Weekly Arizona citizen., 1880-07-10
A Ghost Saga.


 One night, wheE Thorodd and five of his men had gone to get fish and were to be out all night, as those who remained st home sat around the fire, suddenly the round head of seal came up through the floor. A woman happened to see it first, and she took cudgel and and struck it; but it slowly rose, and stared all the while at Thorgunna's embroidered hangings. Then man went and struck it again i; but at each blow it rose higher und stood on end until they could sec its hind fin. TLorodd's son, Kjartan. was the only one who had any presence of mind; he took a great hammer and struck it Un the head, and down it slowly went, like peg driven into the floor, till at last the boards closed oyer 1t. Next morning, as Thorodd and his men came homeward from Ness, they were shipwrecked and drowned under the cliff of Enni, and their bod les were not found. Kjartan inherited his fathers property, and he and his mother Thurid, invited their neigh bors to a banquet. Suddenly the dead father appeared among his guests, his clothes dripping with sea water. They took this for good omen of the bene- fcence of Ran, the goddess of the sea. But he would not go, so that it was . doleful banquet for the guests. After the neighbors had gone home, one evening Thorodd and his men, a troop Of ghosts, all dripping wet, came in and sal down by the fire, wringing theT clothes. Scarcely had they set tied themselves there, when Thorir WoOdenleg and six companions came in, all covered with earth, for they had been buried. They rubbed themselves against the other ghosts aud all clus- tered together round the fire, while all the people in the house hurried away Next evening the fire was lighted in another part of the house, but to no avail, for Ihe ghosts found it out and sat there all the night. The third even- ing kjartan had two fires lighted, one in the great hall and another in inc kitchen, and the ghosts sat at the first, leaving the other for the living in mates. Meantime, there were dread ful ratllings among the dried fish all day and all night. Then the witch Thorgrunna fell sick and died but the same evening that they buried her, she came in with Thorir and the other ghosts, and sat by the fire. So it went on, till the end of February, out of thirty people who had formed the household, eighteen were dead and haunted the house, five had been driv- en away by terror, and only sever ,iy- IcC persons remained. kjartaK conld stand it no longer, and one day he rode over to Helgafell to consult his wise uncle, Sn"rri. It happened 10 be just at the time when Christianity was be- ing introduced into Norway, and he found at Helgafell priest whom Giz- orr the White had sent to convert the household of SnOrri. This priest SnOrri sent on with Kjartau to FrodI 10 see if he could do anything to stop the ghosts from walking above ground. Al the same tune SnorTi advised Kjar- tan tu burn Thorgunna's bed-h1ngings. They reached FrOda on Candlemas Eve In KjaTtan's absence, his moth CT, 1hurid, had been taken i'll just in the same way as the others who had died. Kjsrtan went in, and there sat the dreadful silent company of eight enn ghosts, huddled round the fire. He took down Thorgunna's bed-hsngings, pushed through the ring of spectres, took a blazing coal and went out into the yard, where he burned everything that belonged to Thorgunua. Then he came indoors and the priest with him, and one by one they called aloud by name to the ghosts sitting round the fire, summnniDg them to a court of justice for entering the house unin- vited and for taking the lives of meu. Thorir Wondenleg was condemned first; then he arose and said, |" l have sat here as long as I might" Then the shepherd was condemned, and he sad, "Go l will, and I know it would have been seeRly to go sooner" And Thorgunna said, as she went, have stayed here as long as 1 could" So one by one the ghosts all passed away, and each as he went said something of this kind. At last Thorir sat there alone, and when he was summoned and condemned he said, Little peace is here, I think, SO let us all flit," and so he also went. Ther the priest snrinkled the house with holy water and held high mass before Thu;id, who soon recovered. The whole fam- ilv became Christian, Kjartan hired other huusefOlk, and they all lived happily at Frods for many years.- [" The Eyrbyggia Saga" in the Corn. hill Magazine for June.