone who killed a man should be
subject to no other forfeit than his life. Thorstein was given a quick
sentence and rather a harsh one. He was to be put in a dungeon in a
prison and suffer death there if no one redeemed him with money.
And when Thorstein got into the dungeon there was a man there. He
had been there a long time and was on the point of death from neglect.
It was both foul and cold there. Thorstein said to this man:‘How do you find your life?’
He answers, ‘Very bad, for there is no one who will help me and I
have no relations to redeem me.’Thorstein said, ‘There is much one can do in a difficult situation,and let’s be cheerful and do something to entertain ourselves.’
The other said there was nothing could cheer him up.
‘Yet we shall try,’ says Thorstein. He started then and chanted apoem. He was a man with a very good voice, so that one could hardly
find his equal. He did not hold back. There was a public street a little
way out from the dungeon. Thorstein chanted so loudly that it resounded in the stonework and the other, who previously was half dead,found it very entertaining. So he continued on into the evening.

87
There was a noble lady with an establishment there in the city called
Spes, very rich and of great family. Her husband was called Sigurd.
He was wealthy and of a less noble family than she. She had been
given to him for his money. There was no great love between the couple,
and she felt she had married very much beneath her. She was a highspirited and very self-willed person. It so happened that while Thorstein
was giving his performance in the evening, Spes was walking along
the street near the dungeon and heard from it such a beautiful voice

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that she said she had never heard the like. She was walking with alarge number of servants and told them to go over there and find out
who it was that had this splendid voice. They called now and asked
who it was that was so harshly confined there. Thorstein gave his name.
Then said Spes:‘Are you an accomplished man at other things besides reciting?’
He said he was no great shakes.
‘What have you done wrong,’ she says, ‘that you should be tortured
to death here?’He said he had killed a man to avenge his brother.
‘But I was unable to prove it with witnesses,’ said Thorstein ‘and so
I was put in here,’ said he, ‘unless someone is willing to redeem me.
But I think there is no hope of that, for I have no connections here.’‘It will be a great loss if you are killed. But was your brother as
outstanding a man, whom you avenged?’
He said that he was more than twice the man he was. She asked
what evidence there was of that. Then Thorstein uttered this verse:
Eight edge-moot’s makers [warriors] could not,rings’ Grund [lady, i.e. Spes], from bold-spirited
Grettir’s hand take the cutlass,until all-virtuous fasteners of sword-belt’s girding [warriors]
struck shoulder-leg from courage-boldwave-horse urger [warrior, i.e. Grettir].
‘Such a thing is very splendid,’ said those who understood the verse.
And when she knew what it meant she said:‘Will you accept your life from me, if it is offered you?’‘Very happily,’ said Thorstein, ‘if this companion of mine is redeemedwith me, who is sitting here. Otherwise we shall both stay here.’She answers, ‘I think you are a better bargain than he.’
‘However that may be,’ said Thorstein, ‘we shall either come out ofhere together or neither of us.’
She then went to where the Varangians were and asked for Thorstein’s
release and offered the money for it. They were very glad to do this.
She then brought it about by her influence and wealth that they wereboth released. And as soon as Thorstein got out of the dungeon hewent to see Spes. The lady took him in and kept him secretly, thoughTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR

253

sometimes he was on military expeditions with the Varangians andproved to be a most courageous man in all enterprises.

88
At that time Harald Sigurdarson was in Constantinople and Thorsteinbecame friends with him. Thorstein was now considered a man ofsome consequence, for Spes did not let him go short of money. They
now fell in love, Thorstein and Spes. She was very impressed by his
accomplishments. Her expenses now became rather large, for she devoted herself a great deal to her friendships. Her husband also felt henoticed that she had changed her ways, both in character and various
kinds of behaviour and especially in spending money; he found bothgold and precious objects missing which disappeared from her keeping. And on one occasion her husband Sigurd spoke to her and said
that she was starting to behave in a strange way.
‘You pay no regard to our goods and squander it in various ways;
and you seem to me to be as if in a dream, and you never want to stay
put where I am. Now I am quite sure that something is the matter.’
She answers, ‘I told you and also my family, when we joined together, that I wanted to be independent and have freedom with everything that it was proper for me to dispose of, and it is for these reasonsthat I do not spare your money. But are there other things you want todiscuss with me which I ought to be ashamed of?’
He answers, ‘I am not without the suspicion that you are keeping
some man that you like more than me.’
‘I do not know,’ she says, ‘that there is much reason for that, but yet
I would think that you cannot support what you say with any proofs.
But the two of us are not going to talk together alone if you are accusing me of this perfidy.’
He dropped the conversation for the moment. She and Thorstein
continued in the same way and paid no attention to what evil people
might say, for she trusted her cleverness and influence. They often sat
in conversation and entertained each other. There was one evening
when they were sitting in an upstairs room where she kept her jewels.
She asked Thorstein to recite something, for she thought her husband
was sitting drinking as was his custom. She fastened the doors to. And

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when he had been reciting for a while, there was a knocking at thedoor and a shout that it should be opened. It was her husband withmany servants who had come. The lady had opened a large chest andwas showing Thorstein her jewels. And when she recognised who it
was she did not want to open the doors. She spoke to Thorstein:‘I have a quick idea; jump down here into the chest and keep quiet.’
He did so. She closed the lock on the chest and sat up on it. At thatmoment her husband came into the upstairs room, and they had justbroken into the room. The lady said:‘Why are you coming with such a great clatter, are there attackers
after you?’
Her husband answers, ‘Now it is a good thing that you yourself
provide the proof of what you are. But where is the man who wasmost letting himself go with his voice just now? I expect you think hehas a better voice than I.’
She said, ‘ “No one looks entirely foolish if he can keep his mouth
shut”. That’s how it is with you. You think you’re clever and expect
you can make your lies stick on me, and here is the proof of it. If what
you say is true, then take him, for he won’t jump out through the walls
or the roof.’
He searched the building and found nothing. She said:‘Why don’t you take him now, if you’re so sure you are in the right?’
He was silent then and felt he didn’t know what tricks he was up
against, and asked his companions whether they hadn’t heard the sameas he had. But when they saw that the lady was annoyed, nothingcame of their witness, and they said that what one heard could always
be deceptive. Her husband then went out and felt he knew the truth
even though he couldn’t find the man. He then stopped his inquisitionof his wife and her affairs for a long time.
It happened again another time much later that Thorstein and Spes
were sitting in a store-room for clothes. In there there was cloth bothcut and uncut which belonged to her and her husband. She was showing Thorstein many pieces of cloth and they were opening it out. And
when they least expected it, her husband came upon them there with a
lot of men and broke into the upstairs room. While they were doing
that, she threw the cloth down over Thorstein and was leaning against
the pile of cloth when they came inside.
‘Are you again going to deny,’ says her husband, ‘that there was aman here with you? There will be people here now that saw you both.’THE SAGA OF GRETTIR255

She told them not to be in such a rush.
‘You cannot fail now, but let me be and don’t push me about.’
They now searched through the building and found nothing. In theend they gave up. Then the lady said:‘It is always a good thing when one turns out better than many expect, and it was predictable that you wouldn’t find what wasn’t there.
So will you now, husband, admit your foolishness and free me fromthis slander?’He said, ‘So far from freeing you, I feel convinced that you are
guilty of what I have accused you of. And you will have to do yourbest in this matter to see if you can clear yourself of it.’She said she had no objection to that. With that they ended their talk.
After this Thorstein stayed the whole time with the Varangians, andthey say that he asked for advice from Harald Sigurdarson, and it isthought that they would not have found a solution without the benefitof him and his cleverness. And when some time had passed, her husband Sigurd announced that he was going away on certain business ofhis. The lady did not try to stop him. And when her husband had left,
Thorstein went to see Spes and they were then continually in eachother’s company. Her establishment was so arranged that it was built
out over the sea, and there were some buildings where the sea flowed
up underneath. That was where Spes and Thorstein usually sat. There
was a small trapdoor in the floor there which only they two knew
about. They kept it standing open in case it was necessary to use it ina hurry. Now this is to be told about the husband, that he didn’t go
away at all, instead he hid and tried to spy on his wife. So it cameabout that when they were least expecting it one evening, and they
were sitting in the room over the sea and enjoying themselves, that thehusband with a large number of people surprised them there and took
some people to the window that was in the building and told them tosee whether it was as he had said. They all said that he had been correct, and that it must have been the same before. They burst now into
the room. And when they heard the clatter, she said to Thorstein:‘You will have to go down here, whatever the risk. Send me some
sign if you get away from under the buildings.’
He said all right and threw himself down through the floor, and thelady kicked the trapdoor with her foot. It fell then back into place andthere was no sign of any alteration to the floor. The husband came into
the room with his men. They now went searching and found nothing,

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as was to be expected. The room was empty, so that there was nothinginside there except a smooth floor and the platform-seats. The lady sat
there playing with [the rings on] her fingers. She took no notice ofthem and went on quite unconcernedly. Now the husband found itvery strange and asked his companions whether they had not seen theman. They said they had indeed seen him. Then said the lady:‘Now we shall see another example of what they say, that “everything has always happened in threes in days gone by”. It has been sowith you, Sigurd,’ she said. ‘Three times you have caused me annoyance, it seems to me. Are you now any wiser than at the start?’‘This time I was not the only witness,’ says the husband. ‘You shallsubmit to proof of your innocence of all this, for I am in no way goingto accept this humiliation without reparation.’‘I think,’ said the lady, ‘what you are demanding I am going to offer,
for I shall be very pleased to clear myself of this charge. It has got
about so much that it will bring me great dishonour if I don’t refute it.’‘At the same time you must make a formal denial,’ says the husband,‘to the effect that you haven’t given away our goods or treasures.’
She answers, ‘At the time I submit to the proof, I shall altogether
clear myself of all the items that you are complaining of about me.
But take note of what the outcome will be. I intend straightway tomorrow to go before the bishop and he shall appoint me an absolute proofof innocence regarding everything that has been said concerning thisaccusation.’
Her husband said this would quite content him and went away withhis men. Now this is to tell of Thorstein that he swam out from underthe buildings and went ashore at a convenient place and got a piece ofwood with a burning flame and held it up so that it could be seen fromthe lady’s establishment. She stayed outside for a long time during theevening and in the night, for she wanted to know whether Thorstein
had got ashore. And when she saw the flame, she knew for certain that
he had got ashore, for they had made this arrangement between themselves. The following morning Spes suggested to her husband thatthey should discuss their affairs in front of the bishop, and he was infull agreement. They now come before the bishop and the husband
brings the same charges against her that were detailed above. The
bishop asked whether she had been involved in this in the past, and noone said they had ever heard of that. Then he asked what reasons heTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR

257

had for accusing her of this. He then produced men who had seen her
sitting in a locked building with a man with her. The husband said he
had suspicions that this man must have seduced her. The bishop said
that she could easily clear herself of this accusation if she wanted to.
She said she wanted to very much.
‘I believe,’ said Spes, ‘that I shall easily find women to vouch forme in this matter.’
Now the oath was prescribed for her and a day fixed for when it
should be performed. After that she went home and expressed her satisfaction. Thorstein and Spes had a meeting and laid their plans.

89
So that day passed and so on until the day came that Spes was toperform the oath. Then she invited to it all her friends and relations
and fitted herself out in the best clothes she had. Many fine women
walked alongside her. It was very wet weather. The path was wet andthere was a great ditch to cross before they got to the church. And justas Spes and her party came up to the ditch, there was facing them agreat crowd and a large number of poor people who were begging foralms, for it was a public street. They all felt obliged to greet her warmly,
those who knew her, and wished her well in return for her often having been kind to them. There was one beggar among the other poor
people, of great size and he had a long beard. The procession of women
stopped at the wet spot, for courtly people found the ditch dirty to
cross. And when this great beggar saw the lady, that she was better
dressed than the other women, he spoke to her thus:‘Good lady,’ he said, ‘be so condescending as to let me carry you
across this ditch, for we beggars have a duty to serve you to the best of
our ability.’‘How can you carry me properly,’ said she, ‘when you cannot carryyourself?’‘Yet it would be a proof of your humility,’ he says, ‘and I cannot
offer more than I have got, and things will turn out better for you inevery way if you don’t show pride towards a poor man.’‘You can be sure of this,’ she says, ‘if you don’t carry me properly
you will earn yourself a flogging or other worse disgrace.’

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THE SAGA OF GRETTIR‘I will gladly risk that,’ he said, and got onto his feet out in the ditch.
She appeared to feel very averse to his carrying her, and neverthelessgot on his back. He shuffled very slowly and walked with two crutches.
And when he got to the middle of the ditch he swayed from side toside. She urged him to pull himself together.
‘And this will be the worst trip you have ever undertaken if you
drop me in here.’
The poor fellow struggled on and made an extra effort, put himself
out to the utmost and got very close to the side, and then caught his
foot and plunged forward so that he threw her up on the bank andhimself fell into the ditch up to his armpits. And as he lay thus hegrasped at her, the lady, and could not get a hold on her clothes. He
then put his dirty hand up on her knee and right up onto her bare thigh.
She leapt up and swore, saying that trouble always came from wretchedbeggars.
‘And it would be right for you to lie dead if that didn’t seem to me
shameful in view of your wretchedness.’
He said then, ‘ “Various are the fortunes of men”. I thought I wasdoing you a good turn and was hoping for some alms from you but I
get from you threats and abuse and no benefit,’ and he went on as
though he was really upset. Many felt sorry for him but she said he
was a real rogue. But when many pleaded for him, she took out her
purse and there were many gold coins in it. She shook out the coins
and said:‘Take this now, old man. It can never be right that you don’t get full
payment for my abusing you, and so it is now settled, in accordancewith your deserts.’
He collected up the gold and thanked her for her kindness. Speswent to church, and there was a very large crowd there. Sigurd set
about it heatedly and urged her to clear herself from the accusation
which he had brought against her. She answers:‘I care nothing for your accusation. But which man is it you claim tohave seen in the house with me? For there always has to be some ablebodied man about me, and I declare that to be without reproach. But I
will take my oath upon it that to no man have I given gold and by no
man have I been physically soiled except by my husband and that evil
beggar who put his dirty hand on my thigh when I was carried overthe ditch today.’THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

259

Now there were many who agreed that this was a valid oath and that
it was no blot on her character though the old man had defiled her
accidentally. She said that whatever there was had to be mentioned.
After that she swore an oath in the terms that have just been specified.
Many said that she was demonstrating, as they say, that “nothing mustbe left out of an oath”. She said she was sure that it would be seen by
wise men that this had been made beyond suspicion. Then her family
put in that this was a great vexation to a noblewoman to have to put up
with such slander without reparation, for it was a capital offence there
if a woman was found out in sexual intercourse with other than her
husband. Spes then asked the bishop to arrange a divorce of herself
and Sigurd, for she said she could not suffer his slanders. Her family
supported her in this. It then came about thus as a result of their pressure and payments that they were divorced, and Sigurd got little of theproperty. He was banished from the land. In this it came about, as
often happens, that “those who are lower have to submit”, and hecouldn’t do anything about it, even though he had a just case. Spes
now took over all their money and was considered a most remarkablewoman. When people thought about the terms of her oath, people
thought there was something suspicious in it, and thought that cleverpeople must have prescribed this wording for her. Then people managed to bring it to light that the beggar who had carried her wasThorstein Dromund, and even so Sigurd got no redress in this affair,[and he is out of the saga].

90
Thorstein Dromund stayed with the Varangians while there was mosttalk going on about this affair. He became so renowned that it seemedthat there had hardly such an accomplished man come there as he. He
was held in the greatest honour by Harald Sigurdarson, for he gave
him credit for his being related to him, and the plan that Thorstein had
carried out was in people’s opinion his. Soon after Sigurd was driven
from the land, Thorstein asked for Spes’s hand. She responded favourably, but deferred to her family. Then meetings were held; agreement
was reached between them that she should have the greatest say in thematter. Then a contract was made between them with the consent of

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her family and their marriage turned out well, and they had plenty of
wealth. Thorstein was considered a very successful man, the way hehad solved his difficulties. They lived together for two years there inConstantinople. After that Thorstein told his wife that he wanted to go
and see to his property back in Norway. She said it was up to him. He
then sold the property he owned and they got from it a good deal ofmoney. They then made their way back from those foreign lands witha fine retinue and went all the way until they got to Norway. Thorstein’s
family welcomed them both very warmly, and it was soon seen that
she was generous and munificent. She soon became very well liked.
They had children together and lived on their property and were very
content with life. Then King Magnus the Good was king over Norway. Before long Thorstein went to see him and was well received
there, for he was greatly renowned for having taken vengeance for
Grettir the Strong. Hardly a case is known of any person from Iceland
having been avenged in Constantinople other than Grettir Asmundarson. It is said that Thorstein entered the service of King Magnus.
Thorstein stayed put for nine years after he came to Norway, and they
were both considered most distinguished people. Then King Harald
Sigurdarson came back from Constantinople and King Magnus gave
him half share of Norway with himself. They were both kings of
Norway for a while. [The following summer King Magnus the Good
died and then King Harald took sole power in Norway.] After King
Magnus’s death many were discontented, those who had been his
friends, for everyone loved him. People found King Harald’s temper
hard to cope with, for he was harsh and severe. Thorstein Dromund
was by this time getting on in life but was still a most vigorous man.
There had now passed sixteen winters since the slaying of Grettir
Asmundarson.

91
Then many urged Thorstein to go and see King Harald and become
one of his men, but he would not agree. Then said Spes:‘It is my wish, Thorstein,’ she said, ‘that you do not go to see King
Harald, for there is another king that we owe something more to, andwe need to give some thought to that. But we are now both getting oldTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR

261

and have passed our period of youth and we have been led more byour desires than by Christian teaching or the authority of righteousness. Now I know that this debt of ours cannot be redeemed either by
our relatives or by gifts of money unless we ourselves pay what isproper. Now I wish to change our way of life and go from this country
and to the Pope’s palace, for I believe that then my affairs may be put
right.’
Thorstein answers, ‘I am as much aware of these things you speakof as you. It is proper that you should determine this, which can leadto so much good, when you let me decide what tended in a much lesssatisfactory direction, and it shall all be arranged as you dictate.’
This took people very much by surprise. Thorstein was now two
years less then sixty-five and yet vigorous in everything he undertook. He now invited all his family and relations to his house andrevealed to them his intention. Wise people approved of this, and yet
their departure was greatly regretted. Thorstein said that nothing wascertain about his return.
‘I wish now to thank you all,’ says he, ‘for how you looked after mygoods while I was out of the country last time. Now I wish to invite
and ask you to take charge of my children’s money and of them themselves and bring them up in accordance with your own humanity, for I
have reached such an age that it is an even chance whether I comeback or not, even if I live. You must see to everything that I leavebehind here on the assumption that I shall not return to Norway.’
Then people answered that it would be easier for many things to bewell looked after if the lady remained behind to see to it. Then she
said:‘It was for this reason that I travelled from foreign lands and from
Constantinople with Thorstein and gave up both family and wealth,that I wished that we might always be together. Now I have found itvery pleasant here. But there will be nothing to tempt me to stay here
long in Norway or here in Scandinavia if he goes away. We have always got on well together, and there has been nothing to cause differences. Now we shall both go together, for it is we who know best
about the many things that have taken place since we met.’
And when they had thus made arrangements for their affairs, thenThorstein asked men of integrity to divide up their property into two
equal parts. Thorstein’s family took the part that the children were to262

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

have, and they were brought up with their father’s family and became
afterwards the most splendid people and a great family is descended
from them there in Oslofiord. But Thorstein and Spes divided up theirshare of the money and gave some to churches for their soul, andsome they took with them. They set off now on their journey to Romeand many wished them farewell.

92
They now went all the way until they came to the city of Rome. Whenthey came into the presence of the one who was appointed to hearpeople’s confessions, they told everything truly, how it had gone andwith what trickery they had arranged their marriage. They submitted
themselves humbly to whatever penance to make amends that hewished to impose upon them. But because they had themselves on
their own initiative taken steps to make amends for their offences without any compulsion or persecution by the church authorities, then they
were excused from all impositions as far as might be, and were urged
with kindliness that they should now provide as sensibly as possible
for their soul and live in purity from then on, having received absolution for all they had done. They were considered to have acted welland wisely. Then said Spes:‘Now I think things have gone well and well have our affairs been
settled. We have now suffered not only misfortune together. It may bethat foolish people will take our former life as something to imitate.
We must now make such a conclusion to our life that it may be something for good people to imitate. Now we shall hire some men who aregood at building in stone to make a cell for each of us, so that we canatone for our offences against God.’
Now Thorstein had money paid out for building cells for them bothand for such other things that they needed and could not do without tosurvive. And when the building was finished, and at a suitable time
and when all the arrangements had been made, they ended their temporal life together of their own free will so that they might rather cometo enjoy sacred life together in the next world. Each of them then took
their place in their own cell and lived for such a length of time as God
wished to allot, and so ended their lives. Most people have said thatTHE SAGA OF GRETTIR

263

Thorstein Dromund and his wife Spes seem to have been most successful people considering how they had started out. But neither hischildren nor descendants have come to Iceland so as to have any story
told of them.

93
Lawman Sturla has so said that he thought no outlawed man had been
as great a man as Grettir the Strong. He brings forward three reasonsfor this. First, he thought he was the cleverest, for he was longest in
outlawry of any man and was never defeated while he was in health.
Second, that he was the strongest in the land for his age and had greater
ability in getting rid of revenants and hauntings than other men. The
third, that he was avenged out in Constantinople, as was no other Icelandic person, and in addition, what a successful person Thorstein
Dromund became in his latter days, the same person who avenged
him.
Here ends the saga of Grettir Asmundarson, our countryman. Thanks
to those who have listened and little thanks to him who scribbled thestory. Here is the work’s end, may we all God-wards wend. Amen.74

74 The colophon is clearly by the scribe rather than the author, since hecomplains about the hand-writing of his exemplar.

THE SAGA OF HORDKUVALLARDAL

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1
It was in the days of Harald Finehair that Iceland was largely settled,
because people could not put up with his oppression and tyranny, particularly those who were of great descent and proud mind and had
good means, and they preferred to abandon their possessions than suffer aggression and injustice, whether from the king or from anyoneelse. One of these was Biorn Gullberi (gold-bearer). He went from
Orkadal to Iceland and settled the southerly Reykiardal from Grimsa
to Flokadalsa and lived at Gullberastadir. Svarthofdi, Geirmund,Thiostolf were his sons; and they do not come into this story.
The eldest of Biorn’s sons was called Grimkel. He was both big andstrong. Biorn Gullberi became an important man and of great property. Biorn’s son Grimkel asked for the hand of Rannveig, daughter ofThorbiorn of Arnarholt—Thorbiorn was brother of Lyting, father ofGeitir of Krossavik—and married her, and they were together no longer
than three winters, and she died of sickness. A daughter survived who
was called Thurid. She was brought up with a man who was called
Sigurd Muli (snout). He lived under Fell. She was a handsome woman
and skilled with her hands and of a somewhat harsh disposition. Nevertheless she was popular.

2
Grimkel lived to begin with south at Fioll, not far from Olfusvatn. It is
now called Grimkelsstadir, and it is now a sheep-shed. Grimkel had
an extensive godord. He was a wealthy man and a very great leader
and said not to be in all respects a just man. He moved his farm after
his wife’s death to Olfusvatn, for he thought the qualities of the land
were better there. Thereafter he dwelt there always, as long as he lived.
He was known as Grimkel Godi.
There was a man called Hogni and he lived in Hagavik, a little way
from Olfusvatn. His wife was called Thorbiorg. They had a daughter

268

THE SAGA OF HORD

who was called Gudrid. She was a handsome woman and popular.
Hogni was of an insignificant family and was nevertheless an accomplished person, but his wife Thorbiorg was of considerably greaterfamily, and yet they got on well together. Hogni had great property.
There was a man called Valbrand who lived at Breidabolstad in thenortherly Reykiardal. He was son of Valthiof the Old. Valbrand’s son
was called Torfi. Father and son owned a godord. Torfi was a clever
man and widely known. A man grew up there with the father and son
who was called Sigurd and he was son of Gunnhild. He was related to
Torfi. He was known as Sigurd Torfi’s foster-brother. He was a mostpromising man and able in most accomplishments. Valbrand had asecond child. It was a daughter who was called Signy. She was married to Thorgeir, son of Finn of Midfell the Wealthy, son of Halldor,
son of Hogni. He was dead when this story took place. Their son was
called Grim, a promising man, and he grew up with his mother. Signy
lived at Signyiarstadir a little way from Breidabolstad. She was a very
outstanding person, ready of tongue and of proud mind and harshspirited in everything. A man grew up with her there who was called
Grim. He was known as Grim the Small. He was Signy’s foster-son
and an important man, swift in his movements and intelligent aboutmost things.
Koll son of Kiallak was living then at Lund in the southerly Reykiardal. He was a great leader.

3
There was a man called Thorvald who lived at Vatnshorn in Skorradal,
a big man and strong. His wife was called Thorgrima and she was
known as Smith-woman, very skilled in magic. Their son was called
Indridi, a big man and promising. Thorgrima lived the longer of thepair, and when she had become a widow, she lived at Hvamm in
Skorradal. She became a wealthy woman and one of importance.
It is said that one summer as on other occasions, Grimkel Godi rodeto the assembly, and one day he went from his booth with a great troopof men to Valbrand’s booth and went straight into the booth. Valbrandwelcomed him, for Grimkel was already known to him. They sat down
and began to talk together. Grimkel said:

THE SAGA OF HORD

269

‘I have been particularly told, Valbrand, that you have a daughter
who is called Signy, and that she is a very outstanding person. I wish
to ask for her hand, if you are willing to marry her to me.’
Valbrand replied, ‘It is known to us that you are of good family andhave much wealth and are yourself a very fine fellow. I would like togive a favourable response to this.’
Their talk ended with Valbrand betrothing his daughter Signy to
Grimkel Godi, and the wedding was to be in Double-month south at
Olfusvatn.
Torfi son of Valbrand was not at the assembly, and when Valbrandcame home from the assembly, he told his son Torfi the news. Torfi
replied:‘Very little do you value my opinions, when I am not asked aboutsuch a matter, and moreover I do not consider this match that you havearranged for your daughter as advantageous as it seems to you to be.
Signy will not get much out of it when the man is both old and harsh.’
Torfi then uttered a verse:
Old demander of mail-coat-strap wound-storm [warrior, Valbrand]—thane [Torfi] has learned this—has given brooch-prop [woman] to Grimkel.
The simple one has deprived jewel-Niorunof wealth, pleasure and happiness; I guess
the old fellow will provide her with little of that.
Signy now learned of her proposed marriage and made little response.
And when the brother and sister, Torfi and Signy, meet, he expresses
his disapproval of the match.
‘There is great love,’ he says, ‘between us; I am not pleased that you
should move away from the district with your wealth.’
She replies, ‘I have thought of a good plan to deal with this, brother.
Do not change this arrangement, but I will make over to you all my
wealth on these terms, that you are to pay my dowry, as much as myfather has agreed to, and that will certainly amount to no less thantwenty hundreds. I will give you this back in token of our friendship,
excluding my two treasures, the ones I place greatest store by. One is
my fine necklace, and the other is my horse Svartfaxi (black-mane).’Torfi expressed his satisfaction with this and spoke kindly to her.

270

THE SAGA OF HORD

4
Now people got ready to go to the wedding. Koll from Lund was invited to the wedding as one of the most honoured. Father and son
asked him to lead the guests, for Valbrand was so old that he did not
feel like going, and Torfi did not wish to go. Koll set out on the journey with the bride, and they were thirty people in all. They lodged atThverfell in the southerly Reykiardal.
Grim the Small, Signy’s foster-son, was to look after the horses atthe lodging, and in the morning, when he looked for them, he could
not find Signy’s horse Svartfaxi. Grim then went to search north over
the ridge to Flokadal. He followed a track in the dew. He found thehorse dead in a landslide there in the valley. He took off the hobble
that it had had on it during the night, and then went back and told
Signy that that fine horse of hers was dead and how it had come about.
She replies:‘That is a bad omen and bodes no good. I shall turn back and go nofurther.’Koll said that was impossible and it would not do to alter her plansof this kind for this reason, and it had to be as Koll wished; and they
all travel on together and they come to Olfusvatn and Grimkel had
there a large number of guests from his side to meet them. There wasa most magnificent feast there. It all went forward satisfactorily andsplendidly.
After the feast had finished Koll went away, and the other guests,
but Signy stayed there and her nurse who was called Thordis, andGrim the Small. Grimkel had given Koll good gifts and had spoken
friendly words to him, but the father and son were considered to havetreated the business with clear contempt, when they did not attend thewedding. He also heard about Torfi’s verse and could do nothing about
it. There was now no warmth between them. Grimkel was unbending
in mood, while Signy was quiet, and there was little warmth between
them, for they could not have any friends in common, except for Grim
the Small. He managed to go on so that they were both happy. So thefirst year passed.

THE SAGA OF HORD

271

5Grim the Small came to talk with Signy in the spring, he said he wanted
to leave.
‘I find it hard to go between you,’ he says, ‘and it is best to partwhile both still feel well-disposed.’
Signy said, ‘Discuss it first with Grimkel and take his advice, forthen you will be better off, and I am very keen that you should be welloff, and I think he is well disposed towards you.’
Now Grim does this, he speaks to the farmer, says he wants to leave
if he will agree to it. Grimkel replies:‘My advice is that you should stay put. You shall also be better off
than before, because you depend greatly on Signy, and we depend on
you very much to compensate for our tempers.’
And Grim did this, he stayed put that year and they were both pleased
with him. But the following spring Grim spoke to the farmer, that hedid indeed want to leave, but Grimkel was rather against it.
‘Then ask for the hand of Gudrid, Hogni’s daughter, on my behalf,’says Grim, ‘if you want me to stay with you.’
Grimkel replies, ‘You are putting a high price on yourself now, forthere is a great difference of rank here; you are of small means, while
Hogni is very rich.’
Grim said, ‘Nevertheless you can arrange this.’
Grimkel replies, ‘I can try.’
He now goes to Hagavik and he is well received there. He now asks
for the hand of Gudrid on Grim’s behalf.
‘There is this to be said of the man, that he is an intelligent person
and well endowed with skills. He will also be very helpful on the farmand be able to achieve a great deal that will be of benefit to it, while
you are getting on in years, and such a connection seems to me to bevery advantageous for you.’
Hogni replies, ‘You have often tried to bring about things of greater
honour to me than anything of this kind; but mother and daughter
shall have the greatest say in this.’
Grimkel said they would not need to lay out a great deal of money.
‘And nothing is of greater importance than that you should yourself
persuade your daughter for me; but I am confident about Grim, that hewill turn out well.’

272

THE SAGA OF HORD

There is no need to make a long tale about it; the outcome of their
talk was that Grim got Gudrid. Their wedding was at Olfusvatn andthis went off satisfactorily. They got on well together. They were there
for the winter, and they were happy with each other.
But in the spring Grim and his wife wanted to leave. He told Signy,
but she said he must tell Grimkel and said everything would turn out
for the best if he let Grimkel decide. Now he raised it with the farmer
that he wanted to leave. Grimkel replies:‘I think it now right to do what is best for you and let you have yourway, because it is likely that you will turn out well.’Grim then bought land south from Kluptir which he called Grimsstadir and lived there from then on. Grimkel provided all the stock,and Hogni paid for the land. Grim quickly piled up wealth; there were
two heads on everything that he had.1 He was soon reckoned among
the best farmers.

6
It is said that Signy daughter of Valbrand dreamed a dream. She seemed
to see a great tree in her and Grimkel’s bed, very beautiful and withsuch large roots that the roots of the tree reached all the buildings athome there on the farm, but the blossom on it did not seem to her to be
as great as she wished. She told the dream to her nurse Thordis, andshe interpreted it that she and Grimkel would have a child and it would
be great and honourable. She said she thought it was a boy.
‘And many will be very impressed by him because of his achievements, but I wouldn’t be surprised if his circumstances did not flourish with the greatest blossoming by the end, since that great tree did
not seem to you to have as great blossom as you wished, and it is notcertain that he will enjoy much affection from most of his kinsmen.’

7
Soon after Signy gave birth to a baby boy. He was called Hord. He
was at an early age of great size and handsome in appearance, but not
1 I.e. all his animals seemed to double in number.

THE SAGA OF HORD

273

all that precocious in this respect, that he could not walk on his own
when he was three years old. People thought this strange and not asign of early development, he being an outstanding person in everything else.
And on the day when a temple festival was being held at Olfusvatn,
Grimkel being a great man for heathen sacrifices, Signy was sitting on
her seat in the middle of the living-room floor. She was then adorning
herself, and her fine necklace was lying on her knees. The boy Hord
was standing by the foot of the platform and walked now for the firsttime from the platform to his mother and stumbled onto her knees.
The necklace was flung down onto the floor and broke apart in threepieces. Signy was very angry and said:‘Evil were your first steps, and many other evil ones will follow thisone, but your last ones will be worst.’
She uttered a verse:
Broke asunder for lady
good Sirnir’s voice2 necklace.
I believe that none of mankind will repair
this again for wealth-slope [lady, Signy].
The first walk of the young gold-desirer [man, Hord]
was not good. Each hereafter will be worse.
Yet meanest will be the last.
Grimkel came into the living-room at that moment and heard what she
said. He grabbed up the boy in silence and was very angry at thesewords and uttered a verse:
Wealth-seeker [man, Hord] has got himself a no good mother.
He was first of the woman’s children, having just begun to walk,to hear temper-words from which sea-fire demander [man, Hord]
will suffer. “People’s judgement lives longer than any man.”
Grimkel had become so angry that he did not want the boy to stay athome there. He went and saw Grim and Gudrid and asked them totake Hord in and bring him up there. They said they would be very
2 The story of how gold came to be called ‘giants’ words’ is told in Snorri

Sturluson’s Edda, p. 61.

274

THE SAGA OF HORD

pleased to do so and took him in joyfully and thought it to be a blessing. The previous year3 Grim and Gudrid had had a son whom they
named Geir. He was early large and good-looking and well endowedwith skills, only that he fell short of Hord in everything. They now
grew up both together, and there soon came to be great affection between them.
Signy was now even less content after this than before, and there
was now considerably less warmth between her and Grimkel than previously. Again she dreamed a dream, that she saw a great tree as before,
greatest in its roots, with many branches and there came a great dealof blossom on it. This dream was again interpreted by her nurse as
about a child being begotten between them, and it would be a daughter and much progeny would live after her, as the tree had seemed toher to have many branches.
‘And your thinking it had much blossom must mean the change ofreligion which will come about, and her descendants will hold thatfaith which is preached then, and it will be a better one.’8
After the assembly in the summer Signy asked Grimkel to let her gonorth to her relations. He said he would let her do that, but said thatshe should not stay longer than a fortnight. Two servants went withher, and her nurse Thordis. They rode north into Reykiardal. Torfi
received them very warmly and invited her to stay for the winter, andsaid that otherwise he would feel that he had lost her affection. She
said she had been permitted to be away a fortnight and no longer. Torfi
said that was not important. She then gave in to his request and urging. They went then on some visits during the winter and when they
were on a visit down in Bæ, Signy’s nurse died suddenly and is buried
at Thordisarholt. This is a little way from Bæ. Signy was greatly affected by this. Then they went back to Breidabolstad.
And soon afterwards Signy was taken ill with childbirth labour, andher illness was looking very serious. Torfi spoke to her, said he had
3 This conflicts with other chronological indications in the saga and prob-

ably ought to read ‘the year before Hord was born’.

THE SAGA OF HORD

275

never felt happy about her marriage, declared that he had always beenvery much against Grimkel. She said it was not unlikely that it would
have grave consequences. She gave birth to a girl-child, large andhealthy. Torfi would not have the child sprinkled with water4 until
Signy’s fate was clear. She died straight away without getting up fromchildbirth. Then Torfi got so angry that he wanted to have the child
exposed to die. He told his foster-brother Sigurd to pick up the childand take it to Reykiardalsa and destroy it there. Sigurd said that was avery bad thing to do, but yet did not care to disobey Torfi in this.
Sigurd now picked up the child and went on his way. He thought thechild looked pretty and so did not feel like throwing it out into theriver. He set off now up to Signyiarstadir and put the child down in the
farmyard gateway and felt sure it would soon be found. Farmer Grim
was standing out under the gable of the house, Signy’s son. He saw
this, went up and picked up the child and took it home with him andmade his wife Helga pretend to be ill and say that she had given birth
to this girl. He had her sprinkled with water and named her Thorbiorg.
Grim set out for Breidabolstad. He saw a large number of people
coming out of the farm. Signy’s body was being taken to burial. Torfi
told Grim of his mother’s death.
‘And I will hand everything over to you, and yet we ought to pay
this wealth to Grimkel, but we want to do the best we can by you.’
Grim said he spoke well. Then they buried Signy and left afterwards.
Now Sigurd and Grim meet. Sigurd says he knows that Torfi will be
angry with him when he knows that he has allowed the child to live.
‘I know how to deal with this,’ says Grim, ‘I shall get you abroad
and thus reward you for the chance that has befallen you.’
And he did so. He sent Sigurd south to Eyrar and gave him twohorses, and there were packs on one of them. From there he went
abroad.
The next day Torfi came to Signyiarstadir and asked why Helga wasin bed, for he did not have any previous knowledge of her sickness.
He now recognised the child that lay by her and said:‘This is a very bold thing to do, that you dare to nurture a child that
I had had exposed to die.’
4 Many sagas record that in heathen times there was a ceremony used simi-

lar to Christian baptism.

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THE SAGA OF HORD

Helga replied, ‘This child was very closely related to Grim, and heis justified in saving it.’
Then Torfi asked where Grim was. She said he had gone to see thefarm-workers. Torfi went there and saw Grim. Torfi went on in themost awful manner and said Grim was acting towards him with extraordinary boldness and asked what he knew of Sigurd, said he deserved
to be punished for having broken his orders, declared that Grimkel
had deserved to be treated in this insulting way by him. Grim said he
had sent Sigurd to the Western Fiords to a ship. Torfi was angry at this.
He took the girl and did not feel like having her killed, for it was said
to be murder to kill children once they had been sprinkled with water.
He took the girl home and gave it for fostering to a certain slavewoman, and provided nothing for its clothing and would not remit anyof the slave-woman’s labour.

9
There was a man called Sigmund. He went around begging from houseto house and his wife and son who was called Helgi. Usually they
stayed in guests’ quarters wherever they arrived, unless Sigmund was
let inside to provide entertainment. That same autumn Sigmund andhis family came to Breidabolstad. Torfi welcomed them and said to them:‘You are not to stay in the guests’ quarters, for I like the look of you,
Sigmund, and you seem to promise well.’He replies, ‘You would not be mistaken if this was your opinion.’
Torfi said he wanted to do him an honour, ‘for I shall accept thefostering of a child from you.’
Sigmund replies, ‘There is a difference of rank between us, if I foster a child for you, for it is said that he is a lesser man who fosters achild for another.’
Torfi said, ‘You shall take the child to Olfusvatn.’
Sigmund agrees to this. He now picks Thorbiorg up and ties her on
his back and then goes off. Torfi was intending all this as an insult to
Grimkel, and thought this man the right person to take the girl into
beggary; he also did not want to risk a better person for it than Sigmund,for he thought there was nothing that Grimkel might not do if someone had brought the child to his house whom he would have thought
worth taking vengeance on.

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Sigmund now found himself well off for lodging-places, for everyone felt themselves obliged to treat the girl well and those who travelled with her, wherever she went, and so Sigmund decided to take thelongest way round. He went out round Andakil and Melahverfi and allalong the coastal route round the Nesses and round past Grindavik
and Olfus.
One day in the evening Sigmund and his family arrived at Olfusvatn.
Sigmund was wet and very frozen. He sat out near the door, but Grimkel
sat in his place and had a sword across his knees. He asked what sort
had come. Sigmund replies:‘It is Sigmund, fosterer of your child, who has come, my dear sir,and your daughter Thorbiorg. She is the very best of children.’
Grimkel said, ‘Listen to what this beggar says. You, to be fosterer of
my child, the most miserable of vagrants? And Torfi’s enmity towards
me is not all of a piece. First he caused the mother’s death, and now hehas driven the child into beggary.’
Grimkel then uttered a verse:
Torfi did not hold back from killingthread and embroidery prop [woman, Signy].
He acts insultingly indeed towards sword-harmer [warrior,
Grimkel]in all this. Sword-snatcher sent this silver bowl Gna [woman,
Thorbiorg]
into beggary wrongfully. It is time to pay back this suffering.
Grimkel knew all about what Torfi was planning and so did not want
the girl to be left there. Grimkel told Sigmund to be off as quickly as
he could if he did not want to be beaten up and then suffer worse.
They now had to go straight off with the child. They went overGrimsness and across Laugardal and began to neglect the child, forthey felt uncertain whether they would ever get rid of it. They now
found it hard to get lodging. Sigmund felt he had just snapped up a fly
when he took the girl from Torfi.
They arrived at Grimsstadir one day for breakfast. They tell Grimthat they had with them a young child. Grim says he wants to see thisyoung child that people are now talking so much about.
Sigmund said it was a lot of trouble to unwrap the child, and said
that even then it would not be easy to quieten her down again. Grim

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said no one would bother about that. The child was now unwrappedand shown to Grim. He then said:‘This is truly Signy’s child; it has her eyes and she would expect
this of me, that I would not let her child go from house to house if I
could do anything about it. But Torfi wants to bring great shame upon
all this child’s relations and even on himself. I shall now, Sigmund,take off you this child and dependant.’
He was very pleased at this. They stayed there that day and thenwent down over Botnsheid. There were many who said that Grim would
be putting himself at risk from Grimkel Godi in this affair with his
temerity.

10
About the time of the moving-days Grimkel Godi set out to Olfus past
Hialli and out round Arnarbæli and up along Floi to Oddgeirsholar,
from there into Grimsness, and stayed in Laugardal and so back home.
He summoned all the farmers to a meeting with him at Midfell, thosehe had just met, after an interval of two nights, for Grimkel had the
godord over all these areas. To Midfell came sixty of his assemblymen. Grimkel told them of his need to take up a suit against Torfi anddeclared his intention of going to serve a summons on Torfi. They all
thought this was justified. They rode past Giabakki, so to Kluptir andround Ok, so the lower route down by Augastadir and so to Breidabolstad. Torfi was not at home and had gone up into Hvitarsida. Grimkel
summonsed Torfi for plotting the death of Thorbiorg and for Signy’s
dowry. He referred the cases to the Althing and afterwards rode home,
and there was now hardly anything that was more talked about thanthe case of Grimkel and Torfi.
And when Grim the Small heard about this, he set off out toReykiarvik to see Thorkel Mani (moon) the lawspeaker. They came to
discuss the case of Grimkel and Torfi. Grim asks what he thinks about
how this will be concluded between them. He says he thinks it does
not look good, since it was very contentious people that were involved.
Grim said:‘I would very much like you to do what you can to bring about asettlement between them, for you are both clever and well-disposed.’

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Thorkel replies, ‘Your request becomes you well and shows yourgood nature, and I will do what I can to reconcile them.’
Grim said, ‘I will give you money to bring about a settlement between them.’
He poured into his lap a hundred of silver and thanked him for his
promise to try to reconcile them. Thorkel said he was acting nobly.
‘But understand this, that I am giving you prospect of a settlement,
but I do not promise it.’
Grim replies, ‘Your offering a prospect is more valuable than whenmost other men promise absolutely.’
Grim left after that.
Time passed until the assembly. Both sides came with great followings. Grim was at the assembly. He went to see Thorkel Mani andasked him to seek a settlement. He said he would gain great honour
from this if he was able to reconcile the leaders. Thorkel now did this.
He went first to see Grimkel Godi and raised the question of the casewith him. Grimkel replies:‘I can tell you in brief that in relation to all our dealings as well as
Torfi’s enmity towards me I shall accept no one’s adjudication but myown, except only if it is stipulated as a basis that he pay no less thantwelve hundred triple units of cloth.’Thorkel then offered to arbitrate between them.
‘But you can see what is at stake here, for there will be open hostility if you do not reach a settlement, and we shall support the side thatacts more in accordance with our words and that is willing to respect
our decision, and that is more important than what is causing the difference between you.’
Then Grimkel said, ‘I agree that Thorkel shall adjudicate in the case.
He is known for consistently correct judgements.’
Now Torfi sees that this alone is acceptable. He says now that he too
agrees to this.
Thorkel said, ‘This is my decision and judgement, that Torfi shallpay Grimkel six hundred triple units of cloth and have it on loan for
six winters and then pay twelve hundred.’
He said that he had now adjudicated as seemed to him most just.
Grimkel replies:‘I shall accept this arbitration because I have myself proposed it, but
it seems to me the matter has been greatly diminished. Hord, my son,

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shall have this money, and have it as his inheritance from his mother.’
Torfi said he would not pay Hord this money unless he did not turnout a worse man than his father. Grimkel said that to be sure it was
impossible to know this, how it would turn out, but said that Hord
would be no better off if the saying proved true that “men take mostafter their maternal uncles”.
‘For you are a shape-changer, and I think it would be worse for him
to inherit that from you than not.’
Then there was a great outcry. Neither side was pleased with thejudgement, yet it was abided by more or less.
This year passed and then another. Then Grimkel proposed a wife
for himself, Sigrid daughter of Thorbiorn of Skalmarness. This suit
was given a good response, for the man was considered noble and ofgreat family, even though he was rather past his prime. She was married to him. Their wedding was at Olfusvatn, at Grimkel’s home. It
went forward satisfactorily and splendidly. They got on very well together. Grimkel now kept to himself.

11
There was a man called Illugi who lived at Holm on Akraness. He wasson of Hrolf the Geitlander, son of Ulf, son of Grim the Halogalander.
Illugi’s brother was Solvi, father of Thord, father of Magnus, priest at
Reykiaholt. Illugi’s sister was Halldora (who was married to Gizur
the White), mother of Vilborg, mother of Iorun, mother of Gudrun,
mother of Einar, father of Bishop Magnus. Illugi was a big man andstrong and had great wealth. He went to Olfusvatn on a wooing journey and asked for the hand of Thurid, Grimkel’s daughter by his firstmarriage. Grimkel responded well, for Illugi was known to him. This
engagement took place there. Hord was not present when this match
was arranged. The wedding was to be in Double-month at home at
Olfusvatn.
And when the time arranged for this came, Illugi set out from homewith thirty people for his wedding. With him was Thorstein Oxnabrodd(oxen-goad) of Saurbæ, a great farmer, and Thormod of Brekka from
Hvalfiardarstrond. They went over the fiord to Kialarness and to thenorth of Mosfell and so up by Vilborgarkelda, on to Iorukleif and so toTHE SAGA OF HORD

283

Hagavik and so in to Olfusvatn and they arrived early in the day. Illugi
said:‘Where is Hord, as I do not see him, or has he not been invited?’
Grimkel said he was invited as a matter of course.
‘But I have not named him in particular for this.’
Illugi replies, ‘That is not proper, however.’He rides to Grimsstadir. The doors there were closed. They knockedon the doors. Geir went to the door and asked who had come. Illugi
said who he was and asked for Hord. Geir said he was inside. Illugi
said:‘Ask him to come out, for I wish to see him.’
Geir went in and came out, said Hord was in bed and was ill. Illugi
went in, as Hord would not come out. Illugi said:‘Of what nature is your sickness, Hord?’
He said it was nothing much. Illugi said:‘I would very much like you to come to my wedding with me andmake friends with me.’Hord said he might have said this before if he thought it was very
important.
‘I am going nowhere, for you have not involved me much in thisbusiness.’
Illugi gets nothing from Hord but strong words. He rides away without achieving anything further.
A little later Geir said to Hord:‘It is more seemly that we go to the wedding. I shall fetch us somehorses.’Hord said he did not much care to. Geir said:‘Do it for the sake of my asking, and your honour.’Hord now did so. They then rode after them, and when they met,
Illugi was very glad and disregarded Hord’s strong words. They now
rode to the wedding and they were welcomed. Hord sat on one side of
Illugi. The wedding went forward satisfactorily and splendidly.
They all rode from the wedding together, right to Vilborgarkelda.
There the paths divided. Then said Illugi:‘Now, Hord we shall part here, and I would like us to be good friends,
and here is a shield that I would like to give you.’Hord replies, ‘My foster-father Grim has got plenty of bits of wood,’
and uttered a verse:

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A shield gave me the generous weapon-reddener [warrior, Illugi],
and not a good one. He will need this thane [shield]
in Hild’s rain [battle].
Let him keep his treasure himself, this sharp one,who desires my land-thong-slope Aud [woman, Hord’s half-sister],breaker of oaths and rings.5
Then Illugi said, ‘Accept this ring from me, then, as a token of friendship, if you do not want the shield.’
Hord took the ring. It was a fine treasure.
‘I do not know,’ says Hord, ‘why I have the feeling that you will not
be a good brother-in-law to me, but yet we shall find out later on.’
Then they parted, and there were few expressions of goodwill, but
yet they separated on good terms for the time being. But when Hordgot home, he spoke to Thorbiorg:‘I would like to give you this ring, which Illugi gave to me, because
I love you best of everyone. But you remember this gift when I am
dead, for I know that you will live longer than I.’
Thorbiorg replies and uttered this:If you are, to my certain knowledge,
slain with weapons, or felled in battle,
to that man shall my bitter designs
for sure cause death.
Hord was now twelve years old when the saga had reached this point.
He was then equal in strength to the strongest men in the area. So time
passed until Geir was sixteen years old and Hord fifteen. He was thena full head higher than most other men. His eyes could never be deceived by false appearances, for he saw everything as it was. His hair
was the finest of anyone’s and he was of mighty strength, the best ofswimmers and in every respect well endowed with skills. He was whiteof skin and light of hair. He was broad-faced and full-faced, with abend in his nose, blue-eyed and keen-eyed and rather wide-eyed, broadshouldered, thin-waisted, broad under arm, with slender extremities
5 Breaker of rings (i.e. of swords) means warrior; or spender of rings, generous man, i.e. Illugi.

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285

and in every way well grown. Geir was rather less strong, and yet
there were almost none his equals. He was one of the greatest men ofskills though he did not come up to Hord.

12
That same summer a ship came from the sea to Eyrar. It was owned bya man called Bryniolf, son of Thorbiorn, son of Griotgard, a man from
Oslofiord. There were thirty men on the ship. They arrived before theassembly. Bryniolf rode to the assembly and stayed in Grimkel Godi’sbooth. He often said that he had a desire to see Hord.
‘For much has been told me,’ he says, ‘of his good looks and abilities.’
And now it happened that Hord came to the assembly, he and Geirtoo, for they were never apart. There was amazing affection between
the foster-brothers, for neither word nor deed ever came between them.
They and Bryniolf now met. They got on well together. Bryniolf said
that there had been no exaggeration about Hord as to his size and good
looks.
‘You seem to me, Hord,’ says Bryniolf, ‘a very good person to go
abroad and be among noblemen. I would like to be your friend andgive you half share in my ship with me.’Hord said, ‘You are taking on a great deal with an unknown person,
but yet I will give a good response to your proposal, and yet I shall not
promise to go away until I know what I shall have to take with me, forI have not got much so far.’Geir said, ‘This is a good suggestion, foster-brother, and it seems tome a promising plan. I shall be much in favour of it.’Hord said, ‘I am not keen to ask Grimkel to provide for me.’Geir told him not to be like that, ‘for he is very fond of you. Now I
would like you to be straightforward in these plans, and also that you
should accept gratefully what Bryniolf is offering you.’
They now travel home from the assembly, and when Hord got home,
he told his sister Thorbiorg. She said Bryniolf must be a good fellow.
Geir then again urged the journey abroad.
‘I would like,’ he said, ‘you to take Helgi son of Sigmund as yourservant.’

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THE SAGA OF HORD

Thorbiorg answers, ‘I would be rather against that, because all
Sigmund’s people seem to me prone to disaster. The grief will neverleave my breast which I got from when they took me begging fromhouse to house.’
Hord answers, ‘I am not very keen on Helgi, for they have been thecause of the greatest disgrace to us,’ and he uttered a verse:
This grief in Thorbiorg’s Hlokk’s storm [mind]
that I tell of is the greatest in many men’s memory
when destroyer [warrior, Torfi] of sleeve-plain brands [swords],
her mother’s brother, asked Sigmund to bring her up in beggary.
Helgi was very persistent in asking, and Geir supported his suit verymuch. The conclusion was, by the time they had finished, that Helgishould go with them, and Hord said that they would find out rather
more clearly how mistaken it was.
After this Hord asked Grimkel for capital and requested sixty hundreds, and of this twenty hundreds was to be brown-striped. Grimkel
said:‘Your arrogance and greed is clearly apparent in this.’
He went away in silence. Grimkel’s wife Sigrid said this was equivalent to consent.
‘For this will be more or less what he had intended for trading in.’Grimkel handed over the capital, and they transported all the wares
under Fell to Sigurd Muli,6 went abroad after that with Bryniolf straightaway that summer and reached Bergen with ship unscathed.

13
King Harald Greycloak was then ruling over Norway. They straightaway looked for private lodgings for themselves and found them with
Bryniolf’s help, for he did the best he could for them in everything.
There was one day when Bryniolf had ridden up into the country,
that Geir was walking out on his own. He had a furry homespun cloak
on. Then Geir sees where a troop of men was going and one of them
6 I.e. so as to be close to the ship and ready to load; Fell is near the south

coast of Iceland, on the Olfus river.

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was in a blue cape. They soon meet. They ask him his name. Geir tells
them what it is and asks who they are. Their leader says his name isArnthor, and that he is the treasurer of Gunnhild Mother of Kings.
They asked to buy Geir’s cloak, but he was not willing to sell. Then
one of them snatched the cloak from him. Geir was left standing withhis hand on his sword. They laughed then a great deal and mocked
him, saying that the landsman7 had not held on to his cloak very hard.
Both these things then made him angry, their mockery and losing the
cloak. He then grasped hold of the cloak, and they jerk at it for awhile. Arnthor then reached for the cloak and tried to wrench it fromhim. At this Geir drew his sword and struck at Arnthor’s arm above
the elbow, cutting it off. He then got hold of his cloak and after thiswent back to his lodging, for he had taken them aback. His scabbard
was left behind. They attended to Arnthor, for he was weak from lossof blood. Hord asked, when Geir came back, why there was blood on
his sword. Geir said what had happened. Hord answers:‘What you did was quite proper. Now we must waste no time.’
Now Arnthor was overcome from loss of blood and he collapsed in
the arms of those who were with him, and died a little later from lossof blood. Hord now sent for the Icelanders who were there. There was
Tind son of Hallkel, brother of Illugi the Black. They quickly responded
and came to meet Hord and numbered twenty-four in all. Then a horn
was blown in the town and the king was sent for and told that one of
the king’s men was slain. The king came quickly and ordered Geir tobe handed over.
‘For he has killed a friend of mine and my mother’s treasurer.’
Hord answers, ‘It is not right for us to surrender our man to yourweapons. We are willing to offer you self-judgement for the man aslong as Geir keeps life and limb unscathed.’
Just then Bryniolf came back, while they were discussing this, andsaid:‘Lord, be so good, take payment for the man, and pay regard to yourhonour and my friendship, for many a man will lose his life before
Geir is killed.’
The king replies, ‘I shall do that, Bryniolf, at your request, make asettlement with Geir and accept compensation for my part, but not on
my mother’s part.’
7 I.e. Icelander.

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Bryniolf thanked him. He paid over all the money for Geir and furthermore gave the king good gifts, for he had plenty of wealth andwas the most decent person.
But when the king had gone away, Bryniolf said:‘I am not confident that I can keep you here because of Gunnhild. I
shall send you east into Oslofiord to my father Thorbiorn for safety
and protection.’
Hord replies, ‘I shall rely on your guidance, for you are a decent
person.’They now went quickly east to Oslofiord. Thorbiorn welcomed thembecause of his son’s recommendation. They were well treated there
and were considered to be splendid men. Most people did not think
Helgi was any compensation for Hord’s character. Early in winter
Bryniolf came there to the east. They all stayed there together in friendship.
In the spring Thorbiorn discussed with Hord and his friend that hewanted to send them east to Gautland ‘to see my friend Earl Haraldwith unequivocal tokens, for I know that Gunnhild will come here
soon and then I shall not be able to protect you from her.’
Hord said that the father and son should decide. They now prepared
their ship.

14
When they were ready the foster-brothers and the father and son parted
in great friendship. They now make east for Gautland, go to see Earl
Harald. He received them well as soon as he saw his friend Thorbiorn’s
tokens. The earl had a son who was called Hroar, and he was out raiding, and a daughter who was called Helga, the most handsome of
women. Earl Harald made Hord sit next to himself, in his son Hroar’s
seat. They stayed there the summer.
In the autumn Hroar came back from raiding. He was made welcome. Hord gave up his place to Hroar. So time passed until Yule, andwhen people had taken their places on the first evening of Yule, Hroar
stood up and said:‘Here I step on the stock8 and make this vow, that I shall have broken open the viking Soti’s grave-mound by next Yule.’
8 Probably one of the supports for the edge of the side-platforms of the hall.

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The earl said, ‘A great vow, and you will not have the power to fulfil
it on your own, for Soti was a great troll in his life and has been twice
as great a one since he died.’
Hord then stood up and said, ‘Will it not be proper to follow yourcustoms? I make this vow to go with you into Soti’s mound and not toleave it before you.’
Geir made a vow to accompany Hord, whether he wanted to go
there or anywhere else, and never to part from him unless Hord wishedit. Helgi also made a vow to accompany Hord and Geir wherever theywent if he could, and to value no one more highly while they both
lived. Hord replies:‘It is not certain that there will be long between us, and take carethat you are not the cause of both our deaths, or even of other people’s
too.’‘I would hope to do so,’ says Helgi.
The earl was well disposed to Hord and said he looked chiefly towhere Hord was for facilitating his son Hroar’s advancement.

15
And when spring came, Hroar set out in a party of twelve for Soti’smound. They rode through thick forest, and in one place Hord saw
where a small hidden path led off the forest road. He rode this pathuntil he came into a clearing. There he saw a building standing, bothlarge and splendid. A man was standing outside in front of the building in a blue-striped hooded cape. He greeted Hord by name. He responded well and asked what he was called.
‘For I do not recognise you, though you behave as if you know me.’
‘My name is Biorn,’ says he, ‘and I recognised you when I saw you,even though I have not seen you before. But I was friend of yourkinsmen, and I will let you benefit from this. I know that your party isplanning to break into the viking Soti’s mound and you will not easily
manage this if you are left to your own devices. But if it goes as I
suspect, that you do not manage to break into the mound, then comeand see me.’Now they part. Hord rides now to meet Hroar. They get to the moundearly in the day and begin to break into it and in the evening reached
the timbers. But the following morning the mound was undisturbed as

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before. So it went the second day. Then Hord rode to see Biorn andtold him how far they had got.
‘And it went,’ said Biorn, ‘as I expected, for it was not unknown tome what a troll Soti was. Now here is a sword that I shall give you,and you stick it into the opening in the mound and then see whether
the mound closes up again or not.’Now Hord goes back to the mound. Hroar says then he wants togive up and not struggle with this devil any longer. Others were infavour of this. Hord replies then:‘It does not do to fail to fulfil one’s vow. We shall have another go.’
The third day they set about breaking into the mound. They againreached the timbers as before. Hord now stuck the sword Biorn’s gift
into the opening in the mound. They sleep through the night and cometo it in the morning and then nothing had changed there. The fourth
day they broke up all the long beams and the fifth day they took out
the door. Hord then told men to beware of the blast and stench which
was blowing out of the mound, and he himself stood behind the door
while the stench was at its greatest. Then two men were struck deadby the foul air which blew out, but they had been curious about it andnot followed Hord’s advice. Then Hord said:‘Who wants to go into the mound? And it seems to me that he who
made a vow to overcome Soti is the one who ought to.’Hroar was silent then. And when Hord saw that no one was prepared to go into the mound, he drove into the ground two rope-pegs.
‘Now shall I,’ he says, ‘go into the mound, if I may keep the threetreasures that I choose from the mound.’Hroar said he would say yes to this for his part, and all agreed to it.
Then spoke Hord:‘What I want, Geir, is that you should hold the rope, because I trust
you best to do it.’
Then Hord went into the mound, and Geir held the rope. Hord foundno treasure in the mound and now says to Geir that he wishes him tocome into the mound with him and to take with him fire and wax.
‘For both are things of great power,’ says he. ‘Ask Hroar and Helgi
to look after the rope.’
They did so, and Geir went down into the mound. Eventually Hord
found a door and they broke it down. Then there was a great earthquake and the lights went out. A great stench blew out. There in theTHE SAGA OF HORD

291side mound was just a little gleam of light. Then they saw a ship andgreat treasure in it. Soti sat in the bow and was horrible to look at. Geirstood in the entrance to the mound, but Hord went up and was goingto take the treasure. Soti uttered this:Why were you so keen, Hord, to break into
the earth-dweller’s house, even though Hroar asked?
I have never to blood-serpent shaker [sword wielder, Hord]done harm in my life.
Hord said:
This is why I came to find the fellow
and to take ancient treasure from the ghost:
it is widely known that there cannot be
anywhere in all the world
a worse man wielding weapons.
Then Soti leapt up and ran at Hord. There was a tough encounter inwhich Hord was greatly outmatched. Soti took hold of him so hardthat Hord’s flesh was bunched up into ridges. Hord told Geir to kindle
the wax candle and see how Soti responded to that. And when thelight spread over Soti, his strength diminished and he fell down. Hordthen managed to get a gold ring off Soti’s arm. It was such a finetreasure that it is said that no gold ring as good has reached Iceland.
And when Soti lost the ring, he uttered this:Hord plundered me of the fine ring,
twice as bad it seems to me to lose it
than the whole of Grani’s burden.
It shall be the deadly destructionof you and all those who possess it.
Hord said:
Though I was certain of this,that all the pronouncements of the destroyer of good deeds [Soti]
would be fulfilled, yet should not the most ancient coward
longer enjoy sea’s fire [gold].

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‘You shall know this for certain,’ says Soti, ‘that this ring shall cause
the death of you and of all who possess it, unless it is a woman who
possesses it.’Hord told Geir to bring the light up to him and see how friendly hewas, and at that Soti plunged down into the ground and would not
wait for the light. So they parted. Hord and Geir took all the chests
and took them to the rope and all the treasure that they found. Hord
took sword and helmet that Soti had possessed, and they were thegreatest treasures. They now gave a pull on the rope and realised thatthe men had gone away from the mound. Hord pulled himself up therope and got out of the mound. Geir tied the treasure on the rope andHord pulled it out.
This is to be told about Hroar and Helgi and their companions, thatwhen the earthquake happened, all the men panicked who were outside, except for Helgi and Hroar, and they had to hold those who wereoutside still. But when they met again, there was a joyful meeting.
They felt they had recovered Geir and Hord from Hel. Hroar asked
Hord what had happened, and he uttered a verse:
I did not have to deal with a wealth-maple [man]either easy or cowardly.
That devil was hard to overcome under the heathen regime.
I know, when he began to see the light
Soti’s look was ugly. The cruel keeper of spells
chose to plunge into the earth.
They now left with their booty. They could not find Biorn anywhere,
and people assumed that it must have been Odin. Hord was thought tohave achieved a famous deed in the mound-breaking. He then spokewith Hroar:‘Now I consider that I have a right to the three treasures that I choose.’
Hroar said that was true, ‘and it is most fitting for you to have them.’‘Then shall I,’ says Hord, ‘choose sword, ring and helmet.’
Then they shared out all the other treasure and there was no dispute
between them. The earl did not want any of the treasure when they
offered it to him. He said it was fitting for Hord to have the largest
share of it. They now sat in great honour and stayed there for that year.

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16
In the spring Hord said that he wanted to go to Iceland, but the earland Hroar said they were very keen for him not to leave, and felt thatsuch a man had never been there before. Hord said:‘I shall propose an alternative to this for you: give me Helga, theearl’s daughter, as wife.’
The earl said this would be given a good response. The match was
fixed with the agreement of Helga and Hroar. Hord loved his wife
Helga greatly. He then had a great deal of wealth. They set out raidingin the summer, all the foster-brothers, Hord, Hroar, Geir and Helgi,
and they took four ships; each of them was in charge of one. They
were well off for both wealth and fame and did well in their raiding.

17
Now the story is to be taken up where earlier it was left off, that Sigurd,
Torfi’s foster-brother, went abroad from Eyrar and reached Norway
and was there the winter, and the following summer he got himself ona ship with merchants and went south to Denmark. At that time King
Harald Gormsson was ruling there. Sigurd got on good terms with theking for he proved the most valiant man. He quickly increased both inwealth and reputation until he got into a band of vikings and proved
the greatest hero, and so it went on for some summers right until Sigurd
became leader of a viking band. He then was himself in charge of fiveships.
There was one summer that he was sailing in the east past Balagardssida, and when he got to the sounds that are called Svinasund, evening
had come. They were there during the night. And in the morning thefirst thing they knew was that vikings were rowing towards them there
on seven ships. They asked who was in charge of the ships. A man
stood up on the poop on one ship, both great and swarthy. He says heis called Biorn Blasida (dark-side) and is son of Ulfhedin, son of
Ulfham, son of Ulf, son of Ulfham the Shape-shifter, and asked who
was their leader. Sigurd said who he was.

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‘Would you rather go ashore ungirded,9 and give us ships and possessions, or do you want to fight us?’
‘We would rather choose to defend our possessions and freedom
and would rather fall honourably.’
Then both sides got ready. The most violent battle broke out there.
Sigurd went forward bravely, and eventually all Sigurd’s ships had
been cleared of defenders, and three of Biorn’s. Then Sigurd stood up
alone and defended himself for a long time and right on until shields
were borne down on him. He was then captured, and he had by thenalone killed seven men. It had then become the evening of the day. He
was then tied fast by the arms and his legs were fettered and six men
were got to guard him during the night, and he was to be executed in
the morning, but the vikings all slept ashore. Sigurd asked who wasgoing to provide the entertainment. The guards said he had no need ofentertainment ‘when you are going to die tomorrow.’‘I am not afraid of my death, and I will recite you a poem, if you like.’
They said they would agree to that. He then recited so that they all
fell asleep. He rolled himself over to where an axe was lying, managed to cut the rope off his arms and after that managed to kick off his
fetters in such a way that it took off both his heel-bones. Then hekilled all the guards. Then he dived into the water and swam ashore.
Then he walked across the headland, for he did not want to risk playing about with the vikings. Then he saw four ships lying and booths on
shore. He went boldly to the tents and it was then nearly morning. He
asks who was in charge there. They said he was called Hord, who wastheir leader, Hroar and Geir and Helgi, and asked in return who hewas. He told them. Then he went up to Hord and asked the latest news.
Hord immediately realised who Sigurd was and invited him to joinhim. Sigurd said he would accept that and told him of his disastrous
expedition and asked Hord to even things up with the vikings for him.
He did not think this was likely to be possible, but yet said he would
do as he asked. They set to straight away and cleared their ships ofcargo and put rocks in its place, then rowed out past the headland. But
when the vikings became aware of this, they got ready and thought
they were lacking an expected friend in that Sigurd had gone. Now abattle broke out between them. The foster-brothers went forward
9 I.e. without either weapons or other possessions concealed under theirclothing.

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strongly, and yet Sigurd acquitted himself blamelessly. But towards
the end of the day, Hord attempted a boarding of the ship that Biorn
Blasida was on, and Geir was right behind him. Each went along one
side of the ship and slew absolutely every mother’s child forward of
the mast. Biorn Blasida then leaps against Hord. Hord was then comeaft of the mast and Biorn strikes at Hord with a two-edged sword.
Hord does not however get his shield in front of himself. He thenjumped backwards over the mast-transom towards the bow, and thesword goes so hard into the transom that it sinks in over both edgestrips.10 And when Hord sees this, that Biorn is bending forward after
striking the blow, he strikes both hard and swiftly across his shoulders
cutting the man in two below his ribs with the sword Sotanaut, andthus Biorn Blasida lost his life. And by the time this had been done,
Geir had slain every mother’s child on the ship, and Hroar had cleared
one ship together with Helgi. Sigurd had cleared one ship and thevikings fled on the fourth. Hord and his men took there a great deal ofbooty. They now dressed their men’s wounds. Sigurd healed so that itwas no hindrance to him. He accompanied Hord all his life afterwards,
as long as he lived, and was considered the most valiant man. They
now sailed back to Gautland in the autumn and stayed the winter therewith good entertainment.

18
Geir now became keen to go to Iceland and asked Hord to give him
permission to leave. Hord told him to go as he wished, but still tomaintain his friendship with him. Helgi remained behind with Hord,and Sigurd too. Geir went away. It took a long time to get favourable
winds and they reached Oslofiord in the east and put up tents on shore.
Gunnhild Mother of Kings found this out and sent her men to kill
Geir. They came in the night and beat them up under the tents after
letting down the tents upon them. Geir alone got away with his weapons and before that was the death of nine men. He travelled until hegot to Bryniolf son of Thorbiorn and father and son got him on a ship
and gave him some money. It was thought that Gunnhild had forced
10 Viking swords sometimes had narrow strips of harder metal welded along

the edges to improve their cutting-power.

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THE SAGA OF HORD

him to come to Norway by her magic. She was now very annoyed that
Geir got away. Now they set out to sea.
Geir came out to Eyrar during the summer. Then Geir’s father Grim
was dead, and also his grandfather Hogni in Hagavik, but Gudrid andThorbiorg had kept the farm at Grimsstadir. Geir went there and stayed
there the winter, but in the spring he bought land at Nedri-Botn andmoved his dwelling there and it was very profitable. Gudrid andThorbiorg moved there.

19
Indridi son of Thorvald and Thorgrima Smith-woman set up a farm inlower Skorradal where it is now called Indridastadir, but his motherThorgrima had been living at that time at Hvamm, while his father
Thorvald was dead.
That summer, the first that Geir lived at Botn, a man came out who
was called Orm, at Vikarsskeid by Thiorsa. Their ship was wrecked
and all the goods were lost. There were fifteen men on the ship andthey found no lodging. Orm had been two winters earlier at Hvita andhad had lodgings with Indridi, and now Indridi rode from the north ina party of three to see Orm and said he could not accept his being
unprovided for. He invited him home with him and all his crew. Orm
accepted this and thanked him for the offer.
They all rode from the south past Bakkarholt, over Grafning andBildsfell and so past Ulfliotsvatn and from there to Olfusvatn and got
there at dusk. Grimkel greeted them but did not invite them in. Then
Indridi asked for the hand of Grimkel’s daughter Thorbiorg.
‘You, farmer, know of my origin and also of my circumstances. I
would like to know your answer immediately.’
Grimkel said, ‘We cannot do that on the spur of the moment, andthis cannot be arranged so quickly.’
There were no invitations to them forthcoming from him. Indridi
rode to Hagavik in the evening. And when they were ridden off, thelady Sigrid said to Grimkel:‘Your attitude is very strange, not to give your daughter in marriage to
Indridi, who seems to us to be the most remarkable man, and send after
them, and do not sit in the way of your honour and that of your daughter.’THE SAGA OF HORD

297

Grimkel said, ‘Let us do as you wish.’Then men were sent after them to Hagavik. They rode back with themessengers. Grimkel now received them very well. They now discussed the affair and it was decided that Indridi shall marry Thorbiorg
and shall get with her forty hundreds, and the wedding was to be straightaway at Olfusvatn. Indridi himself was to be responsible for how
pleased those who were not present might be.
Indridi left his companions behind there and went in a party of three
and went to fetch Thorbiorg from her home in Botn. He went over
Iorukleif and so to Grimsstadir and from there over Botnsheid and soto Botn. Geir was not at home. Many people said that Geir must havewanted to marry Thorbiorg, but still she did not say anything in opposition to these arrangements nor to going with Indridi. They now travel
until they get to Olfusvatn. Preparations have then been made for thewedding.
Grimkel went to Thorgerd Horgabrud’s temple and was going to
make a pronouncement about Thorbiorg’s marriage, but when he cameinto the temple the gods were all in a great commotion and were getting ready to leave their pedestals. Grimkel said:‘What’s the meaning of this and where are you off to, and where
will you now direct good fortune?’Thorgerd said, ‘We shall not direct good fortune to Hord, since hehas plundered my brother Soti of that fine gold ring of his and donemuch other disgrace to him. I will though instead direct good fortune
towards Thorbiorg, and such a great light shines above her that I am
afraid that it will cause a separation between us. But you will have
only a short time to live.’He then went away and was very angry with the gods. He went
home for fire and burned up the temple and all the gods and said theyshould never again tell him grievous tidings. And in the evening whenpeople were sitting at table, Grimkel Godi suddenly dropped dead andhe was buried south of the farmyard.
All the property came into the keeping of Indridi and Illugi, because
Hord was not here in this country. Indridi wanted to have nothing to
do with looking after Grimkel’s property except for Thorbiorg’s dowry.
Illugi took over the management straight away that autumn, but in thespring the property was divided with Sigrid and she had land at
Olfusvatn and was considered a good mistress.

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20
A few winters later Hord son of Grimkel came out to Eyrar and hiswife Helga and Sigurd Torfi’s foster-brother, Helgi Sigmund’s son andthirty people. Hord was now thirty years of age. He had then been
abroad fifteen years together and become well off for both wealth andhonour. Illugi the Red from Holm came to the ship and invited Hordto stay and all his men and went himself to meet them and treatedthem in the most honourable way. Hord received this well and thought
it was a princely offer. Hord went to Illugi’s with twenty-five men andthey were served beer all winter with the greatest splendour, and Hordwas very pleased. Illugi offered him all his own property which hehad taken into his care. Hord said he preferred to claim his property
from his kinsman Torfi and said he would go to see him.
Then he went in a party of twelve men and came to Breidabolstad
and saw Torfi and claimed his property. Torfi said he was not sure
about this claim, ‘because I am not obliged to hand over the property
to you if you turn out a worse man than your father.’
Hord said that had hardly been put to the test yet, but said he would
pursue his claim on the property. Then Hord rode away and told Illugi,
when he got back. Illugi told Hord to give way.
‘And I feel sure that then things will be better between you, for Torfi
is a clever and cruel-minded man.’
Hord said that was the last thing he would do.
‘He has always treated us badly, and never well. I will go straightaway and get men together.’
Hord rode and gathered men from round Akraness, and Illugi gathered them from below and from the west, round Heynes and Gardar toFellsoxl, and round Klafastadir, and Hord west of Kuludalsa. Theyrode up over Midfell and so to Breidabolstad.
Torfi was outside and welcomed them. Illugi tried for a settlement
and said it was essential for them to be reconciled, such closely-related
people. Torfi said it was more than likely that Hord was in the right.
‘He will surely become a man of consequence,’ he says. ‘He has
responded much more quickly. I will grant him terms and make landavailable to him here. I will hand over to him here with the land thirty
cows and thirty farm-hands. I will provide everything for the farm thisyear. I want to know what sort of man he will turn out to be. He shallTHE SAGA OF HORD

299

be responsible for all the property he takes over, both land and stock.’
Illugi said this was a good offer, and Hord accepted it and they werereconciled on these terms. Hord moved there in the spring and Illugi
handed over to him all his property. Hord’s farm was profitable. He
kept open house for travellers. No one tried anything on with Hord,and he did not interfere with others. He lived there two years.

21
There was a man called Aud. He lived at Audsstadir opposite Uppsalir
or a little lower down, an odd man and wealthy, of an insignificant
family and yet somewhat quarrelsome. His son was called Sigurd. He
had mares, dark piebald in colour, two of them. He was proud of thesehorses. Illugi the Red had given Hord a stud of horses, five in all,when he left Holm, all of them black in colour. Aud’s piebald mares
began to consort with these and they ran away from their pastures.
Hord said he thought it a pity that Aud had too little benefit from his
horses. Hord did not have a very good relationship with Torfi. People
did not contend much with Hord, and he was always on good termswith people. Torfi was then living at Uppsalir. He had a godord andwas thought awkward and difficult to deal with. A second summer itwent the same way, that Aud’s horses went away from him and to
Hord’s horses. Hord ordered his horses to be taken over the mountainso that Aud’s mares should not find them. This was done, yet still
Aud’s mares found the horses.
It happened during the mowing of the meadows that Sigurd son of
Aud came back from the stud and had not been able to catch his horses.
Then Hord sent Helgi son of Sigmund to give him help. Helgi went
with Sigurd and was in a bad temper and said Aud was the entirecause of these troubles and difficulties. And when he gets to the horses,
he sees that the boy had injured the stallion. Then he said:‘You have the makings of a wicked man, and you are not going toruin many good animals from now on.’
Then he killed the boy. A little while later Hord came up and said:‘You are a wicked man, to have killed one who was only a young
person, and moreover without cause. It would be fitting for me to kill

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you. I do not now feel like doing that, though it would be better for
you not to live after such an evil deed. This will be the beginning ofyour ruin. It has now come about, what I had a feeling would happen,
and it is very likely that it will somehow turn out to cause the death ofboth of us and of many others, along with the other things that will
happen and that must be foreordained.’
Hord then threw a cloak over the body and after that first of all went
home, and a little later Hord went to Audsstadir, and when Hord wentfrom the western side into the enclosure, then Aud went from the northern side into the enclosure, and when they met, Hord said:‘This has turned out badly, and yet against my will, that your son
was killed. I will now give you self-judgement and demonstrate that I
believe this has happened most unfortunately and pay out all the money
directly, and most people will reckon that you can hardly expect abetter outcome to the case as it now stands.’
Aud replies, ‘I have just been to see my friend Torfi and delegatedthe case to him, and he has promised me to pursue it to the fullest
extent of the law, and indeed I could easily have foreseen that you
people of Breidabol would suffer a harsh fall.’
Hord said, ‘That was very wrong of you to cause trouble between
me and Torfi, and you shall now pay for it.’
Then he drew the sword Sotanaut and cut Aud apart in two pieces
and his workman. Hord had then become so angry that he burned thefarm and all the farm buildings and two women who refused to leave.
And when Torfi learned of this he said that no one before had dared to
do such a thing, ‘to carry out such unparalleled wickedness against
my friends, and yet it is not easy to rid oneself of Hord.’
And when he heard that Hord was not at home he set out to
Breidabolstad on a summons and referred the cases to the Althing.
After that he went home. And when Hord learned this, he sent Helgi
south to his brother-in-law Indridi and asked him to ride to the assembly and respond to his cases and to offer terms. He said he could notbring himself to offer any terms himself because of his enmity with
Torfi. Helgi went and saw Indridi and told him what Hord had said.
Indridi replies:‘I have promised Illugi the Red to go to the Kialarness Assembly,
but I will invite Hord to stay here with me.’Helgi replies, ‘There is less need for you to go to the Kialarness

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301

Assembly than to represent such a brave fellow as your brother-in-law,and you must be just a coward.’
Thorbiorg said, ‘It would have been some help if a reliable man had
come with the message, but now maybe nothing will come of it. This
misfortune has also come about because of you.’
Helgi went back and did not tell Hord about Indridi’s invitation, but
said that he was not willing to give him any help. He was not very
pleased with this and uttered a verse:
My brother-in-law proved unreliable to me in lawsuits,
and so is he to other wave-fire-junipers [men].
The useless heir of Thorgrima decided instead to stay at home.
Weapon-wielder [warrior, Indridi] is harsh to us,
and will be worse later.
And when people came to the assembly and the courts went into session,then Torfi asked if anyone was willing to bring forward compensation
on behalf of Hord.
‘I shall,’ says he, ‘accept compensation if anyone is willing to offer
it, but I am not inclined to let this case drop under my feet.’
There were no responses forthcoming and Hord was outlawed andHelgi too. And when Hord heard of his outlawry, he uttered a verse:
Great gold-ring keeper [man, Torfi] also managed indeed
at the Althing to make estuary-fire-cultivator [man, Hord]outlaw throughout sword-trees’ households
in heath-cod’s solace and snake’s sickness.11
This occasions us no fear.
He and Torfi did not meet for the time being.

22
A little later Hord went with all his people to his foster-brother Geir’s.
Hord first burned all the buildings on the farm and also the hay; he
11 heath-cod = snake, whose solace is summer and whose sickness is winter(because they hibernate in winter).

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said Torfi should gain little wealth from them. Some people say that
Hord had been living at Uppsalir at this time and Torfi at Breidabolstad.
Hord was sixteen and twenty years old when he fell into outlawry andwent to Botn. All his household went with him and his followers andset up a garrison there. There was one day that Torfi12 uttered thisverse:
Certainly Torfi, scornful land-ownerwill believe he can ride up to Botn against men.
Flingers of fire-red Nile sand [gold] will, I guess, offer resistance.
I believe that thanes will give sustenance to the wolf13
if an equal number of targe-trees [warriors]
can be present here inside.
It was a drain on their resources that year, because supplies were lessthan they needed, and Geir did not look after the farm work as well as
before. They then got through the livestock, so that the following summer the animals scarcely fed the people. The next autumn all the livestock were entirely slaughtered except for just a few cows.
And one morning during the winter before Yule, Geir touched Helgion the legs. He got up straight away and they went over the ridge to
Vatnshorn in Skorradal. The farmer was not at home. He was at a
wedding at Lund in Reykiardal at Koll’s. Geir said:‘Now we shall have to get supplies for the farm as best we can, andyou must do one or the other: keep watch or go into the cowshed.’
Helgi chose to keep watch. Geir then went into the cowshed anduntied the cattle. There were two men in a hay-store playing a boardgame, and there was a light burning there. Then one of them said:‘Are the cattle loose in the cowshed?’
The other said it must be the women’s fault and they had not tied thecattle up. Now one of them went out to the doorway, and when Geirsaw this he leapt at him and killed him, and when the one who hadgone first was a long time, the other went, and when he got to thedoorway of the barn he met the same fate as the first. Geir killed this
one too. Then they led off a seven-year-old ox.
12 Presumably an error for Hord.
13 I.e. fight a battle so that wolves may get carrion.

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303

And when they got back to Botn, Hord was very displeased and said
he would leave if they were going to steal.
‘It seems to me,’ he said, ‘much better to go raiding if there is noother way to survive.’14
Geir told him not to part from him for this reason.
‘You alone shall make all our decisions.’
And so it was, that Hord did not go away.
But when women came to the cowshed at Vatnshorn, they thought itstrange that all the cattle were loose. They thought the herdsmen must
be asleep. They tied up the cattle, but when they got to the entrance tothe barn, they found them there dead. Then word was sent to the farmer.
He came back home. There was a great deal of talk about this thing.
Hord would not let the ox be used until a man had been sent toVatnshorn to tell the truth about Geir’s expedition. Some people also
say that Hord must have compensated the farmer at Vatnshorn for his
men and ox, and so he would not have brought a charge for the caseafterwards.

23
Kolgrim the Old, son of Hersir Alf of Trøndelag, was living at Ferstikla
at this time. He was a settler. His son was Thorhall, father of Kolgrim,
father of Stein, father of Kvist, father of Kali. Kolgrim sent word to
the Botn-dwellers that they should hold ball-games and scraper-games15
with each other on Sand. They accepted. Now the games were begun
and they continued over Yule. The Botn-dwellers generally got theworst of it, for Kolgrim contrived it that the men of Strond were stronger
in the games. The Botn-dwellers used up a lot of hide for their shoes,
having to walk frequently; then the ox-hide was cut up for footwear.
People thought that Kolgrim had wanted to find out about the disappearance of the ox and that was why he had set up the games. He
thought he recognised the ox-hide on their feet. They were then called
Ox-men. Again they were treated roughly in the game. They then talked
about it, when they got home, that they thought they had been treated
14 It may be that these words are supposed to be spoken by Geir rather thanby Hord. Otherwise Hord is distinguishing open plunder from furtive theft.
15 The nature of this game is unknown.

304

the saga of hordroughly, and said they would soon give up the games. Hord spokeharshly to them and said they were not half cowards if they didn’t
dare to avenge themselves.
‘And you are,’ he says, ‘only ready for evil deeds.’
At this time there had come to Hord these two, Thord Cat andThorgeir Gyrdilskeggi (belt-beard), an outlaw. Now Hord had hornscrapers made for himself during the night. Then they were all ready to
go to the game if Hord was going, though before they had been rather
reluctant. Onund son of Thormod of Brekka was set against Hord, apopular man and of great strength. This game was very rough, andbefore evening came there lay dead of the Strond-dwellers six men,but none of the Botn-dwellers. Now both sides went home. Onund
was accompanied by all those who lived further out than Strond. And
when they got to a little way in from Brekka, then Onund told themto go on ahead.
‘And I am going,’ he says, ‘to tie up my shoe.’
They did not want to leave him. He sat down, and rather heavily.
Then he died and is buried there. It is now called Onund’s hillock.
These cases were not prosecuted against Hord or his men.
At this time Thorstein Gullknapp (gold-button) lived at Thyril, mali­
cious and underhanded, crafty and well off, but Thorvald Blaskegg(dark-beard) lived at Sand, a worthy farmer and an important man.

24
There was a man called Ref, son of Thorstein, son of Solmund, son of
Thorolf Smior (butter). He lived at Stykkisvoll in Bryniudal. He was apowerful godords-man and a strapping fellow. Later on he was known
as Ref the Old. His mother was called Thorbiorg Katla. She lived at
Hrisar. She had great skill in magic and was the greatest sorceress.
Ref’s brother was called Kiartan. He lived at Thorbrandsstadir, a big
man and strong and with a nasty character, an unfair man in everything.
As a result he was terribly unpopular with the generality of ­people.
There was a man called Orm, son of Hvamm-Thorir, a ­popular man
and a great smith. All these men were hostile to the Botn-­dwellers.
Hord and his men got news from the assembly in the summer that
there were men planning to gather together and kill them, and theyrealised that as the livestock had been slaughtered, they would now

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need to go raiding. Geir told them to build a fortification and said theywould not easily be attacked. Hord said he thought they would havetheir food supplies cut off.
‘And I would rather have us go to the holm which lies here offshore
in Hvalfiord opposite Blaskeggsaros beyond Dogurdarnes. This holm
has sheer cliffs down to the sea and is as wide as a great cattle-pen.’
There they went during the assembly with everything they had. They
took a great ferry from Saurbæ from Thorstein Oxnabrodd to assist
them, and a six-oared boat from Thormod of Brekka, and a four-oared
seal-boat from Thorvald Blaskegg. They made themselves a great longhouse, and one end faced north-east and the other south-west, andthere were doors in the middle of the long-house walls on the westernside. The long-house stood right on the southern cliff-edge, but one
could pass to the north between the cliff and the doorway that was in
the gable-wall. Only from the north was it approachable, but to thewest of the long-house were concealed ditches. It was their law thateveryone should be thrown over the cliff if they could not get up for
more than three nights. All were bound to go wherever Hord decided,or Geir, if they themselves were with them. Tasks were shared out
between them. All the buildings had their timbers taken down at Botn
and were transported out to Holm. This holm is now called Geirsholm.
It took its name from Geir son of Grim. A hundred and eighty people
were on Holm when they were at their maximum and never fewer
than in the seventies when they were at their minimum. These havebeen named: Hord and his wife Helga, the earl’s daughter, their son
Grimkel, and Biorn (he was two winters old), Geir and Sigurd Torfi’s
foster-brother, son of Gunnhild, Helgi son of Sigmund, Thord Cat andThorgeir Gyrdilskeggi (he was one of the worst of all the Holm-dwellers
for suggesting criminal deeds and kept urging all kinds of outrages).
Nearly all the doubtful characters found their way there and swore
oaths to Hord and Geir to be loyal and true to them and to each other.
Thorgeir Gyrdilskeggi and Sigurd Torfi’s foster-brother transported
water from Blaskeggsa in a group of twelve men and filled the sealboat with water and poured it into the pool that was out on Holm. So
time passed for a while.

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25
Thorbiorg Katla boasted of this, that she said the Holm-dwellers would
never do her any harm, she had such great faith in her magic. And
when they heard of this on Holm, Geir said he wanted to put it to thetest and set out in a party of twelve men after the assembly. Thord Cat
went with him. And when they got to the valley they saw that the
animals had wandered north over the mountain that stands between
Bryniudal and Botn. Geir had two men look after the ferry. Thord Cat
stayed on the ridge and kept guard. And when Thorbiorg Katla cameout, she became aware by her magic and second sight that a ship wascome from Holm. She then fetched her head-scarf and waved it up
over her head. Then a great darkness came over Geir and his men. She
then sent word to her son Ref that he should gather men together.
They came to be fifteen in all and they came upon Thord Cat unexpectedly in the darkness and captured him and killed him, and he isburied on the lower part of Cat’s Head. Geir and his men got to thesea. Then the darkness lifted and they saw them clearly, and Ref andhis men attacked and fought. All the men were killed who were with
Geir, and three of Ref’s party. Geir got onto the ship and so to Holmand was badly wounded. Hord mocked his expedition a great deal andsaid Katla had still not come to grips with them. Helga was a goodhealer and she made Geir completely better. The men on Holm werein great fear at all this.
And when Geir’s wounds were dressed, Hord went aboard the ship
in a party of twelve and went straight in to Bryniudal and said hewanted to put Katla to the test again. Two guarded the ship and ten
went to find the animals. Katla again shook her scarf and sent word toRef and said it would now be worth meeting the Holm-dwellers, ‘when
their leader is now the man with fine hair who thinks himself the greatest hero.’
Ref came in a party of six. Hord’s sight was not obscured by Katla’s
magic and they carried on as they had planned and slaughtered animals onto their ship until they had fully loaded it, while Ref and his
men looked on. Afterwards they transported it out to Holm, and thus
they parted.

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26
And when it was nearly the end of summer, Hord went in a party oftwenty-four to Saurbæ, because Thorstein Oxnabrodd had boasted ofthis, that his nurse Skroppa, who was skilled in witchcraft, would be
able to see to it by her magic that no harm should come to him fromthe Holm-dwellers. And when they came to land, seven guarded theship in the water, and seventeen went ashore. They saw a great bull on
the gravel bank above the boat-shed. They wanted to have a go at him,but Hord was against it. Two men from Hord’s party went towards thebull and followed their own counsel. The bull brought its horns against
each of them in turn; one of them aimed at its side, the other at its
head. Each of their spears flew back and at their breast, and they wereboth killed. Hord said:‘Follow my advice, because not everything here is as it seems.’
Now they reached the farm. Skroppa was at home and the farmer’s
daughters, Helga and Sigrid, but Thorstein was in a shieling in Kuvallardal. This is in Svinadal. She opened all the buildings. She created anillusion, for where they sat on the platform there seemed to them to be
three boxes. Hord’s men talked about wanting to break open the boxes.
Hord forbade it. Then they went north from the yard and were going
to see if they could find some animals. Now they saw where a young
sow was running with two piglets north out of the yard. They got infront of her. Then they seemed to see a great crowd of men coming
against them with spears and full armour, and now the sow was to thenorth of them shaking its ears with its piglets. Geir said:‘Let’s go to the ship. We shall be up against odds here.’
Hord said it would be better not to run so soon without having a go.
Just then Hord took up a great stone and struck the sow to death, andwhen they went up they saw that it was Skroppa lying there dead, andthe farmer’s daughters were standing upright over her, where it had
looked like piglets. Now they saw, as soon as Skroppa was dead, that
it was a herd of cattle that was coming towards them, and not men.
They drove these same animals to the ship and slaughtered them andloaded the ferry with meat. Geir forced Sigrid to go away with him
and afterwards they went out to Holm. Skroppa was buried in from
Saurbæ, between it and Ferstikla, in Skroppa’s Gill.

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Thorstein Gullknapp was left in peace by the Holm-dwellers, because they had come to terms secretly that he should transport all vagabonds to Holm and keep them informed of all the schemes of the people of the mainland. He had sworn them oaths to fulfil all this and not
to betray them in anything, and they had promised him not to do any
raiding there.

27
During the winter before Yule twelve of them in all went to Hvamm to
Orm’s at night-time. Orm was not at home. He was gone somewhereon business. He had a slave called Bolli who always looked after thefarm when Orm was not at home. They broke into the storehouse andtook out goods and food. They took Orm’s chest that had his valuables
in and went off with it all. Bolli felt it had gone badly for him when nowatch had been kept over the storehouse. He declared he would get
the chest off the Holm-dwellers or die in the attempt and told them totell the farmer that he should be in a party of eighteen at the boat-shed
the fourth night from then and should not let himself be heard.
Now Bolli got himself ready. He wore tattered shoes and a simple
hooded cloak. He stayed the first night in Bryniudal, but not at any of
the farms. He came to Thorstein Gullknapp’s and said his name was
Thorbiorn, said he was an outlaw and said he wanted to go out to Hordand join his band. Thorstein Gullknapp took him out to Holm, andwhen Hord and Geir saw the fellow, he did not strike them both in thesame way. Geir thought it was a good idea to take him on, but Hord
said he thought he was a spy. Geir prevailed, however, and he swore
them oaths before they took him on. He told them a great deal about
the mainland but said he was tired. He lay down and slept through theday. Geir and his men could not get the chest open and asked Thorbiorn
how he suggested they should go about it. Thorbiorn said there was noproblem.
‘There is nothing in it,’ he said, ‘except the farmer’s workshop tools.’
He said that Orm felt the only real loss he had suffered in the Holmdwellers’ raid was that his tool-chest had gone.
‘And I was then,’ he says, ‘at Mosfell when the raid was reported. I
shall take him his chest, if you like.’THE SAGA OF HORD

309

Geir thought there was little advantage to be had from the chest,
since there was nothing in it but only tools. Two nights Thorbiorn
stayed there trying to persuade them to let the chest go. Hord was not
keen to accept any advice of Thorbiorn’s, saying it would turn out
badly. Geir would have his way, however, and six of them in all went
during the night to Orm’s boat-shed. They carried the chest ashore
and up into the boat-shed and placed it under the side of the hull ofOrm’s ship. Then Thorbiorn called out that they were to stand up andtake the thieves. Then they leapt up, those that had been waiting there,
and attacked them. Geir then took hold of the stub of an oar and struckout on both sides, and thus defended himself very bravely. Geir thenreached his ship. Four of Geir’s men were lost. Orm took a ferry androwed after Geir. Back on Holm, Hord suddenly spoke:‘It is more than likely that Geir is in need of men, and I am not sure
how this Thorbiorn has proved for him.’
Then he took a ship and rows in along the fiord. He comes upon thechase between Orm and Geir. Then Orm soon turned back and to theshore. Geir went out to Holm with Hord.
Afterwards Orm gave Bolli freedom and land at Bollastadir and all
he needed to set up a farm. He lived there afterwards and became awealthy man and fearless.

28
After the assembly in the summer Hord and Geir went in a party oftwenty-four men on a ferry one evening and landed in Sialfkviar, infront of the entrance to Holm. They left six to guard the ship, andeighteen went ashore. They drove animals from Akrafell. Hord saw
that a man was coming out at Holm in shirt and linen breeches. It wasat dawn. Hord recognised this as Illugi, for he was the keenest-sighted
of all men. Now Illugi noticed what they were doing and immediately
sent men to Gard[ar] and to Heyness and also to Kuvallara to gather
men. He did not move to attack them until he had thirty men. And
when Hord sees the gathering of men, he told Geir to choose which hepreferred, to slaughter the animals and cut them up and load the shipor to keep off Illugi and his men so that they couldn’t get to them. Geirsaid he would rather cut up the animals than deal with Illugi. Hord said:

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‘Now you have made the choice that I much prefer. I am also moreused to this. I will keep them off in a group of twelve men, and wemust always stay the same number, but you will be the fewer cutting
up the animals as any of us fall.’Thus they were fourteen who were cutting up the animals.16 Now
began the attack between Hord and Illugi. It was extraordinary how
bravely Hord defended the sheep-pens, for Illugi’s party attacked hard.
Men were continually coming to reinforce Illugi’s party, so that in theend they became altogether forty men, but Hord’s group were twelve
in all. His men now had been badly wounded, for the difference in
numbers was great. Sigurd Torfi’s foster-brother put up a valiant show,
as he always did. Helgi son of Sigmund also defended himself like aman. Thorgeir Gyrdilskeggi loaded the ferry. Geir was not backwardin slaughtering the animals and then cutting them up. Nine fell of Hord’s
party before the ferry was loaded, and when they went aboard theship, the others attacked hard, the men of the mainland, and then sixof Hord’s party fell before they could take cover behind the side of theship. Hord was wounded by a double axe; everyone was wounded insome way.
Illugi then had ships got together, although Hord and his men had
disabled all the large ships. A north-east wind was blowing against
Hord’s party. They bound their wounds and rowed along the northerly
shore past Kataness and Kalmansarvik. They laid the cargo on a skerry,
for the weather was pushing them back. Geir insisted upon staying
there and one man with him, but Hord thought it foolishness to riskthemselves there. Hord held the ferry in down the fiord. Then theyrested, for they had worked hard even though they were tough. Illugi’s
party pursued Hord’s hard, and they were coming round the ness. Then
Hord gave the ness a name and called it Kataness, because he thought
there were a lot of cats17 going past it. As soon as Illugi’s party cameup with them, they immediately attacked them. Then Hord said:‘You are pursuing hard, brother-in-law, and I had a premonition ofthis long ago, which now has been fulfilled.’
Illugi said, ‘You have also done much to deserve it.’16 There is a discrepancy in the numbers. It presumably ought to be twelve

in both groups.
17 Kati, in English ‘cat’, was a kind of small boat.

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311

Then a hard attack took place. Hord defended one side of the ferry,and six the other side. A little later Holm-dwellers arrived on three
ships and immediately leapt onto the ferry. Then Illugi retreats, andthey chase him out along the fiord.
There was a man called Brand, son of Thorbiorn Koll (top) fromunder Midfell. He went at Geir on the skerry and fought with him andkilled the one who was with him. Geir defended himself well, but
Brand was in a party of seven. Then Hord came up at that moment andsaid Geir had fared not much differently from what he had expected.
Then Brand fled. They made after him and killed him (it is now called
Brand’s Flats in from the skerry, that is east of Kalmansa) and fiveother men, but the sixth got away. But Hord and Geir took all thebooty to Holm. Hord then uttered a verse:
Flood-moon-trees [men] fifteen had Illugi the Red felled before.
Homestead-Tyr [man, Illugi] was reluctant to make peace.
Rather well did fierce-minded Geir repay that onslaught.
Now have fallen of gold-giver [Illugi]
just as many wolf-feeders [warriors].
Now the summer came to an end.

29
The next winter, after Yule, Hord and Geir and forty men went up
Alptarskard and so into Svinadal and from there into Skorradal andlay hidden during the day, but went down to some sheep-sheds during
the night and drove away from there in the morning eighty wethers
that Indridi had up along Vatn. Then there came a heavy snowfall anda storm caused by witchcraft against them. Then the bell-wethers became exhausted, when they got close to the mountain, and Geir andthe men wanted to leave the sheep behind, but Hord said that would
be unmanly, just because there were a few flurries of snow or a bit ofdamp weather against them. Hord then took the bell-wethers, one witheach hand, and so dragged them on over the mountain. This made adeep track. They drove along it the rest of the animals. Thus it has
been called Geldingadragi (wether-drag) there since. And when they

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got into Svinadal, there was no snow there. They went then to their shipand slaughtered the animals there. This has since been called Gorvik(gore-bay) there. They now go out to Holm. Now the winter went by.
In the springtime Hord and Geir and Sigurd Torfi’s foster-brother,Helgi and Thorgeir Gyrdilskeggi went with sixty fighting men. They
went north over Alptarskard to Indridastadir and lay hid there in thewoods until cattle were being driven to pasture. The one who was
guiding the cattle was called Svart, and a small boy with him. Hordand his party went to the cattle and drove them west of Vatn. Svart
also kept with them. They went over Geldingadragi into Svinadal.
There they killed Svart. Then they went to sleep up there in the valley.
The boy guided the cattle back while they slept. Hord woke up andwatched from beneath his shield. He let the boy go on his way andsaid to him:
‘Go now, boy, for I would rather my sister had it than the Holmdwellers.’
The boy came home and told Thorbiorg what Hord had said andsaid it was a great shame about such a man.
‘And he was kind to me, but his men killed Svart.’
She made no reply to the boy. So it is now called Kuhallardal (cowturn-valley), because there the cattle turned from them. Geir awoke
and wanted to go after the cattle, but Hord said they should not. Thenthey collected together the farmers’ swine from Svinadal and drove
them down onto the sand and slaughtered the swine there and put
them on the ship. It is now called Svinasand there. Then they went out
to Holm.

30
During the Althing in the summer the Holm-dwellers went in to
Dogurdarness. They went along Sildamannagata to Hvamm in Skorradal and took Thorgrima Smith-woman’s oxen by Skorradal lake to thesouth and drove them south onto the ridge. One was a dapple-grey ox.
It sniffed around a lot. It ran back towards them, and then one after
another did the same, and out into the lake and they swam across where
it was narrowest and then walked back to Hvamm. Then Hord said:‘There is power in Thorgrima’s magic when cattle cannot do what
they want.’

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313

Thorgrima had been asleep and awoke sooner than expected andlooked out. She saw the wet oxen and then said:‘You’ve had a hard time, but those fellows did not hold on very tight.’
Hord now asked his friends whether they did not now want to change
their way of life and activities.
‘It seems to me,’ he says, ‘that our situation is rather poor as it is,when we have only what we get by raiding to live on.’
They said it was up to him.
‘Then I would like,’ he says, ‘us to go to merchants in Hvita andgive them two hard choices, that they give up the ship to us or otherwise we shall kill them.’
Geir said he was quite ready to do this.
‘But first I want us to burn in their houses Torfi son of Valbrand andKoll at Lund, Kolgrim the Old, Indridi and Illugi.’
Hord said, ‘Less than that of your great plans will be fulfilled, and it
is more likely that we shall all be killed, because people are not goingto put up with all the unfairness with which we are treating them.’
There were more who were against going to the ship, but were infavour of crimes, with the exception of Sigurd Torfi’s foster-brother.
Hord said:‘ “That will have to come to pass which is fated”, and the situationis that nothing can be done about it. But it is much more against mynature to be stuck in these crimes any longer.’
They went back to Holm the same night and stayed there three weeks.
Then they went to the mainland, eighty men. Hord then said he waswilling for them to burn Illugi or Indridi in their house.
‘Since they have continually,’ he says, ‘been against me, and neveron my side, such great troubles as I have been in.’
They went during the night into Svinadal and lay there in the woods
during the day, and the second night they went into Skorradal and hid
there.

31
The same night that Hord left Holm, Thorbiorg dreamed at Indridastadirthat eighty wolves were running to the farm there and flames wereburning from their mouths and one among them was a white bear, andit seemed rather sad, and they stayed a while at the farm and after-

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wards ran west from the yard to a little hill and lay down there. And
Indridi said this represented the feelings of the Holm-dwellers towards
him. Thorbiorg said she thought that it must be they themselves andthat they were coming soon. She told Indridi to channel a well-stream
to the house and to cover it over, for she claimed to dream true. This
was now done. Thorbiorg had great chimneys built. She had valuables
put up on the crossbeams because water was up to the middle of thewalls. She had no small number of men there ready.
Soon after, Hord and his men came. He went up to the doorway andwas ahead of his band. He knocked at the entrance. Thorbiorg went to
the door and greeted Hord in friendly fashion and invited him to stayand his special friends. She tried to make him leave that band of hooligans and said that there were many who would then be on his side.
Hord asked her to come out into the open to him and said she would
be welcome to be with him if she separated from Indridi. She said thatwould be less right and declared she would not separate from him.
Then they dragged a pile of wood to the doorway and set fire to thefarm, but they fought it off with water, the people inside. The attack
made little progress. Geir was surprised at this. Hord said:‘I expect it is my sister who has suggested this water supply.’
They went to look and found the stream and channelled it away, but
yet there was enough water in the farm, so much had already run in.
Hord saw a man standing up in one of the chimneys and holding abow. Hord shot the man with a javelin and killed him. After this Hordsaw a troop approaching the farm that Thorbiorg had sent for. Geirsaid they would now have to withdraw. Hord was not against it. They
then turned away. None of the buildings there was destroyed. A large
number of men came to Indridastadir. The Holm-dwellers went homeand did nothing for a while.

32
Farmers held a meeting at Leidvoll near Laxa by Grunnafiord so as toput an end to the Holm-dwellers being allowed to continue all thecrimes that they were committing. All the local leaders were sent wordthat they were to come to this meeting, and all the farmers and workers. And when Indridi was getting ready to go to the meeting, Thorbiorg
asked where he was planning to go. He told her.

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315

‘Then I shall go with you,’ she says, ‘for you must know that I shallbe true to you.’
He did not want her to go to the meeting, and said it would be no fun
for her to hear what was said there. She said she was aware of that.
Then Indridi rode to the meeting.
A little later Thorbiorg had a horse saddled for herself and went
with one other person to the meeting. There was there a large crowd ofpeople and a lot of shouting, but when she came they were as if struck
dumb and they were all silent. Then she said:‘I think I know what you are up to and your intention, and I shall nothide from you what I have in mind, that I shall be the death or have it
brought about of any man who kills my brother Hord.’
Then she rode away. At this assembly were Torfi son of Valbrand,
Koll from Lund, Indridi, Illugi, Kolgrim, Ref and Thorstein Oxnabrodd
and Orm of Hvamm and many other local leaders. Then Torfi said:‘It is obvious to the people who are present here, and everyone canbe in agreement about it, that these criminals should be put to death,otherwise first those who are closest by will be robbed of everything,
and then all the other local people. You can see that they will not spareothers, when Hord has tried to burn his brother-in-law’s family in theirhouse. Let us quickly adopt some good plan so that no news of itreaches them. This is for everyone the most urgent thing to do.’Illugi said they were the source of too many crimes for things to beallowed to stand, declared that there had joined the band the most evil
people.
‘I shall pay no regard to any relationships in this. We have found out
about them, that they were planning the same thing for us as for Indridi.’
Kolgrim said that those who were closest were feeling the greatest
cold from this, but there would not be long to wait before others had
the same thing on their hands, though they were placed further off.
Similar things were said by one after another. Ref said the only thing
to do was for some one to be got out to Holm who would swear oaths
to them that there would be no treachery used against them, and saythat it was the wish of all the local people that they should go awayfrom Holm, wherever they liked, and that they should then all be reconciled with each other. In this it was Torfi who was the greatest proponent of this plan, and in addition it was he who recommended thatthey should immediately that night ride in to the fiord so that the Holmdwellers should not know about it.

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‘For it seems to me,’ he said, ‘that some people on Strond are to besuspected.’
They rode immediately that night. They ate breakfast the following
morning on the ness there in the fiord which they afterwards called
Dogurdarness (breakfast ness). That same morning Thorgeir Gyrdilskeggi and Sigurd Torfi’s foster-brother went to fetch water in a partyof twelve on a smack. The Holm-dwellers had no idea that people
were gathering together or that there was any treachery being planned
against them.

33
But when the people on the mainland found out about Sigurd and his
companions’ expedition, they sent Koll son of Kiallak in a party oftwenty-four men, and when they met, Thorgeir Gyrdilskeggi ran off
straight away with six men, but Sigurd Torfi’s foster-brother madeready to defend himself with four men, and there was a very hard
attack. Sigurd then again defended himself very bravely, for he wasboth strong and skilful with weapons. They went on fighting until all
Sigurd’s companions were fallen, but he was then still not wounded.
Thorvald Blaskegg then attacked hard and many others. Then five of
Koll’s men were fallen. Sigurd then still defends himself superbly well.
He then kills many more men; he then, however, suffers some wounds.
Thorvald Blaskegg then went at Sigurd and thrusts through him witha spear. Sigurd had been fighting with an axe. He then threw the axe at
Thorvald, and the axe hit his head, and both fell down dead. Sigurd
had then been the death of nine men, and his companions had killed
three. Altogether there fell there at the river-forks seventeen men fromthe two parties. They are now called Blaskegg’s rivers.
Thorgeir Gyrdilskeggi stopped on Arnarvatn Heath and took refuge
in a cave at Fitiar and gathered together a band of men and remained
there until the men of Borgarfiord went for them. Then Thorgeir fled
north to Strandir and was killed there, as is told in the Tale of Alfgeir.

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317

34
Now the leading men looked around for someone who could be got togo out to the Holm, but most declined to do this. Torfi then urged thatthe person that went would gain a great deal of prestige from it, andwould be thought a greater man than before, and said it was probablethat those who were on the Holm would have forfeited their good luckbecause of their crimes. Ref’s brother Kiartan son of Katla—a very
great fighter and the fastest of men—he said he would have a go at
going if they would give him the ring Sotanaut if Hord was caught.
‘But I have in any case something to pay the Holm-dwellers backfor.’
They agreed to this, and he seemed the most promising for it ofthose who were there then. Then Kiartan said:‘Isn’t the most obvious thing to use Thorstein Gullknapp’s boat? He
has often done us a bad turn.’
They all thought this was a good idea, and said that this would givethe Holm-dwellers the least ground for suspicion.
Kiartan son of Katla now rowed out on Thorstein Gullknapp’s boat.
He was wearing a mail-coat under his cloak, and when he got to Holm,he told Hord that the people on the mainland wanted to make peace.
He said Illugi and his friends had played a major role in letting themgo free. Geir believed this and thought it was probably true, since hewas using Thorstein Gullknapp’s boat, for he had sworn oaths that hewould never behave treacherously towards them. Many were keen to
get away and were tired of being there and urged going with Kiartan
away from Holm. Then Hord said:‘Geir and I have very often not been of one mind, for frequently wehave seen things differently. I think it is an evil man they have chosen
for this, in the person of Kiartan, to be the bearer of such importantmatters, such great problems depending on it for both sides. There has
also not been great friendship between us and Kiartan.’
Then he said: ‘Let’s not bring that up now, for that is not appropriate
for those who are bringing proposals of peace, but it is nothing but thetruth I am telling you, and I will swear to it if you find that moreconvincing.’
Hord said he looked to him as if his oaths would not be reliable, andthen uttered a verse:

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This weapon-storm-tree [warrior, Kiartan]
who anxiously urges departure seems to me
that he cannot fail to be spying.
This wave-burning-Baldr [man, Kiartan] would never
get away unharmed, who urged this,if bow-destroyer [warrior, Hord] had his way.
Then nearly all were in favour of leaving. Some took passage for themselves with Kiartan straight away. Hord said he would not go at all.
‘But I am quite happy for them to find out how true Kiartan will beto them. But I think,’ he says, ‘that you will be less cheerful by thelatter part of the day.’
Kiartan was the better pleased the more he took away. Many boarded
the ferry. Kiartan said they would come themselves to fetch their fellows on the next trip.
They now left Holm. The gathering of men could not be seen until
the ship came round the point. But when they had beached the ship,
the farmers penned them in with their great numbers. And when theycame ashore, they were all taken and held and sticks were twisted intheir hair and every one of them was beheaded. Then the men of themainland rejoiced that they had had so little trouble with such criminals, and they thought the prospects were now good that they would
all be defeated.

35
Kiartan went a second time out to Holm. The Holm-dwellers asked
why their comrades had not come to meet them. Kiartan said they had
been so happy at their release that they had run ashore in high spirits.
Geir believed this and accompanied Kiartan aboard with many men.
Hord was against this trip and said it would have dire consequences.
He refused to go. Helgi son of Sigmund remained behind with him
and Helga the earl’s daughter and their two sons and six other men.
Geir and the others now went away from Holm, and Hord was not at
all pleased that Geir wished to go with Kiartan. But when they rowedon round the ness, Geir saw the crowd of men on shore. He realised
then that they must have been betrayed. Then he said:

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319

‘ “Bad counsels turn out badly”, and are often seen so too late, andHord has often been closer to the mark than I. I think that once again
it will be so, and it is now most likely that here there will be an end to
all our activities, and it would be well if Hord got away, for he alone
will be a greater loss than all of us together.’
They had now very nearly reached the shore. Geir then leapt overboard into the water and swam along by the rock. There was an Easterner called Orm who was with Indridi, a man of great strength. He
could shoot better than anyone and was well equipped with all skills.
He shot a javelin after Geir and it hit him between the shoulders and it
caused his death. He was greatly praised for this deed. It is called
Geir’s point where the body drifted ashore.

36
Helga the earl’s daughter was standing out on Holm and saw what
happened. She told Hord and told him to look. It did not look the same
to both of them. She said it would lead to dire consequences. The menof the mainland praised Kiartan highly and said he would prosper
greatly from these trips. They said there were not many left now. Kiartan
said he was now going to knock in the final nail by getting Hord andduping him into it also in the end. He used a six-oared boat and now
goes out to Holm. Hord asked where Geir was and why he did notcome to meet him. Kiartan said he had been kept on the mainland
until he came.
‘Thus peace can be made between everyone at once.’
Hord said, ‘You are taking on a great deal, Kiartan, in transporting
all of us Holm-dwellers to the mainland, and you must be getting a big
reward from the people of the mainland. I shall not go anywhere. I
have always mistrusted you, and one can never read anything from a
man’s appearance if you turn out well.’Kiartan said, ‘Surely you are not so much more cowardly than yourmen, that you dare not go ashore.’
Hord then leapt up and could not put up with his goading and said
he thought he would have no reason to taunt him about his courage by
the time their dealings came to an end. Hord said Helga should gowith him. She said she would not go and not her sons either, and said

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THE SAGA OF HORD

it had now come about, as they say, that “you cannot save a doomedman”. Helga then wept bitterly.
Hord went aboard the ship in great anger and they go now until theycome to where Geir was floating dead by a skerry. Hord then leaped
up and said to Kiartan:‘Most miserable of men, and a short time shall you have to enjoy
this treachery.’Hord then struck at him with the sword Sotanaut and clove him
lengthwise down to where his belt was, his whole body with double
mail-coat. Just then the ship ran ashore and they were all captured
who were on the ship. Indridi was the first to lay hands on Hord andtied his arms rather tightly. Then Hord said:‘Rather hard are you tying now, brother-in-law.’
Indridi answers, ‘You taught me how to do that when you tried toburn me in my house.’
Illugi said to Indridi, ‘Yet Hord has not got good brothers-in-law,and indeed he has not deserved them.’
Indridi answers, ‘He has long ago forfeited the right for any such
relationships to be paid regard to.’He then pointed his axe forward and gave a sign that someone should
strike at Hord, but no one would do it. Hord then twisted himself roundhard and got free. He grabbed the axe from Indridi’s hand and leapt
out over the circle of men three deep. Helgi son of Sigmund got freeand leapt straight after him. Ref mounted a horse and rode after themand could not catch them. Then war-paralysis came over Hord;18 hestruck it off himself the first time and the second. A third time warparalysis came over him and then they managed to pen him in andmade a circle round him and he again jumped out over them, firstkilling three men. He took Helgi son of Sigmund on his back. Then heran to the mountain. They chased hard after him. Ref was fastest, for
he was on horseback, and he dared not attack Hord. Then came warparalysis again over Hord. Then the main rout got to him. Then hethrew Helgi off his back. Then he said:‘Powerful sorcerers are involved here, but you shall not have yourwill over anything I can do something about.’
Then he cut Helgi in two in the middle and declared they were notgoing to kill his foster-brother before his very eyes. It looked to people
18 I.e. he was panic-stunned (literally, a war-fetter came over him).

THE SAGA OF HORD

321

as though Helgi was more or less dead already. Hord was then so
furious and terrible to look at that none of them dared to approach himfrom the front. Torfi said that anyone who dared to strike at Hordshould have the ring Sotanaut which Hord had on his arm. Then they
made a circle round him. Then Thorstein Gullknapp arrived from hishome at Thyril. They then attacked Hord hard. He even then caused
six men’s death. Then his axe came off its shaft. At that moment
Thorstein Gullknapp struck at the nape of his neck with a long-shafted
axe, for none of them dared to go for him from the front, even though
he was without a weapon. From this wound Hord got his death. He
had then killed of them thirteen men including the four he killed by
the ship before he was captured. Everyone praised his valour, both his
friends and enemies, and it is considered that there has been no one of
his time who has been braver in every way and wiser than Hord, though
he was not blessed with success. It was also his followers who were
responsible for this, if he got involved in such crimes, and this also,that “there is no escaping fate”.

37
The men of the mainland praised Thorstein Gullknapp for this deed
and gave him the ring Sotanaut and said they were very pleased for
him to have it. But when Thorstein heard of Thorbiorg’s pronouncement, he heartily wished he had never done the deed. Nearly sixty
men were killed of the Holm-dwellers besides the foster-brothers on
Dogurdarness. Now the leading men talked about it being advisable
to fetch Helga and kill her and Hord’s sons. Then some thought it toolate in the day. Then they made a compact about this that they should
be granted no truce nor given any help, otherwise they would all takevengeance. Thus it was laid down with great emphasis. They planned
to go out in the morning, but stayed there during the night.

38
Helga remains now on the island and feels certain now of all the tricks
and treachery of the people of the mainland. She now considers her
position. What she now decides to do is that she throws herself into

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THE SAGA OF HORD

the water and swims ashore from the Holm during the night and carried with her her four-year-old son Biorn to Blaskeggsa, and then went
to meet her eight-year-old son Grimkel, for his swimming was thengetting weak, and carried him ashore. This is now called Helga’s sound.
They went during the night up onto the mountain from Thyril andrested in the ravine which is now called Helga’s ravine. She carried
Biorn on her back, but Grimkel walked.
They go on until they and she come to Indridastadir. She then sat
down out under the enclosure wall and sent Grimkel to the house tobeg Thorbiorg for sanctuary. Thorbiorg was sitting on the platform
when the boy came in. He asked her for sanctuary, and she stood up
and took him by the hand and went out with him and asked who hewas. He told her. She asked what had happened and where Helga was.
Grimkel told what he knew and took her to Helga. Thorbiorg thencould not speak, she was so overcome. She took them to an outhouseand locked them in there.
Late that day Indridi came and a lot of men in his party. There wasno sign that anything was wrong with Thorbiorg, and she served foodto the guests. But when they told her the news and that it was Thorstein
Gullknapp who had killed Hord and attacked him from the rear while
he had stood before him motionless, then Thorbiorg uttered a verse:
There was in hard Unn’s storm [battle]
Hord felled to earth.
He has beaten eight
and five in battle.
Magic of mighty spells was able to hold rather strongly.
Brand of bitter brands [warrior, Hord]
would otherwise still be standing.
And when they got into bed in the evening, Thorbiorg drew a knife
and tried to stab her husband Indridi, but he held it off and was wounded
deeply in the hand. Then he said:‘There are now two things, Thorbiorg, that we have a serious problem, and you want to take serious steps about it; so what must be done
to bring about a reconciliation between us?’‘Nothing but this, that you bring me Thorstein Gullknapp’s head.’
Indridi agreed to do this.

THE SAGA OF HORD

323

He set out in the morning on his own and rode straight to Thyril. He
then dismounted and walked down Indridastig (Indridi’s path) pastThyril and waited there until Thorstein went to his sacrificial temple
as was his custom. And when Thorstein came, he went into the temple
and prostrated himself before the stone where he sacrificed which stoodthere in the temple, and prayed. Indridi was standing outside near thetemple. He heard this uttered from inside the stone:
You have here
for the last timewith doomed feet
trodden the earth.
On you shall rightly
before the sun shines
harsh Indridi
repay hatred.
Then Thorstein went out and towards his house. Indridi easily saw
him going. Indridi told him not to run so hard. He then got round in
front of him and immediately struck him with the sword Sotanaut under
the throat so that it took off his head. He announced this killing as hisdeed back at Thyril. He said Thorstein had long been disloyal. He
rode home and gave Thorbiorg the head. She said she was not bothered
about it, now it was off the body.
‘Now you will,’ says Indridi, ‘be reconciled with me.’She said that would not happen until he took Helga and her sons in, if
they chanced to come there, and gave them all the support they needed.
‘Then I shall,’ she said, ‘give you all my love from then on.’Indridi said he thought they must have jumped into the sea anddrowned, as they were not found on the Holm.
‘And I will promise you this, since I know that there will be no needto take it up.’
Then Thorbiorg fetched Helga and the boys and brought them in.
Then Indridi spoke and was not pleased:‘I have opened my mouth quite wide enough, and yet the only thing
to do now is keep one’s word.’
And he did fulfil all his promises and no one blamed him for this.
Everyone thought Thorbiorg had behaved magnificently.

324

THE SAGA OF HORD

39
There was a man called Thorolf and he was known as Starri (stiff),skilled with his hands and quite wealthy, uncaring and irreverent, bold
and aggressive and tough in everything. He came the same autumn toIndridastadir and offered the farmer his services. Thorbiorg said heshould certainly take him on, and he did so. He stayed there for awhile doing smith’s work. Helga the earl’s daughter was pleasant withhim, and Thorbiorg was too. He believed he was having an affair withthe earl’s daughter, and she was not unresponsive. Thorolf had beenwith Ref that summer and had not liked it there. He now asked
Thorbiorg if he could stay the winter. She replies:‘I will let you stay the winter and give you the ring Sotanaut, Helgathe earl’s daughter and much other wealth if you kill Ref in Bryniudal.’He replies, ‘That is not a bad job for me. I believe I am just the man
to be able to get that done if I have the sword Sotanaut. And it is not to
be expected that I would do a small service and take a great reward.’
They made it a bargain. It was not easy to get the sword, for Indridi
had it always on him wherever he went. One day Thorbiorg took thesword Sotanaut and made gaps here and there [in the scabbard] so thatthe sword could fall down of itself. And when Indridi went to gird on
the sword it fell down out of the sheath. He found this strange, but
Thorbiorg said that was the nature of the sword if it knew something
was going to happen. He told her to mend the sheath. She said shewould do it when she had time.
Indridi had to go west to Myrar to settle a dispute between his friends.
He did not take the sword with him. And when he had gone, Thorbiorg
gave Thorolf the sword Sotanaut and told him to use it like a man if hewanted to be married to Helga.
Thorolf went to Ref’s and got there late in the day. He hid in a pileof turf and heaped peat round him so that nothing showed except justhis nostrils. Ref was wary, so that he bolted the doors every evening
and had torches taken round all the buildings twice, first before theevening meal and again before people went to bed, and this was done
now as well. Thorolf was still not discovered. Thorolf could imitateanyone’s voice. He stood up, as soon as they had gone to bed. He
woke up Ref’s servant-woman and said he was a shepherd. He told
her to ask Ref for some shoe-leather, because he said he had to go up

THE SAGA OF HORD

325

on the mountain in the morning. She said he did not stint his work,
said he should not by any means have less than others.
‘And there is none of the workers who is more useful than you.’
He said that should be so by the time he was finished. Ref slept in a
bed-closet and he would not allow anyone to go to him there at night.
Nevertheless she went and told Ref of the shepherd’s request for shoeleather. She said it wasn’t right for him to be without shoes or anything else that he needed to have ‘when he is concerned all the timefor your property, both night and day.’Ref was cross with her for coming with such a matter to him at night.
‘But there is a bit of poor shagreen out in the peat-shed, and he cantake some shoe-leather for himself from that.’
And when she had gone, Thorolf pushed a piece of wood in the
shutter so that it did not close. He had been standing up over Ref while
they had been talking, and he was afraid to do anything. Ref fell asleep,
but Thorolf daredn’t attack him. Ref’s mother, Thorbiorg Katla, calledout:‘Wake up, my son, the devil is standing over you and is going to killyou.’
Then Ref went to stand up, and at that moment Thorolf struck off
both his feet from under him, one where the calf was narrowest, theother at the ankle. Then Thorolf leapt out into the room from the bedcloset. Then Thorbiorg Katla went up to him and grabbed him andforced him under her and bit his windpipe in two and so left him dead.
Ref took the sword Sotanaut, but the ring disappeared from Thorolf,
the one that Thorbiorg and Helga had given him, and which Hord hadtaken from Soti. Ref was healed and carried on a chair ever after, forhe never managed to walk, and yet he lived on a long time after this,so that he came to be called Ref the Old, and was always considered
the most worthy man.

40
A little later Indridi came home and heard what had happened. He felt
sure that Thorbiorg must have been involved in the plot. But he did
not want to lose the sword. Afterwards he went to see Ref and asked
him to hand over the sword.

326

THE SAGA OF HORD

‘For I have had nothing to do with this plot,’ he says.
Ref gave him the sword.
‘I do not want to lose your friendship,’ says Ref.
Indridi then took his sword and rode home afterwards. It can beremarked by this what a leader Indridi has been, that such a warrior as
Ref was dared do nothing other than hand over the sword to Indridi
when he asked, such a great mutilation as he had suffered from it.
A little later there was a meeting between Thorgrima Smith-woman
and Ref’s mother, Thorbiorg Katla, and afterwards they were bothfound dead on Mulafell. They were all torn and cut asunder in pieces,and it has been thought to be haunted there afterwards near their gravemounds. People assumed that Indridi’s mother Thorgrima must havewanted to get the ring Sotanaut for Indridi, but Katla wanted to keep itfrom her and would not let it go and so they killed each other off. The
ring was never found afterwards.

41
A few winters later a ship came to Breidavik. On it was Tind son of
Hallkel and Thord son of Kolgrim from Ferstikla. They rode from theship, Tind to Hallkelsstadir and Thord over Hvita and was making forhome. And when Helga the earl’s daughter found out this, she said toher son Grimkel that his father’s death was slow to come into his mind.
She told him then to lie in wait for Thord son of Kolgrim.
‘For his father was your father Hord’s greatest opponent.’
Grimkel was then twelve years old.
‘I would like you, kinsman,’ she says, ‘to kill Thord, for valid vengeance is in him.’
Grimkel was in a party of three. They met near Bakkavad on theeastern side of Hvita below some stacks of turf. A little later they were
all found dead from both parties. There was a man called Skeif who
lived at Hvitarvellir, a man of small means. Some supposed that hemust have killed wounded men and then taken fine possessions that
Thord had had with him and were never heard of again. Skeif went
abroad and never came out again and got to be rolling in money.
Indridi did not want to risk Helga here in this country and her son
Biorn. They went abroad from Eyrar to Norway and then on toTHE SAGA OF HORD

327

Gautland, and Hroar was still alive then. He was glad to see his sister
Helga, but thought Hord was a great loss. Helga did not marry again
as far as is told. Biorn became a great man and came back to Icelandand killed many men in vengeance for his father and became the mostvaliant man. Twenty-four men were killed in vengeance for Hord.
Compensation was paid for none of them. Some were killed by Hord’ssons and kinsmen and relatives by marriage, and some by Hroar.
Thorbiorg daughter of Grimkel was involved in the killing of nearly
all of them; she is thought to have been a most remarkable woman.
She and Indridi lived at Indridastadir until old age and were consideredvery great people, and there are many people descended from them.
Hord was nineteen and twenty winters old when he was killed, andmost of these years had brought him honour and esteem, except for
the three winters that he was in outlawry. The priest Styrmir the Wise
also says that he thinks he was in the first rank of outlawed men becauseof his wisdom and skill with weapons and all kinds of abilities; andbecause of this also, that he was so highly esteemed abroad that theearl in Gautland gave him his daughter in marriage; and thirdly because for no single man in Iceland have so many men been killed invengeance, and they were all uncompensated for. Now here we end thesaga of the Holm-dwellers. God give us all good days without end. Amen.

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TEXT SUMMARIESTHE SAGA OF GISLI

1. Thorkel Skerauki and his family in Norway. His son Gisli kills a
berserk to defend his family’s honour and is killed when he refuses
to return the sword Greyflank.
2. Thorbiorn Sur becomes head of the family. His son Gisli kills
Bard and defeats Skeggi to defend his sister Thordis’s honour.
3. Skeggi’s people try to burn Thorbiorn’s family in their house andthey are saved by using whey to put out the fire. Gisli and his
brother Thorkel kill their attackers.
4. The family emigrate to Iceland. Thorbiorn Whey and his wife die
and Gisli and Thorkel become heads of the family.
5. Gisli, Thorkel and Thordis marry.
6. Gest the Wise prophesies quarrels. Gisli tries to avert these byarranging oaths of brotherhood between himself, his brother andtheir brothers-in-law Thorgrim and Vestein, but the plan fails.
7. Thorgrim kills two Norwegians to avenge his son. He goes abroadwith Thorkel, and Gisli goes abroad with Vestein.
8. Gisli returns to Iceland, leaving Vestein to conduct business in
England, after making a token for each of them to use to givewarning of danger.
9. Thorgrim and Thorkel return to Iceland. Thorkel overhears his
and Gisli’s wife gossiping and becomes jealous of Vestein.
10. Thorkel decides to go and live with his brother-in-law Thorgrim.
Gisli prepares a winter feast.
11. Thorgrim and Thorkel get the magician Thorgrim Neb to make aspear out of the fragments of Greyflank. Gisli is told of Vestein’s
return to Iceland. He sends his token to warn him, but the messengers fail to meet him.
12. The messengers try again to intercept Vestein, but are too late;
repeated warnings fail to prevent him from turning up at Gisli’s
feast. Vestein has brought gifts for Gisli and Thorkel, but Thorkel
refuses them.

330

TEXT SUMMARIES

13. Gisli has bad dreams for two nights. On the third there is a greatstorm. He and his men go out in the night to save the hay. An
unknown attacker comes to the house and kills Vestein. Gisli takes
charge of the weapon. Thorgrim and Thorkel are informed.
14. Vestein is buried. Thorgrim ties on his Hel-shoes. Gisli and Thorkel
affirm friendship.
15. Games are held and Thorgrim is worsted by Gisli. Thorgrim holds
an autumn feast in honour of Frey. He sends for the tapestries that
Vestein had offered Thorkel as a gift. Gisli agrees to let them havethem, and arranges with the messenger for the doors at Thorgrim’s
farm to be left unlocked.
16. During the night Gisli goes out secretly and kills Thorgrim without being discovered.
17. Thorkel and his friends go to Gisli’s farm to make the killing
known; Thorkel conceals Gisli’s snow-caked shoes. Thorgrim isburied and Gisli puts a large stone in the burial boat as an anchor.
He and Thorkel affirm friendship.
18. Thorgrim’s brother Bork pays Thorgrim Neb to work a spell preventing the killer from getting any help or shelter. He marries
Thordis, his brother’s widow. Thorgrim’s posthumous son, SnorriGodi, is born. At the games Gisli and his partner Thorstein worst
Bork and Thorkel. Gisli recites a verse in which there is a concealed confession of his killing of Thorgrim. Afterwards Thorstein
quarrels with Berg Short-leg and gets his mother, Thorgrim Neb’ssister, to cast a spell causing an avalanche to fall on Berg’s farm.
19. Gisli gets Thorstein out of danger, and Bork has Thorstein’s motherkilled. Gisli has Thorgrim Neb killed. Gisli’s sister Thordis, who
has worked out the meaning of Gisli’s verse confession, informs her
husband Bork. Thorkel persuades him not to take instant vengeance.
He lets Gisli know about all this. He afterwards meets him to tell
him that Bork is going to summons him to the Assembly at Thorsness.
20. Thorkel agrees to keep Gisli informed. Gisli changes places withhis slave to escape Bork’s pursuit, and the slave is killed in mistake for him. They fail to find Gisli, and go to his house to summons him. He sells his land and takes refuge in Geirthiofsfiord.
21. Gisli tries to get his friends to negotiate a settlement, but nothingcomes of it. He is outlawed at the Assembly. He lives in various

TEXT SUMMARIES

331

places with friends or with his wife Aud in Geirthiofsfiord, but noone will give him lasting help.
22. Bork arranges for Eyiolf the Grey to hunt Gisli down. SpyingHelgi is sent to find out where he is. He thinks he has found out
and tells Eyiolf, but they fail to find him. Gisli starts to have dreamsof the future.
23. Spying-Helgi is again sent to try to find out where Gisli is, andtells Eyiolf he has seen him near Aud’s dwelling. Eyiolf fails tofind him and offers Aud money to give him away but she refuses.
Gisli goes to see his brother Thorkel and gets money from him.
He goes to stay the winter with Gest the Wise’s mother Thorgerd.
24. In the spring he goes back to be with Aud in Geirthiofsfiord. He
has more dreams. He stays another winter with Thorgerd, and thengoes back to Geirthiofsfiord for the summer. He goes to see his
brother Thorkel again, but gets no help. He prophesies Thorkel’s
death. Gisli goes out to Hergilsey and stays with Ingiald.
25. News of his whereabouts leaks out and Spying-Helgi is sent tofind him. Helgi discovers where he is hiding and tells Bork.
26. Bork mounts an expedition to Hergilsey. Gisli escapes them byimpersonating an idiot out fishing.
27. Bork fails to find Gisli; Gisli takes refuge with Ref, whose wife
helps to distract Bork’s men from the search.
28. Bork, Gest and Thorkel go to the Assembly in Thorskafiord.
Vestein’s sons Berg and Helgi turn up in disguise and kill Thorkel
to avenge their father.
29. The boys go to take refuge in Geirthiofsfiord. Aud prevents Gislifrom finding out about what they have done.
30. She tells Gisli when it is too late for him to punish them for his
brother’s death. He has more dreams.
31. Spying-Helgi is again sent to find out where Gisli is. Havard, kinsman of Gest the Wise, makes sure that Helgi is not able to find theplace again, though Eyiolf goes with a party of men to hunt Gisliout. Eyiolf and his men go to Aud’s dwelling and offer her money.
32. Aud throws the money in Eyiolf’s face. Havard prevents him fromharming Aud.
33. Gisli has more dreams.
34. He goes to his hide-out to sleep. Eyiolf arrives with his men and332

TEXT SUMMARIES

tracks him down. They attack Gisli for a long time without harming him, and Aud helps his defence.
35. Gisli kills several of Eyiolf’s men and runs up onto a bluff.
36. Gisli kills more men but is severely wounded. He dies killing another of his enemies.
37. Eyiolf goes to announce his success to Bork. Bork’s wife Thordis,
Gisli’s sister, lunges at Eyiolf with Gisli’s sword but only wounds
him slightly. Eyiolf is offered compensation and Thordis declares
herself divorced from Bork.
38. Vestein’s sons and Gisli’s wife Aud and other survivors of Gisli’s
household go to Norway. Gisli and Thorkel’s brother Ari turns up
and kills Vestein’s son Berg. Helgi goes to Greenland and prospers. Gisli’s widow Aud and Vestein’s widow Gunnhild go to
Denmark and become Christian and go on pilgrimage to Rome;they do not return. Ari goes to Iceland and prospers.

THE SAGA OF GRETTIR

1. Onund’s viking raids.
2. Onund loses his leg in the Battle of Hafrsfiord against Harald
Harfagri and goes to the British Isles.
3. Ofeig Grettir and his family. Onund is betrothed to Ofeig’s daughter.
4. Onund fights vikings.
5. Onund goes to the Hebrides.
6. Ofeig emigrates to Iceland. Onund returns to Norway.
7. Onund in hostilities with King Harald’s men.
8. Onund emigrates to Iceland.
9. He settles in north-west Iceland.
10. Ofeig is killed in a feud and Onund is involved in the settlement.
11. Onund dies. His sons become farmers. There are disputes overland ownership. Thorgeir is attacked and gets his nickname Bottleback.
12. Dispute over a stranded whale. Onund’s son Ofeig Grettir is killed.
Settlement is achieved.
13. Onund’s sons Thorgrim and Thorgeir divide their property andThorgrim goes to live at Biarg in Midfiord. His son Asmund goesTEXT SUMMARIES

333

abroad as a merchant. He marries in Norway and has a son,Thorstein Dromund. His wife dies and Asmund returns to Iceland. He marries Asdis and settles at Biarg after his father’s death.
14. Asgrim’s family. Grettir’s childhood: he is given three tasks by
his father and because of his impatience fails at them all.
15. Grettir fights Audun at the games on Midfiord lake.
16. Grettir has a fight with Skeggi about a lost knapsack on the way
to the Althing and kills him. He is condemned to outlawry forthree years.
17. He sets out for Norway. He is unco-operative on board ship but
eventually demonstrates his strength and endurance at baling. The
ship is wrecked and the crew take refuge on an island withThorfinn.
18. Grettir breaks into Kar the Old’s grave-mound and takes muchtreasure including an ancient cutlass. He gives it all to his host.
19. Thorfinn goes away to the mainland for a Christmas feast. His
farm is attacked by berserks. Grettir manages to trick them into
trusting him and kills them all and thus saves Thorfinn’s wife anddaughter from them.
20. Thorfinn returns and rewards Grettir with his friendship and gives
him the cutlass. Grettir goes to the north of Norway and stays
with Thorkel.
21. He quarrels with a fellow guest called Biorn, and outdoes him inkilling a dangerous bear.
22. Biorn sails to England and on his return he and Grettir meet near
Trondheim. They fight and Biorn is killed. Earl Svein fails toachieve a reconciliation with Biorn’s brother Hiarrandi.
23. Hiarrandi attacks Grettir and he and several of his men are killed.
The earl will not decide on the case against Grettir until a third
brother, Gunnar, can be present.
24. Gunnar attacks Grettir and he and several of his men are killed.
Several people intercede for Grettir’s life with the enraged earl,including his half-brother Thorstein Dromund. Grettir is allowed
to go free as long as he leaves Norway. He sets out for Iceland.
25. A kinsman of Asmund Hærulang is killed in a dispute over a
stranded whale.
26. The suit for the killing is taken to the Althing.
27. The killer is outlawed.

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TEXT SUMMARIES

28. Grettir arrives back at Biarg. He goes to seek out a quarrel with
Audun (cf. ch. 15). They fight and are covered with skyr until
they are separated by Bardi Gudmundarson. Grettir offers Bardi
help on his expedition to Borgarfiord to avenge his brother.
29. Grettir has a scrap at a horse-fight.
30. Thorbiorn Oxen-might and Thorodd Poem-bit introduced. Grettir
waylays his enemies from the horse-fight. They are separated byThorbiorn Oxen-might.
31. Bardi goes to Borgarfiord without asking for Grettir’s help andreturns after the Battle of the Heath. Grettir waylays him but isprevented from fighting him.
32. Thorhall hires Glam as a shepherd. He is killed by a supernatural
creature and is buried away from the farm. He begins to haunt thevalley.
33. Thorhall takes on Thorgaut as a shepherd. He is killed by Glam.
Glam also kills all the farm animals in the valley.
34. Grettir decides to go and tackle Glam.
35. Grettir stays two nights at the farm without meeting Glam. The
third night they fight inside the farm and Grettir is dragged outside. Glam curses him with fear of the dark and is then finally laid.
36. Thorbiorn Oxen-might holds an autumn feast. Thorbiorn Ferdalang
scoffs about Grettir.
37. Thorbiorn Ferdalang and Grettir prepare to go abroad on the same
ship. They quarrel and Thorbiorn is killed. Grettir goes to Norway.
38. Grettir is shipwrecked off the coast of Norway and swims acrossa sound to fetch fire for his companions. This accidentally resultsin the deaths of Thorir of Gard’s sons.
39. Grettir goes to King Olaf and offers to submit to ordeal to prove
his innocence. He is mocked by a strange boy in the church andstrikes his mocker. He is prevented from undertaking the ordeal.
40. Grettir kills a berserk to save a Norwegian farmer and his family
from disgrace.
41. Grettir stays with Thorstein Dromund. They compare each other’s
physique and Thorstein declares he will avenge Grettir’s death.
42. Grettir’s father Asmund dies of sickness.
43. Thorbiorn Oxen-might ambushes Grettir’s brother Atli to avenge
Thorbiorn Ferdalang. Atli survives but kills several of his attackers.
44. A settlement is reached at the Hunavatn assembly.

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335

45. Atli takes on a workman who has run away from Thorbiorn Oxenmight. Thorbiorn goes and kills Atli.
46. Grettir is made full outlaw at the Althing for the deaths of Thorirof Gard’s sons.
47. Grettir arrives back in Iceland and learns of the deaths of his father
and his brother and of his own outlawry. He borrows a farmer’shorse without permission and the Sodulkolla verses are composed.
He returns to Biarg.
48. He goes and kills Thorbiorn Oxen-might and his son.
49. Thorodd Poem-bit tries to take vengeance for his brother, but
Grettir has left Biarg.
50. He goes to Reykiaholar and is there at the same time as the fosterbrothers Thorgeir and Thormod. They compete at demonstrating
their strength but do not openly quarrel.
51. An attempt is made to free Grettir from outlawry but it fails. A
price is put on his head.
52. Grettir lives as an outlaw by plundering farms in the Western
Fiords. He is captured by some farmers and freed by Thorbiorg,
wife of Vermund.
53. Grettir stays the winter with Thorstein Kuggason.
54. Grettir spends the summer in central Iceland. His encounter with
Lopt (Hallmund).
55. Grettir lives on Arnarvatn Heath. The outlaw Grim is sent to him
to gain his confidence and kill him, but Grettir finds him out andkills him.
56. Thorir of Gard sends Thorir Red-beard to try to kill Grettir. He
attacks Grettir when he comes out of the water after rescuing theirnets and is killed.
57. Thorir of Gard goes with men across the heaths to attack Grettir.
Grettir fights them off, and eighteen of Thorir’s men are killed; hefinds that he has been assisted by Lopt (Hallmund).
58. Grettir goes and stays in a cave in western Iceland.
59. Gisli Thorsteinsson goes out to try to win the price that has been
put on Grettir’s head. Grettir humiliates him.
60. Farmers organise an expedition against Grettir but they are repelled.
61. Grettir goes up to the glaciers and stays in Thorisdal.
62. Another outlaw called Grim goes up onto Arnarvatn Heath. His
fish are stolen by Hallmund, who is killed by Grim.

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TEXT SUMMARIES

63. Thorir of Gard goes against Grettir on Reykiaheid and fails tofind him.
64. Grettir goes to Sandhaugar which is being troubled by trolls. He
carries the farmer’s widow over the river to the Christmas service.
65. Grettir fights in the farm with a troll-wife. She drags him outside
the farmhouse and he severs her right arm and she disappears intoa waterfall. Later Grettir plans to explore her retreat.
66. He dives under the waterfall and finds a giant in a cave. He kills
the giant and brings back bones of the trolls’ victims.
67. The valley is now cleansed. Gudmund the Great advises Grettir to
go to Drangey. A child is born to the widow at Sandhaugar which
is believed to be Grettir’s.
68. Snorri Godi’s son Thorodd goes to kill Grettir but fails.
69. Grettir goes to Biarg. His young brother Illugi decides to go with
him to Drangey. They take Thorbiorn Glaum as a servant. A farmer
takes them out to the island.
70. Thorbiorn Ongul and the other owners of Drangey are introduced.
71. The farmers discover that Grettir is on the island. He refuses toleave.
72. Grettir goes to Hegraness to take part in the games. He is given
formal safe-conduct under an assumed name. He returns safely tothe island. The farmers get Thorbiorn Ongul to undertake to get
Grettir off it.
73. Thorbiorn Ongul goes out to try to persuade Grettir to leave
Drangey, but he refuses.
74. Grettir and Illugi are on Drangey for two winters. One night theirfire goes out.
75. Grettir swims to Reykianess. His encounter with a servant girl.
He is ferried back to the island with fire.
76. Thorbiorn Ongul takes Hæring to Drangey to try to ambush Grettir.
He is killed.
77. A further attempt is made to release Grettir from outlawry, but itis put off until the following summer.
78. Thorbiorn Ongul takes his old nurse to the island to see if she canhelp to get rid of Grettir. Grettir throws a stone which injures her.
79. The old woman casts a spell on a piece of driftwood. It comesashore on Drangey and Grettir injures his leg trying to chop it.
80. Grettir’s leg festers. He is nursed by Illugi.

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337

81. Thorbiorn Ongul is persuaded by the old woman to go out toDrangey with his men in a storm.
82. Grettir is incapacitated by his injured leg. Ongul’s party arrive at
the island and surprise Thorbiorn Glaum with the ladder unguarded. They attack Grettir and Illugi in their hut. Grettir is killed
and Thorbiorn Ongul takes his head and cutlass. He has Illugi andThorbiorn Glaum killed.
83. Thorbiorn Ongul fails to get praise for killing Grettir and Illugi.
He visits Grettir’s mother and taunts her.
84. Thorbiorn Ongul fails to get a reward and is outlawed at theAlthing.
85. In Norway Thorstein Dromund hears of Grettir’s death. He follows Thorbiorn Ongul to Constantinople.
86. They both join the Varangian guard. Thorbiorn Ongul boasts ofkilling Grettir and is killed by Thorstein Dromund, who is imprisoned for the deed.
87. He is heard singing from a street outside the prison by Spes, awealthy married woman. She obtains his release and takes him
into her home.
88. They fall in love and her husband becomes suspicious. Three times
he surprises them together, but Thorstein always escapes. Spes’s
husband challenges her to prove her innocence.
89. Spes is carried over a ditch by Thorstein disguised as a beggar.
She swears an oath that she has not been touched by anyone except her husband and the beggar. Her husband is disgraced andshe obtains a divorce.
90. Thorstein and Spes marry. After two years living in Constantinople they go to Norway.
91. Thorstein and Spes repent and go to Rome for absolution.
92. They both become hermits and die in purity of life.
93. The saga ends. Sturla’s judgment on Grettir.

338

TEXT SUMMARIESTHE SAGA OF HORD

1. Biorn Gullberi settles in Iceland
2. Grimkel Godi, Torfi, Sigurd Torfi’s foster-brother, Grim the Small
introduced.
3. Indridi introduced. Grimkel betrothed to Signy.
4. Grimkel’s wedding.
5. Grim the Small marries Gudrid.
6. Signy’s dream.
7. Hord is born and is cursed by his mother; he is fostered by Grim
the Small. Geir is born.
8. Signy dies in childbirth. The child, Thorbiorg, is saved by her
half-brother Grim.
9. Torfi gives Thorbiorg to the vagrant Sigmund, who passes her onto Grim the Small.
10. Grimkel Godi summonses Torfi. A settlement is arranged at theAlthing.
11. Illugi the Red introduced. His wedding to Grimkel’s daughter Thurid.
12. Hord, Geir and Helgi go to Norway.
13. Geir kills a Norwegian courtier and the Icelanders take refuge in
Oslofiord.
14. The Icelanders go to Gautland and vow to break into Soti’s gravemound.
15. Hord breaks into the mound and wins Soti’s sword, ring and helmet. The ring is cursed.
16. Hord marries Helga, the earl’s daughter.
17. Sigurd Torfi’s foster-brother goes to Scandinavia and is captured
by vikings in the Baltic. He escapes and joins Hord and Geir’sband of raiders.
18. Geir returns to Iceland and goes to live in Hvalfiord.
19. Indridi marries Thorbiorg. Grimkel Godi dies.
20. Hord and his wife Helga, Sigurd Torfi’s foster-brother and Helgi
Sigmund’s son return to Iceland. Hord claims his inheritance from
Torfi and begins to live at Breidabolstad.
21. Quarrel with Aud. Helgi Sigmund’s son kills Aud’s son and Hordkills Aud. Hord and Helgi are outlawed.
22. Hord goes to live with Geir. They run short of food and Geir andHelgi go raiding.

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339

23. Games at Sand, which end with Hord killing Onund.
24. Hord, Geir and their friends go out to live on Geirsholm.
25. Raids on Thorbiorg Katla.
26. Raid on Thorstein Oxnabrodd’s farm. Skroppa is killed.
27. Raid on Orm’s farm. Orm’s treasure chest rescued by Bolli.
28. Raid on Illugi’s farm.
29. Raids on Indridi’s livestock.
30. Raid on Thorgima Smith-woman’s cattle. The outlaws plan to burnIndridi in his house.
31. Attempt to burn Indridi’s house which fails.
32. Meeting of farmers to plan to get rid of the outlaws.
33. Sigurd and eleven others killed while fetching water to the island.
34. Kiartan son of Katla goes to the island and tricks a number of theoutlaws into going with him to the mainland, where they are killed.
35. Kiartan goes to the island again and persuades Geir and manyothers to leave with him. Geir is killed.
36. Hord and the remainder of the outlaws are persuaded to leave theisland, leaving Helga and their two sons behind. He escapes for awhile but is eventually killed by Thorstein Gullknapp, after himself killing Helgi to prevent his enemies from doing so.
37. Thorstein is rewarded with the ring Sotanaut. The farmers plan tofetch Helga and her and Hord’s sons from the island.
38. Helga swims to the mainland with her two sons and goes toThorbiorg to ask for sanctuary. Thorbiorg persuades Indridi to go
and kill Thorstein Gullknapp and to spare Helga and her sons.
39. Thorbiorg persuades Thorolf Starri to go and try to kill Ref, oneof the leaders at the killing of Hord, and gives him Hord’s sword
Sotanaut which Indridi had acquired as well as the accursed ring.
Ref is wounded but Thorolf is killed.
40. Indridi goes to recover Hord’s sword. Thorgrima Smith-woman
and Thorbiorg Katla kill each other while fighting for possessionof the ring Sotanaut.
41. Helga persuades her son Grimkel to try to kill Thord son of Kolgrim
in vengeance for his father. Both Grimkel and Thord are killed.
Helga goes to Gautland with her son Biorn, who later returns to
Iceland and leads a successful life there, killing many men invengeance for his father.

The Saga of Gisli					
Thorstein Cod-biter

Styrkar Vestein = Hild Helgi Sigurd Vestgeir

Thorkel = Asgerd

Vestein = Gunnhild}

Snorri Godi

Ari

Gisli = Aud							

						
				

Thorgrim

Ivar Beytil		

Ofeig Burlufot

Ofeig Grettir

Audun Skokul = (2) Thordis (1) = (2) Onund Woodenleg (1) = ÆsaThorodd

Bodvar Asgeir of Asgeirsa Thorgrim Hærukoll Asgeir Ædikoll Thorgeir Bottleback

Thorbiorn
Oxenmight

Berg Helgi

The Saga of Grettir

		
Arnor Hynef = Gerd

Biartmar

Ari = (1) Ingibiorg (2) = Gisli Thorbiorn Sur = Thora

ThordisBork = (2)		
				
Thordis		
Thorgrim = (1)Saka-Stein Thorodd

Raud		

Thorkel Skerauki = Isgerd		

Thorhall Winelander Asmund Hærulang

Ofeig Grettir

Hrefna					Thorodd
Gamli = Rannveig Thorstein Dromund
Poem-bit			(different mother)

Atli Grettir

IllugiThordisValgerd=
Skeggi Short-Arm																		THE SAGA OF HORD
									Valthiof			ValbrandBiorn Gullberi					Thiostolf Geirmund Svarthofdi Rannveig = (1) Grimkel (2) = (2) Signy (1) = Thorgeir Torfi				

Illugi the Red = Thurid								
						

Grim = Helga

Helga = Hord Thorbiorg = Indridi
GrimkelBiorn

Kiallak
=
Ospak

Ospak

Glum

BIBLIOGRAPHY

341

BIBLIOGRAPHY
This list includes all the books referred to in the Introduction and Notes that do
not there have complete references. Unless otherwise stated, translations of the
Icelandic sagas listed here are in The Complete Sagas of Icelanders, 5 volumes.
Reykjavík: Leifur Eiríksson (1997).

Bandamanna saga = the Saga of the Confederates
Beowulf, edited and translated by Michael Swanton. Manchester:Manchester University Press (1978).
Bergbúa ﬂáttr = the Tale of the Mountain-Dweller
Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa = the Saga of Bjorn, Champion of the
Hitardal People
The Book of the Icelanders: in G. Jones, The Norse Atlantic Saga.
London: Oxford University Press (1964, 1986).
The Book of Settlements, translated by Hermann Pálsson and P. Edwards.
Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press (1972).
R. B. Dobson and J. Taylor, Rymes of Robyn Hood. Stroud: Sutton (1997).
Droplaugarsona saga = the Saga of Droplaug’s sons; also in The
Fljotsdale Saga and The Droplaugarsons, translated by Jean Young.
Everyman’s Library (1990).
Eyrbyggia saga = The Saga of the People of Eyri
Fagrskinna, a Catalogue of the kings of Norway, translated by Alison
Finlay. Leiden: Brill (2004).
Fóstbræ›ra saga = the Saga of the Sworn Brothers
Grágás = Laws of Early Iceland I, translated by Andrew Dennis, Peter
Foote, Richard Perkins. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press(1980).
Gunnlaugs saga = the Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-TongueHei›arvíga saga = the Saga of the Slayings on the Heath
Hrólfs saga kraka = The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, translated by Jesse
L. Byock. Penguin Books (1998).
Hrómundar ﬂáttr halta = the Tale of Hromund the LameÍslenzk fornrit I ff. Reykjavík (1933 ff.; in progress).
Kormaks saga = Kormak’s saga
Kristni saga (The Saga of Christianity): in Gudbrand Vigfusson and342

BIBLIOGRAPHY

F. York Powell, Origines Islandicae. Oxford: Clarendon Press (1905),
I 376–406.
Laxdæla saga = the Saga of the People of Laxardal
Ljósvetninga saga = the Saga of the People of Ljosavatn
Medieval Scandinavia. An Encyclopedia, edited by Phillip Pulsiano.
New York: Garland (1993).
Morkinskinna. The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the NorwegianKings (1030–1157), translated by Theodore M. Andersson and Kari
Ellen Gade. Ithaca: Cornell University Press (2000). Islandica LI.
Njáls saga = Njal’s saga
Orms ﬂáttr Stórólfssonar = Orm Storolfsson’s TaleÖrnólfur Thorsson (ed.). Grettis saga. Reykjavík: Mál og Menning(1994). Sígildar sögur 4.
Örvar-Odd’s Saga, in Seven Viking Romances, translated by Hermann
Pálsson and Paul Edwards. Penguin Books (1985).
The Poetic Edda, translated by Carolyne Larrington. The World’s Classics (1996).
Saxo Grammaticus, The History of the Danes, translated by Peter
Fisher, edited by Hilda Ellis Davidson. Cambridge: Brewer (1979).
H. Shetelig and H. Falk, Scandinavian Archaeology, translated by E. V.
Gordon. Oxford: Clarendon Press (1937).
Snorri Sturluson, Edda, translated by Anthony Faulkes. Everyman(1987).
Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, translated by Samuel Laing. Part One,The Olaf Sagas. Part Two, Sagas of the Norse Kings. Everyman’s
Library (1964, 1961).
Snorri Sturluson, King Harald’s saga. Harald Hardradi of Norway.
From Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla, translated by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson. Penguin Books (1966).
ﬁorvalds ﬂáttr ví›förla = the Tale of Thorvald the Far-Travelled
Vatnsdæla saga = the Saga of the People of Vatnsdal
Völsunga saga = Vƒlsunga saga. The Saga of the Volsungs, edited andtranslated by R. G. Finch. London: Nelson (1965).

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343

THE VERSES
The dróttkvætt, or court metre, in which the majority of the verses inthe sagas were composed, makes use of a rigid pattern of alliteration,
half rhyme and full rhyme. Its rhythmic unit is developed from theGermanic half line, with three instead of two stressed syllables, andhaving the third foot always of the falling or trochaic type. There are
four pairs of these half lines in a stanza, joined by the alliteration; thefirst stave of the second half line is the head stave of the pair, and it
always carries the alliteration. There is half rhyme in the first half lineof each pair, with the last stressed syllable making one of the rhyming
couple (always in the Icelandic, often in the English); full rhyme issimilarly placed in the second half line. Each half line normally contains
six syllables. The following translated stanza will serve as illustration;
the alliteration is marked by bold, the half and full rhymes by italic:
I fought a lone fatefulFight, this was my nightmare;Single, not soon I was
Slain by their main power.
Good flesh by my gashing
Gave I mouths of ravens,
But in your white bosom
Bright blood drops fell ruddy.
The second verse in ch. 24 of The Saga of Gisli differs in having thealliteration but full end-rhyme instead of internal rhyme.
The majority of the verses in The Saga of Grettir and The Saga ofHord, like those in The Saga of Gisli, are spoken by the respective
heroes, and in the same dróttkvætt form as most of the verses in The
Saga of Gisli. Some verses in all three sagas are in the simpler form ofsome Eddic verse, with shorter lines (containing only two stressedsyllables) and less internal rhyme, though alliteration is always present(e.g. The Saga of Gisli, ch. 21, the first two verses; The Saga of Hord,ch. 11, the second verse, and ch. 15, verses 1–4). These include verses

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THE VERSES

spoken by supernatural characters and some by women, and the autobiographical series of Grettir (The Saga of Grettir, chs 24 and 52) andHallmund (The Saga of Grettir, ch. 62). The kennings (poetical periphrases) in the verses are obscure to modern readers, though they arehighly conventional and mostly fall into a few traditional patterns.
(The translations of the verse in The Saga of Gisli do not always reproduce the meanings of the original kennings precisely, but neverthelessthe kennings used there are included in the following explanations.)
The majority refer to persons, either the speaker or the one addressed,
sometimes to one of the other characters, and usually replace theirnames. Male persons are referred to in terms of their conventionalheroic roles as warriors and seafarers or other attributes, particularly
the universal ideal quality of generosity, with base-words that may bewords for a kind of tree or names of gods or other supernatural beings.
Female persons are referred to in terms of their adornment or conventional feminine roles, again with base-words that may be words fortree or feminine mythological names. The following kennings for man
or men are used in The Saga of Grettir:
Distributor of wealth, battle-axe destroyer (ch. 4), shaft-sharpener(ch. 9), metal-Gauts (ch. 12), flinger of neck-rings, scatterer of rings(i.e. generous man; ch. 14), ship-fir, winners of gold, embellisher ofbattle, ship-Tveggi (ch. 17), gold-reducer, battle-Ull, gold-harmer (ch.
18), sword-trees (ch. 19), battle-Niord (ch. 21), ring-Baldr (ch. 22),
Thund’s people (whose companion is Thorfinn; ch. 24), sea-horserider (ch. 27), gold-Gaut (ch. 28), experiencer of battle, harm-doers(ch. 31), bow-slinger, shield-wielder (a four-element kenning, see
below; ch. 37), war-urger (ch. 40), battle-tree, sword-breaker, battledemander, helm-pine, shield-Frey, bow-pine, gold-keeper, battle-pusher(ch. 47), wealth-breakers (ch. 60), battle-tending trees, shield-wielders,
ship adorner (ch. 63), sword- (or spear-) empowerer (ch. 66), neckring bush, shield-bushes, shield-raisers, battle-Niords, serpent’s lairrobbers (i.e. generous men; ch. 72), battle-desiring bushes, battle-trunks(ch. 75), Hrist’s defender, spear-man, shield-tree, oar-maple, pointtree, scatterer of gold, spear-wielders, sword-tree (ch. 80), gold-Niords,
war-trees, weapon-Frey (ch. 83), battle-makers, sword-belt fasteners,
ship-urger (ch. 87).
In The Saga of Gisli: ship-tree (ch. 17, here Thorgrim), god of warblade gleaming, wearer of grim war-mask (Thorgrim; ch. 18), gold

THE VERSES

345

spenders (ch. 21), glad or brave spender, storm tamer, treader of sword
weather (the Icelandic has a kenning here which goes: ruler of thewind of the Skioldungs—an early Danish dynasty, great in legend—
i.e. ruler of battle), waster of wave fire, ring-speeder (ch. 22), trees ofthe spear’s greeting, seekers of sark’s hatred, strife-gods (literally
wakers of strife of weapons; ch. 24), lords of masted fiord-elks (ch.
32), crow feeder (the Icelandic has a kenning for ‘the rest’ in line 2 ofthe sixth verse in ch. 33: comforters of the early flyer, i.e. the raven,on which the one in the English is based), gods of slain net (the Icelandic has ‘corpse-net’, which is taken to mean shield), corpse-stream
eagle’s eye-delight providers (warriors, who give delight to the eye ofthe eagle of blood, the carrion bird; the Icelandic has here the simpler
kenning: nourishers of carrion fowl), shield troll-woman wielders (menwho wield the troll-woman, the malevolent enemy, of the shield, i.e.
the axe or sword; ch. 33), tree of hard edge hatred (the Icelandic here
has: tree of the sword-voice; ch. 34).
In The Saga of Hord: demander of battle (Valbrand; ch. 3), golddesirer, wealth-seeker, gold demander (the young Hord; ch. 7), swordharmer, sword-snatcher (ch. 9), weapon-reddener, ring-breaker or-spender (Illugi; ch. 11), destroyer of swords (ch. 12), sword-shaker,
wealth-maple (ch. 15), gold-juniper, weapon-wielder, gold-ring keeper,
gold cultivator, sword-trees (ch. 21), land-owner, flingers of gold, targetrees (ch. 22), gold-trees, homestead-Tyr, gold-giver, wolf-feeders(ch. 28), battle-tree, gold-Baldr, bow-destroyer (ch. 34), brand of bitterbrands (i.e. Hord; an unusual type of kenning: bitter brands are swords,
their brand is presumably a piece of wood on the pattern of kennings
with trees as base-word; ch. 38). Indridi is called Thorgrima’s heir in
ch. 21. A dead man is called earth-dweller in ch. 15 (his house is thegrave-mound).
It will be seen that nearly all these kennings are conventionally complimentary, whoever is being referred to. But the evil ghost Soti iscalled destroyer of good deeds and keeper of spells in ch. 15 of The
Saga of Hord, and a bad man is called lame-harmer in ch. 22 of The
Saga of Gisli.
The following kennings for woman are used in The Saga of Grettir:
Ground of hoards, linen-Gerd, ring-Hlin (ch. 14), wealth-norn, linenNauma (ch. 17), gold-willow (ch. 19), gold-dame (ch. 47), ale-keeping

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THE VERSES

Saga (ch. 60), gold-Sol (ch. 63), seam-prop, penis-Hrist, jewel-Freyia(ch. 75; these three refer to a servant-girl), (precious) stone-land (ch.
80), brooch-Nauma, gold-Frid (ch. 83), rings’ Grund (ch. 87).
Again, these kennings are mostly generalised kennings for woman
without any specific features reflecting individual characteristics.
The verses in The Saga of Gisli contain an unusual number ofkennings for woman that use the names of heathen goddesses, someof which are rarely found elsewhere. Such names are not retained in
the translation, but they are these in the original Icelandic:
Bil, Eir, Freyia, Fulla, Gefn, Gerd, Gna, Hild, Hlin, Hlokk, Lofn,
Nanna, Nauma (also the name of a troll-wife), Niorun, Saga, Siofn,
Sol, Syn, Thrud, Var, Vor; also used are the valkyrie-names Gondul
and Thogn.
In the translation, the following kennings for woman are found:oak of herbs, snake-plot goddess (ch. 14), land of the wave fire (ch. 22),band goddess (chs 22, 33), thread-work goddess (ch. 24 and 33), ale
goddess, wealth goddess (ch. 24), tree of the sea’s fire (ch. 26), goddess of threads, sea-flame goddess, linen goddess (ch. 30), bowl goddess, goddess of hawk-track fire (fire of the hand = gold), doom goddess(referring to the worser dream-woman as a valkyrie), necklet goddess(the Icelandic, after emendation, has ‘gold-wearing goddess’), ringgoddess, thread-goddess, belt goddess, sea-fire goddess (ch. 33), linen
goddess (ch. 34), goddess of shower of spear-shaft’s hall (i.e. of gold;
ch. 36).
In The Saga of Hord: brooch-prop, jewel-Niorun (ch. 3), wealthslope (ch. 7), thread and embroidery prop, silver bowl Gna (ch. 9),gold-Aud (ch. 11).
The weapons, ships, battle, ale, jewels and gold that often appear asparts of the above kennings are also sometimes referred to in subsidiary kennings, giving circumlocutions of three or more elements. Weapons are referred to as follows (Gi = The Saga of Gisli, Gr = The Sagaof Grettir, H = The Saga of Hord; figures refer to chapters):
Axes: troll of storm-clashing (Gr 3), troll of battle (Gr 4), woundharmer (Gr 11), hammer-troll, battle giantess (the name Grid is used;
Gr 16), troll-woman of the shield (probably meaning axe rather thansword; Gi 33).
Arrows: bow’s dew (Gi 34).

THE VERSES

347

Swords (or cutlass): shield-fire, shield’s fire (Gr 3 and 24), shieldfish (Gr 11), wound-harmer (Gr 17; cf. under axes), fire of battle,
harmer of helmets (the last might be any weapon; Gr 18), war-fire(Gr 19), wound-snake (Gr 37), battle-adder (Gr 57), battle-pole(perhaps for spear; Gr 66), battle-fire (Gr 80), arm brands (H 12),
blood-serpent (H 15), war-blade (Gi 18), sark’s hatred (sark = coat of
mail; Gi 24), battle-ice (Gi 30), fires of Odin, troll-woman of the shield(this kenning usually means a battle-axe; Gi 33). The name Warflamein The Saga of Gisli is a kenning for sword.
Shields: sword-wall (Gr 37), battle-bowl (Gr 40), wall of arrows’
passage (Gr 40), Thund-cloud (Gr 47), Vidrir’s wall (Gr 63), frayhouse, Hlokk’s hangings (shields were sometimes hung on the wallsof buildings), Hild’s wall (Gr 72), Mimir’s wall (Gr 80), wooden bastion
wide-hard, slain net (Gi 33).
Ships: shore-steed (Gr 8; shore = one of the props used to support abeached ship), rib-steed (Gr 9), wind-cloth (i.e. sail) horse, ness-grasp(i.e. sea) reindeer (Gr 17), sea-horse (Gr 27, 63), wave-horse (Gr 87),fiord-elks (Gi 32).
Battle: sword-clash, storm-clashing (Gr 3), storm-weather of Hrotti,
spear-storm destruction (Gr 8), spears’ doom (Gr 17), Hrotti-storm,
weapon-din (Gr 18), storm of swords (Gr 27), Mist’s moot, Hild’s
storm, Gungnir’s greed (Gr 31), Hedin’s maid’s (Hild’s) meeting (cf.
Snorri Sturluson’s Edda, pp. 122–3), shield-storm, sword-wind (Gr47), Thrott’s storm (Gr 48), weapon-shower (Gr 54), weapon-storm(Gr 57), point-play (Gr 62), shield’s threat (Gr 63), sword-storm (Gr66), shield-storm (Gr 72), arrow-wind, spear-storm (Gr 75), spears’
tumult, weapons’ quarrel, storms of wounds (Gr 80), edge-moot (Gr87), wound-storm (mail-coat-strap storm would also mean battle, andthe kenning seems to have too many elements; H 3), Hild’s rain (H11), weapon-storm (H 34), Unn’s storm (H 38), spear’s greeting, strifeof weapons (in Icelandic; Gi 24), storm of weapons (Gi 33), hard edge
hatred (sword-voice in Icelandic; Gi 34). Giving sustenance to thewolf (H 22) means fighting a battle and providing carrion, cf. wolffeeders as a kenning for warriors (H 28). Cf. The Saga of Gisli, ch. 33,
verses 4, 6 and 8, lines 5–6, where the Icelandic means literally‘nourishers of carrion fowl’.
Ale: horn-flood (Gr 60).
Jewel: island-bone (Gr 75).

348

THE VERSES

Gold: serpent’s path, Fafnir’s bog, serpent’s seat or lair, snake-slope,snake-plot, adder’s earth (referring to the idea that serpents commonly
sleep on hoards of gold; Gr 17, 18, 63, 72, 80, H 11, Gi 14, 30), wavelight, wave-fire, sea’s fire or sea-fire, sea’s flame or sea-flame, estuaryfire, flood-moon, wave-burning (Gr 18, 47, 83, H 7, 15, 21, 28, 34, Gi 22,
26, 30, 33; these kennings, the equivalent of ‘fire of the sea’ are explained by Snorri Sturluson in his Edda, p. 95), Syr’s tears (Gr 83; see
Snorri Sturluson’s Edda, p. 30); Sirnir’s voice (H 7; see Snorri
Sturluson’s Edda, p. 61), Grani’s burden (H 15; see Völsunga saga,ch. 20), Nile sand (presumably referring to the finding of gold dust inrivers; H 22), fire of hawk-track, i.e. of the hand (Gi 33), shower ofspear-shaft’s hall (i.e. of the hand; Gi 36).
In a number of cases, personal and place-names are indicated bykennings using a kind of riddling word-play (which Snorri Sturluson
in his Edda, p. 155, ironically calls ofljóst, ‘too clear’). It usually involves using a kenning for the synonym of a homonym:
The great ship of the Red Sea is Dromund, rock-god’s (giant’s) slayer
is Thor, Regin’s house is stein ‘stone’. This gives the name Thorstein
Dromund (Gr 24).
A word for ‘bear’ (hlébar›r) is used as a substitute for the personalname Bersi, which is also a word for ‘bear’ (Gr 24).
Audun, whose name is also one of Odin’s names, is replaced by
Ialfad, another of Odin’s names (Gr 28).
Grettir’s name, which is also a name for a serpent, is replaced byvarious other terms for serpent: mountain-band (Gr 28), dale-eel (Gr47), Thund’s darling’s (Odin’s wife’s, Iord’s, i.e. earth’s) thong (Gr52), ground-salmon (Gr 54).
For Thorbiorn, Hafli’s opponent is substituted (Gr 48). Hafli is a
giant, whose opponent is Thor. Biorn is also a name for Thor. Similarly,
in Gi 18, Giant-bane Grim (literally: troll-friend’s destroyer-grim; thefriend of the troll-woman is the giant, whose destroyer is the god Thor)
is Thorgrim. Might of ox and bull is Thorbiorn Oxen-might (Gr 48).
Wetherfiord is for Hrutafiord (hrut means ‘wether’) (Gr 48, 57).
For Isafiord, we have sea-thatch (ice) fiord; the rowan tree isThorbiorg (Thors biorg, ‘Thor’s saving’, or the help of Sif’s husband,
was, according to Snorri Sturluson’s Edda, p. 82, a rowan; Gr 52).

THE VERSES

349

Bragi’s wife, whose name is Idunn, is used as a substitute for idunnar‘of the turbulent water’ (Gr 66).
Hallmund is little stone (hall) fist-land (mund, ‘hand’; Gr 54).
The following expressions are similar to these: the woman shut andlocked in the refuge of the dead (Hel) is also called Hel. She is also
Byleist’s niece, and stands for death (Gr 24).
Sometimes half-kennings are found, where a base-word is used without a determinant, e.g. ‘support’ (skor›) in The Saga of Grettir ch. 17,verse 4 is a half-kenning for woman, i.e. a word such as ‘jewel’ isunderstood. Cf. The Saga of Gisli, ch. 30, where in ‘golden one, of
seagull’s ground’, seagull’s ground, i.e. the sea, is probably a halfkenning for gold, stemming from a full kenning for gold of the typefire of the sea; the Icelandic phrase here means literally ‘support(skor›a) of sea-gull’s gound’. A shield is also called ‘thane’ without
any qualification in The Saga of Hord, ch. 11. In The Saga of Gisli,chs 24, 33, ‘goddess’ is used as a half-kenning in the translation where
the Icelandic has in each case a determinant relating to female attributes (embroidery, wealth). The expressions ‘wife’ and ‘my lady’in The Saga of Gisli, chs 22, 32 also correspond to proper kennings in
the Icelandic.
Kennings are used for a few other concepts too, sometimes withdeliberate comic effect:
arm: tree of hands (Gr 80), shoulder-leg (Gr 87), sleeve-plain (H 12).
bear: hibernator (literally ‘winter-passer’), wool-otter (Gr 21),
greedy-tooth, harsh-minded one (Gr 22).
blood: wound-sea (Gr 11; its house is the wound); wound flood (Gi24 and 33), slaughter’s gilt (Gi 24; there is no kenning in the Icelandichere), froth of fires of Odin, sword-loosed tides (no kenning here in
original), wound rain, sword rain, corpse-stream (Gi 33).
breast or heart: fortress of stratagems (Gr 24).
cave: storm-resounding pot (Gr 54), mountain hall (Gr 57), Nauma’s
hall (Gr 66).
death: bane-speech (from the sword’s mouth; Gi 17), pain’s ending(Gi 18). Blood-vengeance perceived as repayment is called bitter coinin Gi 21.

350

THE VERSES

eye: sleep’s cistern (Gi 14); eyelashes: twigs of hazel, sight twigs(Gi 14), eye fringe (Gi 33).
fiord: ness-grasp (Gr 17); cf. sea below.
foot: ankle’s thorn-tree (Gr 40).
giants: crag-dwellers (Gr 62), troll-wife’s friend (Gr 66). Gang (Gr66) is a proper name for a giant used as a common noun.
glaciers: tumbling great-freezes (Gr 54).
hand: hawk-track (Gi 33), spear-shaft’s hall (Gi 36).
jaw: tooth-yard’s dwelling (Gr 40).
mind: Hlokk’s storm (H 12; see Snorri Sturluson’s Edda, p. 154).
mouth: snack-port (Gr 40).
penis: balls-branch (Gr 75); also called faxi ‘maned-horse’; thighforest is pubic hair.
poet: verse-teller (Gr 47), Ygg’s drink-server (Gr 47), linker of strong
letters (literally payer-out of poetry; Gi 24), praise-rune maker (literally praise-adorner), ode-contriver (Gi 30); poetry is dwarfs’ liquor
twice in The Saga of Gisli (ch. 26, 34), pouring which is reciting or
making; for the story behind these kennings see Snorri Sturluson’s
Edda, pp. 61–4).
raven: early flyer (Gi 33, see under kennings for man above), corpsestream hawk or eagle (Gi 33).
sea: prow-land (Gr 63), seagull’s ground (Gi 30); cf. fiord above
snake: gold-dweller (Gr 63), land-thong (H 11), heath-cod (H 21);compare the kennings for Grettir’s name above, e.g. mountain band
(Gr 28), earth’s thong (Gr 52).
stone (a precious one, i.e. a jewel): island bone (Gr 75).
summer: snake’s solace (H 21).
tears: storm of cheek, grief’s nut-fruits, pity’s fruit (Gi 14).
winter: snake’s sickness (H 21).
wound: head-scratch (Gr 60), edge-track (Gr 62), house of blood(Gr 11).

GLOSSARY

351

GLOSSARY OF ICELANDIC TERMS
Assembly, thing: It is thought that in the first century or so of the settlement in Iceland each godi, or chieftain, would arrange local assemblies, ‘things’, for dispute resolution and discussion of public affairs.
Later it became established practice that spring assemblies, eachunder the supervision of three godis, were held on thirteen fixedsites in the country. Every householder was legally bound to be theassembly-man of some chieftain, not necessarily of the godi who
lived closest; and if he had means above a certain minimum, he wasbound to attend assemblies in support of his chieftain or to contribute to the expenses of those who did attend. Certain lawsuits could
be brought to a spring assembly and if not settled there would go to
the General Assembly, the Althing, which met for a fortnight aroundmid-summer each year; other more serious cases could only he prosecuted before a court at this main gathering. In the developed system
there were four courts at the Althing, one for each Quarter of thecountry (see The Saga of Gisli, ch. 19, The Saga of Grettir, ch. 25).
The Althing is often referred to as ‘the assembly’ (e.g. The Saga ofGrettir, chs 16, 37, 46, 51). Brief local autumn meetings were also
held, often on the same site as the spring assembly; they were chiefly
intended to publicise the decisions of the General Assembly, held
shortly before. Judicial assemblies were also held by Norwegianrulers in various localities in Norway.
Assembly-men, thing-men: householders who belonged to the following of a godi.
bed-closet: Most members of the household in a medieval Icelandic
dwelling would sleep on the raised plank flooring that ran most of
the length of the hall-walls on each side, which was also the place tosit by day (see platform, living-room). Part of this might be partitioned off with a door fastening on the inside for the principal members of the household.
berserk: a warrior who fights in a frenzy, as if possessed. Berserks
cultivated this battle-fury and were subject to fits of rage. They aresometimes called úlfhe›nar (‘wolf-skins’) and may have sometimes

352

GLOSSARY

identified themselves in some way with fierce animals and worn
animal pelts. They are represented as typical bullying villains inmany sagas.
blue translates blár, which means a very dark colour, blue-black, andis said to be the colour of Hel (cf. The Saga of Grettir, ch. 32; in thesame chapter, however, blár of eyes is translated ‘dark’, though somemansucripts have grár ‘grey’ here). Note also kolblár ‘black as coal’,ch. 80.
booth: at the assemblies, which were held in the open air, men lived inhuts called ‘booths’ which had permanent walls of stone and turf
and were roofed for the occasion with awnings of cloth. The term isalso used for temporary dwellings used by seafarers alongside theirships at landing places (cf. The Saga of Grettir, chs 22, 37).
cutlass: the nearest English equivalent to sax, which was a short, rather
heavy, single-edged sword.
Double-month (tvímánu›r or corn-harvest month) ran from late August
to late September in the traditional Icelandic calendar.
dowry: The price and dowry (mundr and heimanfylgja) were respectively the sum (in cash, land or chattels) paid or promised by thebridegroom at the time of the marriage contract (it became the property of the wife, but was administered by the husband, though any
income derived from it also went to the wife); and the wife’s dowry,
administered by the husband to his own profit, but repayable on
divorce. The second was a customary payment, the first an obligatory one.
duels (hólmgöngur) are often described as fought according to prescribed rules, and traditionally on islands (hólmar). According to
The Saga of Grettir, ch. 19, they were banned by Earl Eirik; according to Gunnlaugs saga, ch. 12, he banned Gunnlaug and Hrafn fromfighting duels in Norway.
Easterner = Norwegian. See Index.
foster-brothers: in most contexts these are sworn brothers (e.g. The
Saga of Grettir, ch. 25), like Thormod and Thorgeir, the heroes ofFóstbræ›ra saga.
godi (go›i, pl. go›ar): an Icelandic chieftain who in pre-Christian times
had both religious and secular authority; they acted as priests in theheathen religion and would have had the responsibility of conducting religious sacrifices as well as judicial assemblies. From about

GLOSSARY

353

930 they numbered 36; they were augmented to 39 in the 960s andto 48 about 1005. Together they formed the Law Council at theAlthing, the ultimate source of law in the country.
godord: the authority of a godi and treated as if it were property; it
was heritable but could also be sold or lent. A woman could own agodord but could not act as a godi: the authority had to be transferred to a man (who would usually be a kinsman) in any affairs thatchieftains were required to conduct.
hersir: a high rank in early Norway; loosely equivalent to ‘Lord’ inEnglish.
hneftafl: A board game in which two players with an unequal numberof pieces were engaged, one attempting to capture a king, the otherto escape the attack. A number of Viking-Age boards and playing
pieces have come to light, but so far it has not proved possible toreconstruct the precise rules of the game. The pegs mentioned in
The Saga of Grettir, ch. 70 would have been to stick into holes inthe board.
homespun: this cloth (va›mál) was one of Iceland’s chief products inthe early period and soon became used as a form of currency, with
its value related to that of silver. It became a staple export and Icelanders going abroad usually took marketable homespun with them
(they would also have to pay for their passage and provide theirown food, often paying with part of their wares; cf. The Saga ofGrettir, ch. 17). Dyed or patterned cloth (cf. The Saga of Hord, ch.
12) would have been much more valuable in foreign markets thanstandard undyed homespun.
hundred: normally means the long hundred, 120. As a currency value,
it could be used of ounces of silver but more commonly of ells ofhomespun (an ell was about half a metre). There was little coinage
in use at the time of these sagas. As a form of currency homespun
was counted in ‘ounce-units’, and the early Icelandic laws reckonon 6 ells of cloth as constituting one such unit, though three- andfour-ell units (‘triple, quadruple units’) were also known. Fines andcompensation were usually calculated in terms of such units. As
time went on the value of homespun generally depreciated against
the value of silver by weight. It is estimated that circa 1000, 18 ellsof cloth would change hands for one ounce of silver, by circa 1100
the figure was 48 ells to the ounce. The standard value of a cow of354

GLOSSARY

stipulated quality was then the homespun hundred, 120 ells of cloth,
the equivalent of 2·5 ounces of silver weighed. Opinions differ on
the value of the ‘hundred of silver’, regularly cited as the wergildsum. The most recent calculation, depending on a distinction madebetween ‘ounces counted’ and ‘ounces weighed’, gives an answerof 40 ounces of silver weighed, most probably thought of as theprice of 20 cows. See wergild.
kenning: a poetical periphrasis, in the form of a compound word withtwo elements or a noun with one or more dependent genitives, suchas ‘tree of weapons’ for ‘warrior’. See Note on the Text, pp. xxvi–
xxviii, and The Verses, pp. 343–50.
landed man: lendr ma›r was usually of a family prominent in his
district, held land in fief from the king of Norway and acted as his
local lieutenant, military leader and counsellor. It is not known how
many landed men existed at any given time in early Norway, probably at least fifty.
Lawspeaker (after about 1272 Lawman): the president of the Icelandic parliament, elected by the godis for a three-year term, a span
which could be extended by re-election. He had no executive function, but had the duty of reciting the laws at the General Assemblyin the course of his three years of office and could be consulted as
authority on points of law.
league, sea-league: vika is an Icelandic sea-mile, equivalent to about
4 English nautical miles.
living-room: medieval Icelandic farms normally had one main room
(stofa, The Saga of Grettir, ch. 20; skáli, The Saga of Grettir, ch. 28;
skáli, ‘room’ The Saga of Gisli, ch. 16) with raised platforms downeach side which were used for sitting on during the day and forsleeping on at night (cf. bed-closet). In some farmhouses one end of
a platform might be panelled off from the rest of the room to give
privacy to the farmer and his wife (see bed-closet). Trestle-tables
were put up on the ground in front of the platforms at meal times(cf. The Saga of Grettir, ch. 18). Otherwise there was little in theway of furniture. Cf. The Saga of Grettir, ch. 28.
mark: a weight of eight ounces; or eight ‘ounce-units’, 48 ells of standard homespun.
moving-days: the time when people might legally change their residence and when they often took up new employment. These wereglossary355

four days in the seventh week of summer, beginning on the Thursday
which fell between 21st and 27th May each year.
norn: one of the three sisters who control men’s fates in Norse mytho­logy; they appear, like names of goddesses and valkyries, in kennings
for woman.
platform: medieval Icelandic farm-houses had platforms along the sidewalls of the main room that were used for seats and beds. The floor
between them was unboarded. Sometimes there was also another kindof platform or dais called pallr, which was usually a raised wooden
platform across one end of the building which could be used for the
women of the household to sit on.
Quarter: Iceland was divided into four Quarters in about 962, andthereafter a court was established for each Quarter at the annual
Althing.
self-judgement (sjálfdœmi): this was when the injured party was­allowed to assess the amount of compensation himself.
shieling (sel): a building used by the women and the shepherd who insummer lived on higher pastureland, usually at some distance fromthe main farm, grazing flocks and processing their milk into butter,cheese and skyr for later transportation to the farm.
skald: poet.
skyr: a kind of cultured skimmed milk, something like yoghurt, which
when thickened keeps well and has been a staple of Icelandic diet.
summoning-days: a summons to answer a case to be brought at
the Assembly was an essential legal preliminary. It was normally
made in the presence of witnesses at the home of the man to beprosecuted and should take place as a rule a fortnight before theSpring Assembly.
thing: see assembly.
trolls: supernatural creatures in Norse mythology, more or less identi­
cal with the giants.
valkyrie, valkyr: ‘chooser of the slain’, one of the female supernatural
creatures sent to battle to bring the slain to Odin’s hall Valhöll; theirnames are used, like those of goddesses, in kennings for woman.
viking: a member of a Scandinavian band of raiders; but the word
viking in many sagas has come to be a pejorative term, more or lessthe equivalent of ‘pirate’.
wergild (manngjöld): The normal wergild (for a death; sometimes for356

GLOSSARY

an injury if the result of attempted murder, cf. The Saga of Gisli, ch.
37; The Saga of Grettir, ch. 21) was theoretically the same for all
free men. See hundred.
West, the: this nearly always means the British Isles from a Norwegian standpoint.
Winter Nights: the first days of the first month of winter (the native
calendar counted only two seasons, summer and winter), which beganon the Saturday falling in the week 11th–17th October each year.
Workmen were sometimes taken on for a year at the beginning of
winter, though according to Grágás I 126, ‘A man is to enter a household as he agrees with the householder, either in the moving days orat midsummer.’ This was a time for one of the biggest pagan festivals (it coincided with the autumn slaughtering of cattle), enacted
however more in private cult celebrations (house-parties) than in
public temple-worship. The celebrations and sacrifices made up a
fertility rite, at the centre of which stood the god Frey.

GLOSSARY

357

INDEX OF NAMES
When place-names are given in Old Norse form, the modern forms are normally added in brackets, and vice versa; when names are translated, the original forms are given in brackets. Names of fiords are often also used for thevalleys leading into them. References are to chapter numbers. Gi = The Sagaof Gisli, Gr = The Saga of Grettir, H = The Saga of Hord.
Adaldal, northern Iceland Gr 38
Æsa, daughter of Ofeig Grettir, first wife of Onund Wooden-leg Gr 3, 10, 11Æsundir (Asen, island off Nordmøre, Norway) Gi 3
Agder, district in southern Norway Gr 3, 7
Akrafell (Akrafiall), mountain on Akraness H 28
Akraness, south-western Iceland H 11, 20
Akrar, farm on Myrar Gr 60, 61
Aldis, daughter of Ofeig Grettir Gr 3, 13
Alf of the Dales, son of Eystein Gr 27
Alf, hersir, of Trøndelag H 23
Alfdis of Barra, daughter of Konal Gr 3, 10
Alfdis, wife of Ref at Haug Gi 27
Alfgeir, unkown hero of the lost Álfgeirs ﬂáttr (‘Tale of Alfgeir’) H 33
Ali, Thorbiorn Oxen-might’s workman Gr 45
Almenningar (Eastern Almenningar), towards the northern end of Strandir,
north-west Iceland Gr 25, 27
Alof, daughter of Ingolf Gr 11
Alptarskard (now Brekkuskar›), a pass north of Hvalfiord H 29
Althing, the general assembly of Iceland, held each summer at Thingvoll;sometimes referred to as ‘the asssembly’ (e.g. Gr 16, 37, 46, 51) Gr 10, 12,
25–27, 32, 34, 51, 57, 77, 82–84; H 10, 21, 30
Alvidra, farm on the north side of Dyrafiord Gi 4
Ambattara, river on Vatnsness Gr 44
Andakil, area in Borgarfiord, western Iceland H 9Annmarkastadir, farm in Haukadal (modern Sel?) Gi 18, 19
Ar, in Gautland Gr 3
Ari Masson, son of Atli the Red Gr 27
Ari, son of Thorbiorn Sur (Súrsson) Gi 2, 38
Ari, son of Thorkel Skerauki Gi 1
Armannsfell, mountain north of Thingvoll Gr 32
Arnarbæli, farm in Olfus H 10
Arnarfiord, Western Fiords, Iceland Gi 4, 15, 20, 22
Arnarholt, farm in Borgarfiord, western Iceland H 1

358

INDEX OF NAMES

Arnarvatn, lake in western central Iceland Gr 62
Arnarvatn Heath, western central Iceland Gr 54–56, 62; H 33; ‘the heath’ Gr
56, 57
Arnbiorn, kinsman of Thorfinn son of Kar the Old Gr 22, 23
Arness, farm in Trekyllisvik Gr 9, 11
Arngeir, son of Bersi Godless Gr 58
Arni, son of Skeggi of Saxa Gi 3
Arnkelsbrekka, in Biarnardal Gi 12
Arnor Hynef (downy-nose), son of Thorodd Gr 30
Arnor, a talkative fellow Gi 6
Arnor, son of Thorbiorn Oxen-might Gr 48
Arnor Thordarson, known as Earls’ poet Gr 60
Arnora, daughter of Thord Gellir Gr 77
Arnthor, Norwegian queen’s treasurer H 13
As, farm in Borgarfiord Gr 62
As, farm in Vatnsdal Gr 16, 25, 35
Asbiarnarness, farm at the end of Vididal Gr 28, 31
Asbiorn, son of Ofeig Grettir Gr 3
Asbrand Thorbrandsson Gr 44
Asdis, daughter of Bard Iokulsson and mother of Grettir Gr 13, 14–17, 37, 45,
47, 48, 69, 83, 84
Asdis, daughter of Gamli Skeggiason Gr 84
Asgeir Ædikoll (madcap) Gr 15, 26, 28 (here it should be Asgeir of Asgeirsa)
Asgeir of Asgeirsa, son of Audun Skokul Gr 11, (28); Asgeir of Asgeirsa andAsgeir Ædikoll are evidently muddled up in The Saga of Grettir, and it isuncertain which is meant in Gr 25, 44, 51, 84
Asgeir, son of Audun, son of Asgeir Gr 28
Asgeirsa, river and farm in Vididal, northern Iceland Gr 11, 15
Asgerd, daughter of Thorbiorn Selagnup, wife of Gisli’s brother Thorkel Gi 5, 9
Asgrim, son of Ellida-Grim Gr 8, 53
Asgrim, son of Ondott Kraka and Signy Gr 7, 8
Aslaugarhlid (‘Aslaug’s slope’), western Iceland (Kaldárbakkahlí›) Gr 59
Asmund under Asmundargnup Gr 13
Asmund Beardless, son of Ofeig Grettir Gr 3
Asmund, son of Ondott Kraka and Signy Gr 7, 8, 37
Asmund son of Thorgrim Hoary-top, known as Hærulang (with long greyhair) Gr 13, 14, 16, 17, 25–28, 30, 31, 34, 35, 37, 42, 47, 48, 54, 59, 65, 68,
72, 75, 90, 93
Asmundargnup (Gnúpr, ‘peak’), farm in Vididal Gr 13
Asny, daughter of Vestar Gr 3
Asta, daughter of Gudbrand Kula Gr 1
Asvor, daughter of Ofeig Grettir Gr 3
Athelstan, king of Wessex 925–39 Gi 1
Atli, son of Asmund Hærulang Gr 14–16, 28–30, 36, 42–45, 47–49, 51, 54

INDEX OF NAMES

359

Atli the Red, son of Ulf the Boss-eyed Gr 27
Aud of Audsstadir H 21
Aud (or Unn) the Deep-minded, Icelandic settler Gr 10, 26 (see Laxdæla saga)
Aud, used as the name of a goddess in kennings for woman H 11
Aud, daughter of Vestein, Gisli’s wife Gi 4, 5, 9, 10, 12–16, 20, 21, 24, 30,
31–36, 38; Aud’s steading in Geirthiofsfiord Gi 22, 29, farmhouse Gi 23
Audbiorg at Annmarkastadir, sister of Thorgrim Nef Gi 18, 19
Audsstadir, farm in the northerly Reykiardal H 21
Audun son of Asgeir Ædikoll Gr 28 (mistake for son of Asgeir at Asgeirsa sonof Audun Skokul)
Audun, son of Asgeir of Asgeirsa, at Audunarstadir Gr 15, 16, 28, 34; see also
IalfadAudun, earl in Norway, called Geit (nanny-goat) Gr 7
Audun Skokul Gr 11, (28)
Audun in Vindheim Gr 18
Audunarstadir, farm in Vididal Gr 15, 28, 34
Augastadir, farm in the northerly Reykiardal H 10
Austra (‘east river’), river in Dalir Gr 68
Bæ, farm in Borgarfiord, western Iceland Gr 47; H 8
Bakkarholt, farm in Olfus H 19
Bakkavad, ford over Hvita H 41
Bakki, farm in Borgarfiord (Hvítárbakki) Gr 47
Bakki, farm in Hrutafiord (Prestsbakki) Gr 30
Balagardssida, south-west coast of Finland H 17
Baldr, name of a god in Norse mythology, used in kennings for man Gr 22(Biorn); H 34 (Kiartan)
Balkastadir, farms in Hrutafiord 5
Balki Blæingsson Gr 1, 2, 5, 58
Ball-glacier, Balliokul, glacier in central Iceland (Baldjökull, the north-westernpart of Langjökull) Gr 54, 57, 62
Bandvettir, horses (the name means a pair of mittens attached to each other bya string) Gi 11
Bard Iokulsson, father of Asdis Gr 13, 34
Bard, sea-captain Gr 17
Bard of Surnadal Gi 2
Bardardal, northern Iceland Gr 64, 65, 67; people of Gr 65
Bardastrond, part of the south coast of the Western Fiords Gi 19, 23, 28, 32(Strond Gi 23, 32)
Bardi Gudmundarson (Viga-Bardi) Gr 28, 31, 34 (see Hei›arvíga saga)
Barra, island in the Hebrides Gr 1, 3, 4, 10 (pl. Barreyiar = Barra Isles)
Battle of the Heath Gr 31 (Hei›arvíg, western Iceland, 1014; see Hei›arvíga
saga)
Battle of the Nesses Gr 37 (Nesia orrosta, on the western side of Oslofiord,c.1015; see Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla I 151–2)

360

INDEX OF NAMES

Bear, i.e. Bersi son of Poet-Torfa, whose name is a hypocoristic word for the
animal Gr 24
Beard-Bialfi (Skegg-Bialfi), a merchant Gi 8
Berg Skammfot (short-leg) Gi 18, 19
Berg, son of Vestein Vesteinsson Gi 4, 28, 38
Bergen, Norway (Björgvin) H 12
Bersastadir, farm on the north side of Dyrafiord Gi 11
Bersi of Bersastadir Gi 11
Bersi Godless, son of Balki Gr 58
Bersi, son of Poet-Torfa Gr 15, 23, 24
Bialfi see Beard-Bialfi
Biarg, farm in Midfiord Gr 13, 14, 16, 25, 28, 29–31, 34, 35, 37, 42, 43, 45,
47, 48, 49, 67, 69, 83, 84; men of, people of Gr 29, 30, 43
Biargaos, river-mouth on the eastern side of Vatnsness, northern Iceland Gr 44
Biarnardal, off Onundarfiord Gi 12
Biarnarfiord (southerly), on the southerly Strandir Gr 12
Biarnar saga see under Saga of
Biarni at Iorvi Gr 60
Biarni, son of Skuf, shepherd in Hundadal Gr 27
Biarni the Wise (inn spaki), son of Thorstein Godi Gr 6
Biartmar of Arnarfiord, father of Aud’s and Vestein’s uncles Gi 4; sons of(Helgi, Sigurd, Vestgeir) Gi 10, 21, 29
Bildsfell, south of Olfusvatn H 19
Biorg, a range of mountains in Vestrhop, northern Iceland Gr 44
Biorn Blasida (dark-side), son of Ulfhedin, a viking H 17
Biorn Gullberi (gold-bearer), Icelandic settler H 1
Biorn on Haganess Gr 70, 81, 82
Biorn, brother of Hiarrandi and Gunnar Gr 21, 22, 80
Biorn Hitdælakappi (hero of the people of Hitardal) Arngeirsson Gr 58, 59,
61; called Biorn of Hitardal Gr 59 (see Biarnar saga Hítdælakappa)
Biorn, son of Hord and Helga H 24, 38, 41
Biorn, son of Hrolf of Ar and father of Thrand and Eyvind Gr 2, 3, 5, 6
Biorn, Odin in disguise H 15; Biorn’s gift (Biarnarnaut), a sword H 15
Biorn, son of Ofeig Thunnskegg Gr 70
Biorn the Pale (inn blakki) Gi 1
Biorn, settler on Strandir (Biarnarfiord), northern Iceland Gr 9 (see The Book
of Settlements, ch. 162, and Laxdæla saga)
Bitra, a fiord on the southerly Strandir (Inn-Strandir) Gr 43, 51
Blaskeggsa, river in Hvalfiord H 24, 38; called Blaskeggsar, Blaskegg’s rivers
H 33
Blaskeggsaros, river-mouth in Hvalfiord H 24
Bleikala (= a (dun) horse with a dark stripe down its back), name given to themare Kengala Gr 14
Bodmod son of Grimolf Gr 12; see under Saga of

INDEX OF NAMES

361

Bodolf father of Skeggi of Kelduhverfi, brother of Bodmod Gr 38
Bodvar of Bodvarsholar Gr 30
Bodvarsholar, farm in Vestrhop Gr 30
Boggul-Torfi at Marskelda Gr 27
Bollastadir, farm south of Hvalfiord H 27
Bolli, Orm’s slave H 27 (cf. Thorbiorn)
Bordeyr, farm in Hrutafiord Gr 30
Borgarfiord, western Iceland Gi 19; Gr 27, 28, 31, 44, 47, 53, 54, 57, 61; menof, Borgfirders Gr 54; H 33
Borgarhraun, western Iceland (Eldborgarhraun) Gr 59
Bork the Stout, son of Thorstein Thorskabit, brother of Thorgrim; Thordis’s
second husband Gi 5, 15, 16, 18–23, 25–29, 37; Gr 68
Bothild, Ingiald’s bondwoman Gi 25, 26
Botn (Nedri-Botn, now Litli-Botn), farm in Hvalfiord H 19, 22, 24, 25
Botn-Dwellers (Hord and Geir and their men) H 23, 24
Botnsheid, heath in from Hvalfiord H 9, 19
Bragi, a god; his wife is Idunn, whose name is used for i›unnar, Icelandic for‘of turbulent water’ Gr 66
Brand, workman of Halldor at Hof Gr 81
Brand, son of Thorbiorn Koll H 28; Brand’s Flats (Brandsflesiar, Brandsfles),on the north side of Hvalfiord H 28
Brand, Thorgeir Bottle-back’s man Gr 11
Brattabrekka (= steep slope), between Borgarfiord and Dalir Gr 67
Breakfast Dale (Dogurdardal), above Skutilsfiord, Western Fiords Gi 7
Breida, farm in Skagafiord (Bræ›rá) Gr 70
Breidabol, men of (i.e. of Breidabolstad) H 21
Breidabolstad, farm in the northerly Reykiardal H 2, 8, 9, 10, 20, 21, 22
Breidabolstad, farm in Sokkolfsdal Gr 68
Breidafiardardalir, district in western Iceland (= Dalir) Gr 57, 67
Breidafiord, western Iceland Gi 24, 25
Breidavik, bay on Snæfellsness H 41
Brekka, farm on Hvalfiardarstrond H 11, 23, 24
British Isles (vestan haf ) Gr 5, 10, 59; see also the West
Bruin (Bessi or Bersi, Biorn), a bear killed by Grettir Gr 21
Bryniolf, son of Thorbiorn H 12, 13, 18
Bryniudal, in from Hvalfiord H 24, 25, 27, 39
Burfell, a mountain and a farm in Midfiord Gr 30
Bute, Isle of (Bót), Firth of Clyde, Scotland Gr 4
Byleist, brother of the god Loki, whose daughter is Hel, i.e. death Gr 24
Byrgisvik, bay on Strandir, northern Iceland Gr 9, 12
Cat’s head (Kattarhöf›i), on the inner part of Hvalfiord H 25
Christ Gr 82
Confederates, see under Saga ofConstantinople (Miklagard) Gr 85, 86, 88, 90, 91, 93

362

INDEX OF NAMES

Dales, Dalir, district in western Iceland (= Breidafiardardalir) Gr 27, 68
Dalla Thorvaldsdóttir, wife of Bishop Isleif Gr 25
Deildartunga, farm in Borgarfiord Gr 47
Denmark Gi 8, 10, 38; H 17
Dogurdardal see Breakfast Dale
Dogurdarness, in Hvalfiord (now ﬁyrilsnes) H 24, 30, 32, 37
Drangar, farm on the northern part of Strandir, north-west Iceland Gr 9, 11, 12
Drangey, island in Skagafiord Gr 67, 69–76, 78, 79, 81, 84, 85
Dromund (in verse) see Thorstein Dromund
Dufunefsskeid, part of Kiol Gr 54
Dyrafiord, Western Fiords Gi 4, 7, 8, 9, 12
Dyrholmar, farm in Myrdal, on the south coast of Iceland (now Dyrhólar) Gr 80
Dyri, settler in Dyrafiord Gi 4
Easterners, i.e. Norwegians Gr 12; Easterner, Norwegian, i.e. Eyvind Gr 3–5;
Hæring Gr 76; Orm H 35
Eastern Fiords Gr 61, 63
Eastmen’s Fall (Austmannafall, above Skutilsfiord, Western Fiords; Austmenn= Norwegians, cf. Easterners) Gi 7
Egil, son of Audun Gr 34
Eid of As, son of Midfiord-Skeggi Gr 62
Eilif, son of Ketil the One-handed Gr 3
Einar of Giogur Gr 12
Einar, farmer in Iadar in Norway Gr 40
Einar, son of Magnus and Gudrun H 11
Einar son of Olvir Barnakarl Gr 3
Einar, son of Skeggi of Saxa Gi 3
Einhamar, bluff in Geirthiofsfiord Gi 35
Eirik of Guddalir, son of Hroald Geirmundarson Gr 70
Eirik Hakonarson, earl in Norway; went to England 1015 (1012 according to
Icelandic sources), Earl of Northumbria from 1016, died c.1023; Gr 19
Eirik, son of Holmgongu-Starri Gr 70, 81
Eirik Olfus (tippler) Gr 7
Eirik Snara (snare) Gr 9, 11
Ellida-Grim, son of Asgrim Gr 8
England Gi 8; Gr 19, 22, 38
Eyiafiord, northern Iceland Gr 8, 37
Eyiardalsa, farm in Bardardal Gr 64–67
Eyiolf of Borg in Vididal, brother-in-law of Bardi Gudmundarson Gr 31
Eyiolf Egilsson Gr 34 (see Laxdæla saga, ch. 40)
Eyiolf from Fagraskogar Gr 60
Eyiolf the Grey, son of Thord (Gellir), Bork’s cousin Gi 15–17, 22, 23, 25, 27,
31–37 (see Eyrbyggja saga)
Eyiolf Gudmundarson Gr 34
Eyr (Óspakseyri), farm on Bitra Gr 43, 51

INDEX OF NAMES

363

Eyr, farm in Isafiord Gr 52
Eyr, farm in Skutilsfiord Gi 7
Eyr, headland or ness on Snæfellsness, western Iceland Gi 37
Eyrar, landing place on the south coast of Iceland (now Eyrarbakki) Gr 6; H 8,
12, 17, 18, 20, 41
Eyrarhvalsoddi (Valseyr, Dyrafiord) Gi 6
Eyvind the Easterner (i.e. from Norway), son of Biorn Gr 3–5
Eyvind of Eyvindarfiord Gr 11
Eyvindarfiord, on Strandir, northern Iceland Gr 11
Fafnir, a serpent, in a kenning for gold (that on which serpents lie) Gr 18
Fagrabrekka, farm in Hrutafiord Gr 30. On the battle there see Hrómundarﬂáttr halta and The Book of Settlements, ch. 168.
Fagraskogafiall, mountain in western Iceland Gr 58, 60
Fagraskogar, farm in western Iceland Gr 60
Fell, farm below Ingólfsfell (-fjall), south-western Iceland H 1, 12
Fellsoxl, farm inland from Akraness H 20
Ferdalang see Thorbiorn Ferdalang
Ferstikla, farm on Hvalfiardarstrond H 23, 26, 41
Fibuli (Årvågsfjord), in Nordmøre, Norway Gi 1
Finn the Wealthy, son of Halldor H 2
Finnbogi, son of Thorgeir Thorhaddsson Gr 60
Fioll, farm in south-western Iceland, south of Olfusvatn; later called
Grimkelsstadir H 2
Fiskilæk, stream and farm in Eyiafiord Gr 38
Fiskivotn, lakes on Arnarvatn Heath Gr 54
Fitiar, area near Arnarvatn Heath (Hellisfitjar, now Fugleyrar) H 33
Flatey, island in Breidafiord Gi 25
Fliot, district to the east of Skagafiord Gr 70, 72, 81
Fliotstunga, area inland from Borgarfiord Gr 16
Floi, area in southern Iceland H 10
Flokadal, Borgarfiord, western Iceland H 4
Flokadalsa, river in Borgarfiord, western Iceland Gr 47; H 1
Flosi, son of Eirik Gr 11, 12
Flydruness, north of Trøndelag, Norway (unidentified) Gi 3
Flysiuhverfi, district in western Iceland Gr 59, 60
Forsa, farm on Hiardarness Gi 27Forsæludal, off Vatnsdal Gr 32
Frey, a Norse god Gi 15, 18; in kenning for warrior (Grettir) Gr 47, (Thorbiorn
Ongul) Gr 83
Freyia, a goddess, in kenning for woman (servant-girl at Reykir) Gr 75; seealso Syr
Frid, name of a goddess, in kenning for woman (Asdis) Gr 83
Fridarey (Frei, island in Nordmøre, Norway) Gi 2, 3
Fridgerd, daughter of Thord of Hofdi Gr 26

364

INDEX OF NAMES

Fridmund, Icelandic settler Gr 32
Fridrek, German missionary bishop (in Iceland 981–6) Gr 13 (Kristni saga,ﬁorvalds ﬂáttr ví›förla)Frodi, legendary king in Denmark Gr 3 (see The Book of Settlements, ch. 217)
Gamli, son of Skeggi Short-Arm Gr 84
Gamli, father of Thorhall the Winelander Gr 30
Gamli, son of Thorhall the Winelander Gr 14, 30, 42, 43, 48, 49, 51, 83, 84
Gang, name of a giant, used as a common noun Gr 66
Gard, farm in Adaldal Gr 38, 63, 77, 82
Gardar, farm on Akraness H 20; called Gard H 28
Garten, an island in the mouth of Trondheimsfiord (Gartar) Gr 22
Gaseyr or Gasir in Eyiafiord Gr 37, 46, 85
Gaut, a name for Odin, in kennings for warriors Gr 12, 28 (here for Bardi)
Gaut, son of Sleita Gr 27 (see Fóstbræ›ra saga)
Gautland (earldom in southern Sweden, Götaland) Gr 3; H 13, 14, 17, 41;
Gautlander Gr 6
Geir, son of Grim the Small and Gudrid H 7, 11–19, 22, 24–31, 34–36; Geir’s
point (Geirstangi) H 35
Geirlaug, widow at Breidabolstad Gr 68
Geirmund, son of Biorn Gullberi H 1
Geirmund Heliarskin (dark-skin) Gr 2, 3
Geirmund Hvikatimbr (swaying timber) Gr 12
Geirmund, son of Ingiald, foster-son of Gisli and Thorkel Gi 10, 12, 15,
16, 38Geirmund Ordigskeggi (rough-beard) Gr 70
Geirsholm = the Holm H 24
Geirthiofsfiord, in from Arnarfiord Gi 20, 21–25, 27, 29–31
Geitir, son of Lyting H 1
Geitland, inland from Borgarfiord Gr 61; H 11; Geitlander H 11; Geitland
Glacier (Geitlandsjökull, part of Langjökull) Gr 61
Geldingadragi (‘wether-drag or -trail’), trail between Skorradal and Svinadal
or Hvalfiord H 29
Gemlufall, Dyrafiord Gi 12
Gemlufallsheid, heath between Dyrafiord and Onundarfiord Gi 12
Gerd, daughter of Bodvar of Bodvarsholar Gr 30
Gerd, a goddess (originally a giantess), in a kenning for woman Gr 14
Gerpir (probably a mistake for the nickname of Bodmod or Grimolf Gerpir,‘champion’) Gr 12; see under Saga of Bodmod
Gervidal, valley and farm in Isafiord, Western Fiords Gr 52
Gest the Wise (inn spaki), son of Oddleif Gi 5, 23, 28, 29, 31, 32, 38 (seeLaxdæla saga, Njáls saga); see also Guest
Giabakki, farm by Olfusvatn H 10
Gilsbakki, farm in Borgarfiord Gr 44, 47
Giogr, farm in Reykiarfiord on Strandir Gr 12

INDEX OF NAMES

365

Gisli, son of Thorbiorn Sur (Súrsson) Gi 2–27, 29–38
Gisli, son of Thorkel Skerauki Gi 1
Gisli Thorsteinsson Gr 59
Giuki, legendary hero, father of Gudrun Gi 19 (see The Poetic Edda)
Gizur the White, son of Teit H 11
Glam, Swedish shepherd Gr 32–35, 82
Glaum (Merryman), see Thorbiorn Glaum
Glaumbæ, farm in Skagafiord Gr 69
Glera, the more southerly and the more northerly, farms in Eyiafiord, northern Iceland Gr 8
Glerarskogar, farm in Hvammsfiord, western Iceland (Breidafiardardalir) Gi 37
Glum, son of Ospak Kiallaksson Gr 14, 43, 51, 83
Gna, name of a goddess, used in kennings for woman H 9 (Thorbiorg)
Gnup, farm in Midfiord Gr 11
Gnupveriahrepp, district in the south of Iceland Gr 6
God Gr 19, 35, 51, 72, 92, 93
Godaskog, woods near Thingvoll Gr 32
Gonguskardsos or Gonguskardsaros, estuary in Skagafiord Gr 76
Gorvik, a small bay on the north side of Hvalfiord H 29
Grafning, area south of Olfusvatn H 19
Grani, the name of Sigurd the dragon-killer’s horse, used in kennings for gold;
its burden was the hoard Sigurd won from the dragon Fafnir in Völsunga
saga and The Poetic Edda; H 15
Grannaskeid, farm in Surnadal (Skei) Gi 2
Greenland Gi 38
Grenitresness, at the entrance to Thorskafiord Gi 28
Grettir, son of Asmund Hærulang and Asdis Gi 22; Gr 14–25, 28–31, 34–43,
45–85, 87, 90, 93; see also Guest; called Grettir the Strong (inn sterki) Gr
39, 54, 56, 86, 90, 93; Grettir’s Lift (Grettishaf), near Sledaas Gr 16; on
Hrutafiord ridge Gr 30; below Fagraskogafiall Gr 59; Grettir’s mound(Grettisthufa), on Sand Gr 84; Grettir’s store (Grettisbur), storehouse atVidvik Gr 82; the name is indicated in some kennings by word-play withgrettir = snake, see Gr 28, 47, 52, 54. See also Ofeig Grettir
Grettir’s Point (Grettisoddi, by Hitara) Gr 60
Grettisfærsla see The Passing Round of Grettir
Grettisgeil, a narrow place near Hæl in Gnupveriahrepp (now Hælsgróf) Gr 10
Grettisnaut, the cutlass that had been Grettir’s (see Karsnaut) Gr 86
Grey-belly (Hösmagi), name given to a ram on Drangey Gr 82 (cf. Gr 74)
Greyflank (Grásí›a), a sword Gi 1, 11; a spear 16; bits of (Grásí›ubrot) Gi 11
Grid, giantess, in kenning for battle-axe; translated ‘giantess’ Gr 16
Grim, son of Gamli Thorhallsson Gr 14
Grim (giant-bane Grim) = Thorgrim Godi Gi 18
Grim the Halogalander, son of Thorir H 11
Grim, hersir, son of Kolbiorn Sneypir Gr 3, 6, 7

366

INDEX OF NAMES

Grim, an outlaw Gr 55
Grim, an outlaw, son of Helga at Kropp Gr 62, 67
Grim the Small (inn litli), foster-son (or -brother?—fóstri Sign‡jar) of Signy
H 2, 4, 5, 7, 9–11, 18, 24
Grim, son of Thorgeir and Signy (farmer Grim of Signyiarstadir) H 2, 8
Grim, son of Thorhall, son of Fridmund Gr 32
Grim, son of Thorhall Grimsson Gr 32
Grim, son of Thorhall the Winelander Gr 30, 42, 43, 44, 47, 53, 54, 57, 61
Grimkel Godi, son of Biorn Gullberi H 1–12, 19, 20, 41
Grimkel son of Hord and Helga H 24, 38, 41
Grimkelsstadir, farm in south-western Iceland (= Fioll), south of Olfusvatn H 2
Grimolf (father of Bodmod; see under Saga of) Gr 12
Grimsa, river in Borgarfiord, western Iceland H 1
Grimsness, south-west Iceland H 9, 10
Grimsstadir, farm north of Olfusvatn H 5, 9, 11, 18, 19
Grindavik, farm in south-west Iceland H 9
Griotgard, father of Thorbiorn H 12
Grund, a goddess, personification of the earth (or perhaps a common noun,‘resting place’), in kenning for woman (Spes) Gr 87
Grunnafiord, between Hvalfiord and Borgarfiord H 32
Gudbiorg daughter of Ofeig Burlufot Gr 1
Gudbrand Kula (ball) Gr 1
Guddalir, valleys and farm in from Skagafiord Gr 70, 81
Gudmund Eyiolfsson the Great (or the Mighty; inn ríki) Gr 67, 69 (seeLjósvetninga saga, Njáls saga, Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla I)
Gudmund Solmundarson of Asbiarnarness, father of Bardi Gr 28, 31
Gudrid, daughter of Hogni of Hagavik, wife of Grim the Small H 2, 5, 7, 18
Gudrid, daughter of Ingiald, Aud’s foster-daughter Gi 10, 12, 13, 20, 31, 34,
35, 38
Gudrun daughter of Giuki Gi 19 (see The Poetic Edda, Völsunga saga)
Gudrun, daughter of Iorunn H 11
Gudrun, wife of Thorhall Grimsson Gr 32
Guest (Gestr), assumed name of Grettir Asmundarson Gr 64, 65, 72
Gullberastadir, farm in the southerly Reykiardal H 1
Gungnir, Odin’s spear, in kenning for battle (greed of Gungnir, that which
Odin’s spear is greedy for) Gr 31
Gunnar, brother of Biorn and Hiarrandi Gr 23, 24, 80
Gunnar, son of Thorir at Skard Gr 30, 43; see Thorir at Skard, sons ofGunnhild, daughter of Ozur, queen of Erik Bloodaxe, ‘Mother of Kings’ H 13, 18
Gunnhild, mother of Sigurd Torfi’s foster-brother H 2, 24
Gunnhild, wife of Vestein Vesteinsson Gi 4, 38
Gyda, wife of Ingiald Tryggvi Gr 7
Gyrid, daughter of Einar, Norwegian farmer Gr 40
Hæl, farm in Gnupveriahrepp Gr 10

INDEX OF NAMES

367

Hæng (= Ketill Hæng son of Thorkel, earl in Naumudal (Namdalen), northern
Norway) Gr 3Hæring, a Norwegian sailor Gr 76, 78; Hæring’s leap (Hæringshlaup), a cliff
on the southern point of Drangey Gr 76
Haffiardara, river at the beginning of Snæfellsness in western Iceland Gr 59
Hafli, a giant, opponent of Thor; in pun on name Thorbiorn (Biorn is also a
name for Thor) Gr 48
Haflidi at Reydarfell Gr 17
Hafr, son of Thorarinn Gr 72
Hafr, son of Thord Knapp Gr 72
Hafraklett, rocks between Olaf’s Islands and Reykiaholar, Breidafiord Gr 50(now Latur)
Hafrsfiord, a fiord in south-west Norway (Hafsfjord) Gr 2
Haganess, farm in Fliot, Skagafiord Gr 70, 81
Hagavik, farm by Olfusvatn, south-western Iceland H 2, 5, 11, 18, 19
Hakon Adalsteinsfostri (foster-son of Athelstan), son of Harald Finehair; kingof Norway c.946–64 Gi 1
Hakon Eiriksson, earl in Norway (d. 1029) Gr 19
Halfdan the Black, ninth-century king in Norway Gr 2
Hall Gudmundarson Gr 28
Hallbiorn, a tramp Gi 28, 29
Halldor, son of Hogni H 2
Halldor, son of Thorgeir at Hof Gr 70, 72, 81, 82, 84
Halldora, daughter of Hrolf H 11
Halldora, daughter of Steinmod Gr 3
Halli at Kropp Gr 47
Hallkel (son of Hrosskel), father of Tind H 13, 41
Hallkelsstadir, farm on Hvitarsida H 41
Hallmund Gr 54, 57, 61, 62, 67; see also Lopt
Hallmund’s Poem (Hallmundarkvi›a) Gr 62
Hallstein Hest (horse, stallion) Gr 7
Hallsteinsness, on Thorskafiord Gi 28
Hallvard, houseman of Gisli Gi 11, 12
Hallvard Sugandi (sucker), ninth-century viking Gr 1, 2, 5, 8
Halogaland, an area of northern Norway (Hålogaland) Gr 19, 20; Halogalanders(Thorir Thomb and his men) Gr 19; H 11
Hamar, in Borgarfiord, western Iceland Gi 38
Hamund, workman of Thorgeir Bottle-back Gr 11
Harald, unhistorical earl in Gautland H 13, 14
Harald Gormsson, king of Denmark (died c.986) H 17
Harald Greycloak (gráfeldr), son of Eirik Bloodaxe; king of Norway c.959–
74 Gi 7; H 13
Harald Harfagri (fine-haired) or Lufa (unkempt), son of Halfdan the Black,
king in Norway (c.885–935) Gr 2, 3, 7; H 1. He is said to have vowed not to368

INDEX OF NAMES

have his hair dressed until he had become king of all Norway. See Snorri
Sturluson, Heimskringla II 53.
Harald Ring, Icelandic settler Gr 44
Harald Sigurdarson, Hardradi (harsh-ruler; king in Norway 1046–66; halfbrother of St Olaf) Gr 88, 90, 91 (he escaped from the Battle of Stiklarstadirin 1030, and joined the Varangian Guard in Constantinople (1034–42);
reigned in Norway at first with his nephew Magnus the Good, then alone;
killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066; see Snorri Sturluson, King
Harald’s saga)
Haramarsey, island off Sunnmær, western Norway (Haramsøy) Gr 17, 19
Harek, King Harald’s steward Gr 7
Haug, farm on Hiardarness Gi 27
Haukadal, Dalir, western Iceland Gr 30
Haukadal, Dyrafiord Gi 4, 5, 11, 12, 19; men of (Haukdalers, Haukadal men)
Gi 6, 9
Haukadal, farm in southern Iceland Gr 54
Haukadalsa, river flowing into Dyrafiord Gi 11
Haukadalsos, Haukadalsaros, the mouth of Haukadalsa Gi 4, 9
Haukadalsskard, a pass in western Iceland Gr 42
Havard, kinsman of Gest Oddleifsson Gi 31, 32
Havard, houseman of Gisli Gi 11, 12
Head (Hofdi), farm on Skagafiord, northern Iceland Gr 26, 70
Hebrides (Sudreyiar) Gr 1, 3–6
Hedeby (Hei›abær), Denmark (near the modern town of Schleswig, now inGermany) Gi 38
Hedin Hiarrandason, legendary king, father of Hild, whose meeting is battle(see Snorri Sturluson’s Edda, pp. 122–3) Gr 47
Hedin, foster-father of Signy Gr 7
Hegraness, assembly-place in Skagafiord; Hegraness Assembly Gr 72
Hel, the name of the abode of the dead in Norse mythology and also of thewoman who presides there, daughter of the god Loki (Snorri Sturluson, in
his Edda, p. 27, describes her as half blue and half flesh-coloured; cf. Gr32); Gr 24; Gi 14, 17 (Hel-shoes were presumably for the journey there); H
15. Translated ‘the dead’ Gr 3, ‘death’ Gr 35
Helga, wife of Grim son of Thorgeir H 8
Helga, daughter of Harald, earl in Gautland H 14, 16, 20, 24–26, 35–39, 41;
Helga’s sound (Helgusund) H 38; Helga’s ravine (Helguskard) H 38
Helga, daughter of Ondott Kraka (crow) Gr 3
Helga, daughter of Thorgeir of Fiskilæk Gr 38
Helga, daughter of Thorir Thorkelsson Gr 30
Helga, daughter of Thorstein Oxnabrodd H 26
Helgafell, farm on Snæfellsness, western Iceland Gi 37
Helgi, son of Biartmar Gi 4, 21

INDEX OF NAMES

369

Helgi, son of Ingiald (Ingiald’s fool) Gi 25, 27
Helgi of Laugabol Gr 52
Helgi the Lean, son of Eyvind the Easterner Gr 3, 8
Helgi, son of Sigmund H 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 28, 29,
35, 36
Helgi (Spying-Helgi, Njósnar-Helgi) Gi 22, 23, 25, 31, 34
Helgi, son of Vestein Vesteinsson Gi 4, 28, 29, 38
Helguskard, Helgusund see under Helga
Hella, farm in Surnadal (perhaps Mjølkill in Øksendal or Helle in Vistdal,
Romsdal, Norway) Gi 2
Hellisholar, hillocks near Reykiaholar, Breidafiord Gr 50
Hergilsey, island in Breidafiord Gi 24, 25
Hest, farm in Onundarfiord Gi 4, 11, 12
Heyness, farm on Akraness H 20, 28
Hialli, farm in Olfus Gr 6, 53, 54; H 10
Hialtadal, in from Skagafiord, northern Iceland Gr 70
Hialti, son of Thord Hialtason, at Hof in Hialtadal, brother of Thorbiorn Ongul
Gr 70, 72, 81, 82, 85; see also Thord Hialtason, sons ofHialti, son of Thord Skalp, Icelandic settler Gr 70
Hiardarness, on the northern side of Breidafiord Gi 27
Hiarrandi, brother of Biorn Gr 22, 23, 80
Hild, daughter of Biartmar Gi 4
Hild, name of a valkyrie, used in kennings for battle Gr 31; H 11; in kenningfor shield Gr 72; cf. Hedin Hiarrandason
Hitara, river in Myrar Gr 58–60
Hitardal, western Iceland, Gr 59, 60
Hitarness, farm in western Iceland Gr 58, 60
Hlif, daughter of Hrolf and wife of Bjorn Gr 3
Hlin, a goddess, in a kenning for woman Gr 14
Hlokk, name of a valkyrie, whose hangings are shields Gr 72; used instead of
the name of a troll-wife in a kenning for thought (see Snorri Sturluson’s
Edda, p. 154, Skáldskaparmál ch. 70) H 12
Hof in Guddalir Gr 70
Hof in Hialtadal Gr 70
Hof on Hofdastrond Gr 70
Hofdastrond, the eastern side of Skagafiord Gr 70, 81, 82
Hofdi (Head), farm on Skagafiord, northern Iceland Gr 26, 70
Hogni of Hagavik H 2, 5, 18
Hogni, father of Halldor H 2
Hol, farm in Biarnarfiord on Strandir (now Svanshóll) Gr 12
Hol, farm in Haukadal Gi 5, 12, 13, 17, 19
Holm (Innrihólmur), farm on Akraness H 11, 20, 21, 28
Holm, farm in Hitardal Gr 58

370

INDEX OF NAMES

Holm, the Holm (Geirsholm), islet in Hvalfiord H 24–32, 34–36, 38
Holm-dwellers (Hólmverjar), those who lived on the Holm (Hord and Geirand their men), H 25–32, 34–37, 41
Holmgongu-Skeggi (duel-Skeggi) Gi 2
Holmgongu-Starri, son of Eirik of Goddalir Gr 70
Holt, farm in Onundarfiord Gi 12
Holtavarda Heath, western Iceland Gr 67
Hord, son of Grimkel and Signy H 7, 10, 11, 13–32, 34–39, 41
Hordland (Hordaland), district of western Norway Gi 7; Gr 1–3, 37
Horn, headland on Hornstrandir, north-west Iceland Gr 45
Hrafn of Ketilsey, son of Dyri Gi 4
Hraun, under, farm on Myrar (Sta›arhraun) Gr 59
Hraundal, farm on Myrar Gr 60, 61; Hraundalers, men of Hraundal Gr 61
Hrefna, daughter of Asgeir Ædikoll, sister-in-law of Thorbiorg the Stout Gr 52
Hrisar, farm in Bryniudal H 24
Hrisey, island in Eyiafiord Gr 8
Hrist, a valkyrie, in kenning for woman (servant-girl at Reykir) Gr 75; inkenning for warrior (Hiarrandi) Gr 80
Hroald Geirmundarson Gr 70
Hroar, son of Harald, earl in Gautland H 14, 15, 16, 17, 41
Hrolf of Ar Gr 3
Hrolf the Geitlander, son of Ulf H 11
Hrolf, son of Ingiald Gr 3
Hrossholt, farm in western Iceland Gr 59
Hrotti, a sword-name in kennings for battle Gr 8, 18
Hrut Heriolfsson of Kambsness Gr 61
Hrutafiord, northern Iceland Gr 5, 14, 15, 29, 30, 36, 42, 48, 57, 58; men of,people of Gr 49, 51, 53, 55, 83; Hrutafiord ridge (Hrutafiardarhals; ‘theridges’, Gr 48), east of Hrutafiord Gr 30, 37, 43, 44; see Wetherfiord
Hunavatn, lake in northern Iceland Gr 13, 33; Hunavatn Assembly Gr 44, 51
Hundadal, farm in Dalir Gr 27
Husaness, in Dyrafiord Gi 20
Hvalfiardarstrond, the northern side of Hvalfiord H 11; see Strond
Hvalfiord, south-western Iceland H 24
Hvalseyr Thing (probably at Valseyr, Dyrafiord) Gi 5
Hvalshausholm, landing place near Reykiaholar, Breidafiord Gr 50
Hvamm, farm on Bardastrond Gi 19, 23
Hvamm, farm in Dalir in western Iceland Gr 10, 26; district of (Hvammssveit)
Gr 26
Hvamm, farm on the south side of Hvalfiord H 27, 32
Hvamm, farm in Skorradal H 3, 19, 30
Hvamm-Thorir, father of Orm H 24
Hvinir see Kvinesdal
Hvinisfiord (Kvinesfjord, now Fedafjord) in Agder, southern Norway Gr 3

INDEX OF NAMES

371

Hvita, river in south-western Iceland (Borgarfiord) Gi 38; Gr 17, 47, 59; H
19, 30, 41
Hvitarsida, district in western Iceland Gr 17; H 10
Hvitarvellir, farm in Borgarfiord H 41; see also Vellir
Iadar, district in south-west Norway (Jæren) Gr 39
Ialfad, a name for Odin, word-play on the name Audun Gr 28
Iceland Gi 4, 8, 9, 11, 21, 24, 31, 38; Gr 5–8, 11–13, 24, 25, 38, 39, 41, 82, 84,
86, 90, 92; H 1, 15, 16, 18, 41; Icelander (= Grettir) Gr 20; Icelandic person
Gr 93; Icelanders Gr 38; H 13
Idunn, see under Bragi
Illugi, son of Asmund and Asdis, brother of Grettir Gr 37, 42, 54, 67, 69, 72,
74–76, 78, 79, 80–84
Illugi the Black (inn svarti), son of Hallkel H 13 (see Gunnlaugs saga)
Illugi the Red (inn rau›i), at Holm, son of Hrolf H 11, 19, 20, 21, 28, 30, 32,
34, 36
Indridastadir, farm in Skorradal H 19, 29, 31, 38, 39, 41
Indridastig, path near Thyril H 38
Indridi, son of Thorvald and Thorgrima Smith-woman H 3, 19, 21, 29–32, 35,
36, 38–41
Ingiald, son of Frodi, king in Denmark Gr 3
Ingiald, father of Geirmund and Gudrid (perhaps the same as Ingiald of
Hergilsey) Gi 38
Ingiald of Hergilsey Gi 24, 25, 26, 27; Ingiald’s fool (Ingjaldsfífl) see Helgi
Ingiald Tryggvi (trusty) Gr 7
Ingibiorg, daughter of Isi Gi 1
Ingigerd, wife of Isi Gi 1
Ingimund the Old, son of Thorstein (see Vatnsdæla saga) Gr 13, 31
Ingolf Arnarson, settler in Reykiarvik Gr 12
Ingolf of Ingolfsfiord Gr 11
Ingolfsfiord, Strandir Gr 9, 11, 12
Inn-Strandir, the southerly part of Strandir (= Sudurstrandir) Gr 9
Iokul Bardarson Gr 34
Iokul, son of Ingimund the Old Gr 13, 17, 43; Iokulsnaut, a sword (‘that which
had belonged to Iokul’; see Gr 17) Gr 18, 21
Iorukleif, on the western side of Olfusvatn H 11, 19
Iorun, daughter of (Hialti and) Vilborg H 11
Iorvi, farm in Flysiuhverfi Gr 60
Ireland Gr 1, 3, 4, 5; the Irish Gr 3
Isafiord, Western Fiords Gr 52
Isfirdingers, men of Isafiord Gr 52
Isgerd, wife of Thorkel Skerauki Gi 1
Isi of Fibuli Gi 1
Isleif Gizurarson (bishop in Skalaholt 1056–80) Gr 25, 84
Ivar Beytil Gr 1

372

INDEX OF NAMES

Ivar, son of Kolbein Gr 12; see also Kolbein’s sonsKaldardal, western Iceland Gr 59
Kaldbak, a mountain and farm on Strandir, northern Iceland Gr 9, 11, 12;people of Gr 11, 12
Kaldbakskleif (‘-cliff’), on Strandir, northern Iceland Gr 9
Kaldbaksvik, a bay on Strandir, northern Iceland Gr 9
Kalf, son of Asgeir Ædikoll Gr 15; cf. Asgeir of Asgeirsa
Kalf, river in the south of Iceland (Kálfá) Gr 6
Kalfaness, in Borgarfiord Gr 47
Kali, son of Kvist H 23
Kalmansa, river on Hvalfiardarstrond H 28
Kalmansarvik, a small bay on Hvalfiardarstrond H 28
Kamb, on Strandir, between Reykiarfiord and Veidileysa, north-west Iceland
Gr 112
Kambsness, farm by Hvammsfiord, western Iceland Gr 61
Kar the Old Gr 18, 19
Kar, workman of Halldor at Hof Gr 81, 82
Karsnaut, the cutlass that had been Kar’s; later called Grettisnaut Gr 82
Kataness, on Hvalfiardarstrond H 28
Katla, i.e. Thorbiorg Katla H 25, 34, 40
Kattarhöf›i see Cat’s head
Keldudal, off Dyrafiord Gi 4
Kelduhverfi, district in northern Iceland Gr 38, 62; men of Gr 57
Kelduness, in Kelduhverfi, northern Iceland Gr 38
Kengala (= with a crooked stripe down its back), Asmund’s mare Gr 14, 29
Ketil the One-handed Gr 3
Ketil Raum Gr 13 (see The Book of Settlements, ch. 179)
Ketilseyr, farm in Dyrafiord Gi 4
Kialarness, assembly-place in south-west Iceland H 11; Kialarness Assembly
Gr 10; H 21
Kiallak, son of Hrolf H 2, 33
Kiartan, son of Stein of Eyiardalsa Gr 64, 67
Kiartan, son of Thorstein and Thorbiorg Katla H 24, 34, 35, 36
Kiarval, ninth-century Irish king in Ossory, southern Ireland (Cearbhall; d.
887/888) Gr 1, 3, 5 (many Icelandic settlers are said to be descended fromhim; see Laxdæla saga)
Kiol, a route (Kjalvegur) through central Iceland Gr 54, 57
Kiotvi the Wealthy Gr 2
Klafastadir, farm on the northern side of Hvalfiord H 20
Kluptir (now Sandkluftir), a gully in western Iceland H 5, 10
Knappsstadir, farm in Fliot Gr 72
Knut the Great (Canute), son of Svein, king of England from 1014 and of
Denmark from 1018 (d. 1035) Gr 19, 59
Kol, a slave Gi 1

INDEX OF NAMES

373

Kolbein, friend of Onund Wooden-leg Gr 7, 9, 12; Kolbein’s sons (Ivar andLeif) Gr 12
Kolbeinsstadir, farm in western Iceland Gr 59
Kolbeinsvik, farm on Strandir, northern Iceland Gr 9
Kolbiorn of Hella in Surnadal Gi 2, 3
Kolbiorn Sneypir Gr 3
Kolgrim the Old, Icelandic settler, son of Alf H 23, 30, 32, 41
Kolgrim, son of Thorhall H 23
Koll, son of Kiallak H 2, 4, 22, 30, 32, 33
Konal, son of Steinmod Gr 3
Kormak at Mel, brother of Thorgils Gr 15, 29, 30, 36
Kræklingahlid, in Eyiafiord, northern Iceland Gr 8
Kraku-Hreidar (son of Ofeig) Gr 70
Kropp, farm in Borgarfiord (Stóri-Kroppur) Gr 47, 62
Krossavik, farm in Vopnafiord, north-eastern Iceland H 1
Kuggi see Thorkel Kuggi
Kuhallardal (‘cow-swerve-dale’) = Kuvallardal H 29
Kuludalsa, farm on Akraness H 20; called Kuvallara H 28
Kuvallardal (‘cow-plain-dale’), off Svinadal, north of Hvalfiord H 26
Kvigandafell (Talknafiord) Gi 5
Kvinesdal (Hvinir), in Agder, southern Norway Gr 7
Kvist, son of Stein H 23Lækiamot, farm in Vididal Gr 25Lækiarbug, farm on Myrar Gr 60Lækiaros, stream-mouth and farm on the northern side of Dyrafiord Gi 11
Langadal, Western Fiords Gr 52
Langafit, meadowland below Reykir in Midfiord Gr 29
Langaness, north-east Iceland Gr 8
Langholt, in Skagafiord Gr 69
Lapp (Finn), inhabitant of the far north of Scandinavia Gr 72
Laugabol, farm on Isafiord Gr 52
Laugardal, south-western Iceland H 9, 10
Laxa, river in Grunnafiord H 32
Laxardal Heath, between Laxardal (Hvammsfiord) and Hrutafiord Gr 48
Laxdæla saga, Saga of the People of Laxardal, western Iceland Gr 10
Leidvoll, in Grunnafiord (unidentified) H 32
Leif, son of Kolbein Gr 12; see also Kolbein’s sonsLiarskogar, farm in Hvammssveit, Dalir Gr 26, 27, 48, 49, 53
Lopt, assumed name of Hallmund Gr 54
Lower heaths, north of Thingvoll, western Iceland (less far inland than thehigher route) Gr 53, 57
Lund, farm in the southerly Reykiardal H 2, 4, 22, 30, 32
Luta, kinswoman of Vestein Gi 12
Lyting (son of Arnbiorn), father of Geitir H 1

374

INDEX OF NAMES

Magnus the Good (inn gó›i), son of St Olaf (king in Norway 1035–47) Gr 90(see Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla II 127–59)
Magnus, bishop in Skalaholt 1134–48, son of Einar H 11
Magnus, priest, son of Thord, H 11
Mak, father of Thorgils Gr 25–27
Mar, son of Atli the Red Gr 27
Marskelda, farm in the Dales, western Iceland Gr 27
Marsstadir, farm in Vatnsdal Gr 13
Medaldal, off Dyrafiord Gi 7, 11, 12, 19
Mel, farm in Midfiord (now Melsta›ur) Gr 15, 29; men of Gr 37
Melahverfi (now Melasveit), western Iceland H 9Melar, farm in Hrutafiord Gr 14, 30, 42, 48, 49, 51, 83
Michael Catalactus, Greek emperor in Constantinople 1034–41 Gr 86
Midfell, farm and hill on the northern side of Hvalfiord H 2, 20, 28
Midfell, farm by Olfusvatn H 10
Midfiardarvatn, lake above Midfiord Gr 15, 28
Midfiord, northern Iceland Gr 11, 13, 15, 16, 25, 45, 47, 83; men of Gr 15, 16(here Vatnsdal in manuscript)
Midfiord-Skeggi Gr 11, 12, 62
Midfitiar, Hrutafiord (the name is not recorded elsewhere) Gr 49
Miklagard see Constantinople
Mimir, a giant, in kenning for shield Gr 80
Mist, a valkyrie, in kenning for battle Gr 31
Modrudal Heath, eastern Iceland Gr 63
Modruvellir, farm in Eyiafiord Gr 67
Mokolla (‘brownhead’), a ewe in Thorisdal Gr 61 (described as mókollótt,‘fawn-coloured and hornless’)
Møre = Sunnmøre Gr 22
Mosdal, Arnarfiord Gi 29
Mosfell, mountain and farm in south-western Iceland H 11, 27
Mosvellir, Biarnardal Gi 11, 12
Mulafell (Múlafjall), mountain in from Hvalfiord H 40
Myrar, district north of Borgarfiord in western Iceland Gi 38; Gr 57–60; H 39;
men, people of Gr 60, 61
Narfi, kinsman of Kormak at Mel Gr 30
Nauma, probably the name of a goddess, in a kenning for a woman (Haflidi’swife) Gr 17, (Asdis) Gr 83; apparently the name of a giantess, in a kenningfor cave Gr 66
Nedri-Botn (now Litli-Botn), farm in Hvalfiord H 18; cf. Botn
Nefsstadir, farm in Haukadal Gi 11, 19
Ness, the, i.e. Snæfellsness Gr 42, 43
Nesses, the, Faxaflói, western Iceland H 9Nesses, the, on the western side of Oslofiord (Nesjar) Gr 37
Nesses, the, on the south coast of the Western Fiords Gi 24

INDEX OF NAMES

375

Nile, name of a river in Egypt, used in kenning for gold H 22
Niord, name of a god, in kennings for warrior(s) (Biorn) Gr 21, (men of
Skagafiord) Gr 72
Niorun, name of a goddess used in kennings for woman H 3 (Signy)
Nordmøre (Nordmærr), Norway Gi 1
Nordrardal (Northriver valley), Borgarfiord Gr 30, 67
North (of Iceland), men of Gr 13, (55)Northriver (Nordra), in Borgarfiord Gr 27
Norway Gi 1, 7, 8, 38; Gr 1–3, 6, 9, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20, 24, 37, 38, 40, 85, 86,
90, 91; H 13, 17, 18, 41
Norwegians (Austma›r, pl. Austmenn; ma›r norrœnn Gi 8) Gi 4, 7, 8, 12, 19,20; (Nor›menn, Norrænir menn; cf. Easterners) Gr 5, 85; (men from Norway) Gr 86
Odd, son of Ofeig Gr 14
Odd, son of Orlyg Gi 7
Odd Pauper-poet (ómagaskáld) Gr 15, 29, 30
Odd Snorrason, late twelfth-century historian and monk at Thingeyrar in northern Iceland Gr 84
Oddgeirsholar, farm in Floi H 10
Oddleif, father of Gest the Wise Gi 6
Odin, a god in Norse mythology H 15 (cf. Biorn); in kenning for swords, hisfires Gi 33; see also Gaut, Ialfad, Thrott, Thund, Tveggi, Unn, Vidrir, YggOfæra, part of the coast of Veidileysa on Strandir Gr 9
Ofeig Burlufot (clubfoot), son of Ivar Beytil Gr 1
Ofeig Grettir (grimacer), son of Einar Gr 3, 6, 10, 13
Ofeig Grettir the younger, son of Onund Wooden-leg Gr 11, 12
Ofeig of Ofeigsfiord Gr 11
Ofeig Skidason Gr 14
Ofeig Thunnskegg (thin-beard), son of Kraku-Hreidar Gr 70
Ofeigsfiord, on Strandir Gr 12
Ofeigsstadir, farm in southern Iceland Gr 6
Ogmund the Bad (illi), a berserk Gr 19, 20
Ok, mountain in from Borgarfiord H 10
Olaf, son of Eyvind Gr 11, 12
Olaf Feilan, son of Thorstein the Red Gi 5; Gr 10, 26
Olaf Haraldsson, the Saint, son of Asta, king of Norway (1015–30) Gr 1,
37–39 (the genealogy in ch. 1 is based on The Book of Settlements, ch. 161)
Olaf Peacock (pái) Hoskuldsson Gr 52 (see Laxdæla saga)
Olaf’s Islands (Óláfseyjar), Breidafiord, western Iceland Gr 50
Olduhrygg, on Snæfellsness Gr 59
Oleif Breid (broad) Gr 3
Olfus, southern Iceland H 9, 10
Olfusvatn, lake in south-western Iceland (now ﬁingvallavatn) H 2; farm insouth-western Iceland, south of the lake H 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 19

376

INDEX OF NAMES

Olvir Barnakarl (children’s friend) Gr 3. The Book of Settlements, ch. 379,
gives the supposed origin of the nickname (‘He wouldn’t have children
tossed by spear-points as was the custom of vikings at the time’), but it isperhaps more likely that it arose from his having a large number of children.
Ondott Kraka (crow) Gr 3, 6, 7; Ondott’s sons (Asgrim and Asmund) Gr 7
Ongul, see Thorbiorn Ongul Thordarson
Onund of Medaldal, friend of Gisli Gi 7, 11, 19
Onund, son of Thormod of Brekka H 23; Onund’s hillock (Önundarhóll), by
Hvalfiord H 23
Onund Wooden-leg (tréfótr), son of Ofeig Burlufot Gr 1–12
Onundarfiord, Western Fiords Gi 4, 11
Orkadal (Orkdalen), south of Trondheim, Norway H 1
Orlyg, father of Odd Gi 7
Orm, son of Eyiolf Egilsson Gr 34 (see The Book of Settlements, ch. 177)
Orm, son of Hvamm-Thorir H 24, 27, 32
Orm, Norwegian trader H 19; maybe the same person H 35
Orm Storolfsson Gr 58 (see Orms ﬂáttr Stórólfssonar)
Orm the Wealthy Gr 1
Orrastadir (Heath-cock’s steading), in Haukadal (modern Koltur?) Gi 18
Osland, farm by Skagafiord Gr 82
Oslofiord (the Vik; the Skagerrak), Norway Gr 13, 91; H 12, 13, 18; men from
(Víkverskir menn) Gi 7; H 12
Ospak, son of Glum, nephew of Grettir Gr 14, 51, 83
Ospak Kiallaksson Gr 14
Otradal, farm in Arnarfiord Gi 22, 31, 32, 36
Oxarfiord, northern Iceland Gr 12
Oxen-might = Thorbiorn Oxen-might Gr 48
Ox-men, nickname given to the Botn-dwellers (yxnismenn) H 23
Passing Round of Grettir, The, a poem (Grettisfærsla) Gr 52
Poet-Torfa, poetess (Skáld-Torfa) Gr 15, 23, 24
Pope’s palace (Páfagar›r), Rome, the Vatican Gr 91
Rafarta, daughter of King Kiarval Gr 3
Rannveig, daughter of Asmund Hærulang, wife of Gamli Thorhallsson Gr 14, 30
Rannveig, first wife of Asmund Hærulang, mother of Thorstein Dromund Gr 13
Rannveig at Sæbol Gi 12
Rannveig, daughter of Thorbiorn of Arnarholt H 1
Raud of Fridarey Gi 2
Raudasand, on the south side of the Western Fiords Gi 28
Red Sea (Rau›ahaf) Gr 24
Red-beard, see Thorir Red-beard
Ref, farmer at Haug Gi 27
Ref, workman of Holmgongu-Skeggi Gi 2
Ref the Old, son of Thorstein H 24, 25, 32, 34, 36, 39, 40
Regin, a dwarf, whose house is a stone (part of the name Thorstein) Gr 24

INDEX OF NAMES

377

Reydarfell, farm on Hvitarsida Gr 17
Reykiaheid, heath in northern Iceland Gr 63
Reykiaholar, farm on Reykianess, Breidafiord, western Iceland Gr 27, 49, 50
Reykiaholt (Reykholt), farm in the northerly Reykiardal H 11
Reykianess, Breidafiord, western Iceland Gr 27, 49, 50
Reykianess (Reykjadiskur), on the western side of Skagafiord Gr 75
Reykianess, south-west Iceland Gr 17
Reykianess, on Strandir, northern Iceland Gr 9, 12
Reykiardal, northerly (now Reykholtsdalur), western Iceland H 2, 8
Reykiardal, southerly (now Lundarreykjadalur), western Iceland H 1, 2, 4, 22
Reykiardalsa, river in the northerly Reykiardal H 8
Reykiarfiord, on Strandir, northern Iceland Gr 9, 11, 12
Reykiarvik (Reykjavík), farm in south-western Iceland H 10
Reykiaskard, pass above Skagafiord Gr 69
Reykiastrond, the western side of Skagafiord Gr 84
Reykir, farm in Hrutafiord Gr 48, 49
Reykir, farm in Midfiord, northern Iceland Gr 29
Reykir, farm on the western side of Skagafiord Gr 69, 75, 84
Reyniness, farm in Skagafiord (now Reynista›ur) Gr 69
Rifsker, on Strandir Gr 12
Rogaland, district of south-west Norway Gr 1, 2, 7; South Rogaland (men of)
Gr 2
Rome Gr 91 (journey to, Rómfer›), 92 (city of, Rómaborg); pilgrimage to(su›r) Gi 38
Rosmhvalaness, south-west Iceland Gr 12Sæbol, farm in Haukadal Gi 4, 5, 7, 12–17Sæmund the Hebridean (Su›reyski) Gr 31Sæmundarhlid, Skagafiord Gr 69
Saga, a goddess, in kenning for woman (farmer’s daughter) Gr 60
Saga of Biorn, i.e. Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa Gr 58
Saga of Bodmod and Grimolf and Gerpir, an unknown saga (according to The
Book of Settlements ch. 160, the saga of Bodmod Gerpir (‘hero’) andGrimolf) Gr 12
Saga of the Confederates (i.e. Bandamanna saga) Gr 14
Saga of Earl Eirik Gr 19 (see note)
Saga of the People of Laxardal, see Laxdæla saga
Saka-Stein, nephew of Bork (son of Thordis daughter of Thorstein Thorskabit)
Gi 5, 7, 19, 20, 21, 27
Salten (Sálpti) in Halogaland Gr 20
Saltness, Dyrafiord Gi 19
Sam, son of Bork the Stout Gr 68
Samsstadir, farm in Laxardal, Dalir Gr 49
Sand (Mi›sandur), on the northern side of Hvalfiord H 23
Sand (Stórisandur), central Iceland Gr 84

378

INDEX OF NAMES

Sandaos (Sanda estuary, Dyrafiord) Gi 7, 12, 19
Sandhaugar, farm in Bardardal Gr 64–67
Saurar, farm in Keldudal Gi 4
Saurbæ, farm on Hvalfiardarstrond H 11, 24, 26
Saxa Island (Saxa ey, unidentified) Gi 2, 3
Scandinavia (Nor›rlönd) Gr 85, 91
Scotland Gr 1, 3; Scottish firths Gr 4
Short-Arm see Skeggi Short-Arm Gamlason
Sialfkviar (= natural animal pens), on the north side of the entrance to Hvalfiord
H 28Sif, wife of the god Thor, whose help (biorg) was a rowan tree (Snorri
Sturluson’s Edda, p. 82); in a pun on the name Thorbiorg Gr 52
Sigar, legendary king who hanged Hagbard Gr 52 (see note 50)
Sigfast, father-in-law of King Solvi Gr 3
Sighvat, father of Signy Gr 7
Sigmund, a wandering beggar H 9, 12, 20, 21, 24, 28, 35, 36
Signy, daughter of Sighvat, wife of Ondott Kraka Gr 7
Signy, daughter of Valbrand H 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Signyiarstadir, farm in western Iceland, south of Hvita H 2, 8
Sigrhadd of Viborg Gi 8, 14 (first verse)
Sigrid, daughter of Thorbiorn of Skalmarness, wife of Grimkel H 10, 12, 19
Sigrid, daughter of Thorstein Oxnabrodd H 26
Sigurd, son of Aud H 21
Sigurd, son of Biartmar Gi 4, 21
Sigurd, bishop in Norway Gr 38 (see Sagas of Olaf the Saint and Olaf
Tryggvason in Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla I)
Sigurd Muli (snout), of Fell H 1, 12
Sigurd, Norwegian Gi 8
Sigurd, husband of Spes Gr 87, 88, 89
Sigurd, Torfi’s foster-brother (Torfafóstri), son of Gunnhild H 2, 8, 17, 18, 20,
24, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33
Sildamannagata, a route from the bottom of Hvalfiord H 30
Sirnir, name of a giant used in a kenning for gold H 7
Skagafiord, northern Iceland Gr 28, 67, 69, 70, 84; men of, people of Gr 72,
73, 75, 77
Skagi, a promontory in northern Iceland Gr 9
Skalaholt (Skálholt), south-west Iceland, one of two bishoprics in medieval
Iceland (the second, founded in 1106, was at Hólar in the north). Ísleif was
the first bishop there 1055–80 Gr 25, 84
Skalamyr, inland from Skagafiord, in Tunga (unidentified) Gr 70
Skalavik, a small bay in north-west Iceland Gr 5
Skald-Torfa see Poet-Torfa
Skalmarness, on the northern side of Breidafiord, western Iceland H 10
Skammfotarmyr (Short-leg’s marshland), in Haukadal Gi 18

INDEX OF NAMES

379

Skaptaholt, southern Iceland Gr 6
Skapti, son of Thorodd Eyvindarson, lawman or lawspeaker 1004–30 (d. 1030)
Gr 27, 32, 46, 51, 53, 54, 76
Skard, farm in Haukadal, Dalir, western Iceland Gr 30, 43
Skarfsstadir, farm in Dalir, across the bay from Liarskogar Gr 53, 84
Skeggi from As Gr 16, 82Skeggi, son of Gamli Skeggiason Gr 84
Skeggi see Holmgongu-Skeggi Gi 2, 3
Skeggi of Kelduhverfi, son of Bodolf Gr 38
Skeggi see Midfiord-Skeggi
Skeggi Short-Arm (skammhöndungr), son of Gamli Thorhallsson Gr 51, 83, 84
Skeggi, son of Steinvor at Sandhaugar Gr 67
Skeggi, son of Thorarin Fylsenni Gr 26
Skeggi, son of Thorir of Gard Gr 38; see Thorir of Gard, sons of
Skeif, farmer at Hvitarvellir H 41
Skeliavik, inlet in Steingrimsfiord Gi 7
Skialdbreid, mountain north-east of Thingvoll Gr 61
Skorradal, Borgarfiord, western Iceland H 3, 22, 29, 30; lower Skorradal H
19; Skorradal lake (Skorradalsvatn) H 30; see also Vatn, H 29
Skridinsenni, mountain on Inn-Strandir Gr 14
Skroppa, Thorstein Oxnabrodd’s nurse H 26; Skroppa’s Gill (Skroppugil), on
Hvalfiardarstrond H 26
Skuf, a shepherd in Hundadal Gr 27
Skutileyiar, islands in Breidafiord Gi 25
Skutilsfiord, north-western Iceland Gi 7
Sledaas, ridge north-east of Thingvoll Gr 16, 32
Sleita, mother (or father?) of Gaut Gr 27
Sleitu-Helgi Gr 30 (see Strife-Helgi in The Book of Settlements, chs 168, 183)
Slettahlid, settlement in Skagafiord Gr 70
Slysfiord, in Sunnmøre, western Norway Gr 19Snæbiorn, son of Eyvind the Easterner Gr 3Snæfellsness, western Iceland Gr 42, (43); see Ness, theSnækoll, a berserk Gr 40
Snorri Godi, son of Thorgrim (d. 1031) Gi 18, 37; Gr 49, 51, 59, 68, 76 (seeThorgrim Thorgimsson; the name Snorri is related to snerrir, ‘turbulent
person’; cf. Eyrbyggja saga ch. 12; also Laxdæla saga)
Sodulkolla, Svein of Bakki’s mare (‘saddle-head’) Gr 47; Sodulkolla verses(Sö›ulkolluvísur) Gr 47
Sokkolfsdal, in Dalir Gr 68
Sokndal (Sóknadalr), in Rogaland, south-west Norway Gr 7
Sol, name of a goddess, in kenning for woman (daughter of Thorir of Gard)
Gr 63
Solmund (Eilifsson) Gr 31
Solmund, son of Thorbiorn Iarlakappi Gr 10

380

INDEX OF NAMES

Solmund, son of Thorolf Smior H 24
Solvi, king in Gautland Gr 3
Solvi, son of Hrolf the Geitlander H 11
Solvi the Splendid (inn prú›i), son of Asbrand Thorbrandsson Gr 44
Sotanaut, name of the sword that had belonged to Soti H 17, 21, 36, 38, 39;
name of the ring that had belonged to Soti H 34, 36, 37, 39, 40
Sotaness, in Ranriki, east of Oslo fiord (now Sotenäs) Gr 1
Soti, a dead viking H 14, 15, 19, 39; Soti’s grave-mound (Sótahaugr) H 14
South (of Iceland), men of the Gr 12
Spear-marsh (Spjótsm‡ri is the modern name of a meadow near Thoroddsstadir,
Hrutafiord) Gr 49
Spes, noblewoman in Constantinople Gr 86 (heading), 87–92
Spying-Helgi (Njósnar-Helgi) see Helgi
Stad, a headland, western Norway (Stadlandet) Gr 38
Stein the Great Traveller (mjöksiglandi), son of Thorir Autumndark Gr 77
Stein, son of Kolgrim H 23
Stein, priest at Eyiardalsa Gr 64, 65, 67
Stein Gi 20, 21 see Saka-Stein
Stein, a sea-captain Gr 12
Stein, son of Thorgest, lawman or lawspeaker 1031–3, Gr 77, 84
Stein Gr 70, see Tungu-Stein
Steingrimsfiord, Inn-Strandir, north-west Iceland Gi 7
Steinkjer (Steinker), Trøndelag, Norway Gr 22
Steinmod, son of Konal Gr 3
Steinmod, son of Olvir Barnakarl Gr 3
Steinolf, son of Olvir Barnakarl Gr 3
Steinolf Thorleifsson of Hraundal Gr 60, 61
Steinsholt, farm in southern Iceland Gr 6
Steinsstadir, farm in the Tunga area in Skagafiord Gr 70
Steinunn, daughter of Hrut of Kambsness Gr 61
Steinunn (Steinud) the Old Gr 12 (see The Book of Settlements, ch. 394)
Steinvor, wife of Thorstein the White at Sandhaugar Gr 64, 67
Stifla, in Fliot, east of Skagafiord Gr 72
Stigi, north-west Iceland Gr 5
Stokkaholm, island off Nordmøre, Norway Gi 1
Stokkar, farm in Surnadal (Stokke, Valsøyfjord, Nordmøre) Gi 2, 3
Strandafloi, a large bay in northern Iceland (the western part of Húnaflói) Gr 9
Strandir, the Strands, the eastern side of the north-west peninsular of Iceland(Hornstrandir) Gr 9, 25, 27; H 33
Strond see Bardastrond
Strond (‘the strand’), i.e. Hvalfiardarstrond H 23, 32; the Strond-dwellers,men of Strond H 23
Sturla Thordarson, lawman and historian (1214–84) Gr 49, 69, 93 (his version of The Book of Settlements was made c.1260)

INDEX OF NAMES

381

Sturlungs, a prominent family in thirteenth-century Iceland (c.1200–60),
descended from Hvamm-Sturla Thordarson (1115–83), to which Snorri
Sturluson and Sturla Thordarson the historians belonged Gr 84
Stykkisvoll, farm in Bryniudal H 24
Styrkar, son of Raud Gi 2, 3
Styrmir the Wise (inn fró›i), son of Kari, priest, lawspeaker and historian,prior of the monastery on Videy, author of a version of The Book of Settlements (died 1245) H 41
Sudur-Strandir, the western side of Strandafloi (= Inn-Strandir) Gr 9
Sugandafiord, Western Fiords Gr 5
Sugandi see Hallvard Sugandi
Sulki, king of the men of south Rogaland Gr 2
Sunnmøre, district in western Norway Gr 17; cf. Møre
Sur see Thorbiorn Sur; sons of, see Gisli and Thorkel
Surnadal, Nordmøre, western Norway Gi 1, 2, 3; Gr 7; (men of, S‡rdœlir) Gi 5, 6
Svan of Hol, son of Biorn of Biarnarfiord Gr 12
Svart, a herdsman at Indridastadir H 29
Svart, Ingiald’s slave Gi 25, 27
Svartfaxi (black-mane), name of Signy’s horse H 3, 4
Svarthofdi, son of Biorn Gullberi H 1
Svein, enemy of Gisli Gi 36
Svein, farmer at Bakki Gr 47
Svein Hakonarson, earl in Norway (d. c.1015) Gr 19, 22, 24, 37
Svidu-Kari (singeing-Kari), son of Solmund Gr 10 (Njáls saga)
Svinadal, north of Hvalfiord H 26, 29, 30
Svinasand, on Hvalfiardarstrond H 29
Svinasund, sounds on Balagardssida, Finland H 17
Sweden Gr 32
Sylgsdalir, in Sweden (unidentified; perhaps around Lake Siljan in Dalarna)
Gr 32
Syr, a name for Freyia, whose tears are gold Gr 83
Talknafiord, Western Fiords Gi 5
Thingeyr, Dyrafiord Gi 12
Thingeyrasveit, district round Thingeyrar in northern Iceland Gr 13
Thingness, in Borgarfiord Gr 47
Thingvoll, the site of the Althing in south-western Iceland
Thiorsa, river in south-western Iceland Gr 6; H 19
Thiostolf, son of Biorn Gullberi H 1Thora, daughter of Olaf Thorsteinsson Gi 5
Thora, daughter of Raud of Fridarey Gi 2, 4Thoralf of Eyr Gr 52
Thoralf Skolmsson Gr 58 (see Orms ﬂáttr Stórólfssonar)
Thorarin Fylsenni (foal-brow), son of Thord Gellir Gr 26
Thorarin, son of Hafr Thordarson Gr 72

382

INDEX OF NAMES

Thorarin, Norwegian Gi 7
Thorarin Spaki (the Wise) at Lækiamot in Vididal Gr 28, 31
Thorarin (Thorgilsson) from Akrar Gr 60, 61
Thorbiorg, daughter of Grimkel H 8–12, 18, 19, 21, 29, 31, 32, 37–41
Thorbiorg, wife of Hogni of Hagavik H 2
Thorbiorg Katla H 24, 25, 39, 40; see also Katla
Thorbiorg the Stout, daughter of Olaf Peacock Gr 52
Thorbiorn of Arnarholt (son of Arnbiorn) H 1
Thorbiorn, son of Arnor Hynef, known as Oxen-might Gr 30, 36, 42–45, 47–49,
51; see under Hafli
Thorbiorn, assumed name of Bolli, Orm’s slave H 27
Thorbiorn Ferdalang (far-traveller) Gr 30, 36, 37, 42, 43
Thorbiorn, called Glaum (Merryman) Gr 69, 72, 74, 79, 80, 82
Thorbiorn, son of Griotgard H 12–14, 18
Thorbiorn Iarlakappi Gr 10
Thorbiorn Koll (top), (son of Valthiof) H 28
Thorbiorn Laxakappi (salmon-champion) Gr 10 (according to The Book of
Settlements, ch. 379 the nickname should be Iarlakappi (earls’ champion),
as further down in Gr 10)
Thorbiorn Laxakarl (salmon-man) Gr 3, 6
Thorbiorn Selagnup (seal’s crag) Gi 5
Thorbiorn of Skalmarness H 10
Thorbiorn Sur (whey; the nickname is probably derived from the name
Surnadal), son of Thorkel Skerauki Gi 1–4, 19, 28, 38; sons of (Súrssynir)
Gi 5; see also Sur
Thorbiorn Thordarson, known as Ongul (hook) Gr 70, 72, 73, 75–86; see also
Thord Hialtason, sons ofThorbrand, son of Harald Ring Gr 44
Thorbrandsstadir, farm in Bryniudal H 24
Thord, name of two brothers at Breida in Skagafiord Gr 70, 72
Thord Cat (köttr) H 23–25 (probably not the same as the Thord Cat, son ofThord, of Laxdæla saga and other sagas)
Thord the Coward (inn huglausi), Gisli’s slave Gi 13, 17, 20
Thord, kinsman of Eyiolf Gi 36
Thord Gellir (‘yeller’), son of Olaf Feilan, father of Eyiolf Gi 15; Gr 26, 77
Thord of Hofdi, son of Biorn Gr 26, 70
Thord Hialtason of Hof Gr 70; sons of (Hialti and Thorbiorn Ongul) Gr 70, 72
Thord Knapp, son of Biorn, Icelandic settler Gr 72
Thord Kolbeinsson, poet on Hitarness Gr 58–60 (see Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa)
Thord, son of Kolgrim H 41
Thord Skalp Gr 70
Thord, son of Solvi H 11
Thordis, daughter of Asmund under Asmundargnup Gr 13

INDEX OF NAMES

383

Thordis, daughter of Asmund Hærulang, wife of Glum Ospaksson Gr 14
Thordis, Signy’s nurse H 4, 6, 8
Thordis, wife of Thorbiorn Seal’s crag Gi 5
Thordis, daughter of Thorbiorn Sur (Súrsdóttir), sister of Gisli Gi 2, 3, 7, 16,
18, 19, 37
Thordis, daughter of Thord Hialtason Gr 70
Thordis, daughter of Thorgrim of Gnup, second wife of Onund Wooden-leg
Gr 11
Thordis, daughter of Thorstein Thorskabit Gi 5
Thordisarholt, farm in from Borgarfiord, western Iceland H 8Thordisarstadir (Eyr, Snæfellsness) Gi 37
Thorelf, daughter of Alf of the Dales Gr 27
Thoreyiargnup, farm in Vestrhop, northern Iceland Gr 31, 34
Thorfinn, workman of Flosi Gr 11, 12
Thorfinn, son of Kar the Old Gr 18–20, 22–24, 28
Thorfinn of Lækiarbug Gr 60
Thorfinn (of Reykiahlid), son of Arnor Gr 80 (see Ljósvetninga saga)
Thorgaut, a foreign shepherd Gr 33
Thorgeir, son of Finn H 2Thorgeir of Fiskilæk, son of Thord Bialki (see The Book of Settlements, chs235, 250) Gr 38
Thorgeir Gyrdilskeggi (belt-beard, i.e. whose beard came down to his belt) H
23, 24, 28, 29, 32, 33
Thorgeir Havarsson, hero of Fóstbræ›ra saga, foster-brother of Thormod Gr
25–27, 50, 51
Thorgeir, son of Onund Wooden-leg, called ‘Bottle-back’ (flöskubakr) Gr 11–13
Thorgeir Orri (heath-cock) Gi 18
Thorgeir, son of Thord of Hofdi Gr 70
Thorgeir (probably both references are to the son of Thorhadd of Hitardal) Gr 60
Thorgeir, son of Thorir of Gard Gr 38; see Thorir of Gard, sons ofThorgeir, son of Thorir at Skard Gr 30, 43; see Thorir at Skard, sons ofThorgeirsdrapa, a poem by Thormod Kolbrun’s poet about Thorgeir Havarsson
Gr 27. See Fóstbræ›ra saga, in which fifteen verses of this poem are preserved, including the one here; cf. Gr 25
Thorgerd, daughter of Alf of the Dales Gr 27
Thorgerd (in some manuscripts Thorunn), mother of Gest Oddleifsson Gi 23, 24
Thorgerd Horgabrud, legendary figure represented as the object of worship ina number of sagas (see Snorri Sturluson, Edda, p. 112, Thorgerd Holgabrud)
H 19
Thorgerd, wife of Ingiald Gi 24, 25
Thorgest, son of Stein the Great Traveller Gr 77
Thorgils, son of Ari Masson Gr 27, 49–51
Thorgils Ingialdsson Gr 60
Thorgils Maksson Gr 25, 26, 27

384

INDEX OF NAMES

Thorgils at Mel, brother of Kormak Gr 15, 29, 30
Thorgrim of Gnup, father of Thordis Gr 11
Thorgrim Godi, son of Thorstein Thorskabit; Thordis’s first husband Gi 5–7,
9–20, 37; called Giant-bane Grim Gi 18; one of the two Thorgrims, Gi 11, 13
Thorgrim Karnsargodi (godi at Karnsa in Vatnsdal; now Kornsá) Gr 13
Thorgrim Nef (neb) Gi 11, 13, 14, 18, 19, 21, 26; one of the two Thorgrims,
Gi 11, 13
Thorgrim, Norwegian (austma›r) Gi 19, 20
Thorgrim, son of Onund, known as ‘Hoary-top’ (hærukollr) Gr 11–13
Thorgrim, son of Thorgrim Thorsteinsson, see Snorri Godi Gi 18
Thorgrima Smith-woman (smi›kona) H 3, 19, 21, 30, 40
Thorhall, son of Asgrim Ellida-Grimsson Gr 53
Thorhall, son of Fridmund Gr 32
Thorhall, son of Grim Thorhallsson Gr 32, 33, 35
Thorhall, son of Kolgrim the Old H 23
Thorhall the Winelander (i.e. who had been to North America), son of Gamli
Gr 14, 30
Thorhallsstadir, farm in Forsæludal Gr 32–35
Thorir Autumndark (haustmyrkr), son of Vigbiod Gr 77
Thorir, kinsman of Eyiolf Gi 36
Thorir of Gard, son of Skeggi Gr 38, 46, 51, 56, 57, 59, 62, 63, 67, 77, 82, 84;
sons of (Thorgeir and Skeggi) Gr 38
Thorir Haklang (long-chin), son of Kiotvi (Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla II63) Gr 2
Thorir, a Norwegian Gi 7
Thorir Red-beard, an outlaw Gr 56, 57
Thorir at Skard, son of Thorkel at Bordeyr Gr 30, 43; sons of (Gunnar andThorgeir) Gr 43, 44
Thorir Thomb (‘paunch’), a berserk Gr 19, 20
Thorir of Thorisdal, half-giant Gr 61
Thorisdal, valley (perhaps only legendary) between the glaciers in western
central Iceland Gr 61, 67
Thorkel Annmarki (‘blemish’; the nickname is probably derived from the farmname) Gi 18
Thorkel (Thrastarson) at Bordeyr Gr 30
Thorkel Eiriksson, friend of Gisli Gi 4, 10, 12, 15, 20, 21; one of the two
Thorkels, Gi 12, 15, 21
Thorkel, son of Eyiolf the Grey, son of Thord Gellir Gr 62 (see Laxdæla saga)
Thorkel of Gervidal Gr 52
Thorkel Krafla, son of Thorgrim Karnsargodi Gr 13, 16, 25
Thorkel Kuggi, son of Thord Gellir Gr 26
Thorkel Mani (moon), lawspeaker 970–84 (i.e. later than the time of the supposed events in which he is involved in The Saga of Hord and The Saga ofGrettir) Gr 12; H 10

INDEX OF NAMES

385

Thorkel the Rich (inn au›gi), son of Thord; friend of Gisli Gi 4, 5, 6, 10, 12,
15, 16, 21; one of the two Thorkels, Gi 12, 15, 21
Thorkel at Salten Gr 20, 21, 22
Thorkel Skerauki (‘rock-increment’, a word known on the west coast of Norway, used for the lower of two adjacent rocks that is covered at flood-tide
while its higher companion stays uncovered at all times) Gi 1
Thorkel, son of Thorbiorn Sur (Súrsson) Gi 2–7, 9–15, 17–20, 23, 24, 28–30, 38
Thorlak the Saint, bishop, son of Thorhall (d. 1193) Gr 34
Thorlaug, daughter of Sæmund the Hebridean Gr 31
Thorleif, workman of Halldor at Hof Gr 81
Thorleif of Hraundal, son of Steinolf Gr 60, 61
Thormod of Brekka H 11, 23, 24
Thormod Kolbrun’s poet, son of Bersi, hero of Fóstbræ›ra saga, foster-brotherof Thorgeir Gr 25–27, 50, 51
Thormod Skapti (shaft) Gr 3, 6, 10
Thorodd, son of Arnor Hynef, known as Poem-bit (the origin of this nickname is unknown; it may be that Thorodd had once composed, or had composed about him, a fragment of a poem that was never completed) Gr 30,
48, 49, 51, 83
Thorodd, nephew of Bork (son of Thordis daughter of Thorstein Thorskabit)
Gi 5, 19, 20
Thorodd Godi, son of Thorvor and Eyvind, father of Skapti Gr 6, 12, 32
Thorodd, Icelandic settler Gr 30
Thorodd, son of Snorri Godi Gr 68, 69
Thorodd, son of Thorgrim Thorsteinsson Gi 7
Thoroddsstadir, farm in Hrutafiord Gr 30, 48
Thorolf Mostrarskegg Gi 5
Thorolf Smior (butter, see The Book of Settlements, chs 5, 232; son of Thorstein
Skrofa) H 24
Thorolf Starri (stiff) H 39
Thorskafiord, north-west Iceland Gr 50; Thorskafiord Heath Gr 52; Thorskafiord Assembly Gi 28
Thorsness (Snæfellsness, western Iceland) Gi 5, 19, 21, 25; Thorsness Assembly
Gi 5, 19, 20
Thorstein, son of Asmund Hærulang and Rannveig, half-brother of Grettir;
called Dromund (a very large warship used on the Mediterranean; Greek
drómon, Old French dromont) Gr 13, 23, 24, 39–41, 85–93
Thorstein (Gislason) Gr 59
Thorstein Godi, son of Thorvie Gr 6
Thorstein Gullknapp (gold-button) H 23, 26, 27, 34, 36–38
Thorstein, son of Ketil Raum Gr 13
Thorstein Oxnabrodd (oxen-goad) H 11, 24, 26, 32
Thorstein Red, son of Aud the Deep-minded and Olaf the White Gr 26
Thorstein of Reykianess Gr 12

386

INDEX OF NAMES

Thorstein, son of Solmund H 24
Thorstein, son of Thorkel Annmarki Gi 18, 19
Thorstein, son of Thorkel Kuggi; known as Thorstein Kuggason Gr 26, 27,
48, 49, 53, 57, 67, 68 (see Laxdæla saga; his disputes with Snorri Godi are
mentioned in Eyrbyggja saga, ch. 65)
Thorstein Thorskabit (cod-biter) Gi 5; sons of (Thorgrim and Bork) Gi 5
Thorstein from Upplond, brother of Rannveig Gr 13
Thorstein the White of Sandhaugar Gr 64
Thorvald, son of Asgeir of Asgeirsa (not actually the brother of Kalf) Gr 15,
25, 26, 35, 44, 51, 83, 84
Thorvald Blaskegg (dark-beard) H 23, 24, 33; cf. Blaskeggsa(r)Thorvald of Drangar (father of Eirik the Red) Gr 9
Thorvald Kodransson, missionary and poet Gr 13 (see ﬁorvalds ﬂáttr ví›förla)Thorvald at Reykir in Skagafiord Gr 69, 75
Thorvald Spark (gneisti) Gi 12
Thorvald of Vatnshorn H 3, 19
Thorvard of Holt Gi 12
Thorvie, daughter of Thormod Skapti Gr 6
Thorvor, daughter of Thormod Skapti Gr 6
Thrand (Mioksiglandi, the Great Traveller), son of Biorn Gr 2–6, 10
Thrand, son of Thorarin of Akrar Gr 60, 61
Thrandarholt, farm in southern Iceland Gr 6
Thrott, a name for Odin, whose storm is battle Gr 48
Thund, name of Odin, in kenning for warrior Gr 24; in kenning for shield, partof kenning for warrior Gr 47; his darling (wife) was Iord, Earth, in a kenningfor Grettir Gr 52
Thurid, daughter of Asgeir Ædikoll Gr 26
Thurid, daughter of Grimkel H 1, 11
Thurid, daughter of Hrafn Gi 4
Thurid, nurse of Thorbiorn Ongul Gr 78
Thurid, daughter of Thorhall Grimsson Gr 32
Thver, river in Gnupveriahrepp (ﬁverá) Gr 6
Thver, river in Vestrhop in northern Iceland (ﬁverá) Gr 44
Thverfell, farm in the southerly Reykiardal H 4
Thyril, name of a farm and a mountain in Hvalfiord H 23, 36, 38
Tind, son of Hallkel H 13, 41
Tittlingsstadir, farm near Reykiaholar, Breidafiord Gr 50
Torfi, son of Valbrand H 2–4, 8–10, 12, 17, 20–22, 24, 28–30, 32–34, 36;
Torfi’s foster-brother, see Sigurd
Torfi, son of Vebrand Gr 80
Torfustadir, farm in Midfiord Gr 15
Trekyllir, name of a ship, = wooden bag Gr 12Trekyllisvik, the Vik (Víkin, the Bay), a bay on Strandir Gr 11, 12
Trøndelag, district in Norway (ﬁrándheimr) Gi 3; Gr 22, 37, 38; H 23

INDEX OF NAMES

387

Trondheimsfiord, Norway, entrance to (ﬁrándheimsmynni) Gr 22
Tunga, farm in Hrutafiord (Hrútatunga) Gr 30
Tunga, farm in southern Iceland (Bræ›ratunga) Gr 53, 54
Tunga, farm in Sælingsdal, Dalir (Sælingsdalstunga) Gr 49, 68
Tunga in Vatnsdal Gr 33, 34
Tungua, river east of Skagafiord Gr 72
Tungu-Stein, son of Biorn (of Tunga in Skagafiord) Gr 70, 72, 81
Tunsberg, a town in Oslofiord, Norway (Tønsberg) Gr 23, 39, 40, 85
Tveggi, a name for Odin in a kenning for a seafarer Gr 17
Two-days moor (Tvídægra; in the western part of central Iceland) Gr 16, 31, 47
Tyr, a god in Norse mythology, used in kennings for man H 28
Ulf the Boss-eyed (skjálgi), son of Hogni the White Gr 27
Ulf, son of Grim the Halogalander H 11
Ulf, son of Ulfham the Shape-shifter H 17
Ulfham the Shape-shifter (inn hamrammi) H 17
Ulfham, son of Ulf H 17
Ulfhedin, son of Ulfham H 17
Ulfheid, daughter of Eyiolf Gudmundarson Gr 34
Ulfliotsvatn, farm by a lake of the same name south of Olfusvatn H 19
Ull, a god, in a kenning for warrior Gr 18
Una, daughter of Steinolf Gr 3
Unn, a name for Odin, used in a kenning for battle H 38
Upplond, district of central Norway (Oppland) Gr 1, 2, 13
Uppsalir, farm in the northerly Reykiardal H 21, 22
Vadil, farm on Bardastrond (Haugava›all) Gi 23
Vadsteinaberg, rock on Hergilsey Gi 26Vågan, a place in Halogaland (Lofoten islands), northern Norway (Vágar) Gr
20, 22
Valbrand, son of Valthiof, of Breidabolstad H 2, 3, 4, 6, 30, 32
Valgerd, daughter of Thorodd Poem-bit Gr 83
Valhall, Odin’s hall (Valhöll) Gi 14
Valthiof the Old, son of Orlyg H 2
Varangian guard, Varangians Gr 86, 87, 88, 90; the Greek emperor’s household guard, traditionally manned by Scandinavians. It was first fully organised under Basil II (d. 1025). By about 1100 the Guard was chiefly composedof English soldiers (cf. Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla II 162).
Vatn, i.e. Skorradalsvatn, lake in Skorradal H 29
Vatnsdal, northern Iceland Gr 13, 16, 25, 32–36; Vatnsdal chieftaincy (godord)
Gr 16; men of (i.e. the descendants of Ingimund the Old, such as Asdis) Gr
13, (16), 17, 48
Vatnsfiardardal, valley in the Western Fiords Gr 52
Vatnsfiord, farm in the Western Fiords Gr 52
Vatnshorn, farm in Skorradal H 3, 22
Vatnsness, in Húnaflói, northern Iceland Gr 15, 29 (men of), 44

388

INDEX OF NAMES

Vatnsskard, pass in northern Iceland, between Langadal and Skagafiord Gr 69
Vebrand, father of Torfi Gr 80
Veidileysa (Vei›ileysufjör›ur), a fiord on Strandir, northern Iceland Gr 9
Vellir, farm in Borgarfiord (= Hvitarvellir) Gr 47
Vermund the Slender (inn mjóvi) Thorgrimsson Gr 52 (see Eyrbyggja saga,
Fóstbræ›ra saga)
Vestar, son of Hæng Gr 3
Vestein, a Norwegian Gi 4
Vestein, son of Vestein; brother of Aud Gi 4, 5, 7–15, 17, 19, 21, 28, 29; sonsof (Berg and Helgi) Gi 38
Vestgeir, son of Biartmar Gi 4, 21
Vestmar, a viking Gr 4
Vestrhop, area west of the Hop lagoon in northern Iceland Gr 15
Viborg (Vébjörg), Jutland Gi 8, 10
Vididal, northern Iceland Gr 11, 13, 15, 28, 34; men of (Ví›dælar) Gr 15
Vidrir, a name for Odin, in kenning for shield Gr 63
Vidvik, farm in Skagafiord Gr 70, 79, 81, 82
Viga-Bardi (warrior-, slayings- ) see Bardi Gudmundarson
Viga-Styr Thorgrimsson Gr 52
Vigbiod, a viking Gr 4
Vik, the, see Oslofiord
Vik, the (the Bay), see Trekyllisvik; men of (Víkrmenn) Gr 11, 12
Vikar, workman of Hialti Thordarson at Hof Gr 82
Vikarsskeid, near the estuary of Thiorsa (actually more likely that of Olfusa) H 19
Vilborg, daughter of Gizur the White H 11
Vilborgarkelda (kelda = spring), west of Olfusvatn, on the eastern side of
Mosfellshei›i H 11
Vindheim, farm on Haramarsey Gr 18, 19
Warflame (Gunnlogi), a sword Gi 2
West, the, i.e. the British Isles Gr 1–3, 6, 38, 49
Western Fiords (Vestfir›ir), north-west Iceland Gr 49, 52, 54; Western Fiords
Quarter (Vestfir›ingafjór›ungr) Gr 27; (vestr í Fjör›u) H 8
Wetherfiord (Ve›rafjör›r) = Hrutafiord (hrutr is Icelandic for wether) Gr 48, 57
Wooden-leg (Tréfótr) see Onund; Wooden-leg’s Mound (Tréfótshaugr), near
Kaldbak on Strandir Gr 11
Ygg, a name for Odin, whose drink is poetry, in kenning for poet (Grettir) Gr 47